AUTHOR'S NOTE : First Chapter hopefully up on the weekend – oh, and wish me happy birthday – it's my 14th tomorrow ! YAY ! ! ! : )
A Dark DayA radio lying in the middle of the Nabata desert for no apparent reason switches on. The sound of tapping is heard, before Vex, the incredible Author Almighty, begins to speak.
Vex: "Hello? Hello? Is this on?"
A new voice is heard in the background
Erk: "I thought you said you could work your 'modern technology'..."
Vex: "I can! Now...well, this'll have to do. Um...hi, readers! Yeah, anyway, this is my first Fire Emblem fic, so, well, um..."
Erk: "Must I do everything for you? sigh Oh well. Right, I'm gonna get to the point, seeing as our author seems rather incompetent at it. This is probably the first in a trilogy of three fics set five years after the events of Rekka no Ken (and the character endings are a little different). If you've played Fire Emblem 6, please bear with our author, because he hasn't played it and therefore this will create a future quite different from the sequel to Fire Emblem 7..."
Vex: "Hey! My title gets a capital letter!"
Erk: "You can have that capital letter when you learn how to introduce a fic. Where was I? Oh yes, please read and review. And look out for a mini-plot somewhere in these chapter intros..."
A DARK DAY
Prologue: Comings and Goings
The clouds over Castle Caelin were heavy and dark, much like the ones that hung over the mind of its steward. The gradual loss of job satisfaction had NOT been in the brochure, and the once-cheery face of Sain, the Green Lance, was now one of a saddened and bored politician. He lay back on the regal bed in the room which had once housed Lord Hausen, the last Marquess of Caelin, and pondered the idea of resigning from the position which he just couldn't seem to enjoy anymore. Really, it was only loyalty to Kent that kept him there, and he knew Kent and his wife would be sad to see someone they didn't know take up leadership of the Ostian territory. Even in Sacae, news from Lycia finds its way to you, and the last thing Sain wanted to do was to let Lady Lyndis...Lyn, even (he just couldn't throw off the habit of using her old title), find out via word of someone else's mouth.
Sain envied Kent and Lyn so much...as pleased as he was that the couple had found each other those five years ago, he couldn't understand why it had been Kent, and not he, who had returned from their travels with a bride. Perhaps that was why he felt so down. Women were the answer to everything...or at least that was what his old self would have thought.
Why didn't he still think that? He desperately wanted to be the old Sain, and he knew he was still the same person, so why?
All this thinking hurt Sain's head, and he decided it was about time that he got a break from the endless nothing that was today's leadership of Caelin. He needed a holiday, and he knew exactly where he was going to get it.
"Take good care of my room, Wil. I don't want to come back and find it all tidy like the last time."
The archer standing by Sain's horse chuckled and smiled. "Don't worry, Sain. I won't be in there this time."
Sain looked shocked. "No, no, you must stay in there until I come home! The walls must be so bored of me after all these years...I wouldn't want to deprive them of a little variety. I'm not taking no for an answer!"
Wil held up his hands in mock surrender. "OK, OK, you win. Take care of yourself, Sain."
The Green Lance jumped onto his horse and picked up the reins, before slowly riding out of the castle grounds and swinging round to face North. Wil watched him as he rode into the distance, and walked back inside, feeling more than a little concerned for his old friend.
On the Caelin horizon, a red-haired man grasped the reins of a thoroughbred white horse, calmly leading its rider along the autumn grass. The woman on the horse's back occasionally looked down at her brother, but they said nothing to one another as they approached the looming outline of the province's castle.
When they could both make out the full colours of Castle Caelin's walls, and clearly see the patterns on the flags that flew above the gate, Raven helped his sister down for a moment, and the two shared a rare hug.
"Thank you for bringing me this far, brother," Priscilla murmured as she wrapped her arms around him, "you're going back to Araphen now, aren't you?"
All she got was a simple "yes", but Priscilla needed no more from him. It was thanks enough that he had chosen to accompany her once more. After a minute or two, Raven unclamped her arms a little forcefully, and aided her as she remounted.
"Travel safely, Raymond...travel safely..." she whispered as she watched him begin the long trek back to Araphen, before turning to the slowly opening gates and rode elegantly through. Her sadness at seeing her brother leave once more was drowned by happiness, happiness at the prospect of seeing her dear friend's smile again.
Meanwhile, one dark evening in the mountains of Bern, atop the stairs of the Shrine of Seals, the stone grew cold...