Chris: Hah! I'll show you who can write original pairings! Me! Just kidding. Anyway, thanks to Nightmare3, I'm writing this. Thank him for the pairing. Which technically could work.
Disclaimer: No own Fire Emblem.
Memories
Marisa hissed as her sword clashed against the metal shield. Reacting quickly, she dodged the lance thrust and slashed at the knight's helmet visor, the only weak spot in the foe's armor. The purple-haired mercenary (A/N: I know in the game her class is Myrmidon, but she's a mercenary. One reason why I hate FE class names.) smiled grimly as she removed her sword, which was slick with the knight's blood. The corpse crashed to the ground, raising up tons of sand in the Jehanna desert.
Marisa looked around, searching for other bandits that might be hiding within the sand dunes. It was a year after the Demon King had been defeated and bandits still roamed the sands, preying on hapless caravans and merchants. Gerik's band of mercenaries had been hired as sort of a border patrol to root out any of the bandit hideouts. So far, they had done well, with only a couple of more enemies to kill before they could return home. The strange thing was that the Mercenaries Guild reported far more enemies in this bandit's nest than they had currently seen.
She looked around. Everything seemed to be cleaned up in her sector. Sure, there were the dead bodies lying around, but the desert was harsh and the vultures and crows would take care of them. In the end, everything would return to the sands of the desert.
Suddenly, an axe whipped by her ear, cutting off a couple of strands of her hair. The purple-haired girl spun around and found herself confronted by what appeared to be the remains of the bandit gang. Marisa's eyes glinted, with a feral grin on her lips. She always loved a challenge.
"Let's go, guys!" The leader, shown by the copious amounts of jewelry hanging from his body, gestured with his axe and the bandits charged at her. Marisa grasped her sword and stood in a defensive stance, analyzing the approaching foes for their weaknesses. She barely moved as a javelin flew past her, cutting a slight gash on her cheek.
Then the main rush of bandits came at her. Marisa dodged to the side, avoiding a lance thrust as she swung her sword to counter another bandit's axe. Quickly, she snuck past the bandit's guard and stabbed in the chest before kicking the corpse off of her sword and into another foe. She jumped backwards, avoiding another enemy's sword and she took a small moment to regain her senses. In battle, you could only concentrate on the weapons, but if you took time to analyze the people, you would do better in a fight.
So far, her opponents were a swordsman, a couple of axe-wielding bandits, and some soldiers. Marisa frowned. It was quite a big reception for just one person. Marisa decided to end this quickly. She didn't know if she could continue fighting a prolonged battle, and while she certainly didn't doubt herself, one person against those types of numbers spelled low chances of survival for the single person.
The bandits attacked again. Her sword flicked around the lance of one of the soldiers, slicing off the guy's arm and a couple of moments later, ending his life. However, she felt a stabbing pain in her side. While she was busy fighting the soldier, someone and stabbed her from behind. From behind of all places! Marisa wanted her revenge.
She quickly spun, killing the man who had stabbed her in the back. Marisa brought her sword to counter a sword strike and dodged an axe that would have sliced off her head. Which is when she sensed another attack from behind. She tried to avoid the strike, but the axe hit her on her arm, splitting open her skin and leaving a purple residue on her arm. Marisa stared at it slightly. Among the blood, the purple substance was slowly leaking into her bloodstream. That's when it hit her.
"Poison." She said it simply. There was no need to get frantic. Sure, the poison would restrict her movements and slowly eat at her, but at the moment, it wouldn't do much damage to her. The bandit's leader grinned. He had seen the look on her face as she realized what a bind she was in.
"Person to land the killing blow will get triple spoils on our next haul!" He shouted to his men and they gave a cheer before attack again. Marisa spat on the ground. Silly fools. But money is what drove people to do unspeakable things.
The swordsman attacked her, unleashing a flurry of blasts that Marisa easily countered. She continued on the defensive, waiting for a moment to strike. And there it was. The swordsman, too involved with his prey, had neglected to analyze his position and slipped on a loose mound of sand. As he fell, Marisa's sword was right there with him, plunging into the man's heart.
And then she realized her own mistake. She spent too much time trying to kill the swordsman that she didn't pay any attention to the other bandits. Marisa looked around. They had all disappeared. That didn't make any sense, though. There were no places to hide in these parts of the Jehanna sand dunes and there was no way they would dig through the sand to hide. She remembered the intelligence report and mentally smacked herself.
'They have magic users that can momentarily render their allies invisible.' Marisa looked around warily. No wonder they have had such success with their raids. Nobody saw them before they attacked! She heard the sand rustling from behind her and spun to meet the sword that was aiming for her chest. She swung her sword to deflect it…When her sword fell from her nerveless fingers. 'The poison!' It had finally done its work. The sword ripped through Marisa's stomach and she gasped in pain.
She flew backwards a couple of feet, landing on the sand with blood slowly leaking out of the numerous wounds on her body. She gave a shuddering sigh. Marisa knew that she would die someday. After all, there was no such thing as an Old Mercenaries Home. She dimly heard the bandit leader applauding the man who had stabbed her, certain that it was a killing blow. Of course, they left the sword inside of her, which gave her a couple of extra minutes to live. The pain was excruciating.
Marisa slowly closed her eyes. There was no point in continuing to look at the sky. She only hoped that the other members of the mercenary band were doing okay. Especially Ewan. That young boy was always cheerful and energetic. Something that was desperately needed in the lonely life of a mercenary. As she lay there, her blood staining the sands, memories flew past her. She decided to watch.
---
"Marisa, I'd like to introduce you to two new people on our team." Gerik, the green-haired leader of the group, pointed to the new recruits. Marisa quickly looked at them, not really interested. They seemed to be brother and sister. Of course, she only assumed so because of the hair, but it wasn't a big mistake to make. The brother was dressed is sky-blue mage robes and his face was lit up with wonder. The sister, who looked older, was dressed like one of the gypsy street dancers that you could find in one of the desert towns.
"The little boy here is Ewan. He's a young mage that's here for a little real life training. He'll only be bunking with us for a year and then it's back to his master, Saleh."
"It's nice to meet you!" Ewan bowed, a wide smile on his lips.
Marisa nodded at him. "Welcome. I'm Marisa."
"She sure doesn't talk a lot, does she?" Ewan looked at Gerik, who laughed.
"Nope! Marisa likes to keep to herself. But she's a great friend and a loyal ally once you get to know her!"
"Really?" Ewan came up closer. "Then I hope we can become friends, Miss Marisa!"
Marisa cracked a very small smile. "Just Marisa."
"Okay, Marisa!" Ewan bowed again.
"Ewan, stop bothering her and get back here!" The other girl came up and dragged Ewan back by pulling on his ear.
"Owww! Tethys! Don't pull so hard! You're hurting me, sister!" Ewan whined as Tethys pulled him back.
"I'm sorry for the trouble, Marisa. Sometimes Ewan can get a little out of hand." Tethys lightly kicked her brother on the leg.
"No trouble." Marisa looked at the sister. Her long red hair was tied in a braid that reached all the way to her hips. She wondered what kind of skills she would contribute to the team.
"And this is Ewan's sister, Tethys. She's a dancer from one of the cities. Unlike Ewan, she's here to stay. She's mainly here for her dances, but she does do tricks with a pair of twin daggers, so she will do fine."
Tethys flashed a small smile at Marisa and a bigger one at Gerik. While his sister was occupied, Ewan struggled out of her grip and walked up to Marisa again. Marisa looked down at the young boy.
"What is it?"
"I want to show you a magic trick I thought of!" Ewan grinned.
Marisa sighed mentally. She didn't want to watch the petty tricks of a kid. But it would be rude to say no. "Sure."
"Watch this!" Ewan deftly moved his fingers in an intricate symbol while murmuring a couple of words. Suddenly, three fireballs erupted from his hands and started floating. He quickly touched one and they began falling. The red-haired boy quickly started juggling the fireballs in his hands, doing small tricks with his hands.
Marisa thought he was done. After all, she had seen thousands of the same trick preformed all over Jehanna. But apparently, the mage wasn't finished yet. While he was juggling the fireballs, he called thunder down to strike each of the fireballs as they floated over his head. Slowly, the fireballs grew larger and larger. Ewan tossed them up in the sky, merging them, and he called a miniature lightning storm to crash into the giant fireball. It exploded into thousands of tiny little sparks that shone in the air before disappearing.
Marisa smiled. It was entertaining and very well made for a kid. "Nice."
"Thanks! I've been practicing a lot!" Ewan grinned again. "Next time, I'll do something even better!" He dashed off to another part of the mercenary camp.
Marisa looked at his retreating figure. 'He certainly is enthusiastic.'
---
"Being a mercenary isn't all that it's cracked up to be." Ewan panted. They had just completed their first assignment, guarding a merchant convoy across the desert. Along the way, they had encountered at least five bandit gangs and they had been attacked by all of them twice.
"Nope." Marisa shook her head. "But it pays well."
"Well, of course! Then who would be a mercenary?" Ewan laughed. "It is quite an interesting life! I can see why Master Saleh told me to train here for a while! My whole life hasn't been as interesting as these couple of days!"
Marisa cocked an eye at him. "You like this?"
"Of course! Sometimes, you need to go out and experience life the way it is! While you're a mercenary, you can do just that! Granted, you have to stay constrained to your assignments, but still! It feels good, fighting for your future like this."
"That's new." Marisa sighed.
"What's new?" Ewan turned towards her, a confused expression on his face.
"Nobody's ever thought of a merc's life like that."
"Really?" Ewan shrugged. "Well, that's what I think. Being a mercenary seems so much more fun that staying in a room and reading books. You get to explore everywhere!"
Marisa smiled slightly. "So, you'd like to be a mercenary when you get older?"
"Of course!" Ewan's eyes sparkled. "And you're smiling! Marisa, you're actually smiling! I've never seen you do that before!"
Marisa quickly wiped the smile from her face. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Ewan smiled. "Of course."
---
"Hey Marisa." Ewan and Marisa were walking through the streets of Alexandra, a town near the outskirts of the desert. Currently, the band of mercenaries didn't have an assignment to do, so Gerik let them spend some recreational time in Alexandra as sort of a gift for their hard work.
"What?" Marisa looked at the young mage, her face expressionless.
"Why do you always seem so serious and angry? I mean, I rarely, if ever, see you smile." Marisa opened her mouth, but Ewan stopped her. "And smiling after seeing your opponent make a mistake is not the same. When have you smiled for the simple sake of smiling?"
Marisa started to answer before pausing. She thought hard. "I…I don't know…"
Ewan grinned triumphantly. "I knew it! Well, I'm going to take it upon myself to get you to smile!"
"Don't." Marisa glared at Ewan, who just chuckled.
"What? And you're going to stop me?" Ewan spun his fingers, forming a wisp of fire within his hands that he left fly in the air for a while.
"Ewan…" Marisa continued glaring at him, a warning tone in her voice.
"Hey, if you'd actually smile a bit more, then people would talk to you more. You're kind of forbidding, you know?" Ewan smiled again.
"I…I am not." Marisa folded her arms with a huff.
"Well, smile for real sometimes! I won't stop bothering you until you do! Besides, it's so much more fun to travel with someone who can smile once in a while!" Ewan looked sternly at Marisa, wagging a finger at her. "I'm telling you! You better believe it! Hanging out with a squirrel is probably more fun than you!" He dashed off, laughing.
Marisa stared at him, feeling a pang in her chest. Now that she thought about it, a lot of people in the mercenary group never went out of their way to talk to her or anything. She thought about it for a while and shrugged. Maybe he had a point. But that didn't mean that it didn't hurt when he said it. Marisa wondered why. She walked after him, thinking about what he had said.
---
"I see you've taken my advice!" Ewan smiled at Marisa, who smiled back slightly. They were back in Alexandra, only it was a month later and the group had reaped over twenty-thousand gold in payments.
"Yeah…I guess." Marisa gave a shrug. Now that she had, in a sense, lightened up, she didn't feel so lonely in the camp. People occasionally talked to her and Gerik said that it was a huge improvement over the old Marisa. Still, something still felt wrong in Marisa's mind and heart.
"I told you!" Ewan laughed. "I knew it!" He clapped his hands, giddy with victory.
Marisa waved him off, embarrassed. "Stop that."
"Well, okay." Ewan stopped. "Hey, I was just wondering. Why did it take you so long to smile? And why are you always so serious anyway?"
"Why do you ask?" Marisa looked at him.
"I'm your friend, Marisa! It's my job to ask these things! Besides, I like you!" Ewan said truthfully. "And I don't like it when one of my friends acts like such a sourpuss. Come on! Tell me!"
"I assume you won't leave me alone unless I tell you." Marisa smiled ruefully.
"Exactly! Oh, and why do you always speak in short sentences? Like it's a hassle to speak or something!" Ewan continued questioning Marisa, an inquisitive look on his face.
"That one is easier." Marisa shrugged. "Elaboration is a waste of time."
"It is not! Elaboration is what makes speaking fun! You better speak in longer sentences next time I see you!" Ewan pointed a finger at Marisa again.
Marisa gave a sigh. 'Why do I put up with him?' She looked down at the young pupil. 'I don't know…Great…'
"Well?"
"Fine. I'll try it, okay? Are you happy now?"
Ewan scratched his chin. "Well, yeah. But something still bugs me…Oh yeah! Why it took you so long to open up to people! Why did it take you so long to smile for real?"
"It's just the way I am." Marisa glared at Ewan, who shook his head.
"I don't believe that. There's got to be a reason why." Ewan grabbed Marisa's hand. "Tell me."
Marisa tore her hand from Ewan's hand. "I don't have to tell you. Leave me alone."
"Well…If you say so…" Ewan mumbled and turned, walking off. Marisa felt that same pain in her chest as she watched him walk off. She glared angrily at herself and shook her head. Finally, she walked up to the mage.
"Grr…If you really must know…" Marisa folded her arms. "But I'm not going to like this one bit."
Ewan gave a cheer and led the two of them to a couple of benches nearby. "So? What is it?"
"It goes with the reason why I became a mercenary in the first place." Marisa looked at the ground. "I was born in a city called Cayo. It was a small town, really. Nothing flashy, but it was home. Kind of like Alexandra, but smaller. The people were nice enough and we occasionally received money and food from wandering caravans or mercenary groups. Gerik's band came to our city the most and contributed the most food, which is why I decided to join his band when the time came."
"So, what happened?" Ewan looked at her, his eyes wide.
"A sandstorm." Marisa said simply. "Struck from nowhere. Swamped our small town. There was nothing we could do. People were running around, screaming and yelling. Some were already dead, killed by large stones tossed by the storm or from tent poles crashing into their bodies. After it ended, the entire town was covered with sand. I was lucky. I was outside training when the storm hit. I saw the storm crash into my hometown and I rushed over there as fast as I could, trying to see if there was anyone I could save."
"Well…Was there?" Ewan looked at her hopefully.
"Nope. Everyone was buried. I tried digging people out, but the sands would just fall back into place. I…Well, let's just say I left the cheerful side of myself there with the dead. That's about it." Marisa gave a shrug. "I joined up with Gerik's mercenaries as soon as I saw them and I've been with the group ever since."
"Oh…I see…That's why you didn't want to tell me. I'm…uh…sorry." Ewan kicked at the ground somberly.
"…" Marisa went back to staring at the ground.
"Well, at least we have something common now…" Ewan ventured half-heartedly.
"What?" Marisa looked at him.
"Well, I can relate to your problems. Tethys and I are orphans. Our parents were killed." Ewan gave her a weak smile. "But…Can't let that stop us from doing the things that we want to do."
"I…see." Marisa looked at the kid with more respect.
"Well, it's almost time to go. Wanna leave or do you just want to sit for a while?" Ewan asked.
Marisa thought about it. "…Let's go. Dwelling on the past isn't something I prefer to do for long amounts of time."
Ewan smiled and took her hand. "Then let's go!" He jumped off the bench and the both of them walked back to the mercenary camp, feeling a little weight lifted from their souls.
---
"It's been nice to have you join us, but I'm afraid it's time for you to go." Gerik patted the young mage on the back.
"Thanks!" Ewan smiled. "I won't ever forget traveling with you!" He bowed to the gathered mercenaries. "I'll be seeing you, sister!"
"Take care, Ewan." Tethys enveloped her brother in a big hug.
"Awww! Tethys! Stop it!" Ewan squirmed out of Tethys' grip and walked up to Marisa. She looked down, slightly amused.
"What is it, Ewan?"
"I got this for you!" Ewan handed her a small necklace with a topaz stone set in the center. "I hope you like it!"
Marisa flushed slightly and fingered the piece of jewelry. She slowly took it out of Ewan's hands and looked at it. "Why, Ewan?"
"I told you we were friends! Besides, need to make sure you don't forget about the stuff I told you about! Maybe if you look at that, you'll remember that you have friends, okay? Take care, Marisa! I'll probably miss you the most!" Ewan dashed off towards a tall man with curly brown hair. "Bye everyone!"
"Are you ready, young Ewan?" The man looked down at the pupil, his hand on Ewan's shoulder.
"Yep! I'm all set, Master!" Ewan grinned and waved at all of them. "Hope to see you soon!"
Marisa waved back, a smile on her lips. She didn't know why, but she felt herself kind of missing the little brat. Sure, he got kind of annoying and he pried in everyone's business, but he was cheerful and happy. And kind of addicting, as well. Well, they might visit once in a while, so she was certain she'd see him again. "Bye Ewan."
---
"…" Marisa's eyes slowly opened. She blinked once before sitting up rapidly. "Ergh…" Her stomach was aching like crazy and the arm that was poisoned still felt slightly numb. The purple-haired woman looked around, confused. "What?" She was back in the mercenary camp, lying in a small cot in the healer's tent.
"Heh, you're finally awake!"
"What? Who's that?" Marisa started to get out of the cot, but a friendly hand pushed her back down. Marisa looked up to see Ewan standing above her, a wide grin on his face. "Ewan?"
"Hey!" Ewan sat on a cot opposite Marisa's. "Boy, it sure was close!"
"I thought I was going to die!" Marisa gasped, feeling her stomach and arm for her injuries. Her hands ran over sensitive, pink new skin.
"You were! Luckily, I got there fast enough." Ewan's smile grew wider. "We got rid of the bandits that did this to you, by the way."
"I kind of assumed that…" Marisa looked around. "But…I didn't see you anywhere! And how'd you know I was injured?"
Ewan pointed to the necklace. "That thing is magic, you know? The topaz amplifies magical powers. Not by a lot, and there are much better stones, but I wasn't that rich when I paid for it."
Marisa suppressed a chuckle. "So you were watching me the whole time."
"Not really. The only tracking spell I knew at the time would let me access your feelings at various periods of time. Not that strong, I know. So, basically, at times, I checked up to make sure you were staying true to my words." Ewan laughed. "And you did."
"Well, how could I forget about you?" Marisa shook her head ruefully. "You really…changed me, Ewan."
"Of course. I'm your friend, right?" Ewan leaned down, placing his elbow on his leg.
"Right…" Marisa felt something pang in her chest and she blurted, "Just a friend?" She quickly clapped her hands to her mouth, blushing.
Ewan laughed lightly. "Maybe a little more than just a friend." He blushed as well. Ewan pushed himself off of the cot. "Rest for a while. You'll probably be weak for a while. I don't want you to do anything rash."
Marisa smiled. "Ewan."
"Yeah?" Ewan walked back to her.
"Thanks a lot." Marisa slowly pulled the pupil towards her and kissed him on the lips. Ewan sank into the kiss and felt his arms enfold Marisa's lithe body. After a couple of breathtaking moments, the two separated.
Marisa flushed. "I can't believe I just did that."
"Well, don't worry about it." Ewan kissed Marisa lightly on the cheek. "Rest up. I expect you'll be back up and ready after a couple of hours. Then we can have our party."
"Party?" Marisa looked at Ewan, confused.
"Of course! Do you know how much those merchants paid us for our work? Around fifty-thousand gold! Gerik's holding a big celebration for us!" Ewan spread his arms wide, laughing. "Being a mercenary is the best thing in the whole world!" He dashed outside with Marisa watching him.
"Maybe it is…" She gave a sigh and closed her eyes, falling back into restive sleep.
Chris: So, there it is. Hope you liked it and…blah. And Nightmare3, when you read this, you better enjoy it!
Just kidding. Review please!