Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or anything associated with it.
A/N:
Last time on Fire Emblem: Blazing Light
"Ninian? What's wrong?"
"I've lost my ring," she said, causing an extremely worried look to come onto her brother's face.
"Not NIni's grace?"
"The very same…."
"They stole it? Those curs!" Nils shouted angrily.
"Was it valuable?" Lyn asked.
"It is a keepsake from our departed mother," Ninian answered.
"It was blessed by the spirit of Ninis….There's no other ring like it, and it was taken by those villains."
"Then let's go get it!" Lyn said.
"Milady, are you sure of this?" Kent asked.
"Yes, this is something we need to do. You said the villagers saw them heading south, correct? We have to give chase!" With their minds made up, Lyndis' Legion set out to recover Ninian's lost ring.
XXXXX
A little while later…
At an abandoned castle in Lycia, south of the town of Kathelet, a woman with blue hair and fair skin wearing a semi-modest dress and high boots jumped off her horse. She gave a quiet sigh of irritation for what she had to deal with. Of all things, she had to deal with new buffoons who simply had to catch a couple of kids.
"If they hadn't done this simple task, I'm not even sure if they're worth being in the Black Fang," she muttered to herself as she walked to the guards. Recognizing the woman, the sentry stepped aside for her entry. Walking up a small flight of stairs, she found the person in charge of the operation; a third rate former mercenary who joined the Fang two months ago, if she recalled.
"Ah! B-Blue Crow!" he called out, using her moniker within the Fang.
"Well met," she curtly said. "Where are the kids?" Her eyes narrowed when he began to stutter and stumble around like a drunk fool.
"Well...uh...we had initially captured the girl, and had her en route here, and we had dispatched another unit for the boy. However, an unknown fighting group arrived and took them both out of our grasp, though we have a plan to retake them!" he quickly tried to fix, stretching for whatever mercy may be in her body.
"So the brother escaped and the sister was rescued by a band of strangers," she bluntly put. "Do I understand you?"
"Well ...we were ambushed, bu-"
"Hold your excuses. The end is all that matters."
"Yes ma'am," he simply said.
"And your plan for recovering the siblings is?" she inquired.
"We've word that the entire group is heading this way, with the brats in tow," he informed her.
Now curious, she raised an eyebrow. "They're coming here? Why would they do that?" Surely it wouldn't be anything but pure idiocy to follow a retreating enemy. In response, the man pulled out a small silver ring. Something about it looked different than the average ring...It had power, presence….
"They may well be after this ring," he said. "It's rare, that's for sure. We took it from the girl when we captured her. A stroke of luck we did, since now the entire group is on their way here...The best bait imaginable to reel them all in."
"I see…." So he wasn't completely brainless, she deduced. "In that case, you get one last chance. "I've business elsewhere, but I shall return once it's finished." That was a half-lie; she honestly had nothing to do for another two days, but she couldn't stand to be around these twits any longer. That and ever since….he died, she'd been much more reclusive and snappy towards others. "You have until sunrise tomorrow. Understood?"
"Yes."
"If you do not have the children when I return, my hand will deal you the Fang's punishment. Remember that, bear it closely in your mind," she threatened. After making sure he was thoroughly scared out of his wits, she whipped around and exited the castle. Mounting her horse, she set off for a quiet tavern to relax in for a while.
XXXXX
"How close are we?" Nils asked worriedly to Lyn as the group hurried to follow the fleeing vigilantes of the group that attacked them.
"That's it, if I'm not mistaken," Lyn soon answered as a small castle came into view. Aracho's eyes widened as he recognized it as the same base Ursula took him to when he was with the Black Fang.
"Wow..." he quickly played off when others noticed his expression. "That's big." The castle in question was indeed large, though clearly abandoned, if the appearance was anything to go by. Many of the walls were cracked or off-color, though it was still sturdy.
"They probably went in through here, I believe," Lyn noted as the arrived at the main entrance.
"Milady, are you really going in there to get the ring back?" Nils asked, obviously concerned for their safety.
"Yes, we are."
"But this is their stronghold!" Nils returned, though Aracho knew that this base was not very well-guarded at all compared to the other ones; they usually sent just the rookie members here before giving them tougher assignments. "They're bound to be well-defended and well-armed!"
"You can forget about the ring….It's alright," Ninian added.
"We all agreed to help you do this...recovery," Lyn said. "If we didn't, we wouldn't be here. We don't take this lightly. I'm confident we can win and get your ring back, Ninian!"
"Milady…" Nils breathed out, an expression of shock and relief all over his face. Ninian had a similar expression, unable to say any words but simply nodding graciously. With that, the group entered the castle cautiously and found it reminiscent of a regular old castle. Beside the two rooms were very narrow corridors. Almost as soon as they entered, footsteps began to sound all around them. Readying themselves, Lyndis' Legion quickly found themselves surrounded by several people who did not look happy to see them.
"Here's our welcoming committee," Aracho dryly said, brandishing his daggers. "You think we should split in two groups?" he asked Lyn.
"...That might be our best bet," she conceded. "I'll go straight ahead and you can take some around and see what's around there. Be careful, though!"
"Gotcha. My group, this way!" Aracho called. Matthew, Kent, Sain and Dorcas went with him while the rest stayed with Lyn or Ninian and Nils. Turning the corner, Aracho quickly found a soldier rushing at him with a lance. Thinking quickly, he swung his dagger into the side of the lance's pole, swerving it to the wall and giving him an opening. Using his free hand, he ran up and cut the grunt's throat. "That was easy…." he admitted.
"That was rather harsh, don't you think?" Kent commented with a straight face that veiled a clearly disapproving expression.
"You stab people with pointy sticks for a living," Aracho shot back before he saw Matthew using his lockpick on a door. "Sain, you think you can take whatever's behind that door?"
"I can do it!" he said, rushing up.
"Have fun!" Matthew said as the door's lock clicked. Shoving it open, he moved out of the way to let the green-clad knight rush through and attack the archer that was in wait. Coming in to aid him, the ragtag group had a small bout of surprise when the door on the other side of the room unlocked as well, revealing a thief who was trying to get something amidst all the chaos. "Sorry, but we saw this chest first," Matthew said to the thief.
"We'll see about that!" the rogue man said, rushing towards them. Before he could even reach Matthew, the closest one to him, he found himself struck by a lightning bolt. Falling down, he quickly spasmed out before his body still on the floor.
"Whoops…I think I put a little too much in that one," Aracho said, putting away magic book in order to take his daggers out of their holsters. "Welp, onwards!" With the blue-haired teen at the lead, the band of fighters cautiously exited the other side of the room. As soon as they turned a corner, a man dressed in a common mercenary garb came into view. He wore a look of surprise at seeing Aracho and others come into the space.
"What!? They've made it all the way back here already?" he said with a curious tone laced with worry.
"We sure are, and you have something we need back," Aracho responded, taking out an elfire tome.
"Grr…There is no room for failure…." he muttered to himself, before raising his sword at Aracho. "Prepare to die!" he yelled, rushing with his sword, poised to carry out his mission.
"I don't think so!" Aracho said, his hand glowing a bright blue. With a wave of his arm, a great fireball flew towards the Black Fang member, exploding into a brilliant blue pillar of flame. The assassin screamed as he was thrown back into the opposite wall. At that moment, Lyn burst through into the scene right next to Aracho.
"Archy! Are you alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, and that's the boss," he pointed out. Said boss was trying to pick up his sword, only to find that the impact broke his arm, leaving him defenseless.
"I...I cannot…." the Black Fang said in defeat.
"Give us the ring!" Lyn demanded, her sword drawn. "And swear us this oath...You will promise to leave these two kids alone….If you do that, I will spare your life." Looking up at Lyn, he breathing quickened as he took out a small vial of liquid and opened the cap with his functioning hand.
"Failure….means death," he said, before drinking the substance. Before he could even throw the bottle on the ground, he began to convulse and thrash before he laid on the floor, still.
"Poison…" Lyn realized. "He...took his own life…"
"These are no common brigands we're dealing with," Kent noted as Aracho began to search the body for Ninian's ring. "This is a well-organized group."
"I have the ring!" Aracho shouted, turning the attention back to him. Jumping up, he showed Lyn a silvery-white ring with a beautiful carving on it. Taking Nini's grace from the boy, the Sacaean nodded her head in triumph. "Let's get back to Nils and Ninian." Finished with their side mission, the group exited the building.
Even still, Aracho had a whirlwind of thoughts raging in his head. It had clearly been the Black Fang, as shown by the shaman earlier who said so, but this didn't make sense. He didn't recognize anyone in the group, which is probably a given considering the base was for new recruits, but the style was also different. The Fang rarely ever did kidnappings, mostly assassinations or other vigilante things like stealing something to give to the poor. Even if they DID do kidnappings, this was...in the open. The Black Fang NEVER operated in the open. Especially outside of Bern.
"Something must have happened…" he quietly muttered aloud, catching the attention of Lyn.
"What was that, Archy?" the green-haired teen asked, snapping him out of his stupor.
"I was just….wondering why they were after Ninian and Nils," he revealed, deciding that the truth wouldn't hurt. "They seem very nice and they're kids."
"Hmm...I wouldn't know why either, but as long as they don't come back again, we shouldn't have anything to worry about," Lyn brushed off.
"I'm going to come back here tonight," Aracho said off-handedly, making Lyn turn to him with her eyes wide.
"Why!? You don't know what could be around here?"
"I just...something doesn't feel right. So I think I'll leave at the dead of night and come investigate here. I'll be back a little at daybreak, so there won't be any worries."
"Hm...if you say so," she conceded. "If you find anything, be sure to let us know, but please...be careful." Nodding, Aracho internally danced at getting Lyn's approval. Now, he just had to see what had happened in the Black Fang if he could find any info.
"We're back!" Lyn said when the entire group came outside. The two still seemed a little off, however. "Listen, Nils, you witnessed our victory. Everything is going to be alright as long as you're with us."
"Wait...are you saying…"
"Yes, you're welcome to travel with us," Lyn clarified.
"Milady…" Ninian started in shock. Looking at the light-blue haired girl, Lyn remembered about the ring and took it out to return to her.
"Oh, yes...this is yours, right?" By Ninian's expression, it was clear they had retrieved the correct ring.
"It's…" she started, breathless as she slowly grabbed the ring out of Lyn's hand.
"You called it Nini's grace, right? That nut in there had it," Aracho jumped in.
"Milady Lyndis, thank you so much!" Nils burst in happiness, nearly in tears.
"I have no other words, but thank you," Ninian added in a much more subdued way, nearly in tears at having the momento back.
"It was no problem," Lyn replied. "Welcome along; you're with us now." After saying that, she turned to Kent. "Which direction should we go in now?"
"Oh, hm…" Kent started, unprepared for the question. "We should probably head southeast, considering that although the castle was out of the way, it wasn't in the opposite direction. That information provided, we should be able to reach Caelin by midday tomorrow if we leave at dawn and make a little time tonight."
"Tomorrow at midday?" Lyn burst in amazement. "Wow...I can't imagine…" She closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. Then, she turned back to the rest of the group. "Alright, everyone! It's time to go."
XXXXX
Later that night…
"Be careful, Archy," Lyn said a little ways outside where they set up camp. They had gotten away from everyone else who had went to sleep a long time ago. "Make sure to keep yourself out of harm's way more than anything else."
"I'll be fine, Lyn," the boy reassured, putting his magic book in its holster. "I'll be back soon." With that, he started off towards the hideout of the Black Fang. Since they hadn't covered the most distance possible due to the fatigue of the horses that had to fight in battle today, it wasn't much of a distance to get back.
When he arrived, Aracho looked up to see the moon already beginning to set and the earliest rays of sunlight to appear. "I need to hurry quick," he told himself as he entered the base. "The operations room should be...aha!" he quietly celebrated after finding the room, which was in a lower level of the castle. Opening the door, he found a desk with a neat set of stacked papers, and one currently in writing.
Walking over, he picked up the paper and began reading it out loud. "We have the girl and soon plan to retrieve the boy for Nergal. All is going as planned…" he finished, before going through another stack.
"Inspection dates, recruiting numbers...this is all standard crap," Aracho said, rolling his eyes in irritation. He probably should've known better than to actually expect a glorified trainee base to have any important information about the Fang. "But...who is Nergal?" he asked himself as he left the room. Returning to the base floor, Aracho was about to make his exit before a voice from behind startled him.
"Who are you?" a feminine voice called out. Instantly, Aracho's breath caught as he recognized exactly who that was. Slowly turning around, his eyes grew wider as the figure gasped in disbelief.
XXXXX
A/N: Aaaand that's it! Now, I've basically been in summer programs the entire time, so forgive the lateness, but I really don't have anything else to report. I need to update Blue Wolf, and I have most of the chapter already written, but I'm conflicted because it's not the average length and I haven't included the battle scene yet (dunno if I"m just gonna wait till next chapter or not). So yeah…...see y'all later!
Blizzard, out!