The Flames Within Us
By: V-Dawg
Chapter 6: Plateau
2 Months Later
Titania knew it was hard, especially for Mist. Two months since their disappearance, Mist had been hard at work searching for her brother. She was the most willing to take the risks near the warp powder, as they began to close up as many possible traps they could detect.
But regardless, the more time that had passed, the less hopeful everyone was.
Elincia had given more support to Gallia, by sending some aids who volunteered, and while they were helpful, it was unfortunately not enough to find a breakthrough.
After two months, everyone had thought the worst, that many of those who had disappeared were dead, including Ike, Ranulf and Leanne.
The thought was tragic enough for Titania, who had pretty much witnessed Ike's growth as a person, but she imagined the pain Mist was going through.
The poor girl wasn't talking as much, as she would disappear temporarily, claiming to go out for walks for as much as 4 hours, before returning to a tense camp.
Soren wasn't much better too, while he continued what he was, he still hurt at the thought of his only friend officially gone.
Both Mist and Soren were hurting, and Titania could see it. Even Shinon had joined back, realizing what had happened to Ike.
Even he was appalled. While he disliked Ike for everything he was, he didn't expect Ike to fall victim to whatever happened. Even he was silent as a sort of respect for the guy, as even he knew what he did was honourable.
Tibarn and Naesala had been rather moody, for different reasons. Tibarn because he realized his errors. Maybe if he had request help from the beorc nations earlier, they could've had a better shot at finding them. Naesala, however was upset regarding Leanne. He had promised to keep the heron laguz safe after the atrocities that they had endured.
But here he was, grieving at the loss of one of the kinds he swore to protect.
Caineghis and Lethe had struggled without Ranulf, while Lyre was also upset, but continued onto what she did.
Overall, many people took the loss of their close friends to heart. No one could survive wherever they were for two months. They had probably died from lack of food or the elements. If that didn't take them out, something else did.
It was another one of those days, Titania was out practicing her swings with Urvan. Even though she was a paladin, skilled with an Axe, Urvan was a different kind of Axe, one that she wanted to perfect. After all, it belonged to Greil.
The day seemed to be normal until Soren ran out, rather tense.
"Titania!" Soren called out repeatedly, only being stopped by Titania, who was confused.
"What is it?" She asked calmly, hoping it would stop whatever was making Soren hyperventilate.
"Mist, she's been gone for the whole day! No one can find her!" He exclaimed, and immediately Titania's heart sunk.
Her eyes dilated, "What?! And you didn't tell me?!" She asked, which Soren remarked.
"What? NO! We just realized something happened!" He yelled back.
Titania raised an arm to her chest, there was no use in getting worked up.
"Fetch the working units, send a search squad." She spoke.
Unbeknownst to them, Mist was on another walk, this time going towards the place that was described as to where Ike, Ranulf and Leanne had disappeared.
She had made herself towards the forest, where they all were searching on the day of their disappearance, and immediately she felt her heart rate rise.
Looking around, she came across something that made her gasp slightly.
There, on the ground was one of Ike's blade, Ettard. It had dry blood located on its blade, indicating they were fighting something before they were taken.
Mist sighed, knowing she was very close to where they were taken. And sure enough, she found the trap, covered by a pile of leaves and dirt, in an attempt to mimic the environment.
One the one hand, Mist was very tempted and willing to jump in the warp powder trap. But knew it was a dumb idea. Then again, then was also the risk that Ike was already dead.
Mist didn't know what to think. She grabbed the bloodied Ettard with both hands, as she was unable to lift with one like Ike, began to head back to base.
Or that's what she thought.
She hadn't known a mirage in the tree shape until it was too late.
Before she knew it, a shroud of white light had surrounded her before she screamed. That would not be heard by anyone.
Closing her eyes, she opened them again to find herself in a very dark place.
"What the..." Mist whispered, obviously scared in the environment she was in. Not knowing what was happening, Mist decided quickly the best bet would be to move, as this obviously looked like a man-made trap meant for captive citizens.
Mist was quick to tell, as despite her lack of sight, she was able to quietly make sure way towards a more quiet and secluded area.
The sounds of steps frightened her, as she knew they probably weren't nice people. She kept Ettard close to her, alongside a healing staff she had thankfully brought alongside her.
However, she couldn't stay in one place long, and she knew it. She heard the sound of a footstep coming her way, across the corner. Immediately she tensed, and was shaking rapidly.
The footsteps were clearly getting louder and closer, and before Mist knew it, she thrusted the sword forward, surprising the laguz who found themself a sword in their chest.
The interaction was swift, quiet and deadly, and Mist was content with that result. Swiftly taking the blade out of the laguz, she quickly realized the blood would follow her, giving her away.
Cursing herself mentally, she knew she couldn't take Ettard with her without being caught or sniffed.
But it was too late, the laguz had smelt the blood, and Mist found herself knocked out before she could move.
She woke up two hours later, in a separate jailcell. She quickly looked around, and found her healing staff oddly still with her. She could easily identify a small metal bunkbed. Quickly thinking, she put her healing wand underneath the bed bunk, as she heard more footsteps, this time much crunchier.
"Well, well well, if it isn't another beorc." The figure said sinisterly, and Mist couldn't tell exactly who the figure was. All she knew was that they were surrounded by other laguz, who she could tell were similar to those who she had briefly fought.
Judging by the voice, she could tell it was a rather old beorc.
"Who, who are you?" Mist asked, somewhat scared, which made Izuka laugh.
"I am Izuka, and you have some sort of tone after senselessly killing one of my minions," Was all he said, with a tinge of excitement.
"W-why have you set warp powder traps across Gallia?" Mist asked.
"A smart one it seems; I'm actually surprised you were able to identify them. But for your answer, it's simple, I need laguz for my experiments, though I have had some unique and exciting encounters as well. In fact, I began something new that may be a breakthrough if the result is what I desire!" He laughed afterwards, while Mist was fuming.
"What have you done to them! What have you done to Ike!" She bellowed, grabbing the metal pole of the cage which prevented her from choking Izuka.
But all he did was chuckle. "Don't worry about him, he's working perfectly from my trials, it's amazing! But atlas, you seem to have some sort of connection to him, right?"
But Mist remained silent, unable to comprehend what he meant by trials.
Izuka chucked, "Well, you certainly have a connection to him, and I have heard the poor guy mutter a name throughout his suffering and trials, so I can conclude that you are his sister, right?"
Mist remained silent, again, but it was all Izuka needed.
"Hahahahah... Fetch the girl, put her on the table!" Was all he said, and Mist could only watch in horror as the laguz began to grab her and strap her across a table.
Like how Ike felt for the first time, Mist was unsure what was happening, but knew something bad was going to happen to her.
Izuka simply chucked, and Mist quickly realized he had grabbed a syringe.
"What are you going to do to me?" Mist helplessly asked.
"The same thing I'm doing to your brother." Izuka sinisterly replied.
Ike was certain something was up with Izuka. He could tell in his tone as he continued his trials on Ike.
Two months of the same trials, and Ike was for the most part unaffected by everything Izuka would repeatedly do. The yellow serum? Not affected him anymore. The blood? It didn't make him squeamish. It did give him a weird feeling, but he no longer felt a trembling.
As for the constant scars Izuka would inflict onto Ike, well the sheer buildup of scars was enough to prevent the knife Izuka used to reach into Ike's actual skin. Instead, he would hit scar tissue.
And while Ike would still bleed, Izuka wasn't cutting Ike as much as he used to, and the blood loss wasn't as bad as Ike was used to.
However, it seemed that Izuka was somewhat focused on something else other than Ike, and he could tell.
At first, Ike was tempted he was finally reaching whatever the hell Izuka was doing, but he digressed quickly, as he simply was muttering strange words.
The one new thing Izuka instead did to Ike now, was inflict another serum into Ike.
This new serum, contained a somewhat tan tint to it, and what freaked Ike out was the lack of feeling he felt when it was injected into him.
One the one hand, it was nice not having it feel like a giant worm traveling through your body, but on the other, it was scary as Ike now couldn't know what to expect.
However, it wasn't until after one of his trials, did Ike know something was happening.
After his trial, in which the laguz had yet again thrown him to the ground, this time Ike was able to land more softly than the other time.
However, what happened next struck Ike to his heart.
The laguz started approaching Leanne, with some others starting to grab Ike and Ranulf.
"Hey! What are you-" Ranulf started, but was silenced by a strong paw to his mouth.
Izuka, merely just looked at Ike, who was standing still, unable to approach the crazy doctor.
And he knew why: Ike was terrified of him. And Izuka chuckled, as the laguz near Ike just looked at him, ready to pounce on him if he were to make a move.
The two other laguz held Leanne still, as Izuka stabbed a needle into Leanne, blood slowly filling its contents.
"Ah!" Leanne screamed, clearly in pain.
This only fueled Ranulf's rage, as he managed to transformed into his cat laguz, and he managed to escape his captives.
Hack and slash, Ranulf attempted to make his way towards Leanne, but was pushed back by more sheer numbers of laguz, some of them even tiger laguz.
"Ike!" Ranulf yelled, but Ike remained still. His eyes widened at the sight of Izuka inflicting pain onto Leanne. As much as Ike wanted to interfere, he could see what would happen to him through Ranulf, but he was also too terrified to confront Izuka.
And he somewhat hated himself for that. He muttered some curse words to Izuka, but knew he didn't have the courage to approach him.
His ears, which were always ringing, suddenly began to ring louder, as the screams of Leanne and the struggle between Ranulf and the other laguz began to take its toll on Ike, who could have sworn his hearing had gotten more sensitive.
He could've sworn the sound of nearby laguz in other cages quiet some distances away.
But his hearing was hurting him, and Ike collapsed, with only one knee holding him up, as he clutched his ear with one of his hands each, trying to drown out the noise.
Izuka grinned as he watched Ike, but turned his attention to Leanne, realizing he had just gotten the blood he needed.
And only Ike was able to pick up what Izuka said next, "Perfect, this will do for our new beorc."
With a smirk, he left, alongside the laguz, who just blindly followed him.
"Leanne!" Ranulf immediately ran towards her, who was still. "Leanne! Are you okay?"
Leanne was still, wide-eyed, but looked to be fine, "Yeah, tired, but fine." Was all she said as she took some calm breathes.
They turned their attention to Ike, who was still on one knee.
Looking down, Ike mumbled, "Sorry for not helping." But Ranulf and Leanne looked worried towards Ike.
"You don't have to be, are you okay as well?" Ranulf asked, to which Ike nodded.
"Fine, just my ears are hurting." Ike said, and Leanne got up, a bit tired and made her way towards Ike.
"It's fine Leanne, you get some rest, after what you went through." Ike insisted to Leanne, who just nodded and made her way towards a bed.
Ranulf wasn't too willing, as he watched Ike with skepticism.
The mercenary crawled towards the bunkbed, and laid his head on the metal top.
"Are you sure your okay, Ike?" Ranulf asked.
"Honestly, I don't know, my ears were always bugging me for about a month, but that interaction just made my head hurt." Was all Ike said.
It seemed to Ranulf that Ike's ears were either becoming more sensitive or in tune to hear more sounds. But whatever was happening it was hurting Ike.
Regardless, Ike grabbed something from under his bunkbed, and in an upfront motion, grabbed it tightly.
Ranulf had already seen the katana Ike had seized after a laguz had dropped it, and was confused, but quickly realized he was holding onto it to lessen his pain.
"Are you going to-" Ranulf asked, but was interrupted from a nod from Ike.
Ike got up, and began to head to a nearby corner, and began to swing the katana in different fashions, counting in a sort of pattern.
Ranulf could only watch as Ike head down slightly deeper in their jailcell, and began to slash the katana in different fashions.
Sometimes he would spin, flip his hands, or restart if he made a slight mistake.
Ranulf sighed, as he worried for Ike's health, physically and mentally. While physically, it was a different issue, with his scars, and change in appearance, he also worried for Ike mentally. He saw Ike's terrified face as Izuka approached Leanne, and was paralyzed just from his present.
This worried Ranulf, who just watched Ike soundly, as his katana sliced the air around him, making a slight wind sound.
To Ike, he said it was to keep his sell sword self in tune, so that he wouldn't get stale or degraded, but to Ranulf, he saw it as a way to distract Ike from this hellhole.
Whatever it was, Ranulf worried for Ike, and he knew Leanne was catching something.
"He said something about a new beorc." Ike said without meaning, catching Ranulf off guard.
"What?" Ranulf asked.
"Izuka said he that after he gathered Leanne's blood, that it would work for his new beorc." Ike said again.
"So, what does that mean?" Ranulf asked, to which Ike shrugged.
"It means he found another beorc, and is probably doing the same thing to them as he's doing to me." Ike sighed, "I hope that beorc is alright."
Unbeknownst to them, in the opposite side to the dark building, Mist had been thrown in her cell, undergoing her first trial with some strange blood.
She was trembling, if she could move. She was mostly paralyzed, but eventually tried to calm herself down.
She tried not to tense, and let her body relax, despite the weird sensation she was witnessing.
"What-what have you gone through Ike?" She asked as she was panting heavily.
Eventually though, despite her paralysis, she was able to move herself slightly thanks to her calming and relaxing her body. Alongside singing a lullaby her mother had taught her, she was able to keep herself in order, and not try and struggle against whatever was injected in her.
Successfully managing to reach her healing wand, she healed herself from the scars Izuka had inflicted onto her shoulder and abdomen.
Without that affecting her, she struggled, but managed to put her wand under her bunkbed, as the laguz blindly supplied her with food.
Mist noticed it was a meals worth of food meant for an entire day.
Mist shrugged, compared to her brother, she ate very little, but knew the food would spoil if she were to leave it. With no choice, she was forced to over eat, just so she wouldn't have to deal with a shortage of food and water.
Mist was also glad that she was able to keep her healing wand, though she had to hide them from the laguz slaves.
Chanting a lullaby to help her sleep, she smiled, realizing that Ike was still alive.
In nearby, quiet bunker, a certain silver-haired girl had heard the lullaby, but she didn't think too much of it.
On the other side of the building, after two hours of swinging his katana, aware that the laguz soldiers were only ordered to take weapons from them when they were bringing food, he sat down, and began to dose off.
Sitting down, as he let Leanne and Ranulf take the bunk bed, Ike felt a strange sensation on his thigh. Pulling his pants down, expecting it to be an aggravated scar, Ike instead found a strange black mark on his right thigh instead.
"What the..." Was all Ike could whisper before sleep overcame him.
A.N / Who was the silver-hair girl who heard Mist's lullaby? Why did Izuka need Leanne's blood, and what did Ike find exactly on his thigh? Lots of questions to be answered soon!