Charlie: I'mma back. Muahahah! I'm hoping to get as many chapters done before I head off to London on the 26th. Anyways, thanks for sticking with me, even though I may have killed your favorite character in a horrible manner.
Heh, and R. Amythest, May is actually a made up person. I don't know anybody like that. I like your theories though. You're so close... and yes, Katie is Ivanfanatic, and Hitomi is AngelofFate1.
Katharine: Thanks for your kind words, but when I say I don't own FE, I didn't mean I don't own a copy of the game, I meant I'm not the guy who created this thing. Sorry for the confusion.
Well anyways, on with the fic. And I don't own FE.
The Khathlati Strain
Chapter 8: Morbid Uprisings
The three Sacaens moved silently across the Northern part of Lycia. Ever since they've left Sacae, the trio has been extremely cautious. The last news out of Lycia was that Khathlati was somehow killing faster and at an extended range. They wanted to be careful.
Arriving at a small hamlet just below the Etrurian border the three weary travelers sought shelter in the local inn. They had been traveling for a long time, and wanted some rest.
The innkeeper was a cheerful old man who gladly gave the three rooms and food. After a hearty dinner, the Sacaens retired to their beds.
Later that evening, Karel woke up in the middle of the night with a very nasty cough.
Hector left Etruria after over a week of disappointing meetings. Though the Etrurian Council listened to him, it was just a formality. They had absolutely no intention of lifting the slightest finger of what they politely termed "A country whose citizens are slightly confused with their morals." Hector half groaned and half laughed. That corny phrase that he had heard over fifty times the past few days was just code for "You're a bunch of blaspheming sons of bitches and you're all going to go to hell."
Presently, he and his escort of knights came upon two weary travelers. Hector nearly choked when he saw that it was his old comrades Erk and Priscilla, sneaking into Lycia.
"Hello! What are you two doing there?" Hector shouted to the surprised couple.
"Lord Hector? Why are you here? Don't you have a few meetings with the leaders of Etruria?" Erk replied after catching his breath.
"They weren't interested, said something about confused morals. You know that they weren't going to help me right?"
Erk sighed. "Yes, I would have been very surprised if the council agreed to help you. But, lets not despair. Priscilla and I will accompany you to Ostia and see if we can help in any way possible."
Hector thanked the two for their kindness and the group set off towards Ostia with a steady pace.
Guy and Rath left the quaint Lycian hamlet alone. Their companion Karel had come down with a very nasty cold. As the pair left the town, they took on look back at their sick friend, who saw them off. They both knew in their hearts that there was a good chance neither of them would see each other ever again. With a wrenching heart, Guy and Rath turned back to the road heading to Ostia, hoping that they weren't to late to help.
Eliwood paced the halls of Castle Pherae over and over again. He was in deep trouble. His border closings had been too late. Khathlati now rampaged throughout Pherae, discriminating not between the rich and the poor. With the additional influx of refugees, the disease spread even faster, striking areas where humans crowded together like pigs in a pen.
Now as Eliwood looked out into the landscape, no longer does he see a serene countryside and a peaceful town. He sees the domain of death, and piles upon piles of dead bodies.
And now, even his wife fell to the raging disease. Days earlier, Lyn began to show signs of fatigue and malnutrition. She rapidly lost weight; her skin lost its color and youth. Then, as the days went by, her body shriveled, her health continued to deteriorate until now; she is nothing but a rag doll lying on a bed awaiting her death.
Eliwood wept as memories of the times he shared with his beloved flooded his mind. Her enchanting voice, her soft touch, her tantalizing scent, Lyn was his life; she had bore him a beautiful son. And now because of his incompetence, she was going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it.
But Eliwood's woes were far from over. Survivors, those who had miraculously lived through the darkest times of Pherae, now no longer saw a strong leader at the head of their city. Lyndis was their guiding light, their catharsis for their frustrations against her husband. Now that she was on the verge of death, there was nothing to stop them from overthrowing the crown.
Eliwood held Lyn's hand up until her last breath left her body. He could never have known of the crowd of maniacal survivors ringing his castle...
Until he heard the ground shaking blast that blew the door to his castle into splinters.
It was then when Eliwood knew that he would die.
When Hector, Erk and Priscilla arrived at Ostia, they could tell from the atmosphere that something bad had happened. The city was sullen and looked as if it was in mourning. Hector wondered why everyone would act this way; he would soon find out...
When he arrived at the castle, Hector wanted to settle Erk and Priscilla into some guesthouses. However, when he entered the courtyard, he found his daughter, along with Eliwood's son Roy, the two princesses from Khathelet, Serra, Oswin and a group of people from his court crying around two caskets. Looking around, Hector found no sign of his wife...that's when he got scared of who he would encounter in the caskets. When Lilina looked up at him with puffy eyes, Hector knew in his heart who was in one of the caskets.
Erk and Priscilla strode ahead of the frozen Marquess to see who was dead. When they saw the names of the person in the casket, the two gave an audible gasp before giving a sympathetic look to Hector. The two watched as Lilina slowly approached her father and fell into his arms crying. Hector was no better. Everyone stood in silent respect as the husband and daughter of Florina cried, grieving over her death.
Fiora had heard about the deadly Khathlati disease in Lycia, but she was too bogged down in her own work to help struggling families in Ilia to be much of a help. She thought of her sister, who was now the Marchioness of Ostia. Fiora hoped that Florina would pull through. Her husband was an able leader, a bit thickheaded, but far from incompetent.
She was about to sit down to dinner when her front door blew open. Fiora jumped out of her seat to see what was happening. In the doorway stood her other sister Farina. Fiora relaxed a little, knowing of Farina's explosive manner, but she still was uneasy. Farina was usually cheerful, bouncy, unable to stop cracking jokes. But today, she stood solemnly at the doorway. Fiora could've sworn she saw a tear going down her cheek.
"Farina?" Fiora said, breaking the awkward silence. "What's wrong?"
"...Sh-...she's dead..." Farina stuttered as more tears flowed from her eyes.
Fiora froze. "...she?...Who's she?" Fiora asked; though she had a strong feeling that she already know who had died.
"...Our baby sister...Florina...she was shot down over Bern when she apparently was trying to rescue one of Hector's spies. Her Pegasus was killed and...and..." Farina trailed off, her grief taking her completely.
Fiora could not believe her ears. Their shy little sister, the one who would never even dare to offend anyone, was dead.
"...It...it can't be true." Fiora said with a shaky voice. "It...just can't be..."
Farina nodded her head sadly, it was true. She held out a letter from Ostia.
As Fiora read the letter, grief overwhelmed her, and she collapsed into her sister's arms.
The two cried their hearts out late into the night.
"Hector, that is insanity!" Oswin said firmly.
What remained of Hector's court after the deaths of Florina and Matthew sat around a table with Erk and Priscilla, discussing Lycia's next move.
"They killed my wife and they executed my friend. I want those troops over the border by next week!" The marquess yelled.
"HECTOR!" Oswin shouted back. "Just listen please! What you're doing is wrong! According to Matthew's report, Bern had nothing to do with Khathlati. We should be trying to find peace with that country, not send troops in there to kill every man, woman and child! Be reasonable now!"
"Hector..." Erk said calmly. "Think about it. Even if you do scramble the troops, what are you going to do? The border between Lycia and Bern is a full blown hot zone. You surely don't intend to march an army through that death trap do you?"
Hector finally calmed down a bit. His judgment was a bit shaken from the grief he suffered over the loss of his wife and Matthew.
"...fine..." He conceded. "But you can't expect me to let Florina and Matthew die in vain!"
"Hector, the Bern Government apologized for the deaths. The conceded that their demands made them suspicious, and they asked for peace. Right now, instead of going in and killing more people, lets find a way to stop Khathlati. You're fighting a damn war with something we can't even see! You don't need another full blown military operatoin to take resources from research!" Oswin reasoned.
Grumbling, Hector agreed. "Fine... by the way, what is the status on Khathlati?"
"Well..." Oswin began. "The KBI have developed about 23 theories, all of them died in experiment. The Ryerde Research Institute is undergoing a crisis now..."
"Wait, what crisis." Hector asked.
"Well, Dr. Liang was pardoned as you were informed by post."
Hector nodded. "Yes...go on."
"About a day or so ago, he left one evening leaving a note that he was going to his colleague's house for dinner. They found his house on fire the next day and his colleague's house ransacked. No bodies have been found but the two scientists are missing."
Hector sighed. "Christ, do you think that we were wrong about him being innocent?"
Oswin shook his head. "No, as far as we know, he and his colleague was attacked during their meal. We found blood on the ground, and a basement door broken down. There was a big conflict in that house that would've involved more than two people. The Ryerde police suspect that somebody is hiring assassins to kill Dr. Liang, though we don't know the reasons why, the assassin dagger found in the house confirms that theory."
Hector nodded thoughtfully. "In any case, I want the man and his friend questioned if they ever find him. Is our science department doing anything?"
Oswin nodded. "Yes, we have been researching blood samples of victims of Khathlati, but our data is insufficient, and the bacteria is too erratic to produce results. We have a refugee scientist from Khathelet doing the primary research. He's been very helpful, but still, our lack of data and information is proving to be our Achilles heel."
"Meaning?" Hector asked.
"Meaning we've got nothi-"
Just then, a guard burst into the room. "Sorry for disturbing you sir, but we've found a multiple homicide."
The room tensed. Hector stood andlooked at the guard. "What? Where?"
"While doing patrol rounds, we found a family, apparantely murdered in their sleep near the suburbs."
"What?" Hector exclaimed. "Are you sure they weremurderedson?"
The guard nodded. "Yes, because they were stabbed to death."
Hector tensed visually. "Do you know anybody who might cause this?"
The guard shook his head. "No sir...but I know it was nothing personal. I believe that this family was unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time. The murderer was looking for someone, but apparantely he didn't know where his or her target lived. Our murderer killed an entire block of twenty families."
The tension in the room suddenly skyrocketed... an entire block, murdered.
"...Can you identify any of the victims?" Hector asked shakily.
"Mostly civilians…" the guard said. "But I think we know who this person was trying to kill."
"Who?" Hector asked.
"Dr. Brian Wu." The man said. "He was found with twenty nine stab wounds in his back. His wife was unmarked, but she was foaming at the mouth so we suspect poison. His young son and infant daughter were drowned in the bathtub. Plastered to the head of Dr. Wu was a note."
"Well, what did it read?" Hector asked impatiently.
The guard handed Hector a piece of paper with a scribbled note.
"'Those who mettle in the affair of God will parish by their own blasphemous creations. Take this man's death as a warning... signed, St. Elimine...'" Hector read outloud. "Blasphemous creations? Does this person mean Khathlati?"
"I think so..." Serra piped up. Everyone jumped at her voice. Ever since Matthew's mutilated body had been returned, the feisty cleric had been unusually silent. "Dr. Wu was the head of our bacteriology department. He was developing a treatment for Khathlati."
"He was involved in the Agricultural Bacterium Experiment at the Khathlati Biomedical Institute." Oswin added in a quiet tone.
It was then when they figured out something important...
"Ladies and Gentlemen..." Hector said grimly to the people gathered at the meeting. "We're up against a religious conspiratorial son of a bitch."
Nobody disagreed with him.
Eliwood was cornered. After Lyn's funeral, swarms of deranged people laid siege his castle. His guards fought valiantly to defend him, but it was no use. No matter how skilled, a small group of guards cannot hold off thousands of people. He and his guards were overwhelmed. Now Eliwood was the only one alive, and his hunters were close by. He knew these people wanted blood...and he knew it was onlya matter of time before they got blood.
As time passed, Eliwood noticed that the commotion died down in his castle. He wondered if the mob had retreated for the night. Taking a risk, Eliwood stepped from the darkness, hoping that it wasn't a trap.
...it was...
As soon as Eliwood stepped into the light, a sharp scythe sliced through his neck and his lifeless body hit the ground seconds after his head did.
The peasant who sliced his head grabbed it by the hair and held it up for his comrades to see. Then he produced a small cup to catch the blood dripping from Eliwood's severed head. After catching a goblet full, the man pulled the cup to his lips and drank.
...The man's eyes were two pools of pure white...he had no pupils.
Chris and May were bored out of their wits. There was nothing to do where they were but to tell stories, but after spending over a day in hiding, the pair was running out of stories to tell. So the two sat there and waited for something to happen. Chris wasn't exactly sure how long they needed to stay in hiding, but he knew that it had to be at least a day or two.
As bored as May was, she found herself developing feelings the man she had hated before. After learning the truth, he was no longer the murderous madman that she thought he was, but a kind and caring man. A bit apathetic at times, but he was still charming in his own way. She found the warehouse where they were hiding out an interesting place. She was amazed that Chris managed to hide from the authorities for so long in such a place.
Chris was very fascinated with May, as bored as he was. He was taken with the story of her childhood. How she managed to become a scientist in spite of growing up in the frigid snowfields of Ilia. She had excelled at many subjects, and managed to get a scholarship to a university in Ostia. She was the first Ilian Chris met, who isn't, and was never, a mercenary.
The weather outsidegot worse and worse. Dark storm clouds ominously covered the city, getting ready for a huge thunderstorm. Chris began getting nervous about the weather, knowing from past experience that the warehouse leaks during storms.
As night began to fall, Chris and May went into the deepest part of the warehouse, where Chris had set up two shaky cots against the wall. After taking turns washing up and changing, the two runaways lay down on their beds and fell into a deep slumber.
A bit after midnight, May woke up to a start to the loud clap of thunder from the raging storm outside. Though she was from Ilia and snowstorms raged daily in her childhood, she found herself scared by the thunder caused by the growing thundershower outside. Creeping out of bed, she snuck over and snuggled herself into Chris' cot, finding comfort with his warm body heat. She smiled and sighed happily when Chris instinctively wrapped his arms around her, mumbling about a teddy bear. May blushed but found that she didn't mind his being so close to her. She felt warm and safe in his arms.
May was falling in love at a freakishly fast pace...
And yet she couldn't be happier...
Kiyoko, Audrey and Christine apprehensively entered a nondescript building they were instructed to go to. There, waiting for them, was their intriguing employer.
"So..." his rasping voice rang out. "You've failed again I see..."
The three nodded.
Charlie looked up at them. He was the same as the last meeting: disheveled and maniacal looking. His bloodshot eyes bore into the three like a pair of sharp swords.
"I told you three that there would be consequences if I didn't see his head by today."
Gulping, the three girls nodded their heads. Charlie pulled a small pistol from behind his back.
"But since I still need work done, only one of you shall die. Now lets see how this miniature version of a musket works."
The man fumbled with the pistol before aiming it at the girls. "Now who don't I like?"
The girls gulped as the man in front of them smiled and pulled the trigger.
Kiyoko and Audrey walked out of the warehouse later, visibly shaken. They had new orders to go to Ostia. As they watched their employer leave from a side door, Kiyoko wondered if this new job would get her and Audrey killed.
That thought stuck with her as the pair traveled to Ostia... both began to have second thoughts about working for their insane employer.
Charlie: ...I know I wouldn't work for myself... sheesh, talk about insane... whoo...I need some time in the nuthouse. Er... anyways. Yeah, interesting chapter. Didn't exactly think it was my best, but meh, I'm near dead from the crap that's going on. Well, please review!
And as I finish fixing every last apostrophe and Elipses in this fic, I must say that I freaking HATE quickedit. The more they tinker with this thing, the worse it gets. Come on people at FIX THIS WORTHLESS THING AND THEN JUST STOP MESSING WITH IT!
