On the bright side, I broke my record again! TWELVE reviews for the last chapter! Okay, so two of them are from the same person, but...who cares?
SkyFireZero: Thanks for your review!
Sword of Seals: I don't use my lords that much...but I do try to have at least one at level 20 by the end of that chapter so I can promote them in the next one. It's actually easier than you might think...unless you play hard mode. Stupid EXP reduction .
:D: If you didn't see, my next pairing is going to be Jaffar/Nino. It won't be started until after the summer though, as I'm going to be away a lot.
The Story Master 125: Fall victim I did...Eliwood/Ninian support B is in this chapter. And I think I can guess when that quote is going to occur in your fic ;)
Kensou freak: -grins evilly- Oh, I will have "fun"...er... -stops grinning, looks around- yeah.
Death Scythe X-9: Thanks for your review!
FireEdge (x2): No, Eliwood didn't ask Linus to spare Ninian. I thought that was one of my better ideas :)
As for my English marks, well...while I can write these stories well, I can't do essays to save my life . I actually showed Defiance to my teacher and she loved it, but I don't think she gave me any extra credit for it :/
Morning Mist: Thanks for your review!
hyliansage: Does the APEuro exam have a document based essay as well? Damn, I hate those things...
Jeanie: Actually, I never thought about giving Florina a pairing... -thinks- Well, I'm a Hector/Lyn fan...so who else could she go with?
AmbieChan: I agree...the romance between the two in the game seems to happen way too suddenly. I just got their support A in my hard mode game and all I was thinking after I read it was "that sucked." Then again, why else am I writing this story? ;)
Remembrances
But what Ninian wasn't sure of was how to ask Eliwood about his request. He still seemed to be avoiding her, and while Ninian could understand why, she wished that he would stop. After all, if she was able to talk to him alone like she planned, then he probably wouldn't be so embarrassed anymore...
Ninian smiled at that thought.
The army continued to follow the tracks of the Bern soldiers, with no end in sight even as they started climbing one of Bern's snowy peaks. For once, Ninian was glad she was part ice dragon—the rest of the army was heavily wrapped in cloaks and were still cold, while she and Nils were fine with some protection.
The group stopped halfway up the mountain as night fell, intending on scaling the peak the following day. It was then that Eliwood finally decided to stop avoiding Ninian. To her surprise, he decided to speak first.
He came to her as she and Nils were setting up their tent for the night. He was also carrying an extra rapier, although Ninian was not sure why.
"Ninian," he said as he approached. She could see that he was still a little nervous about talking to her, although his face was somewhat hidden by the cloak he was wearing to keep out the cold.
"Yes, Lord Eliwood?" she replied.
He took one of the rapiers he carried and held it out in front of him. "I...I think you should have this."
Ninian's eyes widened. "Surely...you do not intend to make me fight alongside you?" she asked, almost incredulously.
Eliwood shook his head, smiling slightly. "Of course not, Ninian."
Ninian breathed a sigh of relief. "Then...why are you giving me this?"
"I have no intention of making you fight," Eliwood explained, "and you don't have to. This is just so you can defend yourself...just in case..." he left the rest unsaid.
"Oh..." She took the rapier, holding it awkwardly as she had never been instructed in the sword. Smiling slightly, she looked back at Nils...
...and found him with that expression on his face again. Her smile faded, but she turned back to Eliwood.
"Thank you, Lord Eliwood," she said.
Eliwood nodded in reply, then his expression became somewhat grave. "You do not have to use this sword if you do not want to," he said. "But our enemies are becoming stronger, and..." once again, he left the rest unsaid, as if afraid he would curse himself by suggesting he might be unable to protect her.
"I see," Ninian said. "But," she gave him a small smile, "I do not think I will have to use it if you are by my side."
As expected, Eliwood's face reddened slightly. "Yes, well," he gave an embarrassed cough, "...as I said, this is just in case."
She nodded. "Well, thank you, Lord Eliwood."
"You are welcome, Ninian." He turned and began walking to his tent.
She bit her lip, feeling nervous about what she wanted to do next. She waited for a few moments, then called out, "Lord Eliwood?"
He turned around. "Yes?"
She walked over to him, not only so she would not have to talk to him at a distance, but also to make sure that Nils did not hear what she was saying. She knew that her brother had his reasons for discouraging her love for Eliwood, but after her conversation with Florina, she had become confident that Eliwood would accept what she was. Of course, she wasn't intending on telling him about her true nature, but if he ever found out...well, she would be able to deal with it if it ever happened.
"What is it?" Eliwood asked as she approached him.
"Um," she began. She wasn't exactly sure how to ask him what she wanted, after all, he had made the request in the first place.
"Is something the matter?" Eliwood asked.
"No, everything is fine," she replied, shaking her head. "I just remembered," she shakily tried again, "you asked me, before...to show you the dance I use when I perform."
"Did I?" Eliwood asked himself. He stared into space, trying to remember, then his face suddenly turned rather red when he remembered the circumstances under which he had asked that question. "Uh...I suppose I did," he said, trying hard not to stammer. "What of it?"
"Well..." she said nervously, "would you like to see it?" As she said this, a wind blew through the camp, causing Eliwood to pull his cloak tighter about himself.
"I would love to," Eliwood replied, smiling, "but...I do not think this is the best time. Perhaps some other time...when it is warmer?" he added, chuckling a little.
Ninian nodded in acceptance. "Of course, Lord Eliwood," she replied, smiling as well.
"Very well. I will be looking forward to it." He turned to go to his tent, then stopped abruptly and turned back to her. "Ninian...are you not cold?" he asked, eyeing her lack of protection compared to him.
She shook her head. "I am fine, Lord Eliwood, but thank you for your concern."
"Are you sure?" Eliwood went on. "This is not a good time to become ill."
"Do not worry," she reassured him. "It is all right."
Eliwood still seemed worried about her, but he nodded. "If you say so." He began to leave for his tent. "I will be looking forward to seeing your dance," he said, smiling at her.
Ninian smiled back at him.
She fingered the rapier he had given her absently. She would be able to talk to him alone...all she had to do now was wait.
The army reached the top of the mountain around noon the next day, and found the Black Fang stronghold at the top. The three lords, apparently feeling confident after their infiltration of Bern Castle, felt it would be best if they could find any information themselves without fighting. Eliwood had asked Ninian, much to her surprise, to come with him, but the tactician had discouraged it, saying, "The fewer people infiltrating the fortress, the better."
So Ninian stayed with the rest of the army, hoping that Eliwood would be all right.
"Ninian."
"Yes?" She turned around, hearing Nils's voice. He had his arms crossed, and his face once again held the expression that appeared whenever he spoke about Eliwood.
He led her some ways away from the rest of the army, before asking, "Ninian...you are falling in love with Lord Eliwood...aren't you?"
But this time, Ninian was not ashamed as she had been before. "Nils...I have been in love with him for some time," she told him, no longer afraid to admit it.
"I see..." Nils said, looking away from her.
"Nils," she went on, "why can you not just be happy for me? I know...we are different from him and the others, but...there is nothing wrong with that!" she claimed, remembering her conversation with Florina.
Nils looked up at her, but instead of being angry as Ninian had expected him to be, his face held a look of sadness. "Ninian..." he said. "I...I know. I know you love Lord Eliwood. I know he can make you happy. I want him to make you happy."
Ninian was rather surprised at that comment.
"And I know you feel that what we are has nothing to do with this," Nils went on. "But...have you never considered what might happen...if Lord Eliwood were to find out what you were?"
"I have," Ninian replied. "I talked about it with Florina—"
Nils cut her off by gasping. "You told her that—"
"No, of course not," she responded quickly. "But she told me something very important."
"What is it?"
"She told me that no matter what problem I may have...if Lord Eliwood loves me, then he will not care what it is," she explained. "And I see now that she is right."
Nils looked at her somewhat angrily. "And how do you know this is the truth? Ninian, this is no joking matter. Even if Lord Eliwood were to accept this...none of the others would. We don't even belong in this world—"
"Then where do we belong?!" Ninian shrieked, then quickly quieted down as she realized the rest of the army was still close by. "Nils," she whispered, "we do not belong in the dragons' realm; they hate us."
"And the people of this world would hate us as well if they knew what we were," Nils whispered back angrily.
"Then..." she paused. "Then why should we let them know?!"
"What?" Apparently Nils had not considered this.
"Don't you remember?" Ninian asked. "Even if we wanted to," she dropped her voice as low as possible, "we can't turn back into dragons. Without our dragonstone, we will be humans until the day we die."
Nils was visibly stunned. Such a possibility had never made itself clear to him.
"Don't you see?" Ninian went on. "We cannot live in the dragons' realm. But...we can live here, as humans."
Nils brought a hand to his forehead, still shaken by Ninian's revelation. Then, suddenly, he shook his head sadly. "No, Ninian...we can't."
"What?" Ninian asked. "Why not?"
"Don't you remember what Nergal said? We—"
"Ninian!" Eliwood's voice suddenly emanated from the rest of the army.
She looked up at Eliwood as he walked over to her. "We need to go," he said.
"Why?" she asked.
There was suddenly a flash, and a man appeared in front of the army. He wore red robes that seemed more appropriate for a monk or bishop rather than a Black Fang member. He had short brown hair, and he also carried a silver staff.
Eliwood turned to the man. "You..." he said. "You're a holy man. What are you doing with these rogues?"
The man stared at Eliwood for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing as if what Eliwood had said was the funniest thing in the world.
"Holy?" he said after he had stopped laughing. "I suppose you are referring to my relationship with the 'gods?' Tell me, boy, have you met Lord Nergal?"
"Yes," Eliwood stated simply.
"Then there is something you must know," the man said as an insane grin began to spread over his face. "Gods are lies created by the weakness of mankind. If there is truly a 'god' in this world, it is my Lord Nergal. Only him."
"You fool!" Hector suddenly shouted, appearing behind the man and swiping at him with his axe. It only hit thin air, however, as the "bishop" suddenly disappeared and instantly reappeared a few feet away.
"Since you seem so eager," the bishop said, the insane grin still on his face, "why don't we have a little fun? Let's see how you can handle the soldiers in this fortress..."
All of a sudden, the grin disappeared, replaced by an almost dreamy look as the bishop stared at the army. "Nothing is more beautiful than the suffering of men," he stated. "I will watch you for a long—" his eyes started scanning the group, "—long, time." His eyes finally settled on Ninian as the insane grin returned. "Especially you, girl."
"What?" Ninian gasped.
"What?" Eliwood parroted. "What do you mean by—"
But he wasn't able to finish his question, as with a flash, the bishop was gone.
"We don't have time for this!" Hector shouted. "We need to get to Bern Castle as fast as possible! Come on!"
"We can't!" a mage Ninian didn't know shouted from the back of the army. "There's a magical barrier here—we can't leave!"
Hector groaned. "FINE! Then let's just get this over with and get over to Bern Castle!"
Eliwood looked at Ninian meaningfully again, and she began to follow him, wondering what the bishop had meant. Her hand gripped the hilt of her rapier, and she hoped that she wouldn't have to use it...
As it turned out, Ninian did not once have to draw the rapier from its sheath.
The three lords and Ninian approached the bishop, who sat upon a small throne in the back of the fortress.
"So," the bishop stated, "It looks like you have made it." His eyes once again settled on Ninian, and the dreamy look returned. "And you brought the girl, too..."
Without warning, Eliwood pointed his rapier at the bishop's throat. "Tell me what you meant by that," he demanded.
The bishop stared at Eliwood in mock surprise. "What, you mean you don't know?" he asked.
Eliwood's face hardened. "She has done nothing," he retorted. "She has caused no—'suffering of men' as you called it." He spat the last words out in disgust.
The bishop's insane grin returned. "Oh, but she has," he responded. When both Eliwood and Ninian moved to protest, he went on, "She is the cause of all of the deaths that have occurred. If she had not escaped from Lord Nergal, then there would have been no deaths whatsoever." His dreamy look appeared once again. "Not that that's a bad thing..."
"Take that back," Eliwood demanded.
The bishop's grin and dreamy look vanished as he stood up. "I have a better suggestion," he said. His staff began to glow golden. "Why don't you let me take her back to Lord Nergal?" He raised his staff.
A light suddenly appeared at his feet, then it spiraled around him, up into the air. Ninian watched it as it went up, up, up...and then, without warning, it sped back down, directly at Eliwood. The light suddenly intensified sharply as it neared Eliwood, so much that Ninian had to look away.
When she looked back, Eliwood was no longer there. She gasped, but then she heard Eliwood's voice from beside her—he had simply dodged the spell. "I will not let you take Ninian," he vowed.
The bishop's staff glowed golden again as he readied another Aura spell. "We'll see about that," he replied. He raised his staff—
—and then, without warning, he froze. There was the sound of metal cutting flesh, and the bishop fell over dead. Lyn was behind him, holding a bloodied sword.
"Never turn your back on an enemy," she remarked, smiling triumphantly.
The bishop's words rang through Ninian's head as the army raced to get to Bern Castle before the prince was to be assassinated. They were now resting after another day of traveling.
It had been three days since the army had left the Black Fang fortress, but Ninian still could not stop thinking about what the bishop had said. She sat outside her tent, brooding.
She is the cause of all of the deaths that have occurred...
There was no way that was true, Ninian thought.
...Right?
"Ninian?" Eliwood's voice broke her train of thought.
She looked up at him. "Yes?"
"Well..." Ninian noticed that he seemed very nervous. "Would now be...a good time to show me the dance you use when you perform?"
His request. Ninian had almost completely forgotten about it...but it came rushing back as she remembered what she had planned to do. "Of course," she replied.
She wanted to make sure that the two of them were alone, and she was going to ask to move away from the army, when instead Eliwood decided to lead her away from the camp himself. She took a deep breath...she didn't know when or if she was going to get another chance to tell him what she wanted...
There was a small clump of trees a short distance from the camp. Eliwood led her to it and sat down on a trunk of a tree that had fallen. He smiled at Ninian expectantly.
She smiled back at him, then, taking another deep breath, she closed her eyes and began to dance.
Her dance lasted a few minutes. When she finished, she gave Eliwood a small curtsy. He laughed and clapped for her.
Even though he was the only one there, Ninian felt as though his applause meant more than the entire army's combined. She smiled at him proudly.
He smiled back at her serenely. "That was..." he paused for a moment as if searching for the right words, "—truly beautiful."
Her smile almost reached her ears. "Thank you," she said softly.
He sighed contentedly. "In Pherae, every year, we hold a grand harvest festival," he said. "Everyone in the land comes to eat, drink, and dance. Perhaps...you should come the next time. I am sure everyone would love to see your dancing."
"That sounds like fun," she replied.
"It is," Eliwood said. "My mother, you know," he went on, "she loves dancing. Every year, at the festival, she always dances all night." He sighed. "My father always thought it silly, but he would always be there with her...dancing until the dawn." He looked at the ground, not wanting to think about his father's death.
Ninian couldn't think of anything to say to him. Elbert...he had been such a kind man. Truly, he had not deserved to die. And yet—
Suddenly, Ninian realized what the bishop had meant by his words.
"I'm sorry," Eliwood said, looking up at Ninian. "You must...think about my father often enough."
But Ninian didn't hear him. She was thinking about what the bishop had said...and she realized despairingly that what he had said was true.
She was the cause of this entire conflict.
The entire conflict had started because Nergal had called her and Nils through the Dragon's Gate...and she had been foolish enough to listen.
And because of that foolishness, so many people had died. Including...
Elbert...
"Ninian?" Eliwood asked.
Without thinking, she started to cry. "I...I'm sorry..." she said.
"Ninian," Eliwood said, getting up. He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Remember what I told you?" he asked. "My father's death was not your fault. You should not blame yourself, not at all."
But Ninian knew now that that was not true. Although he was correct in saying she had not killed him directly...she still was the reason he had ended up dead.
"L-Lord Eliwood..." she sobbed. "No...y-you're wrong..."
"What?" Eliwood asked.
She had thought that Eliwood might be able to accept her for what she was. But now, in addition to being a half-dragon, she was the reason for the death of Elbert...and so many other people.
And, as kind as he was, there was no way Eliwood would ever accept someone like that.
"Ninian?" Eliwood asked. "What's the matter?"
"I...I-I have been deceiving y-you..." she sobbed, before she realized what she was admitting.
"What? What do you mean?"
"I-It is just..." she was about to say more, but she suddenly realized what she was saying—she couldn't tell Eliwood about her past, no matter what. "I-I'm so s-sorry..." she sobbed. She flung her arms around Eliwood and began to cry into his shoulder.
"Ninian..." Eliwood said sadly, as if her sadness was pervading throughout his own body. "Please...don't cry."
But how could she not? she thought. She loved Eliwood so much, and he had been so kind to her...but if he found out...there was no way he would ever love her in return.
"Ninian, don't cry," Eliwood repeated, placing his own arms around her. "I do not know what has happened, but I do know that I never want to see you so sad..."
Whew! That was a long chapter. So sad, too...and it's not going to go that much uphill from here :/
Please review!!!
-TheOneAndOnlyT