Chapter 15) Screams


The days passed without incident. We don't even have injured to deal with, since Ethlyn, Lachesis, and Aideen can handle all the injuries just fine. I feel a little useless, but Deirdre seems to sense that and comes up with all sorts of tasks for me here. Most of them involve Seliph, and to be fair, babies need a lot of tending.

Things slowly relax, and we eagerly wait when everyone can return. We even have planned out what feast we'd throw. We're a little silly sometimes.


"Ah, Shanan, be careful while measuring," I chided, reaching over to stop his hand. He instantly drooped, so I patted it and smiled. "Medicines require very precise measurements. Too much of a thing could mean poison."

"Poison?!" Shanan gasped. He set down his measuring spoon and scooted back from the table. "Really?"

"Yes. That's why you must be careful." I tried to be serious, but his worried look made me relent. "How about you switch to helping me grind the herbs and watching?"

"Okay!" He smiled, noticeably relieved, and scooted his chair closer to me while I gathered the medicinal things. "What can I do?"

"Grind these ones." I passed him the herbs and worked on the medicine. Normally, I'd do this in the infirmary, but today was actually so lovely that we were actually sitting in the gardens, not far from where Deirdre was playing with Seliph.

"Alicia!" Of course, Deirdre's breathless cry made me stiffen, and I shot to my feet, nearly knocking the table over. "Alicia, over here!" Deirdre called, waving me over. She was smiling, so my panic died a little. "Over here! Over here!"

"What's going on?" I asked, heading over. She had a blanket spread out for Seliph to safely crawl on, and I crouched down, worried. "Did he bump his head?"

"No, no!" Deirdre giggled, and looked almost starry-eyed. "Go on, Seliph! Show your auntie!"

"…Ma-ma?" Seliph replied. He was sitting down, and he looked so incredibly confused. I, however, started laughing as I realized just why Deirdre was freaking out. His first word… was 'mama'. "Mama?" He frowned a little and reached out to both Deirdre and me. He then promptly fell on his face and started tearing up.

"Oh, it's okay, sweetie!" Deirdre cooed, gathering him up quickly in her arms and rocking him. The threatened tears faded as he yawned and curled up to sleep. "Hee! He's talking!"

"I guess he is about the right age," I murmured, sitting back on my heels. I'd been told that babies started 'talking' around six months, and he was about that age, give or take. "Don't be too attached to the word. I think he won't quite recognize you with that word until he's like a year old."

"I don't care. His first word was mama!" She giggled again, kissing Seliph's forehead. "I can't wait to tease Sigurd about it."

"Just telling you so that you don't pout when, say, he calls Shanan 'mama'."

"I'm no one's mama!" Shanan instantly protested. He was studiously grinding the herbs for me, sticking his tongue out a little as he concentrated. "Seliph, don't be silly!" He yelped as he bit his tongue. "Ow…"

"Lady Deirdre!" a soldier rushed into the garden then, beaming. Their armor was dusty, and their face was sweaty, like they'd just arrived from traveling. "I bring word from Lord Sigurd. Madino Castle has fallen!"

Well, that was some wonderful news!


Sadly, the good news was soon followed by troubling. Eldigan and his Cross Knights had marched in 'defense of Augustria', and were definitely preparing for battle. That meant Sigurd and the army would likely be meeting them on the field, possibly without returning to Agusty Castle. We tried not to be too disappointed, and Deirdre wondered if they could simply… hold talks here again. I thought King Chagall wouldn't let him, but didn't want to dampen her enthusiasm.

"So, I'm thinking we should have them in the study for business," Deirdre murmured, walking around the room while rocking Seliph. I sat in a chair, reading through a medical book I'd found in the library, and let her ramble. "There's that vintage Sigurd wanted to save… I could have it chilled…"

"Save the chilling for if Eldigan agrees to talks," I chided, flipping to another page. It was mostly on early child things, so that I could better keep an eye on Seliph's health. "Lots of things are going to go wrong first."

"Oh, hush with that pessimism." She stuck her tongue out at me and I smiled slightly before returning to my book. "Oh, Alicia, I've a question for you."

"Yes?"

"Are you and Chulainn going to get married soon?" Her eyes sparkled at the question, and I laughed at how enthusiastic she was. "And have kids?"

"Well, we have talked about it a little." I felt myself flush as I recalled what had followed our last discussion. "For now, though, contraceptives are a thing. Though, these Augustrian ones don't exactly fill me with courage."

"I see." She giggled, beaming. "Oh, I can't wait to see it!"

"…You'd be planning it." I smiled warmly at her and she stared. "That's what Maids of Honor do, right? I was involved in a lot of the planning for your wedding, remember?"

"I'd… be your Maid of Honor?"

"Of course." I shrugged, and returned to my book. "You are, after all, my very best friend-WHOA!" I yelped as I was suddenly tackled with a hug. "Deirdre, you're crushing Seliph and me!"

"Sorry!" She jumped back, laughing. Sleeping Seliph protested, but she calmed him down easily. "I was just so happy!"

"It can't be that much of a surprise." I rolled my eyes as she kept giggling. "You may also think of names for any hypothetical children I might have. You'd definitely be the one announcing it."

"Really?!" She was just all giggles now. "Hmm… name… name… Julia? No, that won't suit your daughter. Maybe mine, but not yours." She hummed a bit. "Caitriona? That sounds better…"

"I'm going to remind you that I'm not pregnant yet, nor do I plan to be."

"I'm getting a head start." She beamed at me. "So-"

"Ambush!" The one word startled us both, and poor Seliph jolted awake in tears as the yelling continued. "Ambush! Ambush! Lady Deirdre! Lady Alicia!"

"We're in here!" I called, throwing the book to the side. After Deirdre calmed Seliph, both of us headed into the hallway, where we were met with some frantically running guards. Already, we had wounded. "How did we get attacked so quickly?"

"Not sure, my lady!" One guard slid to a stop and saluted in front of us. They had Shanan in hand, and Shanan looked really confused about… everything. "We have our hands full trying to keep them off, and some have already broken through," they explained. Deirdre and I exchanged worried looks. "Orders?"

"Defend, of course," Deirdre murmured. She crouched down and passed Seliph to Shanan. "Here, sweetie, can you watch Seliph for me?"

"What? Hold on!" Shanan yelped. He took Seliph carefully, but frowned. "Sigurd said to watch out for you! And I can't watch a baby all on my own!"

"Alicia and I will be right back, Shanan." She glanced up at me, and I nodded. "We're just heading out to get an better idea of what's going on, and to see if any civilians need help getting in to safety. Not long at all."

"…Do you promise?"

"Yep~!" Deirdre held her pinky out, and Shanan hooked it around his. "There, pinky swear!"

"Okay…" Shanan sighed and cradled Seliph. Seliph was looking around in confusion at everything. "Back soon."

"Back soon." She kissed Shanan and Seliph on the forehead. "Alicia, let's go!"

She and I both raced down the hall, leaving Shanan and Seliph and the guard behind. We checked in briefly in the infirmary, to make sure I wouldn't be more needed there, and I snagged Sleep when I decided that I could wait to take over. Deirdre and I continued our mad dash outside, with Deirdre ordering a servant to get her Aura tome. Once outside, I started tending to the injured guards and civilians while she joined the fighters trying to push back the enemy.

"Oh, hey, over here!" I called, rushing over to a person wearing a dark, magenta cloak. "Easy, easy… we've got a safe place this way." I gently led them to the side, and knelt down to assess them for injuries. I quickly found none, but I worried over the bad burn scars all over their arms and neck. "Do your scars ache?"

"No, they do not," they replied. They lifted their head, revealing an older man with a strangely calculating gleam in his eye. "Not physically, at least."

"I see." I smiled at him, and noticed the burn scars extended to portions of his face. He must've been caught in a burning house or something. "Well please, let me know if they do. I have some remedies for that."

"Thank you." He smiled slowly. A strange dread crept down my spine. "You are quite kind."

He brought up his hand suddenly and black light wrapped around it. I barely managed to duck out of the way before he loosed the spell and made the back wall explode.

"Alicia?!" Deirdre's scream caught my ear as I got to my feet. "Alicia!" she yelled again, running for me. She blasted the man with an Aura spell, and he retaliated with his own spell. They hit and canceled out, but he threw another spell. This one actually started a fire, one with black flames. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"I want you, girl," the man answered easily. He was still smiling, and he casually tossed spells around. Screams filled the air as civilians and soldiers, enemy and ally, were hit. This man… he didn't care. I could see it in his eyes. He truly, truly didn't care. "Give up."

"I think not!" Deirdre blasted him with another Aura spell, and I scrambled back and snatched up my Sleep staff. I waited for her to hit him again, and then unleashed its power, intending on just doing what she and I always did.

But he laughed as the magic hit him and shrugged it off like water. Both Deirdre and I stared as we realized it didn't have an effect on him, but I unfroze when I saw him snag Deirdre by the arm and lunged forward. I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I just hit him over the head with my staff as hard as I could. He jerked back from the pain, blood trickling down his face, and Deirdre jerked herself free. She hit him with another Aura spell, and I called to the flames and gestured, throwing them at the man. He actually screamed, stumbling back further and desperately trying to pat out the fire. I thought about turning the flames further on him, but I hesitated, feeling guilty. I'd seen the burn scars. He probably had trauma associated with fire.

But as I hesitated, he recovered and he threw another spell, this time above us. I heard a window shatter, and then I heard a scream of pain. My heart stopped when I realized it was Shanan, and I wondered why he was near a window. Then I realized he'd probably been looking to see why we weren't back yet, despite our promise. And that scream… that scream meant he'd been hit, and there was a not… not insignificant chance he was dead…

"Alicia!"

I barely had time to turn before I was blasted by… by a spell. A horrible high-pitched screaming noise filled my ears and my vision filled with the sight of bloody skeletons being crushed by a cackling woman who reached out at me. Black smoke filled my lungs and I couldn't breathe. I couldn't feel. I was everything and nothing at once.

Something crashed into my back, pieces digging into the skin before I slid down. My breath escaped me in a gasp, and my vision darkened as I hit the ground with a wet splat. The smell of blood, my blood, suffocated me as I slowly pieced together that I'd been blasted into a wall, and that I was bleeding out from so many wounds that my body had gone into shock. I didn't feel any pain. I was too far gone.

Deirdre's screams were the last thing I heard as darkness took me. I'd never forget the sound, no matter how long or short I lived.


I woke up in stages. I'd notice the murmur of talking before falling back unconscious. I'd feel something warm and soft before falling back asleep. The third stage was being flooded with pain and escaping into oblivion. It was the fourth time that I tried to actually open my eyes, but that was mostly because after four times, I determined that I, somehow, wasn't dead. Even though all logic dictated I should be dead, I wasn't. It was a strange feeling, really.

"You're awake!" Lewyn's voice made me turn my head, and he smiled brightly at me. "Well, welcome back to the living," he half-teased. He sniffed suddenly and rubbed at his eyes. "Ah, damn dust…"

"What are…?" I tried to ask. My voice rasped, though, and I coughed to clear it. Then I couldn't stop coughing and jerking, with pain screaming through me. "Ah…"

"Easy… you're… you nearly died." He leaned over to fix my blanket. I blinked slowly and realized I was in my room. "You seriously almost died."

"How…?"

"How did you almost die?" He frowned and I shook my head. "Oh, how am I here?" I nodded and he sighed. "Luck. Pure dumb luck. The wind started screaming suddenly, and it worried me, so I asked Erinys to head into the air. Then we saw the smoke."

"Eldigan?"

"Standstill anyway. He doesn't want to fight, and neither does Sigurd. So, when we heard Agusty was under assault…" He shrugged. "Eldigan pulled back, Sigurd sent people, and well, here we are. We had to fight our way through people. Thankfully, Chulainn can cut through armor."

"…Where is…?"

"Asleep. He tried to stay up, but all the stress got to him not too long ago. Same with Azel."

"How long…?"

"You've been out for three… no, four days. We're coming on four, I think." He frowned. "Three and a half? Sounds better."

"Shanan? Seliph?"

"Fine. They're both fine. Shanan's got a scar on his back. Seems whoever attacked him was aiming more for Seliph than him, but he twisted Seliph out of the way in time." He shrugged. "Shanan's mental state isn't the greatest. Ayra's doing what she can."

"Deirdre?" I waited, but this time, he didn't answer right away. "Deirdre?"

"…Gone. Kidnapped, we think." He sighed heavily, and reached over to fix the blankets on me. "By the time we got here, she was long gone. We looked, but there's no tracks we can find." He leaned back in the chair, sighing again. "We secured a wet nurse for Seliph. We interviewed her, and we don't let her go off with Seliph alone."

"Deirdre…" Her screams… they still echoed in my head. Deirdre, my best friend… where were you? "How am I…?"

"Alive?" He grimaced when I nodded. "Well…"

"A miracle, to be honest, Miss Alicia." There was the creak of a door opening, and then someone else was in the room. Father Claude, who… really shouldn't be near here. "Tailtiu and I were heading to the Tower of Blaggi, and wanted to talk to Sigurd," he explained, moving to the other side of my bed and sitting down. He set some medicine down on the nightstand and smiled at me. "We came here first, and it was a near thing. I found Lady Lachesis doing everything she could to hold onto you. You were hit with powerful dark magic, one that brought you to death's door."

"And, thankfully, the wind reacted, because otherwise, we weren't making it," Lewyn added. His voice was light, but his fists were clenched. When he noticed me staring, though, he relaxed slowly, and stood, smiling. "Regardless, I'm going to let everyone know the good news." He whistled a little tune as he walked out the door, and it took me a moment to recognize it as one of the ones he liked to play for the infirmary, to make people feel better.

"Certainly much more trouble than I anticipated," Father Claude murmured. He gently touched my face and smiled. "Your coloring has finally improved, though. I'm gladdened to see that."

"I'm sure…" I mumbled. I eyed the medicine on the nightstand, recognizing it by sight and smell as something given to those who lost a lot of blood. It wasn't used often because it could be dangerous in large quantities, so its presence told me a great deal of how bad off I was. "Why are…?"

"Why am I here? Or why am I heading to the Tower?" His smile fell, and he shook his head. "Prince Kurth is dead." The words felt like ice water thrown in my face. "And the leading suspect is Lord Byron."

"That's…"

"Ridiculous?" He smiled again when I nodded. "Lord Arvis thought the same. Thus, he beseeched me to go to the Tower and divine the truth."

"Of course…" I smiled, relieved. Arvis… he'd make it better. I knew he would. "Does he know…?"

"I'm afraid Azel wrote a letter to inform him you might die, yes."

"…Darn."

"I told him that he was worrying too much." That was a cheerful voice I didn't recognize, and I didn't really recognize the girl it belonged to either as she burst into room with a vase full of flowers. "Hello, Ally~!" she chirped, beaming. She set the flowers on the nightstand by the medicine, and I tried to think past my shock on the nickname. "We haven't met. I'm Tailtiu."

"Hello…?" I whispered, startled. Lord Reptor's daughter… I wouldn't have thought… "Your father…?"

"Meh, I don't get all this political nonsense." She shrugged, and some part of me was annoyed she dismissed it to easily. Another part was amused by her cheer. The rest was too tired and in pain to care. "Besides, I'm here as Claude's bodyguard!" She puffed her chest out proudly, while Father Claude facepalmed. "And Father let me sneak out."

"I see…"

"But that doesn't matter. I brought you some flowers to brighten the place up." She grinned, strangely bright and cheerful given… everything. "And when we're back from the Tower, let's chat! You're too tired for it now, but I've been looking forward to it!"

"Okay…"

"Yay~!" She leaned down and kissed me on the forehead before skipping out of the room.

"…She's a storm."

"That she is," Father Claude agreed. He laughed, though, showing that for all the exasperation, he couldn't help but be amused either. "Here, you know what this medicine is for. Let me check you over."

The check-up went fairly quickly, given that I could barely move. It probably helped that I knew what a lot of the medicine was for, and that Father Claude was an old hand at being the healer. It felt strange being fussed over, but I knew I needed it. Even after he gave me pain medication, I still hurt, and it wasn't just mental. None of it made sense to me, though. Who was that old man? Was he associated with Chagall? Was this another case where dark magic users were ruining a country?

I didn't know. But I felt like a piece on a chipping board, and I didn't much like it.

Father Claude finished up and left me to rest, but I wasn't alone for long. Chulainn walked in, looking almost haggard, and I instinctively tried to push myself up. He shook his head and sat in the chair, taking my hand gently and kissing it. He didn't say anything for a long moment, and I let him be silent, just staring and smiling at him. He'd speak when ready. I knew that.

"Azel is still asleep," he whispered at last. I nodded, accepting that. "He was worried."

"I'm sure he was," I murmured. I didn't say anything more. I just waited.

"I was worried."

"I'm sure."

"…You…" He sighed, and dropped his head. "…When I got here, you were in a puddle of blood. Your own blood." His voice was soft, monotone. But the hand in mine shook. "Lachesis was cursing everything she could as she struggled to get her Mend staff to take. She was covered in blood. Your blood."

"Chulainn…"

"I thought you were dead. I thought you were gone. You were supposed to be safe, and this was supposed to be simple, but I went away and you…" His voice cracked then, and I saw the tears. I tried to move, to wipe them away, but even though his grip on my hand was so gentle, I didn't have the strength to break it. "I…"

"I'm alive, Chulainn." I smiled at him, feeling a little helpless. I had no real options at this point. I was too injured to hold him. It hurt to even be awake. So, all I could think of was to state the obvious. "I love you."

"I love you too, Alicia." He squeezed my hand before shifting to hold my wrist. It took me a moment to realize he was checking my pulse, reassuring himself that I really was alive. "I'm sorry. My head is a little messed up." He smiled wanly, the tears still falling down his face. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"…I want a kiss." I pouted as he stared. "Kiss me."

He stared for a long moment before laughing and leaning down to brush his mouth against mine. It was salty, but sweet. "You're too injured for a 'proper' kiss, so let that do." When he straightened, he was smiling. It was still pained, but it was real. That was enough for me. "You'll have visitors soon. Tailtiu happily told everyone you were awake. Let me know if you're overwhelmed. You're a patient now."

"Ugh…" I made a face, and he managed a laugh. "Fine."

I ended up falling asleep before I got too many visitors, but I at least got to see and talk to Azel before passing out. Some part of me was glad for it. When I slept, I didn't have to think of Sigurd and telling him what happened.

But I did have to deal with nightmares, nightmares of that man and Deirdre's screams. Over and over again, I relieved that horrifying moment, and I wanted to scream. Gods, did I ever want to scream. But I couldn't. I couldn't, and it hurt. It hurt so, so much.


Records on Deirdre:

Maiden of the Spirit Forest, Lady of Chalphy, 19 years old

A sweet girl who grew up in Verdane, with a surprising talent for light magic. She wears a circlet at all times, supposedly a 'safeguard' for the Catastrophe to come.

Has a strange scar on the bottom of her foot that she insists is fine.

Though she was shy and hesitant at first, she's grown into her role as Lady of Chalphy, as a wife, and as a mother. I adore her.


Author's note: So this scene takes cues from the Oosawa version, mainly by making Deirdre fight her kidnapping a bit and having there be an ambush on the castle. In game… well, she's kidnapped rather quickly because she rushes towards Sigurd at Madino instead of waiting. And, hilariously, your units in-game don't react.

Manfroy hit Alica with the 'Hel' spell, a dark magic tome that drops a target to 1 HP. While in FE4 that's all it could do, in FE5 it would kill a unit at 1 HP. One of Alicia's 'skills' is Miracle/Prayer, which is a 'game mechanic' way of explaining how she dodged. Manfroy having burn scars comes from the Oosawa managa as well.

Next Chapter – Interlude, Camp