Rigged from the Start

Chapter 16

Murphy is Always Right

Is it bad that, in this moment; as I tiptoed closer and closer to a city that brimmed with legions of undead monsters hellbent on adding my scrawny corpse to their ranks; I was not focused on watching out for those monsters? Instead, I was hyper focused on the churning in my gut, the hammering beat of my heart, and the enormous urge to take a piss. That last part was probably due to fear. Once adrenaline actually kicked in, that would be remedied… somehow. Really only two ways for that to be fixed, neither very pleasant.

Yeah, it's probably a bad thing that I, as I pressed my back up against a blasted out section of Port Ferox's outer walls, was more focused on the building pressure in my bladder rather than my actual job. I mean, it's not exactly a new trend. My old job involved mostly walking and occasionally knocking on a door hoping for an answer so I could give a bad sales pitch. I got pretty good at focusing on other stuff during that time, and I also got very good at knowing when I needed to go.

Which I very nearly did when I felt a rough hand shove my shoulder, causing me to almost yelp. I slapped a hand over my mouth before I could, and Severa rolled her eyes at me.

"You're off in your head, aren't you?" She said with a scowl, "Gawds, it's as if you want us to die."

"Oh like I would want that." I hissed back, refocusing my attention on the mission in front of me.

My mouth felt dry as I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. It didn't work, my heart continued to pound faster in my chest, my breathing grew quicker, and now I wondered if I was going to start feeling a warm sensation running down my leg at some point.

And I don't have an extra set of pants with me. I shook my head and tapped my right temple with a finger, Focus Sam! Are there any Risen around?
My eyes scanned the darkness in the ruined city just past the wall me and Severa stood next to. So far, I saw nothing. No movement. The only sounds I heard were Severa's breathing, my own breathing, and the low moan of cold wind blowing through the empty city streets. Smoke billowed up into the starless night sky, but I could not see any flames. Probably a good thing. Less light for any Risen to see me.

Unless they can see in the dark? I swallowed hard as my hand tightened against the edge of the crumbling wall, Can they do that? Their eyes do glow and all.
Again I shook my head to refocus myself. Severa tapped me on the shoulder.

"Need me to take the lead, scout?" She asked, a hint of a taunt in her voice.

I frowned back at her, "N-no just… working up the nerve."

No better time than now I guess.

With a deep breath, I took one step forward, only for Severa to yank me back behind the wall by the hood of my cloak. A choking sound rushed from my lungs, which was quickly silenced by Severa slapping her gloved hand over my mouth and pinning me up against the wall, melding both of us into the shadows.

My eyes went wide as I noticed a patrol of Risen grunts, carrying axes and swords, lumbering along the blasted section of wall. Their rusted armor clanked in the silent night. The stench of rotten flesh hit my nose, and my eyes watered. Severa put a finger to her lips, and I nodded. She lowered her hand from my mouth and we both watched with bated breath as the patrol continued along the wall. Eventually, they finally passed us, giving us one brief opening to sneak into the city.

We rushed into the city together, praying that our footfalls would be muffled by the light blanket of blackened snow on the cobblestone roads within the city. Severa broke out in front of me, her superior athleticism easily apparent as she rushed towards a burnt out building and pressed her back against it, making sure to be hidden from the previous patrol we saw. A couple seconds later, I slammed into the wooden wall, wincing as some pain lanced through my shoulder.

"A little excited?" She asked, brow furrowed as she glanced back to the wall, making sure the patrol had not doubled back at all.

"Give me a break." I grunted, "I may be trained to do this, but this is still a first for me."

"Yeah?" Severa shrugged, "Well… me too."

I gulped, "We're fucked, aren't we?"

I actually managed to get a dry laugh from Severa with that one, "At this rate, if we make it to the Keep, I'll be pretty surprised." She turned away from the road we crossed and faced me, "You and Anna are sure Lucina would be in the Keep?"

I shrugged, "That's what Anna said. If she thought that, then I'm pretty sure Gaius thought the same."

"If he even made it that far." Severa muttered. Her left hand gripped her sword, fingers tapping the leather bound grip, "I guess that's where we need to go then. Remember though, Lucina comes first."

I opened my mouth to protest, but Severa raised a hand, silencing me.

"That was yours and Anna's mission in the first place, right? Rescue Lucina, that's the main objective. She's… well no offense to both of you, but she's more important. Besides, if Anna was in your position, what do you think she'd do?"

That was a hard question to answer, and one that caused some mixed feelings inside of me. I was completely unsure of what Anna would do. On one hand, I did feel like a bond had formed between us. I'm not entirely sure if I would call it a student and teacher bond, since Anna rarely conducted actual lessons and usually just gave me information at random whenever she felt like it (the one exception being combat, where she tended to just beat the shit out of me rather than give me any sort of technical lessons). All in all, our relationship did seem strange, but I liked to think there was a friendship there.

So was it bad that I had a feeling Anna would focus on Lucina and leave me behind if she was in my shoes? I mean, it made sense. Who was I in the grand scheme of things? A grunt, a scout, the disposable soldier meant to do the dangerous jobs because he couldn't lift a sword when training with Frederick.

That's depressing. I thought, frowning to myself, This place is giving me some bad thoughts.

Severa read the frown on my face, listened to my silence, and nodded.

"Exactly. Anna would do the same thing we're going to do. Now, get us to that Keep in one piece, Sam. Once inside… well… we'll figure it out from there."

I swallowed hard, and nodded. Thank God Severa was here to snap me into focus, otherwise my mind would absolutely wander. That's a bad habit I have. Whenever I get into high pressure situations, I tend to zone out. Call it a coping mechanism, call it a weak spine, call it being a space cadet, it was not helping me in this situation. Severa had the right amount of snarl and impatience to scare me back into focus. While not entirely pleasant, it worked in this situation.

Besides, I could not afford to fail now. For one, that would mean I'd be dead. Not an enticing option. Two: Anna, Lucina, and Gaius would definitely be dead then, since me and Severa were the only rescue party they were going to get. Finally, Severa would likely end up dead, and at that point… what would have been the point of all of this? It would be a catastrophic failure the likes of which would make my fears of getting bad grades in high school look miniscule by comparison.

Time to buckle down, Sam. I took a deep breath, smelling the heavy scent of burning wood, smoldering flames, and worst of all, decaying bodies. It took another deep breath to force the bile back down my throat as I got used to the sudden stench. With a final nod, I motioned for Severa to follow.

All of the blood, sweat, and literal tears led to this. The training wheels were off now, for lack of a better analogy. It was time for me to step up and save the day.

I need to save the day… I thought, blinking to myself as Severa followed me through the shadows, back alleys, and smoke filled streets of Port Ferox, What the hell happened for everyone to think that was our best option!?

As we snuck our way through the various streets and allies, I began to notice something peculiar. For a city supposedly housing the entirety of Grima's forces, it was very empty. There were several patrols Severa and I had to get by, but the patrols usually consisted of a handful of grunts that hardly paid attention to the shadows all around them, making it easy for us to sneak past them. If an entire army resided in this city, shouldn't there be… oh I don't know, evidence? Signs that an army exists here? Mass groups of Risen, maybe? Perhaps a dark mage or two? Instead, Severa and I found only silence, rubble, husks of buildings laid to waste by fire, and-

We turned a corner, and I nearly threw up everything in my stomach. We reached the town square that rested just before the Keep. Lying in the center of the sqaure, in a grotesque pile that stretched up into a tall pyramid, were bodies. Hundreds, and hundreds of bodies. Flies buzzed around the rotting corpses, dried blood caked dead flesh, and vacant eyes stared at me as Severa came to halt beside me.

"Naga above." She hissed, covering her mouth with her gloved hand.

Before I could say anything else, I heard noises coming from the street to our right. Consequences be damned in this instance. I yanked Severa by the back of her shit and pulled her into a ruined storefront. I dropped to a crouch, ducking beneath the shattered front window. Severa followed suit, but scowled at me the entire time.

Voices grew louder outside. I furrowed my brow and looked at Severa.

"Can Risen talk?" I whispered.

Severa shook her head, "Not that I'm aware of."

The voices grew louder, but I could not make out what they were saying. It was probably due to the adrenaline rushing through my veins, making blood pump through my ears at a rate that drowned out most small noises. I did venture a small peak over the low wall we hid behind. My stomach rolled at the sight of the bodies again. The rolling turned into a full blown flip as I saw the body of a small Feroxi child with a slit throat lying beneath a tangled mess of bloody limbs near the bottom of the pyramid.

I squeezed my eyes shut as my head swam, the image burning into my mind. For a second, I felt lightheaded. Then I felt myself tip over. Instincts took over, and my eyes shot open. I reached out, caught my falling body with my hand, and felt broken shards of glass dig into my open palm. I hissed, and Severa tensed beside me.

Instead of yelling, or screaming in pain, I bit my tongue hard. In books I read as a kid, the heroes always did that when they were in pain but could not afford to make noise. In reality, that hurts a fuck ton, and makes you more likely to scream some more. Thankfully, Severa acted, tore her glove off of her right hand, and shoved it into my bloody mouth as I opened it to howl.

My eyes conveyed my thanks to her, however teary eyed it might be. The grouchy redhead just rolled her eyes at me.

"You're a dumbass."

The sharp pain from biting my tongue began to subside, and it turned to a dull throb. I spat her glove from my mouth, felt hot blood pooling in my mouth, and spat it out as well.

"Heard it before." I said with grimace as my mind registered the glass digging into my palm. I hissed as I braced myself and attempted to dig the shards from my palm. I managed to get the large pieces out, but the smaller bits sank further into my hand. Unless Severa had a pair of tweezers hidden somewhere, they were not coming out anytime soon, "Are they gone?"

Severa glanced over the wall for a split second, then quickly ducked, eyes wide.

"All but one…" She glared at me, fear in her eyes, "I think he heard you."

I swallowed hard. An apology started to form on my lips, but I quickly shut myself up as light footsteps approached our hiding spot. I froze, Severa slowly reached for her sword. The metal quietly scrapped against her boiled, leather scabbard as she carefully started to draw the weapon from its sheath. She gave me a quiet nod, and I scrambled to grab the small dagger against my hip.

Before I could draw it, the enemy soldier leapt over the wall, dropped to crouch, and glared at us from behind a heavy headdress that disguised most of his face. His eyes widened when he saw us, then widened further as Severa yanked her blade from its sheath.

"Whoa, whoa!" The enemy said, reaching up with a gloved hand to the mess of cloth covering his head and face. He pulled some away, and I nearly cried.

"Gaius?" Severa asked, mouth agape.

"Holy shit." I breathed.

"Yeah, it's me." Gaius hissed, keeping his voice down. There was no carefree tone or demeanor to him now. There wasn't even a lollipop wedged between his lips, "What the hell are you two doing here?"

"What are you… what are you doing alive!?" Severa hissed back, "Why did you-"

"Getting to Lucy is a little more difficult than I thought." Gaius shot back, "And that's not the focus at the moment." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "What in the actual fuck are you two doing here? Where's Red? I thought she'd be keeping an eye on you, Lucky."

I swallowed hard, "W-well she was, but then Lissa gave her orders, I tagged along, then Severa, Owain, Cynthia, and Morgan stowed away and-"

"Oh fuck me sideways with the fattest lollipop in the world!" Gaius exclaimed. He ran a hand over his face, a long groan rushing from his mouth, "Lissa couldn't give me more time, Naga damn it." He shook his head, jaw working back and forth as he processed what I told him, "Where's everyone else?"

"Outside the city." I answered.

"With Red?" Gaius asked.

I winced, "Well, no, they-"

"Who is in charge then?" Gaius asked, gripping me by the shoulders, "Please for the love of Naga, tell me you did not… oh by the gods you two did."

Severa blinked, gasped, then muttered a curse under her breath. She bowed her head, shaking it as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"We're morons, Sam." She muttered.

"We are?" I sputtered back, "I mean- I knew I was, but you and Gaius-"

"Not Gaius. Us specifically." Severa sighed.

"You two left those crazy kids, the Justice Cabal, alone." Gaius clarified.

My eyes widened, "O-oh… I uh…" I really did not consider that, did I? "Justice Cabal?" I lied.

Gaius sighed, "Right you wouldn't know." He huffed then glared at Severa, "You though-"

"I'm trying to save Lucina." Severa quickly interrupted.

"So are the adults, Severa! And you are clearly not one of them since you obviously did not think this through!"

"Like you think anything through." Severa argued back, folding her arms over her chest.

"Believe it or not, I do. That's why I haven't gotten to Lucina yet." He clicked his tongue, "They got the princess locked up tighter than a beggar's lone coin."

I furrowed my brow, "Isn't the expression supposed to be-"

"Ever tried to rob a beggar, Lucky?" Gaius asked me. I shook my head, "Didn't think so. Just know it's a huge pain in the ass, like you two are being right now." He exhaled, then sharply inhaled, "Wait a moment. If Red isn't with the kids, and she isn't with you-"

"She infiltrated a few hours ago, but we haven't heard anything." I explained.

Gaius stared incredulously at me, "And… what possessed you to go in after her?"

I ducked my head. I never knew Gaius to be an angry person. Hell, I was convinced the guy didn't have a temper at all. With how often I messed up in training, and how laid back he was, I just assumed him to be the most patient person I've met so far in this crazy world. I did not think it was possible to make him angry, but right now, he was pretty red in the face. A nice cherry shade that would match his preferred flavor of lollipop. If he actually had one in his mouth.

Still, the fact that I pushed him to the point of getting angry with me left me feeling both shocked and ashamed at once. I bowed my head, unable to meet his furious gaze.

"I-" I choked a moment, "I don't know. Anna's my friend and-"

"And, hate to break this to ya Lucky, but she would leave ya to die in order to alert Lissa and the others about what is going on here." Gaius hissed, making me recoil, "You know that too, Severa, and yet you still-" He uttered a heavy breath, shoulders sagging as he shook his head, "I can't believe you two. Neither of you are ready for something like this." He pursed his lips, glancing over our hiding spot again to a now empty town square, "You two can't go back now. You'll get caught." He cleared his throat, "Stick close to me." I raised my eyes, shocked that he was even letting us tag along, "Step where I step. Move as I move. Am I clear?"

Severa and I nodded.

"Good." Gaius breathed, "Follow me then. This is not the best hiding spot."

"It's worked so far." I muttered as Gaius crept out from the ruined shop, and we followed.

"I didn't say it was bad, Lucky." Gaius whispered back as we crept across the courtyard and moved closer to the keep, "Just not the best."

"Like you could've done better given the circumstances." Severa grumbled.

"Eh, not wrong, maybe." Gaius admitted, "Good job, Lucky."

Severa gaped at him, "Why not good job, Severa?"

"Because I guarantee you were about to try and fight those dark mages I was following instead of hiding."

I sucked in a sharp breath as we reached what appeared to be an old stable just outside of the Keep's large, stone walls. Gaius ducked into one of the stalls, where old, rancid, muddy straw rested all over the floor.

"D-dark mages?" I stammered, fear filling every ounce of my being. In my entire time spent in this world, I have only encountered ONE dark mage… and he nearly killed me because he thought I was attempting to court his daughter, despite the fact that he knew I was an ally. I could only imagine how terrifying a dark mage sworn to serve Grima would be.

"Yeah, so again, good job." He patted my shoulder, "You've at least got good instincts." Gaius took a breath, "Alright, you said Red infiltrated earlier?"

I nodded, "She did."

"Did you see her enter the city?"

I nodded again.

"Was it light out?"

I furrowed my brow, "Uh… yeah. Like I said, it was a few hours ago."

Gaius shook his head, "Red's taking some big risks then." He pressed his lips into a thin line, "If she got in, then I should've noticed her by now. Red's good, but she's not as good as me."

"Did something happen to her?"

A pit formed in my stomach when Severa asked that question. A question I really did not want an answer to. After seeing the pyramid of dead bodies in the town square, I did not want to begin to imagine the terrible things Grima and his minions would do to someone like Anna. That is, if they didn't just kill her outright.

"I don't know." Gaius grunted, "I got in with those dark mages. Pretended to be a bandit wanting to save his own skin by siding with Grima. Tends to work pretty well with the dumber ones. They would've mentioned something if they caught one of our scouts and killed them." He rubbed his chin, "Which means Red's either still working her way here…" He paled, "Or she's stuck with Lucina."

"Why would Grima capture Anna too?" Severa asked.

Gaius was quiet a moment, "I don't know." He finally answered, "But… something is not adding up here." He glanced at me, "You two got in here way too easily. Especially if that ol' lizard managed to catch, Red."

I nodded in agreement, "For a city occupied by the walking dead, there aren't exactly a lot of them walking around."

"Yeah, it's odd." Gaius hummed to himself, "But… we don't have time to try and figure that out. C'mon, we need to get into the Keep."

"How?" Severa asked.

Gaius smirked at her, raised a foot, and stomped hard on the ground. Instead of his foot clacking quietly against stone, it thumped against wood. A hollow echo followed the thump.

"Gotta love paranoid rulers, eh?" He chuckled, brushing straw to the side and revealing a trap door hidden in the stable stall, "I doubt a Khan put this here, but this town is old. Probably been here a lot longer than most Khans can remember. Been down it a couple times now. Lots of dust and cobwebs." The trapdoor quietly groaned as he pulled it open, the rusty hinges barely holding together as they were forced to move once again, "Safe to say, no one has been down there in a long ass time."

"Is this how you found out Grima does have Lucina prisoner?" I asked.

The thief nodded, "Heard some dark mages talking about it earlier. Tried to figure out where she was at that point but-" He stopped. The gate to the Keep was groaning open, "Both of you go down, now!"

I motioned for Severa to go down first. There was no snide remark regarding manners or chivalry. She appeared just as anxious to get down into the tunnel as I was. I quickly followed, my feet struggling to find a foothold on the slick, mostly rotten ladder. Gaius ducked beneath the trap door last, quietly pulling it shut.

As fast as I could, I scampered down the ladder, nearly slipping several times as my small hands lost their grip on the slick wooden rungs more than once. When I finally reached the bottom, my feet splashed into ankle deep snow runoff. Or… what I hoped was snow run off. Judging by how cold it felt, it was the most likely liquid running through this tunnel. However, the carnage on the surface made me think the worst.

Gaius splashed down right behind me. He patted my shoulder with his hand, an easy going smirk once again on his lips.

"What's with the long face?" He asked.

I gaped at him as he brushed by me, scooting sideways along the round walls surrounding us until he got in front of me and Severa.

"Did you not see what was up there? And where are we now?" I asked, my voice hushed despite the perceived safety we had down here. At least, I assumed we were safe. Gaius appeared pretty relaxed. Then again, maybe he had a few screws loose?

Gaius's easy smirk quivered a little. He glanced over his shoulder at me and a silent Severa.

"Not gonna lie to either of you, when I got here it was… it was bad." He gulped and kicked at the water around our ankles, "Can't do anything about it though, so you just gotta keep moving on. Otherwise-" He took a breath, "otherwise you won't make it through this shit."

He nodded for us to follow him. All three of us moved as silently as we could through what amounted to a narrow, low tunnel enveloped in darkness. The only way I knew I was moving in the right direction, was the occasional sway of Severa's long hair, and the sloshing of water from footfalls in front of me.

I gasped when I felt stone brush against both of my shoulders, and I realized the tunnel had been slowly shrinking around us as we walked. A sense of panic filled me, and my breathing quickened. Gaius hissed back at me from the shadows ahead.

"Deep breath, Lucky. We're right below the dungeons now." His voice sounded like it was getting closer. I heard both Gaius and Severa grunt as it sounded like Gaius was squeaking past her. Gaius tapped me on the shoulder, "This is where you come in."

My eyes widened, "What do you mean?"

"The space ahead is small. I might fit through, but you definitely can." Gaius breathed, "Having no meat on your bones is turning out to be a blessing in disguise for ya."

My heart stopped in my chest as I picked up on what Gaius wanted me to do.

"You want me going in alone?"

Gaius uttered a heavy sigh, "Me and Sev need to find another way in. She can't fit. Too tall."

"My height is perfectly fine." Severa snarled behind him.

Water sloshed in the tunnel as Gaius squeezed by me. Severa followed him. My breath shot from my lungs as Severa shoved me as far against the wall as she could in order to get around me. Normally I would have protested, but given the possible reputation I had after the brooch incident, I couldn't blame Severa for being so rough about this. That is, if she even knew the full extent of that. For all I knew, she was just being her usual, abrasive self.

"Alright Lucky, listen carefully." Gaius breathed, his breath near my ear so that he wouldn't have to talk loud, "I've been in this place a couple times before, but that was before ol'Grima woke up a little while back. Not sure how much, if anything, has changed on the inside, but we are right below the dungeons. They are not big. Very cramped actually. Which means there are not many places to hide." I felt him tap the hatchet on my right hip, then tap the dagger on my left, "Be ready to use those."

I struggled to catch my breath as more panic filled me. I have never been in a true fight before. Sure, I've done a lot of training, but there is a level of safety that comes with just training. I knew Gaius and Anna would not intentionally kill me in training. There were moments where I could tell Anna wanted to end my life, but she never acted on those impulses, and in fact used my screw ups to instill harsh lessons that so far served me decently. All of that safety, the net that kept me from going splat, would be gone once I left this tunnel. Anything and everything would be trying to kill me, and I would have to try and kill them right back, living or undead.

God, I am not ready for this.

"Lucky…"

"Gaius, I can't do this."

"Sure you can. Just get through the crawlspace, keep moving forward and-"

"I'm gonna be sick." I gasped, doubling over in the tunnel and resting my hands on my knees. I could feel my stomach rolling violently, and it made me want to vomit.

Gaius was quiet a moment. To my surprise, he patted my back.

"Sam," He breathed, using my actual name for the first time in… ever, "Chin up, alright?" A ragged gasp left my lips as I slowly raised my head. I could barely make out Gaius's face in the darkness, "Like it or not, Sam, you're gonna have to do this. I get you're scared. I'm scared too. This entire situation is insane, and I wouldn't ask this of you if I had any other options. But right now, two peoples' lives depend on what we do. Anna and Lucina are likely up there," He said, likely pointing at the stone ceiling over our heads, "Naga only knows what Grima is doing to them. We need to get them out of there, and it's up to you to get in there and find them so that once me and Sev get in, we can get them out." He placed a hand on my shoulder, "I'm not asking you to be the hero. I'm asking you to be my eyes. Can you do that for me?"

It might sound like I have a choice in this matter, but deep down, I knew I did not. If there was any hope for Lucina and Anna, I needed to sneak into the dungeons and find them. Gaius and Severa would come in at that point. After that… I had no idea. In this instance, I remembered some advice I received during my first job as a teenager.

Focus on your job, and only your job. If you can do that, then you'll be alright.

I nodded, and Gaius smiled at me.

"Good." He glanced back at Severa, started to walk away, then paused to talk to me again, "When you find them, we'll find you. Just… make sure you get a good hiding spot."

"W-wait how will you find me if-"

The sound of half frozen water sloshing began to fade down the tunnel, turning to nothing more than echo. A simple sign that told me both Severa and Gaius were already gone, likely able to move faster without me slowing them down.

Now, I was alone… beneath an enemy Keep… in the dark.

Fuck.

I grit my teeth and leaned against the tunnel wall, exhaling hard as I struggled to work up the nerve to keep going forward. I shook my head, doubt and fear gripping my mind tight like a vice. Rendering me immobile.

"C'mon Sam." I tapped the side of my head with my hand, "C'mon, they need you." I exhaled again, "They need you." I raised my eyes to face the darkness, "Anna and Gaius need you."

With one final deep breath, I put one foot in front of the other. I grimaced as I felt more ice cold water slosh into my boots. My socks felt soaked, my bladder felt full, and my heart was bursting with fear. Nonetheless, I had to push forward. This dark tunnel had to end at some point. When it did, the only place I had to go was up.

Into the heart of the enemy horde.


No more water! No more ice! No more sloshing, and no more darkness! I wanted to jump for joy, but at the moment I found myself poking my head slowly out of a small trap door in… in… what I could only assume was some sort of-

Holy shit, it reeks in here! I thought, my nose wrinkling in disgust.

There were several strange benches lining the walls, of which I was popping out of one with a lid over a hole in… the… bench…

A lump formed in my throat.

That water down there wasn't water, was it?

A shiver ran up my spine. Vomit crept up my throat. I gagged, loudly. It's not like I could stop myself. I did just realize I spent the past few minutes crawling through the Keep's sewer, after all. The place might not have been used recently due to the Risen conquering the port city, but that did not matter. There were still body fluids in my boots, and I had the distinct feeling it was not clean water.

This day keeps getting worse. I thought as I pulled myself up through the medieval equivalent of a toilet bowl and fell flat onto my back onto a cold stone floor, Worse, and worse.

I lay there for a moment, just contemplating how in the fuck I got to this point. My mind wandered, once again, with as poor timing as ever. I only snapped out of my daze when I heard footsteps marching past the doorless outhouse I was in. I scrambled to my feet and pressed my back against one wall, near the gap where the door was supposed to be. I prayed I chose the right side, because if the footsteps were walking towards me, I'd have to get into a fight. I had a feeling that the end result would be terrible.

I suppressed a relieved sigh as I watched a pair of figures in purple robes, lined with gold trim, walk by me, their backs facing me. That relief was quelled when I realized those two figures were not Risen, but actual Dark Mages. Likely former members of a cult of Dark Mages called the Grimleal. If I remembered events from the game correctly, they were the ones trying to bring Grima back to life. Seeing as they succeeded in the time I am currently in, it was only logical at that point for them to pledge their allegiance to their evil deity.

Risen I can deal with… probably. I thought, swallowing hard and wincing as my dry throat throbbed, A dark mage though? I shivered as I recalled my lone encounter with Henry back in Arena Ferox, Never again.

As the mages walked away, their hoods drawn over their heads, I overheard them talking.

"Any luck in making that damn Naga-spawn talk?"

I perked up, Naga-spawn?

They paused in front of a lone sconce on the wall, which provided muted, orange firelight to the already dim, dark, dungeon corridor. I kept my eyes on them, while at the same time, trying to make myself as small as possible as I kept my back pressed to the cold, stone wall.

The other mage shook their head, "Nothing. She's a tough one, like that Princess."

My eyes widened. They're not talking about Lucina. That's either a really good, or a really bad thing. Good in that it sounded she wasn't being tortured. Bad because that probably meant she was no longer alive. But if they weren't talking about the Ylissean Princess, then they had to be talking about Anna. She was the only other "Naga-spawn" in this city, besides me, Gaius, and Severa. As far as I was aware, Gaius and Severa were safe (safe being a very debatable word to use right now, but at the very least, they were not in enemy hands). That left only Anna as the subject of the mage's conversation.

"Huh, strange. Most break already." The first mage commented, "Y'know, I'm kinda wondering why we left her alive in the first place."

"The Mistresses' orders, you know that."

I furrowed my brow. That was new.

Mistresses?

"They'll probably take over the interrogation now." The second mage noted.

"Ha! That they will. They'll probably enjoy it too." They both started to walk away, but as they walked away, I heard the first mage say something else, "Don't ya think we're leaving a bit early for the guard shift?"

"Who's gonna break in here? A Risen?"

They're conversation faded away, and I could scarcely believe my luck. At the very least, I found one person. Anna had to be nearby if those two mages were considered guards. Gaius needed me to find her and Lucina, but he never said what order. Given the circumstances, I doubted the order really mattered.

Once I was sure that the two mages were far enough down the corridor, I threw my dark hood over my head and slipped out of the dungeon bathroom. I crept along as quietly as I could. Turns out, all of that training, both physical, and in the art of sneaking (thank you Gaius), made me a little lighter on my feet than I previously thought. My boots hardly made a sound as I tiptoed along the corridor.

I dashed from one wall to the other as I attempted to avoid the occasional sconce set into the stone walls. Staying in the shadows was an extra precaution on my part. Those mages made it sound like they were the only ones down here, but I could not be too careful. For all I knew there was-

A low groan made my hair stand on end, and I pressed my back against the wall. Not like that was an effective hiding spot, but instincts took over. In this case, instincts were bad.

Out of the corner of my eye, standing guard in front of a barred cell, was the biggest Risen I have seen so far. It looked like a tall mountain of muscle. No armor covered it's rotting carcass of a body. The only clothing it wore was a simple loincloth around its waist, chains around it's wrists, and a heavy sack with holes for eyes and a mouth over its head.

The monstrosity was made even more terrifying by the long limbs and sharp claws it had on the end of those long limbs. The claws were inky black and razor sharp. This thing did not need any weapons. Those claws were more than enough to easily filet someone like me.

And if I were a betting boy, Anna's in that cell.

I squeezed my eyes shut and whimpered under my breath. Why does Murphy's Law always have to be right? I thought crawling out of a toilet might actually end up being the worst part of my day, but now I'm going to have to fight a Risen in order to figure out how to save Anna.

Somehow, I got the feeling that those two should have been reversed.

I took a deep breath and set my sights on the tall, muscular Risen. My right hand reached for my hatchet and slowly drew it from my belt. The steel axe head glinted in the dim firelight.

I took one step forward. Then another. My heart hammered in my chest. Adrenaline shot through my veins faster than a bullet. Flight so far was winning over fight, but I could not turn and run. It would see me then.

Just a little closer. I dropped to a low crouch. Maybe, if I became shorter it wouldn't see me?
It's head turned, and it looked down.

Gaius, your nickname for me is a fucking curse.

A low growl emanated from the shadow filled mouth. Black teeth glinted within the burlap sack covering its head and face. Inky black ooze dripped from it's gaping mouth like saliva, and it's red eyes glared at me like a pair of evil rubies. I stared back up at it, completely immobile. Unsure of what to do. Do I swing my hatchet? Do I curl up into a ball? What do I do?

"Uh… hi?"

One powerful arm slammed into my left shoulder, planting me hard into the stone wall right next to me. My head whipped against the stone, and it hit with a hard crack. A bright light flashed in my eyes, and stars followed. I slumped to the ground, wincing as pain filled my shoulder.

A low growl filled my ears. Adrenaline forced the stars from my eyes. I yelped as I watched a set of black claws rush down at my face. With agility I did not know I possessed, I ducked to the side, rolled past the Risen, and swung my hatchet at the back of its knee with all of the strength I had in my noodly arms

The steel bit into the rotting flesh with a sickening squelch. The strike only came to a shuddering stop when I felt my hatched strike bone. The Risen howled, and spun around to attack again. I did not let go of my hatchet like I probably should have. So when it spun around, I spun with it. Twirling around the Risen like a wierd, backwards, chaotic tango.

I struggled to yank my hatchet free from the back of the Risen's leg, but it would not budge. The rotting bones within would not release it. Just as I attempted another strong tug, the Risen kicked it's leg out, throwing me forward and causing me to lose my grip on my hatchet.

I slid across the corridor, panicked at my lack of weapon, realized I had two daggers, and quickly drew the small one. The Risen launched at me, crossing the corridor in two, slow, but powerful strides. It raised it's powerful arms, ready to use its claws to shred me into mincemeat.

But I moved faster. All of the training Frederick, Gaius, and Anna drilled into me kicked in. I ducked beneath the Risen's wild swing and jabbed my smaller dagger into its gut. Moving with the momentum of my strike, I slid to the left, dragging the blade through its rotting flesh, disemboweling the Risen, and causing it to utter a sharp howl.

As my enemy reeled, I reached behind me and drew my long dagger. The one Anna told me to specifically use if I got into true close quarters combat. I swept around the Risen as it slumped to its knees, placed the blade of my dagger across its neck, and sawed as hard as I could until I felt cold, black liquid rush over my right hand. The Risen uttered a gurgling sound, slumped forward, then collapsed into a pile of fine black ash.

It took me a moment to register that I won, but when it did sink in, I gasped and fell onto my butt. My wide eyes stared stupefied at the pile of black ash on the floor, then they flicked to my hands, which were covered in a cold, black ooze that smelled like… well, like death.

I took a deep breath, exhaled, and inhaled sharply again.

"Holy shit." I breathed, my hands trembling, daggers rattling in my grip.

I blinked, struggled to stick my daggers back in their sheathes, then reached for my hatchet, which rested in the pile of black ash. I grimaced at it as I noticed a large dent along the blade.

"Anna's gonna kill me." I muttered.

"She'll probably… congratulate you… whoever you are…" A small, weak voice replied, making me shoot up to my feet and draw my little dagger again.

I spun around and stared into the cell the Risen was guarding. Leaning up against the rusting, frozen bars of the cell, was a frail, blue haired woman with ghost pale skin. Her blue eyes looked faint instead of vibrant. Her cheeks were hollow, face gaunt, I felt like I could break her just by touching her. Nonetheless, despite the weakness evident in her voice, there was a hint of defiance that made me admire her in that moment.

It was not Anna, which threw me off for a split second. Then I realized who exactly I was talking to.

"Oh…" I muttered, eyes slowly widened, "Oh!" I scrambled to the cell and inspected the door, noticing a keyhole without a key, "Fuck."

"Locked…" The blue haired girl snorted, "Those mages had the-"

I reached into a pouch on my belt, "Don't worry- uh- Lucina?"

"Yeah?"

I nodded, "Yup. Um…" I withdrew a small, metal pick and slowly inserted it into the keyhole, "With how many times I've stolen something for Gaius, I think I should be able to pick a lock at this point just…" I winced and twisted, "Shit this one is sticky."

The lock clicked, and a smile crossed my lips for the first time all day.

"Got it!"

I carefully pulled the door open, wincing as the metal hinges groaned loudly in the corridor. The sound elicited a weak laugh from Lucina.

"If they didn't know you were here before, they do now."

"Yeah well," I stepped inside, undid my black cloak, and put it over her frail shoulders. Poor girl looked like she was freezing to death, "Hopefully both of us will be out of here soon."

Lucina exhaled as I threw one of her arms over her my skinny shoulders, "Yeah… let's hope so."

Now, I know Gaius told me to wait. To not play the hero and to just be his eyes so that when he did get here, he and Severa could do the rescuing, and I could just get out of the way. But considering that I just made a lot of noise killing a Risen behemoth, and the door decided to give away my position, I figured it'd probably be a good idea to get moving.

"So," Lucina muttered, voice incredibly weak as we hobbled back up the corridor, towards the dungeon bathroom, "Who are you?"

"Me? Um… Sam."

"And you're one of Gaius's friends?"

I grunted, "Trainee."

Her eyes widened, "Oh… well…" She nodded, "It's a good thing we have hope."

That made me laugh a little, "I didn't think you'd be the smart ass type."

"I'm too tired to have courtly manners."

"Fair enough."

The further down the corridor we went, the more odd this entire situation became. I thought someone would have heard me struggling to free Lucina. At the very least, those two dark mages that passed me earlier should have heard me barely beating a slow Risen.

Even Lucina appeared perplexed. That, or she was about to pass out. Frankly it could go either way.

"You alright?" I asked, as we slowed down and I gave her a moment to catch her breath.

"Don't worry about me." Lucina breathed, "Are you alone here?"

I shook my head, "N-no, Gaius and Severa should be around soon."

"Gaius and Sev?" Lucina replied, "What is Sev-"

"Couldn't make her stay." I answered before she could finish asking.

That made Lucina laugh, then cough hard. Once the coughs finished wracking her lungs, she lifted her head just enough to glance up at me, "Sounds about right."

"Yeah and-" I froze as I heard a herd of footsteps marching towards us. Just a few paces ahead, was the bathroom I arrived in, "Gotta move fast."

"Lead the way."

It took all of the muscles I had (which is not much), to haul Lucina into that bathroom. I put her up onto one of the benches, then pressed myself against the wall, watching for whoever was about to walk by.

They did not move past the doorway. Instead, my worst fears came true, and two new dark mages strode into the bathroom. A pair of scary women that made ice run cold in my veins. One had strange, graying skin with dark markings running along it. Black eyes narrowed at me, and I froze beneath their glare. Beside her was another dark mage wearing more modest black robes with gold accents. Her jet black hair and pale skin was a stark contrast to the other mage with her graying skin and partially white hair. If anything, she looked more friendly. But after my encounter with Henry, I knew better.

"Well, well, well," The first dark mage with graying skin rasped, eyes alight with feral excitement. She was like a predator, and I was her prey, "look at this, little Tharja."

A knot tightened in my throat. Now I recognized the second dark mage, and for some reason, the bad feeling in my gut grew worse.

"There is a Ylissean rat running through the dungeons."

The mage extended a hand, a blast of purple energy hit me, and the lights went out.

And chapter! Shit has hit the fan for Sam. Now he's part of the rescue mission, but on the other end of it. Hopefully, Gaius and Severa can rescue him, Anna, and Lucina. But now, we've got two new enemies to contend with, one of whom I am certain no one here expected. So surprise! I've got some fun plans in store for her.

As for the real world, everyone stay safe out there. Wash your hands, don't touch your face, don't lick stuff, you all know the drill. Hopefully this entire panic will be over soon, and we can get back to semi-normal at some point.

Anyways, let me know what you all think of this chapter! As always, I hope you all enjoyed! Have a nice day!