Mark looked around with a blank expression on his face. The situation was rather grim: Ursula was surrounded by four armed guards, all of whom looked like formidable opponents in their own right, not to mention Ursula herself. Ursula was gently holding a tome that Mark had written for her a few years ago. It was way below what she was capable of using now, and it confused Mark as to why she would bother using it now. Perhaps capturing "Nils" here was not a big enough deal to warrant a grander weapon. Either way, it pained Mark immensely. Lyn was still seated, nervously eyeing the exchange, as was the rest of her table. Mark thanked St. Elmine she was smart enough to read the atmosphere. The bartender was quietly still cleaning glasses, but he obviously wasn't as into it as before. Hector had disappeared, not surprisingly. If a fight broke out Lyn would undoubtedly jump to his aide, but Mark wasn't sure it would be enough. Besides, the last thing he wanted was to fight his older sister.

After what felt like an eternity, Ursula smiled and sighed. She looked behind her and gave a signal. Her guards exited the bar. She fitted her tome to her belt, looped an arm around Mark's neck and dragged him over to the bar. Mark begrudgingly let himself be dragged. This is probably best anyway. He thought to himself. Together they sat down. Ursula patted him on the back and rubbed her hand across it.

"Hey there little scholar." She said with a thin smile. "Thing are going well for me. What about you?" She held up two fingers to the barkeep and placed a few coins on the table. The barkeep blinked a few times before taking the money and prepping the drinks.

"Well enough I guess." Mark said. "I've been having fun, at least." Mostly. He thought.

"Fell in with the right crowd huh?" Ursula retorted. Of course she knows who I'm with, why wouldn't she? He lamented. "Well I'm certainly happy to see you. After all, I thought my only little brother in the world was dead and gone!" She said sarcastically, taking a sip of the drink she had just received.

"... Did I really fool nobody?" Mark said. The more he heard about how unsuccessful his 'dead body' was, the more he felt like an idiot.

"Hahahah…" Ursula laughed, sipping her drink. "...Not a soul." She said happily. Mark's heart was hurting more than it ever had before, even when he confronted his father. At least then the situation wasn't his fault.

Mark hung his head. "...I'm sorry." He said quietly. "I'm so, so sorry Ursula. You've become something horrible all because of me." At this, Ursula fell silent. Perhaps she was thinking about what to say. Perhaps she wasn't accepting the apology. Before Mark could know, Nils picked this time to run for it. Without even looking Ursula held up a hand, the tome at her waist glowing blue, and a gate of light blocked the exits. Nils stopped in his tracks, whimpered, and ran into the monk's embrace.

"It's not too bad, really." Ursula said, unconvincingly. "Seriously. Don't even worry about it." It was such a bad lie that Mark felt his eyes go a little wet at the length his sister was trying to get him not to worry. He quickly wiped his eyes. He hated crying in front of her.

"Looks like you've tried to change your way of speaking too huh?" He said.

"Well, of course." She snorted. "Would be pretty bad if people knew who we were right?" Ursula swallowed hard. "Hey, Mark." She whispered. "Forgive me for this." She looked at him sadly, placing a hand on his shoulder. She smiled in pain. "But a special client has requested something for you." A chill went down Mark's spine.

"...You're not gonna kill me. Me. Right Ursula?" He said, praying to St. Elimine he was right.

"Of course not." She said, still whispering. "But I do have to do this." She stood up and walked over to Lyn. Mark quietly reached into his coat and fiddled with his tome. If Ursula made a move to kill her, Mark would distract her. Lyn stared her down, trying her best to hide her fear. "Lyndis of the Lorca, right?" Ursula asked, bowing. "Greetings, future marquess." she said.

Lyn shot a glance at Mark, who signaled it was fine. "Yes, but I'm not marquess yet." She said.

Ursula laughed, and pointed Lyn in Mark's direction. "Oh trust me, with him on your side you've already won. Do you know why? Or hasn't he told you?" Ursula said, feigning surprise.

"Why are you mocking me Urs!" Mark shouted, using his sister's nickname and standing up. Immediately, light chained his hands to the table. When he looked up again, Ursula looked at him pained. Orders. From him. She mouthed to him. She turned back to Lyn, smiling devilishly, grabbing her by the shirt and bringing her closer.

"Anyways. Want to know?"

Lyn bit her lip. "... No!" She shouted. Mark was to resigned to what was about to happen to even care about his friend's trust in him.

"Too bad Lyndis!" Ursula said, raising her voice.

"Lady Lyn?" Voices called from outside the bar, overhearing her. Soon, Kent, Sain, Erk, Serra, and Florina were at the entrance, looking it. "Lady Lyn!" Kent shouted, grasping at the bars of light and trying to pry them open.

"STOP!" Mark shouted at them. They did. "Just… just stop it."

Ursula paused at this and sadly looked down in disgust of herself. Soon though, she raised her head again like it didn't happen. "Drumroll, please." She said tapping her hand slowly on the table. "That little 'nobody' over there, marquess, is the next Grand Mage General of Etruria." The shouting from outside fell silent. Kent let go of the bars and took a step back. Ursula slowly looked at Mark. "Well." She continued, "He was going to be, at least. But on the day he was supposed to be honored with the title officially was the day he was assassinated. But that's not true at all, I mean, after all, he's right there." Ursula let go of a silent Lyn and continued, spreading her arms in great gesture. "No, in actuality, he's nothing more than a deserter who abandoned his country, his people…" she paused. "...his family. Everyone, just because he didn't want to take the job folks."

"You backed me up!" Mark shouted, still refusing to cry. "You agreed with me! Urs I trusted you with my very life, why are you doing this to me!? We're siblings! Who's making you-" He stopped himself, realizing. He fought vainly against his bindings. Ursula was always better than him after all, it seemed. Ursula turned to him sadly, and mouthed one last word. Father. With that, she snapped and undid his bindings, the gates, everything. Her guards walked back in, brushing past a shocked Lyndis's Legion. Mark slumped to the floor, feeling his world crumble beneath him. Ursula walked up to him and lifted him his chin. She smiled evilly, tears in her eyes.

"One more request from the client brother. But at least it's something you're good at." She blinked the tears out and raised her voice. "We're taking the boy now, Grand Mage General, sir. You've now been ordered to stop us." She stepped away and turned to her guards. "You've served me well. You will be remembered." She said to them, before quietly walking out of the bar, hopping onto her horse, and riding away. Her guards saluted her, already knowing their fates. Mark watched her leave. He heard her guards draw their weapons.

"Mage General! You have been asked to be killed by us by a client. Be ready to receive the Fang's justice!" The leader said. Lyn stood and drew her sword.

"Like we would let you!" She shouted, turning to the rest of the group, still at the entrance. "Come on, let's help… Mark…" She looked out at the sunken faces. The only two who weren't looking away were Erk and Matthew. Erk look at Mark pained, but didn't offer help, since Serra was pulling him away. Matthew just stood there, observing, hands in pockets. "W-What is wrong with you all!" Lyn said incredulously. She turned back to Mark. "Don't worry Mark, I'll…" She trailed off again.

Mark slowly rose to his feet, his head still bowed. Now that Ursula was gone, he couldn't hold in his crying. He slowly began to chant under his breath. He shakily raised a hand.

"Before he can do anything, attack!" One of the Fang members shouted, eliciting a battle cry. As they plunged at him, Mark jumped up onto the table and swept his leg into them all in a row, knocking them over. He finished his chant. Slowly, their weapons began to melt. They cried in pain as the steel dripped down onto their hands, fusing their now useless weapons onto their bodies. After that, Mark grabbed the closest one by the shirt, lit her on fire, and tossed her into the rest. Soon, all of the guards were on fire, searching for a way to put out the fire. Mark slowly walked among them, touching them to keep up the flames. Eventually he paused, said a small incantation, and clenched a fist. I'm sorry. He thought, as he closed his eyes.

Even with his eyes closed, what happened next lit up the room so much that Mark could only recoil. The sound was worse, as he slowly heard living beings become nothing but dust. When everything was settled and he opened his eyes, all that was left were four scorch marks on the bar's floor. Mark quietly let his hand drop. He had never raised his head once during the entire fight, not only out of shame for what he was doing, but shame of what he was. The encounter with Ursula tipped Mark's already deteriorating ability to remain optimistic from the realm of unlikely to the realm of impossibility. There was no escape, neither literal nor figurative from who he was. A coward. A traitor. A fool. A deserter. An enforcer. And most hauntingly, and true of all, he was a killer.


After seeing what had happened to their compatriots, the rest of the Fang was quick to give up. Mark sat on a hill overlooking the town, his arms around his legs, knees pulled to his chest. He watched his friends stir among the town in silent contemplation. He refused to believe deep down that Ursula would do something like that to him unless she was forced, and if her final word to him alone, father, was anything to go by, then he was the one who put her up to it. Mark couldn't think of anyone else who would force this sort of thing onto the both of them. This begged the question however of whether Mark's father knew where he was, or if he had just put Urs up to it for whenever she found him. She obviously wasn't there for Mark, and was surprised when he was there in the bar, which lead Mark to believe in the latter choice, that it was pure chance.

Mark carefully went over everything Urs said, searching for some sort of clue, but the only things that felt genuine about the encounter were when they were drinking at the bar together and when she would mouth words at him. It was a system they had picked up training together under their father so that he wouldn't catch them talking to each other during training. This was also why Mark refused to cry in front of his big sister, a problem which he never had with his younger one. Urs always had it harder than he did in terms of training under their father. Mark always figured she had more to deal with than he did, and refused to show weakness so she wouldn't worry about him. This was the closest he had ever gotten to losing it in front of her. With little information to go on, the only real conclusion that Mark could reach was that even though this was an isolated incident, there was no real escape. The fact that his father was willing to put a hit on him and make such a show of it only stood as proof that he was willing to go to great lengths get him back in Etruria. This was probably his only warning.

Mark quietly did the math of how far Caelin was from this small town, and then how long it would take him to run back to Etruria. He obviously couldn't stay with the group afterwards, but he figured Lyn would be able to convince him to stay for the rest of this march on the castle. After all, it's not like he ever wanted to leave, he just felt like he had no choice. Just then, who should interrupt his train of thought but Florina, gently flying towards him on her steed. Soon she landed a little ways behind him and sat down a few feet away.

"U-Um." She stammered out. "L-Lyn wanted me to tell you to come back down now." She said. Mark had flown himself up here using wind magic immediately after what he did so that no one would have to interact with him. If he had thought it through more, he could have realized Florina would just be sent in their place.

"Sorry." He said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't a-apologize." She said, looking away. "I know you definitely had your r-reasons. After all, there are some s-scary things about you in rumors and… such." She awkwardly finished. Mark sighed and levitated some rocks around himself.

"Trust me, I know. They're well deserved bad publicity." He said. "Hey Florina, I'm sorry you had to see that. I know you don't like it."

"I-I think I'm getting used to it." She said. Mark blinked at her. Only a few weeks earlier had she literally run away from him when he'd done something similar. Now she was acting like it didn't bother her, even though it surely must have.

"...You're concern for me is nice and all, but it's not something you should ever get used to." He looked down. "Again, just trust me on that one."

"Uh... yeah." She affirmed. She was visibly shaking. Mark wished he wasn't a monster so he could do something about it. "B-but still, Grand Mage General is no joke." She said, shooting him a look out of the corner of her eye. "Somehow I can't say I'm surprised though. You definitely deserve the title. I mean, you're b-brilliant!" She said. "The way you lead us is always thought out an-and you treat us all well." She said happily. Mark continued looking down. "S-so… come back down now?" She said, lightly trailing off at the end.

"...No. I'll pass." he said flatly. "Thanks. I'll sleep up here tonight. It's probably best anyways."

Florina sat in silence for a while before slowly scooting closer. "I-I can stay too. We can just set a fire in the middle, and then-"

"No." Mark said.

"No, it's ok, really, you'd be so lonely up here and-"

"No."

"I'll be quiet, like I'm not even here and that way-"

Mark pounded his fist into the ground and lit his entire arm on fire. He grit is teeth. "NO DAMMIT!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. "LEAVE ALREADY! DO YOURSELF A DAMN FAVOR AND PUT AS MUCH ELIMINE DAMNED DISTANCE BETWEEN US AS POSSIBLE BEFORE ONE OF US GETS HURT!" He panted heavily from his outburst, extinguishing his arm. He turned back to the village. "Because it sure as hell isn't going to be me." He said coldly. The fact that Florina was still trying to be nice to him was only making him feel worse. He just needed a night, he wasn't going anywhere. "I'm not leaving. I'll be down in the morning." He said steely. He turned to her. She wasn't crying, to his surprise, but she was hurt. He didn't care right then. "Good. Night." He said, staring her down. She quietly got up and went to her pegasus. As she got there, she turned and smiled at him.

"Good night Mark!" She said, clear eyes, no stammer. "I'll make sure everyone knows how cool you really are by morning. Leave it to me!" She said, hopping onto her pegasus. Before Mark could say another word, she flew off to the town below. Mark quietly watched her slowly diminishing form before turning onto his side. He dug a small fire pit next to himself, threw in some grass, lit it on fire, and closed his eyes.

Alright 'Grand Mage General', he mocked himself in his mind. You only have a week at most before father sends something at you again to bring you home. Make it count.

A/N: You know I should really be asleep at I'm waking up soon, but I'm on break right now so I definitely wanted to crank out another chapter this weekend, hence why it's on the shorter side again. I really hope this grand reveal is interesting to you guys as it's pretty much the core of Mark's past. I've been trying to dance around revealing this as much as possible, but now felt like the time to give this info to you guys. I like to think of it like this: You now have the outside part of the puzzle, the corners, the walls etc. Now it's time to fill in the inside (slowly, over many, MANY more chapters, of course) Anyway, as always guys thank you very much for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Peace! -Matt