What can I say?


Endgame

Winds of Change

Opening his eyes, Ike noticed the throne room had been obliterated by Zijo Oit's death. He stood up and looked around, all that was left was Dyehsein, Zijo Oit's vile sword that seemed to take him over in the end.

He turned to the downed Teiaya and helped him up, the rebel leader looked at the sword and back to Ike, he let out a small laugh "We won..."

Back with Soren and Mia, the two were laying on the ruined floor, looking up at the blue sky. Soren turned to Mia who turned to him, they both smiled before sitting up, they saw the dark orb Yakaan created was still floating in mid air while the evil mage laid elsewhere, left by the magic dragon, he had huge marks across his body from being swung around by it.

"Soren, what do we do with that thing?" Mia asked. Soren shrugged, even he wasn't sure what this thing would do now that Yakaan was-

"We will all die!" Yakaan said as he held his hand to the orb. Mia and Soren's eye's widened as Yakaan began laughing.

Before they could do anything an arrow cut through the orb and into Yakaan's forehead, truly ending the vile man.

They turned to see Shinon, being held up by Strike and Uhnie, all three, for a lack of a better word, looked like shit.

They eased Shinon down so Uhnie could help fix his wounds, Strike looked at Soren and Mia and smiled "We won...the Demon Triad has fallen..."

Soren looked at Shinon's bow and noticed that it was Unotch's Gore Eye. Undoubtedly that was the only way to cancel out Yakaan's dark magic, with another dark weapon.

"We need to make sure Ike and Teiaya are alright as well." Soren said as he helped Mia up.

Soren, Mia and Strike took off to the throne room just as a wyvern screeched overhead.

In what was the throne room, the three found Teiaya and Ike sitting against the remains of a wall, the two turned to the other and gave them a thumbs up just as Enri and Hikea landed in the open throne room.

"I'm guessing you all are done here?" Enri asked. He turned to all of them as they nodded, though they all realized that wouldn't work so they just answered "Yes." He couldn't help but smile, Zijo Oit and the Demon Triad were all dead, truly magnificent.

"What is the status of the battle?" Teiaya asked.

"We split up the Benkanan Army all around, countless fronts, we had a good lead but...they outnumbered us greatly. We couldn't risk loosing so many people even for freedom, the Bryte Rebels, Iron Titan and Thunder were loosing hope...then...they arrived."

Everyone faced each other then back to Enri "Who?"

"The Imperial Army of Qeen, this royally trained force wiped the floor with Benkanan and in an hour they all threw down their arms and surrendered...the rebellion has ended, Benkanan has lost."

As much as they wanted to cheer, the tired heroes just let out sighs of relief and collapsed. Enri grinned as Hikea let out a screech.

Several hours later, the Qeen Army was securing all the cities and helping the citizens as the rebels immediately began providing relief to the countless people affected by the costly rebellion.

Ike and Teiaya found the rest of the Liberators, Teiaya noticed instantly, something was wrong "Ewata...where is he?"

The Liberators all looked down, Atzu, looked at Teiaya with tears in her eyes "He protected me from the Blood Watch...they found my position...I couldn't-"

Teiaya embraced Atzu "It's alright...we triumphed in the end, he didn't die a meaningless death..."

Shinon and Uhnie returned to the rest of the mercenaries who congratulated Shinon on being on the elite team.

"It's not like any of you were at all qualified to take on a demon archer from hell." he said before stopping in front of Gatrie and bumping fists.

Rolf ran over to him "A one on one sniper master match! I wish I could have been there to see it!"

Shinon looked at Rolf and grinned "I'll give you a detailed recount...trust me, it's not something I'm going to forget any time soon."

Boyd stepped forward "Hey Shinon...what is that?"

Shinon turned to see Boyd was pointing at the Gore Eye. "This?" he stopped to think before grinning "...a souvenir."

Strike reunited with Choke and Fist of the other major rebel groups "You all must have had fun going to town on these fools...either of you keep track of how many you killed?"

Fist laughed "No...they were everywhere, it's like kick an anthill, impossible to tell how many fuckers come out runnin."

Choke patted Strike on the shoulder "Since you went to the castle, I'm pretty sure we scored higher than you."

"I killed Heydhar...you can't score higher than that!" Strike stated, folding his arms and smiling.

The Order was everywhere, helping as much as possible, acting on Mertre's peaceful rule as opposed to how Hejhamo planned to run after the rebellion succeeded.

Ike approached Mertre, she turned to him and smiled "You came back..."

"Did you doubt I would?" he stated, she shook her head before hugging him.

Ike was temporarily at a loss before embracing her as well "How was the battle and did Yuto recover?"

Mertre looked up at him "The battle went well...we fought so fiercely but seeing their numbers, I was worried we'd fail."

"Yeah, I heard...is there a head of Qeen I can thank or anything?" Ike asked.

Mertre nodded "We're all going to meet with him, his name is General Moore."

Soren and Mia reunited with Zihark and Leah, all high fiving each other. "The invincible four are back together!" Zihark yelled as he jumped as high as possible.

Leah sighed "That was crazy...I can't believe you guys have done so many things like this before...it's mindblowing."

Soren nodded "I can't imagine what you all went through...well...maybe partially, but we had a rough enough time fighting one guy over several hours then hundreds."

Mia put an arm around Soren "But we did a good job, right?" He smiled at her before extending his hand out.

The four shared a group hug as Cadeera and Tyse approached "Hey! The conquering heroes! How did it go?" she asked.

They held their thumbs up and Cadeera laughed. Tyse grinned "We've won...it's very fulfilling...seeing all the destruction my former ally caused...it's brilliant to be on the side fixing such an awful mistake."

Soren and Mia turned to each other as the others began talking amongst themselves "Remember when we first got here, Mia?"

She laughed "Feels like it was just yesterday...but yeah...why?"

"I still owe you dinner." he stated.

She smiled and hugged him "Yes, you do." they then kissed each other, Soren grinned and she gave him a questioning look. "It's just been so long."

Mia laughed and kissed him again.

Meanwhile, Ike, Mertre, Fist, Choke and Strike met with General Moore of Qeen. He wore large green and white armor. The conditions of the meeting reminded Ike of his first meeting with Zelgius.

"We would like to thank you, deeply for the assistance." Mertre said, before she could bow, Moore held up his hand.

"It was all you, we just made sure you won...despite the peace between Benkanan and Qeen, we received reliable info that Benkanan's next target was us...we saw this as mutually benificial."

Teiaya nodded "We understand...are you all going to stick around to help restore the war torn Benkanan or-"

"If you require our services, we will be here, but we will leave the restructuring of the governments and people, to all of you."

They all agreed to the terms and separated. Ike stood walking next to Mertre, she looked at him and smiled. He never felt like this before, he smiled back, before he said anything she turned away.

"Are you all going to stay here?" she asked. Ike looked up "I...no...Zatuo is great, and outside of this war it looks like an ideal place to settle but...it's so torn up right now..."

"I understand...this country, despite the fact you saved it, is not your responsibility. You are after all, just travelers dragged into an internal conflict. We all deeply thank you for your help."

Ike put his hand on her shoulder "I need to find a new home for the mercenaries...a land where they can all settle down peacefully...but I promise. When I find that place...I will come back."

She looked at him "You don't have to...you-"

"I want to. I want to see you again...I...I want to be with you." Ike said, though he couldn't believe he said it.

She smiled "I want to be with you too...I really do..." they hugged again, and Ike repeated his promise, he would come back when his mercenaries were at peace.

The Benkanan Republic has fallen, Zatuo is free from their tyranny and can now work to become a peaceful place once again and reestablish connections with Hitenticul and even Thyremog.

Later that day as the sun fell to the horizon, the mercenaries returned to their ship. Stocked up and ready for another trip, minus two.

Ike turned around as Titania approached "Are we going to pick them up?" she asked.

"Yeah, we just need to give them some time...get everyone rested for the trip to come..." As Titania turned, she stopped.

Cadeera and Tyse approached them. Ike held out his hand and they shook it "Are you sure you two want to come with us?"

They both nodded and it was settled.

Meanwhile, in the luxurious city of Qeen, Soren and Mia walked the streets, Mia holding onto Soren, they finally had their dinner and there was one more thing Soren wanted to look up before they left Zatuo.

At the royal archives Soren searched through a section of books with Mia's help. "So Soren, what is it exactly that's here?"

"Something very, very important...that I promised to tell you some time. Ah, found it, this is the book Ty told me about."

Mia suddenly remembered "Ty...I sure hope he can make it back to Tellius alone."

Soren walked up to her "If he takes the route we did, going through Hitenticul and Thyremog, he'll make it back eventually. He hasn't been to Tellius in so long, it's really going to surprise him."

Soren looked at Mia "The first thing I have to tell you...is that I'm not a beorc."

Mia looked left then right, then back at Soren "You aren't a beorc? But...how?"

"I'm not a laguz either." Mia's eyes widened "What? Then...what are you, Soren?"

"I'm branded."

Mia thought about it, she remembered the story that they were told as they ascended the Tower during the end of the Dawn War. "Branded...aren't they-"

"Children of beorc and laguz...my kind has been...mistreated for the longest time and as they said...for nothing, it was all a lie."

Mia put an arm around Soren "That's alright Soren...I love you, you know that, I can't hate you for being a Branded."

Soren looked at her and smiled slightly "There is more to it though...much more."

Soren and Mia sat down staring at each other, Soren's mind was racing, hundreds of thoughts in a matter of seconds as he stared at her.

"Soren, what is it?"

"After the Dawn War, I...found out who my parents were." Mia noticed Soren seemed really worried about what he was saying.

"Soren...if this is too much for you...it's alright. Knowing your Branded is enough for me. I'm sorry for putting so much pressure on you to tell me about yourself."

He shook his head "No, Mia...I have to tell you. I really do. Because I love you...my mother was with us during the Dawn War."

A mess of people crowded into Mia's head, she shook herself and looked at Soren again "Really? Wow...did I know her?"

"Not very well...she was..." he took a breath and then said "Almehda."

Mia thought about it, Almehda was the daughter of the dragon king Dheginsea, Soren's laguz parent was-

Before she could go any farther she realized what that meant.

"My father was Ashnard." Soren said, still looking at Mia, he felt really sick saying it, but as sick as it was, it was the truth, his father tried to start a war that would engulf Tellius and awaken a dark god...for what? Just to prove that he could?

Mia didn't say anything, she couldn't say anything, she always knew Soren had many secrets, even during their first meeting when no words were exchanged. But this was eons ahead of anything she could of imagined.

"You...you are certain that Ashnard..."

Soren nodded and looked down "I'm sorry, Mia...but I can't ask you to stay with me knowing that...it...complicates...so many things...mainly any future we would have together."

Mia thought about it, he isn't wrong, it is very complicated but at the same time, should it be the end of all they've been through? The Daein War, the Dawn War, The Barbyos Conflict, the War against the Vampires and the Zatuo rebellion, they've fought side by side for so long, they've fallen in love with one another, they want to be together.

She had her answer "Soren, look at me." he did and she placed one of her hands on his cheek.

"Nothing is going to separate us...not even this...I love you."

Soren just stared at her, he expected this to go so many different ways, this wasn't one of them. She embraced him and he finally spoke "I love you too..."

Once again, Mia has rendered Soren's prediction false. He has never been wrong, but when it involves Mia, he is almost always wrong.

She kissed him to drive the point home and they remained in each others embrace.

As they walked back to the port, Soren glanced at the book in his hand and at Mia, clutching his arm.

"There is...one more thing."

He looked ahead, spotting the mercenaries' ship, all packed and ready to depart.

"Since I am Branded...like Ty and Stefan, I will live for much longer than you possibly could and I will stop aging soon."

He glanced up at the moon, it had gotten so late, he couldn't believe it, but when he was with Mia, it didn't matter.

"Then...is there anything we can do?"

"That is what I was spending so much time talking to Ty about while we crafted Ein'Tosen...being with me...has caused you to develop branded abilities, specifically, dragon branded, the fire, your senses...

As they entered the ship they passed Ike who smiled at Soren before instructing the others to close up and depart. Ike noticed Mertre standing at the dock, he told them to halt and went out to meet her.

"Now you must be bound to a brand...something that even Ty doesn't exactly know how to do."

"So...Soren...do you think you know how?"

"I'm not sure...I really don't know."

Ike left Mertre waving as the ship pulled away from the dock. She waved back at him, standing at the dock until she could no longer see the ship.

In their room, lying down together Soren shut off the light and kissed Mia. He'd find a way, because he loved her.