Charlie: WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! SATS ARE OVER! HALLELUJAH!...okay, now that that's done, time to continue with this story. Hope you still like it. Oh and this chapter...really competes with the chapter where the kitty dies for brutality, but it's got some sap in it, so hopefully it won't be that bad. Anyways, I don't own Fire Emblem...yeah, what's the point of saying that again?
By the way, thanks for the comment Kevin. I'm still debating on some MT members, because I want to write a sequelish thingy. And well, since I suck with names, I'd us you guys if I do write one.
The Khathlati Strain
Chapter 7: A Nation Scorned
It was nearing dusk in the Sacaen city of Bulgar. Throughout the street, people are closing down shops and factories and getting ready to head home. Among them, three plainsmen moved discretely along the road. They were dressed in plain cotton cloaks that showed no mark of any tribe. They were on a mission, and did not need any tribal feuds to get in the way.
The oldest of the three men had long gray hair. He carried his sword blatently at his side, not caring if anybody saw it. His face was beginning to show the signs of old age and his eyes are that of a jaded man.
Next to him was a younger man, with long green hair tied up in a braid. He had a bounce in his step, and was constantly chatting to people, whether it was his comrades or any random stranger unfortunate enough to get in the way.
The last man was a taciturn man. He wore a bandana over his hair and carried about him an air of importance. Though he barely looked over thirty, his eyes showed the wisdom of a man twice his age.
Unknown to the weary citizens packing up after a hard day of work, the three men walking towards the western end of town all fought against Nergal nearly two decades past. They were headed towards Lycia, hoping to help the lord whom they fought with so many years ago. But as they headed towards the border between Lycia and Sacae, they could not have guessed the events that were about to change everything forever.
The once great city of Tania fell rapidly. A mere week after the retrieval of the Wyvern Lord's message, the entire city fell ill to a disease similar to Khathlati, only this one killed much quicker.
The captain who retrieved the message from the dead Wyvern soldier was the first to die. His death was quick compared to most Khathlati patients. His body took three days to wither and destroy itself completely. Shortly after, Tanian soldiers fell to the same disease. And with in the week, the citizenry began to die.
The fall of Tania hurt Lycia more than ever; the nation lost the bulk of its musketeers, not to mention the main producer of gunpowder units. In addition, Sacae officially closed it's border to Lycia, warning that any Lycians attempting to gain entrance into Sacae will be considered a terrorist and shot on sight. Left with no where to go, the citizenry of Southeastern Lycia was left to rot.
Khathlati had raged from Khathelet to Araphen, to Caelin and now to Tania. Almost one in every three citizens were dead. The Royalty in both Araphen and Khathelet is now dead, and the Ostian Regent ruling in Caelin is deathly ill. People were now finding ways to leave the horrible onslaught. Though it wasn't a nation wide policy yet, many cities such as Laus, Badon and Santurez have closed their borders to southern refugees. Those who survived the first onslaught of Khathlati have but two choices. Wait for death's arrival, or find refuge in Pherae, one of the only Southern cities not affected yet.
Lord Eliwood, the Marquess of Pherae, was stuck in a perilous position. His people were not happy with his open border policy. Already, refugees cluttered the streets and clashes between them and the citizens occurred daily in alarming numbers. Eliwood's popularity has been declining with his people.
His wife, the former Lady Lyndis of Caelin, worries about her husband and their son, Roy. The couple, worried that their son may contract the disease, sent him to Ostia just days before the disease hit Tania. Eliwood wanted Lyn to go with Roy, but she refused. She could not just abandon her husband in his time of need.
The situation is becoming perilous. Eliwood had to make a choice: keep his borders open and risk his people become infected with Khathlati or close his borders and condemn everyone else to sure death. With the reports of a deadlier, faster killing Khathlati, Eliwood had no choice. He had to close his borders.
Two weeks later, Eliwood would find out that his actions were too late to save his city.
Khathlati is an extremely deadly disease, but it is only as contagious as the common cold. Khathelet, once the epicenter of the disastrous disease, has now passed into a somewhat peaceful period. Though people still die from it, a three in every five citizen in Khathelet survived the disease.
The Khathelet Biomedical Institute received one reprimand after another. The director of the institute was getting frantic. If the facility doesn't find any answers quick, the skeleton government would take away all funding and close the facilities down.
However, no matter how many scientists he threw into the Khathlati case, nothing ever adds up.
Nobody knows how the bacterium is killing so fast now; nobody knows why the time it takes Khathlati to kill ranges from ten seconds to a week; nobody knows how, after all this time and massive quarantines of infected persons why the bacteria is still strong. The Khathlati Strain has become the KBI's Rubik cube. No facts add up, no theories test out, nothing makes sense.
However, all the scientists assumed the cause of death was by starvation, nobody considered any other solutions. Nobody did any autopsies.
Therefore, nobody knew the complete truth.
Erk and Priscilla crossed the Lycian border without much pomp and circumstance. They moved in silence, knowing that their actions were grounds for execution.
Days ago, the couple met up with an old friend. The current Marquess of Ostia and leader of the Lycian Council, Lord Hector of Ostia, had asked the couple for assistance with the Khathlati mess. Erk, having connections to the Etrurian government because of his connection to Lord Pent, managed to get Hector a meeting with the leaders of the country. However, Erk highly doubted the chances of anything constructive coming from the meeting.
So, before Hector's stay in Etruria was complete, Erk told his wife his desire to go to Lycia to help their old friends.
Priscilla agreed with her husband and fought to go along with him. Erk, sensing that he would not win against his determined wife, agreed to let her go along. Now the couple entered Lycia. Though they were still many miles away from the hot zone, the couple sensed the urgent atmosphere of the Lycian citizenry. Taking one last look at Etruria, Erk and Priscilla pressed on, not knowing if they would survive to see their home ever again.
Dr. May walked along the clean hallways of the Ryerde Medical Research Institute. Ever since Dr. Liang had been pardoned, May had been plagued with nightmares. To her, the man was the bane of the human race and must be killed.
Even though Dr. Liang was allegedly innocent of all the hardships that May had seen, she still didn't trust him. To her, reports meant nothing, if a man committed an atrocity, he committed an atrocity, no matter what technicality there is. In her mind, Chris killed all those people, and he must be punished for it.
May doesn't know when she thought about murdering the man, but presently she found herself plotting to kill the "evil" scientist. But she was a doctor, both by profession and at heart. Killing was definitely not one of her specialties.
In the end, she decided she needed to get close to him. If all else fails, May at least knows how to plunge a knife into a man's body over and over again. So now she walked towards the microbiology section of the institute, hoping to catch the man off guard. May had dressed appropriately for the occasion. May was already an attractive woman at 27 years old. She had soft blue eyes and brown shoulder length hair. Underneath her open lab coat she wore a revealing halter top and a skirt. Her hair was let loose across her shoulder and she even made sure to put on some light make-up, something she did not usually do.
Walking into the microbiology lab, May dropped off some charts for the scientists to mull over since microbiology wasn't that advanced of a field yet. The people were still waiting for more powerful microscopes. Soon after she entered, she found the man she was looking for looking over charts at a desk. May walked up to him carefully and cleared her throat.
Dr. Liang was obviously still getting used to his freedom. As soon as May cleared her throat, the man jumped from his table and looked around frantically. May jumped back a bit, surprised.
"It's okay... it's only meDr. Liang." She said after she reoriented herself.
Chris saw her and relaxed noticeably. "Oh hey." He said. "You name was May right?"
May nodded her head slowly.
"I thought so. You can call me Chris." Chris said holding out his hand. "Heh, you'll have to excuse my, umm, acting for a bit. I'm still nervous."
May took Chris'hand and shook it. She twinged a little for his grip was a bit stronger than she expected.
"It's okay." She replied. "So, umm, what are you doing?"
Chris pointed to the charts and data on his table. "Oh... these, these are the data for Khathlati. I'm trying to find some pattern to them, and hopefully we can figure out what this disease does and maybe find a cure or treatment."
May listened as Chris went on to explain his job and the incongruity of the data. As she listened, the seed of doubt in her heart grew. By the end of his lecture, she was no longer sure if the man was the killer who released Khathlati. If he was, he was making a conscience effort to stop something he started.
"Wow..." May said after Chris finished.
"Yeah, it's pretty confusing... I've been poring over this since the day I got here."
May wasn't sure if he meant the day he got to Ryerde, or the day he got to the institute, but it was a long time either way.
"You look tired." May observed.
"I am tired." Chris said. "I haven't slept much."
"You need a day off."
May paused before continuing. "Want to come over for dinner? I'll cook something for you. We don't want you gettingsick now."
Chris smiled. "Umm, well, sure. I haven't eaten much for a while."
May smiled back. "Okay, I'll see you at, say seven?"
"It's a date." Chris said.
May didn't remember that she wanted to kill the man until she got home that afternoon.
Audrey crept out of the Ryerde Medical Research Institute that afternoon, having overheard an interesting conversation. She quickly went to report to her peers.
Kiyoko was happy to hear that their target would be away from a crowd that night. They could finally make their move. Regretfully, she would also have to kill that innocent doctor, but to Kiyoko, it has become a personal matter.
Three days ago, the only person who ever cared for her died of Khathlati. Kiyoko's grandmother, who raised her since her childhood, died in Tania. Her death certificate found its way to Kiyoko just the day before. Now, more than ever, Kiyoko wanted the man who killed her grandmother to die. So she threw her heart into planning the perfect assassination. Dr. Liang would die tonight. She promised herself that.
That night, May prepared a nice dinner for two people. After making sure that her outfit and appearance were okay, she sat down and waited for Chris to arrive. Around seven, she heard a knock at her door. May opened to door to a jittery Dr. Liang. The man obviously hadn't been on many dates. He wore his usual shirt and some slacks, though he didn't have his lab coat this time. He gave her a bouquet of lilies and stuttered when he greeted her. May giggled at his shyness and invited him in.
As the night progressed, Chris became more and more comfortable around May and his speech became normal. The two sat through dinner, talking about their lives, their past, and their careers. May found that as she knew more and more about the man sitting at her table, the less she found him to be the maniacal man she portrayed him as. He felt guilty about the Khathlati Bacterium Experiment; he felt bad that it was supposed to be a simple agriculture experiment that went horribly wrong. All in all, he wasn't the monster that May found him to be, and she couldn't bring herself to kill him.
However, images of dying men, women and children in Caelin still lingered in her mind. Caught between her horrible experiences and hergrowing feelings about the man, May snapped. Without warning, she began to scream at the top of her lungs. Chris saw her and wondered if she was going insane. When he tried to approach her however, May pulled out a foot long dagger and swiped at him. Luckily for Chris, his musclesand reflexes were a bit toned from the long time he was on the run from the law and he managed to dodge. He looked at May fearfully.
"Wh-what are you doing?" He yelled.
"You…" May said deranged. "You are the cause of all the suffering!"
"May, what?"
"YOU UNLEASHED KHATHLATI! HAVE YOU SEEN THE VICTIMS! YOU NEED TO DIE!"
Fully convinced that his date had gone insane, Chris tossed a chair at May and crashed through a window before the girl had any time to react.
The shattering window brought May back to her senses somewhat. She looked down at her knife and began weeping, this time, she was mad at herself.
Unfortunately for her, her woes were yet to be over. Three young women suddenly burst into her house, all armed with daggers. May looked up and froze. Assassins, she thought. Her dagger fell from her hand.
"Who...who are you?"
The lead assassin said nothing, but motioned for her partner to do something. May was just about to speak again when something hard hit her.
Kiyoko watched as Audrey and Christine dragged the unconscious doctor into a basement. She surveyed her surrounding, the broken glass and the dropped dagger gave her a suspicion that the doctor being locked up wasn't on a normal date.
When Audrey and Christine came back, the three assassins searched the house, but they all knew that their target was probably gone. The doctor also had a grudge against the man. Kiyoko became increasingly convinced that their target was the madman who released Khathlati.
It was then when May woke up. She looked around and found herself locked in her basement. Knowing that there were three deadly assassins upstairs, she did the only thing that she could do. May opened her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs.
Chris heard the scream. He knew it was May who was yelling. He didn't know what happened to her; whether she really still believed he unleashed Khathlati or if she was just really crazy. But as the screaming continued, he was worried that she had done something stupid. So he turned back and ran as fast as he can to her house.
When he arrived, he found the front door broken open. He cautiously pressed himself against the outer wall and peeked in. Inside, he found three young women talking to each other. Luckily, none of them were facing him, but Chris recognized their outfits. It was the same outfit as the man at the inn a while ago who probably had something to do with the poisoned cake. Chris realized that it must've been the girl with her hood over her head. He looked around for a weapon, knowing that they will kill May if he didn't do anything.
He came across a big rock and decided that it would be perfect. Picking it up, Chris positioned himself to attack.
'One chance...' He thought.
Kiyoko was just about to give up on the search and go down to kill the doctor when something heavy hit her head. She collapsed to the ground, bleeding. Christine and Audrey cried out and went to check their leader for a pulse. After making sure that she had a pulse they searched for the assailant. To their surprise, they found their target charging towards them.
Chris rammed into Audrey and Christine, effectively knocking the breath out of both women. He then grabbed one of their daggers and fought his way into the house. He didn't know where they locked May up, but he assumed either the attic or the basement. Since the basement was closer, he headed there. He found the door barricaded with a chair. Tossing the chair aside, Chris opened the door and headed in.
The basement was dark. Chris could barely make out the boxes around the walls. As he searched for any sign of life, something large suddenly tackled him. He assumed the assassins had gotten to him, so he turned around and tried to swipe at his attacker. When he turned around, he found instead, that May was the one who tackled him.
"You!" She said in surprise. "Why'd you come back? After what I did to you."
Chris shook his head. "Forget about that... those three are after my blood for some reason, I don't want you getting hurt."
"...Thank you." May said, sobbing slightly. Chris couldn't see it, but she was smiling, glad that he came back for her. Looking up, he found that the basement door was closed once again.
Chris ran up and tried to open it.
"Crap...they locked us in." He announced.
Audrey and Christine carried Kiyoko out of the house and towards the nearest hospital. They knew that their targets would die of starvation soon. They would get the bodies later.
May managed to find some candles in her basement and some matches as well. After lighting the room up, the two began to search for a way out.
A while later, Chris and May sat down, unable to find an exit.
"It's no use." May sobbed. "We're going to die in here."
Chris looked at her sadly and moved over to put his arms around her. He wished that it wouldn't end like this. He searched his brain for something that would help them. Just then, he remembered when he opened the door, there was no lock, just a heavy chair barricading the door.
"May, does your basement have a lock?" he asked.
"I don't think so, but they're barricading it." She replied.
Chris smiled. "I think we can manage."
Looking around, Chris found the heaviest box he could see and carried it over to the door. May was surprised to see that Chris was so strong. When Chris reached the door, took a deep breath, and hurled the box into the door. It hit with a sickening crash. When the dust cleared, Chris saw that his plan had worked. The door, the box, and whatever that was barricading it was now a pile of wood and splinters on the ground. Chris smiled.
"Come on, lets get outta here."
He took May's hand and the two ran out of the house.
"Where are we going?" May asked.
"I've got a fun hiding spot...we can stay there for a while. They'll hit my house once they find that we've escaped."
May nodded and followed Chris as he led her into the slums.
"You're pretty strong you know." She noted as Chris led her to a empty factory.
"Yeah, well, when you're a wanted felon running away from both the law and crazyassassins, you get a chance to build those muscles."
May just smiled as Chris showed her his old hiding place.
Citizens lined the streets in the capital city of Bern as a horse drawn cart drove by dragging the Lycian Spy along the gravel rode. The citizens booed the man and threw vegetables and rocks at him as he passed by. As far as their concern, he was the symbol of the country that they hate. To them, the spy was Lycia.
Lycia had gone overboard. The mass development of weapons and sacrilegious science was one thing, but the release of this deadly disease, now approaching Bern soil and Hector's blaming the outbreak on Bern proved the last straw. In reality, it was no longer Bern who was the aggressor as was the fact decades ago, but Lycia, now the dominating, finger-painting bastard.
The cart dragged the prisoner at high speeds across rugged terrain for miles before arriving at the public execution galley. There, the execution strung the prisoner up by an ankle and proceeded to beat the prisoner with a heated iron rod in front of a large hysterical public. The rod made red burn marks all over the man's body. The spy though, gritted his teeth and did not cry out. Then, the executioner put down his rod and brought out a long silver sword and lance. Going over to the prisoner, the executioner could hear loud cheering among the stands and the chant of "kill." He raised his sword and promptly loped off all of the man's limbs save for the one leg that's holding the man up. Then, taking the silver lance, the executioner ripped the man open from the navel to the chops and disemboweled him. It was then that the excruciating pain was too much for the prisoner and he screamed, as he was still alive while being disembowled. But moments later, the man was dead. The executioner swiped off his head and skewered it through the silver lance, holding it up for all of Bern to see.
The cheering was enormous. The execution represented not the death of an enemy spy, but the death of a belligerent nation.
Many miles away, Florina received Matthew's report. Upon reading it, Florina immediately sent a message to Hector and ordered the ambassadors to Bern to arrange peace talks.
Yet, she knew Matthew was still in peril. Since Matthew had not been able to deliver the message in person, and his message was found off a dead soldier, Florina knew that the spy was definitely captured. With Hector still in Etruria, Florina could do nothing but hope for good news. But she didn't want to wait. Matthew had helped her and her husband more than they could ever ask of him. She needed to rescue him now.
Making up her mind, Florina snuck out that night with a silver lance in hand and mounted her Pegasus. She headed East towards Bern, hoping to save Matthew from his grisly fate.
Little did she know, the Bern border had been closed. Anybody caught going in or out would be shot on sight.
When she arrived at the Bern border a few days later, she was surprised to find arrows flying at her left and right. Realizing that Bern did not want any intruders, Florina flew higher into the clouds, hoping to avoid the arrows.
The Bern soldiers on the ground saw the Pegasus entering the border. The captain, unaware of who was riding the Pegasus, ordered his musketeers to bring down the intruder. The musket men needed no further encouragement...
Standing by their captain's side,
with their rifles held up high,
they did as they were told,
and fired the shot heard 'round the world.
...Florina survived the shot.
...But she didn't survive the fall.
Her Pegasus was killed by the bullet, and Florina fell, a full 5,000 feet to her death.
Charlie: ...-sniff- I loved Florina... -sniffle- ...WAHHH! WHY!
Erk: ...pshh, Fanboy...
Charlie: Hey, she's cool! Okay, there, if you've read a Tactician and a Thief, you know I hate Matthew. Well, to keep you guys happy...and to keep the plot going, I had to kill Florina, one of my all time favorite characters. (You'll see why). Well...please review...while I continue to mourn the death of my beloved Florina. -sniffle-
