A/N: Scarily enough, my mother gave me this idea. Not directly, of course, but she told me something and that spawned this nice little AU. ::Cackles::
Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem. But that doesn't mean I can't take the characters and/or storyline and twist them to my liking. As long as I'm not profiting off of it, it's all good.
WARNINGS: Shonen ai and shojo ai (maybe het, haven't decided), violence (nothing graphic), slight language. Nothing that should bother anyone too much if you're not extremely sensitive about any of the above.
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Once upon a time, in a fair little country far, far away, there lived a king. In the beginning, he was a good king. He was kind to all and his subjects loved him. But then, as he aged, he started to indulge in the dark arts.
They drove him past the edge of sanity.
He murdered his wife and children. But because he was a king, no one could do anything about these cold blooded killings. His word was the law, and the law was his word.
The king became cruel and oppressive to everyone. The love his subjects once had for him dissolved into hatred. Bitter hatred. They hated him more then anything.
As he grew older and older, the king began to get weaker, as the elderly tend to do. In his weakened state, he fell ill. Not even the knowledge that had cost him his sanity could cure him.
The king knew he didn't have much longer. He also knew that everyone hated him. He couldn't stand the idea of people celebrating his death. He was determined that not one person would celebrate when he lay still in his grave. He thought long and hard about how to make that happen.
Finally, he came up with a solution. It was a cruel plan, but he was a cruel man. With a malicious grin, he gave the soldiers their orders.
One person from every family would be arrested, and when he died, so would they.
Everyone would cry the day he died. If not for him, then for their loved ones.
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Once upon a time, in the same kingdom the evil king ruled over, there lived a happy little
family of three. Two were siblings. Their parents had died years ago, murdered by the soldiers of another kingdom. The eldest child had hungered for revenge for many years, but slowly his fiery rage was soothed by the pretty blonde orphan that his parents had adopted when they were still alive.
So now they lived together, the son, the pretty blonde, and the gentle daughter. They were very happy together. The eldest son had taken the pretty blonde as his lover, and the gentle daughter, while jealous that the pretty blonde had taken away some of her brother's attention, eventually gave them her blessings. All was peaceful.
Until the day the king gave his orders.
The soldiers took arrested the son, informing the pretty blonde and the gentle daughter that when the king died, so did their loved one.
They both watched them take him away into the night through a veil of tears.
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"Lady Priscilla, please stop this!" Lucius begged as he bandaged her burned hand.
Priscilla was literally shaking. She was shaking so much that the fire tome in her lap slipped, landing with a 'thump' on the ground. "Lucius," She ran her fingers over the bandages that covered her hand and arm. "He's going to be killed. Any day now. I won't let that happen." When she raised her face, he saw that her eyes burned with the same fire her brother's had when he spoke of his revenge. "I won't let that happen." She repeated in a haunted voice.
Drawing her into his arms, he rocked back and forth slowly, "I know, Lady Priscilla, I know." His blue eyes filled with tears at the mere thought of his beloved Raymond, but he blinked them back. He couldn't be weak now. Not until they had Raymond back with them, safe and sound, could he afford to be weak.
"I have to learn this!" She pulled out of his embrace, snatching the fire tome from where it had fallen to the floor. "Without this, I'm useless! Merely a healer. What can healing do to save my brother?" Flipping open the book, she scanned the letters of an ancient language, tracing word after word with her index finger.
"Priscilla," Lucius dropped the honorifics for once. "Priscilla, we…" He was about to say that they had time, but that would be a lie. They did not have time. Any minute now, the bells could sound, calling them all to the square for the public execution of so many innocents. "Priscilla, please be careful…You mustn't burn yourself again…"
She nodded to him almost absentmindedly, completely immersed in her spell book.
He got up, walking over to the book shelf that lined one wall of the main room of their small house. Even though there was one less person inhabiting it now, it seemed even smaller then it had when Raymond was living there with them. Lucius missed him so.
Brushing those thoughts aside, telling himself he must concentrate on the task at hand, he ran his fingertips over the spines of the books, some so old they were falling apart at the seams. Finally, he plucked one from the bookshelf.
"Aura," He whispered to himself as he traced the symbol on its cover. It was of the utmost importance that he learn this spell. It was the strongest magic he could find, and he intended to master it. Even if it harmed him to do so, he would. It was the only way to save Raymond, after all. For Raymond, Lucius would have done anything.
A knock came just as Lucius was about to open the book and examine the pages within. Glancing over at Priscilla, he noted with concern that it was as if she had not heard the knock at all. She was completely lost in the pages of her fire tome.
Slipping away from the bookshelf, Lucius walked over to the door. He pulled it open very carefully, wary of possible danger behind it.
Possible danger was not who had come knocking. Standing in the threshold was a teenager with long, braided dark green hair and blue eyes.
"Guy," Lucius addressed him, giving him a half hearted smile and opening the door a bit wider to allow the other entrance. Guy stepped into the house, shifting his weight from one foot to the other nervously as Lucius shut and locked the door. "How are things? Would you like some tea?" The blonde inquired.
"Yeah, if it's not too much trouble," Guy grinned at the thought of the hot liquid.
Laughing lightly, Lucius shook his head, "No trouble at all." Motioning for Guy to follow him, Lucius headed into the kitchen. The dark haired boy eagerly followed him, glancing at Priscilla as they passed her.
"What's wrong with her?" He asked in a hushed whisper as Priscilla continued to chant words of a foreign tongue in an emotionless, empty voice.
Lucius bit his lip, filling the kettle with water and setting it on the stove, "Having Lord Raymond taken away was very devastating for her. She…she's not well," We need you, Lucius conjured an image of Raymond in his mind. Sighing, Lucius turned his attention back to Guy, "You haven't eaten, have you?"
Guy shook his head, "Matthew had been bringing us food…" He leaned against the wall. "But he's been taken away, and m-mother has too," He was beginning to get choked and his stutter was back. "And it's not l-like we had m-money in the first place, that's w-why M-Matthew had to bring us f-food a-and…" He inhaled sharply, closing his blue eyes.
Lucius laid a hand on his arm, "Hush." He murmured soothingly, leading Guy to one of the rickety chairs surrounding the wooden table in the middle of the kitchen, "Sit. I'll get you something to eat."
Guy obeyed and before long, Lucius has set some bread, cheese, and a steaming cup of tea in front of him.
After giving the younger man a moment to calm down, Lucius spoke, "The king…" He started and then stopped abruptly, as if thinking of a way to rephrase his thoughts. "Is he…" He stopped again, chewing on his lip nervously.
Guy understood what he had meant, anyway. It was not as if there was much else to inquire about. Chewing on the mouthful of bread he had bit off, he swallowed, and then spoke, "N-no. From what I've heard, he's not doing any better. If anything, he's getting worse. The speculation is that he has a week or two at the most," Guy picked up the tea cup and held it in his hands, as if absorbing the warmth.
Lucius looked disappointed, although he reminded himself that he really should not be. He couldn't have hope that the king would make a remarkable recovery and release all those he had taken captive. It just wasn't reasonable to do so. The king was dying, and in turn, so were the people he had elected to die along with him. Along with him, so was Raymond.
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It was dark and dank and horrible. It was dark because no natural light flowed into the room, seeing as it was underground, the lowest floor of the castle. Windows were pointless so far down. The only light was that of a torch that burned low, ready to flicker out at the slightest hint of a breeze. It was dank because that's how these prisons usually were. It was almost absurd for a prison not to be dank.
It was horrible because it simply was. At least a dozen people were crammed into each cell. He didn't know. He hadn't bothered to count.
Heath cringed as that ill man in the corner started coughing again. A wet, endless, hacking cough. He couldn't stand that sound. He wanted to get out so very badly. Pulling his knees up to his chest, he shut his eyes tightly, trying to pretend that he was not here. Anywhere but here, anywhere at all. He would rather be dead.
Well, that's where he was going to be in anywhere from a few minutes to a few days, he thought bitterly.
Aside from it being dark, dank and horrible, it was cold. Freezing cold. The weather was hot outside, but down here the sunlight could not warm the stone walls. Heath flexed his fingers, finding them stiff from the bitter cold. With a determination to keep from freezing, Heath began rubbing his hands up and down his forearms.
"Here." Something was thrust in his face. A long, purple cloak.
Looking up, he saw the hand holding the cloak belonged to a tall man with long lavender hair kept away from his face by a bandanna. The man wore a half smirk as he looked down at Heath, "Come on, take it. You're obviously cold."
Heath hesitated, a little thrown off by the kindness of this complete stranger. "Don't you need it?" He asked.
The man shrugged, "Not as much as you probably do." Deciding that Heath was taking too long, he draped it around Heath's shoulders himself.
"...Thank you," Heath muttered as he fingered the material, pulling it closer around him. He was much warmer with this. Sending a sideways glance at the man, he asked, "Who are you?"
Someone else answered that question for him, "Legault!" A voice called from across the cell and a man with sandy hair trotted up to them, "So, you got captured too, eh?"
"As did you, Matthew," The man, Legault, replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Heath wondered incredulously how he could be so calm about it.
Matthew grimaced, "Unfortunately." He said shortly, fiddling with one of the buckles that adorned his crimson colored cloak.
"What about Guy?" Legault asked, brushing a few locks of his hair behind his ear.
Heath glanced from one man to the other. From their conversation, he could judge that they knew each other and were probably on friendly terms. Then again, he bet almost everyone knew someone else in here. One person from every family had been taken. The odds that you knew someone else in these dismal cells was more then likely.
Matthew shook his head, "No. Guy's not here, thank Elimine. However," Matthew nodded towards the corner he'd come from, "His mother is."
"Poor kid," Legault commented. "Without you or her, he'll probably starve."
Matthew grimaced, "Don't remind me." He muttered, "I'm worried enough about him as it is." There was worry and concern in his amber eyes, as he scuffed the stone floor with the toe of his boot restlessly.
"I'm sure," Legault said with what could have been a hint of sympathy in his voice.
For a few minutes, they just quietly stared at each other, as if communicating in some secret, silent language.
Then Matthew spoke up again, looking rather frustrated, "If only…" He trailed off with an annoyed sigh, raking his fingers through his hair.
Legault nodded, "It's a shame, really." He said, understanding what Matthew meant without the other even finishing his sentence.
Silence reigned for a few more moments, giving Heath time to wonder what exactly it was that Matthew had been talking about when he said 'if only'.
Finally, Matthew turned on his heel, marching back off to the corner from which he'd come, "I can't just stand here. I'm going to go see who else is in this miserable place with us." He said over his shoulder.
Legault nodded to no one in particular before turning back to Heath, answering a question the other had not asked, "He's an acquaintance of mine."
Heath nodded silently. Then, words left his lips, "I can't believe this. It's like some sort of nightmare." The minute he had spoken, he regretted it. He sounded like some sort of child, seeking comfort.
"Mm," Legault nodded. "It is a bit hard to believe, really, that these are our last days." He smiled at Heath, "And that we're spending them in a prison cell. If they're going to have us executed, you'd think they'd at least give us some decent rooms and food. Let us live out our last days in happiness, you know?" He joked, winking.
Heath scowled, "How the hell can you be so calm?" He demanded. In the corner, he could hear children and women crying. A few individuals were muttering to themselves and that ill man had continued to cough through it all, a woman kneeling besides him, rubbing his back comfortingly. He himself was scared, so very scared of what lay ahead. And this man could joke about it? How could he be so calm? Was he glad to die?
Legault shrugged, "Worrying about what's coming isn't going to help me, is it? I'm not happy about this, of course not. But…As it is, there's nothing I can do." He fingered the side of his belt for a second, and something dark flashed across his face, but as quickly as it was there, it was gone, and that half-smile, half-smirk was back on his lips.
Heath couldn't help thinking there was something more here that he didn't know.
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"Limstella…" Nergal croaked, reaching out and stroking the curly dark hair of his creation, "Limstella, my dearest, have they carried out my orders?"
The figure kneeling by his bedside nodded, leaning into his touch the same way a cat would lean into the hand that was petting it, "Yes, master."
A smile formed on the painted red lips of the woman kneeling on the opposite side of his bed, "One person from every family, master. More from the larger families." She spoke in a hushed voice.
"Good, good…" Nergal cackled. But his laughter quickly dissolved into a fit of coughing. Limstella lifted the glass of water from the nightstand and held it to his lips. Nergal drank from it and slowly his coughing stopped. Limstella placed the glass back down on the nightstand.
"Where is Ephidel?" Nergal asked after a moment.
"He is making sure that the soldiers missed no one, master," Limstella said, her(1) golden eyes fixed upon her master's sunken face.
"Thank you, my perfection," He stroked her cheek, smiling a soft, crooked sort of smile.
Sonia's blood boiled. Was she not perfection? She could serve him, had served him, so much better then that little puppet could. She was better then Limstella! Didn't the master know that?
"Sonia, you may go," He said to her, his voice cracking. "Limstella…stay with me a moment longer." Limstella nodded silently, gazing down at her master with those expressionless golden eyes.
Sonia did as she was told, rising to her feet in one graceful motion. She swept out of the room, giving her master one last bow and Limstella one last glare. She closed the door to Nergal's chambers, leaning heavily against the door. Only then did she let a snarl escape her throat as the smile disappeared from her painted lips. "That worthless puppet!" She cursed, knowing that she could not be heard through the heavy door. "That useless, empty shell!" She cursed Limstella over and over. She could serve the master so much better then that emotionless doll! She didn't give a damn about him! But Sonia did. Sonia could care for the master in his final days. Her company was surely better then Limstella's. She was so much better the Limstella.
"Mother, mother!" Sonia felt someone tug on her skirt.
"Nino," She said coldly, tugging her skirt out of the girl's hands. She did not have time for this. Nino could not have picked another time to bother her?
"Mother, who were all those people? The ones who were brought to the dungeons earlier?" The inquisitive girl asked, staring up at Sonia with wide blue eyes.
Sonia stiffened, "How do you know about that?" She started walking down the hall without a destination in mind, her heels making clicking sounds on the hard marble floors.
Nino followed her without a second thought, trying to keep up with the woman's long strides, "I was in the dungeons earlier," She paused for a moment, expecting to be scolded for going down there. Sonia said nothing. Looking disappointed, Nino continued, "And while I was down there, I heard footsteps. Lots of them! It was like a whole army! But I didn't want to get caught down there, because I'm really not supposed to go there, am I?" Again, she paused, waiting for some response. Again, she got none. She went on with her account of the event all the same, "Anyway, I hid in some shadows, and I saw some soldiers bringing all these people in! Did they commit crimes, mother?"
"No, they did not commit crimes." She said shortly before she turned a corner sharply, trying to loose the small girl. Nino followed right after her.
"But then why are they down there, mother?" She asked, trying desperately to keep up with Sonia. Why couldn't her mother slow down and wait for her? Just this once?
Sonia stopped abruptly, placing a hand on the doorknob of the library, "It is King Nergal's wish for them to be there, Nino." She said coldly, glaring at the green-haired girl. "Now, be gone! Bother some one else for a while!" She opened the door, stepped inside, and closed it with a snap behind her.
Nino stared at the closed door for a moment, her normally smiling face formed a look of sadness instead.
"If you wish, mother," She said, although Sonia could not hear her. She turned, glancing at the library door over her shoulder, as if Sonia might suddenly appear, open her arms wide and tell Nino that she way sorry, that she was never a bother. Nino sighed, knowing that it was false hope, that it just wasn't going to happen.
She was curious about the people that had been brought down to the dungeon, though. Why were there so many of them? Had they been involved in some kind of rally or rebellion? She couldn't believe that. Many of them could not be very much older then her, even more looked like house wives, and there were even children smaller then her. How could those people, who looked so very innocent, have done something so bad that it landed them in jail? And what had her mother meant when she said it was the king's wish?
Quickly winding through hallways it had taken her months to memorize, she decided to seek out someone who might tell her just what was going on. Her brothers would know what was going on. Hopefully, they would answer her questions.
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"How long will we have?" Guy asked, locking his eyes with Lucius'.
Lucius sighed, "About an hour. After he dies and they ring the bells signifying that he is, in fact, dead, they're going to round all of the captives up and then have a public execution in front of the palace gates. There are a lot of captives, so it's going to take them a good twenty minutes or so to get them all together. That is, if they're cooperative. These are people who are doomed anyway, what reason do they have not to fight back?"
Guy nodded, "That does make sense…"
"Yes. I can only hope the captives have enough sense to try and resist. If they can over power the guards…" Lucius stopped and sighed, "But they have no weapons."
"But there are a lot of them!" Guy put in, looking hopeful, "Maybe they can do it without weapons? Do you think they can, Lucius?"
He looked so hopeful that Lucius hated to say what he was about to, "Guy…They have no weapons…" He said. His words caused the dark haired boy slumped back in his seat.
"I-I know…but still…." He propped his chin up on his palms.
Lucius gazed at him sympathetically, "You want to save Matthew and your mother, I know." He took a sip of his own, now cold, tea. "Our advantage is that the execution is public. We will have to act fast, while they are reading the names of the deceased." Lucius had pieced together an account of what would happen from the only public execution he'd ever seen before. The king had issued a decree shortly after he had gone insane, making it so that all executions be public ones that everyone had to attend. The only one Lucius had seen had made him sick to his stomach, and after that, Raymond had ordered that Lucius never see one again, no matter what the king decreed.
"Will we be enough?" Guy asked suddenly, "I mean, you are very skilled with light magic, Lucius, and Priscilla seemed to be improving with her magic, and I'm getting better and better with the sword, but…" He fiddled with the end of his braid, "Their soldiers are highly trained."
"It's not just us," Lucius put in quickly. "We have two talented sky riders with us now."
"Sky riders?" Guy repeated, leaning forward intently.
"Two Pegasus Knights," Lucius clarified. "Their sister was taken from them."
"Everyone's had someone taken from them," Guy said, sighing. "If they're lucky, it's only one person." He looked down at the table, his long bangs overshadowing his eyes, presumably to hide tears.
"Guy," Lucius said softly, placing his hand over the younger man's. "Guy, we will get them back."
A harsh intake of breath, "How can y-you be so sure?" Lucius noted that his stutter had returned and frowned. Guy always stuttered when he was angry or upset. Then again, it was a miracle that he hadn't been stuttering, or worse, non-stop since Matthew and his mother had been taken away.
"Because I can't afford not to be," Lucius replied with a calmly. He had to be certain that their plan would work, because the alternative was too grim to think about. Too damaging to them all. They needed these people so very much. They couldn't afford to lose them. Priscilla couldn't lose Raymond, and neither could he. Guy couldn't lose Matthew or his mother. Those two Pegasus knights couldn't lose their sister.
They had to save them. It was that simple.
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"Fiora?"
At the sound of her name, the teal haired woman looked up. Though it was dark, she could still make out the Lyn's form in front of her. The other girl had a grim look on her face.
"What will Florina do without us?" She asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. Florina still had Farina, but was that enough? She and Fiora had always been so involved in protecting the orchid haired girl.
"…She still has Farina…" Fiora replied shakily. But her voice told Lyn more then her answer did. Her voice clearly yelled 'I don't know, I don't know' over and over again. It was true; she didn't know.
"I miss her so," Lyn confessed, sitting down next to the other. "I mean, I wouldn't wish this fate on her for the world, but I miss her sweet face smiling at me, giving me hope…" She sighed remorsefully.
"I know…" Fiora said, placing her hand over Lyn's in a comforting gesture. "I know, I know." She missed both of her sisters. She wanted them here, and at the same time, she did not. She wanted them here so she could have their company. She did not want them here because that would mean they would be facing the same terrible fate as she was.
"Oh, Florina, what will I ever do without you?" Lyn sighed again, propping her chin up on one hand.
"I'm not really sure who misses her more," Fiora wondered aloud. "You or me?" The answer should be simple, really. She was Florina's older sister. She should be the one to miss her more, of course. But from Lyn's words, she got a different impression. Could Lyn's very soul ache for Florina's company more then her own did?
"Why, it's both of us, of course." Lyn leaned back against the moss covered stone walls. "But in different ways." She said after a second.
Fiora nodded absentmindedly. That made sense. It made sense in a way that made no sense at all, but it made sense. Fiora briefly wondered if she was being driven crazy in within these cold stone walls with no way out. Not unless someone had the sheer strength to be able to bend iron bars, of course. Fiora sincerely doubted there was anyone like that among their sorry crowd.
"If only there was a way out," Lyn said sorrowfully as she gazed at the iron bars. Fiora knew she was entertaining the very same thoughts she had had about some insanely strong person bending the bars and saving them all.
"But there isn't." Fiora said softly. "There is no way out. We are all doomed."
Lyn shook her head, her dark hair swishing back and forth, "Don't say that. We must find a way out. If only for Florina." She said with a strange determination. That same strange determination shone in her eyes like a bright light.
Fiora couldn't help but nod in agreement. Yes, they must escape this place alive, if only for Florina. But her voice disagreed with her, "But it's impossible." The words escaped her lips without her willing it to.
"Nothing," Lyn said forcefully, "Nothing is impossible."
Fiora hoped Lyn was right. Oh, how Fiora hoped that Lyn was right.
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Chapter One- End
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::Glances up:: I'm rather happy with that, I am. This little fic just wrote itself. Hopefully, the next couple of chapters for it will do that too. Tis not going to be a long fic. I'm only planning three to five chapters, at the most. Versus my other Fire Emblem AU, Something Wicked, where the number of chapters is still undetermined, but damn, it looks long. XD Heh, finally, I write a fic that hopefully will not give me too much work. (although I've probably just jinxed it by saying that ::sweatdrop:: )
(1) I know that Limstella is technically genderless. But for the sake of my poor little mind, I'm using feminine pronouns.
Reviews are appreciated.
