Authors: Xan and Vallen
Rating: PG-13 (R later on)
Warnings: This story involves Marth and Roy in a relationship with one another, and other yaoi/slash/shounen ai themes. So if you have a problem with that, violence or torture, go read another fic. Also, we highly suggest that you read the first Fubuki no Kaen before starting this.
Disclaimer: The characters of Marth and Roy, plus "Altea," do not belong to us. We just use them for our pleasure.
Feedback: Yes. (That means we would love to hear from you and what you think.)
Notes:
Xan: *hides from all the pissed off readers* I TOLD you chapter three was a doozie! And I take full responsibility for that cliffhanger, so all of y'all lay off of Vallen. That was AAAAAAAAAALL me. But I got this chapter typed up doublequick to make up for that, so… This one doesn't have a huge cliffhanger, at least not like that one, so I hope you're happy about that. I don't think there will be any more cliffhangers that bad for the rest of the fic… the main word there being "think."
Vallen: *hiding under a rock with Xan* I mean… There wouldn't be a story without a conflict, right? We just happen to be having a thunderstorm of conflicts right now… Oops.
Important Note: You may see the name "Jorn" later on in the chapter- This is one of the made-up countries that border Altea. It's just something we made up.
Thanks to: Rayestar Ikina (*coughs from the smoke* Please get over it soon so you can read the next chapter!), Slifer (I'm sure you're not the only one confused! Just wait and bear with us!), Escuro de la Lus (Ack! *runs away from stapler*), The Flame Panther (You were expecting it? Darn... We were trying to be original! ^^V), Magical Mage (That's awesome! ONE person who liked the last line... *hugs*), rex16 (You're welcome. I'll check those out later when I have the time), tikimoof (*wince* I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please forgive us!), Syaix_Rafael (I think we might as well hang ourselves to get away from all the angry readers! But thank you for liking our work! ^^;;), chibi_fairy (I think after this cliffhanger, they're beginning to lose their charm on me... But you shall see.), MintyDreams7 (Heh. I won't accept it either! My Roy-chan CAN'T be dead!), bladegryphon (*sigh* Yes, another evil one... Forgive us! We tried to get this chapter out sooner), RavenGhost (I'm sorry, light will be shed on everything soon! We hope you're not so confused after this one!), Pichu*Star (You are correct! If the story ended there, we would be horrible authors! But we do live to please!), Li Kayun (Oh believe me, we'll fix it! It'll be all better... Er, somewhat better soon! We did promise angst...), YoshiMars (Lesse... He's either hallucinating or that's not really Roy... *coughs* Said too much.*), Keven C (Thank you muchly! We'd like for this to be as realistic as possible! Description is key...), Persian Kittie (Oh, I don't know about that... We both conspire together to bring you the best in torture and angst! Heh. That's where you're wrong. I'd happily kill Roy if it was fun!), LilFilipinoGurl (*fans her as well* Are you alright?! Everything will be fine, don't worry! Well, for the meantime...), Sherrilynn (That means a lot, coming from a fantastic author like you! But I've said that already, haven't I? It was meant to be shocking, but everything does have a twist!), Crockgirl13 (Ding, dong, the Roy is dead! O.o not really!), Jennie (Yes, we had to go all out... It's actually quite fun!), Moiras (Will you make us an award for best cliffhanger? Hehe, yes, Roy IS immune to fire! Very smart!), Jonathan (That's for us to know and you to.. find out in this chapter!), GSFailure ( Yes, absolutely! You know us too well!), Sinnatious ( I really enjoyed your review... I like it when people pick out the things they liked! Seeing as the characters are so fun to write, we have to make sure they're fun and interesting to read.), Curious Dream Weaver (*grin* Oh, ick, his head is half-way gone... ^^V We do the unexpected.), Dark Comet (*nods* Yup! You'd better run!), LiL PriNCeSs Me (My poor Roy-chan is hurt! You'll help me make him better?), pannybaby123 (Almost cried?! Wow... Well... I suppose it's good that we can bring emotions out from our readers, but I don't want to make you cry!), and MysticalWoodElf (*is shaken to the point of death* ARG! Just wait and see!!!).
Marth's soul became encased in ice, which dropped and shattered. His beloved partner, his heart and soul was dead and he felt his own human core dying as well. Marth felt his fingertips grow numb, then turn black as a thick layer of ice grew slowly up from them, engulfing his arms and then his torso. His entire body was being covered in an armor of ice, protected by the razor sharp spikes that protruded from it.
"Roy…" Marth whispered, seemingly unaware of the armor that had surrounded and encased his body. The ice was safe… It had protected him always… It was the only thing that had never hurt him.
But wait.
Marth
stopped, staring at Roy's charred and mutilated body. He ripped the dead stone from around the neck of the corpse and
held it in his ice-covered palm. Roy
wasn't dead. Marth's mind began to
awaken again, gradually thinking reason again.
He would have felt it the minute that his partner's life had been
extinguished. What the hell was going
on?
The king stepped out of the
tent, ignoring the astounded faces of his men as they stared dumbfounded at the
ice retreating from their commander's body.
A few ice crystals remained in Marth's hair and eyelashes as he stuffed
the dead gem into his belt-pouch.
"I want all of you to go to any nearby villages and order the people to evacuate. I don't want any living person within fifty miles of the border. If they refuse, force them at sword-point and say it's an official order. I don't care what you do but get them the hell out of here."
The men bowed, hiding their perplexed expressions. Few of the younger ones gulped, biting their lips and trying to hide their boyish fear. Whatever King Marth had seen in that tent was enough for him to order a forced evacuation of the entire countryside… They all rode off to carry out Marth's orders. Marth watched after them for a moment, then sat on the ground, reaching deep within himself. Cloud stood nearby, watching his master with concern.
'Roy, where are you?'
No answer.
The mage of fire woke up, his head pounding painfully as it seemed as if he could concentrate on nothing else except his headache. His vision was blurry, but he could discern a thicket of trees and many moving figures surrounding him. He was pretty sure that he was wearing minimal clothing – light shorts and a loose sleeveless shirt – and that he was tied down.
Roy squinted at the figures and decided that they were male soldiers, except something was definitely wrong with them.
Suddenly, Marth's voice exploded in his head and he let out a muffled scream of pain. He could feel the young king's mixed emotions – worried, angry and cold. He tried to focus on Marth's mind to answer, but the teen's head hurt ferociously. Roy felt useless and became distracted when a figure walked up to him. Even with his blurry vision, he could tell that the soldier was dead.
Marth felt a flicker, a tiny trace of Roy's power from far, far away. His hand reached into his belt-pouch and held the dead stone tightly so that he could feel every indention in the ice-glass surface. Roy was alive. Roy was alive. He forced all his power into extending and strengthening his mindspeech.
'Roy, where are you? What happened?'
There was Marth's voice again, louder than before. It hurt so much, but felt so good to hear his partner's voice.
'Marth…' Roy thought helplessly as he was picked up by one of the un-dead soldiers. He stared into the dull eyes of the man and recognized him as one of his own.
"I command you to put me down," Roy mumbled, beginning to move a little.
The soldier stared straight ahead and continued to walk on. The others followed along slowly. They seemed to be going in a specific direction.
'Marth, if you're in the camp and can hear me, you have to get out of there now. All the dead men… will come back to life… Get out of there as fast as you can.'
Marth stumbled to his feet, grabbing at Cloud's reins. The stallion helped support Marth as best he could as Marth pulled himself into the saddle.
'I'm leaving right now, Roy. Do you have any idea where you are? What do you see around you?'
'I … Ca...' Roy's voice broke up and there was a long pause. It was obvious that wherever he was, Roy was very far away. 'Can't see anything… Lots of trees… Oak trees… Too many soldiers…'
'Oak trees… Northern Altea or Jorn…' The king thought rapidly. 'Roy, don't worry… I won't let him have you. Just stay alive.'
Marth dug his heels into Cloud's sides, causing the stallion to neigh loudly and jump forward.
'I'll… try… Love you…' Roy thought, and then released his energy, slumping over with a sigh. Now with the last reserves of his power gone (he'd used most of it to fight the undead warriors), all he could do right now was try to get as much rest as he could. If only he knew where they were going…
Cloud seemed to sense his master's tension and grief and so did not protest as Marth galloped him hard over the terrain of eastern Altea. Marth's eyes were so intensely focused that if one looked into them, they would feel the blue orbs boring into their soul. Only one thing was on the king's mind right now.
'Rowen!' He called. 'ROWEN!'
The weather mage answered almost immediately, accompanied by a slew of questions.
'Marth, what's wrong? What's happening? Everyone says that you've told all the towns to evacuate to the capital. Is this true?'
'I want every town, village and city within fifty miles of the eastern Altea border evacuated. And every corpse must be burned.' Marth ordered harshly, trying to keep his voice steady. 'I've seen them Rowen. And Roy… Roy's gone.'
'Consider it done,' Rowen answered. There was a pause – he was probably talking to Gwen or one of the other palace drones. 'Marth, are you okay? Gwen's worried about you and now after what you said…Are you on your way here?'
'Yes. I'm coming home. Tell Gwen not to worry too much… I'll be all right… And Rowen? I don't want to be bothered for a few days after I come home aside from you and Gwen. I'm very tired.'
When Marth arrived at the castle, the capital was overflowing with people. Emergency accommodations had been set up for them, but it was obvious that they were in distress. He could hear some cry out "King Marth!" in relief as he entered the castle gates. They crowded around his horse so that Cloud snorted and pranced uneasily to avoid being crushed.
His small, blond servant came running out, a scared look in her eyes as she ducked in and out of the crowd, trying to avoid all the people and get to her king at the same time.
"Sir Marth!" She cried, with Rowen following behind at a slower pace.
Marth nodded to them, keeping up the façade of strength for the public. He waved them aside, subtly, and walked Cloud to the castle.
It wasn't until they were in the safety and privacy of the royal stables that Marth allowed his fatigue to show through. He practically fell out of the saddle, his entire body trembling. It was a good several days of riding from the eastern Altean border to the capital and Marth had somehow managed to cover it in just two without killing himself or Cloud. However, the stallion was covered in a thick, white lather and breathing heavily through his dilated nostrils. Rowen unsaddled him and ordered a groom to get some warm mash and blankets for Cloud before turning to Marth.
The king had collapsed into a pile of hay, not looking much better than his steed. His body had grown thin, his eyes hollow and dull in a pale face.
"Sir…" Gwen whispered, kneeling down beside Marth and offering him a cup of water while Rowen bent down and helped the king to sit up.
"Marth, are you alright? Talk to me, boy." The mage commanded.
Marth took the cup gratefully, drinking some and splashing the rest of it on his face.
"I don't know if I'm alright or not." Marth answered quietly. He buried his face in Gwen's shoulder. "Forgive me, Gwen. Roy's gone and everything's wrong all at once…"
"What do you mean by 'gone?'" Rowen interjected, settling back on his heels. "Is Roy dead?"
Marth shook his head, raising it from Gwen's shoulder.
"No, captured." He fumbled for his belt-pouch and pulled out the dead fire-in-ice and handed it to Rowen.
Rowen looked at the stone curiously.
"That's odd… According to this, Roy should be dead. Perhaps his magical powers are so repressed that it gives off the illusion that he has passed on… Do you mind if I take a closer look at this inside?"
The servant girl moved to stand up, indicating that Marth needed to get inside.
Marth hauled his tired carcass to his feet, following his friend and his servant back into the castle.
"You can look at it, but don't take it apart or hurt it… I don't think I could make another." He mumbled.
To his eternal gratitude, Gwen had thought ahead and prepared a cold bath for him and as he sank into the frigid water, he felt some of the stress and tension leave his body. But the knot deep in his heart refused to go away or stop causing him pain. It would remain until he knew that Roy was safe once again. After he was clean and dry once more, Marth changed into a pair of soft breeches and fell into bed, asleep almost instantly.
Roy woke up in a hard chair surrounded by the loud buzz of many people talking. He lifted his head to find himself at a grand table, heavily laden with a majestic feast and lords with their ladies sitting all around. The strangest thing was that he was seated at the head of the table.
"Where am I…?" The teen whispered. A lady to the right of him turned and looked at him with her dull eyes and painted face.
"Have you decided to join us, General?"
"Welcome to Pharae, General." Another said, speaking smoothly. "Welcome home."
Then everything faded away into black, but this time he was tied to the chair. A black entity swirled around him like a thick mist, causing him to choke and cough.
"Tell me all about your partner," a hissing voice whispered in his ear. "The Mage-King of Altea is very powerful, yes?"
"Yes…" Roy whispered.
"Tell me about his powers…"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
A pain flashed in the pit of his stomach and Roy realized that this was an entirely different method of interrogation.
To be continued…
Author's Notes:
Xan: Let's all say it together: "Poor Marth and Roy!"
Vallen: *repeats it too* Hopefully now all of you have a grasp on the situation… No more confusion?