Within the few days, the combined forces of Ylisse and Ferox mobilized to break into Plegia to rescue Emmeryn from the mad designs of the Mad King Gangrel and they soon broke for camp barely out of the desert environment for a series of Risen attacks, Alexander himself collaborating with the number of scouts and patrols to see what exactly they would be facing, but so far, they have only reported the small amount of Plegian forces and only Risen hordes, liberating a number of villages from the attacks and getting additional intel, the armed forces withdrawn for the 'trap' and leaving those that couldn't to the horror of the dead, the tactician humming in thought before he spotted Chrom roaming through the camp and thought that he should get more involved with the man, they were treating it as just allies, but a notion lingered in his mind that he had to be more friendly with the prince, if it turned to the worse, Chrom would need someone who was versed in strategy and insight as he dismissed himself from the command tent and soon joined Chrom as he spoke up. "Can I ask you something, Chrom?" The young prince humored the question with a roll of the eyes.
"Uh-oh. Should I be nervous?" There wasn't, but there was always the chance as Alexander continued.
"When you found me and my friend collapsed and without memory, why did you take me and Christian in?" Chrom put some thought as he replied.
"Well... Because you both were collapsed and without memory?" Alex extended a hand as he inquired.
"That's it? Pity was your reason?"
"Isn't that enough?"
"Did you never stop to consider if it was some kind of trap?"
Chrom just shrugged as he spoke. "Heh, that's what I had Frederick for."
"But, why didn't—" Chrom raised a hand as they continued through, making a round about in the camp.
"Alex, if I see someone hurt or in need, I'm going to help them. That's just who I am, and there's no changing it. Or would you rather I'd left you there, face down in the muck?" Alex thought about it before he answered with a sigh.
"No, of course not. I'm thankful for what you did, I truly am." Alex looked to the side as members of the combined forces sparred to get a feel of it among the allies and friends. "But it scares me all the same. Chivalry and longevity don't often go hand in hand."
"Ha! I wish I had a gold coin for every time I got this lecture." Alex rubbed his temple as he looked back to Chrom.
"I can only offer advice, I'm afraid. You really should be more careful in the future."
Chrom shook his head as he returned the notion. "I'm sorry, but no. If it happened again today, I'd do the same exact thing..."
"But—"
Chrom raised a hand and spoke to the inquire of Alex "Peace, Alexander. I have heard your counsel, and I know you mean well. But as I said, this is who I am. I can't change that, nor would I want to."
"I... I understand." Alex nodded as he shared his own mind. "If that is your decision, then so be it. Just do try and be careful, Chrom. For my peace of mind, if not your own?" Chrom nodded as they both paused and he extended a hand, Alex returning it as they shook and Chrom finished.
"I will. I promise." They shook and released, Alex heading back to his tent and entering to catalogue his collection of books and tomes that he stockpiled for a better sense of a hobby, but it was also interesting that he had the innate enjoyment of testing his tome less magic, creating a number of figurines with it as well, but also taking up the daily hobby of woodcarving, his knife chipping through the small truck of wood, making a figure of him and Chrom in a stance of battle before smiling as he held it up, pausing with a frown as he looked past it to see something more scary than inspiring.
Posting on the wooden pillar was a hand stretched poster of Chrom, Falchion and a scale in both hands as he was bent on a knee in the buff, parts of his body shadowed and the words of 'Chrom wants YOU' as Alexander stood up and took it off in confusion, rolling it up as he just shook his head. "This has Fredrick written ALL over it." A morale poster for the increased devotion for the war cause, but it was the wrong where as no one would want something like that... not that he didn't know the preference of people as he stashed the poster in his cot and continued. Soon, Chrom came in, his face red, but he breathed in relief as he spoke up.
"We are heading further, come on, we are ready." Alexander nodded as he stashed his stuff and headed out, the whole camp packing up as they entered the arid locale, its blazing heat not hurting him, but the others suffered direly from the effects, even the armored units as their armor heated up in the blazing sun and heat and he felt sympathy as he joined Chrom head on as he commented, wiping his brow. "I'd like to believe it's our cunning that got us this far without being spotted... But we've seen far too little of the Plegian Guard. Where are they? Whatever trap Gangrel has planned, he is in no hurry to spring it." It was true as the dunes showed no sign of such beings in the sandy terrain, not even Risen as Fredrick approached, steadfast to the heat and his presence caused Chrom to grimace as he spoke.
"Milord, our scouts report some manner of engagement downfield." Some action as the duo nodded and Christian came charging over for a piece of action.
"Understood. Get everyone ready to move." Chrom grumbled as they headed into the conflict zone, tens of hundreds of chanting zealots readying for battle as if they were waiting for them as they emerged from the far end of the battlefield, a ridge hiding whatever was beyond a freaky-looking man who must be the leader as Fredrick spoke again as his horse tried to keep an equal footing in the shifted sands, but he couldn't keep it up.
"These desert sands are certain to bog down our units, milord. Only mages and fliers will likely be able to proceed unhindered." Chrom nodded as he shared the plan with Alex.
"Good point. I'll keep it in mind. Alexander, let's discuss strategy." Alex nodded as he sorted through the available and put Kellam on the backseat as he would just be sluggish in the sands and he knew that he was unaffected by the sands himself, so he mobilized Ricken and Miriel to deal with the threats and Sumia with Cordelia to close the distance, even with a number of villages that were at risk of the brigands that the fanatics seem to have. Before any action could be made quite yet, the appearance of two additional souls came into view near the zealots and Chrom shouted. "You there! Fiend! Keep your hands off that maiden!" Alex didn't fight the thought before the bigger man spoke up in confusion.
"Who is fiend?" The party stared at him and he pointed at himself in surprise. "...You mean Gregor? No, friend! You have idea wrong!" Hard to tell the intent from the distance as Lissa shouted.
"Yeah, right! ...Creep!" The man just groaned as the girl didn't make a move to flee even further, just yielding to the protective grip of the man.
"This day has been nothing but insults and punches to groin. And all for doing good deed!" Alex didn't know exactly was the problem if this man was with the cult, but he still defended himself as best as he can. "...Listen, friend! Gregor only want to—" Sadly, the attention also drew the fanatics as their leader shouted.
"Gotcha, you slippery scamp! Prepare for a dose of Grima's wrath." The man or Gregor grimaced as he shouted back to the party.
"Oy, this is most terrible! Do you see now? They make with the catching of us!" The girl just nodded as Chrom spoke once more.
"Why are you all after the girl?"
"All? What is this 'all'? Gregor is not one of 'all'! Look close! Maybe you not see from so far? Gregor have innocent-baby face!" Chrom was not exactly convinced of Gregor's intentions as Lissa and Christian added their own input on it.
"Well..."
"Yeah... Not sure 'innocent baby' is how I'd describe it..."
"Gah! Never be minding! Gregor is not enemy! You must believe!" Chrom groaned as he rubbed his temple with the free left hand.
"...This is making my head hurt. We'll sort him out later. Right now, we need to protect the girl." She shuffled as she inquired, violet eyes looking to them with hope.
"Y-you're going to help me?"
"We'll do everything in our power to keep you safe. Just hold on until we can reach you, and we'll drive them off!" The battle started and Alex was right as only a few managed to get through the sands easily, the rest held back some as Chrom and Sumia struck fast and quick as the rest had to keep up while also keeping the enemies to a minimal in the attack, they holding fast, but not strongly as the Shepherds crushed the members of the main group, the sound of fighting spreading across the field in a sort of stalemate, none of the forces dropping quickly as the joint unit was the strong and hit too hard for them to keep the Shepherds. The voice shouted as it pulled Alexander's attention back to the duo in the midst.
"Be careful, the young one is not some feeble maiden in the face of battle!" Alex spared a glance to see that Amirg was correct, she was holding a strange stone and suddenly transformed into a dragon, the term being that she is a Manakete, Christian visibly surprised in the turn of war with Chrom, but they dismissed it as they cut through and saved the pair, the girl riddled with former injures and stains as she just cried, the giant of a man, matching Basilio nearly, holding fast as he fought with the same will and focus as the rest, showing his intentions to Alex that he was a superb swordsman who was employed in the wrong place and sought to make amends with saving the girl who clearly didn't like being where she was.
They swiftly also saved the villagers from the crazed loons as the gate closed and they got some more valuables for the fight as the tides, once overwhelming, was reduced to a feeble resistance and their leader calling out for Grima to use his life for its purpose, the voice commenting that 'your life is not worth the essence, you are far too bloodied for his taste', Alex not correcting him on the ill-behavior as the battle came to an end, the cultists scrambling into the desert, far from sight as the Shepherds regrouped, taking both shelter and safety among the oasis and the close by village.
The girl was bandaged up and cleaned up as she just cried. "This is just the worst. Day. EVER!" The sting slowly easing away as the burly Mercenary cheered.
"Ho now, wee one! Do not make with the crying of tears. The evil people are now dead people. This is good, no?" That was in the eye of the beholder, but Alex and Christian just sighed as the girl sighed as well with peace as she smiled to the older man.
"You... You're right. Th-thank you. And... I'm sorry I was so mean to you earlier. I just get nervous around people who are...outside my age group."
"Your age group? Ha! Gregor much closer to your age than others here!" Both members frowned at the sound, was he older really and she was how much older and still looked like a small child?
The thought faded as Chrom arrived and spoke. "Say, um... Gregor, was it?" The man nodded with a grin as Chrom cleared his throat and continued. "Gregor, do you mind looking after her? We need to press on."
Gregor hummed before he made a counter offer. "Gregor is mercenary, yes? Maybe you hire Gregor instead. True, Gregor just finish killing former employers, but still very reliable! So long as you not try to hurt little girl, Gregor will not hurt you. Also, Gregor need steady income." The man grimaced as he sighed with fully closed eyes. "...Many angry former employers."
"You're a sellsword?" Christian took that in offense, but Alexander shook his head as he held his friend back as Gregor continued.
"Yes! Very swell sword! Cost performance very high. You have Gregor's word." Without another word, Chrom just decided 'sure, let's get the costly mercenary on board, see how that turns out'.
"Sure, why not? You're hired." The girl, however, brokered otherwise as she exclaimed.
"But! But what about me?! I WON'T go back on the auction block!" This took Lissa by surprise as she exclaimed as well.
"Wait. You've been sold? Like a...like a slave?!" The girl nodded as she splashed some water into the opened wounds and getting it cleaned as well, Maribelle huffing 'the filth shall not escape my sights' as Gaius rubbed his head, making Alex think that there was history between them as the girl continued.
"To men more despicable than you can possibly imagine. They made me transform for them... They drank and laughed and called out tricks..." It was painful as Lissa continued.
"What kind of scumbags buy and sell a little girl?!" Maribelle slightly glared and Lissa cleared her throat as she finished. "...Even if she CAN turn into a dragon..." Frederick did let it go just like that as he explained.
"She may be little, milady, but not nearly so young as you might think. Manaketes live a very long time."
"Really?" The princess looked back and asked about it herself. "...How old are you?"
The girl sighed as she thought about it before answering. "Oh, I dunno. ...A thousand...something? But look! No wrinkles!" To be thousands of years in age and not be seen as a elder, but instead a youthful kid just said no to the duo as Fredrick continued.
"The dragonkin are said to be more resilient than men. Nowi would make a strong ally. Besides, we cannot risk her falling back into the hands of the Grimleal." Alex knew with his short restored mind that the Grimleal were a cult devoted to the fell dragon Grima, believed to cleanse the world in righteous fire and destruction upon the appointed time, though the cultists have made several attempts to rush the end already, but Christian was not Alex as he asked in confusion.
"I hate to question this, but who the heck are the Grimleal?"
"Followers of the fell dragon, Grima. The selfsame dragon the first exalt defeated a thousand years ago." The Great Knight commented as he scuffed at the people now likely hiding in the dunes now. "Even today there are some who yearn for the fiend's return." Christian sweated like it was an evident thing for something so vile to be said so easily.
"I...see."
Flavia herself arrived and nodded to the Shepherds as she spoke. "Well, shall we get some rest? We're almost to the Plegian capital. We'll need all our strength, soon enough..." All agreed as they pitched up the tents and settled in as night slowly fell over the land, but Alexander couldn't sleep, eyes wide to the overhead covering, sighing as Amirg spoke again.
"You have a question for me..." Alexander silently nodded as he sat up and turned his head to the side, a projection of a worm-like serpent, three rows of glowing blue eyes gazing into his soul as a series of wings kept it afloat, its size that of a large dog when he felt that it should be bigger in its golden shimmer. "Not that I fault you, but I cannot share the more private details of my being..." Alex just nodded as he stood up and headed out into the cold of the night, the being following him as he pocketed his hands in the coat's outer pockets. "But I can answer this one, you who bares my mark and my power." Alex stopped at the edge of a unlit campfire and ignited it with a snap, the sleeping sentry a welcome sight as the young man asked.
"Are you really the Fell Dragon Grima, often described in religion and word?"
"Yes, I am the Fell Dragon, but different now." Alexander listened as the being swirled about him like keeping close to him for both guardianship and safety. "However, whereas I would have kept myself hidden away until the time when my power is truly called forward, you changed me in a deep way, deeper than what those cultists could ever do and your newfound casting is also evident to me as I have been released into your soul, bound to it when something shocked us, destroying your memories, but freeing you to a new world before your eyes." Alexander nodded as the fire continued to kindle to his eyes as Amirg continued, settling on his shoulder, the feeling real as the dragon continued. "...We cannot save her, we will try, but we cannot save a single human life, I sense a dark presence looming over the castle itself, a trap to seize what the Exalt has given to her brother."
"...Be that as it may..." Alex sighed to the tilt of Amirg's head. "There are many scenarios in play here and we cannot foresee the future, 'Marth' herself must have had a reference to the events of the future, being from it herself or having seen the future in visions." The dragon nodded as Alex continued, rubbing his uncovered hands to the fire, a human feeling to warm himself close to the fire to prevent the cold from creeping. "I pray to no god that our success will be by our hands, not the hands of fate that demands we follow some script it wrote out for control."
Amirg didn't say anything as it glanced behind and spoke. "It will be a while before we speak like this again, but know this, you changed this path by your own hands, whatever sought to take you will be hard-pressed to try, you have mended my soul and brought me to the light and into your own being." The tactician nodded as the figure vanished and he cast his gaze behind where he spotted two unlikely souls fighting over something, his ear picking up on it as the first spoke, the voice being Maribelle's as she scoffed.
"Now see here, Gaius. What do you think you're playing at, hovering around me like a persistent fly? It disturbs me to see your leering visage, particularly when I'm in the midst of battle." His gaze was quite unnerving as the thief spoke next, his voice sounding... nervous.
"I'm sorry, Twinkles. I just thought... Well, if I can atone for what I did, then maybe—"
"Maybe what? I might FORGIVE you? We might become oh-such-good-friends?" Maribelle was grilling him badly as she sharply turned, just barely outside the fire-pit as she pointed in anger. "You broke into the royal treasury with the intent of stealing from the realm. And then you did it AGAIN!" He had robbed the treasury before? That explained the mark on Gaius when Alex caught him, but didn't say anything to just walk on.
"Look, I know I did wrong, and I feel lousy about it. Gods strike me down if I don't." But the apology wasn't seen as such as she just spat in his face, a noble treating someone lesser like dirt, he would be disappointed in her for her lack of common understanding.
"Ha! You must be a stone idiot if you think I'll believe a thing you have to say! Or have you forgotten the first time you were caught raiding the treasury? You claimed my FATHER was behind it!" She whipped about as Alex saw the error, she was holding a firm grudge on him for blaming Maribelle's father for the past crime. "My poor, decent, innocent father! He was hauled in front of the magistrate and almost put to death because of you!" Gaius rubbed his neck as he tried to defuse it slowly.
"Actually, the thing about that is..." He closed his lip about it, clearly something else was at play there as he resumed. "L-look, I said some things I'm not proud of in an attempt to avoid the noose. But I'm a changed man now, and if you'll just let me, I'm sure I can—"
"Oh, enough. If I want a dog and pony show, I shall attend a carnival."
"No tricks, Twinkles. I speak from the heart on this one." Her next action sent Gaius to the ground with the whip of her parasol, her gaze empty for remorse as Gaius just held his cheek as she continued.
"The blackened heart of a brigand is hardly worth listening to!" She whipped with a huff and stormed off before Gaius picked himself up and walked over to the fire, sitting down as he reached about for a healing item before Alex offered his. The man looking at it before Alex spoke.
"Take it, it will help." Gaius nodded as he took the vulnerary and the bad spot slowly healed to a light pink as he sighed.
"I messed up, badly, she doesn't want to hear it from me..."
"Well, you know nobles, heedless to the threats before a blade appears at their throats." Gaius stiffened as Alex spared a glowing green eye to the man. "Sweets, you did something to get you out of a bad position, but it involves a deeper connection than that, doesn't it and your mark aligns with it." His teeth gripped as he glanced to the side, eyes widening as he straightened up.
"Bubbles... When did you...?" Alex hummed as he gave his answer.
"I discovered the mark when the two of us crossed in Ylisstol, that day when you accidentally messed yourself up in a distant mud pile, we crossed there in the bathhouse and I saw the mark, but I didn't say anything about it because it is part of your history and not in my interests of making you spill your guts." Gaius rested his hands forward as he just sat there in thought before Alex continued. "Your first robbery has something to do with that mark, doesn't it?"
"...Yeah..." Gaius fiddled with his fingers as he answered. "I got caught and I was confronted by someone in the prison, he wanted me to testify against the Duke Themis, personally, I didn't know the guy, but it sounded like it was a power feud and they wanted a scapegoat..." His eyes opened once more as he continued. "I initially rejected the thought and wanted them to fight it out on their own, but then he had to go and threaten... her, the Duke's daughter, my mind changed to save her from what those guys were up to..." Alex nodded as Gaius next asked. "Please, Bubbles, keep the mark between us only, I don't want anyone else to know my criminal record."
"Sure, but this is a relation of trust, 'an eye for eye', isn't it?" Gaius nodded as Alex leaned back. "Well, I don't need anything for the time being, but I will let you know when I do, for now, just stick around and we can think of a way to save the Exalt." The thief nodded as they two debated thoughts and ideas, ways into the through the castle as Alex later took Gaius to his tent and debated the chances, slim if they do it, but it was a chance out of hundreds that they would success in the mission given, a mission to save royalty and spare the pain of those connected...