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Arianna: Um, hi, you may not remember me, but I'm the authoress of this story and despite my extreme fatigue from my stressful week I am here to write this chapter.
Eliwood: While listening to 'Veggie Tales' songs.
Arianna: Hey, they're inspiring! 'If my lips ever left my mouth…'
Erk: Sometimes I wonder why I let myself be used as her muse.
Eliwood: Because we didn't get a choice!
Ivan: Umm….what's a muse?
Eliwood: …..
Erk: …..
Latisha: Oh, you poor, poor newbie.
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DISCLAIMER: fill this in yourself
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-: ERK'S POV :-
We had finally arrived in Caelin and the end of this nightmare was in sight. My clothes were slightly ruffled and my body a little sore from falling on the ground so much, but other than that I had made it this far in one piece. And so had Serra, which for some reason also mattered to me.
"Look, Arianna! The mountains seem so far away now. We've come such a long way…." Lyn suddenly said.
THUNK
Down I went into the dirt of the earthen path. Serra sighed and helped me back up. "Lyn, could you please not do that anymore?" Serra asked Lyndis. Lyn looked at her.
"Do what?" she asked with a confused tone to her voice. Serra began to wave her hands around as she talked and I moved so as not to get thwacked by one of them.
"You know, saying those obvious things that everyone already knows." she told the puzzled swordswoman. Lyn continued to look confused but nodded her head and continued on. I brushed my clothes off and picked up my Fire tome off the ground. I wasn't sure how many more RDOOs I could take! As we began walking once more I moved up beside Serra.
"Thank you." I said shortly and tried to hurry off, but she caught me before I could make my getaway.
"For what?" she asked and I looked straight ahead while answering her.
"For helping me." I explained, hoping it would suffice. But of course, it did not. Serra continued to press on.
"Helping you with what?" she persisted. I knew she knew that I knew that she knew what I meant and just wanted to hear me say it out loud.
"Helping me up all those times." I replied. She smiled slightly at her small, personal victory.
"An escort shouldn't be so affected by just a few obvious words! Really, Erk, you're so weak." she said snobbily and then rushed off to talk to Ninian leaving me to gape after her. What was she insulting me for? What had I done to her? And how was I weak? I fumed silently and became rather grumpy.
"Cheer up, Lyn." Florina was saying in her small voice. "If they see you looking so sad, the entire company will lose heart." I, for one, would actually be better off if Lyn wasn't so darn happy all the time. What did this group think this was, a trip to the circus? Didn't they realize that we were plunging right into danger? My internal grumbling came to a sudden halt as Nils said something that shook me from my thoughts.
"Lyn…danger approaches…" Nils said in an anxious voice. Lyn, however, hadn't been able to hear him because a certain cleric had been gabbing in her ear at the time.
"What did you say?" Lyn asked him. Sain peered out into the distance.
"I don't see anything. Are you sure?' he said. Nils nodded his head.
"I feel it, too. I'm sure of it." Ninian told him. Then she suddenly gasped. "Ah! Milady, don't move!" she screamed at Lyn. Lyn just stared at her blankly.
"Hm?" she said but soon realized what the fuss was about as an arrow went whizzing by her head. She walked over to where it landed and picked it up off the ground to examine it. "What in-where did this bolt come from?" I was going to explain to her that it was not a lightning bolt just because it came from the sky, it was an arrow, but then Kent yelled something in alarm. When Kent is calm, I'm usually nervous. When Kent is agitated, I'm usually afraid. But when Kent is alarmed, I'm tremulous and ready to run for my life. Anyways, back to what Kent yelled….
"They have a ballista!" Kent yelled in alarm. I tried to make a run for it but Dorcas grabbed me by my cape. Lyn turned to Kent.
"What is a ballista?" Lyn asked the knight as I struggled to escape, but a mage just can't match the raw strength of an axe-fighter so I finally settled for pulling my cape back from his grasp and 'humph'ing. Then I crossed my arms and stood sulking as Kent explained to Lyn about what she had been attacked by.
"It's a weapon designed for long-distance attacks. Only archers can use them, but they can be devastating." Kent told her in a grave voice. I looked at Wil as the conversation continued and tried to picture him being devastating and promptly burst out laughing. Wil glared at me but as he began to say something Lyn asked him a question.
"Wil, can you use a ballista?" she asked him. Wil thought about it for a moment.
"I've never tried, but…." he said slowly. I thought that if he had never tried now was not a good time to try it. "It's just a really big bow, right?" Wil continued and I became very worried because he just did not sound reassuring. "I should be able to figure it out." Wil finally said and I thought anything that includes 'should be able to' should not be used in an important battle like this.
"All we can ask is that you try…" Lyn told him. I thought we could ask for a lot more like that he actually could get it to work and hit the enemy instead of us. Lyn turned towards the battlefield. Wil took some deep breaths and his face looked a little pale. This was a lot of pressure to put on one lone archer, and I just had to make it worse. I walked up beside him and whispered things to him as Matthew told Lyn and Arianna how he was going to bail out of this fight because it looked like it would be dangerous.
"Remember Wil, this whole thing is riding on you. Our lives depend on if you can fire that ballista properly or not. If you hit us instead of the enemy, we'll lose for sure." I told him. I don't know exactly why I was feeling so spiteful. Maybe it was because of the things Serra had said to me earlier and WiI just ended up the one I took my anger out on. Wil glared at me and gripped his bow tightly.
"I know that, thank you very much, Erk." he replied gruffly putting a certain angry emphasis on my name. "Maybe we should get going, hm?" he suggested and I whirled around to see that everyone had already taken off. Wil and I ran into battle, him heading for the ballista and I heading for the nearest light magic user. As the battle progressed the enemy archer on the ballista was taken down and Wil took his place.
-: WIL'S POV :-
What does this lever do? Hmm…think, Wil, think. We learned about how to use these in one of those archer classes. Or was that the day I accidentally locked myself in the outhouse and missed class? Hm…right lever….it turned! Alright, now aim, pull this, and….FIRE!
-: OUTER POV :-
An arrow went rocketing from the ballista towards an enemy brigand in a matter of seconds. But in those few seconds, Erk had already defeated the brigand and so the arrow was going straight towards him. He froze and watched as death came flying towards him. In an instant it would be over. Memories flashed through his head. His first Fire spell, getting that fluffy teddy bear when he turned six, going to school that one day in a pink, filly dress because Lady Louise swore it was 'all the rage in Etruria'. He closed his eyes and prepared himself for the impact. When it finally hit, it pounded into his right side and he was knocked off his feet. 'But wait…the arrow was coming straight at me, not at my right side. And I'm not feeling as much pain as I thought I would.' He slowly opened his eyes to find himself looking straight into Serra's face. As he became more aware of his surroundings he realized that Serra was on top of him. He gave a startled shout and jumped to his feet.
"What were you doing!?" he yelled at her as she pushed herself to her feet and brushed off her dress. She took a deep breath.
"SAVING YOUR LIFE!!!" she screeched at him so loud that birds flew out of the woods. "You just stood there like an idiot and were just going to let that arrow hit you!!!" she screamed and then burst into tears. Erk gaped at her in a stunned sort of way. Then he came back to his senses and realized she was crying. He got close to her and started patted her back in a brotherly sort of way.
"Umm…..it's okay, I'm fine. Nothing to get upset about." he told her nervously. He didn't have much experience with crying girls. Actually, he had no experience. Serra sniffed a couple times and wiped at her eyes.
"I wann't cryin'." she sniffled and Erk almost fell over. She got back to her feet and picked her staff up off the ground. She cleared her throat. "We better get going, Erky. The others are probably already fighting the leader of this group of thugs!" She took off running towards the others and didn't even look back. Erk stood staring after her a few seconds, confused by what just happened.
'She…acts like she hates me…but then she saved me. And she was crying because I almost got hurt. And she was jealous when she thought I had been with Lucius. Is it possible…she….?' Erk thought to himself. Then he slapped himself hard in the head. "No way!" he said aloud and then took off after Serra.
-: SERRA'S POV :-
We defeated the boss and were now having a group meeting to decide our next course of action. Well, actually, everyone but me and Erk were having a group meeting. I was too deep in thought to join the conversation, and Erk had run off somewhere. It was SO stupid of me to cry like that!!! Erk probably thinks that I LIKE him or something now to cry over him like that! And I DON'T like him! I can't. After he gets me to Ostia, it's goodbye forever. And what about my vows!? It's not like I'd ever be able to marry him anyways! But I feel us getting closer as this goes on, and I'm afraid that when the time comes I won't be able to say farewell. Oh, what is a beautiful, charming, intelligent, fashionable girl like me to do!?
-: ERK'S POV :-
"YOU CAN NOT BE SERIOUS!!!" I shouted at Wil who had been the one unlucky enough to have to tell me the bad news. "WE CAME ALL THIS WAY, AND NOW WE'RE GOING BACK TO KATHELET!?" I ranted. Wil just grinned in a 'what can you do?' sort of way.
"Well, we really need the help from Lord Eliwood if we're gonna make it to Castle Caelin safely." he explained to me. I just fumed in my head. This meant it would be even longer before I could complete my mission and return to Etruria! And when I thought we were finally so close! I turned sharply and took off for the tents leaving Wil behind. I just couldn't take the cheerful archer right then when I was so mad. I decided to go on a walk through the woods to clear my head instead of going back to camp where I would just have to hear everyone talking about how we were going back to Kathelet.
"THIS IS SO STUPID!" I yelled into the empty, dark forest. At least, I thought it was empty, but then a voice answered me.
"Well, I don't think it's stupid. If we don't get help we would never make it to Castle Caelin safely and then all our hard work would be for naught. It's better to be alive and mad than dead, hm?" said a certain blonde monk as he walked out of the darkness and moved into the moonlight of the small clearing I had ended up in. I glared at him. I really don't like logical speeches, especially ones from gender confused monks.
"Well, it's all fine and dandy for you, isn't it? You don't have anywhere to go after this ordeal is over, so what do you care how long it takes?" I snapped at Lucius. He sat down in the grass and looked up at me with a slight smile.
"And where do you have to go that is so important? Getting that cleric girl to Ostia? Do you want to be rid of her that much?" he asked. I crossed my arms. This girl…guy…thing was starting to bug me.
"Hmph. What are you getting at?" I huffed. Lucius picked a daisy and looked down at his fingers as he began to twirl it between them.
"I'm just saying that you seem to be a little close to your employer. Are you prepared for when you two have to part?" he questioned and looked up with clear, azure eyes at me and I strangely had a flashback to the time when I almost drowned because Lord Pent decided to teach me how to swim. I don't think throwing me off the docks with weights attached to my clothing was a very good way to do it but that's Lord Pent for you. Then I finally realized that Lucius had asked me a question.
"Close!? To that devil!? Sorry, but you must be imagining things." I replied angrily. But those words for some reason made me feel sad. Lucius got to his feet and brushed the stray bits of grass off of his clothes and started walking back to camp.
"Well, whatever you say, then. The others should have dinner ready by now so I'm heading back. Goodbye!" the monk called over his shoulder and then he was gone. I stayed in the clearing awhile longer thinking about…..things.
-: OUTER POV :-
The next morning Lyn's Legion prepared to enter Castle Caelin territory. Again. They're little talk with Eliwood had gone well so they were heading back to Caelin. The fog was thick and Sain entertained himself for a good 8 minutes by sticking his hand out and back watching it disappear and reappear. "All right, everyone! Let's get going!" Lyn said happily as she walked a few feet in front of the rest of the team. Kent was pointing out the best way to get there and most of the legion was in high spirits. Well, most….
"STOP POKING ME!!!" Serra screeched at Matthew and he looked at her with a puzzled face.
"Poking you? My dear Serra, I have not lain a hand on you all morning." he told her and she glared at him.
"You liar! That's the 23rd time you've poked me this morning!" she screamed at the thief. "If you do it one more time, I'm bashing your head in with my mend staff!" she threatened and then whirled back around. Matthew grinned devilishly and got ready to poke her again in the back of the head, but just as he began to jab his finger forward, someone grabbed his hand. Matthew looked to see who the owner of the hand was and found himself facing a very scary glare. Matthew gave the mage a bemused smile.
"Oh, c'mon, Erk! I was bored!" he told Erk but the purple-haired young man just continued to glare until Matthew removed his hand from Erk's grasp and walked off to find another victim. Erk turned around to find that Serra was walking backwards so as to look at him curiously.
"What is it?" he asked in a bored tone.
Serra thanked her escort. "Thanks for stopping him. Some men have NO idea how to treat a proper lady like myself!" Erk just nodded and then strolled off to talk to Kent. Serra turned back around and sighed deeply. 'So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Well, it will make it easier when we get to Ostia.' she thought sadly.
"Kent, is that a person approaching?" Erk said alarmed as a large figure became visible through the fog. Kent looked up and gasped.
"So you've come…" said the figure and it moved close enough that they could see that the figure was a bald man that by the looks of his armor was a General.
"Who that?" Sain said from behind Kent and he squinted his eyes to make it out. "Aah!" Sain yelled when he realized who it was and fell off his horse in fright.
"You! You're…Lord Wallace!" Kent shouted with wide eyes.
"No, he's Mr. Clean…" Erk muttered sarcastically. Erk looked at the man and wondered why Kent would be so afraid of such an old geezer. He didn't look too threatening standing there with his bald head glistening in the early morning light. Erk was also not too threatened by someone who wheezed everytime they took a step.
"Kent, who is this?" Lyn asked as she walked up to inspect the stranger. Erk could see that a conversation was coming with a very possible chance of a RDOO so he turned around and hurried back with the rest of the group. But that becomes a rather difficult thing when it's foggy out so he stuck his hands out in front of him to make sure he didn't run into a tree, or worse, Rath's horse's rear-end, and kept walking. Eventually his hands hit something soft. Something soft and warm. Something soft and warm and round. Something soft and warm and round that was attached to something that could scream really, really loud.
"EEEEEEEEEEK! ERK, YOU PERVERT!!!!" Serra shrieked at the mage who had quickly withdrawed his hands when he realized what they had been touching.
"Sorry! I couldn't see because of the fog and-" the flustered anima user tried to explain but Serra couldn't hear anything over her own screams.
"NEVER, EVER touch me there AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR ME, ERK!?" she demanded and he nodded his head furiously. Serra's red face glowed through the fog and she held her staff at ready incase Erk tried something like that again. The poor purple-haired young man was saved from further hopeless argument when Sain called for them.
"O beauteous priestess and noble mage, head this way for we are now heading into yon battle!" Sain said and the two headed towards the sound of his voice to join the battle to get to Castle Caelin.
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Sain: Naughty, naughty Erk!
Erk: IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! There was a lot of fog and I couldn't see!
Sain: Suuuuure. :D
Arianna: Okay, we're gonna do this ending thing a different way. Instead of review responses we're gonna have answers to questions, character notes, and thank yous for reviews.
Eliwood: That sounds confusing….
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Q&A
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Canas: I'm here to answer all your questions!
:Seventh Sage: Are-a-fen? Really? How does that work, though?
Canas: Like this. Araphen. Ar-are a-a phen-fen. Thank you for your question.
:Dove-chan: I thought Ninian and Nils had red eyes.
Canas: You must have a better memory then Arianna because Vaida did say that in the game, but in Arianna's opinion their eyes are brownish red. Thank you for your question.
:Genocide Archfiend: What is with Lycians and RDOO's? How many countless times he has been mistaken for a woman? Was someone eating fries when they thought up Heintz's character? I mean seriously, was the guy looking at Heintz ketchup bottle when he should've been thinking of a name for the guy? Do Troubadours have the same oath of chastity as the servants of Elimine? Anyways, since Lyn story is almost at an end are u going to pick up from the beginning of Eliwood's story or at the start of Chapter two since that's when Serra comes back into the story? Are u going to write about the rest of Serra and Erk trip to Ostia before going into Eliwood's story?
Canas: What an inquisitive person! :) I'm not sure why Lycians seem to enjoy the RDOO's. Some strange culture thing, I suppose. Lucius recently told me the count is 6,781,231. What are these…fries? And what's ketchup? Troubadors most likely don't have vows, but I'll have to ask Priscilla to find out for sure. After Erk escorts Serra to Ostia the story will talk some about Erk back in Etruria and when he has to escort Priscilla then it will go to where Serra comes back in. Yes, the rest of the trip to Ostia will be included. Thank you for your questions.
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Canas: Ask a question and get an answer from your favorite shaman!
Latisha: Yeah, whatever. Moving on.
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Thank You!
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BIG THANKS TO: potter29vo, Ice Angel Mina, Seventh Sage, Dove-chan, Inferno-Hero, WildfireDreams, SweetMisery430, Kirtar General of the Avens, SkyFireZero, Genocideking Archfiend, Lemurian-Girl, Bloody-Youkai, and Ragnarok -legend!
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CHARACTER NOTES
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Erk: Still grouchy about his position and prone to sarcasm. He seems to be developing some feelings for Serra, though. :) Which is good, because otherwise I don't have a story.
Serra: Confused about how Erk is acting towards her, but he's also confused about how she acts towards him.
Wil: He's been picked on a few times but I swear that will change soon. I'm planning on Erk and Wil to become friends.
Sain: A flirt. As always. He speaks rather poetically most times.
Kent: Very serious and jealous of Rath. Serra and Kent don't get along.
Rath: The ladies' man, hehe. Acts a little too noble and manly, especially towards Lady Lyndis.
Florina: Shy and quiet. Hasn't been in the story much.
Dorcas: This poor guy has been in even less times.
Lucius: The advisor of the group.
Arianna: Uh…..me. Do I really need to say anymore?
Lyn: Perky and has a lot of 'Random Displays of Obviousness'.
Matthew: The jokester and trickster, but kind and helpful.
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Arianna: Okay, that's it! See ya for now!
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