Disclaimer: Fire Emblem - The Sacred Stonesand Fire Emblem - Path of Radianceare belongings to their respective corporation and creator: Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. The following characters belongs to the author.
Adrion: A recruit from Renais in training to become just like Seth.
Adam: A journeyman from Frelia in training to become Frelia's first hero.
Nicole: A young maiden from Rausten. The uptight best friend of L'Arachel.
Author's Note: In celebration of Thanksgiving and the one-month anniversary of FE: Path of Radiance's US Release, I have featured a FE: PoR character for this chapter. Between Shinon, Greil, and King Caineghis, the winner is… read to find out
To Frodo007: Don't worry about my request. Since FE: Path of Radiance had been released; you'll have no problem knowing more about the game.
Ephraim and Eirika – The Sacred Twin Life
—The One with the Magvel Archery Tour-
"Are you ready?" Innes stood by the door outside Tana's bedchamber.
Tana was not dressed. She only had her ruby trimmed white nightgown on, and was at her mirror brushing her blue long hair. She turned towards Innes puzzled, "Ready for what?"
Innes huffed, "You're not dressed! The Annual Magvel Archery Tour will start in an hour!"
"I can't." Tana responded, focused on her hair, "I'm meeting Eirika near Mulan. We're going to that new Frelian spa place. They're having a Thanksgiving special."
"And miss my big archery debut?" Innes cried, "That is Thanksgiving too!"
Tana faced her brother, "Don't worry, I'll be there." Tana promised, "It's not like it's gonna be the end of the world if I miss this."
Innes went into a state of panic, "YOU'LL MISS IT?"
Tana snorted, "Yeah! I'll miss this for the world."
Upon hearing these words, Innes was about to pass out.
-Adlas Plains-
Everyone, from all over Magvel, gathered around for the Magvel Archery Tour. Targets were lined up in place. Chairs were laid out at every border of the fields, for the elderly to rest after standing too long. Traveling merchants have established stands, hoping for customers to buy their artifacts.
The Magvel Archery Tour was held every Thanksgiving. The champion of this tournament received the honor to light up the heavenly flames of Thanksgiving into the sky using the Nidhogg, one of Frelia's sacred twin relics. For eight years in a row, Hayden had been the champion at the archery until his ascension to the throne. Innes immediately replaced him and soon wiped the entire skilled archers and snipers of Magvel off their chart. This year, Innes made a comeback as returning champion. However, to get his title back he must once again fight through the line of skilled archers and snipers. Of course, what Innes is about to get is his match.
The rules of the Archery tour are simple: one must hit as many bull-eyes as possible. A bull-eye is a hundred points. The outer circle is twenty-five points, which is the lowest score possible.
A single round takes two minutes. The tournament itself is two hours. This year, many said, supposing to be their year to hit it off and do their best, predicting to be the best tournament.
Innes entered the crowded Adlas Plains with Ephraim, Joshua, and Lyon. Equipped with his Silver Bow and his set of arrows, Innes felt ready. "I can't wait for this tournament to start." He sighed, "I can hardly wait to cream those archers."
He glanced at them, setting up for the tournament, "look at them. They're all pathetic."
"I wouldn't say that if I were you." Lyon warned, "We'll never know. Somebody might be able to cream you."
"The kid's right. So stuff it up boy." A voice spoke from behind the trio. They turned around and saw a male sniper, probably at his thirties, wearing a teal fashionable robe, reaching the knees, white pants, and chocolate brown boots that seemed to fit. A brown veil wrapped around his neck and his crimson red, attached in a horsetail, loosely hanged from behind his neck. His slanted brown eyes scanned on the trio, his utmost attention was on Innes.
"And you are?" Ephraim asked him.
"The name's Shinon," the sniper spoke, "from the land of Tellius."
"Tellius?" Joshua cocked his head one side, "where is that?"
"It's none of your business." Shinon rudely replied, "Your business is this tournament." He then approached his face near Innes and using his finger pushed him a bit, "I'm gonna cream you."
Innes shoved Shinon's hand away and sneered, "Oh you wanna bet?"
"I can!" Joshua cried as he raised his shiny coin in the air. Ephraim pulled Joshua's hand down and shook his head at him. Lyon simply slapped his forehead. Shinon and Innes both blinked.
Innes glanced at the bow Shinon was holding and chortled, "An Iron Bow? That's all you've got?"
Shinon simply pulled a sly smile, "what about your Silver Bow? Too heavy for ya?"
Innes fumed. He hated been called skinny, especially when it was about wielding something large that he was able to do. "Why you—"
The moment Innes was about to choke Shinon, Ephraim, Joshua and Lyon restrained the prince, "Settle down Innes!" Ephraim exclaimed.
"Yeah, remember what you said this morning: 'serenity now, enragement at the finals'?" Lyon reminded him.
"Really?" Shinon said, "Boy I can't wait for that moment."
Innes went into a snarling state as Shinon walked away. The trio let go of Innes. "That pompous—" Innes stopped to turn and face the guys, "Why didn't you let me wipe that smug off this guy's face. I mean did you see that?"
"Well Innes dies this happens when you meet rivals?" Ephraim asked.
Innes blinked, "I never had a rival."
"What? Never?"
"Of course, and if you think that what-his-name is gonna be my rival, you guys are so wrong. I'll cream him like a pumpkin pie."
-The Frelian Spa-
The lobby was made of crystal and unseen benefit structures and walls. A heavenly ivory fountain rested in the middle. It was carved with the resemblance of a holy maiden carrying the Latona staff, rejecting sparkling waters. The front desk was at the far west from the fountain adjacent to the waiting room of golden chesterfields and a coffee table made of crystal. Tana, Eirika, and Nicole sat together at the waiting place, lingering for their spa appointment.
"Oh my goodness! This place looks nifty!" Nicole squealed.
Eirika laughed, "How many times are you going to say that Nicole?"
Nicole scoffed, "Like forever!"
Tana shushed them, "Keep it down. We're trying to make a good impression. I don't want people to think I'm friend with two lunatics."
Eirika stared down at her friend, "Lunatic?" she said.
"Is that what you thought of us? When we first met?" Nicole complained.
Tana shook her head, "No!" she harshly replied then paused for a second, "well…come to think of it, it was a coincidence."
Eirika and Nicole, no longer ecstatic, enrage on their friend. It wasn't until a ring sounded that the threesome ceased the argument. Two well-built men stood by two opened rooms. Another room next to them remained closed, perhaps because the appointment was not over yet.
The two men—one had green hair and the other had red hair—smiled radiantly. They wore robes made of wool and rich silk with the Frelian national emblem on their right chest.
"Lady Rausten?" the green-haired man called Nicole, "are you ready for your massage?"
Nicole drooled at his sight. The red-haired man turned towards Eirika, "Lady Renais. Your massage session is ready." Eirika drooled as well. Tana was the only one to show no expression.
"What about my massage," the willful princess cried as she witnessed her two friends heading towards their rooms. Eirika turned to face Tana, "Oh Tana, don't worry. Your appointment will come… soon." She entered her room leaving a trail of maniacal laughter.
The closed door finally opened. Another well-built man, outfitted as the other two but his hair was blond, showed up and smiled at Tana, "Lady Frelia," the man spoke a rich voice, "Your massage is ready."
"Sweet!"
Tana skipped towards her room. Once there, she was offer a customer robe similar to the men's, which she put on, immediately jumped on her massage bed, and slipped under a warm sheet. As he illuminated the jasmine and vanilla scented candles, the blond man declared, "Your masseur will be here shortly."
Tana jerked her head up, "Wait a minute! I thought you were my masseur!"
"I'm just an associate. My name is Mark." The blond man—Mark—smiled and watched the door swinging open.
"Gwa! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" A familiar guffaw echoed through the corridor. Tana watched in horror as the source of the voice entered the room. Dressed in a white lab coat, it was Dozla. "Are you ready for your relaxi-massagi, fellow customer?"
Tana screamed. Dozla screamed in reply. Mark watched both Tana and Dozla, and he too, began screaming.
"Look at him." Innes watched Shinon polishing his Iron Bow in disgust, "That pompous jerk. He thinks he's all that."
Lyon, Joshua, and Ephraim stared down at Innes as if he was exaggerating. The sniper jerked his head up, noticing the staring, "What?"
"Well, if you think about it Innes, you think you're all that too." Ephraim said.
"Oh I don't think I'm all that." Innes replied, "I think I'm all of this!" the prince expanded his hands throughout the plains at his words.
"All right archers, move forth! Snipers move back! The tournament is about to start." The announcer yelled. Archers and snipers took their positions, facing their respective targets. The tournament this year was been broadcast around the continent. Reporting the show were Rausten's beautiful yet haughty-of-herself L'Arachel and annoyed-as-usual Rennac of Carcino.
"Good afternoon fellow viewers and welcome to our 800th annual Magvel Archery Tour. I'm beautiful yet proud-of-myself L'Arachel of Rausten reporting. And this is my associate happy-for-life-as-usual Rennac of Carcino."
Rennac simply waved. L'Arachel continued, "Today's first round in this tournament promises to be the match of justice and order!"
Rennac rolled his eyes. L'Arachel continued, "…and we have brand-new recruit coming from all over the world, including our very own returning champ, Prince Innes of Frelia, making a comeback! What do you think of this tournament Rennac?"
"I think you're annoying." Rennac stared down at L'Arachel.
L'Arachel giggled like she misunderstood. "Anyway, archers and snipers are ready, so let's watch."
All the archers and snipers readied their bows and fired to their targets. Most arrows hit on the outer edge of the targets. Some barely landed on the target's borders. Innes cracked his knuckles, twirled an arrow and with his Silver Bow, shot a bull-eye. He stared at Shinon proudly, "Ah! Beat that, prodigy."
Shinon smiled and faced his target. He pulled out a slim arrow and with his Iron bow shot right through the bull-eye, making a hole. The arrow continued its flight as it went through a tree then towards the horizon in a flash. The archers and snipers were in awe.
"Amazing! Who has ever shot an arrow of that distance?" L'Arachel exclaimed.
"Looks like the Frelian prince just met his match." Rennac said.
Ephraim, Joshua, and Lyon glanced at Innes, who grunted in shame. Shinon passed by him, his bow held behind his back.
"You got a lot to learn, pretty boy." He chuckled.
Innes turned to watch him leave in distance. The trio gathered around the Frelian prince.
"Man, that guy is strong!" Ephraim said.
"And a jerk." Lyon said, "And he didn't even twirl his arrow first!"
"I don't know about you Innes," Joshua said, "but that Shinon guy ain't gonna let you get good lucks."
"I don't need luck," Innes said, "I need rough."
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Tana exclaimed feeling trapped at a corner of the wall.
"I work here." Dozla responded.
"WHEN?" Tana squealed.
"Since yesterday." Dozla said.
"Sir Dozla is an incredible masseur." Mark explained, "He's done some amazing miracle to our customers. Many recommend him, even our director here. You won't regret it."
"Oh-OH! I will!" Tana squealed.
"Have a great day Lady Frelia." Mark left the room. Tana began shedding tears, "Like I'm going to!" she cried.
"Gwa! Ha! Ma'am, you don't have to be afraid." Dozla explained, "I promise you an extremely professional massage."
"Is 'appropriate' a part of your promise?" Tana watched Dozla approaching her. Her agonizing yelp pierced throughout the entire spa place.
--- --- ---
"Welcome back to our Annual Magvel Archery Tour and boy of boy aren't those skilled bow-users know how to shoot, especially that new guy Shinbone. We gotta keep a close eye on him." L'Arachel reported.
"Really?" Rennac grinned at the princess, "then why not close them tight."
L'Arachel sarcastically rolled her eyes. Rennac wasn't finish, "And it's Shinon by the way."
"Oh, Rennac. You and your zingers." L'Arachel flipped her hand at him.
Hayden came in the field, escorted by a line of archers and Pegasus knights. The crowd took a graceful bow upon his arrival. L'Arachel gasped, "do you see what I see Rennac?"
"Of course." Rennac replied emotionlessly, "it's King Hayden, what did you think it was?"
"It looks like old time legend King Hayden have joined the tournament." L'Arachel cried.
"King Hayden!" Ephraim, Lyon, and Joshua rose up.
"Dad!" Innes approached Hayden, "What are you doing here?"
"I thought you needed support." Hayden said, "So I came back to the tournament."
Shinon approached Hayden, placed a hand on his hip and made a pose, "so you bought reinforcements?"
"It's not reinforcement." Ephraim exclaimed, "It's King Hayden, ruler of Frelia and the tournament's all time champion four-years running. He's gonna cream you."
Shinon wiped his nose using his finger, "the King of Frelia huh?"
Hayden smiled, "That's me. And may I ask your name?"
"Your worst nightmare." Shinon placed his bow behind his back again and left for his position.
Hayden pursed his lips. Shinon stopped and turned back facing Hayden, "and by the way, I hope you rule better than you shoot." He sniffed and returned to his post. Hayden snarled.
"Uh… father?" Innes approached Hayden, but immediately withdrew from the king's body enraged with anger.
"Oh it's on!" Hayden muttered.
Moments after Innes, Hayden, and Shinon had beaten about half dozen of archers and snipers. Only the three veterans remained.
"Man, you don't know who're you messing with?" Hayden told Shinon, as all three bow-users pulled out their arrows and shot a straight bull-eye at the same time. Hayden's and Shinon's arrows ran through the bull-eye then through a tree and continued its flight towards the horizon. Hayden's arrow was enveloped in flames, resulting smokes coming from his holes. Shinon's arrow were not. The mysterious sniper glanced at the venerable king, "Wow, you got skill."
"Thank you." Hayden smiled.
"But…" Shinon interrupted, "can it shoot a Pegasus from afar?"
Hayden raised an eyebrow. An agonizing neighing was heard from a distance and the crowd gasped at the reaction. Hayden blinked.
"I don't think so." Shinon smiled. Innes, Ephraim, Lyon, and Joshua showed worries.
Eirika and Nicole came out of their massage room, as sore as before. Their backs snapped whenever they made an attempt to stretch. Tana, however, left her room rejuvenated.
Eirika noticed the princess's smile, "what are you smiling at?" she snapped.
"I just had the best massage ever." Tana exclaimed.
"You?" Nicole glanced at her, "by one of those cute unprofessional boys?"
Tana, ignoring Nicole's question, noticed both her friends' postures, "Okay why are you bent like hooks?"
"The boys may be cute," Eirika complained, "but they are the worst masseurs ever."
The blue-haired boy noticed Eirika and Nicole, and approached them, "Are you guys hurt again?" he asked, "would you like another massage appoint—"
"BACK OFF HOBO!" Nicole threatened, her heal staff held firmly in her hand. The man obeyed.
"Okay, so if one of those boys didn't gave you a massage, then who did?" Eirika asked.
Dozla exited the room, holding a clipboard. He scribbled on the piece of paper infinitely, "Okay Lady Tana, your next appointment will be tomorrow, right?"
Eirika and Nicole screamed at the sight of the berserker. Tana, using both her hands, locked their lips and quietly declared, "He's a professional. So show some respect!"
"Aren't you that guy from Rausten? Who laughs a lot?" Eirika asked.
"Gwa! Ah! Ah! Ah!" Dozla chortled, "That's me!"
Nicole approached Dozla and harshly whispered, "Dozla! What are you doing here?"
"I work here." Dozla told the cleric, "Didn't I tell you?"
"I thought you worked at a clinic, not a spa."
Dozla looked around then gazed back at Nicole, "This isn't a clinic?"
Nicole smacked her forehead in shame. Eirika and Tana blinked, and a clueless Dozla scratched his head.
"Hayden, I gotta give you props. You got skills. Too bad I beat you up." Shinon blew on his fingers while looking down at a lifeless Hayden.
The crowd was even amazed at this performance that it approached closer to the three finalists. Hayden lost to Shinon and couldn't go on.
"That was the match of the century!" L'Arachel was at the edge of her seat, "wonder what will happen next?"
"King Hayden, are you okay?" Ephraim asked as he, Innes, and the other boys helped him up.
"What happened?" Hayden felt lightheaded.
"You fainted!"
"It was as if you just had a heart attack." Joshua told him.
Hayden glanced at Shinon and pointed, "Y-You got hardcore skills!"
Shinon shrugged. Hayden pushed Innes in front, "Innes, you take him out."
"Wha—me? I can't take him out Father, he's too powerful!" Innes said.
"Well, well, well" Shinon sniffed, "Look who's back? You want more, pretty boy?"
Lyon gave Innes the Silver Bow and Joshua offered him the arrows. In addition, he placed his shiny coin on the prince's palm, pressed it firmly and winked. Ephraim pressed his hands against the prince's shoulders, as if giving him a shoulder massage, and Lyon squirted down Innes's throat a bottle of water.
"Come on Innes," he told him, "don't let Shinon put you down like he did the same to your father. This is the finals and you want to win. You desire to win."
"But…"
"There are no 'but'. Ephraim argued, "'but' is for losers. Are you a loser?"
"HEY!"
"Just answer the question. Are you the loser? Do you stink?"
Innes began fuming. Ephraim continued the provocation, "Are you too chicken to nail his face with an egg? Are you too wet to sink his ship? Are you too frail to win him in a thumb wrestling? Are you—?"
With his shoulder, Innes smashed Ephraim on the nose and rose up, "I am NOT a loser. Nor do I stink. Nor a chicken, nor wet or frail."
"Then who are you?" Joshua and Lyon both cried, full of hopes.
"I AM INNES! CROWNED PRINCE FRELIA OF THE KINGDOM OF FRELIA AND A CHAMPION OF THE MAGVEL ARCHERY TOUR FOUR YEARS RUNNING! And I will not allow some individual from the land of what-its-name to have me or my father getting creamed!"
"Now you're talking!" Joshua and Lyon jumped in joy, watching Innes pumping his fist in the air. The crowd let out a cheer, so loud; it was piercing to the ears.
"It looks like our champion Innes will be taking this final against Shinon to the highest level." L'Arachel yelped, "This promises to be the best match ever! Right Rennac! Rennac?"
L'Arachel watched Rennac sleeping and drooling on his pile of papers.
Eirika, Tana, and Nicole ran through the crowd. Tana looked around and ultimately took sight of the event, "What did I miss? What did I miss?" she desperately asked.
Joshua faced Tana, "Apparently Innes is at the finals. He's ready to take on his opponent. You didn't miss anything."
Eirika saw Ephraim on the floor and ran towards him, while Nicole joined L'Arachel and Rennac at the reporting booth. Tana saw her father and ran to him, "Father, what happened?"
"It's a long story." Hayden sighed, "You don't wanna hear it."
"Brother, what happened?" Eirika helped Ephraim.
The prince held his chest, "Nothing personal." He replied and glanced at Eirika's posture, "what happened to your back?"
"You don't wanna know."
"What happened?" Nicole asked L'Arachel.
"Well, as you can see, the finals will soon be underway between Innes and Shinon, and we have a sleepy reporter here." L'Arachel stared down at the quiescent Rennac.
Nicole squeezed herself between the maiden and the rogue, and took over Rennac's microphone, "And we're back to our show and things are going nuts out here!"
L'Arachel blinked at her friend. Nicole flinched, "What? Can't I be on the spotlight?"
Innes grabbed his Silver Bow and turned to face his target. His eyes stared hard at Shinon. Shinon returned the stare but with a soft version. "So, you've returned."
"You say your name is Shinon right?" Innes said, "In the name of Frelia, I will defeat you."
"Bring it on."
Both Innes and Shinon turned facing their target, simultaneously drew an arrow and placed it on its bow. The crowd was cheering, for both Innes and Shinon. Time seemed to slow by at that moment. A soft, fainting music played in the background. Both snipers released their arrows. They both took flight, ripping through the target's bull-eye, then through a tree, then continuing over the horizon. But one arrow, did not make it through the horizon, and fell about twelve feet from the tree. The crowd gasped. Time sped up again. The music stopped playing. There was a dead silence.
Innes and Shinon ran to find the failed arrow, broken in two. Shinon sighed but did not smile. In response, Innes gasped, and extended his arms in shock. The crowd roared in cheer and all rushed to Innes.
"What a drastic turn of events! Shinon's arrow is broken." Nicole gasped, "Which means—"
"Innes won!" L'Arachel exclaimed, "The prince of Frelia is our returning champion of the Magvel Archery Tour!"
Rennac jerked his head up, his papers glued in his forehead, "Wh-Where? What? When?"
Nicole rolled her eyes but L'Arachel simply giggled.
Ephraim, Eirika, Tana, Hayden, Joshua, and Lyon all went to congratulate Innes.
"Hey, congratulations!" Joshua said.
"All right brother!" Tana said, "you creamed him!"
"Way to go!" Ephraim and Eirika both said.
"Who knew it? Another deserving honor to light up Thanksgiving." Lyon said.
"Thanks guys." Innes told them and turned to his father, "and thanks to you Father, I proved myself."
Hayden smiled. Ephraim glanced around as if something was missing, "Hey wait a minute! I helped you prove yourself too!"
Eirika patted Ephraim on the back.
"I guess I should give credit to Shinon too, right?" Innes turned to face Shinon, only to find that he was missing. "Shinon?" Everyone looked around as they searched for him.
Ephraim scratched his head, "Seriously, who was that guy?"
The Archery Tour came to an end, and Innes once again was declared champion. He got another opportunity to light up the flames of Thanksgiving and it was a big honor for him. The defeated Shinon found new respect towards Innes, yet he never bothered giving him a congratulation and left Magvel without a trace.
A week had passed since then. L'Arachel and Nicole dragged Rennac inside the Frelian Spa.
"Come on Rennac! Get a move on." L'Arachel persuaded.
"There's no shame to get a good old fashioned massage and restore your broken dignity." Nicole told him.
"It's not just my dignity that is broken." Rennac exclaimed, "it's my dignity and my pride."
"Oh Rennac…" L'Arachel sighed.
"Besides, I have a strange feeling about this." Rennac said.
The massage room door swung open and out from the room emerged an elegant blond masseuse, "Rennac of Carcino?" she called, "your massage session's ready."
"Woo!" Rennac's eyes boggled, "That's a good feeling."
The rogue leaped towards the room, wore his robe, and slipped under the sheet of his massage bed.
The woman smiled. "Your masseur will the coming shortly."
Rennac rolled his hanging tongue back in his mouth and his boggling eyes went still, "my… masseur?"
"Dozla entered the room and smiled at the sight of Rennac, "Gwa-ah-ah-ah! Why hello there Rennac!"
Rennac screamed.
END OF CHAPTER
