Birth and Re-Death
Chapter 8: Literally Wile E. Coyote
"Oh, Christ!"
I say this for probably the sixth or so time in a couple minutes as Ricken, Maribelle, and I continue to dodge and weave around Plegian soldiers that block our path to the rest of the Shepherds. On this occasion, I have very narrowly dodged a myrmidon's blade aimed at lopping off my head. I think he may have nicked some of my hair, actually.
Fortunately, now that we have Ricken with us, we have at least some offensive backup. He aims a few carefully placed blades of wind at the attacker and, while he doesn't kill him, he's certainly gonna be less of a threat without that arm. Jeez, that's actually pretty gross.
Still, as we continue to make our way down the east side of the slope, it seems pretty apparent that we will be heading into the core of the enemy forces long before we reach some friendly forces. I do hear a lot of fighting down below, but I can't really see them from here. We round a corner, and thenー
Oh wow, that's a lot of enemies. Maybe they won't see us? No, they saw us. Shit, shit, back up. Wait, no, there's more of them charging down the slope too. Run for the far corner. Seems to go well for a minute, except that's quite the drop-off. Yeah, that fall would definitely kill us. I turn around, and my heart sinks. God damnit.
We are pretty well surrounded at this point. Ricken is trying his best, but there's just no chance of making it out of this without help from the Shepherds below. He levels another few blades at the nearest enemy, but two more step in to take his place. The young mage yelps in panic as the sword comes down, hard, onto his head. Several more blows all connect around the same time, and before he even hits the ground, he's been reduced to a bloody heap. Bile rises in my throat.
Maribelle beside me shrieks in terror, her face having caught some of the blood from the assault. She takes an unsteady step back, and then another. Hey Maribelle, that cliff is pretty closeー
She goes tumbling off, yelping in surprise as she falls, and a few seconds later I faintly hear the sound of impact against the rocks below. Even if she survived that, there's no way she's in any condition to do anything now. In my case, I want to be absolutely sure, so no leaping for me. Ugh, this sucks. I turn, ice in my chest, toward the soldiers grinning at me. They expect fear in my eyes; I do my best not to give it to them.
I grit my teeth so hard I think I feel one of them chip off another. My nails dig into my palms as I take a step toward the Plegians. One of them huffs in annoyance as I refuse to let them know I'm putting most of my effort into not letting my knees give way (the robes hide that pretty well). None of them are moving though.
"Come on, let's have it," I say. "I don't have all fucking day." I get more vulgar when I'm scared, alright? One of their fighters steps in front of me, holding his axe's blade inches away from my face with a grin on his face. I gather up the saliva in my mouth and spit onto the axe, managing to smirk even as he's turning the axe in his hands and cracking the back of the blade against my head. I allow my legs to finally give up on holding me up at this point. The rocky ground is hot against my face.
"You little shit!" the fighter says, and with a snarl drags me by my ponytail to the edge of the cliff. Everything's a little blurry right now from the hit, but my stomach still leaps in fear at the sight of that drop-off. "Say hello to blondie down there," the fighter says, and just like that I'm falling. And just as quickly, I'm not falling anymore. Ow.
Oddly though, I don't die right away. My stupidly self-preserving body forces my eyes to focus on the movement above me. What is that?
"Randall!" I hear faintly, even though the source seems to be standing over me. Oh, wait, I recognize that hair.
"H-hi Robin," I gargle out around the blood in my mouth.
I can just barely perceive her brow furrowing. "Gods damnit," she says, and after that everything fades pretty quickly.
You know what's worse than taking a really long wagon ride in bound silence? Doing it two and a half times because you just can't stop getting hit by axes all the time. On the plus side, I'm actually getting that waltz that Maribelle has been teaching me down pretty well.
I do a lot of thinking about what we can do to survive this time. But there's not a lot coming to mind. We were taking the most direct path between us and the Shepherds, and in a canyon like that there aren't a lot of places we can hide either. There's just no way to break through that many soldiers, though. What can we actually do? Just hope that we get lucky this time and the Shepherds can get to us first this time?
I find myself thinking in circles like that for pretty much the whole ride to the canyon. And once again, we are dragged out of the wagon only to be forced to wait for something to happen. I do not want to have to do that ride again.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" the guard watching over us asks as I take a seat on the ground and attempt to get comfortable enough to sleep.
"Just leave it be," I reply, but he grabs me by the back of my shirt's collar and pulls me back up.
"This isn't naptime!" he says.
"Literally, just give me like five minutes," I say, and give him my attempt at puppy-dog eyes. "I promise to behave when the Shepherds get here."
"You will behave regardless, if you value your life," he replies.
"Pleeeeeease? Please please please please pleー?"
I am dropped like a sack of potatoes. "I want absolute silence," the guard warns. I nod, and arrange myself in a more or less comfy sitting position. I can feel Maribelle's incredulous eyes on me. Sorry Mari, but this is actually kind of important. I don't want to go on another wagon ride.
It takes a while to fall asleep, but fortunately it doesn't prove impossible. I think I dream of thunderstorms, but when I wake up it turns out I was just hearing the approach of the soldiers on both sides, taking the field and preparing for battle. I hadn't noticed them the first time, as I was so focused on the exchange between the Exalt & co. and Gangrel, but I can see now why Emmeryn so badly wanted to avoid conflict.
To my credit, I will say I swear a great deal less this time around. Partially because I am so focused on trying to find a path that's relatively soldier-free (I don't find one), and partially because on further reflection I've decided that maybe it's better to keep it restrained a little bit and, as my older self put it, stick to the script. I'm doing a good job of keeping my mouth shut until Gangrel threatens Maribelle with torture again.
All the plans, all the calm, everything, I can feel draining out of my head, replaced with white hot anger once again.
"If you ever, ever touch her, I will fucking dismantle you!" I borderline shriek. I'm not proud of how feminine that probably sounds. The guard has to hold me back at this point, and to make me stay in line he gives me a swift punch to the gut. Maribelle cries out in alarm, but as I sink to the ground I decide I'm pretty much done talking smack on the king. For the remainder of the exchange, I just bite my tongue, sometimes literally.
The whole scene is a little bit surreal to experience the second time. Of course I've had a few experiences like this with other bits in the past, but in this case I'm just literally watching the same scene unfold in front of me. Unlike in the games themselves, though, there's no skip button here. Instead I'm just kind of looking at the dirt, feeling the dull ache in my stomach where I got punched. It's kind of real and not real at the same time.
My borderline-trance is interrupted when Aversa arrives to taunt us. "Poor, brain-dead fools. Are you really worth fighting a war over?"
"Ugh, fuck oooooff," I sigh, struggling to stand up with my hands tied behind my back. I manage it eventually, though. "Literally everybody thinks this is your fault. You're not fooling anyone with this shit. There's not even a reason to fight this war, unless you count all the shit you're up to with Validar."
Her eyes widen for a moment, then her brow drops into an angry glare. "How do you…?"
I can't hide my grin. "Whoopsies. Looks like your secret plans aren't so secret, eh? By the way, you're totally being brainwashed, and it's super funny."
"Enough!" She begins summoning a dark magic spell, and I realize I might not have given Ricken ample time to save us. That ball of magic gets really big, really quickly.
"Oh, Christ!" I say for the (second) first time that day. I'm really not interested in finding out what death by dark magic feels like.
Fortunately, I don't have to learn that feeling just yet, as Ricken springs onto the scene in a burst of Elwind, interrupting her casting. Actually, he's a little less precise this time (no doubt my fault for taunting Aversa and giving less time to work with), so I feel myself getting cut a little by the wind blades as my bindings come undone. High resistance is great, as I get to keep my hands, unlike the guard behind us.
"Cripes! Sorry," Ricken says, noticing our bleeding forearms. I wonder briefly if my training with Maribelle made my arms in particular insensitive to pain.
"You're good, my guy! Let's make like trees!" I reply, stretching my arms as we begin running from the disoriented Aversa.
"Make like trees? What does that even mean?" Ricken calls after me.
"Not important. I'll tell you if we live," I reply. I realize that I'm grinning despite myself, the thrill of adrenaline temporarily dispelling the fear of capture. My optimism is dented a little when I have to duck to avoid getting decapitated by a pursuing mercenary, but we manage to avoid any major injuries until we reach the same bend at the cliff we were stopped at last time.
When we round the corner, once again there's about a half-dozen soldiers waiting to trap us. Meanwhile, we are once again being pursued by the men behind us. We are cornered again, just like last time.
Oh, wait. That's not like last time. Hello Aversa.
A burst of dark magic throws a few Plegian soldiers aside as she zeroes in on me, her face twisted in an almost inhuman scowl. Maybe I shouldn't have shown my hand that quickly with the Validar knowledge.
"I think you know just a little bit too much," she growls, eyes flashing.
"And I think you might know too little," I reply, defiant to the last. When I see her flex her right hand, gathering magic, I instinctively grab Maribelle and Ricken by the shoulders and push them behind me. After all, my resistance stat has proven pretty impressive so far.
Aversa rears back to blast me, and admittedly, a small whimper sneaks through my lips. She lets loose her attack, and it hits me squarely in the chest.
I have never felt anything like the magic she uses. Cold isn't a good enough word for the sensation; it's more like I can feel my body shriveling under the weight of darkness. It's an exhaustion unlike anything I've ever experienced. Of course, I hit the ground, hard.
I don't die though. Not yet, anyway. Gives me a chance to contemplate how much this hurts, a chance my brain is happy to take advantage of.
Aversa stands over me, clearly relishing the moment of dominance. For the briefest of moments, I think that if I were a different sort of man, this situation would be kind of hot. The thought makes me laugh, but it comes out choked and garbled from my mangled chest.
"Something funny?" Aversa demands.
"Leave him alone!" Maribelle interjects, stepping around me to stand between me and the dark mage. "I won't let you hurt him!"
Aversa rears her arm back, readying another blast. No, please don'tー
Suddenly, my vision is filled with brilliant light. Every inch of my body tingles, then vibrates, and then I white out for a moment, feeling nothing, not even the pain in my chest. Then, just as quickly, it's back, and the light is gone.
Disoriented, I look around as best I can. There's Maribelle and Ricken, lying near me. Where's Aversa? Where are the Plegians? Where are we, for that matter?
We're still outside, but it looks like we are somehow at the bottom of the cliff now. In seconds, Maribelle is on her feet and has walked out of my field of vision. When she comes back, she has a staff in hand, pointed at my chest.
As if getting hit with dark magic wasn't awful enough, the feeling of having that damage undone is all the more intense. It reminds me a little of when I got devoured by lava a few weeks ago, actually, except instead of my pain sensors turning off over time, they seem to wake up more and more as my body is repaired.
I can't avoid screaming in pain, clenching my fists so tightly my knuckles pop at every joint. Once again, I feel my vision fading. No, wait, I can't fall unconscious right before a battle! I can't! Stay awake, damnit! Stay…
My eyes snap open, and almost instantly I'm sitting up. I'm inside a tent, with a light breeze flowing through the open flaps. I look around a little, and notice I have a tent mate.
Why is Lissa lying near me?
"Oh, you're awake. Thank the gods." I look to the source of the voice, and in walks Robin, along with Ricken.
"What's happening?" I ask, choking a little on the words with how surprisingly dry my throat is. Fortunately, Ricken is prepared with a cup of water for me. After handing it to me, he steps outside again.
"The battle is ongoing, but nearing its end. I've been taking care of things on the south side of the battlefield, while Chrom is leading our forces north to head the Plegians off." She looks anxious, fidgeting uncomfortably.
"Is everyone–? Is Maribelle–?"
"As far as I know, everyone is safe. You have nothing to fear," she interrupts me.
"Is she out there?"
Robin looks at Lissa briefly. "Yes, though I wish it weren't necessary. With Lissa out of commission, though…"
"What's wrong with Lissa? Is she hurt?" I turn to face her, instantly searching for injuries.
"No, don't worry. She's just exhausted herself. Using a Rescue staff on three people at once will do that to you," Robin says, walking over and crouching beside Lissa to check on her. "It was very brave, and probably very foolish, based on what I've read about the use of Rescue staves."
I had read something similar in my studies. While it is technically possible to transport many people with just one staff, each additional person adds exponential difficulty to the task. Transporting three people down a cliffside to safety must have been incredibly taxing.
"Looks like I owe her again," I sigh, trying to smile.
Robin fills me in. Once Lissa had transported us to safety, she collapsed, leaving it up to Maribelle to borrow Lissa's Mend staff and fix my mangled self. I was then moved to the recovery tent alongside Lissa while Maribelle took her place in formation. To hear Robin tell it, it seems I very nearly didn't make it after taking a hit like that.
"I've seen dark magic in battle before, but I too got a look at you before Maribelle closed you up. Whatever blast you took, it was from something beyond what I've seen before. Are Plegian mages truly so powerful?" Robin asks.
"Not all of them, most likely," I reply. "But Aversa's a different beast altogether."
"Aversa entered the battle? I didn't anticipate that," Robin says, a sharp edge to her voice. "I hope nothing's–"
"Robin!" a voice calls from outside. I think it's Sully. "We've got things mostly wrapped up, but their captain and his guard are flying out of range of Virion's arrows. They look like they're heading here to try and catch us from behind."
Another unseen voice replies, and I'm sure from the pitch that it's Ricken's. "Let them try! I'll knock them out of the sky!"
Robin stands. I try to as well, but she gently holds me down with a hand on my shoulder.
"It's going to be alright. Stay here," she commands, and grabs a yellow-backed tome on her way out of the tent.
Despite her order, I get up anyway and, despite the lingering fatigue, make my way to the front of the tent so I can see outside. The steep cliff faces keep much of the battlefield out of sight, but sure enough, far above in the sky I can see a few wyverns silhouetted against the light of the afternoon sun. I can also see Virion, perched on the back of Frederick's horse, but it seems he doesn't want to risk firing in the direction of the base camp. Though Frederick is riding as fast as he can, it doesn't look like he will be able to get into a position for Virion to fire. Looks like it's up to the mages.
The first of three wyverns dives down, and holy shit are those things bigger in person. He's heading straight for Ricken, but the young mage is grinning confidently. Once the rider is in range, he lets loose a few blades of Elwind, and within a second the wyvern's wings are well and truly perforated. Some blood from the beast falls on Ricken himself, but he seems not to mind much. The rider tries to get his mount to pull up, but with the wings out of commission, he only plummets straight down. Ricken steps back to leave a few feet between him and the crash zone, with rider and mount colliding as one with the rocky ground. An unholy crunch of metal and flesh grates on my ears as they make contact.
Meanwhile, Robin is firing bolts straight at her adversary. It looks like she got ahold of an Elthunder tome somehow, as the lightning flies in a straight line from her hand to the target, tearing holes in the wyvern's wings and destabilizing it. The rider, undaunted, tries to take a swing anyway, but she draws her sword just in time and parries the blow, then as the rider flies past her she transitions into another Elthunder attack, shooting the rider in the back and sending him flying from his wyvern. When he hits the ground, flat on his face, he doesn't move again.
That leaves only the captain (I think his name is Orton?), taking advantage of Robin while her back is turned.
"Robin, look out!" I call out, and she turns just a second too late, parrying the blow slightly but still taking an axe strike to the head, knocking her to the ground.
While Ricken starts shooting Elwind at the captain, I'm inside the tent, searching wildly for a staff or some vulneraries. I find what looks to be a Mend staff, and rush to Robin's side.
I try really hard not to think about how I've never used a Mend staff before as I point the staff at her head and will the magic to obey me and heal her. It's not hard to imagine that this is a wound that could kill her, so even though the more advanced staff bucks at my command, I stand firm and force the magic out. Thin ribbons of white light snake out from the orb and cradle her head, closing the wound and (gross!) putting her skull back in shape. After a moment, her eyelids twitch, then open.
"Oh, thank fucking Christ," I say, then realize I had been holding my breath.
She looks a little bit confused. "Randall? When did you…?" Oh good, another bout of amnesia. "When did you learn to use a Mend staff?" Nevermind.
"We've got bigger worries," I remind her, then stand up to check on the fight with Orton. It looks like Ricken got ahold of his mount with some air blades, so now the fight is on the ground. Sully and Orton are duking it out, axe on lance. Looks like Sully bailed on her mount as well. Chivalrous to the end, I suppose.
Despite the weapon disadvantage, she seems to be handling him pretty well. Especially when an arrow flies down from the cliff above and embeds itself in the left side of his head. I look up, and there's Virion, waving cheerily from the cliff a few dozen feet above us, still astride Frederick's horse.
Needless to say, Sully is pissed when the pair ride down to join us. Frederick drops Virion off, then leaves to finish cleaning up the field. "You little prick!" Sully barks at the offending archer. "What was that about?"
"I only meant to finish the conflict posthaste!" he protests. "I had a clean shot, so naturally, I took it, rather than letting a lady such as yourself risk injury."
Oh, buddy. Could've worded that better.
"Oh, a 'lady,' am I?" she demands, grabbing him by the collar. I decide to come to his aid.
"Come on, Sully. Give the guy a break. You gotta admit, it was a pretty good shot," I say, hands raised, as I step over to Virion's side.
"Ugh," she says as she releases him. "Point. It was still interrupting an honorable duel."
Robin joins us. "No Sully, he was right. If this truly is war now, then there isn't much room for honor when lives are on the line. We must do what it takes to win, and to make sure that none of ours are lost out there."
Sully mumbles something unintelligible, but it seems she's conceded the point.
Before long, the others begin returning down the slopes. I'm pleasantly surprised by how many people greet me as they pass by; I get a clap on the back and a "Good to see you again" from Stahl, a full-on bro-hug from the Vaike, and at one point I'm pretty sure Kellam pats me on the shoulder. Miriel nods politely as she passes, inquiring after Kellam's location. Lon'qu doesn't say anything, but I figured that would be the case as 1) we've never met and 2) he's Lon'qu. Sumia lands her pegasus nearby and welcomes me back before unceremoniously falling from her mount and landing on her face. Ouch.
When Frederick returns, Maribelle is riding on the back of his horse. She dismounts, and I'm admittedly pretty happy to see her make a beeline for yours truly. She stops just a couple feet in front of me.
"Oh, Randall, thank the gods you're–oof!" She's interrupted by my pulling her into a tight hug. After a moment, she cautiously wraps her arms around me as well. I'm flattered that she doesn't push me away until a good five seconds later. "What on earth has gotten into you?"
"I wasn't sure you were okay!" I say. "I was worried, alright?" Only now do I turn a little red at my impulsiveness.
Fortunately, she smiles. "Well, I appreciate your concern. I'm fit as a fiddle."
Chrom is the last one to join us, with Donnel in tow. I'll have to remember to say hi later. "Is everyone alright?" he asks. Everybody answers more or less in the affirmative. "Good. Good. Everyone, be quick. We are getting out of here, as soon as possible."
We are joined by Emmeryn and Phila as well. It seems Phila and her squad made getting the Exalt out of harm's way a priority. Probably a good call. Chrom and Robin go off to join her, leaving me with the rest of the army to get all the supplies together.
Because of what appears to be healer privilege, when we get on the road, Maribelle and I are allowed to stay in the sick cart with Lissa. She doesn't look to be in pain; she's just sleeping off the fatigue of an extraordinary magical feat. What a trooper.
I don't take my eyes off Lissa as I remark to Maribelle, "It's good to be back."
Maribelle strokes Lissa's hair out of her face before replying. "Yes, I suppose it is, isn't it?"
A/N: I am a man of sin. I know this, and I have no excuse for dropping off the face of the earth. I do have explanations, though! School, and job, and then more school mostly. But I'm back, baby! Hope you enjoyed this one, as of course it's been a long time coming. As always, comments and critiques are welcome. See you next time!