Charlie: I'm back…and I must say the weather down here in So Cal is FREEZING!
Erk: Sadly, I must agree.
Charlie: Anyways, aside from my fingers freezing off right now, I'm having fun bashing Matthew again. Oh and Leila is too busy with he cold to kill me.
Leila: I'll… -ACHOO- …get… -ACHOO- …you… -ACHOO-…someday!!!
Charlie: Right…okay anyways. This is the second chapter. And no, I do not own FE, nor any other random stuff that shows up in here.
---
Charlie woke up the next morning with the king of all hang-overs. His head felt ready to explode on command. Groaning in pain, he slid out of bed and walked clumsily out of his tent. The rest of the group, save his drinking buddy Matthew, were already busy tearing down camp and packing up to leave. Charlie groaned. He did not feel strong enough to do anything right now.
Lyn saw the dazed tactician walk slowly around the camp towards the showering area. She sighed. The boy was barely over seventeen years old yet he drank more than a thirty-seven year old man. Motioning to Sain and Kent, the Sacaen took the liberty of tearing down and packing Charlie's tent for him, making sure to destroy a couple bottles of whiskey in the process. Lyn knew that the alcoholic tactician would go nuclear if she dumped all the wine, but by dumping little by little, she hoped to at least deter him from his drinking problem.
As Kent and Sain finished packing Charlie's tent, Kent noticed another hung-over figure across the field. Lyn followed the direction of the cavelier's finger and sighed when she saw the thief he was pointing to. Matthew, like Charlie, was trudging along towards the showering area, looking as if he were hit by a fifty-ton brick. Even worse, Lyn noted, Matthew had a young girl clinging onto his leg. Furious, the lord stormed across the half decomposed camp and confronted the hung-over man.
"MATTHEW!!!" She screamed, causing both Matthew and the showering tactician to hold their heads and scream in agony. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?! YOU DRINK YOURSELF DRUNK AND THEN SLEEP WITH A YOUNG GIRL?!! I OUGHTA NEUTER YOU FOR THIS!!!"
Matthew, still at a loss as to what was occuring around him, held his head in agony.
"Ahh, Lyn…" He pleaded. "Please…soft voices…my head feels like it got shot out of a cannon."
Lyn growled, grabbed Matthew by the collar, and tossed him into the shower. After nearly being drowned, Matthew finally snapped from his own little world. Looking up, he saw a furious Lyn standing over him with murder in her eyes. Unsure of what he did wrong, or how he even got to where he was, he stood up, dusted himself off, and faced the angry lord.
"Umm…what's up?" He asked, a bit subdued.
"YOU TELL ME!!!" Lyn screamed, her voice getting loud enough as to attract a crowd. "YOU DRINK YOURSELF SILLY AND NOW YOU JUST TOOK THAT GIRL'S INNOCENCE!"
Lyn jabbed an angry finger at the same brown-haired girl that was latching onto Matt's leg yesterday, now latching onto his waist. She was still sound asleep, but her ruffled hair and disheveled clothes communicate to the world a very… 'unfortunate' circumstance.
Matthew looked down at the girl grabbing his waist and blinked. He did not remember her, or how she even got there. As his eyes went from her sleeping face to her messy hair and disheveled blouse and dress, a look of terror dawned on his face. He looked up at Lyn, almost pleadingly.
"I swear, I know nothing of this!" He said righteously.
"NOTHING OF THIS MY ASS!!!" Lyn screamed. She was in a passion. The entire army was now gathered around her and Matthew, except for the still hung-over tactician.
"Lyn! I know I got drunk, but I don't even remember how, or when she came into my tent! Heck, I don't even remember being undressed this morning! You have to believe me Lyn, NOTHING HAPPENED!"
Lyn however, was not about to yeild her position. If there was anything in the world she hated, it was men who take advantage of innocent, unsuspecting girls while drunk. She was determined to bring justice to this young innocence, robbed of her chasity at such a young age. Drawing her sword, she held it out, holding the point at Matthew's neck.
"You will die today." Lyn scowled. "Men like you who have no honor deserves to die."
Matthew gulped. He knew if Lyn was serious, he would be a dead man. The young lord's speed matched his, and sadly, his sword arm was much weaker than hers. Plus the girl latched onto his waist weighed him down like a sack of potatoes. He closed his eyes and prepared for death.
Just as Lyn was about to dish justice, she heard a soft moan and a yawn. She looked down to see the girl hugging Matthew stirring. Sheathing her weapon, she quickly moved over to pry her off the unfortunate thief. Lyn felt great pity for this youth. The girl was vibrant and quite beautiful, but now she has lost the one thing no one can return: her virginity. As the girl opened her bright brown eyes, Lyn felt tears welling up in her eyes.
"Mm….where am I?" The girl asked sleepily. "The last thing I remember was hugging this cutie, then I was dreaming about getting married."
"Girl…what's your name?" Lyn managed to ask, unable to tell her the truth.
"Melodie, why?" She replied.
"…do you remember this man?" Lyn asked tearfully, pointing to Matthew.
Melodie took one look at Matthew, blinked, and squealed at the top of her lungs before lunging at him and latching herself onto the poor man.
"HE'S SOOOOO CUTE!!!" She squealed.
Lyn was taken by shock. She looked at Matthew's pleading eyes and the young girl's innocent bliss as she squeezed the life out of the thief.
"Erm…" She said finding a loss of words. "Okay, maybe I was wrong. Sorry about that Matthew."
Matthew, now quickly finding himself at a lack of oxygen, quickly assured Lyn that no harm was done. Then he proceeded to attempt to pry the girl loose. Lyn chuckled as she watched him break one crowbar after another in his pathetic attempts. She decided to leave him be.
After everything was packed, and the tactician was fished from the showers, the group decided to ride out. Weeks passed, and Lyn finally found herself face to face with her great uncle, Lord Lundgren.
It was a cloudy day when the army arrived at Caelin. When the group arrived at the outskirts, everyone immediately took on an air of seriousness. The tactician once again took on a commanding role, making calculations and devising numerous strategies. Eventually, he scrapped all his notes and decided to go on his gut. The final battle drew near and the tension was so think, one could cut through it with a knife.
At dawn, Charlie gave the order to advance. He moved relentlessly and ruthlessly. As the cavelier duo of Kent and Sain charged the middle with Lyn and Matthew at support, he ordered Florina to take Wil into the mountains to soften the resistance with some sniping. Florina, with a blush, accepted and soon everyone was busy fighting with a strong passion and a will to defeat evil, a will to bring justice to the suffering people, a will to survive.
As Charlie watched the knights and Lyn slice open one enemy after another, he noticed Matthew dragging behind them. He quickly ordered Serra the cleric to stop glomping Erk and check up on Matthew. When she returned, she had an interesting account of a young girl latched onto the poor thief. Curious, the tactician armed himself and set forth to personally check it out. He ordered Erk take the new monk Lucius and Serra and follow the caveliers and burn any enemy the others missed into ashes. Then he approached Matthew to see what was really going on.
Matthew was getting very annoyed. The girl refused to let go, and she was hindering him from assisting in the battle. After trying, and failing, at various techniques of removing the girl, Matthew decided to just give up and sit the battle out since he was obviously of no help. Just then, he found the tactician approach him, armed with a sword. Matthew didn't like the looks of it; Charlie absolutely despised slackers in battled, and Matthew nearly got killed the last time he tried it. He expected more yelling from the stern man, but as Charlie got closer, Matt saw that he was actually laughing.
"Haha, so it was true, you gotta lover." Charlie joked, chuckling a little.
"Oh shut up and leave me alone, unless you can get her off me." Matthew growled.
"Sorry loverboy." Charlie chuckled. "Short of chopping her arms off, there's no way I could detach her from you. Besides, I already tried before, remember?"
Matthew thought back, then he started laughing too. The first time Charlie tried to separate Melodie from him, the poor tactician got bit, scratched, kicked and poked in the eye. After that, Charlie made it a point to stay away from the "Brown-haired Demoness" as he called her.
"Heh, well, now I can really call you weak. You got your ass kicked by a girl." Matthew chucked.
"Oh, touche…" Charlie said, feigning hurt. "But still, I need you in battle."
Charlie kneeled down and took out a bottle of colored liquid. For a moment, Matthew thought he was going to poison the poor girl, but then, he saw the label marked as "sleeping potion". He sighed, and was relieved to actually have this powerful grip released. Charlie held the bottle out and smiled at the girl.
"It's grape juice." He said smiling.
"Ohh, yummy!" Melodie squealed before drinking the entire glass. The effect was instantaneous. As soon as the last drop entered her mouth, Melodie's head drooped, and she fell limp into Charlie's arms, sound asleep.
Charlie picked her up. She felt light in his arms, but then she wasn't exactly a big person.
"…She's barely past your shoulder Matt, how can you not overpower her?" Charlie asked jokingly.
Matt pretended to be hurt, looking at Charlie with sarcastically pained eyes. "How could you?! I nearly die fighting this war and you accuse me of being a weakling? Oh!" He added that last 'oh' with extra drama. The two man stood there for a full five seconds before bursting out laughing. After they both calmed down, Charlie sent Matthew on his way to slaughter a few people. Then the tactician carried the sleeping girl back to the rudimentary base he set up. Finding the sibling pair Nils and Ninian whom the army picked up a while back, he led the two kids to a nearby inn, away from the massacre going on near the castle. After checking into a room and setting Melodie on the bed, he gave Nils and Ninian some money in case they got hungry. After telling the siblings to stay put and watch over Melodie, Charlie strode from the room, intent on returning to the battle.
As the young tactician walked out of the city, an old woman tappend him on the shoulder. Turning around, Charlie found the beldame holding out a peculiar looking ring. She was speaking in a croaked voice and spoke only two words. "Take it…" Charlie looked from the old lady to the ring, and nerviously took the ring. The beldame smiled lightly and told him in her croaking voice to use that ring wisely. Charlie wondered what a simple ring could do, but he thanked her graciously for the gift.
When the tactician arrived at the battle scene, he saw that his tactics were working splendidly. Lundgren had but two of his knights left alive, and Lyn and the others were bearing down on them like a merlin after its prey. Soon, Lundgren was alone, a single ruthless man against the fury of a granddaughter scorned. Lyn looked upon her granduncle with contempt, wishing no less then to plunge her Mani-Katti into the old geezer's gut and make him scream in pain.
"Little girl, you couldn't just leave your barbaric butt out of this couldn't you?" Lundgren was spitting out, his voice still dripping of venom.
"You…horrible man, what have you done to my grandfather?!" Lyn screamed back.
"That miserable man? Oh don't worry, he'll be joining you in hell soon enough." Lundgren laughed, confident of his victory.
Lyn was furious. "The only man going to hell is you!!!" She screamed.
Then the Sacaen drew her Mani Katti, and charged at her uncle. Charlie watched on, knowing Lyn's plight was hopeless. Lundgren's age and sheer bulk of armor prevented him from effectively striking at her, but his steel carapice of armor kept Lyn from scratching him the least.
After what seemed like twenty rounds of attacking and retaliation, Charlie ordered Kent to go rescue Lyn. The skirmish was getting no where. Nothing was being accomplished save a few dents on Lundgren's armor and a dozen or so chips on Lyn's sword. Lyn, unhappy about being dragged from battle, gave Charlie five across the face the moment Kent released her struggling body from his grip.
"YOU IMBECILE!!! I WAS WINNING!" She yelled, not quite comprehending what her mouth was saying.
Charlie stood there, calmly listening to Lyn rant. But his exterior masked a turbulent interior. He was at a complete loss as to how they were going to defeat this brick wall of a usurper. But, as Lyn's rant came to an end, Charlie's fingers brushed against something in his pocket. He took it out and found that the ring the old lady from the village gave him was still there. She had told him to use the ring wisely, but Charlie was only seventeen years old and far from being a sage. He figured it was now or never. Just as Lyn's tirade came to a close, Charlie wipped the ring out and slapped it onto Lyn's finger. The Sacaen was taken by shock.
"Wha?!" She stammered, not comprehending what the tactician just did. But as the ring settled onto her finger, she felt her body surge with energy. She felt ten times stronger than before, and ten times braver as well. She looked up at the tactician.
"What was that?" She asked
"Some lady gave me it and told me to use it wisely. I ain't a sage, but now is as good of a time to use it as any. Do you feel different?"
Lyn nodded. "A bit stronger."
Charlie smiled. "Good," then he turned more towards the rest of the group to address them all. "Okay guys, now here's the plan…"
--
Lundgren stood at his gate, wondering where that blasted niece of his disappeared off to. He despised the halfling, and wanted nothing more to see her and his pitiful brother die and be out of the way. Thoughts of power danced in his mind as he plotted his future as a leader. Then as a rude awakening to his daydreams, a steel arrow shot in from nowhere and lodged itself in his shoulder. He roared in pain and quickly scanned the area for an archer.
Wil smiled to himself among the bushed. He was pleased to know that his archery has gotten better. Waiting for the signal, Wil notched another bow, and let it fly the moment he heard the signal.
Lundgren was being assulted from multiple fronts, and he had no idea where his assilents were coming from. Though the attacks themselves weren't devastating, the damage added up quickly. After the third javelin lodged itself in his leg, Lundgren could feel his strength draining from the loss of blood. The man blinked. He was blacking out. Just before he fell unconscious, he saw his niece walking towards him, sword drawn. Realizing the inevitable, the miserable dictator attempted one last time to stay awake but failed miserably and fell into a state of unconsciousness.
Lyn stood over her uncle who was laying in a pool of his own blood. Although Lundgren was her kin, she felt no compassion towards him. Instead she felt anger and hate. Around her, Lyn sensed the rest of the army slowly gathering, emerging from their hiding places. She sensed the tactician, watching her from behind, her shy friend Florina, hiding behind the archer Wil, Serra the cleric chanting 'kill' under her breath and her escort Erk sighing in frustration at his client. Lyn sensed Kent and Sain as well, dismounted, waiting for her to finish her…to drive the Mani Katti into the heart of Lundgren. Lyn took a deep breath and raised her sword, wondering if her action was justified. Around her, the tension mounted, everyone waited for the final blow. Florina covered her eyes, afraid of what she may see. But the blow never came. In a flash, Lyn dropped her sword, and stepped over Lundgren into the castle. The company around her let go of the sigh they held in.
Charlie smiled at Lyn's fading form. The young Sacaen had learned much from her travels with him, and he could ask for no better a decision. He slowly dispersed everyone, having the caveliers clear up the mess and sending the magic users to retrieve the siblings and Melodie. He looked up. The cloudy skies were beginning to clear, and a ray of sunlight splashed him in his face. Charlie smiled as he noticed the clichéness of it all. Sighing, he found Matthew helping clean the mess near the gate, and moved in to assist his friend.
--
A few days later, the recovering Marquess of Caelin threw a grand ball in the castle, and all of the city was invited. It was an extravagent event, in honor of the return of the Princess of Caelin.
As Matthew arrived at the castle that day, he found Melodie standing at the door in a night gown waiting for him. He groaned. The girl would not leave him alone, no matter what he did to push her away. So reluctantly, Matthew took her hand and walked into the ballroom with her.
The ballroom was extravagantly decorated. Balloons and streamers streatched from wall to wall. Glittering objects shaped in celestial bodies hung from the ceiling. The wealth put into the decoration was only matched by the amount of money spent on food preparation. Matthew had yet to see such a display of rich food in one gathering, not even at the parties in Ostia. He found himself smiling, maybe this was going to be a good party.
After Melodie let go of Matt for the food, the thief took his opportunity to escape. Ducking his head, he drifted among the crowds until Melodie was nowhere in sight. Matthew breathed a sigh of relief and went about searching for Charlie. He smiled at the possibilities, and decided to search Lyn out. He noticed throughout their travels that Charlie and the lord were very close. Whether it was romance or strategy Matthew did not know for sure, but he had a very strong feeling that it was romance. But when he found Lyn with her grandfather and Charlie no where in sight, his theory fell apart. He then set about to search for him the hard way.
When Charlie could not be found after Matt has milled around the crowds for hours, he decided that something was up. Quietly excusing himself from the party, Matthew walked up the hallway towards the tactician's temporary quarters in the castle. Arriving at the door way, Matthew found the man quietly packing his belongings.
"And where the hell are you going?" Matthew asked, his voice soft and stern.
"I don't recall that being of your business Matt." Charlie replied, not even flinching at Matthew's sudden apperance. He tied his bag up and turned to face Matthew. "I need to leave. My usefulness is over. I can't keep mooching off Lady Lyndis and her grandfather."
"Whoa, I gotta correct a few things here." Matthew interrupted. "First, when the hell did you start calling Lyn 'Lady Lyndis'? And seriously, Lyn owes you for helping her come back to Caelin, so you're not technically 'mooching' off her And for heavens sake put those things down and come to the party!"
"I can call Lady Lyndis whatever I want to call her." Charlie replied coolly, without putting down his bag. "I don't want to stay here any longer. I despise being a freeloader, so just leave me the hell alone and get out of my way." Charlie's voice suddenly became menacing and he glared at Matthew, waiting for him to move.
"I'm not moving Charlie." Matthew said defiantly. "I know you, you're running away… you ALWAYS run away."
"I'm not running from ANYTHING." Charlie snapped back. "I just don't want to be a burden."
"Why? Because you began to develop feelings for Lyn?" Matthew retorted
"…Don't be ridiculous…" Charlie's voice wavered. "Now move… or else."
"I'm…not…moving…" Matthew said stubbornly.
"Then I'm sorry…"
Matthew had no time to ponder before a huge stick bashed him in the back of his head and knocked him senseless. He woke up a week later in the infirmary ward, with a sleeping Melodie at his side and a worried Lyn standing behind her.
"Matt, are you awake?" Lyn asked
"Yeah…what happened?" Matthed replied slowly. His head felt ready to explode
"I don't know. We found you in a closet three days after both you and Charlie went missing." Lyn answered
Matthew could've sworn he detected a hint of sadness in Lyn's voice, but dismissed it as his head playing tricks on him. His mind reeled back to the encounter with his friend. He wondered…how did the tactician manage to knock him out so badly? His head hurt from just thinking about it.
"He's gone Lyn… I'm sorry…"
Lyn looked at Matthew in surprise. "Charlie? What happened?"
Matthew considered telling her the truth, but he decided it was best not to let it be known just yet. "I don't know…"
Lyn looked at the thief sadly. "I'm sure he'll be back…" She said hopefully. Then she looked down towards Melodie. Matthew noticed that the girl's normally pretty face was tarnished with wet streaks.
"She's been crying at your side for the past week." Lyn said. "Looks like you got a girlfriend."
Matthew laughed weakly. "That would be great, if I didn't already have one…" He mumbled before settling back into his pillow.
'Where did you go you moron?' He asked in his mind before settling back into a more peaceful slumber.
Five hundred miles away, Charlie sat on a ledge overlooking a distant Caelin. He had his bottle of whiskey in his hand, already half empty. Sighing, the young man poured himself another cup. He raised the cup towards the distant city and smiled.
"Here's to everyone…" he said before tossing the cup out and downing the rest of the bottle.
Having drank himself silly, the tactician wobbled off towards a nearby inn, muttering one last phrase before turning around.
"…I'll be back…don't worry…"
---
Charlie: Wow…Cheesy
Erk: How come you always get drunk?
Charlie: Because I do. How's Leila doing?
Erk: Well, in between her grief that you knocked Matthew out and stuffed him into a closed, her rage at having Melodie steal her boyfriend, and her intense urge to kill you, I'd say she's about ready for the insane asylum
Charlie: Well, at least she won't kill me in an insane asylum.
Erk: Your concern for your muses is quite enticing…
Charlie: Haha, don't quite your day job. Anyways…I got one request for Florina/Wil…if anyone else has any suggestions, please leave a review. Oh and if you don't have a preference, leave a review please.
Erk: What about the other suggestion?
Charlie: Oh yeah…well, it's probably gonna happen, but not until the end.
