After such a long wait…
Pent: w00t!
Okay, maybe not as long as you would have liked…here's chapter six! But first, there are some preliminaries we should get started with: first and foremost, review replies!
No name: It's just you, miss/mister no name! Iris is NOTHING like Serra, and I would appreciate it if you didn't say anything like that again –faints- thank you very much X.x Serra is evil, mental, and extremely annoying…not like Iris at all. Sorry.
Pureauthor: Yay! More Erk X Priscilla fans! We shall rebel against the evil, twisted one that is Serra! She does not deserve my Erky's love! –cough- anyway, I thank you for your critique, but I would like to say, as I think I've said earlier, that this fic is written in a more modern-day kind of way than anything else…and I decided to give Priscilla a little more spunk; you know, just because it's the opposite of her original personality. I messed up everything else, why don't I just go on to mess up the shy little girl that is Priscilla? I mean, no one has the personality that they're supposed to. Take Pent for example. He doesn't sound very formal at all in this story, but in the game he's quite a bit more…how should I put this…er…noble? XD …oh, and just to clarify, I took "Mary-Sueish" to mean 'plain'…is that what you meant? Again, thank you very much :)
BeautyofReglay: haha…yes, like the flower c(-: we'll just have to see what happens when Erk tells her, won't we? Muh hahahahahaha…
Cool-Chan: haha you're probably right c(-: thanks!
Serra's evil twin: -is shocked and dismayed- but Emmanuel is the most adorable name ever! –sobs- yeah, that would be pretty kewl heehee
Paladin2007: …oops XD I sort of wrote chapter six and then got your review…XD
All right, now that that's over with, we can now proceed with the second order of business: disclaimer!
Pent: w00t.
Right, right. So, Fire Emblem and all characters and places associated with it are not the product of my messed-up imagination but is instead the product of all the people who slaved over a whole ton of stuff to create the wonderful game we have today…yes, I'm talking about those kind folks at Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. Those guys are the coolest XD
Chapter Six: The Truth Hurts (Note: my research in swordfights failed me…so…no swordfight detail! Sorry)
"Well, well, well," Iris laughed five minutes later when she had Raven at sword point, his sword well out of his reach, and on his back at her mercy. "What happened to 'I never lose'?" Raven grunted, not very happy at all, and refused to reply. "Sorry, darling. It was inevitable…my father's sword has never failed me yet. But, on the bright side, love," she grinned. "You won't have to go to confession. By the way…what's your name?"
"My name?" Raven said blankly, then scowled. "You don't need to know that,"
"Oh, on the contrary," Iris replied silkily, tilting his chin up to see his face better. "I think I do."
"Fine…but you have to tell me yours, too." Raven compromised.
"Ah, that's where you're wrong again," Iris giggled. "You see, I have the power right now to slit you in two, and your sword—" she glanced momentarily over at his sword, ten feet away. "—Well, I don't think you can use it right now…I think you should agree to my terms…unless of course you want to die, sweetheart."
"You wouldn't kill me," Raven sneered. Iris paused, glaring into his red eyes just as fiercely as he was glaring into her violet ones. After a few seconds of this, she sighed and relented, sheathing her sword once more.
"You're right. It would be a shame to waste such a beautiful man…I don't know if I'll ever see one as adorable as you again in my lifetime."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Er…I'm not going to kill you." Iris restated, blushing faintly. "But I did win, you know," she reminded him as she offered him a hand to help him get up. "And I would like to know your name instead of choosing to kill you."
"I suppose that sounds fair," Raven acquiesced, refusing her aid in favor of struggling to his feet on his own. "And I suppose you want unhindered passage through our ranks whenever you see fit to grace us with your spectral presence, as well?" he added, retrieving his sword.
"Of course," Iris replied cheerfully, watching him with an air of expectance. "Well?" she smirked when he didn't say anything. "Your name, sir?" his eye twitched. He didn't want to tell her, but something told him that if he lied, she would know.
"Er…my name is…uh…" Raven hesitated, searching for a substitute name. "…Jay?" Iris folded her arms across her chest and gave him a look that plainly said, "yeah, right."
"You're lying to me," Iris informed him in a singsong tone. "What's your real name? Come on, it's not that hard of a question." she said impatiently when he hesitated.
"Oh, all right," Raven sighed after a few seconds of spluttering. "My name's Raven. Okay, it's really Raymond," he said hastily when she quirked an eyebrow at him. "But nobody calls me that…and lives," he added, snarling and trying to look menacing as possible. Iris stifled a snigger behind her hand. "What?" he said indignantly. "You have a problem with my name, miss?"
"No, no," Iris said, trying to keep a straight face. "It's very…typical." she burst out laughing at his quizzical expression, then stood up on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. "Well, I've had my fun for tonight…I suppose I'd better get back home before dawn breaks. Farewell…Raymond," she let out another little giggle as she walked away, leaving Raven feeling very stupid, embarrassed, and rather incredulous.
"Get a hold of yourself, Raven," Raven murmured to himself as he watched her disappear into the undergrowth. "No woman's worth the suffering they put you through…"
"Erk! Hey, Erk!" Hector, kicking the rebellious teenager in the ribs in an effort to wake him up, said loudly. "Wake up! We have to ask you something. Something we're all curious about."
"Leave me alone," Erk mumbled blearily, pulling his cloak over his head. "I'm trying to sleep…"
"No, Erk," Hector replied adamantly, kicking him again and receiving a satisfactory response of 'ow!' from the recipient. "This is vital information we need to talk about. It could mean life or death for you, kiddo."
"Huh?" Erk replied, lifting the cloak from his head and squinting up at him. "Why?"
"I'm kidding…I was trying to wake you up."
"Oh," Erk said, then shrugged and dropped it down again.
"No, seriously, Erk," Pent, using his authority for once, said to his student, who was being a little unreasonable due to sudden interruption of his sleep. "Come on, get up!"
"All right, all right," Erk muttered, feeling around in the darkness in an attempt to find his boots. "I'm up…"
"We brought you some food," Lyn said brightly, showing him their peace offering of porridge and bread. "Teenage boys like food." she grinned at their brilliance, but her face fell when he stared blankly at it.
"Er…who…cooked it?" Erk inquired. "And how long ago?"
"It wasn't Louise, and it was just made a few minutes ago," Pent informed him.
"Oh. Okay, then. Is Priscilla up yet?" Erk asked, accepting the 'gifts'.
"Yes, she is. But Raven's torturing her until you give us a suitable answer." Hector paused for a moment to let this sink in.
"…All right, then," Erk said, raising his eyebrows. He knew Raven would never hurt Priscilla on purpose under any circumstances, so they must have been joking. "What kind of torture?"
"Oh, the most horrible of all," Eliwood replied grimly. "Raven is administering…oh, it's too horrible to say."
"It's the Tickle Torture," Pent told Erk, rolling his eyes expressively at the melodramatic trio of lords. "But we still need answers, kid, because I'm tired of waiting for you to just tell us. Want to hear the questions?"
"Er…I guess," Erk responded warily, not too eager to hear what they had in store for him.
"All right…first question: what the hell?"
"Yeah, I know," Erk sighed.
"No, seriously! What the hell?" Hector implored.
"Um…I'm Erk. I'm fifteen years old, I'll be turning sixteen in a few months, and I have purple hair."
"Hmmm…Erk, eh? Write that down," Hector instructed Matthew, whom Erk hadn't noticed before. Matthew scribbled something down as Erk looked on, very perplexed.
"So…what's going on, again?" he asked apprehensively.
"Oh, don't worry," Pent said soothingly. "We're just going to look this all over and determine whether or not you're lying."
"Why would I lie about my age, hair color, and name?"
"Well, you never know…you could be a redhead." Lyn pointed out.
"This is ridiculous," Erk declared, shoving a spoonful of porridge into his mouth. "Next question."
"Okay. Where are you from?" Eliwood queried.
"Etruria."
"No, no…more specifically, please. What city?"
"Ehh…somewhere around Reglay."
"Lies!" Hector supplemented. "All lies!" Erk, by this time, was starting to get a little annoyed as Matthew recorded his every word.
"All right, then…" Pent continued. "Who were—or are—" he added pointedly, scanning his face for any sign of reaction to this change of words. "—your parents?"
"Insignificant farmer people," Erk lied. "They grew potatoes."
"You can't grow potatoes in Etruria," Pent snorted.
"Oh. Sorry, I meant beans."
"Uh huh. Sure they did," Hector said sarcastically.
"Did you have any brothers or sisters?" Lyn asked. "If so, what were their names? Or," she added pointedly. "What are their names?"
"All right, I think I've had enough," Erk proclaimed, finishing off his porridge and bread. "Why don't we continue this questionnaire tomorrow?"
"Oh no you don't," Hector said, blocking his way out.
"Not this time!" Pent informed him, taking him by the shoulders and steering him back towards his cot.
"Sorry," Lyn said cheerfully, taking his bowl and throwing it outside, where it hit a random person (Serra) who cried out in pain and was concussed as a result.
"Okay, so let's recap…you're a fifteen-year-old purple haired kid from 'somewhere near Reglay', your parents grew beans, and you claim that your name is 'Erk'. Is that correct?" Hector inquired.
"Yes," Erk sighed. "And what do you mean, I claim that my name is Erk?"
"I'm afraid that's classified information," Lyn said silkily.
"Huh?" Erk said blankly. "What are you talking about?"
"Okay, whatever. We'll find out the truth someday. Come on…let's go tell Raven to leave Priscilla alone now." Eliwood suggested to his companions.
"Well…that was odd," Erk remarked to himself when all four of them had left. He felt bad about lying, of course, but he'd been doing it for three years already and he wasn't about to stop, just in case he endangered himself. He didn't want a troupe of demanding people to be the first to know about him, anyway…if anyone would need to know, it was Priscilla. But he decided not to worry about it at that particular moment and got up to get ready for another long day of marching around.
When he left his tent, however, he immediately saw that things were getting pretty weird around camp. As he was walking around in search of more food, Priscilla staggered over to him, giggling uncontrollably, and collapsed into his arms.
"Are you okay?" Erk inquired of her, concerned yet starting to laugh himself.
"No—I'm not—" she laughed. "Tickle—Torture—" and she then dissolved into another fit of giggles.
"I'm sorry you had to be tortured for my sake," Priscilla's only response was laughter. "They were questioning me about some meaningless things, and I still don't know why."
"That's all right," Priscilla responded. "Give me a hug and I'll think about forgiving you."
"He's hiding something…" Hector mused, pacing around while he was lost in his thoughts.
"Remind me again why we care?" Lyn said. "I mean, we don't know anything about Lowen, and we aren't pestering him for personal information."
"Yeah, but Lowen doesn't act suspicious," Hector pointed out exasperatedly. "And for cripes sake, he's lived with Pent for three years and he hasn't told him anything about his family except that he doesn't have one. I think he's lying."
"Well, he's certainly not about to tell us, so why don't we just drop it?" Eliwood suggested.
"I agree," Lyn agreed.
"But he could actually be somebody! Like…like one of those Kuivanen kids Pent was babbling about earlier. The one with the name no one can remember?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Hector," Lyn scoffed. "No one survived. And if you wanted to investigate that so bad, you should have let us stop at the cathedral to see the portrait." Hector scowled.
"Well, yeah, but…" he thought for a second, then sighed. "I guess I have to give that one to you…but still."
"I think he's entitled to a certain amount of liberty from having to tell us these sort of things. It is a little personal." Eliwood supplied.
"You two are right…I honestly don't know what I was thinking…Kuivanen…pfft…"
"Hey, Raven," Erk said cautiously, walking up to Raven, who was scowling more than usual (which meant he was in a good mood for some reason) and sharpening his sword with an air of intent. "What's up?"
"No," Raven replied, not even looking up. "You can't marry my sister, you lout."
"Damn," Erk said under his breath. "Er…why not?"
"Because you don't deserve her love and I hate your guts."
"Oh. Well, that's okay, then. But if I don't deserve her love, who does? I mean, she'd be happy with me, wouldn't she?"
"She's delirious. She doesn't know how much pain and suffering love will cause her."
"That comment was a little more negative than I'm used to out of you, Raven. Is something wrong?" Erk jumped and turned around to face the speaker of this comment and saw Priscilla, looking at him adoringly and giving him a wink before turning back to her brother. "Is there anything you want to talk to me about?"
"That depends on how much you heard."
"I heard, 'how much pain and suffering love will cause her'. Did I hear too much?" Erk, beside her, breathed a sigh of relief.
"Well, I'm not talking with him here," Raven said, looking at Erk pointedly.
"Erk, darling," Priscilla said cheerfully, turning to him again. "Don't you think it's time you went to bed? Teenage boys need their rest."
"But it's eleven o'clock in the morning," Erk replied, puzzled, after looking up at the sun. Priscilla cleared her throat and gave him 'the look' and he immediately changed his mind. "Then again, I could use a nap."
"All right, then…sweet dreams, my love," Priscilla said sweetly, giving him a gentle shove in the back. "Right…so, Raven," she said after Erk had walked off in a very confused manner. "What's up?"
"Well," Raven mused, pausing in his efforts to make his weapon even more lethal. "I assumed you would be able to help, since you're a healer and all, because I feel rather…sick."
"Sick?" Priscilla repeated, intrigued. She sat down on the ground next to him. "What kind of sick? Sick to your stomach, sniffles, coughing, sneezing, wheezing, dizziness kind of sick?"
"Er…yes. The 'sick to your stomach' and 'dizziness' parts. And I'm sort of depressed, too. I don't really know what to do with myself…what to think, what to feel…is there something wrong with me?"
"Yep. There is," Priscilla said grimly, trying to keep a straight face.
"There is?" Raven said, alarmed. "What's wrong with me?" Priscilla giggled, unable to stop herself.
"Aww, Raven, it's only the most serious condition there is…"
"…Am I going to die?"
"No, no, don't worry…pretty much everyone gets it eventually. I've got it…maybe even worse than you do."
"Is it…bad?"
"Of course not, silly," Priscilla laughed. "Raven, you dolt, you're in love!" Raven's jaw dropped. "So, who is it?" she demanded. "Rebecca? Farina?"
"…Mockingbird…" Raven mumbled, a faint pink tint coming to his cheeks.
"Awwww! That's so sweet!" Priscilla giggled, then stopped after a second. "Wait…what did you say?"
So…yeah…kind of…random. And short. And lame…I'll do better next time, I promise XD but the dramatic irony is getting kind of intense. –cheap French accent- love is in ze air! Aww!
Pent: -shakes head sadly- w00t…
Er…yeah. So, anyway, Chapter seven will probably be a little better…with any hope…
