Chapter 31) Light Inheritors
Shanan left shortly after breakfast, to everyone's surprise. Not mine, of course, but that was due to my accidental eavesdropping. But, regardless, he left, with the people wishing him luck. Some were practically vibrating from excitement. Balmung, the Phantasmal Blade, had been missing for some twenty years at this point. Its loss was just another reminder of everything Grannvale stole from it, in the name of 'peace'.
For the rest of us, life is as normal, save for Diarmuid and Lester preparing on going on patrol with Oifeye. Wake up, tend to Hestia, eat, do chores, do a shift at the infirmary… normal. We do our best to not fidget at it. We know how much of a blessing it is to have them. But people were dying. People were suffering. People placed their hopes in us.
This wasn't right. How long until we could make it fair?
"Thanks for coming with me," Lester noted as we walked into Tirnanog. It was super early, with the market not even set up yet, so it was unusually quiet. "I really do appreciate it."
"It's not like it's really out of the way or anything," I replied with a shrug. I adjusted my grip on Hestia, to make sure she didn't go chase and eat some discarded trash. "Though, I do wish you had waited an hour or something before visiting Creidne. I'm sleepy."
"I'll be leaving in an hour."
"Oh. Right." I sighed, and didn't even pretend to be mad when he snickered. The whole point of this was him saying goodbye to Creidne before leaving for a few days. Wasn't surprised he wanted to. He and Creidne had actually dated for five years before suddenly breaking up last year. Both were still good friends and all, but it had confused the living hell out of all of us. Including Lana and Aideen. I was half-convinced it was because of the 'Mythical Someday', but they never said. To be fair, it wasn't anyone's business but their own, but still. Still!
The two of us continued lightly conversing until we reached the house, and knocked on the door. Dalvin did a double-take when he saw us. "Is everything okay?" he asked worriedly, looking between us. We both smiled reassuringly. "Okay, not emergency. Shelter from a prank again?"
"No, actually, Oifeye is taking Diarmuid and I on patrol," Lester explained. Both of us stepped into the warm kitchen, smiling at all the smells wafting about. Dalvin must've been finishing up breakfast. "And I wanted to say goodbye to Creidne, if she's awake and up for it. I'll understand if she's not."
"Let me go ask." He pointed to me. "What did you bribe her with to get her up so early?"
"She's along in case I accidentally trigger her, and you need help calming her down." Lester smiled faintly, but bitterly. "I know that your parents run errands in the early morning."
"Ah, okay." Dalvin smiled back, kindly if sadly. "That's appreciated. I'll go ask her, then."
Dalvin headed into the back, and Lester and I made ourselves comfortable via making sure Hestia didn't steal anything. He came back letting us know that Creidne did want to at least try and speak with Lester, so Lester went to Creidne's room and I helped Dalvin get things together for the stall. And the two of us argued over whether I should pay or not when Hestia successfully stole and chomped down on some cheese. I eventually pretended to give up, while hiding some coins in an easy-to-find spot anyway. By that point, Lester returned, smiling, and helped with the last of the preparations. Dalvin quietly went on back to check on Creidne, before returning with a warm smile. Creidne was fine. That was amazing. So, Lester and I helped Dalvin set up the stall itself for the market, though we did have to leave in the middle of it to chase down Hestia. Because Hestia knew if she acted cute, she could get treats from everyone and that was so much better than just treats from family.
"Sometimes, I think Hestia is smarter than us," Lester commented when we finally caught her. Hestia immediately barked and panted happily as she kept pace with us. "Make that most of the time."
"She is certainly clever," I agreed. Still, I pulled a bit on her ear, not hard, but enough to make sure she was looking at me. "I think someone isn't getting treats from us for the next day." Hestia whined at that and pressed herself into my side. "You can go a while without eating, you know. I know you can. I did read up on wolves."
"Right, Shanan found that book for you while he was out." That was honestly how we got most of our books. Shanan, or the people of Tirnanog who were brave enough to venture farther than the nearby villages. "In the wild, wolves gorge on their meals, right?"
"That's what the books said at least. They can go days without eating and then feast when they make a kill." However, to be fair, even if Hestia could, she had never been raised that way. "But all that said, I was just talking about treats. She can just deal with her regular meals since she got all the treats this morning." Hestia licked my hand. "You can't always sweeten me, you know."
"Just most of the time." Lester snickered and ducked under my half-hearted swat. "Oh, we've people staring." We did, some of the younger teens in town, probably planning out a fun little market day. I smiled and winked at them, and then had to muffle a laugh when they began giggling and blushing. Lester rolled his eyes. "Of course you did that."
"What's wrong with winking?"
"Nothing." He shrugged and smiled and I tried to decide if I should poke him for more information or not. "Ah, Diarmuid!" However, I decided against it because we'd made it to the church for the first infirmary shift. Diarmuid and Lester insisted on taking it, because they wouldn't be here for a while. I'd drawn the short straw when rearranging the chores schedule. "You're early."
"I figured you all wouldn't be long," Diarmuid explained. He looked past us at the group of teens still surreptitiously looking at us, and smiled and waved. They immediately went back to blushes and nervous laughter. Now that I was looking properly, I could see it was a mixed group of boys and girls. All were blushing. How adorable~! "I also figured you two might need a quick place to hide thanks to Hestia."
"She charmed the whole market out of treats," Lester explained. He sighed and shook his head. "However, if you two are done charming everyone into blushes messes, again…" He made his voice as dry as possible. Both Diarmuid and I grinned and shrugged. "Let's get to work helping the wounded get more comfortable and the like."
"What's wrong with being friendly?" Still, the three of us headed inside, Hestia immediately going to one of the children to cheer them up. "You're just jealous. Maybe if you smiled more…"
"I am not!"
We bantered a little more in that vein, mostly Diarmuid and I teaming up against Lester, and then went to work, mostly with checking if any had died during the night and helping people change clothes, go to the bathroom, etc. Normal things for a normal morning. If we could have days like this forever, then I'd be happy. But I also knew that there were people who didn't get days like this, people who protected this happiness of ours by giving up their own. I was helping them, after all. That just wasn't fair. When was it our turn to sacrifice for the good of everyone? I didn't necessarily want to fight, but…
No. No, that was wrong. I did want to fight. Everyone had fought so hard so that we could make it to this day. I needed to repay them, with smiles and blade. All of us did.
It was really strange not having Diarmuid and Lester about. None of us had ever been separated for more than a day before, and the patrol would easily last a week. Two days into it, and we all kept trying to not panic. It was… a bit worse with me because I kept remembering the days immediately after Conall had been kidnapped. Those days of confusion, of wondering why I couldn't see Conall, of just not understanding why we couldn't go get him back… I'd spent a lot of them sobbing, feeling like half of my heart had been ripped out. It took a while for my smile to return. Seliph and Larcei in particular had devoted themselves to getting it back.
"You know; I do wonder how Conall is," Ulster said randomly, showing I wasn't the only one reminded of those days. He and I were sitting on the floor, making medicine while Larcei and Seliph cooked dinner. It was supposed to be Lana's turn tonight, but she was napping against Hestia, absolutely exhausted from a shift at the infirmary. We'd have to swing by there later to make sure Aideen got food. "It's strange we don't get rumors."
"Would they tell us if they did, though?" Larcei asked, bringing up a good point. She cut up some vegetables for whatever dish she and Seliph were making. Knowing how we all normally worked, it was 'winging it completely'. "I mean; if Conall is fine-"
"He is fine."
"Bad wording. I know he's fine." All of us 'knew' Conall was fine. It was the belief that got us through the worst of things, back then, and it was one we held to firmly even now. Both Ulster and Larcei believed particularly hard, because they also believed that if something was wrong, I'd know. Twin thing. "But point is, it's weird that we haven't heard anything. Shanan should've gotten something by now."
"Not necessarily," Seliph countered gently. He was stirring some sort of sauce for whatever we were having. It smelled good, whatever it was. "I don't think Shanan would keep that from us. He knows how much it hurt."
"Right, I think so too," I agreed. I finished up one potion and began working on the next. All of us had made medicine enough times over the years that we could almost do it in our sleep. Doing it while talking was easy. "I know they keep things from us, but that… I don't think they'd do that." At the least, I didn't think Shanan would keep it from me. And I'd tell the others in a heartbeat. Less even. "But then that just continues the oddity. Yes, it took a couple of years for us to learn about…"
"About my mother's death." Seliph's voice was quiet, and all of us winced. The worst was how he referred to her, at least in my eyes. It was always 'my mother', not 'Mother'. None of us knew why she married Arvis when she had been married to Sigurd, why she had chosen to let Arvis just murder Sigurd in the worst of ways. We all knew to be careful bringing it up around Aideen, Oifeye, and Shanan. They had been particularly hurt by that betrayal. "And that was just because the rumor took that long."
"But there's a difference between 'two years to get information about a death' and however long it's been since Conall's been gone," Larcei grumbled. She chopped the vegetables a little more fiercely and Seliph looked at her worriedly. Wouldn't be the first time she got mad and cut herself while chopping vegetables. "It's just… I don't even know. Why wouldn't something like that spread?"
"...Well, actually, what do we know about the crown prince and princess?" I asked, just thinking of that. All four of us stilled because the answer was 'basically nothing'. "We know their names. Julia and Julius. We know that Julia is Major Naga."
"I think the merchants mentioned that Julius took after his father in looks, and Julia took after her mother?" Larcei frowned and paused in cutting. "I… can't think of anything else."
"Then maybe it's a deliberate thing, to try and keep children out of gossips?" I sighed heavily and shook my head. "Well, whatever. It is what it is, and I'd like to change the subject, please."
"I hope Lester and Diarmuid remember to not let Oifeye cook." Larcei easily found a new subject, one that made us laugh. Oifeye was great at medicine making, but his cooking skills were atrocious. 'Tastes like steel' was the best thing one could say about it. "Did we send them stomach medicine?"
"I think Aideen slipped some into their packs, just in case!" Now the mood of the room lightened, and all of us began giggling. Lana mumbled something in her sleep and rolled over. Hestia licked her cheek before settling down again. "Anyway, speaking of cooking, dinner will be ready soon, so Ulster can you wake up Lana while I set the table and-" And someone knocked on the door, confusing the hell out of all of us. "Who is out and about at this hour?"
"Less that and more 'why did they come out here?'," Seliph murmured. He headed to the door, while Ulster and I stood up. Larcei checked that nothing would burn and then went to wake up Lana herself. "Yes?" He opened the door and we were all really confused to see a near panicking Deimne there. "What's going on?"
"We've got children missing," he explained quickly and tiredly. He coughed a bit, struggling to breathe. Did he run here? That was a distance Larcei, Ulster, and I did for training! "No one has any idea. Mind-?"
"Let us clean things up and make sure we don't burn the house down." Seliph was already moving back to the stove. I went to help him, 'seizing' the flames to bank them quickly. "What else can you tell us?"
Deimne told us all that he knew, not much, while we poked Lana awake and got him some water. Then we headed into town to see if there had been any developments. Sadly, there were none and, worse, there was no real 'pattern' to who disappeared. There were six missing, and only one or two were friends with each other. The youngest was seven; the oldest was thirteen. So, everyone split into pairs, with Hestia and me focusing on the children who had been missing the longest since Hestia could follow a trail somewhat. When the trail seemed to lead into the woods, Seliph insisted on joining us. Just in case.
"Gods, it's dark," Seliph whispered, tossing up a small globe of light that followed us. Naga's heritage let him do that, and it was very useful in a lot of scenarios. "It's still chilly at night too."
"Well, it's only just now spring," I replied, hopping over a root. Hestia didn't bother keeping to a path, doing her best to follow the scent as closely as possible. "I hope they didn't get caught by a fallen tree or something."
"We're near a stream, so I hope they didn't slip on rocks." Seliph sent the globe of light to the right briefly, so that I could see the slight sparkle of the stream. "Why would they go so deep into the woods?"
"Is that a question you and I should ask?" I gave him a droll look. "How many times did we get lost in the woods and scare the living hell out of everyone?"
"Even we didn't go this deep." He had a point there. "Hestia, you sure they're this way?" Hesita paused a bit to sniff about and then barked and kept going. "Okay."
"I hope we're not too far off the mark." Yes, Hestia had an amazing sense of smell, because wolf, but she wasn't exactly trained for things like this. "I trust her but…"
"It does make you worry." He ducked under a low hanging branch. "It's so quiet as well."
"...Wait, why is it so quiet?" It could just be us, but there really should be more noise. It wasn't like every animal went to sleep when the sun went down. "Oh, hell, this is one of those moments, isn't it?"
"The 'it's quiet, too quiet' moments in a story to let you know there's something wrong?" Seliph and I stopped walking and I snapped my fingers to let Hestia know we had. "Should we head back for reinforcements?"
"That's…" I bit my lip, thinking. It would probably be smart for us, but… "I'm worried about the children. Let's at least make sure…"
"Sounds good to me." He smiled reassuringly, and I relaxed slightly. "I couldn't decide either."
"Let's hope it's nothing more than a predator or something." I paused, thinking of how deadly Hestia could be. And how bad it would be for something like that going after a child. "Let's just go. Hestia?" Hestia trotted back over to me and I rubbed her head. "Good girl… let's keep it up, okay?" Hestia licked my hand and bumped her head against my hip before trotting down the path again, Seliph and I following closely with the little globe of light giving us just enough light to not trip.
Eventually, Seliph and I began hearing noises again and Hestia fell back to stay firmly at my side instead of leading the way. Feeling rather unnerved, we crept closer, until we came up on a small clearing. Three people in dark robes tied up sobbing children, all six of the missing ones from what I could remember about descriptions. All of them carried tomes, one of fire and one that seemed to draw the shadows it, and all of them wore knives on their belts. They talked quietly, rhythmic pattern hinting it was some sort of prayer. It wasn't until we heard 'Loptyr' that Seliph and I realized what was going on. This… this was a Child Hunt. I'd heard about them, but to actually see one was…
Seliph and I both continued to stare dumbly, idiots trying to process things. As we did, one of the youngest caught sight of us and, in sheer desperation, shrieked, "Seliph! Riona! Help!" And blew whatever cover we might've had because all of the priests whirled towards us.
"What's this?" one asked, stepping a bit towards us. Their hood made it hard to note features, but the embroidery on the edge, which the others didn't have, hinted they were the leader of this group. "Mmm… too old for Loptyr…" They studied Seliph closely. I tried to subtly nudge Hestia away, to the children, but she refused to leave my side. "Wait, Seliph… I know that name. The 'prince of light', the son of Sigurd…" Their eyes narrowed on me. "Riona is not familiar, but with the Fjalar-red eyes, you must be Velthomer's missing princess. My, what a prize that stumbled up." They smiled slowly. Dread and fear warred for supremacy. I knew this feelings. I hadn't felt it in years, since we came to Tirnanog, but I knew it. The fear of knowing someone was hunting us, and they had found us. "What a prize indeed. We can't kill the girl. Our prince will be most upset if we hurt his cousin. But the boy… for the boy we can draw out the death."
They stepped closer, but quickly backed away as Hestia slowly walked forward, snarling with her hackles up. Another of the trio, an obviously brave or stupid soul, tried to grab her, but she snapped at him, barely but purposely missing their fingertips. The third tried to throw a spell at her. I tackled them to protect her and thus began the fight. Because Hestia knew a threat was here, and I had to protect my wolf.
It was… it was scary, though. I'd never been in a 'real' fight before. Training? Sure. Sparring? Yep. Beating up bullies? Oh, definitely. Fighting for my life? Not so much. And Shanan was right. Nothing could prepare you for that sort of thing. I was dodging and ducking around spells, and trying not to flinch and scream with the spells splintered tree trunks and exploded branches. I kicked people in the face and tried to not panic when they tried to grab me. I was so frazzled that it took me a moment to even notice that they weren't using many fire spells. And this was just three people. Nothing like a 'real' fight. A real fight had much more going on.
One of trio decided to remind us of that, and threw a fire spell immediately after casting whatever that other spell was. But not at Seliph or me. No, they threw it at one of the children, the youngest, the one who'd yelled for us to help, probably to try and make Seliph and I submit. A few of the older ones twisted to try and shield, but that… that would've only led to all of them dying. Instinctually, I threw my hand out and 'reached' with my magic. I had no idea what I was doing. This was just something I knew I could do from my lessons, 'seizing' the fire of someone's spell. I'd never done it before. Never had an opportunity to practice before. But I was panicking, desperate to prevent a child burning alive in front of me, and this was all I could… "Mom, please, help…!"
I had no idea how it happened. Maybe it was desperation. Maybe it was the Holy Blood and innate magic power. Maybe Mom really did help from beyond. But somehow, I 'seized' the fireball and whipped it into a priest's face. The whipping was totally an accident. I'd been so surprised it worked that I had jerked back and the fireball had moved with my hand. But it had definitely freaked the group out, and I shakily used that as a distraction to try and untie the children. My fingers caught on the knots, but Seliph was by me in an instance to help me, as shaky as me, but two shakies equaled one competent apparently. Mostly competent. Hestia still had to come over and help, her bloody muzzle hinting she'd bitten some of the priests. I worriedly checked her for injuries, but there wasn't a sign of even muscle strain.
"Hestia, get them back to town," I whispered once the last of the knots came undone. The youngest child hugged me tightly, sobbing, and I patted their back and stroked their hair. Seliph comforted a couple of the others. "You all, follow Hestia. She will get you to safety. And someone get her to Lana, Muirne, or Aideen when you get there, please." Hestia whimpered a bit. "I'll be fine. They won't. Please, sweetie?" Seliph had to push us all down to avoid another spell. No time. "Hestia!"
She still whimpered, but she licked my cheek and nudged the children into following her. Seliph and I immediately whirled to our feet, with both of us standing as living shields to help them escape. Thankfully, sort of, the priests were far more interested in us than the children. So, the children managed to get away, and Seliph and I were back into the fight. By this point, the shock had worn off, mostly, helping us think a little clearer. Mostly. At the least, Seliph and I were able to quickly tag team, taking advantage of our sight and his strength to bash the burnt-faced priest's skull into the nearby trees.
I quickly snatched their knife to stab them in the back, just in case, and attempted to stab the one that came after me next. Unfortunately, skilled as I was in blades, I had no real experience with using a knife, so while I did manage a stab, I also lost my grip on the thing, because of how slippery the hilt was, and cut my own fingers. And I couldn't recover the knife because the priest shot a spell at point-blank range and I had to roll out of the way very, very quickly. As I popped back to my feet, I got a single idea. A crazy idea, but this was a bit of a crazy situation.
"Dad, if you and Mom are watching, I could use a bit of luck…!" I hissed, snapping my fingers to conjure up a small fireball. Then, as the priest got closer, I ducked under their guard and punched them in the mouth. Pain spiked down my hand and wrist, but I used the shock of the hit to pry their mouth open and threw the fireball straight down their throat. They choked on a scream, coughing madly and stumbling back, clawing at their throat. I whirled to roundhouse kick them in the head and hooked my leg around to drive them to the ground. Then I stomped on their throat, twice, to crush the windpipe.
I had just enough time to marvel at how that actually worked when a bright flash of light blinded everything. I blinked rapidly, eyes watering, and my vision cleared just in time for me to see Seliph steal the last priest's knife and stab them in the throat, ripping it out for good measure. The priest fell and, after a brief moment of triumph, Seliph's expression faded for blank shock. He looked down at his bloody hands and arms, just staring. I almost asked what was wrong, but then I looked down at the body at my feet. I looked at the slumped body by the tree. I looked at my own bloody hands and realized just… just what happened. We killed people. We'd seen people die often. Protecting us. On the whims of soldiers. Infirmary. Death was common. Death was familiar. Death was normal. Killing? Killing wasn't, except now…
I wasn't sure which one of us moved first, but both of us bolted for the edges of the clearing to vomit up everything we'd eaten for the past month. Then, tearing up, coughing, horribly snotty from it all, both of us stumbled over to the nearby stream to rinse our mouths out. The sour taste was nearly enough to make me dry heave again, and my abdomen actually ached. Everything ached, really. Worse than any spar or training session.
After a few rinses, and a couple splashes to the face, the world didn't seem quite so bad and I sat back on my heels and took a moment to breathe. However, I noticed Seliph was trying to get the blood off and he…
"You're digging into your skin," I whispered, reaching over to take his hands gently. He didn't look at me, but I saw the tear marks on his face. "Here. Let me." I waited until he nodded before washing the blood off, first from his hands, and then from his face. There was nothing I could do about the blood on his shirt, but I could at least do this much.
When I finished, he caught my hand and held it palm up, where the cuts from the knife were bleeding. "You're hurt," he murmured, nodding to my other hand. I glanced down to see my knuckles were bloody, and there were distinct cuts where I'd hit teeth. "Here." And then he began carefully getting the blood off me. Mine was limited more to my hands and clothes, and I winced when they stung, but made sure to hold still until he was done. Neither of us had anything for bandages, so this was the most we could do. "The children."
"Hestia has them." But I knew what he meant. "Let's catch up."
"Yeah." Neither of us moved. "Okay. Right." Both of us tried to stand then, but we both collapsed, our legs not working right as the shock of everything really hit us. So we leaned against each other briefly, taking strength and comfort from each other. I still couldn't quite get my legs to work, but Seliph found the strength and he pulled me up, careful to not grab my injuries. Then we stumbled back to town, a little globe of light hovering over our heads to light the path. Seliph nearly fell a few times even with the light, but I caught and helped him when that happened. We helped each other.
I didn't regret killing the priests. That might've been the worst thing. But there had been a choice between killing them and dying myself, and I had no regrets picking the former. But that didn't mean it settled well on me. That didn't mean Seliph and I didn't puke at least two more times each on the way back. That didn't mean Seliph and I weren't quick to duck back home and shake our heads when the others looked at us worriedly. That didn't mean we didn't barely eat dinner with everyone as Lana tended to my injuries. That didn't mean Seliph and I didn't stay up far too late that night, sitting outside with Hestia while the others slept, too scared to sleep.
We'd talk to them about it later. In the morning, maybe. In the morning, when the shock faded. Maybe.
After breakfast the next morning, one that Seliph and I picked at, Seliph and Lana went shopping and Larcei, Ulster, and I did morning chores. Well, they did morning chores and I attempted to do the same. But after five minutes of me pushing dirt around instead of sweeping and me nearly falling over from dizziness, Ulster ordered me to go take a nap instead. I was rather reluctant, but I did decide to at least curl up with Hestia. She licked my cheek and nuzzled me comfortingly and I soon nodded off, thankfully too tired even for nightmares. I ended up sleeping through half of the morning, and someone, probably Larcei, draped a blanket over me.
When I woke up, I felt like the world wasn't quite so bad, though I did lay there with Hestia a little longer before actually getting up. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and yawned, and Hestia pressed herself into my side, almost toppling me over. I petted her head and scratched behind her ears before taking stock of what was going on. Ulster was sweeping, which should've been my chore, and Larcei was doing dishes. I thought about trying to figure out what chores still needed to be done, but Ulster caught my eye and nodded to the table. A mug of warm milk with honey, now a bit lukewarm truthfully, rested there. I used some basic fire magic to gently warm it back up before sipping it, finally smiling at the familiar and comforting taste. I didn't sit down, just leaned on the table, enjoying the quiet and the sunshine. Enjoying the reminder that not everything was bloody.
"So, you two were bloody, and you were injured…" Larcei began after a moment, pretending to be more focused on the dishes. She scowled when Ulster glared. "Oh, come on! You're wondering too!"
"That doesn't mean I'm going to just outright ask like a tactless idiot," Ulster retorted instantly. He poked her leg with the broom, getting dust on her legs. "She barely slept!"
"Which is why I want to know what happened!" Larcei flicked soapy water at him. "She can say if she doesn't want to say anything. I mean; we all know that."
"You could still wait at least a few hours after she wakes up to-WHOA!" Ulster yelped and hopped back a couple steps, desperately trying to keep balance as Hestia playfully jumped on him. "Hestia!"
"Hahaha! I wi-EEK!" Larcei shrieked as Hestia went over to her and nearly sent her crashing into the sink. "Hestia!"
"I think she thinks you two are playing," I observed, fighting back giggles. I probably should've warned them that Hestia's tail had been wagging, and she'd been slowly stretching her front legs forward and raising her butt in the air in a 'play bow'. But I knew stopping her was pointless and this was more amusing. "And she wants to join in."
"Hestia, you're going to break the dishes!" Larcei scolded, trying to fend Hestia off. Hestia just barked and play-bowed again. "Focus on Ulster. He's not handling fragile things." Hestia tilted her head, actively considering it, before doing just that, knocking Ulster flat on his ass. "That's the way!"
"Oh dear." I finished my milk and passed Larcei the empty mug. Ulster, meanwhile, wrestled with Hestia, taking care that she wouldn't accidentally hurt him. She did her best, but she still had very sharp teeth and could get very excited. "Anyway, to actually answer your question, I'm sure you all already guessed."
"Well, I did kind of hope I was wrong." She winced and set the mug into some water to soak. "Come here…" She drew me into a hug, soapy hands and all, and I rested my head against her shoulder. "Sucks that you two had to be first. I'd rather hoped we'd all have our first fight together, so that we could help each other better afterwards."
"The hug is nice." It really was. It helped ground me again. "Did the children say anything?"
"The children were whisked away to the infirmary, babbling about this thing and that. Nothing coherent." She pulled away and cupped my face. "Light stuff for dinner tonight?"
"That sounds good." My stomach did a little flip hinting that it was more than 'good'. I honestly wasn't sure what I'd keep down. "Thanks."
"Who were they?" Ulster asked, successfully flipping Hestia onto her back. He rubbed her belly vigorously and Hestia flailed about happily, barking a bit. "Did you find out?"
"Hmm? Oh, they were priests or… something…" I trailed off as something hit me like a bucket full of bricks. If the priests were here for a Child Hunt, if the Loptyr priests had made it here for a Child Hunt… "Oh no."
"...They know where the city is. They know Oifeye and Shanan aren't here, likely." Ulster became more and more stoic with each word. Larcei tensed, and I just… I just slowly sank down, crouching, with my head in my hands. That was so obvious. That was so fucking obvious. But Seliph and I had been so rattled that we… "Do they know if we're here or…?"
"One of the children called our names. They recognized both of us. So, I don't know if they know we're here, but they were clearly looking." Each word intensified the guilt and shame. "I am the most idiotic person in all of Jugdral."
"I'd argue all of us are, for not thinking more about why only children within a certain age range were taken, when younger ones would've been easier to lure away." He stood up, brushing some of the wolf fur off of his shirt. Hestia rolled onto her feet, sensing the tension in the air. "Though, maybe the adults thought of that." Ulster sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Come on. We'll go see someone. Better to make sure."
"Right…" Slowly, I stood back up. I could beat myself up over this later. Right now, we had to… "Outside. Let's run."
However, as the three of us made it outside, Hestia next to me and eager for the run, we saw Seliph and Lana rushing back down the path. And, in the distance, we heard a bell. A high pitched bell frantically clanging. We'd never heard it before, but we knew what it meant. Soldiers were here. We're under attack. And, as Lana and Seliph slid to a stop right in front of us, we knew… we knew what was about to happen.
"Well, there's no Oifeye here," Seliph pointed out softly. The guilt in his eyes told me he'd realized the same thing I had, probably as soon as the soldiers had appeared. "There's no Shanan. There's no Aideen; she's in the infirmary." Seliph looked all of us in the eye. "What's our decision? What do we do?" Did we run as we had done in the past? Or did we…?
"We knew this day was coming," Larcei whispered. Though she was mostly serious, she was also vibrating with excitement. "We've always known it. If they're here, then let's meet them, head on. All the way. I'm tired of running."
"We're all tired of running," Ulster agreed quietly. He closed his eyes and nodded. "Shanan did ask that we keep an eye on you, Seliph, but it seems like the best way to do that at this point…"
"Is to fight alongside. All of us."
"Exactly."
"...Hestia, go help Aideen," I ordered, kneeling down to look her in the eye. She whimpered and licked my nose. "I know, sweetie, but we'll be fine. I'm worried Aideen will need your help keeping the injured safe." She licked my face and nuzzled my cheek before reluctantly loping off, heading off the path. "Good girl."
"Well, that's Riona's answer," Lana noted with a small amount of sarcasm. She smiled nervously, but nodded. "But I agree. We owe the people of Tirnanog far too much to simply run."
"This is our home. Isaach is our home. We should protect it, at least."
"Yes, I agree as well," Seliph whispered. He looked at all of us and smiled bravely. His hands shook, though. I knew he was scared. Honestly, we all were. But… "Well, let's change into clothes better suited for fighting. I doubt wolf hair is going to scare them much."
"They never had to brush a wolf," Ulster instantly deadpanned. That startled laughter out of all of us. "Let's move quickly then."
Inside was a bit of a whirlwind of motion, mostly because we all accidentally kept crashing into each other in our haste to get to our rooms. But, eventually, I made it to mine and I headed for where my practice clothes were. Then I paused and instead went to my closet, to the dress hidden in the back there, carefully out of sight. This was something Creidne and Muirne had made me, as they had done for Larcei, for 'when' we were allowed to fight. I didn't want to fight my first real battle in just any sort of clothes. I wanted to wear the clothes they had lovingly made me, as a reassurance that they knew, one day, we would fight too.
So, I quickly changed into it, the long blue dress with slits up the side to allow freer movement. I found a pair of white and gold boots, a little fancier than my normal boots but still well made and easy to fight in, and put on my belt. It took a bit to find gloves, but eventually, I found some white, fingerless ones to pull on. Satisfied, I went to get my steel blade, but then a thought wormed its way into my head, one I couldn't let go. So, as I braided my hair back, I snuck over to Shanan's room to see if… well, he had left with a simple steel blade, something the average mercenary would carry. That meant he had left his silver blade, the one Dad had given him, here. And it was easy to find, just sitting there by the nightstand. So easy, in fact, that I had to wonder if Shanan had left it out, just in case.
Regardless, I tied off my braid and picked up the blade, noticing it was the same weight as the steel blade. After a moment, I popped it partially out of the sheathe and stared at it, absently noting my distorted reflection in the blade. Then I fully sheathed it again, and hooked it onto my belt. "Dad, I hope you don't mind…" I whispered. I mean; I was technically stealing it from Shanan. But I… "I'd like to at least pretend you're helping me through this."
With a weapon acquired, I left Shanan's room and quietly shut the door. Then I checked the kitchen area to see if anyone else was done. Finding no one, I decided to check on the others. Starting with Seliph because his was the closest. That all said, when I did step in, I had to stare for a moment. After all, he was mostly done getting dressed, save for one thing I couldn't quite believe.
"You're wearing a cape?" I asked dryly, leaning against the door frame. Seliph barely even looked at me. "A cape? Really?"
"It's Grannvelian," he protested. Still, he was struggling a bit to actually get it on. "I thought it would be important. Noticeable or something."
"Ugh, this is painful to watch." So, after sighing, I came over to help. And almost immediately got frustrated with it. "Why is Grannvelian clothing so complicated?"
"I am literally the last person to ask. I've never been. None of us have."
"Okay, true." It took a moment to realize just what we were doing wrong. "Oh, wait, this part is supposed to go over your head."
"It is?" He made a few funny noises as I wrestled it over his head. "Hey, more warning!"
"Sorry?" Still, once we got that on, it wasn't too hard to figure out how to set it up with the shoulder armor things. "Think I've got it from here. You fix your hair."
"Thanks."
We'd just gotten the cape on properly when the others jumped into the room, all ready to go as well. Larcei tossed me my practice armor and winked when she noticed that, just like her, she was wearing the clothes Creidne and Muirne had made, purple to my blue. Lana was wearing a surprisingly nice dress, though one that was also among the easiest to clean, and a scarf around her waist to act as a belt for her medicinal pack. Ulster was probably dressed the simplest, in regular practice clothes and armor, but when he noticed how 'fancy' we were, he just laughed.
"Unlike the rest of you, I'm patient," he teased. The rest of us shrugged and laughed, with Lana helping me with the practice armor. Only Larcei, Ulster, and I wore any, unless one counted Seliph's shoulder pieces. I hoped it would be okay. I hoped Larcei and Ulster would be fine with their steel blades. "Lana wants to grab a staff from her mother's room. Any other place?"
"Just one," Seliph murmured. He tied a headband on, as he always did for training. But we weren't 'training' anymore. "Oifeye's room."
"Sure."
We made it to Aideen's room easily and Lana actually seized a couple of staves. Then we stepped into Oifeye's room and looked around for what we knew Seliph was looking for: the silver sword Oifeye had received from Sigurd. Oifeye stopped using it once we moved to Tirnanog and kept it hidden. Too painful. But we were able to find it, via Lana finding the loose floorboard under the bed and Larcei wiggling underneath to fetch it. Seliph took it with a trembling hand and partially unsheathed it to check how it was. The shining gleam proved it was in perfect condition, showing that while Oifeye hadn't used it, he had taken care of it. So, Seliph sheathed it and attached it to his belt. Ready. We were all ready, and that was when the weight of what we had decided really hit us. The Mythical Someday… it was today. Diarmuid and Lester were going to be mad we started off without them, but we couldn't turn away. We couldn't run away. We were tired. Tired letting Grannvale simply do what they wanted. Tired of letting other people die for our safety.
Still, we were uneasy. It would be our first real battle, the first battle of the 'war' we had always known we'd fight. For Larcei, Ulster, and Lana, it would also be the first real fight they'd had. So, we all reached out and pulled each other into a group hug, giving each other as much support and comfort as we could. One last moment before we leapt through destiny's doors and made our own path from the mess.
Tirnanog's bell continued ringing, hinting that the church had turned into some sort of sanctuary, as well as an infirmary. Aside from that, there was fighting abound and small fires hinting where the soldiers had tried to drive people into ambushes, but failed to get anything too far thankfully. Not so thankfully, from what bits I could see here, everyone who could pick up a weapon had and everyone was fighting for their lives. I could see the dead sprawled out in the bloody streets and was afraid to look closer. I'd seen dead before, in the infirmary and over the long run to Tirnanog. But this just… felt different. And I was scared. I was really scared. But we had to do this. I knew we had to.
"I hope Hestia made it through all this safely," I whispered, pressed against the wall of a house on the edge of town. All of us were hiding, trying to figure out how to actually… you know… enter a battle. We'd never done that before. "It sounds like it's still going strong." It would've been hilarious if, after all that build up, the battle was over before we got here. But, at the same time… "What are we going to do?"
"That's a good question," Seliph murmured. He frowned a bit, thinking, while the rest of us tried to not fidget. I swore Lana had counted her medicines twenty times by now. "Well, we could always just go with what Larcei will pick."
"Charge?"
"Yep."
"Hey!" Larcei instantly snapped, stomping her foot even. The rest of us started laughing. "That isn't… I mean…"
"It's exactly what your suggestion would've been," Ulster pointed out. Larcei's scowl just made it all the funnier. "With that said, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but with that said, I think I agree."
"You do?" Larcei instantly lit up, but then she looked over at Lana, who awkwardly waved because she was part of the reason why we were so hesitant at stepping in. She hadn't learned how to fight yet. She'd had her hands full learning how to heal. "But Lana…"
"That's why." Ulster smiled slightly. "You three will draw attention, and I'll help Lana through while you keep them occupied. That'll get Lana to a place to set up a field infirmary."
"Oh. Yeah, that'll work." Larcei drew her blade, and Ulster, Seliph, and I followed her. My heart was pounding into my ribs. This was… "Okay. So let's…"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Lana insisted suddenly. She tugged my sleeve until I bent down slightly and then kissed my cheek. "I've seen resistance members do this a lot." She went to Larcei and Seliph to kiss their cheeks too. "It's for good luck! I'll give you one later, Ulster."
"You're the sweetest!" I laughed, mostly because Larcei was too busy giggling, Seliph was smiling, and it was hard to tell if Ulster was stoic or sulking. But then I got a mischievous thought and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "You just want a good excuse to kiss Ulster on the cheek." She quickly mimed for quiet, proving me completely right, and I kissed her head. "You're the best."
"Make sure you come for checkups after the battle!" She gave us all stern looks before smiling. "I'll see you then. Good luck!"
With that, Seliph, Larcei, and I rushed into town, splitting up fairly quickly on accident-purpose. I headed down the market path, wincing at the beautiful stalls that were splintered and ransacked. I tried to ignore the blood I saw, and the bodies. Instead, I focused on everything else, reminding my turning stomach that the smell was nothing worse than what I'd dealt with in the infirmary, and then made a sharp turn when I heard the sounds of active battle close. As I came up on the fight, I discovered it was a group of resistance fighters, led by Creidne, fighting off some soldiers. And she was doing a damn good job of it, seeing the bodies by her feet. But she wasn't recovered. She still had her injuries, bleeding through the bandages, and the trauma was still fresh. She was fighting a battle on two fronts, both physical and mental, and it was hurting her performance. So, as I closed the gap, I saw one soldier disarm Creidne and another grab her arm with a vicious, sickening smirk...
"Get the hell away from her!" And I slipped the silver blade up and under the chestplate of the soldier holding Creidne to bypass the ribs. "Damn bastards!" I snapped, twisting the blade out and kicking the body away as it fell. A different one grabbed me, but I stepped close to ram my knee into their groin as hard as I could, and when they fell, I stabbed them through the face. "Tired of all you!" I brought the blade in front of me, glaring at the remaining soldiers, and part of me wondered if I'd messed up some sort of strategy. Some sort of plan or something.
But the resistance fighters near suddenly cheered and fought the remaining soldiers with renewed fervor. At first, it startled me, but it soon became obvious why this was happening. They'd been waiting for this day. They were excited today was the day we finally joined the battles. So, despite how scared I was, I kept up a grim smile and confident smirk. No matter how much my knees wanted to shake or I wanted to collapse and be sick from all the smells and blood, I held firm and didn't let myself slump.
Quickly, I hunted for the person with the fanciest armor, guessing whoever it was would be the leader. Noting they were towards the back, I slowly walked towards them, doing my absolute best to channel Hestia in all her predator-glory, the 'back off if you want to live' aura. It seemed to have the intended effect, seeing as soldiers stumbled back to keep away from me and gave me a very clear path. The leader-soldier snarled at me, brandishing their sword as if that could intimidate me. And, to be fair, it did. But I wouldn't let it show. Not in front of the people who had their hopes answered today. In fact, I felt I had to continue to inspire them and match this leader in intimidation.
"Well, I have always wanted to try this…" I whispered. Slowly, I ran my free hand over my blade, bringing fire to my fingertips. It was… incredibly difficult to get the fire to wrap around the blade, even more to hold it. This wasn't very efficient at all and was very stupid. But the look of horror on the leader-soldier's face just before I sunk the fiery blade into their neck meant that at least the intimidation part had worked. Though I did lose all concentration when I ripped my sword out. As the flames flickered away from the blade, the smell of burnt flesh filled the air, but there was no blood. The flames had cauterized it. "Okay. Good to know. Don't do that again." Not worth the drain, really. Not for a full on battle. Maybe a duel. Maybe.
"Lady Riona!" one resistance fighter called. I turned and tried to not freeze when they all saluted. Including a smiling Creidne. She was the only one I could think of a name for at the moment. My mind was totally blank. "Orders?"
"For now, let's find the main part of the fighting," I answered after a moment. I was proud that my voice didn't shake and that I didn't trip over the words. "If we can take out their leader, we can circle around and crush the rest." The resistance members nodded sharply and raced down the road, towards the town's entrance. Only Creidne remained. "So… uh… I hope I didn't mess anything up…"
"Nope, you didn't," she reassured, laughing a little. She looked me over carefully and I fidgeted with my dangling earring nervously. And wondered if there was blood on it now and how easy it would be to clean. "It looks nice on you. Good. I thought the color would suit you." She smiled proudly at me, but there was some sadness to it. "You're going to fight."
"Yes, because we're tired of people suffering while we stay safe." I reached out and brushed her hair out of her face. I winced when I smeared blood across her cheek, but she just continued to smile. "It's time we returned the favor."
"I understand." She ruffled my hair. "Better keep up, then."
"You know it." I smiled, doing my best to keep up the brave face. For her especially, I wouldn't falter. "Let's see if you can catch me!" Then I was off, following the others, with Creidne only a step behind.
We found another fight before long and we crashed into the soldiers like a wave. During the fighting, I tried to activate Luna, but couldn't quite manage it. Shanan was right. It took a lot of skill to find the right mindset to activate Luna while in the middle of fighting for your life. So, instead, I just focused on fighting as 'normal', while rallying the soldiers when I noticed them flagging. Smiles, encouragement, quick pats on the back… anything I could think of, really. It seemed to work. They fought with a little more vigor at least.
At some point during the fight, I ended up back to back with Ulster. Wasn't sure when he got near, but hey, person. "Where's Lana?" I asked, taking that moment to breathe. "She safe?"
"She's over there," Ulster answered, gesturing vaguely in a direction. Still, I managed to find her fairly quickly, skillfully tending to people while others guarded her. Only those who knew her well would be able to tell how frazzled she was; anyone else would just see the perfect healer demeanor. "Deimne and Dalvin were guarding her, but Dalvin's injuries reopened, and Deimne took a bad hit. They went with Muirne to the infirmary. She's been helping escort the badly wounded."
"Makes sense." I glanced around, wondering who else was near. I barely saw Seliph a distance away, leading the way towards someone in the back. Probably the leader. "This is such a mess."
"Isn't it?" He laughed tiredly, leaning on me slightly. "Been trying to use Astra. Managed only one."
"Better than me." Thankfully, there weren't any heavily armored folk here. Just basic soldiers. I'd just really wanted to use it for morale. "You know; it occurs to me only now that we don't have a lot of variety in our weaponry."
"Swords, swords, and oh look, more swords."
"With some bows here and there to break the monotony." I nudged him with my elbow, still not turning around. "Hey, you've Neir blood. You can do axes. Be totally hot."
"Don't make me laugh!" Still he laughed anyway, and I noticed the resistance fighters nearby perked up at the sound. "Back to it."
"Yes." And we pushed off each other for that little extra boost to cut down the next fighters.
Again and again, I killed. It felt like I'd been killing forever, and after a while, I just fell into well worn habits, brought on from training, too tired to think about anything. Too tired to be scared. Too tired to be anything but calm. Too tired to care about the people I killed. The resistance fighters talked of how 'killing got easier' the more you did it. I wondered if it got easier because you just got too tired to care.
I set one annoying soldier's clothes on fire and whirled to cut off their head while they were distracted. Nearby, I finally saw Larcei, blocking a blade with her bare arm before shoving her sword up under her enemy's chin to sever the neck. She brushed her hair behind her ear and checked her arm, bleeding but not cut off as it probably should've been. Neir blood, however, strengthened the body to resist physical damage. So, I caught her eye and mouthed 'show off' to her. She rolled her eyes and nodded to the smoldering clothes of the soldier I'd just killed. I shrugged, pretending to be innocent, and she actually laughed.
That laughter was soon drowned out by cheers of triumph. We all turned towards the entrance of Tirnanog, where Seliph had just killed the enemy general. The remaining soldiers fell quickly and easily, too distracted and uncoordinated without their leader. It wasn't long afterwards that the battle itself ended, with Tirnanog damaged but recoverable. Victory. Our first battle was a total victory and everyone wanted to celebrate. We stayed for the celebrations, but as soon as we could get away, we did, both to throw up until we dry heaved and to get out of the bloodstained clothes.
But we did it. We took those first steps. No turning back now.
Dinner that night was basically spiced broth because our stomachs couldn't handle anything more. While Larcei made that, Lana whipped up some ginger concoctions and I handled the traditional warm milk with honey. Seliph and Ulster tended to the weapons and practice armor, and did a special bit of laundry for the clothes we'd worn during the fight. Hestia returned while the clothes soaked, with a note from Aideen stating she'd be late at the church, and Seliph and Ulster washed and brushed her. Once everything was ready, and the clothes were out drying, we forewent the table and just sat around the fireplace to eat and drink. Lana and I curled up against Hestia. I wanted my wolf and Lana wanted the extra comfort. Field infirmaries were rough, and it had been the first time she'd run one.
"We'll have to march soon," Seliph whispered, some time after we finished eating. We were all nursing one of the drinks, but it was hard to tell which one was which. It wasn't like we'd coordinated the mugs. "They sent soldiers to what had to be a blindspot, and then they don't come back. Obvious what happened."
"Best that we push forward to continue using that surprise," Ulster sighed, stretching out his neck. He winced as the gesture irritated his pulled muscle. All of us were dealing with muscle strain. I swore I could feel my heartbeat through my whole body, all the way to my feet. "If we're lucky, we might be able to secure… damn, can't remember the name."
"Ganeishire. That's the closest castle." Seliph finished whichever drink he had and tried to lay back. However, he bumped my knee on accident. "Oh, sorry…"
"Here, just use my lap," I replied, shifting him so that he could. He took the invitation easily and I absently played with his hair. "How far is it from here?"
"It's easily a week's ride, if not more," Lana answered, shifting to rest her head on my shoulder. Since Lester actually owned one of the few horses, she had more knowledge about them than, say, the rest of us. "But we'll be walking. And battling."
"So, anyone know how much food we'll need?" What did you even need for a march? No one had ever taught us anything like that. "We're clearly on top of things."
"And we have to calculate all that to include all the people who come with us…" Lana sighed, whimpering a little. "I'm going to be working nonstop with medicines."
"Well, we can make them too," Larcei did point out. Perhaps jealous of all the cuddling, she crawled over to lay down in Lana's lap. Lana reached down to run her hands through Larcei's hair, carefully picking apart the tangles. "We won't let you do it alone."
"That said, we'll have a lot of work ahead, running the army, right?" Ulster pointed out. He fidgeted a bit and Seliph waved him over. With a sheepish smile, he joined the cuddle-group, using my legs. Hestia, noticing that all her humans were near, yawned and curled a little more around us. "How do you run an army?"
"Damn, do any of us know that?" Total. Silence. "Ugh… damn it, why wasn't any of this in our lessons? What are we going to do?"
"Maybe we should've waited."
"With the city burning? What else were we supposed to do?" Larcei reached over and prodded Ulster's cheek. "They came after us. We didn't go after them. We just..."
"We'll figure something out, I suppose," Seliph murmured. He closed his eyes, looking a little green. It was obvious why. He would be the leader of the whole damn thing. "But the food thing is definitely…"
"Being tended to by those who know what they're doing." All of us yelped and scrambled up when we heard Aideen's voice, involving no small few amount of bumping heads and accidental kicks in our haste. "Good, I did manage to make it back before you went to sleep," she giggled, smiling softly at us. She wore a different dress than she had this morning, and her hair was still damp from a wash. "I was a bit worried."
"Ah, Aideen…" Seliph looked around at all of us and we all awkwardly squirmed. This was… uh… something we forgot to consider. Oops. "We were… um…"
"I know." Her smile saddened. "You weren't wrong. I always knew the day would come where you'd march off to war. After all, the people of Isaach have done so much for us. I always knew that you all would eventually wish to do all you could to help them. I only have myself to blame for that; I did raise you."
"Aideen…"
"I had hoped that, on that day, I could come with you to help. But there are too many injured here. Muirne, the dear, can't tend to the survivors of the labor camp on her own, especially with everything else." Her smile began wobbling and she looked down to try and hide her tears. I felt my heart break at the sight. Lana outright winced. "You have to promise to come back, though. I… I won't let you leave unless you promise to…"
All of us, in near unison, raced over to hug her, nearly tripping over Hestia in the process. This had to be the absolute worst for her. Duty dictated she remain behind while loved ones marched off to war. Again. The last time it happened, no one came back, not even her husband or twin sister. Now, though, the children she had raised, the children whose every illness and injury she had tended to, the children she had held when there were nightmares… we were leaving.
"We'll come back, Mother," Lana whispered. It seemed best that she'd say the words. "We promise." Slowly, we all pulled away and let Aideen calm down. "Hey, have you eaten? We just made some broth, but we can make something for you!" The others raced about to do just that, and to clean up so that we could sit with her while she ate, to have a 'dinner' together before we left.
I, however, lingered a bit, waiting for Aideen to completely calm down before I whispered, "I know we never said this enough growing up, but thank you, Aideen." I smiled at her as warmly as I could. "Thank you, for being our 'mother'. Thanks to you and Oifeye… well, we missed our parents, but we didn't feel like we were missing something. We had a mother. We had a father. Our family was odd, but it was still family." I hugged her tightly again, fighting back tears. Aideen just began crying again. Whoops? "And we're going to come back, triumphant, and we'll escort you to Jungby, so that you can see it again. And anywhere else you'd like to go. We'll pay you back-"
"Oh, goodness, don't talk of paying back." Even through the tears, she managed the perfect 'mom' tone and 'mom' look. "You 'paid me back' by giving me utter joy," she scolded, hugging me back just as tightly. "You all gave me a reason to live after I lost everything. You all taught me how to laugh and be happy again." She cupped my face and smiled as I lost the fight with my own tears. "So, no talk of 'pay back'. You all have done that your entire lives, and I have enjoyed every second of it."
"O-okay…" I wished I could be more elegant, or eloquent, but now, I was just blubbering. "We'll miss you."
"And I you. That's why you all must come back." She kissed my forehead and helped dry my tears. I had a feeling we'd be saying our goodbyes privately in the morning to hide all of our crying. "Ah! I need to finish making those clothes."
"Clothes?" I frowned a bit and then looked at the others. They'd stopped what they were doing to look at her oddly too. Amusingly, even Hestia, still by the fire looked, confused. "What clothes?"
"Well, as I said, I've known this day was coming for a while. So I've been making you all clothes to wear while you were away." She giggled, face lighting up with a smile again. All of us just… stared. "I know you'll eventually have to change them out for newer ones, if only for the seasons, but I-WAH!" And all of us tackle-hugged her again, though we were careful to make sure a couple of us were behind her to not knock her to the ground. Because how else could you react to the best mother ever?
We would return. We would return to our family here. It hurt to leave. But we just… we just couldn't take it anymore. We were tired of standing by and watching others die. The stories might say we were 'chosen' or something, but we knew we weren't. If we were 'chosen', it was by the people who needed hope.
Oifeye had once described the Belhalla Massacre being the day the world grew dim, and being a little less bright. I'd heard others say that Deirdre's assassination was the day the light disappeared. But no, it didn't. It lived on, with us, because the people around us had raised us with love and care. They had raised us and showed us what it meant to be a 'hero'. Now, we stepped up to the task everyone else gave, to live up to their expectations.
No pressure, right?
Seliph
Class: Lord; Skills: Pursuit, Nihil, Leadership
The 20 year old son of Sigurd of Chalphy, and Deirdre of the Spirit Forest (Diadora of Belhalla). He has mixed feelings on his mother, both loving and hating her for… everything, but he's rather curious about his half-siblings and hopes he can meet them under peaceful circumstances.
Has Holy Marks for Baldr and Naga, with the Major Baldr taking the form of a wing on the left side of his back and the Minor Naga being a smaller 'wing' near the top, giving the impression of a partially unfurled wing. Their blessings gives him a significant boost to stamina and the ability to take damage, as well as boosts to his strength, skill, luck, magical power, and resistance to magic. Due to his Naga blood, he is capable of conjuring globes and bursts of light of varying intensities. Due to his Baldr blood, his body is capable of drawing more strength from his muscles than typical and his sight is quite keen, giving him an edge in determining where a person is moving.
Though Oifeye has given him basics in knightly combat, Shanan was his primary teacher and emphasized a more pragmatic way of fighting, a style often considered at odds with his gentle demeanor. It's suspected that Shanan emphasized the pragmatic way of fighting out of a desire to try and give Seliph as different fighting style from Sigurd… and hopefully not meet the same fate.
Is honestly absolutely terrified of marching out to war and about killing people, to the point that no small part of him does wish they'd ran. However, despite his fear, he resolves himself to it as he is tired of Grannvale's tyranny and the devastation it has left behind. That his friends stand by him gives him the courage to continue with his resolve, and inspires him to match them
Author's notes: Having Seliph (and Riona) come across a child hunt comes from the Fuyuki Manga. Aideen making clothes for the group before they leave comes from the Oosawa manga (because apparently, my notes like to remind me that I don't know everything off the top of my head since I swore was done with Oosawa influences at this point… whoops?). In-Game, Aideen is briefly mentioned in the sibling talk between Lana and Lester (every pair of siblings gets their own talk, and yield a +1 luck for the sister) at staying in the covent and that's about it. There is nothing in-game that calls Balmung any sort of name (like how Mystletainn is known as the 'Demon Sword'), but I picked Phantasmal Blade for the boosts it gives, it being connected to very dodgy swordmasters, and for its Noble Phantasm name in the Fate Universe (Balmung: Phantasmal Greatsword, Felling of the Sky Demon).
As a bit of a reminder, characters don't necessarily know everything that's going on in the world. That's part of the fun. I am assuming that Diadora's amnesia wasn't something widely spread to avoid unsavory people lying and taking advantage of the situation. (It shows up often in Memoirs of Belhalla because that's written in her POV and she's interacting with people she trusts.) As a result, none of the Tirnanog group has any idea why Deirdre would marry Arvis when she was already married to Sigurd, or why she'd 'abandon' her son.
Luna is a sword skill that, well, relies on skill to use, so here's the justification for why (since I established it to be more like an ability that can be activated). 'The Light Lives On' is an alternate title for Game-Chapter 6, though I'm not sure it was ever used in the translation patches. It continues on from the last words of Gen1 in game ('And the light…'). Light Inheritors is the name you'll see in most translations nowadays, hence the title. (Technically, I think Ulster and Larcei start with iron blades + inherited items, but I switched it to steel.)
Leadership actually isn't a 'skill', but rather a mechanic I'm listing under skills for ease. Leadership stars have appeared in three Fire Emblem games to date: FE4, FE5, and FE10. They work a bit differently in each of the games, though the basics are the same: boosting hit and skill. In FE4, a single star simply denotes a leader, while each one after that boosts the hit and evasion of characters within 3 spaces by 10% each (this includes the leader). Both Sigurd and Seliph have leadership stars, with Sigurd having two (thus giving a 10% boost to hit and evasion to those within 3 spaces) and Seliph… well, that's interesting. When you first enter Gen2, Seliph will have two like Sigurd, but once you reset and load the game, he'll have three (thus giving a 20% boost to both hit and evasion). Since leadership stars act a bit like the charisma skill, so I decided to put it under 'skills'. Speaking of Charisma (or Charm. I always forget the localization dubbed it 'charm'), Diarmuid inherits it from Lachesis (it's her personal skill), hence the comment about Diarmuid being charming and all. (Gen2, aka when i actually talk about the parent's skills because Alicia didn't care but Riona does.)
Larcei and Riona are more or less wearing the same battle outfit that Ayra did, with their own personal changes (like color in Riona's case). Everyone else pretty much wears their official art's outfits for this first battle. (I felt I had to have Riona wonder about the cape, mostly to help highlight the differences between countries, and you have no idea how tempted I was to put in an Incredibles reference.)
Neir boosts defense growths (meaning that the murder twins, aka Larcei and Ulster, will be ridiculously dodge and tanky if Lex is their dad due to a 60% defense growth and being myrmidons). Baldr blood gives boosts to HP, strength, skill, and luck (20% for HP, and then 10 each for the rest), while Naga blood gives boosts to HP (10%), magic (20), and resistance (20). Since Seliph is Major Baldr, his boosts from Baldr get doubled. (There is no physical description for the luck boost as I could not think of a way to physically show that. Also, standard note, bare-arm blocks typically result in you losing the arm or at least use of the arm or some kind of major damage. It is used here solely as a representation of how the Holy Blood separates your units from those without Holy Blood.)
Also have the first of the inherited items, with Seliph getting Sigurd's silver sword from Oifeye (indirectly), and Riona getting the silver blade Chulainn passed to Shanan. (Shanan's starting inventory is a steel blade, which I decided to keep since he gets his best weapon in a talk two seconds later anyway.)
Next Chapter - Together
