Eldigan/Promises (759 Grann)

To my beloved son, Ares,

As you probably know, in any other year, Agustria's summer would have been normal. But that year, it wasn't. Shouts filled the blood-covered battlefields from people who have been ordered to do one thing: drive Sigurd and his army out of their country. At the same time, pirates from Orgahil began raiding villages - including their own. Even through that, I was able to avoid the fighting, as I wasn't given orders to attack, thankfully.

One day, in the beginning of the month, I received a letter saying that King Chagall sent soldiers to attack Augusty. From the way it was written, and the fact that he had attacked Agusty hinted at him wanting me to fight as well.

I stared at the letter as I read it over multiple times; part of me refused to believe that this was true, while the other part accepted it immediately. The hopeful - and loyal - half of me was trying to convince myself that King Chagall would never do that, and that the rumors about him being connected to his father, King Imca's mysterious death were just rumors, and the logical half of me knew it made sense: King Chagall wanted a war. He would never accept a peace treaty, especially since he had an excuse. He could blame everything on Sigurd's "interference", even though that was to save my sister's life.

I sighed, as that was the only thing I could do while still staying calm. Chagall, king of Agustria, who I'd sworn loyalty to as the leader of Nordion was exploiting my oaths in order to make me fight one of my best friends, endangering countless citizens in the process. And the worst part was that he didn't care. No matter who died, he was willing to continue this war until Agustria's fall.

It started when King Chagall "miraculously" survived the attack on Madino. He made it sound as if Sigurd attacked first, but I immediately assumed Sigurd only seized Madino in self-defence.

"And just what do you think you are doing, Eldigan?!" Chagall continued angrily. "If you hadn't dawdled away your day here, then perhaps we wouldn't have lost Madino!"

'I would've, if I had instructions," I thought, but kept quiet.

"Ah, but that's part of your plan, isn't it?!" he shouted. "You're part of their plot to destroy Agustria, traitor!"

"Your Majesty…" I said, wincing. "How could you say that?"

"What's this?" Chagall hissed. "Do you dare to be displeased? To think, you've forgotten my father's favor, all to idly stall for time... You're a disgrace to the knighthood!"

I stood up, realizing that there was only one thing I should do march with the Cross Knights in Sigurd's direction and then stop nearby for a little while, to decide what to do from there. I hoped it wouldn't come to fighting Sigurd, but I didn't have too much faith in that happening.

"There's nothing more I can do to convince you…" I said quietly. "Very well, Your Majesty. My men and I will move out post-haste. I am proud to be a paladin of Agustria. If I must die, it shall be with sword in hand. By your leave, Your Majesty."

I exited the room when he agreed, and immediately started looking for the Cross Knights, to prepare them for the march to Madino. When I finished explaining the plan, I took a deep breath.

"This is it, men," I said, putting as much confidence as I could into my voice. "It's time for us to enter the fray... Perhaps for the last time. I count myself the luckiest commander there is for your years of loyalty to me. The fatherland's fate hinges on this final battle. Do not let Agustria down. Cross Knights! Move out!"

On the fourth night, we camped near Madino, but far enough to not be spotted.

I tried thinking about what to do from there, like I'd planned, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't think of a plan that would end well for Sigurd, his army, the Cross Knights or Agustria itself.

"Brother, stop!" A familiar voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up and saw my younger sister, Lachesis, standing in the entrance of my tent fiercely. Someone who I recognized as Quan's squire, Finn was standing behind her nervously.

"Hello, Lachesis," I said, standing up. "And hello, Finn."

Finn's face turned a little red.

"Why do you continue to serve Chagall, after all he's done?" she said, looking at me angry and worried about me at the same time, in a way only a close relative can. "You saved his life after he imprisoned you, and now he's forcing you to fight and kill Sigurd, one of your closest friends, who cares about Agustria? Would you really betray him? Is this what you call a knight's pride?"

"As a knight of Agustria, Nordion's lord, and Mystletainn's wielder, I have sworn oaths to protect this country and its king," I said calmly. "And I know that Sigurd wants to keep Grannvale out of Agustria,, but Grannvale doesn't. He wants to keep this country safe, even though he is from Grannvale."

Lachesis opened her mouth, but didn't say anything.

"There is something I could do," I began. "I don't have the authority to call off the attack, but I can ask the king. Maybe-"

"Thank you, Eldie!" she said, sounding happier, and hugged me, though as she was one of Hezul's descendants, her hug (accidentally) almost made me fall.

"Though, just in case..." I began again, giving her a sword that looked simple, but was really an Earth Sword. "Please take this sword. With it, I'll know that you will be safe."

I assume Lachesis noticed that I was talking differently, less hopeful in a way, since her face turned a little pale.

"I also wanted to see you and Finn marry," I said in a whisper, and now Lachesis's face flushed. "see Ares, Altena, Seliph growing up; and see Sigurd, Quan, the two of you and Grahnye and I be parents. But please," I said while hugging her, "stay safe."

"I promise," she said determinedly, although her eyes were filled with tears threatening to fall.

Finn looked like he wasn't sure what to do or say, so I walked over to him and whispered, "Please be a good husband for Lachesis." When his face turned red again, I added, "I can tell that the two of you care about each other; so as her older brother, please promise me that."

He nodded a little shakily.

"Thank you," I said. "I'll tell the Cross Knights to prepare to leave in the morning." Most of them would understand, but I couldn't exactly leave them halfway across the country.

Both of them nodded and left the room, Lachesis looking happier than when she entered.

A few days later, when we arrived at Silvail, I went to my house to find it empty. Assuming that Grahnye and Ares (you) would be home soon, I wrote this letter and left it in a place I knew would only be found by my wife.

And this is why I wrote this letter: I am not sure if I will be able to tell you this, and I don't even know how old you'll be when you read this. I doubt you know the truth of my death, as Sigurd, Quan and Lachesis will probably say that it is their fault, and therefore, I wrote this to tell you the truth, from me. This letter will hopefully explain why I made this decision.

If no one has told you, Sigurd, Quan and I were close friends since we went to the military academy in Belhalla. Sigurd met both of us and managed to drag us out of our corners, and I have been and will always be grateful for that. If not for him, I wouldn't have ever fully understood why friends care about each other, and I hope you have friends as loyal as Sigurd and Quan are.

I can only hope that you will forgive me for abandoning you and Grahnye when I should have been there, and no matter what you do, I will always love you.

Your father,

Eldigan

Notes:

Since this is my first fanfiction, I'm not sure what to write, but I'll try:

This is the fist chapter of a fanfiction I thought when I was playing Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War (FE4) and was up to the part where Andrei/Andorey/Andre/other names ordered his soldiers to either leave Silesse or attack Silesse (the capital, not the country) and for some reason, that made me think about writing a fanfiction from the perspective of some of FE4's bosses and/or antagonists since most of them are more neutral than bad (are at least bad with good intentions), and have realistic motives.

When I was halfway through, I remembered the letter Nanna gives to Ares (Chapter 8 - Dragonknights of Thracia) and decided to turn this into that letter, but it's probably bigger than the developers were thinking of. The P.O.V. change might look a little weird, though.

Some of this is inspired by one of Nayfiel Lilith's fanfictions, "Memoirs of the Holy War," a FE4 novelization that I'm probably too obsessed with. (So if you're reading this and are annoyed because I took some things from your fanfiction… Uh... Sorry?) It's also based off the script for the Project Naga patch.

And since I used lines from the game (and just in general), here's a disclaimer: I don't own or am connected at all to Nintendo, Intelligent Systems and other developers/companies that I'm probably forgetting.