"Okay, Soren, what have you got so far?" Ike asked through his computer webcam.
The sullen mage's usually solemn face cracked in a grin. "I've got tons of dirt on the major enemies from all the games. Hold on a moment while I get my phone."
"Since when does Soren have a phone?" Ike asked Roy as Soren got up and left.
"Since a while ago. A Raspberry or something."
"Soren got a BlackBerry?" Marth gasped. "Whoa."
"Actually, that's exactly the kind of phone that I view him with..." Ike mused. He smiled again at his brilliant idea to have Soren do all the work, which killed two birds with one stone. Soren was always happy to do research, and Ike and the other Lords didn't have to do the dirty work.
"I've never seen Soren this happy before," Roy said.
"Seeing Ike may have pulled him out of the taint," Celice said quietly. "Maybe happiness is all one needs..."
"Okay. Here's what I've got," Soren said, coming into the webcam's view with his smartphone in hand. "Which continent first?"
"In order. Akeneia first," Marth said.
"Alright, then. Here's what I've got on Akeneia," Soren said, glancing at the screen of his BlackBerry. "Excluding Medeus, of course, there are three-no, four possible candidates. One is Gharnef, the evil dark mage who resurrected Medeus and led to Hardin's corruption."
Marth ground his teeth together. "I expected no less. Who else?" Marth felt another nagging thought in the back of his mind, but ignored it.
"King Hardin of Akeneia is a prime suspect. I believe everyone knows full well who he is and what the treacherous deeds he has committed are."
The four Lords nodded. Marth's eyes took on a murderous light.
"The third most likely is Michalis, Prince of Medon."
Ike and Celice frowned.
"I'm not familiar with him," Celice said.
"Me either," Ike said.
"He was-or is-a highly ambitious man who killed his father to ascend to the throne. He would definitely be all for the idea of ruling over the Universe."
"Who else could there be?" Roy wondered aloud.
"A newcomer, Eremiya. She was a kindhearted caretaker of orphans until Gharnef twisted her soul, turning her into a cold-hearted tyrant who raises orphans to become assassins. In this case, the number-one man on her hit list is Marth."
"Great. So I have no homeland, but I somehow get to have four potential surviving enemies from my world." Marth rested his chin on his hand.
"Five, if you count Medeus," Ike said glumly. Marth and Celice shuddered.
"Poor Sasha. He probably had to revive all of them," Celice said. "And then heal me."
"He didn't have to revive Hardin," Marth pointed out. "Anyway-Soren, go on."
"Thank you," the crimson-eyed mage said irritably. "From Celice's continent, we only have one contender, thankfully."
"Yurius," Celice hissed. Marth, Roy, and Ike were mildly shocked. Celice seemed like the kind of person who never got angry, but now it looked like he wanted to rip someone's head off. The murderous light had disappeared from Marth's eyes and landed in Celice's.
"Yes, Yurius. The Prince of Darkness himself. Apparently, in revival, his soul combined entirely with that of Loptous."
"What's that, an illness?" Ike asked.
"Loptous is the god of darkness," Celice said through clenched teeth. "He possessed Yurius when he was younger, causing him to murder my mother." Celice bowed his head until his eyes were covered by his hair. "He would have killed Yuria, too, if my mother hadn't warped her to safety."
"Loptous and Yurius are now one complete being," Soren explained. "Even when Yurius isn't completely possessed, his soul is still tainted. In other words, he acts of his own will, but not the way he would have acted before he was possessed."
"And when he is possessed...?" Roy asked.
Soren shuddered. "You don't want to know."
"At least it's only one from Jugdral," Ike said, trying to up everyone's confidence. "Who else?"
"From Elibe, Nergal and Zephiel."1
"Typical," Roy said dismissively. Celice and Marth felt a bit annoyed that he hadn't gotten as angry as they had. "I can take Zephy, and Lyn can take Nergal."
"Glad to see that you're confident," Soren said dryly. "From Magvel, we have Prince Lyon of Grado. He has a similar case as Yurius, but a different path. He delved too deeply into dark magic and forbidden spells and wound up getting possessed by the Demon King, Fomortiis. At the end of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Lyon died and Fomortiis was destroyed, but now Lyon has been resurrected with Fomortiis's soul in him. He acts like Yurius, too-not completely possessed, but still cruel and not like his old self at all."
"That does sound a lot like Yurius's case," Marth remarked. "Who else?"
"That's it. All the major enemies from Ike's game were already defeated."
"What about the Black Knight?" Ike said in a hard voice.
"Apparently, no one got around to him," Soren said with a tight, wicked smile. "No regrets there..."
"That's still a lot," Celice said sharply. Speaking about Yurius had apparently touched a nerve of the normally quiet, mild-mannered Lord. "That's eight. And it's probably all of them are there."
"Unfortunately, you're probably right," Soren said. "Is that all you needed, Ike?"
"Yes, Soren. Thank you. I'll talk to you later." Ike switched his webcam off.
"Damn that Yurius," Celice muttered under his breath. "Killed my mother. Tried to kill Yuria." Celice lifted his head up. The Lords were shocked to see tears running down his cheeks. "And on top of that, his father killed my father."
"Why would he kill your mother?" Roy asked.
Celice gulped. "Because... because... I don't know." Two more tears rolled down Celice's cheeks. "She was his mother, too."
"He's your brother?" Ike asked incredulously.
"Half-brother," Celice snarled. "Thank the Lord and all that is holy that we don't have the same father." Celice took a deep breath. "Alvis."
"He's the one who killed your father?" Marth asked sympathetically.
"Betrayed him, denounced him as a traitor, and then incinerated him. After stealing my mother from him, of course."
Celice abruptly stood up. "Excuse me," he said quickly as he left.
Ike, Marth, and Roy were shocked. Never before had they seen Celice this upset. Marth and Roy were even more surprised when Ike volunteered to go talk to him.
...
Ike found Celice sitting on his bed in a fetal position, with his head buried in his knees. Ike sat down next to him. He remembered with a start that he had experienced almost the exact same situation not too long ago. Except for now he wasn't comforting his best friend. He was comforting someone whom he had previously hated.
"Hey," Ike said lamely. Celice didn't respond. Ike could hear him crying.
"Look," Ike said huskily. "That... that's really sad. I didn't know that... that you'd been through all that."
Celice still didn't respond.
"You know, I saw my father die right in front of me," Ike said quietly. Celice finally lifted up his head.
"Really?" He whispered, his voice cracking.
"Yes." Ike let out a long, quivering sigh. "It was a cloudy night. I remember that. And my father... this huge man dressed in black armor challenged him to a battle. It was such a short battle. The man... h-he stabbed my father... and I saw it all... and then he left... and I... I had to carry my father back to..." Ike broke off. Celice was staring up at him with wide eyes.
"Oh, Ike... I'm so sorry..."
"Yours was worse," Ike replied. "Betrayed, falsely accused, and then... incinerated? Burned to death?"
Celice bowed his head a little. "I never knew him, Ike. I never spoke to him... at least not while he was alive. But you knew your father. You missed him. You can remember him, even now."
"Yeah..." the two Lords fell silent.
"Look," Ike said after a while. "I'm sorry. I've just been a real jerk to you ever since I met you, and I'm sorry. It's completely unfair to you. You're stuck in a place that you don't know, with weird things you've never seen, and... and Marth was right. Your life hasn't been all that great, especially in the family situation." Ike held out his hand. "Truce?"
Celice smiled and took Ike's hand without a second's hesitation. "Truce."
"Although I still think that incest is creepy."
I had a snow day today and felt guilty for doing NOOOOTHING all day, so here's a chapter! 1: If you don't know who Nergal and Zephiel are, please use the Fire Emblem Wiki. I really don't feel like 'splaining. See Marth's Story (Chapter 18) for more info on Hardin. Please review! PLEASE! It will make me happy! Being happy makes me want to write! And if I write, you get to read! So review!
