A/N: Surprise! I got a new chapter out early! Enjoy! (Might still post another chapter this Saturday cause I'm p motivated!)
Just before Leif's army left for Manster the next day, a young girl went toward Julius.
"Hello, Julius."
"Oh, hello! Have we uh- met before?"
"I suppose so. Why would I know your name if we hadn't?"
"I-who are you again? You don't look familiar."
Sara sighed, "I'm Sara, I'm the granddaughter of Archbishop Manfroy, and I'm here because of Lord Leif's cries for help."
"Oh, I see!" Julius remarked awkwardly.
"Don't worry; I too lost my family. My grandpa is a horrible man."
"Wh-what? How did you know!?"
"It seems to have been troubling you for some time now."
"I-I...suppose so."
"Now I must go. See you, Julius."
Just then, Leif ran toward Sara. "Oh, Sara! There you are! What are you doing? We need you to hurry! Finn is calling us all for a meeting!"
"Mhm," Sara replied before walking away.
Julius just stood there, perplexed at who he just encountered. 'Granddaughter of Archbishop Manfroy?' he thought.
"Don't worry," Leif told him. "She's always like this."
"O-Okay…" Julius said, still confused from what just happened.
Then, Julius went back inside Alster, and almost immediately he saw Seliph in front of him. "Julius, good, you're here! We're just about to plan out a strategy to invade Connaught!"
"I'll be on my way, Lord Seliph!"
"Tell Tinni and Arthur they are the only ones left!"
"I'll make sure to!"
Once everybody was in the meeting room, Seliph began to go through with a strategy. "Okay, so Julius, Arthur, and Tinni go up to Leonster to fend off the incoming cavaliers and then proceed toward Connaught. Everyone else will follow me and go northeast toward Connaught."
Patty then chimed in. "I'll go to Leonster as well, I have a feeling my brother might be in Connaught taking care of the orphans, and I want to get there as soon as possible."
"Sounds good, Patty! Our group will be headed east from here. Me, Shannan, Ulster, and Larcei will lead the way along with the horsemen. Lene and Lana will stay back and support everyone else when possible.
"Nothing like a few armor knights can stop me!" Larcei exclaimed, holding the hilt of her sword from the sheath.
"I'd still want you to be careful, dear sister," Ulster advised.
Larcei grunted at Ulster's response, "Shut up! I don't need you and Shannan to protect me all the time. I know what I'm doing!"
"If you want, I can look over you from above!" Fee teased her.
Larcei shook her head angrily. "Ugh, you know what? I don't care anymore. Do what you want!"
"Hey! I'm joking. I'm joking." Fee put her hands up as if she were surrendering, still laughing a little.
"Hmph. Anyways we must get going. We can't be here all day."
"Be careful out there while I'm away, Fee," Arthur stepped into the conversation, interrupting their current one.
Fee turned to Arthur and put her hand by her ear. "Did I hear that, right? Are you worried about me? Aww, how sweet of you, Arthur!"
Arthur's head hung down in embarrassment, his face almost beet red. "D-don't think of it as anything special, I just worry about you!"
"I-I, Arthur." Fee blushed, unable to say anything. They both laughed awkwardly before they went to their respective groups.
Julius used most of his warp staff's energy to warp his group toward Leonster. He was not sure if he could catch up to them. Lana then went toward the group headed to Leonster, warp staff in hand. "Allow me to warp you to Leonster, Julius. It'd be easier for you."
"Oh! Of course, it would be a big help!" Julius chirped.
"O-Okay then, please take care out there!" Lana replied, smiling, before closing her eyes and concentrating. The staff started to glow, and before he knew it, he was warped.
Once Tinni, Arthur, Patty, and Julius landed in Leonster, they immediately went outside. They had no time to meander. There were tons of cavalry headed their way. Readying his Nosferatu tome, Julius attacked one of the horses, causing them to fall to the ground.
"I'll head after my brother! He'll listen to me! Watch my back, okay?" Patty requested.
"Your brother is an archer, correct?"
"Yep! His name is Faval! He wields this super-strong bow called Yewfelle. He got it from our mother!"
"Speaking of which, that archer over there seems to fit what you described."
Patty jumped and turned toward the many cavaliers to see her brother. "Oh! Why is he part of Connaught's forces? Gah, what did Blume tell him!"
Julius then turned to the two mages. "You two try to fend off the oncoming forces, Patty, and I will try to go after Faval over there! We'll both try to defend ourselves. None of us will get hurt, I promise!"
As Arthur and Tinni took care of the last of the horsemen and the three mage sisters. Julius and Patty ran toward the archer. As quickly and as stealthy as they could, Julius made sure the thief did not get hurt while fighting off some of the remaining soldiers.
"Faval! Stop this right now!" Patty cried once she got closer to her brother.
This caused her brother to lower his bow. "P-Patty? What are you doing here?"
"Oh gods, Faval! What d'you think you're doing? Ugh... Don't tell me you actually let Blume buy out your bow arm!
"Wait...why are you with the rebels?"
"To protect people, of course! We've come this far working together, and I know we're gonna stop Blume for good!" Faval stayed silent at Patty's words. She then added, "I don't get it. Did you just go and forget everything? That if it weren't for the Empire's cruelty, none of the kids would be orphans? But no, here you are, kissing up to the very same man who ruined all our friends' lives! What the hell were you thinking, Faval!"
"Gods, you're absolutely right... I'm so, so sorry, Patty. I guess I just wasn't thinking at all."
"Any scumbag can apologize till their blue in the face! If you're really sorry, then get over here! Come help us fight for peace!"
"Alright, Patty. I'm with you! You've certainly come a long way lately…"
"That's the spirit!" She then got interrupted by Arthur shouting.
"Julius! We have successfully taken care of the Connaught forces attacking Leonster!"
"Alright! Now to rendezvous with Lord Seliph!"
Just then, another person was running after them. They seemed to be a magic-user Julius instantly panicked; heart racing; he shouted, "There's someone else headed after us!"
"Is it just one?" Arthur asked.
"It seems so."
Arthur scoffed and opened his Forseti tome. "Well then, not a problem. We can take care of 'em easy."
"Wait a second…" Tinni pointed at the mage, now recognizing her. "Julius! Arthur! Look! It's Ishtar!"
Julius turned to Tinni; his heart raced when he heard the name 'Ishtar.' "Is it her? I need to speak to her!"
"Is it really her? Regardless, she seems to be with the enemy. We must be careful. I'll go with you!" Arthur cautioned.
"I'll go with you too. I think I might be able to convince her to stop fighting!" Tinni exclaimed.
So, as fast as they could, they ran toward Ishtar, with caution, of course. They didn't want to harm themselves while trying to persuade her. Once they reached Ishtar, she immediately stopped short. "Tinni?" she questioned.
"Ishtar! Stop! It's me! Look, I found Julius!" Tinni exclaimed.
"You...what?"
Julius then stepped toward her and exclaimed, "Ishtar?! It's nice to see you again!"
"Wait, Julius?! What are you doing here?! It's been so long, and I've finally found you!"
"Ishtar! I'm so glad you are safe!"
"Where have you been all this time? I was so worried about you."
"I was teleported away from my sister's clutches. Unfortunately...my mother..."
"I-I'm sorry you had to go through all that, Julius. How did you manage to survive so long on your own?"
"I was taken care of by someone from Silesse; he saved me from almost losing my memories entirely."
"I see…" Ishtar said before she got interrupted by Tinni, hugging her.
"Ishtar...please come with us. Julia is using you..." Tinni demanded, tears falling down her cheeks.
"I-I'm so sorry, Tinni...but I can't."
"Why!?"
Julius grabbed both of Ishtar's gloved hands. "Ishtar! Listen, I'm here, Tinni's here! What's stopping you from laying down your arms!? Even Ishtore has turned himself against the empire too. He wanted to live a peaceful life, away from the war.."
"I-Ishtore has left the Empire too..? I-I...you are right; there is no need to fight anymore. All the damage that the Empire has caused is unforgivable! All this war is pointless. If I can help to put an end to all of this, I'm with you!"
"Ishtar...thank you…" Tinni smiled.
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind was blasted at Ishtar, which caused her to drop her tome. Then, an arrow flew by the main three; unfortunately for Ishtar, she could not get a chance to dodge and instead got the arrow lodged in her arm.
"Arthur! Faval! What are you doing!?" Julius shouted.
"No...Ishtar!" Tinni said while covering her face with her hands.
"Brother!" Patty shouted, "Stop this!"
"She is our cousin, but she is with the enemy. This could be a trap!" Arthur exclaimed.
"She is under Blume's command. I can't trust her! Blume would use this kind of tactic to ambush us!" Faval said.
Ishtar lay there, looking to be in utter pain; Julius was beyond furious at Faval, and especially Arthur. But before he could turn to say something, a beam of light appeared, a silhouette of a woman came into view. When the light faded, the woman was recognizable now. Long silver hair, a faded dress that made her look as though she were a priestess of sorts, and her eyes, her eyes were that same crimson. He knew who it was the second he saw her.
Julia.
"Ishtar! Don't you dare die to these rebels!" The princess shouted.
"Oh, Julia…"
"I'll take you back to Belhalla! You cannot let these wenches persuade you!"
"...What if I don't want to, Your Highness? I don't want to be your puppet anymore. I'm tired of all these childhunts and terror from the Empire...no...the Loptyr Church."
"You dare oppose me!? How foolish of you to think I'd let you do that so easily! You are my most reliable ally, and you will only obey my orders! I'll let you live this time, but don't think you saved yourself from punishment!" Julia hissed.
"I-I'm sorry," Ishtar apologized, lowering her head. But from hearing that tone of regret, Julius knew she wasn't apologizing to Julia, but she apologized to him and Tinni.
"Good." the princess simply replied, preparing a warp spell.
As Julia was about to warp away with Ishtar, she recognized Julius. Then - once she warped Ishtar away - she turned to him, "Ah, well, if it isn't my brother Julius!"
"...Julia…"
"Ah! So you do remember me! Then that means you remember... the death of your mother. Your poor, poor mother."
"She was your mother too…" Julius grumbled, hands balling into a fist.
"She was nothing more than a Naga Spawn! No mother of mine should bear the blood of Naga!"
"You only think that because you're not Julia...you're not who you say you are."
"Hm. I thought I could kill you right now, but I like getting you fired up. Now, Seliph, he claims to be the 'Scion of Light,' but even he has some darkness in him."
"...What do you mean…?"
"Do people really think of him as the hero who will save Jugdral? He's no more than a mere weakling. He would easily fall to the Loptyr Sect."
"You have no idea what you are saying...Lord Seliph has gone through many challenges! I'm sure of it!"
"Heh, whatever you say. He won't be able to defeat me. No matter how hard he tries!"
"Julius!" Tinni exclaimed as she suddenly came running toward him.
Julia then warped away as quickly as she appeared. Julius could swear he heard her laughing maniacally as she did so.
Tinni then put her hand on Julius's shoulder. "Julius…"
Thoughts ran through his mind. He was almost shaking, trying to focus on what to say. His sister's taunts were getting to his head, just as she wanted them to. Then, he replied, "We'll save Ishtar, Tinni...I promise…"
"I know we will! We just need to get rid of Julia."
Suddenly, lightning crashed between them; everyone swiftly dodged, but Patty ended up getting hit in the arm. "Ow!" She winced. Before Julius grabbed a Recover staff and managed to patch up the wound slightly, she tried to move her left arm but couldn't.
"Wh-what's wrong with my arm?"
"Hmm. It seems to be paralyzed. I can fix it with a restore staff if you want it to be healed quickly. Unfortunately, I don't have one right now, so you just need to wait it out until Lana comes here."
"Alright…" Patty sighed, "I suppose I have to use my other hand to fight."
"Let's move. Blume is waiting for us." Arthur demanded. Green eyes shining brightly as if they
were glowing from the power of Forseti.
"...Yes, let us go," Julius muttered, then everyone ran toward Connaught.
After they defeated the last of the mages with Bolting and the Armors, the only thing they had to do now was to go inside Connaught and kill Blume.
"Oh, so you have come! Don't think because you beat me before you can do it twice! I, Blume, the head of house Friege and most powerful mage to ever live, will end you and this Liberation army!"
"Blume! This time you won't escape! I'll make sure you die once and for all!" Arthur shouted before opening Forseti and launching a decisive blow on Blume.
"I-Impossible…" Blume then fell to the ground, dead.
"Wait, that's it?! Blume, get up! I can't believe you died from that," Arthur gasped, taken aback he actually killed Blume so quickly.
"A-Arthur, you did it! Mother has been avenged!" Tinni exclaimed as she happily hopped around Arthur.
Arthur scoffed. "Most powerful mage, huh? That proves that without Mjolnir, you are nothing. Well, I hope Hilda is more fun than this. Mother...you'll rest soon."
"S-So, that's the power of Forseti...I-I'm glad you are on our side," Patty exclaimed.
"And I thought Yewfelle, the sacred bow of Jungby, was powerful," Faval said.
"Well, Arthur, you did it! I thought I'd have to help you out with my Nosferatu tome or maybe healing...but it seems that won't be necessary."
"It seems Connaught has already been taken care of," a voice from behind remarked.
Julius turned to see who it was. Seliph. "Oh! Hello Lord Seliph!"
"A-ah, hello! I'm in a hurry now. I need to m-make sure there are no more soldiers here."
"Oh! Okay, Lord Seliph!" Julius quickly stumbled back.
Just then, Fee came flying on her pegasus over to Arthur. "Seems like you didn't need my help much after all!"
"Tch, yeah, I did it all quite easily."
"Come on. It couldn't have been that easy!" She giggled.
Just then, Lewyn appeared. "Wonderful job Julius!"
"Oh, hello, Lewyn! Where have you been?" Julius asked.
"I was here the whole time," He replied. "Anyway, it looks like we just dealt a critical blow to the Empire's control of the area, Julius. Their survivors are fleeing in droves!"
"Wonderful! I suspect heading to Manster will be far simpler than I'd hoped.
"Don't get too excited just yet. We still have Thracia, and it's Dracoknights to deal with."
"What makes you think so? What would cause Thracia to break neutrality now, of all times?
"You've never had to deal with King Travant before, have you? Just ask Prince Leif. If not for Travant, he would still have his parents. Travant's murder of them was a cruel ambush. Who knows what dirty game he's planning now... however, he has good reasons, but I'll touch on that subject later."
"...Alright, Lewyn," Julius replied.
"Wait, Lewyn? Does that mean…?" Arthur questioned before him as he stepped into the castle, and Tinni walked toward the two. "You're my...father…?" Arthur muttered and turned to Lewyn, face scrunched up into a scowl.
"Oh, heh. Hey Arthur. How're you doin?" Lewyn turned his head toward the two lilac haired mages.
"How am I doing? HOW AM I DOING!? MOTHER IS DEAD. HOW CAN YOU ASK ME THAT I AM 'OKAY'?!" He shouted, green eyes almost glowing brightly with fury.
"...Tailtiu...she died…?" Lewyn uttered, except his voice felt much less cold than it was before. It felt so...sad.
"YOU DIDN'T KNOW? SHE GOT KILLED BY HILDA! AND WHAT OF TINNI? YOU SHOULD BE GLAD SHE'S OKAY!"
"Arthur...I…Tinni... Hilda was your aunt, wasn't she? It must've been tough being out here."
"No, I'm fine with it. Queen Hilda was an evil, evil person. She always used to beat me and call me names, and she said my mother was a traitor..." Tinni said.
"Tailtiu…"
"Yes...it was horrible…and I witnessed only little of what happened.
"So, you came to the Alster Kingdom after all that?"
"Well, we didn't go there willingly. We were taken by force because of Blume. And then that's where my mother died."
"You sure haven't had it easy, have you…"
"Yeah… Anyway, Hilda really had it in for my mom. My mom put up with so much to keep me safe. A day didn't go by that she wasn't crying…"
"Oh…that's horrible." with that, Lewyn started crying.
"Dad…are you okay..?"
"...Dad...are those...are you crying…?" Arthur questioned, suddenly taken off guard at Lewyn's outburst.
"What..? No...I'm just…" Lewyn replied, voice hoarse, "...I tried to save Tailtiu...and Tinni…but...Manfroy- he-"
"...You... tried to save them...?"
"I...why couldn't you save us..?"
"...Manfroy...he ambushed me...and I ended up having to go back, heavily injured."
"Oh...Father…" Tinni threw her arms around Lewyn and started crying.
Arthur didn't have any tears as he said, "...I'm sorry I lashed out at you...but...you didn't need to abandon me like that...I had to stay in an orphanage when I was little, and then they just kicked me out when I turned ten. I had to live in the open. Where were you during all that, father?"
"It's hard to explain; I'll tell you when the time is right…"
"What do you mean but that!? I need an explanation now!" Arthur cried. It was then that the tears fell.
"...I'm sorry, Arthur…"
"Brother...just give him time…" Tinni walked up toward Arthur and hugged him.
"Easier said than done. How can I wait? I've only now gotten to reunite with you, let alone dad."
"Arthur...please calm down. He will tell us someday. He seems to be honest." Tinni backed away from the hug and turned to Lewyn. "Father...could you give us some time alone?"
"I suppose I can," Lewyn replied, wiping away his tears and going back to his cold and blunt tone. "I'll be okay."
The entrance door suddenly opened with a loud bang. It was Seliph, breathing heavily.
"There are Dracoknights headed toward Manster!" Seliph suddenly shouted, "We must head to Manster, where Leif and his army are, and quickly!"
Julius stumbled and grabbed his tome from atop a table, then agreed, "Alright Lord Seliph! But please give Arthur and Tinni some time. They're kind of emotionally charged right now."
"That's okay. We can let them rest in Connaught. The rest come with me! We are headed to Manster!" Seliph called and raised his sword. Thus, the rest of the army began their journey toward Manster, but what they didn't know about Manster was that all bad things happen there.