8. Harsh Reality
The first week of travelling for Matthew and Hector and the others went fairly smoothly. Once, while Matthew was out scouting he came across tracks that suggested someone was scouting him at the same time, but they later found it was a simple road bandit, who ran away at the sight of powerful Hector swinging around Armads.Indeed that was a funny site to behold.
Even Matthew was glad when they finally were stopped by a rather large gang of highwaymen about another week later. They were all large men, except for one who was larger and stronger then Hector, and one who was about the same height as Matthew and looked to be a Mercenary.
Hector charged straight at the largest warrior and was surprised as the man tried a really basic attack which Hector turned aside and lopped the man's head off. Matthew was equally annoyed at the weakness of the opposition, he could just stab his daggers at a random spot and they seemed to jump in front of the blade, it was like they wanted to die. Within a few seconds they were all lying on the ground dead.
"Is it just me, or did we both just realise our opponent was nowhere near as skilled as us. A year ago and I would have died at the sight of that large man, and yet I could now take him down with my eyes closed." Matthew turned to Alexia and she smiled at him, but the smile seemed to have an ambiguous meaning. Matthew knew he had plans for tonight at that moment.
"Yeah" Hector sighed, then turned and continued his marching. Matthew could understand; Eliwood and Hector were brothers from different mothers, like himself and Leila used to be soul-mates.
They had to jog fairly quickly to keep up with the anxious and pained Hector. But they gave up when they noticed he had walked directly off course.
"Leave him," Matthew stated loudly enough so Hector could hear him, "he will find his way back to our group." With that the group made haste for Pharae, leaving Hector alone with his thoughts.
As he walked aimlessly, his thoughts filled with images of Eliwood falling to the floor with one of Jaffar's Killing Edges in his back, Hector felt rage build inside of him, and that rage focussed his thoughts, and Hector ran that night, ran with all his might for Pharae. Hector was not going to lose another friend to this monster known as the Magic Seal.
The Magic Seal (in the body of Jaffar) watched on gleefully as the bandits he had taken control of (by defeating their previous leader in combat) were slaughtered by Hector and Matthew.
After the fight was finished, the Magic Seal wasted no time in continuing its straight-forward path to Pharae Royal Castle.
As he came through a clump of bushes he stumbled on an occupied campsite.
Around the fire, all the people there – which there were four – looked at Jaffar with utter amazement stamped all over their faces.
"Jaffar?" said a high-pitched voice, which belonged to a girl with bubblegum pink hair, with a ponytail coming out on both sides.
"What are you doing here?" said another voice, a fair bit deeper, belonging to a boy no older then the girl, with shoulder length, deep purple hair, wearing a cape of a royal blue that went down to his feet which stood out considering his red underclothes.
The Magic Seal looked at the other two still sitting down near the fire, and then looked back to the two talking to him.
He knew their names, or at least Jaffar did, but considering he was in full control of Jaffar's body, it made little difference. He looked at each of them and said there names softly.
"Erk…Serra…Priscilla…Raven", the Magic Seal chuckled. Using Jaffar's finely tuned body, the Magic Seal leaped out at the pink-haired, young girl, but was shocked – quite literally – when he felt an explosion near his stomach, and was sent flying into a nearby tree.
"You aren't Jaffar!" Erk said confidently, "and if you continue to stay here longer then it takes to leave the campsite, I will personally blow your body into smithereens!"
The Magic Seal was surprised how powerful the purple-haired boy called Erk was, and didn't want to be told twice. The Magic Seal, using Jaffar's assassin skills, disappeared into the shadow, and made note to kill the 'Erk' as soon as was possible.
Eliwood and Ninian, both donned in black attire, made their way through the garden slowly, stopping to admire the sheer beauty of nature, and they were sad that the likes of Harken would never again enjoy such simple pleasures.
They arrived at the pyre a few minutes later, and looked everyone there in the eye, then turned their gaze upward to see Harken's body lying atop the pyre.
Harken had always said he wanted to be cremated like his forefathers – a funeral befitting the noble man he was. They stared on silently, mournfully, as the Bishop lit the lower rungs of the pyre, and the fire spread throughout. Isadora cried as the flames began to lick at Harken's dead body. It was a harsh wake-up call to Eliwood, a wake up call that life is hardly ever easy, that the good times are rewards for surviving the constant bad times. He vowed then to change that philosophy in Pharae, to make everyday a day of happiness, he wasn't going to die like Harken, not without having accomplished something memorable in his life.
Lyndis was getting tired of finding Guy only for him to disappear into the crowd with Karel. How she hated that man. Even if he had reformed his ways, he had killed hundreds of people who were confident and unlucky enough to say they were a good swordsman within earshot of the deadly Karel. He had even decided to challenge Lyn to a fight – but unlike normal not to the death – but when he went into her tent to speak to her, he found her in the arms of Hector, making love to him.
The next day when Lyn had gone to speak with him, she stumbled upon Guy, who nearly cried at the sight of her. She saw him jump upon a horse and ride away, and when she pursued him, she saw he had ridden to catch-up with Karel and Karla who had left earlier that morning.
It broke her heart that Guy had had feelings for her, and found out that Lyn had given herself to another man. She was not a bad person; she strived to better herself all the time. But that was the harsh reality of life, not all things were fair.