After several days of technical difficulties, I can finally post this. And I can see my reviews now! I've got a lot of responses to do...
Rebel581, khmerboi919 (x2), Death Scythe X-9, Serra21, fairydust125 (x2), Sword of Seals, and DrillingPlanet: Thanks for your reviews!
On second thought, that was easier than I expected :P
The Story Master 125: Well, if you haven't gotten their A support, that will make seeing it all the better. I'm going to make a very important addition to it though...
Millenium Slinky: Of course, haven't you ever seen any of the official art for Lyn in battle poses? Her little skirt is always as high as her thighs O_o
*also makes rude gesture at ff.net, then realizes they fixed the problem and quickly pulls it away*
And of course Killing Edges are good ideas. It's just too bad they can't use them in the game :/
On with the—*computer blue-screens again* stupid thing...
Chapter Six
Memories
Ninian lost track of how long she and Nils had been on the Dread Isle, but she knew they had been there for several months at least.
After helping alleviate her despair, Eliwood's father had come up with a plan to build a boat for the three of them. However, he worked on it alone, as Nergal was now keeping a magical eye on the siblings at all times after their first escape. Marquess Pherae, who was not integral to his plans, was not watched as closely.
Marquess Pherae also kept Ninian and Nils's spirits high by telling them stories of his wife and son. Ninian, after hearing his stories, wished that she could help Lord Elbert simply so that he would be able to return to his family. Although he thanked her for her offers to help, he insisted that he should work alone to make sure they were not caught.
In their time on the isle, Ninian and Nils also saw Nergal's morphs for the first time. They were both conversing with their master, one male, one female. As the discussion ended, Ninian was finally able to see their faces. They were both inhumanly white, with jet-black hair and piercing golden eyes. Ninian knew from the moment she saw them that they were not human, and she had asked Marquess Pherae about them.
He responded by saying that Nergal had created them using the quintessence of other humans. Their intellect was greater than that of humans, but they did not have the capacity to think in terms of morals and so they served Nergal without question.
Ninian had stayed as far away from them as possible after that.
As Lord Elbert told the siblings more stories about his family, Ninian found her thoughts turning to Eliwood. She wasn't sure why, but she had a feeling that somehow Eliwood would come and save her. She knew it was nearly impossible, that he had no reason to go to the Dread Isle at all, but still she continued to imagine of him...
Finally the time came when Elbert let the siblings know that the boat was completed. As it turned out, however, the boat was only large enough for two people. Ninian wondered how they could possibly leave anyone behind, but Elbert had quickly insisted that the siblings be the ones to leave. He explained that if one of the siblings stayed, Nergal could still open the Gate. They could not argue against that and they had quickly run to the location that Elbert said the boat was in.
The siblings found the boat hidden in a group of bushes near the northern beach of the isle, compete with a set of oars, although somewhat crude. They wasted no time in getting the boat in the water, knowing that Nergal could learn of their attempted escape at any moment.
They were just about to set off when there was a flash of light and the male morph suddenly appeared on the beach. He had a smug look on his face, but he made no move to stop Ninian and Nils from escaping.
Nils pushed the oars into the water and began to row, and still the morph did not move.
"Go," he said, the smug look still present.
Ninian stared at him in disbelief as Nils continued to row. This morph was just going to let them go?
"Go," the morph repeated, a malicious smile forming on his lips. "You will be back here soon enough." And with another flash, he was gone.
The morph's words unsettled Ninian, but as the beach shrank away from them, her uneasiness lessened. A smile began to form on her face. How could Nergal bring them back from the sea?
She looked at Nils, still rowing away. He just looked at her and smiled as he continued to push the boat further away from the Dread Isle.
Shame on you, Marquess Pherae. You freed the boy and the girl?
I will not let you move unopposed!
It is no matter. They will not get far. I will see to that.
Ninian awoke to the feeling of being rocked back and forth as drops of rain hit her face. Nils awoke beside her, shivering.
They both jumped as a flash of lightning suddenly lit up the sky.
The wind began to pick up and the rain started coming down in torrents. The boat rocked and swayed, but Ninian held on tight. She pressed her head into her legs and squeezed her eyes shut.
Her eyes snapped open as she heard Nils scream above the now-roar of the winds. Looking up, she saw him struggling to keep his balance in the boat, but he wasn't doing a very good job.
A wave suddenly slammed into the boat, throwing Nils over the edge. Ninian screamed as he hit the water and instantly disappeared from sight.
"Nils!"
Almost as though the storm was appeased by Nils's fall, the winds died down slowly and the rain stopped. In the dark of the night, however, Ninian could not see any sign of Nils.
"Nils? Nils! Where are you?!"
She could not hear him either.
"No..."
Ninian lay down in the boat as she began to sob.
"No...Nils..."
Minutes passed, turning into hours and then days.
Ninian slipped in and out of consciousness during that time, unaware of anything around her. Now that Nils was gone, what was she to do? She doubted she was strong enough to row all the way to the mainland, and even if she was, she was running out of the little food she had taken with her.
She remembered Elbert's words and resolved never to give up hope that she might be rescued, but after awhile even that seemed pointless.
A dry sob racked her throat as she thought she saw a boat far off in the distance. Knowing her luck, though, it probably wasn't a boat at all, and even if it was, they would never notice her all alone in the sea...
Exhausted from crying and lack of food, she fell unconscious once again...
"Hey, can you help me out? I don't know where to...grab her."
"Such a gentleman."
"Stow it!"
Ninian thought she heard voices.
"What the—Ninian?!"
"Ninian...unbelievable. What are the chances?"
"You know her, Eliwood?"
Eliwood...
Somehow, the name seemed familiar to her...but she couldn't understand why.
Her eyes slowly opened to a group of people standing over her.
"Ninian, is that really you?" asked a red-haired man.
Ninian's head was pounding. "Ninian?" she said weakly. "Is that...me?"
The red-haired man's expression suddenly changed to disappointment. "You...do not remember your name?"
Ninian tried to sit up, but she lacked the strength. She groaned. "My head..."
A green-haired woman picked her up. "Don't worry, Ninian," she said. "You'll be okay."
Ninian didn't understand why the woman was being so nice to her, but she was so exhausted that she didn't care. She closed her eyes as the woman carried her off...
Ninian awoke feeling somewhat refreshed, but her head still throbbed dully. She got up off the bed and nearly fell over as the floor suddenly swayed under her. Hearing the sound of water crashing against something solid, she concluded she was on a boat. She saw some stairs leading above decks and decided to go outside.
She was almost out the door when a voice from outside stopped her.
"Ninian?! You...don't come out yet! You can't!" It was the red-haired man from earlier.
"Why not?" she asked.
"There's blood everywhere!"
"Blood?" she said softly to herself. She felt her face pale at the very thought of it. She turned to go back down the stairs, but as she did so her eyes glanced over the boat's deck.
Black-robed men were lying everywhere in pools of blood. Some of them had stab wounds straight through their midsections, while others were horribly burned from magic spells.
Ninian wanted to throw up.
She did so just as the red-haired man appeared in the doorway. His clothes were already slightly torn and covered in splotches of red, and Ninian didn't exactly help with their cleanliness.
The man only took a quick, slightly disgusted glance at his clothes before turning to Ninian with a sympathetic look on his face. Ninian was already hastily apologizing.
"My l-lord," she stammered, "I-I—"
"Do not worry," he said soothingly. "It is—" he looked at the floor, "—not your fault."
"What...what happened?" she asked, still feeling slightly sick.
"These men attacked the boat while you were asleep," he said, pointing behind him. He seemed more concerned with Ninian, however. "Are you all right?" he asked.
"I-I think so," she said softly. As she did so, her stomach grumbled quite loudly.
The red-haired man gave her a small smile. "I can get you some food, if you like."
"That would be nice," Ninian said, also smiling slightly.
"Hey Eliwood!" a male voice suddenly shouted. Ninian looked to her side and saw a blue-haired man wearing heavy armor and carrying a large battle-axe. "Fargus and his men just plugged up the breach, and—Saint Elimine, what happened to you?!"
Eliwood looked down at his clothes again as Ninian turned bright red and slunk back below decks.
Ninian didn't eat too much, she had been so hungry that she felt full after eating only a little. She now was looking over the rail of the ship, staring absently at the waves.
Who are these people? she thought. And why are they being so nice to me?
"NINIAN!"
A happy feminine shout emanated from behind her. Ninian turned around to see a young lavender-haired woman almost in tears of joy.
Somehow, she seemed vaguely familiar, but once again Ninian could not understand why.
The young woman dashed at her, flinging her arms around her.
"Ninian!" she repeated joyfully. "It's been so long!"
Ninian did not return the hug, unsure of what was going on.
"Do I...know you?" she asked, in a low voice.
"What?" The young woman pulled away, staring at Ninian with an extremely hurt look on her face. "Y-you d-do not r-remember me?" she asked, stuttering.
"I am sorry," Ninian replied. "Have we met before?"
The young woman now looked like she was going to burst into tears of sadness rather than joy. "Ha ha...That's...that's r-really f-funny, Ninian," she said, trying to laugh. "You can stop j-joking now..."
Ninian merely stared at her inquisitively.
"No..." the young woman whispered, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. "You...you have to...remember me...don't you remember me...your best friend? Florina?"
Florina...
Again she felt the strange familiarity in her mind. What was happening?
Florina stared at her silently for a few more seconds before turning and running back below decks, sobbing.
Ninian turned back to the waves sadly. She felt bad for making Florina cry, but she felt worse because she didn't know why or how she had done it.
"Ninian?"
She turned around to find Eliwood a few feet away from her. He was now wearing a clean shirt and pants after the little incident from earlier.
"Lord Eliwood," Ninian said. He was the only person on the ship that she knew the name of, besides now Florina.
Eliwood walked up beside her and leaned against the rail of the ship. "I...I saw what just happened," he said awkwardly.
"Lord Eliwood," Ninian said, "why does everyone on this ship...seem to know who I am?"
Eliwood sighed and looked down at the waves. "You...truly do not remember," he said, half to himself.
"What do you mean?" Ninian asked, confused.
"Well, I am not sure about this, but..." He looked back up. "You were so weak when we first found you...I think you may have lost your memory."
"Then," she began almost frantically, "then how can I get my memory back?"
Eliwood sighed again. "I do not know," he said. "But...I am sure it will come back eventually."
Ninian turned back to the waves. "I hope so..." Being around lots of people she did not know was making her uncomfortable.
They both stood there silently for some time, watching the water. Ninian wasn't sure how long it was before Eliwood spoke. "You'll probably want to get some rest now," he suggested. "Tomorrow we'll arrive at Valor."
Ninian felt a strange tingling in the back of her head as he uttered the proper name for the Dread Isle. The sensation caused her to shudder involuntarily.
Eliwood apparently took notice of that, as he asked, "Are you all right?"
"I think so," she replied. "Probably just a chill."
For some reason, though, she couldn't shake off the feeling that it was something far worse than that...
Whelp, it took awhile to get out, but there you are. I can see my reviews now, so post away :D
I might be slowing down in my updates a bit over the next week or so. I have about a million homework assignments to do and more are just going to keep coming. I'll try to update as fast as I can, but don't be surprised if it takes awhile.
Oh yeah, I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but I expanded my bio. Check it out.
Please review!!!
-TheOneAndOnlyT
Rebel581, khmerboi919 (x2), Death Scythe X-9, Serra21, fairydust125 (x2), Sword of Seals, and DrillingPlanet: Thanks for your reviews!
On second thought, that was easier than I expected :P
The Story Master 125: Well, if you haven't gotten their A support, that will make seeing it all the better. I'm going to make a very important addition to it though...
Millenium Slinky: Of course, haven't you ever seen any of the official art for Lyn in battle poses? Her little skirt is always as high as her thighs O_o
*also makes rude gesture at ff.net, then realizes they fixed the problem and quickly pulls it away*
And of course Killing Edges are good ideas. It's just too bad they can't use them in the game :/
On with the—*computer blue-screens again* stupid thing...
Memories
After helping alleviate her despair, Eliwood's father had come up with a plan to build a boat for the three of them. However, he worked on it alone, as Nergal was now keeping a magical eye on the siblings at all times after their first escape. Marquess Pherae, who was not integral to his plans, was not watched as closely.
Marquess Pherae also kept Ninian and Nils's spirits high by telling them stories of his wife and son. Ninian, after hearing his stories, wished that she could help Lord Elbert simply so that he would be able to return to his family. Although he thanked her for her offers to help, he insisted that he should work alone to make sure they were not caught.
In their time on the isle, Ninian and Nils also saw Nergal's morphs for the first time. They were both conversing with their master, one male, one female. As the discussion ended, Ninian was finally able to see their faces. They were both inhumanly white, with jet-black hair and piercing golden eyes. Ninian knew from the moment she saw them that they were not human, and she had asked Marquess Pherae about them.
He responded by saying that Nergal had created them using the quintessence of other humans. Their intellect was greater than that of humans, but they did not have the capacity to think in terms of morals and so they served Nergal without question.
Ninian had stayed as far away from them as possible after that.
As Lord Elbert told the siblings more stories about his family, Ninian found her thoughts turning to Eliwood. She wasn't sure why, but she had a feeling that somehow Eliwood would come and save her. She knew it was nearly impossible, that he had no reason to go to the Dread Isle at all, but still she continued to imagine of him...
Finally the time came when Elbert let the siblings know that the boat was completed. As it turned out, however, the boat was only large enough for two people. Ninian wondered how they could possibly leave anyone behind, but Elbert had quickly insisted that the siblings be the ones to leave. He explained that if one of the siblings stayed, Nergal could still open the Gate. They could not argue against that and they had quickly run to the location that Elbert said the boat was in.
The siblings found the boat hidden in a group of bushes near the northern beach of the isle, compete with a set of oars, although somewhat crude. They wasted no time in getting the boat in the water, knowing that Nergal could learn of their attempted escape at any moment.
They were just about to set off when there was a flash of light and the male morph suddenly appeared on the beach. He had a smug look on his face, but he made no move to stop Ninian and Nils from escaping.
Nils pushed the oars into the water and began to row, and still the morph did not move.
"Go," he said, the smug look still present.
Ninian stared at him in disbelief as Nils continued to row. This morph was just going to let them go?
"Go," the morph repeated, a malicious smile forming on his lips. "You will be back here soon enough." And with another flash, he was gone.
The morph's words unsettled Ninian, but as the beach shrank away from them, her uneasiness lessened. A smile began to form on her face. How could Nergal bring them back from the sea?
She looked at Nils, still rowing away. He just looked at her and smiled as he continued to push the boat further away from the Dread Isle.
Shame on you, Marquess Pherae. You freed the boy and the girl?
I will not let you move unopposed!
It is no matter. They will not get far. I will see to that.
Ninian awoke to the feeling of being rocked back and forth as drops of rain hit her face. Nils awoke beside her, shivering.
They both jumped as a flash of lightning suddenly lit up the sky.
The wind began to pick up and the rain started coming down in torrents. The boat rocked and swayed, but Ninian held on tight. She pressed her head into her legs and squeezed her eyes shut.
Her eyes snapped open as she heard Nils scream above the now-roar of the winds. Looking up, she saw him struggling to keep his balance in the boat, but he wasn't doing a very good job.
A wave suddenly slammed into the boat, throwing Nils over the edge. Ninian screamed as he hit the water and instantly disappeared from sight.
"Nils!"
Almost as though the storm was appeased by Nils's fall, the winds died down slowly and the rain stopped. In the dark of the night, however, Ninian could not see any sign of Nils.
"Nils? Nils! Where are you?!"
She could not hear him either.
"No..."
Ninian lay down in the boat as she began to sob.
"No...Nils..."
Minutes passed, turning into hours and then days.
Ninian slipped in and out of consciousness during that time, unaware of anything around her. Now that Nils was gone, what was she to do? She doubted she was strong enough to row all the way to the mainland, and even if she was, she was running out of the little food she had taken with her.
She remembered Elbert's words and resolved never to give up hope that she might be rescued, but after awhile even that seemed pointless.
A dry sob racked her throat as she thought she saw a boat far off in the distance. Knowing her luck, though, it probably wasn't a boat at all, and even if it was, they would never notice her all alone in the sea...
Exhausted from crying and lack of food, she fell unconscious once again...
"Hey, can you help me out? I don't know where to...grab her."
"Such a gentleman."
"Stow it!"
Ninian thought she heard voices.
"What the—Ninian?!"
"Ninian...unbelievable. What are the chances?"
"You know her, Eliwood?"
Eliwood...
Somehow, the name seemed familiar to her...but she couldn't understand why.
Her eyes slowly opened to a group of people standing over her.
"Ninian, is that really you?" asked a red-haired man.
Ninian's head was pounding. "Ninian?" she said weakly. "Is that...me?"
The red-haired man's expression suddenly changed to disappointment. "You...do not remember your name?"
Ninian tried to sit up, but she lacked the strength. She groaned. "My head..."
A green-haired woman picked her up. "Don't worry, Ninian," she said. "You'll be okay."
Ninian didn't understand why the woman was being so nice to her, but she was so exhausted that she didn't care. She closed her eyes as the woman carried her off...
Ninian awoke feeling somewhat refreshed, but her head still throbbed dully. She got up off the bed and nearly fell over as the floor suddenly swayed under her. Hearing the sound of water crashing against something solid, she concluded she was on a boat. She saw some stairs leading above decks and decided to go outside.
She was almost out the door when a voice from outside stopped her.
"Ninian?! You...don't come out yet! You can't!" It was the red-haired man from earlier.
"Why not?" she asked.
"There's blood everywhere!"
"Blood?" she said softly to herself. She felt her face pale at the very thought of it. She turned to go back down the stairs, but as she did so her eyes glanced over the boat's deck.
Black-robed men were lying everywhere in pools of blood. Some of them had stab wounds straight through their midsections, while others were horribly burned from magic spells.
Ninian wanted to throw up.
She did so just as the red-haired man appeared in the doorway. His clothes were already slightly torn and covered in splotches of red, and Ninian didn't exactly help with their cleanliness.
The man only took a quick, slightly disgusted glance at his clothes before turning to Ninian with a sympathetic look on his face. Ninian was already hastily apologizing.
"My l-lord," she stammered, "I-I—"
"Do not worry," he said soothingly. "It is—" he looked at the floor, "—not your fault."
"What...what happened?" she asked, still feeling slightly sick.
"These men attacked the boat while you were asleep," he said, pointing behind him. He seemed more concerned with Ninian, however. "Are you all right?" he asked.
"I-I think so," she said softly. As she did so, her stomach grumbled quite loudly.
The red-haired man gave her a small smile. "I can get you some food, if you like."
"That would be nice," Ninian said, also smiling slightly.
"Hey Eliwood!" a male voice suddenly shouted. Ninian looked to her side and saw a blue-haired man wearing heavy armor and carrying a large battle-axe. "Fargus and his men just plugged up the breach, and—Saint Elimine, what happened to you?!"
Eliwood looked down at his clothes again as Ninian turned bright red and slunk back below decks.
Ninian didn't eat too much, she had been so hungry that she felt full after eating only a little. She now was looking over the rail of the ship, staring absently at the waves.
Who are these people? she thought. And why are they being so nice to me?
"NINIAN!"
A happy feminine shout emanated from behind her. Ninian turned around to see a young lavender-haired woman almost in tears of joy.
Somehow, she seemed vaguely familiar, but once again Ninian could not understand why.
The young woman dashed at her, flinging her arms around her.
"Ninian!" she repeated joyfully. "It's been so long!"
Ninian did not return the hug, unsure of what was going on.
"Do I...know you?" she asked, in a low voice.
"What?" The young woman pulled away, staring at Ninian with an extremely hurt look on her face. "Y-you d-do not r-remember me?" she asked, stuttering.
"I am sorry," Ninian replied. "Have we met before?"
The young woman now looked like she was going to burst into tears of sadness rather than joy. "Ha ha...That's...that's r-really f-funny, Ninian," she said, trying to laugh. "You can stop j-joking now..."
Ninian merely stared at her inquisitively.
"No..." the young woman whispered, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. "You...you have to...remember me...don't you remember me...your best friend? Florina?"
Florina...
Again she felt the strange familiarity in her mind. What was happening?
Florina stared at her silently for a few more seconds before turning and running back below decks, sobbing.
Ninian turned back to the waves sadly. She felt bad for making Florina cry, but she felt worse because she didn't know why or how she had done it.
"Ninian?"
She turned around to find Eliwood a few feet away from her. He was now wearing a clean shirt and pants after the little incident from earlier.
"Lord Eliwood," Ninian said. He was the only person on the ship that she knew the name of, besides now Florina.
Eliwood walked up beside her and leaned against the rail of the ship. "I...I saw what just happened," he said awkwardly.
"Lord Eliwood," Ninian said, "why does everyone on this ship...seem to know who I am?"
Eliwood sighed and looked down at the waves. "You...truly do not remember," he said, half to himself.
"What do you mean?" Ninian asked, confused.
"Well, I am not sure about this, but..." He looked back up. "You were so weak when we first found you...I think you may have lost your memory."
"Then," she began almost frantically, "then how can I get my memory back?"
Eliwood sighed again. "I do not know," he said. "But...I am sure it will come back eventually."
Ninian turned back to the waves. "I hope so..." Being around lots of people she did not know was making her uncomfortable.
They both stood there silently for some time, watching the water. Ninian wasn't sure how long it was before Eliwood spoke. "You'll probably want to get some rest now," he suggested. "Tomorrow we'll arrive at Valor."
Ninian felt a strange tingling in the back of her head as he uttered the proper name for the Dread Isle. The sensation caused her to shudder involuntarily.
Eliwood apparently took notice of that, as he asked, "Are you all right?"
"I think so," she replied. "Probably just a chill."
For some reason, though, she couldn't shake off the feeling that it was something far worse than that...
Whelp, it took awhile to get out, but there you are. I can see my reviews now, so post away :D
I might be slowing down in my updates a bit over the next week or so. I have about a million homework assignments to do and more are just going to keep coming. I'll try to update as fast as I can, but don't be surprised if it takes awhile.
Oh yeah, I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but I expanded my bio. Check it out.
Please review!!!
-TheOneAndOnlyT