The Flames Within Us
By: V-Dawg
Chapter 5: Communication
1 Week Later
It has been 2 weeks ever since Ike, Leanne and Ranulf had disappeared, and not only have the suspense of finding them increased, so has the suspense for the rest of the missing laguz.
While Soren himself was never a fan of the laguz, he did have to search for Ike with two laguz, Reyson and Lethe, both of whom don't actually know of his identity, which he was fine with. The less they knew about him the better.
Regardless, he and the others had gone over to the villages in Gallia to talk to those who have lost families under those mysterious circumstances.
Even though Soren didn't like the laguz, even he wasn't cold to have wish them any pain with losing a loved one. He himself had lost Ike, someone who had cared for him, and was the only one who knew of his mixed-blood. The only person he had learned to trust.
"What are you pondering beorc?" Lethe asked rather neutrally.
"Just thinking about these disappearances, what else." Soren replied with an equally neutral tone.
"Lethe, he's a tactician so he's clearly thinking of possibilities." Reyson spoke, being able to sense the smallest bit of hostility and tension between the two.
In truth, Lethe and Soren had always been rather hostile towards each other, and Soren had silently cursed when Ike told him to join their group. At least he had Reyson acting as the mediator between the two.
That was the one type of laguz Soren seemed to have not have any issues with, the herons, which he didn't mind at all. After all, they had gone through some tragic events themselves, and therefore Soren could see where they were coming from.
So, when Tibarn and Naesala had flown down, a hawk and raven laguz flying side by side, Soren knew something was up. He knew of the bitter rivalry the two shared, and so this was concerning.
"What's going on?" He asked immediately.
Tibarn huffed, "This raven insisted he join the search after hearing of Leanne's disappearance."
Naesala had humorously started blushing, while violently shaking his head no, "Not like that Tibarn! I'm just worried! We promised the herons they would be safe!" He bellowed.
However, Tibarn had expected this reaction and laughed instead. "Anyways, Caineghis had sent Titania and the rest of the Greil Mercenaries to Begnion to talk to the Begnion Senate. Meaning our group is to head to Crimea and speak to Elincia about this issue. Knowing Crimea's close relations with Gallia she would be obligated to assist Gallia."
This was a surprise to Soren. The last time Tibarn was asked with bringing the issue to Crimea, he was adamantly against it, stating that a beorc nation shouldn't interfere with laguz affairs. But now, while his tone does show a bit of hesitance, he doesn't seem to mind. It's almost as if someone had given him a talk and had gotten through to him.
He knew that even Lethe had agreed to bring the matter up with Crimea, as she had fought alongside the Crimeans for a while. As a result, Soren wasn't complaining. While he didn't despise the laguz, he was uncomfortable being in a laguz state. The idea of heading back to a beorc country was what Soren felt he needed.
"I see, so we're going to be bringing the issue to Elincia it seems, right Tibarn?" He asked, to which he sighed.
"Affirmative, now let's make our way down to Mellior, the faster we get there the better. Soren, would you rather flight or speed?" Soren looked to Tibarn, confused before getting what he meant.
"I wouldn't mind neither, but speed, cause at least Lethe in her form can withstand more weight than avian." Soren said. Even though he didn't want to go with Lethe, he had thought through this logically and best decided what was efficient.
The trip took around 2 days, with them resting at Arbor for the first night, but they had managed to make their way to Mellior, where Elincia was seated.
Soren couldn't be any happier to be back in Crimea. Even though he was separated from the Greil Mercenaries, he was just content with Crimea more than Gallia. Preferences.
The trip was okay, as Lethe didn't bother bring anything up, and Soren was just naturally silent, so the trip didn't get suspenseful as Lethe and Soren weren't at each other's throats.
Eventually, it was time, and the group had begun their conquest. Speaking with Geoffrey, he allowed them to join the meeting room. There Elincia was clearly busy, as Crimea was still under recovery from the war.
"Oh, hello I didn't expect this many visitors, from different countries nonetheless, what's going on?" Elincia asked, rather cheerful despite the stress of leading a country.
"Not much Queen Elincia, but we do have an urgent emergency that has unfortunately affected Crimea." Tibarn spoke, a bit of regret in his voice.
Elincia's face turned from cheerful to serious in a matter of seconds.
"Oh, what has happened then?" She asked.
"We have come across reports that multiple laguz civilians from Gallia had been vanishing under mysterious circumstances, and as of now a couple within the dragon and hawk tribe had vanished as well. We don't know if the problem will spread to Kilvas or towards central Tellius, but there seems to be a concerning trend in these disappearances." Tibarn finished.
Elincia's face was filled with shock, "Oh my, that sounds terrible! Is there anything else what you know regarding this?"
"Well, we know that warp powder is being used to transport those, creating a sort of teleporting trap, which is most concentrated towards western Gallia and Goldoa, however, we don't know where the warp powder leads those who are trapped." Soren stated giving information to the oblivious Elincia.
"Well, certainly you could've gotten Ike and his mercenaries to have helped you. Though ever since Ike dropped his royalty status, I have had no clue as for his whereabouts, but if Soren is here, then Ike must be somewhere, right?" Elincia asked, but was instead met with some silence.
Elincia was confused as to why there was silence when regarding Ike, did something happen to him?
"Did something happen to Ike?" Elincia asked timidly, which caused Tibarn to sigh.
"Yeah, he was assisting Gallia a week before I started, but he, alongside Ranulf and Leanne had disappeared as well in a similar fashion to the rest of the laguz." Tibarn finished.
"In fact, it was those three who had given us the evidence needed to find the cause of the disappearance, now we're just left with who and where." Soren added, but Elincia was too busy pondering over Ike's disappearance.
"It-it must be serious if Ike's gone." Was all she said.
"Yeah." Lethe mumbled, which was barely audible to the room. "I wish Ranulf was still here as well."
At this Elincia simply sighed, "Listen, I really wish I could help you, but I've been having some personal issue myself."
At this the group couldn't help but wonder what she meant. "What do you mean personal issues?" Lethe asked.
"It's Renning." Elincia said, and immediately did Soren and Lethe know what she was referring to. Elincia's uncle who was turned feral due to a potion he was given by a mad scientist named Izuka.
"What's happened to him?" Tibarn asked.
"He's remained feral throughout the war and is still feral now. I thought this was a temporary phase, but it has shown no signs of easing." She had told the group rather glumly.
"Oh wow..." Was all Naesala could say, his eyes in disbelief that a beorc could suffer the same fate some laguz could.
"Yeah, but the point is that we have been trying to find a cure for this, but unfortunately, we haven't had any breakthroughs." Elincia concluded.
"Oh, I'm sorry for that, but do you think there's a way for Crimea to help with Gallia's issue? We did help with the war after all." Lethe had asked, to which she had a point.
"Well of course Crimea will lend their support to Gallia, however due to our issue with Renning, it won't be a full contribution." Elincia had replied to Lethe.
Sighing, Tibarn accepted, after all, something was better than nothing.
"Well, thanks Elincia, we appreciate it, really." Naesala had replied, to which she nodded.
"Do you think we could see Renning now?" Soren had asked.
Elincia seemed hesitant, as she herself knew how dangerous the feral could be.
"Okay." She said at last before leading us to a room that was surrounded by metal bars.
"What the..." Lethe was in shock at the sight of what she saw.
There was a beorc, Renning under the effects of being feral. His red eyes and teeth clenching were only noticed after the carnage he had created.
"What the..." Was all Tibarn could say.
"He's been acting like this for like 9 months, and we haven't found anything to help him." Elincia said.
Silence was all that could have been said for Elincia, who was struggling with personal and family issues at this point.
"Well, Elincia, I wish you luck with Renning, we must head back to Gallia." Tibarn had spoken, and wishing the queen a farewell, the group embarked on their way back.
Two weeks inside this jail, and Ike's trial, as Izuka had described it had continued. Twice daily ever since, the captive mercenary was still confused as to what was happening to him, but a week of trying to move himself had paid off.
While he still struggled, he was able to move his hands slowly, even after Izuka had continued to inject Ike with more of that yellow serum. As for the blood, Ike was still clutching himself at the weirdness it had felt to him. Made worse by Izuka's constant slicing of his torso, as if to make him bleed much more.
So much so that, even after his trials and with Leanne constantly healing him, Ike was able to walk slowly afterwards. He had first gained his ability to move his face to talk, then his arms and finally his legs.
Even though he was very weak, with Leanne's healing, he was able to move and eat at his own. Sure, it was a snail compared to before, but it was something after spending a week totally paralyzed. Almost like someone who had just recovered from surgery, Ike had a long way before he would be able to move normally as he was able to back then.
Still the trials hurt badly. The serum still had Ike squirming from the weird sensation, but it wasn't paralyzing him as much. Maybe his body was finally adapting to whatever it was, he didn't know.
The blood and scraps weren't better, however. The sheer amounts of scars that had built over, only for Izuka to scrap the progress, only made them appear bumpier, meaning Ike now had noticeable scars, one in particular running diagonally across his torso.
It's just like asking yourself if you continuously got stabbed by a blade, would it hurt less the next time? It probably wouldn't, the only difference being what you know it'd feel like.
The blood was still torturous for Ike as it was now what hurt Ike, but him not being as paralyzed also meant his screams and trembling were much more noticeable, which only made Ranulf and Leanne more scared for his wellbeing.
"Perfect, he's reaching his next stage of this trial. My first trial for this experiment is looking to be a complete success at this rate!" Izuka chanted happily to himself.
Ike, instead was scared, again of what Izuka was planning. This wasn't the end, he knew it, but what would be exposed to next?
His mind was interrupted by a sharp object hitting his torse-wide scar, which made him act up.
"Graah!" Ike yelled in anger, but being unable to kick who had done it, due to being chained up in a table.
"Pry, cry or fight, your fate remains sealed!" Izuka chuckled menacingly.
Ike swore he was more insane than Ashnard. Something he had decided after he was able to move slightly better.
"I see your able to move better, excellent..." He started to himself before mumbling to himself.
It was then Ike notice that Izuka had brought up a strange book. Ike himself couldn't see the book well, but for some reason was able to hear what Izuka was saying, despite him being sure that he wasn't even using his vocal cords, but rather the air to speak.
"The blood will co-exist, as long as the defense system doesn't fight, perfect!" He exclaimed the last word so that everyone could hear.
The next thing Ike knew, Izuka had sinisterly caressed his hand on Ike's roughed up chest.
"Excellent, specimen was a way, but he's gotten through the worst." He stated to himself.
"But it's never done." He sinisterly spoke, "This just means I can increase the load without severe consequences." He spoke more, before realizing Ike was still here, and trembling.
"Hey! Get him in his cage! And fetch the others their daily grub!" He bellowed to his laguz slaves.
Once again, Ike was thrown in the cell, which, thankfully because he wasn't paralyzed, was able to protect his head, from the impact of the ground.
"Ike?" Ranulf asked, to which Ike grumbled, struggling to get up.
"Don't struggle." Ranulf said, as Leanne began chanting a lullaby Ike himself knew from the two weeks she was singing.
After five minutes, Ike was able to get up. He still struggled, but it was an improvement from last week, where Ike needed Ranulf's help moving him.
"Thanks Leanne." Ike said hoarsely, his voice sore from not really saying anything for the past week.
It wasn't just Ike's voice that was weak. His whole body had become more frailer, as his muscles became less bulging and more in tone to look for skinny, which Ike was a bit distraught of, knowing whatever he was going through was affecting him more than just mentally.
Sitting down by himself, all Ike could do was simply sit down and weight for the laguz bodyguards to fetch him some food. It wasn't even that good tasting, but according to Izuka, it was strictly nutritious, meant to get them through the day, which wasn't an outright lie, at least for Ike. Maybe it was his body not being as muscular, Ike didn't really know.
When the laguz soldiers came by, dropped the food, and left, one of the laguz soldiers had unexpectedly dropped something that Ike had noticed. Ranulf was too busy looking over Leanne to make sure she was alright.
Forcing himself up, and walking slowly towards the weapon, Ike was able to see better in the darkness now, due to the environment he was in for two weeks.
It clearly was a weapon, which in itself was weird, as the laguz didn't use any weapons, so why did the laguz bodyguard have a weapon in the first place? It was strange.
What was stranger, however, was the properties of this particular weapon. It was too wide to be a lance, but too long to be a sword. Its blade consisted of a black colour, with a tint of red in a spike-like pattern running across the blade, with black covering its entire blade and hilt.
It was then Ike better understood what it was. "A katana..." He muttered silently.
Taking a deep sigh, Ike prepared himself to lift the katana up. Struggling for a bit thanks to his paralysis, he was mildly shocked that he had managed to lift it up, though with two hands.
Feeling the blade, not only did Ike quickly conclude it made of steel, but also noticed something remarkable in Ike's eyes.
The blade, which had some partial cuts to it, started to heal by itself, miraculously, all because Ike had accidentally cut himself when feeling the blade.
It was by a bit, if Ike had an idea, then this blade could be healed by battling, which was almost unheard of.
What did Izuka do to create weird weapons like this?! Ike had thought, almost at a state of shock. At this rate, the katana was unbreakable, with the only other blades Ike knowing was unbreakable, was Ragnell and Alondite.
"Was this blessed as well? Or did Izuka put some weird magic?" Ike asked himself, not noticing Ranulf and Leanne looking back at him.
"Ike are you okay?" Ranulf asked, which got Ike to turn back, the katana he quickly hid behind some steel bunkbeds.
"Y-yeah, I'm better." Ike spoke.
"What weapon?" Leanne asked referring to the katana.
"Honestly, I don't know, but we're keeping it from the laguz and Izuka." Was all Ike said before he made his way to rest.
He may have been able to move, but he was still tired from his trials and was still struggling to move prior to his capture.
"You're not having any food, Ike?" Ranulf asked, which made Ike realize he had forgotten to eat.
"Oh, shoot I forgot." Ike said, scratching his head.
Ranulf chuckled, alongside Leanne, "It's alright, Leanne and I had our share, you eat yours."
Ike nodded before making his way slowly to the plate, picking it up and heading close to the katana.
Whatever this weapon was, Ike did not want anyone taking it. It was going to be Ike's weapon getting out.
A.N / Not much of a note really. Hope you enjoyed! Sorry if it feels a bit rushed. Mother's Day was pretty eventful for me!