Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or anything associated with it.
XXXXX
That night…
"We can stop here," Kent announced. After passing Eagler's estate, Lyndis' Legion went full-throttle on a path directly to Castle Caelin. "We are very deep into Caelin territory. If we set out at dawn, we will arrive right outside the castle domain by noontime."
"You are almost at your rightful place, Lady Lyndis!" Sain followed. "Lundgren will not last much longer if we have anything to do with it!"
"Kent, Sain...Thank you," the girl sincerely said. With their plans officially settled, the group started setting up camp. While Lyn, Kent, Sain and Dorcas set up tents, Wil, Wallace and Erk started a lookout, leaving Serra, Matthew and Aracho to get firewood for the night.
Unfortunately, that meant that Aracho's ears had to endure the cleric's unstoppable mouth. "Soooo, Aracho, where do you come in Lyn's story? Are you two a thing?"
"No. For the seventh time, Lyn and I are not dating," the blue-haired teen irritably answered. "As for the first question, she helped me out of a...predicament."
"Oh, so there is a backstory?" the girl pressed, walking closer to Aracho. Instinctively, he reached for his daggers out of discomfort, but quickly pulled his hands to his sides to avoid doing something he would regret.
"Not much. She helped me, now I help her. That's about that," he simply said. "Now, if you'd shut up and get some wood, I'd be greatly appreciative."
"Hmph! How rude of you to speak to a retainer of House Ostia in such a way!" Serra pompously commented.
"Don't really care," Aracho returned monotonously, picking up some wood.
"How callous could you be? That is no way to treat a lady!" the pig-tailed girl reprimanded.
"Then act like one," the teen retorted, not even paying her enough attention to turn around. "There's some wood you can take back," he continued, pointing to the side. Huffing, Serra surprisingly didn't say anything as she picked up the wood and left the two boys alone to return to the campsite.
"Wow, I haven't seen her that quiet this entire trip," Matthew commented. "Good job."
"I have no problem with conversation, but I can't deal with that," the mage said. "She could talk a tree into jumping off of a cliff."
"Hah! That's one I'll have to remember...What kind of predicament were you in, again? The one Lyn helped you out of?"
"...She patched me up after a bad fight," Aracho revealed. That piece of information, Matthew could've just asked Lyn, so it'd be better just to let that pass as common knowledge. "Then we traveled for a while before Kent and Sain found us at a market town."
"Ah, so you two were already travel partners!"
"Yup, just friends."
"It must be fortunate that Lady Lyndis was near that arena when you were fighting. Most people would have let you bleed out," Matthew commented. Instantly, a warning light went off in Aracho's mind; he didn't mention a single word about a coliseum fight.
"You're right on that one," the teen chuckled, letting Matthew believe whatever he wanted. He found a little satisfaction as the thief (spy, in his eyes) frowned for the slightest of seconds before his usual smirk returned to his face. "I learned my lesson...Come on, let's get back."
"Agreed. It's getting rather late. Let's get back or they might have questions for us."
"I highly doubt that they would have more questions than you and Serra," Aracho dryly responded, though in good-nature.
"Not even Kent? You're not exactly his favorite," Matthew brought up. He was right, of course; Kent openly disagreed with a lot of Aracho's methods and ways of thinking.
'If only he knew what I really did,' the Black Fang member thought in his head. "Well, some people naturally don't mix. Not really too worried about it." With no response, the two fell into silence as they traveled back to their campsite. Upon arrival, the two saw Erk setting Serra's wood on fire. "We're back with the rest," he announced, throwing his share directly into the small fire, causing it to increase a little bit more.
"Aracho, would you mind adding a little heat to the fire?" Lyn asked. "I'd be able to heat the food a little quicker that way."
"...Alright," he agreed hesitantly. Chanting a spell that Ursula taught him for spitfires, he pointed a finger out as he channeled the fire magic through his hand. To everyone's surprise, a bright blue flame manifested as it combined with Erk's orange fire.
"Sweet Mother Earth!" Lyn shouted. "It's so...hot," she commented, stepping back slightly from the fire. After a couple of seconds, it started to lose its blue coloration and regain some of its red-orange qualities. "Why is your fire blue, Archy?"
"I...have no idea," he admitted. "Even my teacher wasn't completely sure about it. All we know is that my fire affinity is my strongest out of the three anima elements...Well, out of fire and thunder, at least. She refused to let me work with wind magic."
At that, Erk nodded clearly while everyone else tuned it out or looked lost. "Even then...An affinity so strong to change the element's natural color? I've never heard of anything like that...Maybe my teacher would know something about it…" The blue-haired teen simply shrugged in response; it wasn't like an answer was going to fall out of the sky.
"At any rate, the food will be done way quicker now! The heat from your fire is still strong," Wil put in. "I might just nap next to this cozy fire tonight."
"Don't get bit," Aracho joked as he stretched lightly. Just as Wil said, the food heated quickly and they were able to enjoy a good helping.
"...Are you alright, Lyn?" the teen asked when he noticed her looking into the fire. Everyone had nearly finished eating and some had already gone to sleep for the night. "You're just staring."
"Hm? Oh...I'm fine, Archy," she reassured. "I'm just thinking about tomorrow's battle."
"Hey, don't worry about it!" he advised. "There's no way we'll ever accept losing to someone like Lundgren. We'll get you to see your grandfather. I promise."
"...Archy...Thank you...I needed that," Lyn thanked, standing up. "Well, it'd be best for me to get some sleep. See you in the morning." With that, the Sacaean retreated into her tent to catch a good night's rest. Agreeing with the sentiment, Aracho also left the scene to get some sleep in anticipation for tomorrow's important conflict.
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The next day…
At the crack of dawn, the group of people set off to Castle Caelin with a resolute mind. Today was the day that they'd fight Lundgren, Lyn's nefarious uncle who contrived an entire scheme to underhandedly take the title of Marquess. Riding in silence, little words had been spoken by the time they arrived at the castle domain.
"Lady Lyndis," Kent called. "After we pass these small mountains, you'll be able to see Castle Caelin."
"...Grandfather," the Sacaean simply said, gripping the Mani Katti even harder in anticipation for their upcoming battle.
"This is for all the marbles," Aracho mentioned, taking out his Elfire tome. "They'll throw everything they have when we get close."
"Lundren won't be receiving the reinforcements he expected," Sain added. "That won't deter him, however."
"Let him come!" Lyn challenged, with the fire of determination burning in her eyes. "I refuse to be turned away! I will see my grandfather…" she muttered, looking back at everyone in Lyndis' Legion. "I...We've come too far to let anyone stand in our way. This is it...The last test. Friends, please...Help me this one last time!"
"That's the spirit!" Wallace encouraged. Rath and Dorcas simply nodded, though they flexed their weapons in support of her. The rest perked up considerably.
"We are with you, Lady Lyndis," Lucius calmly said, adding morale to the group.
"Let's go!" the green-haired swordswoman said, officially beginning their charge. With Kent and Sain in front, the rest of Lyndis' Legion followed them as they traversed the Caelin terrain. Stepping out of a small patch of forested area, they encountered their first group of resistance; two soldiers, one swordsman, two bowmen and a mage. "It's time…"
"Let's not keep them waiting any longer!" Sain said, marching ahead with Kent. In the meantime, Aracho began chanting a spell. As the two knights advanced, the blue-haired teen went behind them, taking note of the swordsman coming towards him.
Narrowing his eyes, he threw his hand out as he finished the incantation. A ball of blue fire shot out of his hand before erupting in a pillar of flame when it hit the target. Knowing that the man was dead, Aracho turned to see Lyn taking out an archer, before looking back to motion Florina to come closer. "Archy…" the Sacaean girl called. "It looks like it will rain soon."
"Then we must make haste," Kent mentioned. "Our horses are not very mobile in wet conditions." Nodding, Lyndis' Legion quickly regrouped and continued their trek, crossing the bridge. When they reached the other side, the outline of Castle Caelin came into view. It was truly a large place, overlooking the rest of the immediate domain.
Castle watching could wait, though; actually getting there was the most pressing issue at the moment. Running forward, Aracho stopped when a drop of water hit his head.
Then two drops.
Then five drops.
Then, a large downpour began, catching the entire group unaware. "Well, this is interesting," Matthew put in as a shaman and two swordsmen started to advance on them.
"Kent! Sain! Stay back and protect the villagers in the meantime," Lyn called, noting that some bandits were coming towards them, seemingly eager to take advantage of the commotion to steal something. "Everyone else, come with me." Nodding, Aracho put up his Elfire spell in favor of taking out Bolting, which would be much more effective given the current weather outlook. Chanting, he moved his right hand closer to his left shoulder as he gathered magical energy. Releasing the magic, he directed the energy towards the sky, which would take less than directly attacking the enemy since rainy conditions helped to guide the bolt to the target, saving the mage more time and energy, overall. That's what Ursula explained, anyways.
"Looks like she was right," Aracho muttered as the bolt came down from the partly cloudy skies, completely frying one of the myrmidons. Before he could continue forward, he slightly moved back as he heard something whizz through the air. Unfortunately, he didn't avoid it completely as an arrow embedded itself in his shoulder.
"Crap!" the teen shouted in pain as he looked in the direction the arrow came from. The archer who shot it was already preparing another arrow to fire at him. Narrowing his eyes in anger and irritation, he snapped his fingers with magic energy, before pointing it at the soldier. Just like the myrmidon before him, the archer found himself struck by lightning and met a similar fate in death.
"Snap spells with Bolting magic? That's no mean feat," Erk mentioned as he and Serra met up with him. Using her staff, the pink-haired girl quickly healed Aracho's wound.
"There you go!" she said. "Now, before you thank me, we have to go back to Lyn! They're trying to find a way to get to the castle!"
"Why? What happened?"
"Lundgren took the bridge out," Erk explained, making Aracho huff in irritation. "We have to find another way." Going up to where the rest of Lyn and the group were, they started looking around until someone noticed a way to get across.
"There!" Dorcas called. Following his direction, the group saw a giant snag on the other side of the river. It was certainly wide enough to walk on. "Here, let me," he said, lifting his hand axe high. Throwing it with great strength, Dorcas watched as the axe sailed through the air, piercing the snag. As it came back to the man, the giant piece of wood slowly but sure fell into place, becoming a make-shift bridge for everyone to cross.
"Great work, Dorcas!" Lyn complimented. "Come on, everyone! The castle is so close!" Motivated by their progress, Lyndis' Legion renewed their assault, not even flinching at the sight of five cavaliers and a knight guarding the castle entrance. At that moment, the rain finally ended and the sun started to shine completely once again. Satisfied with not being soaked to the bone anymore, Aracho decided to celebrate with a pair of elfire spells that boiled the knight inside his armor.
"Hah, you whelps can't deal with the great Wallace!" the general announced, stopping the attacks of two of them at the same time with his lance. "Lady Lyndis! Go on! I can take these runts."
"Thank you!" she quickly thanked before running on with Lucius, Matthew and Aracho by her side while everyone else took on the five horsemen. Without any more opposition, the small group made it to the castle opening to be greeted by an older man with slicked-back hair, a silver lance, and a great wall of armor.
"So you're the girl claiming kinship to my brother?" he demanded, looking her tribal garb up and down. He had a deep scowl of hatred and evil on his face, something that Aracho couldn't stand.
"You'll play this farce to the end, won't you Lundgren?" Lyn asked, a steeled over expression on her face. Even then, the anger radiating from her being was unmistakable.
"The royal house of Caelin has no need for a Sacaean mongrel! I'll put an end to this foolishness right here and now!"
"Over our dead bodies!" Aracho shouted, snapping his fingers as Lyn rushed the man. Clashing directly with the usurper's silver lance, Lyn quickly feinted to the left, piercing Lundgren's armor with the Mani Katti's sharp edge. Before her granduncle could retaliate, he found himself hit by a powerful thunder spell, followed by a light spell.
However, it seemed that the man refused to go down without a fight. Gripping the lance, he threw the weapon while holding a chain with one hand. Unable to completely avoid it, Lyn caught the tip to the side, tearing part of her dress and causing a sizable wound. "Lyn!" Aracho shouted in worry. Deciding that he needed to be taken care of as soon as possible, the teen chanted a spell out of anger. Before he was almost murdered, Ursula told him to be careful with this spell, but anger overrode his common sense at the moment. "Take this! Eruption!"
To the surprise of everyone, a circle of blue fire appeared around Lundgren, making a circle around him until it hit the ground, exploding with him in the middle. Despite hearing Lundgren's screams of anguish in the spell, Aracho still took out his daggers to do the final deed. In the aftermath, Lundgren, in smoking armor coughed up blood as his heavily wounded form shook in pain.
"That...wretched girl...nothing but a savage from the plains," he insulted, seemingly ignoring his impending doom. "The throne...should be mine!"
"...People like you are why the Fang lives...Meet your death, you old worm," Aracho whispered, before slicing the man's throat. With the tyrant now dead, the boy immediately turned back to Lyn, who was getting her wound tended to by Serra. "Lyn! Are you alright?"
"She'll be fine, since I'm here!" Serra commented, bubbly and obnoxious like always. "No need to get worried over nothing. Hehe!" Not wanting to give her the satisfaction of a response, Aracho simply nodded and stayed by Lyn's side.
"We...won," Lyn said to Aracho, with a tired smile on her face. "Come on, let's go inside," she motioned to everyone after her wound was healed. Following the girl into the castle, they finally set foot inside the place they had spent so long traveling together to reach. "Finally...I can see my grandfather."
"You are Lady Lyndis, are you not?" Looking over, a soft-spoken man in white robes walked over to them.
"Who are you?" Marquess Caelin's granddaughter asked suspiciously.
"I am Reissmann, the chancellor of the Caelin royal family," he explained. "I had received word from Kent and Sain when you first met, but Lundren saw the message and imprisoned me. It is my great pleasure to welcome you to your true home," he said with a large smile.
"Thank you," Lyn thanked, though she seemed uncomfortable at the level of formality being displayed. Personally, Aracho couldn't blame her. "Can I go see my grandfather now?"
"Yes, of course," Reissmann obliged, before leaving with the girl alone to where the sickly man was staying while everyone else simply waited for her return.
"So...That's that?" Wil asked.
"Looks like it," Aracho shrugged. "We're done."
"Ah, Lyndis' Legion was so fun," the archer pouted. "Well...Maybe I'll just stay in Caelin, anyways."
"There's plenty of space!" Sain offered. "New recruits will always be welcomed!"
"Sain, you lout! What authority do you have to be welcoming new people into the Caelin ranks?"
"After this stunt, I'd say you two youngsters have a nice promotion in your future!" Wallace bellowed. It was at that point Aracho noticed Matthew was gone. Keeping that info in mind for the future, the teen gave a quick smile to Wallace and Wil as they waited for Lyn to return.
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That evening…
"Archy...You're leaving, aren't you?" Lyn asked sadly. After meeting with her grandfather, the group all met outside to share their choices about their next steps in life. Dorcas already set out to return to Natalie in Bern, Erk and Serra continued their road to Ostia and Rath had sneaked out, though Aracho saw him leave a little while before the castle tried to start festivities to celebrate Lyn's return.
"Yup...Sorry, Lyn, but I have to go back to…"
"No, I'm not asking you to stay," she said, not letting him finish the sentence. "It's...I'll miss you, that's all. When I found you unconscious on the plains...I had no idea we'd travel together for so long."
"Me neither. But it turned out to be a great thing," the boy admitted. 'Though I'd rather not be the target of a murder attempt for a while...preferably never again,' he mentally added.
"You've helped me out so much. And I'm sure you've learned a thing or two about living in the wild!" she winked. "You'll be just fine on your own!" After that, the Sacaean girl's expression turned more somber as tears threatened to escape her eyes. "Well...take care, then. I...I hope I'll see you again. I'm...sure-"
"We'll see each other again," Aracho interrupted, grabbing her hand. "I'm sure of it," he said with a smile. Before he knew it, he was pulled into a hug by Lyn. After a few seconds, they separated, and the teen knew he had to be on his way. "Goodbye, Lyn. Stay safe." With nothing else to say, the turquoise-haired kid walked away from Castle Caelin with nothing except a bag, his tomes and his pair of trusty daggers.
Walking a while away, the boy simply kept going until the sun set down. Using the stars and the moonlight as his guide, he eventually found the lantern light of a nearby tavern. Walking inside, he ignored the large crowd of halfway drunk men and sat down at a table. Taking out a dagger, he carved two letters into the table, a B and a C. "Hey, kid. What ya want to e-" the server stopped when he saw the letters on the table. "That's your order? Coming right up. Good luck, kid."
"And a side of water," Aracho added. Without turning around, the man nodded before walking away completely. For a few minutes, he decided to read his book on advanced fire magic until his order would arrive. Fortunately, the sound of someone sitting across from him didn't take too long to happen. "There you go! Now we can actually catch up."
"You know you have a lot to explain," the person across from him said in a very angry tone. "Everyone believes that you are dead."
"And it needs to stay that way...For now, at least. The one that actually wanted me dead is still in the Fang's ear." Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Aracho couldn't help but crack a smile. "At least I can still speak with you, Ursula. You have no idea how much I missed all of you."
"Hmph...You're getting quite a punishment, you realize?"
"Don't remind me," he dryly sighed. "But first, we have to find out what's actually going on. Then, we can get Lloyd in on it, but not until we have a clear plan...That could take a whole year or more, honestly...Which sucks."
"We're no strangers to hiding in the dark," the woman lightly joked, though the dark undertone to the statement wasn't missed on the younger one present, who let out a coy smile. "You should know something about that, being our youngest."
"Well...They don't call me the Blue Raven for nothing," the kid joked before the atmosphere got slightly darker as he realized he had to get to the truth of what happened the night he disappeared.
"Who is it?" Ursula asked. "Who tried to kill you?"
"It was…"
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A/N: And that's the end of Lyn's story!
Sorry for leaving this story on hold so many times! Once again, I had started the chapter already, then life just absolutely smacked me like Ali smacked Frazier in Manilla...But yeah, I'm already working on the Eliwood/Hector side of the story, which is much better planned. So don't lose hope! Updates are coming!
Blizzard, out!