"You have been specially selected by the Lady Lyndis to undertake this mission to seek out the mystery man from the ball last night!" Wallace boomed at the line of soldiers before him. "Should you choose to accept this mission and not run home, cryin' to yo' mama, you will travel to the outer reaches of this kingdom to find that young man! Do I make myself clear?!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" the line shouted.

Hector leaned over to Oswin. "So, how's that, er, egg problem?"

"I'd, uh, really rather not talk about that right now," Oswin whispered back. "I just passed a huge one this morning. It was so big I thought I was going to break my a—"

"Ask any questions you may have before we depart!" Wallace ordered. He strode over to Hector. "And who, may I ask, are you, sir?"

"Why, I'm Hector," Hector replied, running a hand through his hair. "The handsome woodsman."

"I see," Wallace said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. He boomed, "As for the rest of you, I will now call the role! PEG KNIGHT SISTERS!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"WIL!"

"Yes, sir! Sir! Yes! Um, sir...!"

"REBECCA!"

"Present!"

"Presents?! Where?!"

"Wil, no speaking unless you are spoken to!"

"Yes, sir! Sorry, sir! ...Sir!"

"Alright!" Wallace shouted. "MOOOOOOOOOOVE OUT!"

"Was that supposed to be a joke about how he used to be a cow?" Rebecca wondered.

"No talking!" Wallace ordered.

"CINDERELIWOOD!!!"

"Yes, Ephidel?" he sighed.

"There's a wretched smell coming from the fireplace. Go clean it."

"Yes, Ephidel. ...OUCH!"

Ephidel slapped his own forehead. "Put out the fire first, you moron!"

Eliwood doused the fire and started scrubbing out the interior of the fireplace. "So how did the ball go last night?"

"Abysmal!" Limstella exclaimed, entering the room. "You won't believe what he did to Lady Lyndis!"

"She asked for my help, and she got it," Ephidel countered primly. "I can't help it if I know more about being a lady than she does."

"You know, most men would have simply complimented her," Limstella mused. "Like the length or colour of her hair, or the dress that she wore. You dolt, you had such a good chance! What with that adorable lock of hair of yours."

"I styled it myself," Ephidel beamed, twirling said lock around an index finger.

"Who did she wind up with?" Eliwood inquired, still facing the fireplace.

"What's it matter to you?" Ephidel sneered.

Eliwood replied innocently, "Simply curious."

Ephidel snorted. "Well, if you must know, it was some little snot with red hair and violet eyes. He had some white suit and a white and red cape."

Eliwood froze in mid-scrub. No! They mustn't know it was me!

Ephidel and Limstella stared at their stepbrother curiously.

Limstella leaned over to Ephidel and whispered, "Why isn't he moving?"

Ephidel rose from his chair and strode over to Eliwood. He inspected his stepbrother for a moment, waving a hand in front of his face. Eliwood remained frozen. Carefully, Ephidel pulled the sponge out of Eliwood's hand. Still no reaction. Ephidel grinned wickedly and squeezed the sponge over Eliwood's head.

"Gah!" Eliwood cried.

"Finally, you elicit a response," Ephidel congratulated sarcastically. He dropped the still damp sponge on Eliwood's head. "Father will be proud."

The siblings laughed and exited the room while Eliwood grabbed the sponge off his head and thrust it back into the water. He ran a hand through his sopping wet hair.

"Ew," he murmured. "Bucket water..."

He continued scrubbing the fireplace, but his mind was definitely elsewhere. Ephidel and Limstella were not exhibiting any signs of having recognizing him at the ball, but Nergal... He was a wise old man, and if he knew it really was Eliwood dancing with Lyndis...

"CINDERELIWOOD! DOOR!"

"But I'm not done the fireplace yet!" Eliwood shouted back.

"Do it later! Do this now!"

"Alright-y," Eliwood shrugged.

"Hello, my name is Denning. This is a message from Lord Hausen. The Honorable Grand Duke Canas will be travelling to the home of every eligible bachelor in the land in order to track down the mystery man who attended last evening's ball at Castle Caelin and danced with the Lady Lyndis. This is a message from Lord Hausen. The Honorable Grand Duke Canas..."

"It's the delivery puppet again," Limstella said, staring at Denning along with Eliwood and Ephidel. "I wonder what would happen if I poked him?"

To test out her theory, he stood directly in front of him and started poking him between the eyes. As she continued poking, she felt a rather friendly hand creep around to her backside.

She let out a scream and slapped Denning across the face. She sprinted back inside and grasped Ephidel's arm, using her brother as a shield.

Denning, a large grin on his otherwise emotionless face, concluded, "Have a nice day."

Limstella stuck her head out the door as Denning departed and shook her fist menacingly. "PERVERT!"

"Frankly, I think you sort of had it coming," Ephidel said matter-of-factly.

"You were the one who smashed him over the head last time he was here!" Limstella raged. "How about I show you what YOU have coming?!"

"EEK!" Ephidel squealed as his sister started chasing him around the vestibule.

"Children!" Nergal scolded, clapping his hands to grab their attention. "Stop that at once!"

Limstella released Ephidel's ponytail and they replied in unison, "Yes, father..."

"Now is not the time for childish bickering," Nergal continued, coming all the way down the stairs. "You must prepare yourself for the arrival of the Grand Duke. Make yourselves presentable; especially you, Ephidel!"

"You know what this means?" Limstella exclaimed, suddenly wide-eyed and ecstatic.

"Make-over time!" Ephidel cried. He and Limstella clasped hands and jumped up and down excitedly.

"Don't just stand there like an imbecile, CinderEliwood!" Nergal snapped. "Help your brother and sister prepare for the Grand Duke!"

"Yes, prepare..." Eliwood repeated. He strode up the staircase, as if in a daze, not touching the floor at all. "Prepare for the Grand Duke..."

The three watched as he seemed to float up the stairs.

"What's with that dopey grin?" Ephidel demanded.

Nergal glared after Eliwood suspiciously. "Go prepare yourselves for the moment. I'll attend to this..."

He silently followed Eliwood up to his chamber at the top of a tower. Eliwood had an unusual spring in his step, and in his dreamy state appeared to be dancing. He was humming a tune that Nergal found familiar; he had heard it the night before at the ball.

Eliwood entered his room and began to dry his hair off with an old, discarded shirt. He scarcely noticed as Nergal stopped in the doorway and pulled the key out of the lock from the inside.

The metallic key glinted in the sunlight entering through the tiny window, and finally caught Eliwood's attention. But it was too late. He cried out and ran for the door, but Nergal slammed it shut before he could reach it.

"Damn it, open the door!" Eliwood shouted. "You can't keep me locked in here! You can't! Give back that key! Open the door!"

"You're a useless little wretch, and always have been!" Nergal sneered through the door. "We'll be living in Castle Caelin soon enough while you rot away in this house, so I suppose there's no harm in finally telling you the truth."

"Th-the truth?"

"I killed your father, and your mother after him. A useless bunch, the lot of you!"

"No..." Eliwood murmured. He heard Nergal's footsteps fade away down the stairs. "No! No! You heartless bastard! I'll kill you! I swear, with my own hands, I'll kill you! Murderer! Murderer..."

He collapsed to his knees, sobbing. Then, suddenly, he was overcome by a blinding hatred. He dried his eyes roughly, feeling that same twinge that he had felt the night before. He rushed over to his mirror and looked at his eyes. While his right eye was still blue, his left eye was the same violet it had been the night before.

"Marcus..." he mumbled. "Thank you!"

He immediately began searching every corner of his chamber for any scraps of fabric he could get his hands on. He began tying them together, one after another, forming a make-shift rope.

"I will not be denied love for any longer!"

"Honorable Grand Duke," Nergal greeted, bowing deeply. "It is a pleasure to have you in our humble abode. I am Lord Nergal, and these are my son and daughter, Ephidel and Limstella."

Canas nodded curtly in reply. He yawned once, exhausted from travelling all day and much of the early morning.

He entered the house and unrolled a piece of parchment. He cleared his throat and announced, "The Marquess Caelin, Lord Hausen, has issued an order that the Grand Duke Canas (that's me) is to visit every household in the territory in which lives an eligible bachelor. Last evening at the ball held at Castle Caelin, the Lady Lyndis met and danced with a mysterious man who fled before his identity was revealed. The only clue as to the man's identity is a single contact lens found to have been dropped by him." Canas opened a small round container to reveal a tiny, curved lens sitting in a liquid. "The man whose eyes become violet upon placing this upon one shall marry the Lady Lyndis."

"Go on, Ephidel," Nergal urged. "Try it on."

"Ew!" Ephidel moaned. "How many people's eyes has that thing been on?!"

"Don't worry," Canas assured him. "The lens is sterilized after every house."

"Oh. Okay then," Ephidel sniffed. He used a fingertip to pluck the lens out of its container. He looked at it nervously, his hand pausing just before his face.

"Just put it in already!" Limstella sighed exasperatedly.

"I hate contact lenses!" Ephidel whined.

"Just throw your head back and stick the thing in!" Limstella said.

"I thought I was supposed to lean forward..."

"Lean wherever the hell you want, just do it!"

Ephidel tried to put in the contact lens. "I keep blinking! I can't do it!"

"Hand it over here!" Limstella ordered tersely. She placed the lens on her own fingertip and forced Ephidel's right eye open.

"Ow! My eyelids!"

"Hold still! And stop moving your eyes around!"

"Ow! My eye!"

"There."

Limstella backed away and Ephidel remained with his right eye screwed shut.

"My eye itches. How can your eye itch?"

"Well, let's see it," Canas said.

Ephidel blinked several times, and finally managed to open his eyes completely.

"Orange..." Canas mumbled. "Interesting..."

"Uh, there must be some mistake," Nergal insisted. "Our Ephidel is most certainly the one who danced with the Lady Lyndis. Go on, Ephidel, tell him how magical an evening it was!"

"Magical! Ever so magical!" Ephidel agreed, nodding fervently.

"I had my doubts from the beginning," Canas said. He made a motion with his hand, indicating he wanted the lens back. Ephidel, wincing, carefully pulled it out and put it back into the sterilizing liquid. "The man who danced with Lady Lyndis had bright red hair."

Nergal very nearly choked.

"But, Ephidel likes to dye his hair all the time!" Limstella piped up. "Isn't that right?"

"Yes!" Ephidel agreed, nodding fervently again. "It was red just last night! Last week, I was a blonde!"

"Yes, I'm sure you were..." Canas muttered. His voice returned to normal as he turned to Nergal. "So, there are no other young men in this household?"

"Um, no not one. But, please," Nergal pleaded. "There must be some way... I'm sure Ephidel is the one! Please stay!"

"I'm sorry, milord, but there are a great deal of houses left to visit today," Canas declined. "If there are no other young men in this house, I bid you good day."

"Wait! There must be some—"

"Stop!" Eliwood cried. He burst through the front doors, panting.

"How did you get out of your chamber?!" Nergal demanded furiously.

Canas gasped. "You... It's you! You're the one Lady Lyndis danced with at the ball last night!"

"B-b-but he didn't even go to the ball!" Ephidel cried.

"Nonsense, I know he is the one!" Canas exclaimed. "Please, young man, do me the favour of trying on this contact lens..."

Nergal's ancient face twisted into a bitter grimace. Then he got an idea. Just as Canas stepped on the very edge of the vestibule rug, Nergal placed his own foot on the other end and pulled back.

Canas tripped, sending the lens as well as most of the liquid spilling to the floor. He managed to catch himself before he, too, went careening to the floor, but his other foot stepped on the most inopportune spot.

The Grand Duke cried out and fell to his knees, staring in horror at the small mess. The contact lens had been ripped in half. Nergal smiled triumphantly.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Canas moaned. "This is... This is terrible! The marquess... What will he do to me?!"

"I think I have a way to solve your problem," Eliwood spoke up.

"No, there's nothing you can do now," Canas sobbed. "Nothing. Everything is ruined..."

"But, if you'll only look up and see," Eliwood explained, "I have the other one."

Canas slowly looked up into Eliwood's eyes, and his mouth dropped open. He had one eye of blue, and the other of violet.

"You are the one!" Canas exclaimed, nearly hysterical. "I've found you! The marquess won't kill me! Huzzah! And the Lady Lyndis will be so thrilled! You must come with me to the palace at once, young man! We'll adorn you in the finest attire, and get you out of those rags!"

"Do you mean it?!" Eliwood enthused. "Thank you so much!"

"No, no, NO!" Nergal shouted. "This will not do at all! I will not allow a useless, trouble-making, red-haired little brat like you gain any sort of power over ME! I'll kill you long before you ever make it to your precious Lady Lyndis! Just like I did your pathetic parents!"

Ephidel and Limstella gasped. Ephidel stammered, "Y-you killed his parents?! But I thought... I thought they... But you..."

"Does it come as a shock?" Nergal demanded ironically, striding toward his offspring threateningly. "Dear old daddy as the cold-blooded murderer?!"

"S-stay away!" Ephidel shouted. He stepped backwards away from his psychotic father, standing in front of Limstella protectively.

"You've failed me for the last time!" Nergal boomed.

As he reached out, Ephidel conjured a fireball and fired it off in pure panic. Nergal batted it away, disintegrating it as if it were nothing. With the other hand he reached out and grabbed Ephidel by the throat. Limstella screamed, covering her mouth with her hands. She feared a spell at such close proximity might hurt Ephidel as well.

Ephidel struggled against the old man's surprisingly strong grip, as Nergal's hand crackled with energy. Soon Ephidel's struggles became less and less, until he was so drained of his life force that he fell limp. Nergal released his throat, and Ephidel collapsed in an unconscious heap on the floor. Eliwood and Canas gawked in horror.

"That should suffice," Nergal said casually, turning back to the two by the door. "And now, for the rest of the kingdom."

"Come on!" Canas commanded, pulling Eliwood along by the arm to the carriage waiting outside.

Nergal strode after them calmly. The atmosphere in the house suddenly became dark, as if it were filled with smoke. The sky outside grew overcast and dark gray.

"Ephidel!" Limstella screamed. She shook him by the shoulders futilely. "Ephidel! Ephidel! Wake up, damn you! Say something! EPHIDEL!"

"Legault!" Canas called. "Move it!"

"Yah!" Legault shouted to the horses. The beasts took off at a sprint down the road towards the palace.

"What just happened back there?" Eliwood demanded.

"I am a scholar of the dark arts," Canas explained. "It seems Nergal is actually a Dark Druid. He has vast power, but he has been hiding it for a long time. He has become angered, and now seeks to destroy you, and the rest of the kingdom for that matter."

"I had no idea..." Eliwood murmured. He lowered his head and sighed. "I had no idea about anything. I was like a mushroom for all my life. They kept me in the dark and fed me horsesh—"

"Should we evacuate the local villagers?" Legault called from the driver's seat.

"Where would they go?" Canas replied. "The villagers of Caelin must be ordered to stay in their homes, no matter what. We're going to have to stake a showdown at the castle. There's very little else we can do right now..."

"I was afraid you were going to say that," Legault sighed.

"OSWIN!" Wallace boomed. "This is the second time we've had to stop!"

"It's not my fault!" Oswin shouted from behind a cactus. "I was cursed!"

"Excuses, excuses!" Wallace sighed.

"Um, Sir Wallace, sir?" Wil said.

"What is it, cadet?" Wallace demanded.

"Uh, well, I can't help but kind of notice something," Wil explained nervously. "But...I think we're lost."

"Are you implying that my sense of direction is lacking?!" the general demanded.

"No, sir!" Wil denied quickly. "It's just that...well... We're in a desert."

Wallace looked around at the vast dunes of sand all around. Other than the sky, it was all there was. "Well, that would explain why it got so gosh-darn hot all of a sudden. But, fear not, troops! We'll be back on track in no time!"

"Um, which way is back to Caelin?" Rebecca asked.

Everyone looked around. The whole desert looked the same.

An extremely big, buff man with blonde hair and carrying an axe over his shoulder passed. He stared at the gawking group for a moment, shrugged, and continued on his way.

"It's such a lovely day," Nergal sighed as a clap of thunder sounded in the distance. "I think I'll walk."

He floated serenely down from the sky on his magical black umbrella until his feet touched down on the grass. The sky was so dark from the electrical disturbance he had caused in the atmosphere that he almost didn't notice the figures up ahead. He looked up and studied the snarling beasts cresting the hill before him. Four wolves were looking straight at him, eyes glittering with menace, and jaws snapping viciously. Three were humanoid in appearance, one with brown fur, another with red, and the last with pink. The fourth wolf looked like any other, but jet black with golden eyes.

"Oh, won't this be entertaining?" Nergal mused.

Suddenly, the wolves came tearing at him, charging down the hill, barking and howling.

"Tsk, tsk. Such silly creatures."

They were soon all around him, scratching and biting him with all the strength they could muster. Nergal cocooned himself in a film of dark magic, numbing the pain from the numerous bites. He swiped at them with a flat hand, leaving shallow cuts in their hides. No matter how much he cut them, they kept coming back to ravage his limbs. The layer of magic was wearing thin with the onslaught, however, and the pain from the wolves' teeth was intensifying.

Each wolf took a hold of a wrist or an ankle, reducing Nergal's range of movement to useless flailing. With the brief standoff, Nergal took a moment to analyze the wolves at his feet.

"Ah, I was wondering why I wasn't doing more damage," he mused. "You've erected magical Barriers around yourselves, as well. It was you, wasn't it, pinky?"

He focused power into his foot and wrenched it free from the pink werewolf's jaws. She snapped viciously at it before it came down on her head. She whimpered in pain, and slowly shrank down into a human form.

Nergal unleashed a great deal of energy through his hands, sending both werewolves there into the air. They collided and crashed to the ground in a heap, their transformations reversing also.

The Dark Druid released a final wave of energy in a great dome several metres in diameter. The black wolf was knocked back and skidded across the ground. His transformation reversed as he went, and he managed to catch his balance and landed in a deep crouch. Nergal saw a flash of golden eyes before the figure winced and collapsed forward.

"Now, on to the castle," Nergal decided.

"So, Matthew," Leila said, "What's our plan?"

"Detain Nergal and try not to die," Matthew replied. "Simple, right?"

"Of course."

"Half of our best soldiers would have to be out lost somewhere with Wallace," Matthew muttered.

"You know, I may just have something that could help us." Leila searched the pockets in her cloak until she produced a flat, round stone with intersecting loops carved into it.

"A Light Rune!" Matthew exclaimed.

"This should hold him," Leila said as she tossed the stone into the doorway. It landed and disintegrated into nothing, leaving behind the blue glowing image of the rune. The rune released several plumes of smoke, then disappeared altogether. "And now, we wait."

Matthew clasped Leila's hand in his own. "I'll just...hang on to you. In case you get scared."

Leila laughed. "Always the altruistic one."

Nergal crossed the drawbridge of Castle Caelin. The town had been quiet and devoid of life, and the palace appeared no different. There were no guards, but there did seem to be some kind of life force beyond the door.

He crossed several deserted rooms uneventfully. He stepped in the doorway of the next room, but his foot hovered just above the floor when he saw the rune begin to glow. Energy crackled all around his foot, which he withdrew quickly.

"A Light Rune," Nergal said. "Clever. But not enough, I'm afraid."

He raised his hands in the air and summoned forth a myriad of dark lightning bolts that shattered a portion of the ceiling to rubble. The rune fizzled out, and Nergal walked confidently over the pile of stones. Within the newly made alcove were two cat-people waiting to greet him.

"So, when do you serve up the punch?" Nergal asked.

"I'll serve you some punch, alright," Matthew growled. He drew an ornate dagger, and Leila drew her own pair.

"Then allow me to give you a hand!" Nergal taunted. He raised the palm of his hand to them, and a great fireball erupted between them. They leapt clear of the blast, but Matthew still felt the searing heat on his face.

I thought he was a druid, not a sage! How is he able to use Anima magic?!

Matthew tried not to allow himself to become distracted. He skillfully threw his dagger at Nergal's foot, but the Dark Druid withdrew in time.

"You missed!" Nergal cried triumphantly.

"That, my friend," Matthew grinned, "is what we call a distraction."

"What?!?!"

Leila dropped from the ceiling, daggers flashing, and cut a deep gash from Nergal's shoulder down to his abdomen. He growled and doubled over in pain.

Leila looked over her shoulder and gasped. "Why don't you bleed?!"

"Leila, move!" Matthew pleaded.

It was too late. With a sudden burst of strength, Nergal thrust his hand out and clutched Leila by the neck. She screamed and slowly grew faint as Matthew watched, horrified, and the grisly wound closed itself, healed completely.

"Cat got your tongue?" Nergal asked of Matthew.

"Leila!" Matthew cried. He launched himself forward, hissing and silver dagger glinting.

Nergal unleashed a wave of dark magic, sending Leila flying into Matthew, and then the both of them to the back of the room, reverted to their natural form.

Matthew climbed to his paws and looked at himself. "No! I'm cute, cuddly kitty again!"

Nergal approached them slowly. Matthew stood before an unconscious Leila, hissing.

"Matthew..." Leila murmured.

Matthew forgot about everything else nuzzled her comfortingly. "You're going to be okay. Just hang on!"

"I'm fine," Leila assured him. "Just...drained. He can...steal our powers with his...magic. The Anima spells... And now he has...my speed..."

"I always had a thing for cats," Nergal mused. "They're just so cuddly."

"Oh, yeah?" a voice challenged from afar. Guy came bounding into the room and stopped in front of Matthew and Leila, sword at the ready. "Well, that makes two of us..."

"Guy!" Matthew exclaimed thankfully. He then became serious. "Guy, you have to get out of here! It's too dangerous! Especially if he absorbs your powers, too! Then we're screwed!"

"Care to show me what you can do?" Nergal asked of Guy.

"You'll regret those words!" Guy shouted. He concentrated for a moment, then split into three entities and surrounded Nergal with amazing speed.

Matthew suddenly felt himself get lifted up off the floor, Leila right next to him. He looked up to see that Legault was rescuing them.

"It's time to go," Legault told him.

"But, what about Guy?" Matthew demanded. "We can't just leave him there!"

"Nergal won't tarry with him long," Legault explained. "It's not Guy he's after. Besides, Guy is under a protective spell. He'll be fine; for now."

Nergal fired off tongues of dark magic at one Guy clone after another. The first two fizzled out of existence, and the last one, the real one, bore down on Nergal from out of the shadows. Nergal did not have time to react before the fabric bound about his head had been cut clean off at the blade of Guy's sword. The fabric fell away, revealing an oversized, bulbous eye that searched the room seemingly of its own accord.

"What the hell?!" Guy cried in shock.

Nergal extended his palm, and Guy, still in mid-air, was encompassed in a dark wind, like the strands of a spider's web catching him and creating the tiniest of cuts. A flux of energy pushed him back into the wall. He hit the stone hard and slumped to the ground, dark green hair cascading over his shoulders. His braid had come undone in the onslaught.

"As fun as this is, I shall have to get straight to the point," Nergal decided. "Oh, Eliwood! Where are you? Your mother and father a simply dying to see you again!"

"It is I, Eliwood!"

"It is you!" Lyn exclaimed. She ran to him and they embraced.

"You must stand clear of the door," Erk told them, locking the door to the chamber. "This is a useless ploy. He will be able to enter."

"If he can find us," Eliwood added.

Erk shook his head. "Of course he can find us. He can sense our very life force."

"Sure, put a damper on everything I say," Eliwood muttered.

They lay in wait for several minutes, and sure enough, the door began to shake with the force of the dark spells hitting it.

"He's toying with us," Erk mumbled bitterly. "Trying to instill fear in us. He could easily tear down a door such as that in a single strike." He strode towards the door.

"Erk, don't do it!" Lyn pleaded. "You know Anima magic has a fundamental weakness against the dark arts!"

"I have to try!" Erk said. "If I fall, there will be no one left standing between him and you!"

With one final blast, the door was reduced to splinters and Nergal stepped into the room.

"You will go no further!" Erk threatened, charging at Nergal.

After a short encounter, Erk collapsed, eyes reduced to swirling black spirals.

"Why must I be tormented so?" he demanded of some higher power.

"You've eluded me for far too long!" Nergal said to the two remaining, cowering figures in the room. He stepped over Erk and advanced on them. "Eliwood, it is high time that you died!"

"Never!" Eliwood shouted defiantly. He drew his Rapier and lunged at Nergal. Unfortunately, he did not notice the upturned corner of the rug and tripped. The Rapier flew out of his hands, and Lyn managed to catch it. Eliwood crashed to the floor, rolling a bit as he went. He rolled right into Nergal, whose feet were swept right out from under him. Lyn saw her opportunity and thrust the Rapier at Nergal. It landed squarely in the pupil of his bug eye.

"Gah!" Lyn cried in disgust.

Eliwood clambered to his feet and joined Lyn, equally in disgust as the Rapier moved around with the movements of Nergal's bug eye.

"No! My googly eye!" Nergal shrieked. "How did you know that was the source of my power?! Uggghh... Gwaaaa!!" His wrinkled flesh began to melt, and his hair, to wither away. He was reduced to a smoking pile of goo, which soon disintegrated along with his robes.

Nergal and his googly eye were gone for good.

Wedding bells rang out for all the kingdom to hear.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," Renault finished.

Eliwood and Lyn kissed and ran back down the aisle to the carriage waiting for them.

A slew of angry people rose out of the church pews and bore down on Renault.

"He killed Lucius's parents!" one of them shouted. "Let's get him!"

Renault ran for his life.

Meanwhile, outside, everyone was cheering enthusiastically.

Sain wiped a tear away. "Weddings do it to me every time... Kent, do weddings get to you, too?"

Kent sniffled. "Um, yeah, that's why I'm crying... Oh, Lyndis..."

"And to think," Matthew said, "that we had a part to play in bring this tog— OUCH!" He winced as the needle-sharp teeth of five kittens clamped down on his ears. "Leila, they're doing it again!"

"They're just playing," Leila laughed. "Right?"

"Meow!" the kittens mewled in unison.

"I'll never forget how well you painted my nails!" Ephidel called, waving enthusiastically.

"Or how good your fashion advice was!" Limstella added.

In the carriage, Lyn sighed. "I only wish Wallace and the others could have been here..."

"Hey, we're in Ilia!" Florina enthused.

The troops shivered uncontrollably in the biting winds of the north.

Wallace turned the parchment around in his hands over and over. "Damn map! This thing must be misprinted!"

"And they lived happily ever after."

"I like happy endings," Nils sighed. "Please, Canas, I would love to hear another."

"Very well," Canas agreed. "Ah, I have the perfect story in mind! It's about a boy with a flute."

"Just like me!" Nils cried. "What is the name of this story?"

Canas turned the pages in his book. "The name of this next story is called..."