Chris: Yep. This is actually the prize for my fic-contest winner, who was Pureauthor. He wanted Erk x Priscilla. So yeah. And you may ask, "Why am I putting it in this?" Well, it fits the theme, and I said I'd be putting all these types of one-shot fics in this collection, so here it is. Whooness. And, I must admit, it's a weird idea. But hey, it could've happened.
Kiyoko-chan: Thanks for the compliments and…I think the review is long enough. And next time, I'll try to make it a little longer.
Anzu Rose: Hmm….Yeah…I could have done that, except I never thought about that being the ending. And I'm glad how you liked the way I wrote the relationships and stuff. And I was planning to have something with Guy and Lyn, but I switched it with Priscilla. So…Yeah.
Know Your Sins, and Repent: It's Not the Same
Erk paced across the floor of the Dragon's Gate, his hands clasped behind his back. His purple hair brushed against his neck, and his red robes dragged along the floor. Erk heard someone approach and he looked up. His eyes narrowed as he recognized the person. "Oh, it's you, Nergal. What do you want?"
"Now, don't talk to your master like that! Didn't I help you when you wanted something from me?" Nergal smiled patronizingly at the young mage. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."
"Hmph. I'm doing quite well." Erk folded his arms, glaring at the Dark Druid. "Now leave me alone."
Nergal grinned. "Very well, young Erk. I trust you'll be ready for when Eliwood comes?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be ready."
"Good, good." Nergal spun and headed out the door, chuckling.
Erk, after seeing Nergal leave, slumped into a chair, holding his head. I don't think this is worth it. Having to fight my friends? He heard someone else enter, and hug him from behind. He stiffened, but then relaxed as he realized who it was. "Oh, hi Priiscilla." (A.N.: No, this isn't a typo. You'll see why I spelled it that way.)
"Hi Erk! How are you doing?" Priiscilla smiled and her voice cheery. Erk stood up, smiling slightly, and turned to face her.
He wrapped her in a big hug, and muttered, "Heh, I'm better now that you're here." Erk let her go, and gazed at her red hair and her slim figure. She was wearing a green and light-blue dress, and Erk smoothed out some of the wrinkles in it. Priiscilla giggled and kissed Erk lightly on the cheek.
"Glad to hear it. Well, I've got some things to do, but I'll be back!" Priiscilla walked out of the room, waving good bye to Erk. Erk waved back, and winced slightly as he spotted the color of her eyes. Those eyes, which used to be green, were now a bright shade of gold. Of course, it wasn't like that was the real Priscilla. She had died weeks ago, fighting in the war against Nergal. Erk shook his head sadly. He didn't know if the real Priscilla would like him working for the person she had fought against. But then, that was all in the past, right?
Another battle again. This time, they were fighting in Valor Isle, against Nergal's hideous army of morphs. And they all looked the same. They wore the same expressions, died in the same manner, even yelled the same curses. This is was a tough fight. Morphs kept springing out of abandoned buildings, forests, the mountains, everywhere! Erk, Rebecca, and Priscilla had been charged with wiping out the knights and generals that kept popping out of the forests that lay before the final set of ruins. It seemed easy enough. Even though they were supposed to be super-human morphs, they still moved pretty damn slow, and the forests gave the three of them excellent cover against the onslaught.
"Fire rage in the sky! Enemies burn, wither, and die! Surround my enemy and scorch his heart! Make the evil darkness part! Elfire!" Erk traced an intricate symbol in the air, and a fireball the size of a meteor crashed down into the iron-clad knight. Erk winced. At least the morph didn't have to feel his flesh roasting in that heap of armor, which was now melted. He turned to the other two people fighting with him. "How are you two doing?"
"I'm doing fine!" Rebecca shouted back, shooting a silver-tipped arrow that pierced a knight's armor and killing the morph lodged inside. Erk nodded and looked to Priscilla, the person he was charged with protecting. She was panting, probably not used to a lot of physical combat. But she managed to give Erk a wide grin.
"Same here. I hope you are doing well, Erk." Priscilla winked, and Erk felt himself blush.
"Uh…I'm fine, Lady Priscilla."
"Hahaha! I thought I told you to stop being so formal with me!" Priscilla let out a chuckle and Erk followed suit. Rebecca grinned nearby.
"Come on! We're in the middle of a fight!"
"Right, right!" Erk focused back to the battle, and saw another group of armored morphs rush towards them. But he felt something else…Something sizzling…Suddenly feeling extremely scared, he turned to the two girls. "Watch out!"
"What?" Rebecca stumbled backwards, barely evading a lightning bolt that crashed where she used to be standing. Unfortunately, the resounding shockwave lifted her from the ground and caused her to collide with a tree, knocking her unconscious.
"Dammit!" Erk bit off another curse. "Priscilla! We'd better get her away from here. She'd be easy pickings for those morphs."
"R-Right!" Priscilla pulled out a Warp staff, and sent Rebecca back towards the army HQ, which was set up a couple of miles away. She turned back and saw that Erk was having problems. The morphs were smarter this time around, and they had decided to team up on Erk. He was doing a fine job of dodging and destroying the enemies that surrounded him, but she could see that he was tiring quickly.
"Huff…" Erk panted. The last enemy attacking him, a person wrapped in so much armor he was around twice Erk's height, was still standing, even after he had cast a Thunder and Elfire spell. The general held a humongous lance in his hands, and he launched it towards Erk's head. Erk let himself collapse, bringing to his mind the last spell that he could possibly cast. Knowing that he had only a couple of seconds before the general was able to ready his weapon for another strike, he chanted as quickly as possible.
"Forge's flame, burning bright, hit my foe with fiery light. Fire." A small fireball erupted from his hands and spattered against the general, barely even melting its armor. Erk let out a small sigh. It had been too little, too late. He could see the general raising his lance for the last blow. He sighed, resigning himself to his fate. Sorry Priscilla…I guess I won't be able to take you back to Etruria to explore Castle Wrigley. He closed his eyes…And didn't feel anything. Snapping his eyes back open and scrambling up, he yelled in horror as he tried to piece out what had happened.
Apparently, Priscilla had rushed up to the fallen Erk, and had used a quick Warp spell to teleport him a couple of feet away, completely safe from the general's lance. However, that didn't mean that she was safe. The general, seeing that his first target had disappeared, had set his sights on Priscilla instead. Just a little shift on the haft of the lance, and he had pierced her body with his lance. Erk screamed again. The general pushed the body off of his lance, laughing as he saw the corpse hit the ground with a dull thump. Erk couldn't stop screaming.
No…This isn't what is supposed to happen! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! He clenched his hands into fists, and fire erupted from them. "Die, you bastard!" He flung fireball after fireball, not caring what happened to him, not caring what happened to his magic, not caring about anything except for the death of this general who had killed the woman he loved.
The rest of the army converged in that spot around an hour later. The general was nothing more than a solid lump of steel cooling on the ground. And as for the morph that had led this whole army, well, she was just a pile of dust guarding the entryway into a set of ruins. Of Priscilla and Erk, there was no sign. So they assumed that both of them had died fighting against the foes there.
But that really wasn't the case. After he had killed the Morph that had started all of this, Erk had carefully lifted Priscilla's body. And after murmuring a few spell words, he warped away, carrying his treasure to Dragon's Gate, seeking the help of the person had had been fighting against for a year or two of his life. Of course it wasn't intelligent to ask your hated enemy for help. It wasn't intelligent. It wasn't logical. It wasn't rational. Hell, even Eliwood wasn't stupid enough to look to Nergal for help. Of course, that last part was just banter and probably not a slight against Eliwood's intelligence…Or maybe it was. The point is, Erk wasn't behaving rationally, intelligently, or logically. He just wanted Priscilla back. So he carried her up into Dragon's Gate, seeking help from the Dark Druid. And he had gotten it.
Erk looked around his room in the Dragon's Gate and sighed. Well, it was true he had gotten Priscilla back, or at least something that looked like her. But it just wasn't the same. During the first couple of days after Priiscilla had been made, he had deluded himself into thinking that Priiscilla was just like the original. Heck, she looked like Priscilla, acted like her, wore the same clothes as her, talked like her,…everything! But, during those days, something inside Erk had begun to notice that Priiscilla wasn't Priscilla. He couldn't explain it, but the warmth, the joy, the happiness that Priscilla used to bring him could not be captured by a morph.
So Erk had begun to doubt his decision of helping Nergal. And Eliwood's army was getting closer every day. Because the thing he traded for this mockery of the real Priscilla was that he would fight against his friends when they came across the Dragon's Gate. And Erk had accepted. Anything to get Priscilla back. But now Erk was getting the feeling that Nergal was suspicious of him, and had told Priiscilla to spy on him. Erk couldn't do anything about that now. Priiscilla was still enough like the original to make him feel better at times. But he did manage to find a couple of weak spots in the architecture of Dragon's Gate, and with a little bit of luck, Erk believed that he could find a way to end this all. To protect his friends from having to fight whatever horrors Nergal had in store, to kill Nergal with his own hands, to be able to finally see the real Priscilla, and to end the eternal servitude for the morph Priiscilla. So, Erk planned, and waited for the day he would be able to accomplish all.
And then the time came. Erk could see Eliwood's Army marching up the mountain path towards Dragon's Gate. And soon it would be show time. He checked the building to make sure everything was set up properly, and when he was sure it was, he stood at the entrance, waiting. Nergal warped beside the mage.
"Are you ready to fulfill your part of the bargain?"
"Yes. Now leave me alone. I'm busy."
"Heh. Very well. Oh, and don't think I didn't notice you setting up mines and tomes around the building. I've ordered Priiscilla to remove them. Maybe better luck next time, right? Hehehe…Hahahah…HAHAHAHA!" Nergal strolled off, leaving a seething Erk behind.
So he knew! Dammit! I was so close! Well…I'll just have to see. Erk shook his head, getting the plummeting feeling of despair. He had hoped for so long, and Nergal had dashed his hopes. But, out of the corner of his eye, he could see Priiscilla winking and smiling at him. What is that morph doing? Doesn't she know Nergal told me…Unless… Erk remembered a conversation he had with Canas long ago.
Canas kneeled, examining the remains of a morph. Erk walked up beside him, and Canas asked a question. "Erk…Do you believe that morphs have souls? Every being has a soul, right?"
Erk stopped. "Why are you asking that? They're just created things, right?"
Canas stood, shaking his head. "True…But I don't understand it. The scriptures say that everything on this earth has a soul, correct?"
"Yeah."
"Why then…Would morphs not have souls? Even though they are just created beings, aren't we all? We were created by our parents. Would that mean we do not have souls either?"
"Um…"
"Sorry for asking these questions. Um…I better get back to studying. Thank you for your time, Erk." Canas walked off, muttering to himself. Erk scratched his head, and then grinned as he spotted someone.
"Hey Canas!"
"Yes?" The purple-haired shaman turned.
"I don't know about morphs, but I do know that my soul is right over there." Erk pointed to the distant figure of Priscilla. He dashed off to meet her, maybe hoping to talk to her for a while.
"Right…" Canas smiled. "Right…"
Could morphs truly have souls? Erk shook his head. This isn't the time or the place for such things. He looked up, and saw that almost the whole army had assembled. Well, it's now or never… Erk stepped out into the open, and was greeted with a chorus of amazing shouts.
"It's Erk!"
"I thought he was dead!"
"Same here!"
"Well, we never really did find the bodies."
"Hey, does that mean Priscilla is alive too?"
"You're right! Hey Erk! Is Priscilla with you?"
Erk closed his eyes against the deluge of questions. He held up his hands, waiting for silence. "Please, friends, you must calm down."
"Calm down?" Hector stepped up. "What do you mean 'calm down'? We thought you were dead!"
"I realize that, and I am sorry for the deception, but you must leave Dragon's Gate now!"
"Why? We're here to kill Nergal!" Hector grew suspicious. "Hey, why are you here anyway? You probably defected to Nergal's side!"
Nergal warped in, a twisted smile on his face. "Yes, exactly. Erk here is my loyal apprentice. Right, apprentice?" The Dark Druid squeezed Erk's shoulder tightly.
"Y-Yes…Right."
A roar of outrage sounded throughout the ranks of the army. "Erk…I thought you were our friend." Eliwood shook his head sadly.
"But I am! You don't understand!"
"We understand all right, you traitor! Come on, let's get him!"
"No!" Erk backed up as he saw his former friends charging him. He looked wildly around. Nergal was next to him. His friends were outside of the main building. And all those morphs that were lying in ambush…They were inside the building. St. Elimine, I pray that you give me strength. Erk pulled out a small tome from his cloak and tossed it in the air. "I pray to the gods, whatever gods there are! Unleash the true fury of the storms and hellfire! Channel my energies and powers to destroy my foes! Volcanic Fury!" The tome exploded, releasing the energies that Erk had built up in it. And throughout the main building of the Dragon's Gate, the tomes and mines that Erk had set up, still in their places, activated. Lodged in the weakest spots, they exploded and cast their spells with much greater force than normal. Nergal looked up angrily.
"You fool! If I die, I'm taking you with me!" Nergal punched Erk in the mouth. The young mage tasted blood.
"Haha…At least you will die!" Erk waved away his friends. "Go now! Before this whole building collapses!"
"…" Hector looked at the mage hard, then nodded. "Come on! You heard the man! Let's go!" They turned, some giving last glances at Erk before running to find some shelter. Erk smiled triumphantly.
"You've lost…And I've done it all!" Erk turned towards Nergal, who looked around frantically. He was too far from the exit to make a break for it, and the trembling of the building distracted him from spell casting.
"Fine!" Nergal punched Erk again, and squeezed his hands around Erk's throat. The purple mage began choking, and stumbled against one of the pillars. He heard the ceiling begin to fall, and managed one last smirk at Nergal before everything faded black.
Erk coughed, blood spurting from his split lip. He looked up. I don't feel dead…This sure isn't what I was told the afterworld would look like. Why…There's the Dragon's Gate. Erk lifted himself from the ground, coughing slightly as he felt the bruises on his throat. He tried talking, and found out that he was fine, except for a slight pain. "Hey! I'm back at Dragon's Gate! I'm not dead! But…This doesn't make sense!"
He turned and spotted a hovering image of someone he knew very well. "Priscilla?" The image shook its head. "No…Wait…Priiscilla! B-But…Wait, how did my spell work anyway…I thought that Nergal told you to remove them…" His head snapped up, his brain finally piecing together what had happened. "You disobeyed your creator!" The image nodded. "But why?"
"Because…Even though I wasn't really your girlfriend, you still treated me like I was. And I appreciated that. Maybe…That could be the answer to your friend's question. Maybe…I'll see you later?" The image waved once before disappearing.
"Yes…You can count on it, Priiscilla." Erk nodded gratefully. "Thank you. And maybe I do have that answer. I better tell Canas when I can find the army camp. I wonder just how long I was out…" He walked down the hill, finally able to let his despair and longing go. Because he knew that in the future, he'd be able to see both of his rescuers again. But, until then, he'd just have to see what life had in store.
Chris: Yay. Another weird story. And Pureauthor's prize. Hope he likes it. And I hope you like it as well. So review and stuff! Cause it might make me update faster.
Mia: Yeah. It might.
Farina: Whoop-de-freaking-doo.
