Well, I made the deadline I was aiming for! Twenty four hours from the time this chapter is being posted this story will be one year old! Truly exciting stuff!


Chapter 26: Ransackers and Rogues

"Why would you pick today of all days to go shopping?" Severa yells in frustration as we run up the hill.

"It was my day off, when else am I going to go into town?" I protest indignantly, sprinting as fast as I can. "Why didn't you tell me this was going to happen?"

"You've barely left the barracks in two months, I didn't think it would be a problem!"

"Why are the two of you talking like you knew this was going to happen?" Cordelia cuts in, yelling over both of us.

"I didn't have a clue!" I snap back. "This is every bit as surprising to me as it is for you."

"I have been listening to this conversation, you know!" She snaps, panting for breath. "You didn't know it was happening today, but you definitely knew it was going to happen!"

"It's a war Cordelia, political assassinations are a thing that happens in war!" I deflect, giving Severa a sharp look to drop it.

"Don't you look at me like that, this isn't my fault!"

"So help me I will ground you, young lady!" I groan in frustration, before looking back at Cordelia. "Look, we discussed the possibility that something like this would happen in the future, but the how and when wasn't anything we knew for sure. Severa knows a guy with connections into this stuff, so she got some knowledge in advance, but clearly she…" I trail off from what I felt was some high quality bullshitting as I take in the state of Cordelia as she keeps up with us. "Geez, are you okay?"

"I… I've never been much for running." Cordelia groans as she struggles her way up the hill. "It's… it's the one thing I'm not… Oh mercy, not good at when it comes… to exercise."

"Holy crap, why didn't you just get a horse in town?" I frown worriedly.

She grimaces, clearly having not thought about it until just now. "I don't know, you just took off running! I didn't want to be left behind… How are you so okay with this!?" She cries out in frustration.

"I've been running every day for months now, and marching all day before that." I shrug. "I can't ride horses without my eyes swelling shut so I learned not to skip leg day."

"Lucky…" Cordelia moans.

"Not really, allergies suck." I frown, taking in her appearance. She's still keeping up with Severa and I, but it's getting increasingly painful to look at her. "I could carry you if you'd like?"

"I'm not a child!" She snaps indignantly.

"Wow, never mind then." I blink in surprise, and Cordelia becomes suddenly contrite.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I just… Oh, this is embarrassing." She trails to a stop and doubles over panting, hands on her knees. "Just… Go on without me. I'll catch up."

"We'll be waiting all night for that at this rate." Severa replies sarcastically, looking like she's enjoying this situation entirely too much.

"Not helping, Severa." I scold, before turning back to Cordelia. "It's not much farther Cordelia, we're almost at the top of the hill. Come on."

"Are we seriously going to wait for this slowpoke the whole way?"

"Severa, if you want this to go faster then run ahead. Get to the barracks, suit up, and grab my sword and armor. We both know you're way faster than I am anyways." Severa snaps off a mess of complaints faster than I can really follow, and then smoothly accelerates ahead.

"What a twerp, showing up her dad like that." I joke to Cordelia, who manages a shaky smile in response. "That's the spirit, let's go."

I coach her along the rest of the way up the hill, and while she's still clearly exhausted as we crest the top, she's quick to recover once she isn't dealing with an incline. We take a moment to catch our breath, and that's when I notice a small group by the castle gates. "Cordelia, you good to get to your barracks?"

"I'll be fine. Just…" She puts her hand to her mouth and blows a sharp whistle. After a moment a loud whinny rings out over the training ground. "There. Aurora is on her way. I'll be fine."

"Okay. I'm going to go see what's going on over there." I gesture to the gates.

"Right." Cordelia nods. "Be careful."

I nod back and rush over to see a group of several Shepherds clustered near the gate. Virion, Vaike, Noire, Stahl, and Sully… oh, and Kellam. "Oi!" I shout out as I approach. "What's going on?"

"The hell have you been?" Vaike gripes irritably as everyone looks my way. "We were looking all over for you and Severa."

"I was in town when I saw that fire go up. Miriel's work?"

"That's our best guess." Sully shrugs helplessly. "The entrances are all sealed shut. None of us have been able to get in and see what's going on."

"Some of the Pegasus Knights mentioned Plegian assassins." Stahl adds. "But there's arrows flying all over the place in there, so they can't risk bringing passengers."

"So, what, we're just stuck waiting out here?" I blink in shock.

"Not so, Ben." Virion smiles confidently. "The lovely Miss Anna was able to scale the wall not long ago. I expect it will only be a matter of time before…" He trails off at the sound of a rattling behind him. "Ah, and there she is now!"

The main gates only open a bit before sticking, but it's enough for everyone to squeeze through, though Kellam needs a bit of help from Sully and I. Once they're in I hang back. "Severa's coming with my gear. You guys go ahead and we'll catch up."

"Alright, don't be too long." Sully replies with a grin. "You wouldn't want to miss the fun."

"I admire your confidence, dear Sully, but I advise you restrain your usual fiery enthusiasm for now." Virion cuts in with a grimace. "I fear this will be no enjoyable affair. Now then, our first priority should be to confirm the safety of the Exalt. No doubt we will find Chrom there. Ben, it will be no easy task traversing a castle full of Plegian soldiers with only Severa to support you. Be careful, my friend."

"You too." I clap him on the shoulder. "All of you. I'll see you once this mess is over." I exchange similar sentiments with the others and then see them all off.

Anna emerges from the gatehouse as the others begin to move and falls in with them immediately. She's covered in blood, but from the carefree way she waves to me I can tell it's not hers. Frightening woman, that one. I sneak back out through the gate for now, since I'm still defenseless. Until I have my sword and armor, there's not much I can really do.

"Well, maybe not nothing." I mutter, pulling the bundle I bought with Cordelia off of my back. "This seems as good a time as any to bust out the new gear."

Cordelia's hunch about the leg armor not working with jeans proves true, so I have to hide away in the shadow of the castle wall while I swap to the pants she recommended for me. An intensely uncomfortable moment, but necessary for me to go into battle properly protected. Thankfully I have time to spare, as it takes several minutes more before I finally see Severa return.

"Alright, I've got your stupid armor, so you can…" She pauses as she draws closer, staring at my new equipment. "Where'd you get those?"

"Cordelia helped me buy them in town today." I reply as I grab my stuff from Severa and start suiting up. "We also grabbed a spellbook, but I'll need some time with Miriel before it's ready for use."

"Right." Severa frowns deeply at that. "Because you and Cordelia are such good friends now."

I consider her tone for a moment, then look around the field. Severa's head start seems to be holding strong, no sign of Cordelia yet. Let's nip this one in the bud.

"We're friends, yes." I say, pretending to preoccupy myself as I swap my sweater for the jacket.

"Good enough friends that you apparently tell her everything!" Severa accuses.

"Not everything. I'm certain there's a great deal she doesn't know about me."

"That's bullshit! You told her I was your daughter!"

"And you are." I raise an eyebrow. "I adopted you."

"That- that's not the point!" Severa protests indignantly. "You said we weren't supposed to talk about it."

"And we're not. Not yet." I sigh heavily. "I don't like it, but it really is better if nobody knows for the time being. It would raise far too many questions."

"Then why did you tell her!?" Severa cries out in frustration.

"The same reason I told you earlier." I lower myself to one knee and take her by the shoulders. "She has a right to know."

"Says who?"

"Severa." I frown at her. "I know you have problems with Cordelia. I understand that. But that doesn't change the fact that she's your mother."

"No she isn't!" Severa snaps. "My mother died so long ago I don't even remember her."

"I died too." I look her in the eye. "My future self died, and that doesn't make me any less your father."

"It's different with you." Severa grimaces.

"And I'm glad for that." I grin. "So fucking glad. You have no idea how much it means that you and I can have this connection. But..." I force myself to become stern again. "That doesn't make Cordelia's connection to you any less valid."

"It should…" Severa pouts.

"I don't think you believe that any more than I do." I chuckle. "Look, I'm not saying you have to force yourself to get close to her like you are with me. I don't think Cordelia would be any more ready for that than you are. Hell, I'm not even saying you have to be friendly to her!"

"Then what the heck are you saying?" Severa frowns, more thoughtfully this time.

"I'm saying…" I pause for a moment to sort my thoughts out. "The time will come soon enough where the others are going to learn who you are. Who you really are. Same for Noire, and Lucina, and everyone else who came back with you. And once they learn that, they'll start to learn the rest. What you've lived through. What you've seen. Who you were close to. The time will come, whether you want it to or not, when people learn that Cordelia was your mother. And when that time comes, she will want to be involved."

"She never seemed to want to be involved that much when I was a child!" Severa snaps, getting irritable again.

"I can't speak for how Cordelia was in your world." I frown, disbelieving but choosing my words carefully. "I never knew your Cordelia. From what I've seen of this Cordelia though, I feel confident that she'll try. Now, I have no place telling you how you and your mother can or can't get along." She opens her mouth to say something and I cut in hastily. "But! But, I will say that you shouldn't decide now. Not before she knows. It's not fair to cut her out before she even knows who you are."

Severa pulls away properly this time, sniffling. "What if I don't want to be fair to her? It's not like she was fair to me!"

"Maybe so." I concede, getting to my feet. "But I think Cordelia at least deserves a chance."

"Why do you care so much?" Severa replies shakily, still not looking my way.

"Because I'm your dad. Because Cordelia is your mother. And because Cordelia is my friend. And all of those things are pretty goddamn important to me." I nod, more to myself since Severa's still hiding her face from me. "I'll be real with you kiddo, there's no outcome to this situation that won't be dysfunctional on some level. But it'll be worth it to give it a chance. I truly believe that."

Severa's quiet for a while, and would probably remain quiet for a lot longer if the sound of an approaching Pegasus didn't shock her out of it. She rubs furiously at her eyes, then turns back to me grouchily. "Fine. I'll play nice. For now. You'd better appreciate it!"

"I do." I grin. "Now, you mind helping your dad get these bracers tightened properly? If we wait for me to do it we'll be out here all night."

Severa gives me a suspicious look, but obediently returns to help fix my armor. Such a good daughter. But far too trusting. She's barely finished helping me when my arms lash out. She realizes the trap has been sprung a moment too late.

When Cordelia lands next to us it's to the sight of me holding a flailing Severa against my chest in an iron grip. "Am I interrupting something?" She asks bemusedly.

"YES!" Severa cries with horror as she realizes an audience has appeared.

"Nonsense!" I grin, hugging Severa even tighter. "There is no force on this planet capable of interrupting the love a father has for his daughter!"

"Dad! Stoppit! This is embarrassing!"

"Embarrassing?" I gasp in mock horror. "You're saying your dad is embarrassing to you?"

"Extremely!" She snaps back, finally managing to pull away and taking the opportunity to stomp off towards the gates. "Gawds, you're ridiculous!"

I burst out laughing the moment Severa's pulled away, unable to contain it any longer. "Ah, teenagers." I grin, wiping the tears from my eyes. "Just the greatest."

"Is that a common thing for you two then?" Cordelia asks, chuckling along.

"Not really." I reply, my good mood suddenly feeling more bittersweet. "The adoption isn't really public yet. So I don't really get to be that open about it yet. I… might have been indulging a bit since you're one of the only people who've been told. Well, that and I wanted to punish her a bit for being a twerp to you earlier. A little bit of embarrassment works well for that I think."

"Certainly an interesting method." Cordelia grins. "Though I'm not sure you need to hold back so much. Is it really so important to keep it a secret? I think this adoption seems like a healthy thing for both of you."

My initial instinct is to say 'Of course it's important!' but then I stop and think about it a bit longer. Is it important? I wanted to keep it secret because the true nature of our relationship is so complicated, but…

Haven't I already stumbled into the perfect way to explain the situation between the two of us? Isn't it easier to just say I've adopted Severa? Like, hell, that's not even a lie. It's certainly a statement lacking in some information, but… who the fuck cares? I've always said half-truths are the best way to conceal something anyways, so telling the Shepherds I'm adopting Severa is just going to make our lives a hell of a lot easier.

"You know something, you're right." I reply, grinning broadly. "I've been overthinking things. I'll talk to Severa about it and we can tell the others once this mess is cleaned up."

"I'm sure they'll all be thrilled to learn of it." Cordelia smiles broadly.

"Yeah. Yeah! That's a serious weight of my mind. I'm feeling better already! Thanks Cordelia."

"You're welcome!" Cordelia nods. "I'm glad to be of service!"

I nod back, then focus. "Alright, so now that that's sorted let's get to the important stuff. What's your situation here?"

"My situation?" Cordelia pauses, unsure of what I'm referring to.

"What are you doing right now? It looks like most of your fellow knights are up there right now." I gesture to the air around the castle, where countless white Pegasus can be seen in the flickering orange of firelight. "Are you going to join them?"

"I probably should…" Cordelia frowns, looking up with me. "But I think you two need my help more than they do right now. All that I can do in the sky is clear the wall tops and windows, and that looks to be a stalemate at the moment."

I take her word for it, my vision not being nearly sharp enough to take tactical notes on the battle taking place up there. "Alright, let's go meet with Severa for the moment. Best leave Aurora, she won't be much use once we're inside the castle."

The Pegasus snorts indignantly, but listens when Cordelia directs her back to the stables. The two of us meet with Severa just inside the gates and survey the situation as best as we can from here.

Frankly speaking, it's a mess. Bodies are strewn all around the courtyard, and most of them look to be our own guards. "One Plegian for every five of our own." I note, looking it all over. "How many goddamn soldiers did Plegia sneak in if they can afford to lose this many of their assassins?"

"Severa, your father said earlier that you had a contact, right? Did they mention anything about the sort of numbers we're facing?"

Severa looks at me desperately, but I can only shrug. "You're the one with the information here kiddo." All I did was make up a way for you to have it. That's all I can contribute in this situation.

"I… don't actually know." Severa shuffles nervously. "All I knew was that it was happening tonight."

"Which was information you really should have shared sooner." Cordelia frowns sternly.

"Cordelia." I cut in swiftly before Severa can start yelling. "That's not helpful right now. We can discuss it when things are less dire."

Cordelia blanches at that. "…You're right, I apologize. This isn't the time for accusations."

"Damn right it's not!"

"Severa!" I turn back to the kid irritably. "That's not remotely helpful either. Now. Both of you. Focus. We don't know their numbers, so we need to plan to compensate for that."

"Our first move should be to find Chrom." Cordelia says immediately. "He's probably defending the Exalt as we speak. He'll need our help."

Severa rolls her eyes at that, but nods. "Yeah, Chrom's probably going to be dealing with the worst of the fighting right now."

I shake my head slowly. "No… No, that's exactly why we can't head for him first, actually."

They both look to me, Cordelia in shock and Severa in curiosity, and I explain. "We don't have the means to get to Chrom like this. The fight around the Exalt is going to be fierce and cramped. A full out brawl in narrow corridors. Our only chance to get through that would have been to go with Virion's group, since he had Kellam and Stahl to act as a vanguard, but they'll be in the thick of it by now. We don't have an effective vanguard with us. I can take a hit, but my ability to effectively fight back is still suspect. If we head straight for the Exalt and something goes wrong, all three of us will be dead before we even see Chrom."

Cordelia frowns, clearly wanting to refute my assessment, but unable to. She still doesn't know the extent of my situation, but the fact that I was the only Shepherd left behind on the trip to the border was not lost on her. In the end she's forced to agree, by virtue of simply having no clue what I am or am not capable of. She nods reluctantly.

"So what do we do, then?" Severa asks.

I think for a while longer before it comes to me. "The library. I'll bet anything that's where Miriel sent that signal from. It's also an easily defendable location, especially with the Pegasus Knights keeping watch over the windows from outside. If she's still there then we'll have some real firepower in our corner."

"Sounds like a plan." Severa nods. "Alright, this way."

"No Severa, I'm taking point." I shake my head.

"What?" Severa blinks, aghast, then becomes immediately furious. "Don't be an idiot, you're not ready."

"Severa, if you two try to spend your time defending me this whole time then we won't get anywhere." I reply. "I don't know if I'll be able to kill them, but I can guard well enough and I'm stubborn enough to take a hit. I'll be our shield. Cordelia, you have the longest reach out of any of us. You're behind me. I'll make openings, you take them. Severa, guard our flanks. You're the fastest one of us, so you can cover us the best."

"You're sure about this?" Cordelia asks.

"Positive." I grin with bravado I don't quite feel. "I admit I'm a bit of a mess at the moment, but I'm far from helpless."

"Fine." Severa snaps irritably. "Fine! But if this turns into a repeat of Ferox, I'm killing you myself!"

"It won't." I reassure her. "Alright ladies, let's go. Stick to the shadows, we don't want any archers getting ideas."


We enter the castle by the east entrance, taking the long way around the courtyard so that we can keep to the shadow of the wall. As we draw closer the sound of metal against metal rings out, evidence of battles still being furiously waged within despite how late we're arriving.

As we approach the door several Pegasus Knights draw near, but Cordelia signals them away before any potential friendly fire occurs. They return to the sky, where the others are still picking off whatever Plegians expose themselves on the upper levels.

Inside the castle things only look bleaker. The guards clearly hadn't yet been prepared when the Plegians swept through, and they lay scattered about with little evidence of true pitched combat. Blood stains the walls, soaking through tapestries and pooling on the floor. Many of the torches have been extinguished in the scuffle, and…

It's all… very familiar.

"Merciful Naga, this is horrible!" Cordelia gasps in shock, her surprise distracting her from my own distress. I glance back to see her gripping her lance, face pale as she surveys the carnage. Behind her though, Severa is giving me a meaningful glance.

She walked those halls in my wake. She knows that I've seen such a thing before. That I've caused it. I can sense her bracing herself to make me retreat. If she wanted to I know she could do it. I'm physically stronger, but in a fight she outclasses me in every other regard. It's only by her respect for me that I've been allowed to come this far. That, and she no doubt wants to see me succeed here. She wants the reassurance that her dad will be strong enough to handle it.

Well I do hate disappointing people. I raise my sword, and advance slowly down the hall. "Don't dwell on it Cordelia." I say grimly. "There's nothing we can do for them now. Focus on those that still need defending."

Cordelia nods, steeling herself and advancing resolutely. Strong woman. This is death of a much more intimate nature than that of the battlefield. I can only imagine that it's far more difficult for her. Or at the very least a new form of difficult than what she's used to. But she faces it with her head held high, spear at the ready.

The next corner nearly saps that will all over again. "No." I gasp in horror, and hear the other two cry in shock behind me. I can't bring myself to pay them any mind though.

It seems the Plegians were indiscriminate in their slaughter. The armed guards were one thing, but most of these people aren't holding weapons. "I forgot this was where the servant's quarters were." I whisper, staring at the sight of the slaughtered civilians in front of me.

The castle's craftsmen clearly had the worst of it, as the attack began right as they were returning to their quarters for the evening. But some of the others… Maids. Some of the cooking staff. A young boy I vaguely recognize as the Smith's apprentice. All butchered.

A glimpse of yellow catches my eye and my heart stops. I rush forward, recklessly charging down the hall despite the startled cries of the others. A maid lies facedown on the floor, a slash having torn her back apart to the extent that I can see her spine exposed. Blonde hair is splayed out around her head, the ends soaking in blood. I reach down to turn the body over, not daring to breathe.

I don't recognize this face.

It's not Felicity.

It's not Felicity.

Air rushes back into my lungs as I sob in relief. "Thank you!" I gasp, not at all sure who the hell I'm even talking to. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"Ben, don't run ahead like that, please!" Cordelia rushes to my side. She pauses, taking in my shaking shoulders and the body I'm still leaning over. "Oh no. Did you know her?"

I turn back to her, half sobbing, half laughing. "No. I have no idea who she is. I… I thought…" I thought I was about to find my friend's body lying cold on the stone.

"Oh." Cordelia shifts uncomfortably. "Well… that's good then." Her face twists at the words, because while she shares in my relief, we both know that there's nothing about this situation that can truly be called good. Remembering that as well helps ground me, and so I recollect myself and get back to my feet.

"I'm sorry." I bow my head. "I won't lose myself like that again."

"It's okay." Cordelia places a hand on my shoulder. "We understand." Severa nods mutely.

We resume our formation and continue down the hall. The doorway at the end holds the most grisly sight of all. Several Plegians lay dead, and at the doorway are the remains of what I think to be three guards. They've been literally hacked into such small pieces that it's honestly difficult to tell how many bodies are scattered here.

"Why would they do this?" Severa frowns as she takes the sight in. "It's… it's just pointless!"

"Frustration, probably." I reply, looking around the empty hallway beyond. "It looks like these three bought time for the rest of the servants to escape. One final stand to save as many lives as they could."

"I see. No bodies out here." Cordelia notes sadly as she follows me. "To have such valor repaid with this senseless hatred… it's despicable."

"We'll honor them properly later." I nod as I move forward, eager to put the bloody corridors behind me. "For now let's make sure the bastards who did this don't get the chance to do it again."

The next few turns are easier, but not as much I had hoped. While the bloody walls and scattered corpses are gone now, I have to instead deal with the aftermath of the Plegians we're following. It's not a pretty sight. These people seem to be frustrated at the loss of their victims, and have been taking it out on everything in sight. Vases and windows smashed, suits of armor toppled and dented, tapestries slashed to ribbons. The three of us continue to travel in the wake of this destruction uneasily, worried that the next corner we'll round will be yet another bloodbath, with no sound to accompany us save the noise of footsteps on the floors above, and the sound of voices screaming in the distance. As much as we'd like to hurry though, we simply can't afford to; rushing through a castle full of assassins is a great way to get yourself killed.

I could have sworn the walk to the library was shorter than this. It feels like we've been walking for hours. With every empty corridor I enter I feel my tension rise. With all the time they've been tearing things apart I would have expected to find somebody by now, but I have yet to hear a trace of them. All I can do is continue walking forward though, step by step, until somebody finally turns up and I'm finally forced to overcome this mental hurdle waiting for me.

"Gawds, this is getting creepy!" Severa hisses uneasily, unknowingly giving voice to my thoughts. "With everything they're breaking you'd think we'd have at least heard them by now!"

Apparently this is taken as some sort of cue. Severa's barely finished speaking before somebody starts screaming. A man's voice, though whether it's a cry of anger or fear or something else is lost on me.

"Ask and you shall receive." I say dryly, raising my sword and breaking into a jog. The sound seemed like it was coming from around the next corner. Looks like I'm about to see some action.

Then I round the corner and find myself facing another empty hallway. "Or not…" I mutter in confusion. "Okay seriously, where the fuck is everybody?"

"Ben!" Cordelia hisses from behind me. "Over there, that open door!" She points to the room in question, halfway down the hall. A storage room of some sort.

As we get closer the sounds of yelling give way to some sort of scuffling. Something crashes inside the room. A fight, clearly, but a quiet one. Hardly a voice to be heard, except for maybe… "Is that sobbing?" I mutter to Cordelia in a low voice. She only nods in response, expression grim.

My pace quickens, though I stay quiet as best as I can. Nothing good comes from bursting into the middle of a fight and surprising everyone involved. Only a good idea if you want to get yourself stabbed. Cordelia and Severa seem to agree, following my pace in absolute silence. Finally, I reach the door, and peer cautiously around the corner.

Two men lay dead on the floor. One has his throat slashed open, and while I can't see the other clearly enough to tell for sure, the way the blood is pooling tells me he likely suffered the same fate. The last two men are still fighting, though it looks as though things are about to be wrapped up. One of them is clutching pitifully at his throat, pants around his ankles, while the other, a cloaked figure, strangles him with the string of his own trousers. I inspect the two (more carefully than I'd like) and decide that since neither are Ylissean I'll let them sort it out on their own.

They do so a moment later, the cloaked one finally finishing the job and letting their victim fall to the ground. The figure staggers to the side, collapsing on top of a barrel and gasping for breath and muttering "Couldn't have the decency to just die quickly." Ah, a man then.

"What's going on?" Cordelia whispers in my ear, so low that I have to strain to hear it.

"Not sure yet." I reply just as quietly. "Three dead, none Ylissean." I look back inside and see the man grab a bloody dagger from the floor and wipe it clean on the tunic of one of the men before sheathing it. Definitely responsible for killing all three of them then. The question is, why?

The figure then turns to the back corner. "Sorry I couldn't get them sooner."

Oh fuck. There's a girl in there. She's huddled in the back corner, where the shadows are darkest, hiding behind a few overturned barrels. She's curled up as small as possible, clearly doing the best she can to hide. And just as I notice her, she seems to notice me. We lock eyes and I suddenly recognize her. One of the girls who cleans the barracks with Felicity, though I never learned her name.

She realizes as I do that we know each other, and at the sign of a familiar face she suddenly shrieks. "HELP! PLEASE HELP ME!"

"Cripes!" The man jumps in surprise. "Hey, calm down, will you? I'm not-" He stops talking mid-sentence and explodes into action so fast I can barely follow.

Whoever this guy is, he's damn good. The instant Cordelia and I appeared in the doorway he noticed, probably because of our shadows looming across the room. He doesn't waste time talking; hell, he doesn't even pause to look. I take two steps into the room and suddenly his cloak is flying at my face. I respond by reaching out with my sword to sweep it aside, trying to give Cordelia and I a line of sight.

Before I've even touched the cloak a dagger tears through it, whistling through the air at Cordelia's head. He's hoping to make her fall back from the door so that he can take me alone. And I can already tell I've got bad odds of taking this guy. I release the sword with my left hand and use my gauntlet to backhand the blade aside, pulling the cloak away with my right.

Nobody's there. Where could he have…? Up? No, wait, he's still-

I realize just in time, throwing myself backwards as an arm curves up from beneath the cloak, narrowly avoiding a second dagger that went straight for my face. This speedy fucker moved with the cloak even after I caught it! In spite of the two near misses I can't help but grin in admiration. He's incredibly skilled.

Of course, he's got nothing on Cordelia.

The first dagger was completely stopped by my gauntlet, leaving Cordelia safe to advance behind me, and once I fall aside there's nothing in between her and our opponent. Her lance blurs as she moves, swatting the cloak into the ground with the shaft and spinning so that the blade is on the man so fast he can hardly react. He barely has enough time to draw a short sword, and to his credit manages to parry three times before Cordelia disarms him and sends him sprawling. That's the match. Holy shit, that whole thing can't have lasted more than ten seconds.

Cordelia brings back her lance for a moment, readying to stab down and finish the job. That's when I finally get a good look at this guy. Is that? Oh fuck-

"CORDELIA WAIT!" I yelp out in a panic, so fast I'm almost certain the words are incomprehensible. The intent seems to get through, because Cordelia freezes in place just in time, the tip of her spear pressed against the man's Adam's apple.

Her gaze doesn't waver, eyes fixed on the man she was about to impale. "Why am I waiting?" She asks patiently.

Why? Wow, what a question! What a perfectly fair and reasonable question that I can't answer without prompting way too many others of its like! Why can't you kill him? Because it's fucking Gaius, that's why! But I can't tell you that because you don't know or care who Gaius is, or why he shouldn't be killed. Hell, Gaius doesn't even know why I wouldn't want him killed! Nobody in this world knows because none of them know what the fuck a video game is, or that we're fucking living in one, and I have to keep it that way!

You're panicking Ben. Focus. Calm down and use your head.

Okay, it's fine, I can work with this. I think fast, taking my time getting back to my feet before finally addressing Cordelia. Is there anything I can- well of course there is, what the fuck he was doing when I first saw him!

"He killed the others." I gesture around the room. "He's not on their side."

"Is that so?" She asks curiously. The man attempts to nod, but the spear presses a little closer to his throat and forces him to stop. "Please do not misunderstand me. Any questions I ask are directed solely at my companion. Your word is worth very little to me at the moment."

"Well, as the person whose word is worth something, I can tell you with certainty he killed them." I look around the room. "Well, okay, I know he killed that one… eugh." I blink as I gesture to the one Gaius strangled. The ugly fucker still has his pants around his ankles. "Okay wait, keep your eyes where they are for a second…" I'm not touching this guy. Let me just… ah. I grab a folded linen from a shelf and toss it into the corpse's lap. His bare legs still aren't pretty, but at least his… you know what, I'm not even going to let my mind go there. It's… it's censored, okay? It's fucking censored, and that cloth will have to be burned later.

"Alright, so what we heard when we got close was-" I just manage to catch myself from saying the name out loud. Whoa there, let's just cut that one off here. "What's your name?"

"Uhh… Gauis." He responds, still eyeing the point of the spear uneasily.

"Okay, what we heard was Gaius here strangling this guy. The other two were already dead." I frown and look over to the corner. "Hang on, we do have a witness."

I take two steps towards the maid and freeze. She looks like she's about to faint, and the more I look the more it becomes apparent why. Her uniform is shredded. And the bare skin I can see is mottled with bruises. It's all too clear what these… vermin were doing to her.

Okay, so that's a big nope on that plan of action. Absolutely not. I'm a six foot tall man with exactly the sort of frame you'd expect to see from all the physical training I do. Last thing she needs right now is a guy like me looming over her.

"Severa, I need you in here." I call out, backing away from the poor girl.

She leans into the doorway a moment later. "What do you want? I'm trying to make sure nobody sneaks up on us here!"

"Severa." I gesture to the girl in the corner. "I can't help her."

Severa's face twists through several expressions as she puts the pieces together before she finally nods and moves around Cordelia.

I place a hand on her shoulder as she passes me, holding her for just a moment. "We need to know what happened in here." I murmur into her ear. "Gaius' life depends on it." Severa's eyes widen in shock, but she recovers quickly. She gives me a determined nod, and moves swiftly. Despite this though, her voice as she starts speaking to the maid is as soft as I've ever heard it.

I suppose she'd have to be used to comforting people after the shitshow of a life she came from.

"Okay." I address Cordelia, as I move to give them some more room. "Severa's going to help her and try to figure out what she knows. In the meantime, let's hear your side of things, Gaius."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Cordelia asks coolly. "He may not be on the side of these Plegians but he's also clearly not on our side either. He tried to kill you."

"Which I'm sure will come up when he gets to that part of the story." I shrug. "Anyways, we're even with him on that particular point, aren't we?"

"It's hardly the same!" Cordelia protests, before sighing and stepping back. "Fine. Speak your piece, assassin. But do keep it brief. We have little time to spare on you."

Gaius relaxes visibly now that the spear point isn't pressed against his throat. "Thanks for that, Red." The nickname earns him a sharp look that has him hastily turning aside to face me. "You too, big guy. I saw my life flash before my eyes for a second there."

"Wait until we've made our minds up before you go thanking us." I smirk. "Now, speak quickly. Cordelia was right when she said we don't have much time."

"Right." Gaius says, growing visibly nervous again. "First thing's first then. I'm no assassin. This is all the result of a series of crazy misunderstandings."

"I'm tempted to stab him already." Cordelia chimes in drily.

"I'm serious, alright?" Gaius grimaces. "Look, there's a guy in town, he helps lowlifes like me find work in the city. He came to me with a dangerous job. I had to help some folks break into the castle, for some sort of thieving job. Not my usual fare, but I owed the guy money, and he threatened to cut off my thumbs, so I figure 'fine, guess I'm robbing the royals now.' I meet the group in question, a bunch of weird robed people, take care of a few locks to get us in, and all of a sudden they call a whole mess of these freaks out of nowhere to file in after me. Start talking about assassination. And their leader, he's some sort of fanatic, the kind who kills if you don't fall in line. So I'm stuck going along with it."

"What do you mean, out of nowhere?" I interrupt.

"I don't know." Gaius scratches at his head in exasperation. "Always thought I had a good pair of eyes on me, but these guys… it's like they just appeared out of nowhere. And it's not like many of them are the sneaking type." He gestures to the three shitstains we've been tracking through the castle. Can't say I disagree there. Freaks like this would be baying for blood the moment they set eyes on the castle, the way they were trashing the place.

"Okay, so you're forced to go along with this assassination group. What happened next?" I nod along.

"Honestly, it got pretty easy from there." Gaius shrugs. "Their boss is a fan of looming in the background, so I put myself near the frontlines where he couldn't see me. Then when the fighting started and everyone started running around like lunatics I just found a good chance to slip away and started making my way to an exit. Which is when I found myself here."

"We're a long ways away from an exit." Cordelia points out.

"Ah, but I bet you didn't have to deal with much of anything on the way here, did you?" Gaius grins. "If you lot hadn't shown up late to this little party I'd be long gone already. But I digress. When I got here these three were fighting over the poor girl there. Slapping her around, arguing over taking turns, all the stuff fit to get your blood boiling. So as soon as one of them the initiative, I snuck up on the others and cut their throats. They were so busy leering they didn't even see me coming." He glares over at the bodies. "Last one managed to notice his buddies dying though, so I had to get creative."

"And then after all this time spent as a poor unfortunate rogue with a heart of gold, you decided to try to kill us." I conclude with a raised eyebrow.

Gaius nods. "That was definitely a thing that happened, but in my defense I thought you were Plegian."

"Plegian?" Cordelia asks indignantly. "I'm a Pegasus Knight of Ylisse!"

"Look, I'm sitting there with a girl whose life I just saved, when she looks at the door and starts screaming again." Gaius holds up his hands helplessly. "I thought these scum had some friends waiting in the wings. Seemed like a reasonable conclusion."

I blink at that, and look over to Cordelia. "He's got us there."

"I suppose it does make sense when you put it like that." Cordelia frowns. "Though it begs the question why she started screaming in the first place."

"She's one of the maids over at the Shepherd's barracks." I shrug. "Pretty sure she recognized me and freaked out."

"Geez, you guys are Shepherds?" Gaius cringes. "No wonder you hit so hard."

"Just Severa and I, actually." I gesture to my daughter with a grin. "The one who did all the hitting is a proper knight in training."

"Don't sell yourself short Ben, you covered for me beautifully."

"Well, that means a lot coming from you Cordelia, thank you." I grin over at her. Then a gasping sound draws my eyes back to Gaius. "You alright there, buddy?"

"Did… she just call you Ben?" Gaius asks, looking suddenly pale. "Ben of the Shepherds?"

"Yeah…" I reply uneasily, suddenly getting a very bad feeling.

"Oh Gods." Gaius groans queasily. "I can't believe of all the people I could have picked a fight with I had to choose Ben the Goddamned Butcher of all people."

The room falls into immediate silence.

Cordelia looks over at me in confusion. Severa is frozen with indecision, trying to choose between concern for me, her equal concern for the maid, and her fury at Gaius.

"Ben the Butcher?" Cordelia asks curiously. "What sort of title is that?"

"Cripes lady, you don't know? This guy is infamous! They say he walked into a bandit camp up in Regna Ferox and killed a hundred of them single handed!" Gaius sputters, clearly stunned that Cordelia might have missed this story.

Cordelia seems stunned at that, then swiftly grows angry. "What a load of nonsense. Clearly such an outlandish story must be fabricated!"

"Not fabricated." I reply weakly, staring blankly at Gaius. "Just exaggerated. They were slavers, not bandits. And I only killed thirty six of them."

"Thir-" Cordelia cuts herself off, staring at me as though this is her first time seeing me. "You killed-"

"Tell me something, Gaius." I interrupt. "What else do they say about me?"

"Uhh, I'm not sure that-"

"Tell. Me." I snarl.

Gaius pales further, cringing back as though worried his words might send me into a murderous rampage. "They say that… you painted the walls with the blood of your enemies. That you were left behind on Emmeryn's trip to Plegia because she couldn't trust you to behave on a mission of peace; that you killed unarmed Feroxi during Chrom's mission. …That you're Chrom's personal executioner when he can't bring himself to dirty his hands."

"Where'd you hear this?"

"Here… in Ylisstol." Gaius grimaces. "Rumors have been flying around about Chrom's renegade Shepherd for nearly two months now."

The stories must have been running at my heels the whole way back from Ferox. And who knows where else they might have spread. If it took that little time for the rumors to jump the border and reach Ylisstol…

It's possible the whole of Ylisse knows about them by now.

All the time I've been working to overcome my actions that night. To change. To become somebody I could be proud of, in spite of the things I've done. Guess the damage is already done.

"Heh." I find myself grinning. "My life really is such bullshit." I clap a hand to my head and start laughing in earnest. "Of all the fucking luck!"

Just as my laughter is starting to get truly frantic, a weight hits me in the chest, snapping me out of it. I blink in confusion, looking down.

"Snap out of it, moron." Severa says, fist still pressed against my chest. "Who cares what a bunch of idiots in town are saying, anyways?" She adamantly keeps her face pointed to the side as she says this, glaring off to the side.

I stare blankly down at her for a couple moments. Damn, what a sweet kid! She… really should stop getting within arm's reach and then taking her eyes off me.

Paternal affection: activate!

"AH! HEY STOPPIT, WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO BE MESSING AROUND!" Severa flails in my arms for the second time tonight, trying in vain to squirm free. "DAMNIT DAD, YOU'RE EMBARASSING ME!"

"You know what Cordelia, I think this is going to be a common thing for us now." I grin at my bemused companion. "How can I not when I've got such a great daughter?"

"Not on your… life!" Severa snarls, catching me in the gut with her elbow.

"Oof!" I wheeze, letting Severa go and sinking to my knees. "God damn kid, when this is over you're grounded."

"Whatever, you're clearly fine." Severa rolls her eyes and storms back to the maid, face flushed bright pink.

"Quite the kid you've got there, Chuckles." Gaius says drily, watching her go.

"She's certainly a character." Cordelia nods in agreement.

"I know, right?" I grin, hauling myself back to my feet. "She had a point though. We've been wasting a lot of time here. Cordelia, what's your take on our friend here?"

"His story is… plausible. As is his stated reason for attacking us." Cordelia muses.

"I agree." I nod along. "Severa?"

"Well… Ruth confirmed he killed the other two Plegians…" Severa calls over, unwilling to leave the girl's side. She hesitates for a moment before continuing, "She's convinced he just wanted her to himself though."

"Geez, no good deed goes unpunished." Gaius frowns dejectedly. "I swear you three, the thought never crossed my mind!"

"I believe you." I nod.

"Are you sure about this Ben?" Cordelia asks cautiously. "If it turns out that she's right…"

"Then we'll deal with him, but he didn't make any sort of aggressive move towards her that I could see. He killed three people attacking her, and I think that earns him the benefit of the doubt." She still looks doubtful, so I play my last card. "Besides, I think Chrom would trust him."

And in the end that settles her opinion quite nicely.

"Alright Gaius, welcome to the team." I nod to the thief. "We're happy to have you."

"Uhh, the team?" Gaius frowns. "Does that mean I can't leave?"

"Not a chance, buddy." I grin down at him. "We've agreed you're not here to assassinate the Exalt, but you still let these bastards in. The way I see it, you owe us."

"Debt, huh?" Gaius snorts. "You'd fit right in on the streets with that kind of talk. Alright, let's get to it then. Where do we start?"

"We're trying to gather up any of our friends that have been scattered in this mess and get a group together to support Chrom and the Exalt." I explain. "We were starting with the Library."

"Good choice." Gaius nods. "There's a bunch of people holed up in there. Some mage is leading them, but there's at least a dozen of these guys trying to bust in. Too many for me to handle, so I had to leave it be."

"Alright, then that's our next step." I nod to Cordelia. "Alright, you and I will take the same position as before. Severa, I want you looking after uh, Ruth there, so Gaius will be our new rear guard."

"Sounds good, boss." Gaius throws out a lazy salute as he gets to his feet. "Let's go save the day."

Cordelia gives Gaius a dubious look. "Hard to believe you could save anyone. You're absolutely filthy. And… is that a turkey leg in your pocket?"

"Or are you just happy to see us?" I chime in.

Cordelia gives me a confused look for a moment before she clues in and flushes red. Gaius bursts into laughter.

"You know what Chuckles, I think you and I are going to be good friends."


Nice to finally have the thief in the group, they tend to be my favorite characters in whatever Fire Emblem game I play. Matt, Colm, Gaius, Ashe (he starts with locktouch, it totally counts), they're all great fun.

So, a whole year gone! It's been an insane trip so far, and considering how far I've... not come in the story, that's kinda terrifying to me. Already this story is turning into a beast far greater than anything I could have imagined when I started writing it, but I'm honestly more excited than anything. It's all thanks to you guys. This has been an incredible community to write for so far, and I can't wait to continue. Your review, follows, and favorites are all a joy to see, and I appreciate you all a ton for reading this crazy thing I'm writing here. I've made some great friends in the Fire Emblem community and I look forward to making more as time goes on.

On that note, I've been part of a discord group for quite some time with some other fanfiction folks. If you're interested then feel free to check it out, it's a fun place full of friendly people. Anyone's welcome regardless of writing experience.

discord .gg/9XG3U7a