A/N: Matt- Hello everyone! This is it: THE SUPER AWESOME MEGA CHAPTER. Originally this was going to be the chapter after this one, and be pre-battle, battle, post-battle, but to be honest it is WAY to long for that. Normally, a chapter is let's say 5-7 pages in the google doc I type it in. To put that in perspective, this is 22 pages in said doc. Thus, I'm putting these notes in the beginning instead of the end. There's another reason that that is, but I can't say why here, you'll have to read it yourself. I recommend either several reading sessions for this one, or at least some snacks as you truck along. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this late one year anniversary. Soon, another chapter will come out with the post battle and my general thoughts on both chapters in the author's notes. For now, thank you for reading. It has been a wonderful year, and I'm very excited to tackle the next two/thirds of 7's story. Please enjoy, happy one year (and a month cough cough), and as always, thank you for reading.

P.S.: Frankly this is several times longer than a normal chapter. If you plan to leave a review, please include whether you think it should be split into several chapters instead, after your thoughts on the chapter itself of course. I understand this can be intimidating, considering the other chapters are much smaller. Regardless, Enjoy!

Mark woke up somewhere on the road to Caelin Castle, as he had practically the entire journey. This time he was on Florina's pegasus, so he couldn't just hop off. Mark blearily rubbed his eyes and sat up, taking his weight off Florina's back. Florina looked back and smiled, saying something that Mark couldn't make out from the wind all around him. He just smiled and waved at her, doing his best to be convincing he wasn't completely exhausted from his spells. He yawned and, unable to pull out a book because of the high winds, instead leaned back and let the air hit him. He smiled. He never thought he would like flying, and any time he tried to do it for long with wind magic he felt sick. He leaned to his side a little and rubbed Huey on the side, thanking him for the experience. Mark and Florina stayed like this for a few hours, travelling behind a galloping Kent and Sain. Together the two had set up a rope to their horses and attacked them to Wallace in full armor, who was dragged along in his armor. Mark's eyebrows shot up at the sight, but Wallace gave a thumbs up ever time Kent or Sain looked around, so supposedly he was fine. Everyone else was packed onto Eliwood, Kent, and Sain's mounts. Erk held a sleeping Serra in his arms and was surfing on wind magic. Mark couldn't help but be amazed at the progress his friend had made in a few months. Mark still felt this unexplainable guilt towards Erk, but he resolved to solve it after the final battle, provided they were both still alive.

Soon enough, Kent and Sain came to a stop, leaving everyone to slow down and gather at the side of a cliff face. Mark and Florina landed and hopped off of Huey. Florina immediately ran around and gave Mark a quick hug before running over to Lyn's side. Lyn laughed as Florina began to speak to her with wild hand gestures. Mark snapped back to the group as a whole when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Wallace stood there, dirt and large dents covering his armor.

"Boy, we've arrived! Are you excited?" He asked happily.

"Wallace, why were you tied to the back of the horses?" Mark asked, examining Wallace's armor and dodging the question of excitement.

Wallace laughed. "I told them to! This armor is indestructible! I may as well be in the most comfortable bed in Lycia even when being dragged by horses! I plan to hammer out the dents and then hit the hay before tomorrow."

Mark had completely given up on understanding this man. "...Sure. But, couldn't you have achieved the same effect on one of the mounts?"

Wallace laughed but it was less booming this time. "Well, I feel like that's too much weight for the poor things, and secondly I'm uh…" He scratched his neck in shame. "I'm not that great with directions. Sometimes even following people I get off track and get lost."

Mark raised an eyebrow. "If that's true how did you find us in the first place?"

Wallace grinned "Complete luck kid. Sometimes all you need is a little luck in order to pull through." With that, Wallace slammed his fist into his chest in a salute and marched over to a tree, pulling out a small hammer from within his armor and taking off his chestplate. Leaning it up against the tree he began to beat the dents out of it. Mark sighed as each pound reverberated in his skull and slowly began to give him a headache, his least favorite thing. Doing his best to ignore it, Mark walked over to Kent.

"Kent, it's only evening. Are we stopping here for a particular reason?" Mark asked, being sure not to include any sort of aggression in his voice. Kent turned to him and then looked towards the cliff.

"This is it. On the other side of this cliff is a steep slope downward, and at the end of that slope we find Castle Caelin. Many days ago, I made a map of this immediate area for you for once we arrived here. Please, take it. Study well, we await your direction. Assume they know we're here." Kent reached into a bag on the side of his horse and pulled out a rolled up scroll, passing it to Mark. Mark took it and unfurled it, giving the area a quick glance. His heart raced. After what felt like a full year, even though it was only a few months, He was finally here. Lyn was finally here. Soon, for better or for worse, this whole thing would be over. Mark took a shaky breath and put the scroll in a pocket of his coat for study later that evening.

"Thank you Kent. It means a lot to me that you trust me with this." Mark said. He could practically feel Matthew's eyes burrowing into him from the back.

Kent actually chuckled. "I've been hard on your Mark, but you've led us to victory twice since you were revealed to us with no casualties. I thought a lot about it on our way to the castle today, watching as you were passed out, having fought General Eagler by yourself. No easy task, I am sure. Yet you did it for us all. While I will always have my eye on you Mark, know that I acknowledge everything you've done for us. I pray your mind can lead us to victory once again."

Mark nodded. "So do I. I'll let you know if I have any questions about this map." With that, Mark walked over to a nearby boulder and sat down, pouring over the scroll on his lap. As far as he could tell, the group was in the northwest corner of the map. The giant mountain range blocked the direct path south to the castle, and as if the mountain itself wasn't enough there was a river dividing it in half. Anyone on foot would have to jump through the ravine. Mark's mind immediately flashed to Erk and Florina, as the only two he thought could make it, maybe carrying others across. However, most likely the group would need to take the bridge just East of them. Looking to his right, Mark saw the small rope bridge. Just past it were a series of trees blocking Mark's view further. Looking back at the map, Mark saw that their entire path South was blocked by a river. Mark wasn't able to hear it due to Wallace's work on his armor, but he assumed the river was truly there. If they headed further East, there was a bridge South leading towards one of Caelin's villages. From that village it was one more bridge West and they would arrive at at Caelin Castle, due South. There were two bridges leading West at that position that the group could take. Mark scratched at his hair thoughtfully. It was incredibly roundabout. They would have to do a full horseshoe movement in order to simply arrive at the castle, not to mention how many soldiers should be placed at the bridges. Mark assumed there would be three squadrons, one at each bridge, which would mean the first one would be stationed in the forests due East. Mark thought about sending everyone over the mountain, one by one utilizing Florina and Erk, but Sain and Kent would be stranded because of their horses. There was no way the horses were going to make it over. Wallace also seemed to heavy for either Huey or Erk to carry over. Briefly being amused about comparing his friend to an animal, Mark continued to ponder. Eventually he raised his head. The sun was setting in the distance and camp was almost set up.

"Kent! Could you come here for a moment?" Mark shouted. Kent looked over at him and jogged over.

"Of course. What do you need?" He asked. Mark pointed to the bridges on the map, and then the one within his sight.

"So, I understand that bridge it really only big enough for one person at a time, but what about these other two? How large are they? As big at the one on the border was?"

Kent shook his head. "No, bridges like that are constructed by the country of Lycia itself, since it connects the borders. Bridges like these, confined within Caelin, are all handmade by its citizens. We usually have no need to several people to be crossing the bridge at once, thus, they are all like the one you see there. Big enough for a carriage to go over, nothing much more. At once. I hope that helps."

Mark nodded in deep thought. "It helps a lot, thank you. Please, return to setting up camp. Try to keep spirits up." Mark said, more grimly than he intended.

Kent grimaced. "Are things looking that dire?" Kent said, worried.

Mark shook his head, backtracking. "No, no, I merely… No, everything is fine. But, this is our last night travelling together. It should be one we all enjoy to the fullest, regardless of tomorrow. No drinking, though, we need everyone as sharp as possible for tomorrow."

Kent bowed slightly. "Of course. We don't have any drinks besides." He sounded almost disappointed as he walked back to where the tents were being set up. Mark looked back down at the map. He stared at the paper at though to look past it, like doing so would reveal some kind of answer to how to approach the castle. Having only one person able to cross the bridges at a time was an incredible hinderance. Assuming there were full platoons waiting on the other side of every bridge, Wallace would need to lead the charge on all of them if they even prayed for a chance. Mark knew Wallace was strong, but he didn't know if he was 'break through three different points without tiring out' strong. Maybe he was, but he was still only human. By the time they got to the castle, where the majority of enemies would likely be stationed, Wallace would be so exhausted that a farmer with a tree branch could likely fell the beast. Also, if Wallace needed to lead every charge it would hinder everyone's progress since he was the slowest of them all in his armor. Near invincible, sure, but still the slowest. Everyone would need to wait for him to position at every bridge. What worried Mark further, as if this all wasn't enough, was how there were two bridges leading towards the castle from the village. If they took one bridge, the enemy could simply take the other and attack them from behind. If they tried to storm both bridges at the same time, their thin numbers of twelve would be stretched even further. Mark continued to stare at the map until he realized it was dark enough that he couldn't even see it anymore. Holding it up, he stood up and walked towards the fire. Sitting on a log near it, he continued to work.

Mark briefly debated sending a small squad to take over the castle by heading over the mountain, but running pairings in his head he realized no one, not even with him and Wallace, was strong enough to take on a castle with only four or five troops. Still, he knew that staying entirely grouped up wouldn't work either. The village scared him the most. It was possible that not only would the enemy storm over both bridges, but they could pour out of the village as well. If that happened Mark and company would be surrounded from the North, the West, and the East, with a river blocking any exit South. As he continued to focus, a small hand rested on his shoulder.

Mark looked up to see Ninian. She looked at him, concern on her face. "Mage General, are you feeling alright?" She asked politely. Mark took a breath, realizing he had hardly been breathing from all the thinking he was doing.

"Y-yes, I am, I'm sorry, are people worried? Is this something important? Because I really need to focus in here if we want to win tomorrow." Mark said.

Ninian calmly sat down next to him without removing her hand. "Mage General…" She began.

"Mark." Mark curtly replied.

Ninian hesitated but nodded. "Yes, Mark. I know you are very stressed. Would it help you if I read into the future for you?" She offered.

Mark shook his head. "Impossible, no one can see the future-" Mark cut himself off as he remembered the twins special ability. He looked at her, thoughtful. "... I thought it was only immediate dangers?" Mark said.

Ninian finally took her hand off his shoulder and gracefully placed it on her lap. "That is correct, but I can usually see further than Nils can. Sometimes, if I really try, I can see into the next day. I have felt so… useless all this time, since I cannot dance for you. Like Nils's music, my dance is special, and could help you all tomorrow." She held back tears. "And… after your friends died just to try and get my ring back…" She raised her hand to show Mark her ring, reflecting the campfire off the rings silver metal. "Well, I've simply felt awful about the whole thing. You even saved us from assassins! So, if I can do anything at all, I want to! May I please try?" Ninian asked. This was more words than Mark had ever heard her say before.

He sighed. "...Might as well. I could use anything. Why now though? Why haven't you tried this sooner?" Mark asked.

Ninian looked down in shame. "It is very pressing on my mind to gaze into the future so. I figured we would be able to get by on Nils's powers alone. However, I am about to depart with Lord Eliwood for a safe location, so it is now or never, as you say." She said.

Mark raised an eyebrow at her phrasing on the last sentence. The way she said it made him feel like 'as you say' was not pointed at him. As far as he knew, he didn't say 'now or never' that often. "..Very well. What do you see Ninian?" Mark folded the map and gave Ninian his full attention. Ninian smiled, closed her eyes, and slowly returned herself to an emotionless face. She slowly lowered her head in concentration, holding her hands together just around her neck. She slowly opened her eyes. She took a shaky breath and looked at Mark.

"Tomorrow, a battle that shall truly go down in human history will take place here. I saw many glimpses of the battle itself, but I could not see all the way to it's conclusion. However…" She took the map from Mark's hand and unfolded it. "I saw several formations of the enemy. There is a large force here, here, and here." She said, pointing to the forest to the East, the village itself, and the castle. "There is a much smaller force here." She said, pointing to the two bridges leading toward the castle. "I saw everyone, alive, entering the forest to the East. However, further on in the battle, I only saw you." Ninian said.

Mark felt a chill go down his spine. "...Are you saying everyone but me is dead by the time we leave that forest?" Mark said seriously.

Ninian shook her head. "That it not necessarily true, Mark. I am looking into your future. It merely means you are fighting by yourself. Whether it is because the others have died, or you find some reason to fight alone, I cannot say. I do not interpret, I only convey what I see."

Mark nodded, a cold hand felt like it was grasped around his throat. "I see. Thank you. Anything else?" Mark said.

Ninian nodded. "Your emotions felt… content. You did not seem overly worried, but you were certainly focused. Also, it shall rain very heavily tomorrow." Ninian said, ending on a rather anticlimactic note. Still, it was important information. It meant that vision would be limited, for both parties.

Mark took all this into his thoughts and held them there for a minute. Eventually, he merely nodded. "Thank you Ninian. This is vital information." Mark said. He stood up and stretched helping Ninian up on her bad ankle. "Come on. I'll walk you to Eliwood." Mark slowly escorted Ninian to Eliwood, who was waiting on his horse. When they arrived, Eliwood helped Ninian up and looked down at Mark.

"You've arrived at the final trial my friend. When I arrive again tomorrow night, I hope with all my heart that it is not Lundgren I am greeted with." Eliwood said, a look of guilt on his face. "I wish that I could help with tomorrows battle but… I cannot. I must put country before my personal desires. Pherae must remain uninvolved until the day is won. I pray to St. Elimine that you understand." Eliwood pleaded.

Mark nodded. "Of course Lord Eliwood. Trust me when I say I understand politics." Mark said, smiling tiredly. "Please do not worry about it any more."

Eliwood nodded, clearly still feeling guilty. Mark liked his straightforward nature. "... I know. Please, be safe. I…" He shook his head. "No need. I can tell you all how sorry I truly am once you've won the day. I wish you the very best of luck." Eliwood could not bring himself to look at Mark anymore and took off back the way the group had come, Ninian clinging lightly to him so as not to fall off. Mark watched them fade into the darkness. Mark sighed and went back to his spot at the campfire.

I end up by myself… Mark thought, staring at the map. We enter the forest together… only I come out… He continued to think. A large force was in the woods, according to Ninian's predictions. For now, Mark decided to trust these predictions, as the siblings abilities had yet to steer him wrong. Even so, Mark refused to believe everyone died in the woods. His evidence for this was that Mark was apparently emotionally sound when by himself according to Ninian. He thought about it further. Slowly, slowly, he was piecing together a plan. Maybe… maybe I want to be alone by that point. What if that's the plan I come up with? What if everything is going according to plan when I'm by myself? Mark pondered this for a moment as his eyes widened. Yes… if it's all according to the plan then- "Then the plan itself becomes clear!" He suddenly shouted, standing up. Everyone around the fire jumped in surprise.

"Finally he says something exciting!" Wallace said.

"I must say, I agree. I thought he was going to rip that map with how tense he was holding it." Erk retorted. "Good to know it wasn't for nothing."

"Everyone! Gather around! I have a plan!" Mark yelled. Slowly everyone gathered. Once everyone was there, he stabbed the map at the very top to pin it to the closest tree and stood by it with his paints in hand. "I've finally figured it out. It's a long shot, but it's leagues better than anything else I was coming up with." Mark said quickly, unable to contain his excitement. A smile he could only get from a discovery covered his face. He dipped his brush onto his artist pallet, which he lightly sprayed with water magic to get the paint moist again, and painted a straight black line from their position directly East, into the forest. "It works like this." He said, pointing. "This black line represents all of us moving as a unit. Tomorrow morning, we will enter the forest as it rains. Likely, there will be a scout somewhere over the river that will see this and report to everyone. That's good, we want to be seen as a group. The key is the rain itself. Apparently, very heavy rains are supposed to occur tomorrow, meaning our vision will be limited from the sheer downpour. However, so will theirs. If we move together, we'll still be seen in the rain, but how many we are, what we look like, who enters, everything else other than the very fact that it is us will be hidden from the enemy. Because they see us all, they'll expect us to storm this bridge here" he placed a small dot on the second bridge, "and will likely form up accordingly. This, also, is exactly what we want. They'll be expecting everyone, but it won't be everyone. It will hardly be anyone!" Mark talked quickly, finishing quickly so he could put his plan down visually. Mark stood in front of the map, shielding it from everyone. He took a deep breath as his mind and body went into overdrive. He cast a little water magic mixed with wind magic and had a tiny ball of water hover next to him. He dipped his brush in it, removing the paint, and set to work, quickly brushing across the map with several colors, illustrating his grand design for all to see. He stood like this for several minutes, getting everything down to the smallest detail, running time tables in his mind. Finally, he drew a black line to the castle, followed by thinner teal and silver lines leading towards the door of the castle itself. Mark stood back. No one had said a word the whole time as they watched Mark work. "...This… is the plan." Mark said, breathing heavily in excitement and admiring his work.

Slowly everyone walked up to it and examined it. "What the hell does this even mean?" Wallace said, squinting at the paper.

"I like your portrait of Erk and I more, but this painting isn't so bad! Almost surreal I'd say!" Serra said, happily, examining the map.

"It's a plan Serra, not a painting." Erk said impatiently. "Pay attention."

"Mark… you can't be serious…" Kent said, a look of worry on his face.

"...I can work with this." Matthew said, smiling confidently.

"I imagine you're all confused." Mark said, pushing his way to the front over the noise. Once everyone had their attention on him again, he held the back of his brush to the map like a pointer. "Allow me to explain." Bursting out of the forest were twelve lines, each in a different color. Some went over bridges, some over the river, some weaving in and out and back again, some were doubling back over the mountain. Finally, all of the lines converged again into a black line to the East of the castle. Mark smiled happily to finally be truly confident in a plan. "I've seen you all fight many battles. I've experienced your abilities first hand. I know this plan can work. No, I know this plan WILL work! Let's break it down." He pointed first to the silver line. "Wallace! You're the silver line. Your path is the simplest, but it comes with its own problems. First of all, your path will be straight over each bridge. Take the southern bridge when heading West to the castle. The problems that come with it is you'll have limited support in terms of the actual front lines, but you'll need to act as if you have all the backup in the world. Since you'll be in the front and the enemy will be forced to focus on you and those immediately around you, they won't be able to get a good read on how many of us there really are. I'm sure reports have a general idea of each of us, but they have no idea if we have anyone new. Thus, if you act like you don't have a fear in the world fighting them, they'll focus everything on our fake front line."

"Fake?" Wallace said, scowling. "I don't want to be on the fake front lines I want to be on the real front lines!"

"But that's the beauty of it Wallace!" Mark said, grinning. "You are on the real front line! It's just that there isn't actually a back line, but we need to pretend like there is. I'm one hundred percent confident that you will be attacked the most out of any of us throughout tomorrow's fight. All I need from you is to act like you've got a whole army behind you."

Wallace laughed heartily. "Whether I got an army with me isn't an issue! I can take on these younglings by myself if I had to!"

"And you don't even have to! After all, a front line with one man isn't a convincing front line!" Mark pointed back at the two thin stripes accompanying Wallace the entire way, one dark red, one dark green. "Kent, Sain, these lines are you guys. You're going to take on an army right alongside him, as our perceived front line. The rain will keep your mounts from moving too quickly anyway, so you'll be right at Wallace's speed." Mark traced their lines as they stepped closer to look at them.

"Alright! Fighting with General Wallace is practically a holiday!" Sain said excitedly.

Kent cracked a smile. "Yes, I suppose so. But, Mark, I do not see Lyn with us. Which line is she?"

"Glad you asked, because she's up next." Mark said, slapping his brush handle onto the teal line.

"I'm ready for it!" Lyn said, running up to the map.

"I have no doubt in my mind. Lyn, you play closest to the main line without being in the main line. Notice:" Mark traced the line. "You start with the three of them over the first bridge, but at the first moment you can, you break along the riverbank toward the northern bridge leading to the castle. Once there, hide in these trees until the others catch up. Then as they cross the southern bridge, you're going to cross the northern bridge and attack the next unit from the side. Those three will be tired from the first fight and need flanks for any hope of winning the second big fight." Mark knew Ninian didn't point out a force here, but he was certain it had to be there, leaving four main forces: the forest team, guarding the first bridge, the village team guarding the second, a team guarding the two western bridges, and one guarding the castle. He snapped back into the moment and continued his orders. "Then, when you finish up with that, converge into this black line before the castle. For everyone's references, just like in the beginning, this black line represents all of us as a unit. Lyn, Wallace, this is where you guys pick it up again." Mark pointed to their two colors rushing from the black directly into the castle. "While we all charge the castle, you two need to break through at the earliest opportunity and strike down Lundgren. These soldiers are all mercenaries that he's paying. If he falls, they'll likely throw down their weapons because their pay will be gone." Mark said.

Lyn nodded. "...thank you Mark. Thank you for letting me get the opportunity for the final blow on him." Lyn said. Her voice dripped with the most determination Mark had ever seen her muster, and Lyn was easily the most determined person he knew.

"Hey, me too!" Wallace said, grinning. "I've been meaning to stick a few holes into the bastard. Of course, I'll save plenty for you, Marquess." He said, bowing to Lyn.

"I appreciate it Wallace." Lyn said, smiling. "But, be sure you get your fill before you hand him to me."

Wallace smiled evilly. "Ooooh trust me, Marquess. I will."

"Perfect!" Mark said happily. "Moving on from what I like to call Team A, we have Team B." Mark pointed to a group of lines that, after running into the forest, ran back to the campsite and over the mountain. "Florina, Matthew, Lucius, Wil, you're up." The group walked up to the map and stood at attention. "Team B, your assignment is varied, but you start at the same position: travelling over the mountain behind me, getting over the river, and down the other side. You'll need to fly over one at a time on the back of Florina's pegasus, Huey." Mark traced the lines to the base of the mountain, where they diverged into four separate paths. Mark pointed to the purple one. "Florina, let's start with you. Your path is the strangest looking on paper, but it's merely a formality that it's there. You see, you don't have a specific route. What I need from you is to take to the skies. The rain will keep you safe; no archer will be able to look up to take you out of the sky without having to close their eyes from the downpour. Now, once in the sky, I need you to dive in, take out someone in their backline, fly out, repeat. Team A should be at the bridges leading to the castle by the time you guys are over the mountain. Take your time, try to go as unnoticed as possible. Only attack when the Team A has the enemy's attention. Then, while they're fighting, you make their life easier by slowly pining away at their numbers. It doesn't matter if you only take out a handful of them every fight, the mere fact that they'll have one less weapon pointed our way is already good enough. Our difference in numbers will already be vast. Got it?"

Florina tucked her elbows in and clenched her fists. "I've got it!"

Mark nodded. "Perfect. All four of you have a similar theme: Dealing with the back line. Florina is going to be fighting the backline, but the rest of you will be doing something different. Lucius," yellow line, "let's start with you."

"I'm yours to command!" Lucius said.

"You're going to do one thing. As you can see, once you reach the base of the mountain, you are to run in between these trees here in intervals." Mark traced the line. "Now, at each of the little crosses you're going to stop, and fire off a small beacon of light skyward. This should draw the enemies attention, which is perfect. Now, this beacon has two purposes. One, to grab the enemies attention like I said, but also to be a notice to Team A. Team A, when you see this beacon, look away, because a second or two after this beacon of light Lucius I want to to fire the brightest blast of light at the enemy lines. Anyone looking should be blinded for a while."

"Question!" Lyn said, hand raised.

"Of course!" Mark said, matching her focus and enthusiasm, pointing to her.

"How will the enemy see the beacon if it's going to be raining as hard as you say?" Lyn asked.

"Allow me." Lucius said to Mark, bowing. He turned to Lyn. "Lady Lyndis, light magic works differently than other forms of magic. Originally designed by St. Elimine, it started simply as a light in the darkness, a practical spell for exploring in the night. As her power grew, so too, did this light magic, until it has become something not entirely physical anymore. In fact, you could say that all of light magic as a creation is St. Elimine's master level spell! Light magic is a projection both into the real world, and the mind. Where Mark's fire, for example, is a literal fire with a hint of the arcane, light magic can enter into the very minds of those around the caster. Thus, being not altogether physical, the rain should not affect it too drastically." Lucius bowed again and finished his small history lesson.

Lyn nodded in thought. "You used a few phrases there that I don't entirely understand, but you're the caster. I trust your judgement. Proceed Mark!"

"Thank you." Mark said, turning back to the map. "Now, immediately after firing this blast, run to a new location in the woods. Do it again two more times, by then the enemy should be wise to it. Once you feel they've caught on to your blinding strategy, remain in the woods and do what Florina is doing. When the opportunity presents itself, fire magic at the enemy and them disappear from sight. I'll be honest Lucius, you have one of the most dangerous jobs. Do you think you can handle it?" Mark asked.

Lucius nodded and bowed. "I accept this trial with utmost faith I will triumph. I will not fail you!"

Mark nodded, and pointed to the blue trail. "Wil, you're blue."

Wil nodded. "I was looking at that. A very simple line isn't it?"

Mark smiled. "You got it. As you can see, you'll position yourself at the top of the mountain. Now, from here you won't be able to see anyone, so your job isn't to fire at what you can't see, but what you can."

Wil leaned his head to the side before he got it. He slammed his fist into his hand. "...The castle."

Mark nodded. "Correct. Even if you can't make out the figures below in the rain, you should still be able to see at least a bit of the castle. If you can't, head down the mountain until you can. For about an hour, I want you to do nothing but fire arrows at the castle. Notch at least six arrows at a time and don't stop firing."

"They'll think we somehow got over the mountain, and try to go to the base to deal with the forces." Wil mused. "But they'll get to the base and find nothing." Will looked up, eyes wide. "Don't tell me…"

Mark nodded. "My first orders to you will were rain hell. I ask that you do it again. Once the enemy is at the base of the mountain, take out as many as you can. If it's right at the base of the mountain, you should be able to see them from your position. However, wait a while after arriving in your position before you start firing at the castle. You need to give Lucius and Florina time to get into position. After you think they're where they need to be, start firing. If you really want to be safe? Wait until Lucius does his first beacon of light. Then you'll know he's in position and you're safe to fire."

Wil saluted. "You got it boss. One issue."

"Go ahead."

"I don't have that many arrows to fire that long. I bought as many as I could last time we bought supplies, but there's no way I can fire groups of six arrows at a time for a full hour."

"I have an idea, if I may." Erk stepped in.

"Yes Erk?" Mark asked.

"I can make arrows out of lightning now. Would those help?" Erk asked, like what he just said wasn't gold and completely unexpected.

"...You can?!" Mark said incredulously. "How much did you learn in the months I didn't see you?"

"I keep telling you!" Erk insisted. He held out a hand and light gathered in it until an arrow of pure electricity formed in his palm. He grasped it and tossed it at Wil, who fumbled to catch it. "I can make more later. Play around with it."

"I-I will!" Wil said, trying to hide his obvious excitement at the prospect of firing lightning from his bow. He held the arrow in his hand, twisting and turning it.

Mark was dumbfounded but cleared his throat. "Erk's miraculous increase in ability over the past year aside, Wil, that's your job. Blue line. Matthew! Light red line!" Mark pointed to it.

"Yeah I was looking at that." Matthew said. "Looks fun."

"Oh, I assure you my friend." Mark looked at Matthew as he said that. Friend. Mark felt bad for his actions the day before, and the more he thought about it, his suspicion of Matthew at this point was foolish. He would let go and trust him this time. Matthew smiled the most genuine smile Mark had ever seen him give. "Trust me. It's incredibly fun." Mark looked back at the line, flowing down from the mountain base to the East side of the castle, heading right through it, and out the West. Above the section of the line in the castle was a question mark. "Your job Matthew is espionage of the distraction variety. Work your way into the castle, and short of burning it I don't care what you do."

"Alright!" Matthew said excitedly.

"W-Wait a minute!" Kent said, beside himself at this point. "He's a known thief! We can't just let him wreck havoc in the castle!"

"It's fine." Lyn said calmly. Kent turned to her.

"My lady?"

"It's alright Kent. The castle itself isn't what we're fighting to take over. Well, on a base level it is, but…" Lyn crossed her arms and looked aside. "But that's not the point. We aren't doing this for a fancy home, we're doing it for the people of Caelin. If Mark thinks we need a distraction in the castle, we'll do it. I only have on problem Mark."

Mark raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

Lyn maintained the determination she'd had throughout the night. "My problem is how you said short of burning the castle down, do anything. I disagree. If you have to burn the castle down, do it."

Mark was quiet, chuckled, smirked, and then looked at Matthew. He shrugged. "Well, you heard her. Go nuts!" Mark said happily.

Matthew had a glint of excitement in his eye. He took out a pouch and cycled through some tools. "Oooooh this is gonna be great! I wonder if…" He slowly continued mumbling to himself.

"And finally." Mark said, pointing back to the map. "Team C. Serra, Nils, Erk, and me. Pink, orange, dark purple, and brown. Come take a look." The other three gathered around. "Serra, Nils, you two are essentially always together."

"Mark dear." Serra said flatly. "You said I was pink, right? And Nils here was orange? I have a question."

"Of course, ask away." Mark said.

"Well, we're next to each other, like you say." Serra said, worry creeping into her voice. "But those two lines are directly in the river…"

Mark smiled sympathetically. "Yup."

"N-N-No! Not yup! That is not yup! That is not good! You even have going under the bridges!" Serra said, tracing the lines with her fingers.

"Correct. The idea is, the more time we have to protect the two of you, the less time we have eyes on the enemy. We need to keep our focus on them."

"Then just leave us out of the fight you buffoon!" Serra said, shocked beyond belief.

"Of course I thought of that, but to leave out only healer out of the fight? Not a chance. You're essential, but you cannot be seen. No one will think to check the river. Simply keep your head up, and slowly travel along the bank next to Team A, healing them when you need to."

"It's going to be pouring! We'll drown!" Serra said. Mark shook his head.

"Not with Nils there. Am I right Nils?"

Nils looked shocked. "I don't get it."

Mark squatted down to his level and looked him in the eyes. "You're going to keep Serra alive." Mark stood back up and pointed to the orange line. "Notice, if you both would, that the orange line is not in the river, but on the opposite bank. Now, Nils, you're going to have to go into the woods once Serra reaches the two bridges, so you'll have to get across the river. Are you a good swimmer?"

Nils shuffled. "Well… I-I know I can get across." Nils said, looking away. Mark didn't have time to think about his phrasing.

"Good. Once you're in the woods, remember that Lucius is there if you need help. Now, follow the bank in the woods and play your song for Serra. It should give her the strength to continue forth right?"

"Well yeah, but…"

Serra snapped her fingers. "Aha! I got it! I know why this can't work!" Serra said, manic. "The enemy will hear the song and attack him."

Mark wagged a finger at Serra, surprised she was still trying to get out of this. "Nope. I've had Nils use his song on me. In the moment that Nils is playing his song, no one else can hear it. I'm right, aren't I Nils?"

Nils shifted more and more. "Y-Yeah, that's right. Only the person I'm playing it for can hear."

Serra visibly deflated at this and sighed. "O-Ok. I'll go into the river and heal from there." She said, defeated.

Mark smiled. "Good. Erk, get over here." He pointed to the dark purple line. "We're mirrored." Mark said. Tracing both lines. When one went in towards the enemy, so did the other. When one went away, so did the other. Together, the two lines acted like a pincer, or a twist.

"I see that. You have us going over the river like it's nothing. Serra may have Nils, but what do we have?"

Mark smiled, and pointed a finger into Erks chest, which he quickly batted away. "Not me, my friend, but you. I saw you flying earlier. Here's the plan: tonight you're going to teach me that magic. Tomorrow, I'm going to use it to fly with you. When I go in, you go in. when I leave, you leave. After the first bridge, they might be on to us, so we split and go our separate ways." Mark pointed to the lines, one of which went over the northern bridge, the other over the south, before both went to the black line by the castle. "I have them going over the bridges on the map, but make your own path. At that point, we are like Florina: diving in, taking someone out, flying away. The only difference is, instead of aiming for the back line, we're aiming for the flanks." Mark said.

"Alright, I trust you." Erk said, shrugging. "At least I know that I can work with you."

"How nice." Mark said sarcastically. He clapped to get everyone's attention again. "Alright everyone, let's address the two black lines. As I mentioned, the first one is tomorrow morning. We want the scouts to see us enter the forest as one unit. That way, they won't expect us to break up into smaller groups. The second black line is simple: once the two bridges to the castle have been crossed, we will meet up and charge the castle. This is a distraction for Lyn and Wallace to get through, but if we want any shot of putting up a distraction for them, we need everyone there. So, we meet up, we charge, Wallace and Lyn charge around. The goal is not to defeat the final squadron at the castle. Frankly put, we'll all be completely exhausted by then. The goal is to survive. I cannot emphasize that enough. Fight them, but focus on survival instead of pushing through. If we last long enough, Lyn and Wallace will take down Lundgren, and Caelin castle…" Mark slammed his brush against the sketch of the castle on the map and smiled wide, finally taking the pride he always should have in his work. "...Will finally be ours. Any final questions?" Mark asked. Serra raised her hand, but Erk lowered it and Serra hung her head in shame. "...Great. Everyone, the night is still young. I'll keep the map right here if anyone wants to review it. For now, let's all relax and enjoy the time before bed! Disperse!" And with that, Lyndis's Legion went about the campgrounds. Mark walked over to his belongings and began to set up his easel. If this was his last night alive, he was going to paint.

Unsure what exactly to paint, Mark aimlessly stared at the canvas like it would give him some kind of answer to his dilemma. As he did this, Florina came up to him.

"Hey, Mark?" She said nervously, in her usual fearful way. "Erk says he wants to teach you the wind magic now if possible. Serra is forcing him to go to bed soon with her so he also says time is of the essence." Mark looked at her blankly as he continued to come out of his own little world.

"Oh, right, the wind magic. I'll be right there!" Mark set down his brush and started walking towards the fire when an epiphany hit him. He was just full of good ideas that night. "Florina!" I shouted, turning around and pointing at her, making her yelp.

"Wh-What?" She stuttered, taking a step back.

"Stay right there. Don't move. I'll be back soon." With that, Mark turned again and ran towards Erk. Once he was there, Erk smirked at him and folded his arms.

"Dost mine eyes deceive me?" He said, voice permeated with pride. "Does the almighty Mark Reglay need help from a commoner like me?"

"Ooh, full name, scary." Mark said sarcastically. "How about this Erk: teach me the wind magic without further fuss and within the next ten minutes, and I won't tell Serra about how you used to be inseparable from your cotton stuffed rabbit doll when you were a kid."

Erk's eyes narrowed. "Why would she care?" He asked, unconvinced.

"Oh please, she lives for anything to tease you about. So, do I tell her about… what was his name? Mr. Shnuffle?" Mark said.

Erk closed his eyes for a second and looked to the sky. "Why my, St. Elimine? Why me?" He held out a hand. "Fine, let's just get this over with. I'm sure it'll be completely easy for you. The chant is: 'Gales of green, allow me travel through the endless blue.'. Give it a shot, fly around. Don't expose yourself to the enemy though." He said. Mark said the chant and slowly lifted off the ground, a dic of green light forming at his feet.. Shakily he got his bearings and slowly made small circles in the air. Erk sighed while he watched. "...Figures. He says it once and he's off. Took me ten tries before I even lifted off, you know." He stated.

Mark shrugged as he gently flew around, getting the feel for it. "Well, rather than dwell on the fact it took you a little longer, dwell on the fact you can do it now. If you didn't know, I wouldn't know now and we'd be revising the plan. Besides, I used to try and fly with wind magic, so I have experience. Never knew this spell though."

Erk looked to side and scoffed. "Alright, alright, whatever. You've got the wind magic down so I'm going to go. Serra gets upset when I'm not there every second of every day." He said sadly. As he left, Mark called to him.

"Hey, Erk." He said, hopping off the green disc and dispelling it with a wave of his hand. He jogged over to his friend and put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "...I want you to know how thankful I am for your existence." Mark said.

Erk looked confused. "Are you alright there, Mark?" He said.

Mark shook his head. "No, really, the fact that your here now, fighting with me… well I personally think it's the reason I'm still even alive and fighting. I think I would have given up back when Ursula exposed me if it hadn't been for you so… Thank you. Which is why…" Mark looked around and leaned in for a whisper. "Erk, I'm dead serious. If you are in any sort of danger, run. Please." Mark said. He leaned back out. The incident with Lyn had made him nervous.

Erk looked at him, face unmoving. "...Only if you promise to do the same." He said simply. With that, he brushed Mark's hand off and walked towards his tent. Mark smiled lightly and started back toward Florina. Taking it as an opportunity to practice his flying a little more, Mark fly behind Florina nd tapped her on the shoulder. Florina turned around and jumped at the fact Mark now towered above her.

"Eep!" She yelped, reaching for a lance that wasn't there. Slowly she calmed herself. "Oh, Mark. I-I see the wind magic is working."

"Like a charm!" Mark said happily. He jumped to the ground and laughed. "Maybe now I can take you flying instead." He said.

Florina blushed. "Maybe. Why did you want me to stay?" She said, yawning. "I'm very tired."

Mark nodded. "Of course, this will only take a little while. I just want to paint you." He said, running back to his canvas, picking up his brush, and looking past the easel at a confused Florina. "Go ahead, just sit on a log or something." Florina blushed harder and stepped back defensively.

"Th-thats… I mean, I…" she stammered, sitting down on a log and brushing her hair behind her ear. "W-What do I even do?" She asked. Mark was already mixed paints to form the proper purple hue.

"Just what you're doing." Mark said as he brushed out a rough sketch. "In my opinion, anyone who changes who they are for the sake of a portrait misses the point of said portrait. Just do whatever comes naturally." Mark said. With this, Florina huddled into herself and blushed into her hands.

"Why are you doing this Mark? We have a big fight tomorrow." She said, taking her hands from her face and yawning. Mark paused for a moment before continuing his work.

"...Well it's more for my benefit than yours. I uh… I have a vacant space in my studio at home in Etruria and I figure since I'm going back…" He swallowed. "I might as well… well, fill it with something. Might as well be you right?" He said. Florina didn't say anything. "...Florina?" Mark said, looking past his easel. Florina was falling asleep against the cliff side. She wasn't quite there yet, but she would be soon. Mark smiled and didn't try to bring her out of it. Instead he spent the rest of his night at the canvas, locking this moment into his memory forever.


The first time Mark woke up, it was because of rain hitting his face. It wasn't very heavy yet, but Mark quickly woke up and scrambled to his painting and threw his coat over it. Looking around briefly, Mark saw that Kent had set up a shelter for everyone's supplies. Mark quickly rushed over and placed the painting into the dry area, taking his coat back. Stepping back for a moment to admire the work, Mark smiled and put his hood up, walking back to where he was resting and fell asleep again.

When he woke up the second time, it was because the rain suddenly turned fierce. Mark blinked his eyes open under his hood and slowly raised it. He could hardly make out the edge of the camp, but he saw that everyone was already awake and getting used to the rain. Good. Mark rose and stretched, moving over to the supplies and retrieving his sword. Once it was fastened to his waste, Mark tried to set his hand on fire, only to have it immediately snuffed out by the oppressive downpour. Mark sighed and walked over to the rest of the group.

"Ok everyone, it's about time." Mark said seriously. His happiness and excitement of his cleverness from the night before had worn off. Now he needed to be ready for things to go awry. "Does anyone need to review their end of the plan?" He asked. No one said anything. Mark nodded. "Very good. If you did not already know, we are leaving out belongs here so as not to encumber ourselves. Please only take the essentials." Mark said, gesturing to the shelter Kent had made. Everyone went over and examined their things, making sure they had what they needed and nothing else. Once they were back, Mark cleared his throat. "Before we head over that bridge and fight for our very lives…" Mark stopped himself. He was preparing a speech in his mind but he just couldn't. "...Well, before that, I think we should hear was Lyn has to say." Mark said, gesturing to her. Lyn nodded and walked to the center of the the camp. Everyone followed. She stood on a log and unsheathed her sword, looking at it.

"...I was told when I received this blade, that it chose me. I didn't know why. It still feels surreal. But I had faith in the blade, and accepted it. I was told when I was found again, that I was Marquess of Caelin. I didn't know why, or how, and again, it still feels surreal. But, like my blade, I had faith in the knights who found me. As we journeyed and I met all of you, I still do not have answers as to why the Mani Katti chose me. I don't have answers about my ability to lead a land of people. But even if I cannot have faith in myself, I know what I do have faith in, and that's all of you. You all mean the world to me, and I thank you for bringing me this far. Now that the final battle is at hand, I ask for your strength once more. Regardless of the outcome, know that you are all my dearest friends, and you have already given me more than I can ever repay you for. So friends, we fight!" Lyn raised her weapon. Mark raised his sword in suit. The rest of the legion joined in, lofting their weapons high. "...For Caelin!" Lyn shouted.

"For Caelin!" Lyndis's Legion shouted back. Together, they got into formation, and marched toward the forest. Crossing the bridge, they heard a horn to the South. They had been spotted. So far, so good. As soon as they were in the forest, they were assaulted from all sides. Everyone, however, was ready for it. Mark tossed out bolts of lightning, sending knights to their knees in paralysis. The rain continued to beat at his head, causing him to blink often, but Mark held his sword at the ready and continued to charge forward regardless. Through the density of the trees and the downpour, Mark couldn't quite tell how many soldiers were stationed in the woods. Furthermore, they seemed immensely spread out, in every direction. It would take a while to clear the woods. The fights flew by, one by one, as Mark came across them. Since the enemy was so spread out, the fights became a series of one on one battles, which Mark had no trouble dealing with, regardless of his flames. Finally, the group converged at the other end of the forest, on the edge of the trees. One final soldier stood at the ready.

"Lyndis!" The voice said. Slowly, the swordsman came forward. "Come forward! I will stop your little adventure right here an-" The man never got to finish his sentence, as a giant spear entered his chest. Mark looked to the right to see Wallace in a position indicating he had just thrown it. Wallace pulled on the chain around his arm, bringing his spear back and leaving a gaping hole in the enemy's chest. Wallace didn't even say anything, just looked at Mark for the go signal. Mark leaned against a tree. Nothing eventful happened in the forest, everyone was uninjured. This was to be expected. Mark figured Lundgren would put the weakest of his forces here, likely to give them the advantage of the trees to make up for their shortcomings. More than anything, it was just to tire the group out. Everyone awaited the signal from Mark.

"...Everyone, this is the last chance. Does anyone have any questions?" Mark asked earnestly. No one even moved, but most were out of breath and breathing heavily. Mark nodded and let out a deep breath He didn't realize he was holding. His heart pounded in his chest. He was going to assault a castle with only eleven other people. Eleven people that he couldn't afford to lose. Mark quietly looked at his feet. "...Be as safe as you can everyone. Make your own judgement if you think the plan isn't going well. Follow it up until you think it will kill you. Survival is more important than the castle." Silence. Mark knew not everyone felt that way. After all, the whole point of the journey was to take this very castle back.

"...I agree with him." Lyn said, stepping in front to face everyone. "Please everyone. It's more important than the castle to me." She said. Again, silence. The only sound was that of rain, slamming against the leaves above them, dripping down onto the soaked ground.

"On my signal, Wallace is going to run out with Kent, Lyn, and Sain, making as much noise as possible. At the same time, Florina, Wil, Matthew, Lucius, you make your way back to the camp and over the cliff. With the noise we're making, no one should even notice you. After that, Serra and Nils, you dash for the river. Wait about two minutes after the first eight of us leave. We don't want you being seen either. Erk, you and I wait a full five minutes. That way, they might think we died in the woods or the like, and won't be expecting us at all." Mark turned to Wallace's group. "Will you be able to hold your own that long until Erk and I can help alleviate?" Mark asked. The four nodded. Mark turned the the backliners. "Do you have faith in your ability to accomplish your jobs?" Mark asked them. The four nodded. Mark looked at Nils and Serra. "Do you think you can stay hidden, at all costs, while still doing your jobs." Mark asked. The pair looked at each other and slowly nodded. Mark smiled happily. "Alright everyone. H-Here we go…!" He said, holding up a hand. Lyn, Kent, Sain, Florina, Wil, Matthew, Lucius, and Wallace all prepared to spur themselves forward. Nils readied his flute. "...Good luck." Mark said. He quickly brought his hand down, as if to start a race. Immediately, Wallace and Lyn let out a battle cry and burst out of woods towards the first bridge. The backliners, Team B, quickly started darting through the woods again, making their way back, Florina being careful not to fly above the trees. Nils played his flute for them all, spurring them onward. Serra nervously fidgeted with her staff. She turned to Erk.

"E-Erk?" She asked, shaking from both fear and the rain. "I-I need to run in a minute or two here and… well…" She placed a hand on her chest and tried to stay her quick breathing. "I just… I mean to say that…"

"...What is it?" Erk said, bending down slightly to look her in the eyes. It was the first time Mark had seen Erk look at Serra without any sort of malice. "You can tell me. I'm you're escort." Erk said.

"I kn-know that." She said. Mark was unable to tell if she was crying from the constant dripping on her face. "And you said you'd never ever let me die right?" She said.

"...Of course not." Erk said, brushing away a piece of her hair. "And I intend to uphold what I said. I will never, ever let you die Serra."

Nils tugged at Serra's dress. "Serra, w-we need to leave." He said. He was shaking too.

Serra looked down at him and nodded. "Right. Right." She said, a long pause in between. She looked at Erk one last time. "I'm scared Erk…" She managed to squeak out. Erk Brought in a deep breath and quickly ran up to her, pulling her into a deep hug. Mark saw incredible concern on his friend's eyes.

"I know Serra. I promise you, Mark knows what he's doing, and I'll keep a careful I out for you. I swear it. Our friends need you thought Serra. You must repay them with your magic." Erk said. Mark watched all of this unfold unflinchingly. Then, Nils grabbed Serra by the hand and tugged at her. She dislodged herself from Erk, giving him a brave, but frightened smile, before the pair ran into the distance. Three minutes until Mark and Erk would need to burst from the trees.

Mark looked down, feeling nothing but shame. He should have just said it was impossible to take a castle with twelve people. As he looked down, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Erk looked at him pained.

"Don't make me give you a hug too." Erk said simply. Mark laughed, wiping away a couple of tears.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Mark said sadly. "Besides, with how stressed out I am right now, it's possible if you made any sudden movement at me you'd end up fried from some lightning." He quipped.

Erk laughed. "It wouldn't surprise me. Taking a page out of Ursula's book today, huh?" He said.

Mark nodded. "Well, my normal area of expertise is useless right now." He said, tapping his hands on the tree trunk behind him. "Can't do a thing about that though. At least I know a few basic thunder spells." He said. Erk sighed and placed his other hand on Mark's other shoulder.

"Listen Mark." He said, forcing Mark to look at him. "I understand your stress, but it's out of your hands now. You've made it possible for twelve people to take over a castle. Feeling any guilt now is pointless. Focus purely on your portion of the battle." Erk floated off the ground, letting go of Mark. The familiar green wind magic flowed beneath him. He held a hand down and smiled. "Come on. It's time for us to do what we do best." Mark smiled thinly. He took Erks hand and allowed himself to be hoisted up. Casting the wind magic under his own feet, he briefly gained his balance and looked at Erk.

"Through the trees or over them?" Mark asked

Erk cracked his neck. "I was thinking that we should go through." He said. Together they faced the edge of the woods, South.

"...You count down. I can't do it." Mark laughed nervously.

Erk eyed him but nodded.

"Three."

What was I thinking? Mark thought.

"Two."

I'm going to die here today.

"One."

...But I can do my best until then.

"Go!" Mark and Erk quickly surfed through the trees, water bashing into their eyes, forcing them to squint Mark discharged a light spark in his hand to signal splitting up. Erk turned right, Mark turned left, and soon they emerged on either side of the southern half of the forest. Mark quickly surveyed. Serra was under the first bridge with Nils, desperately holding her staff onto the bridge from below. On the bridge was Wallace, fighting three men with his axe. Sain was dashing behind him, throwing Wallace's chained spear at the enemy mages to keep them from firing at Wallace. Kent and Lyn waited for their chance to burst through. Mark turned to the mountain, but couldn't make anything out through the rain. Dashing into the air and to the left of the bridge, Mark quickly swooped in and kicked one of the frontliners fighting Wallace into the river. As he did this, he held out a hand and discharged as much lightning as possible from it into the enemy ranks. This caused many of them to panic and stumble backward, knocking over several. Mark quickly shot back into the sky and out of sight. The rise in altitude briefly cause him to be short of breath, but he quickly lower himself once he figured the soldiers weren't looking their way anymore. Mark got back into sight range to see that Serra was slowly going along the river with Nils, since the four members of the front line had each passed the first bridge. They fought in a tight circle, backs to each other as they were engulfed by hundreds of mercenaries. Mark watched as Erk quickly barreled through the ranks that Sain was dealing with, lifting several people up with wind magic before dropping them from near fatal heights. Mark quickly swooped in to Kent on the other side and stole Erk's idea, making Kent's load easier.

Mark rose again, into the clouds. Feeling even more light headed from the constant upkeep of his magic, He nearly passed out, but the icy water brought him back. He quickly dived down again to see only a handful of soldiers left at the first bridge. It was looking like a victory for the first battle, but considering how tired he was now, he was getting increasingly worried about the rest of the battle. Mark decided to stay in the air and observe for a little while. Mark saw smoke from the direction of the castle, but closer than that, he saw the army across the second set of bridges was already in disarray. Mark grimaced. He misjudged how quickly his friends would get across the mountain, and the frontal attack group was still fighting at the first bridge. Mark's eyes set on the village. It appeared all soldiers from the village had already come out to help with the first bridge, which made life a bit easier for Mark. Suddenly, a quick burst of light caught Mark's attention. He turned to the second army, where the light came from, only to realize to late. Suddenly, light shot out like the sun originating in all directions. Mark didn't realize his mistake in time and instantly regretted it. As light blinded him, he held his hand to his eyes in pain and felt himself falling out of the sky. He tried to open his eyes to see where he was falling, but was still blinded. Mark screamed as he fell, certain he was doomed. Soon, he felt the cold splash of the deep river. The air knocked out of him, and body racked with pain from the impact, Mark counted his blessings that he was even still alive. He quickly tried to swim to what he could only assume was up. Soon, he felt himself break water, and the sound of the rain was all around him again. He quickly breathed, taking in some water in his haste. He sputtered and tried to swim, but he was too weak. Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and a warm feeling spread through his insides, warming him despite the cold river's frigid grip. Slowly, his eyes returned to normal. He looked behind him to see Serra, giving him a quick smile before becoming serious again and, taking a breath, diving underwater. Before Mark could even process, he briefly heard a soft flute in his head, before it vanished again. Still, Mark now felt ready to go. Dashing out of the water and back into the air, feeling refreshed, Mark tried to pinpoint Nils. Unable to see him, Mark simply decided that was probably a good thing anyways, and surveyed the land.

The first group had made it to the second bridge, and were quickly making their way through. That being said, they could be better. Kent was no longer on horseback, and Mark couldn't see the steed anywhere. Wallace had lost his helmet and one of his arm guards. Before he could see more, he saw someone dive in and take out a few soldiers before taking to the sky again. Unable to tell if it was Erk or Florina, Mark quickly shook his head and reminded himself that that was his job too. Quickly dashing to the enemy, Mark prepped a large spell. As he tackled one of the soldiers down, Mark unleashed another arc of lightning from his hand. It charged the rain around him, jumping from person to person, coating their metal weapons and armor. Mark grabbed one more person to the sky with him, dropping them into the river once he was high enough. Mark panted heavily. Another spell like that, and all the Nils songs in the world wouldn't wake him up for a long while. Placing a rule in his mind to only use lower level spells for the remainder of the battle, Mark quickly dashed in again, passed electricity onto one more person, and rose up again. Slowly, his eyes closed, and he felt himself falling again. Mark stumbled through the air and panicked, casting wind magic to his side and hurtling himself into the mud. As he stood up, between the first and second bridges, he saw another brief flash of light. This time, he turned away when the sun came out. Turning back, Mark saw the remains of the second army scattering into every direction. Mark's heart thudded heavy in his chest. If the enemy spread out, it was likely someone from the backliners would be found. Shaking his head to focus up again, Mark forced himself into magic exhaustion by casting his flying spell again.

The first group was making their way to the castle. Mark could see they were hunched and barely able to walk. The battle was proceeding quickly, which was beneficial to Mark's group. The long it took, the more they were likely to lose. It was a blitz in the purest sense. Mark flew to the woods Lucius was supposed to be hiding in, briefly hovering over it. Several of Lundgren's hired hands were combing the trees. Mark, hoping his friend was ok, quickly flew back towards the castle. Mark could see smoke rising from the castle now, as well as a whole platoon of soldiers with arrows sticking out of them behind the castle, most crackling with light. Mark lowered himself to the castle's side and ran along the wall. Soon, he found everyone. Mostly.

Lyn, Kent, Sain, Wallace, Matthew, Erk, and Serra were there. Nils, Lucius, Wil, and Florina were nowhere to be seen. Mark fought the urge to break down against the castle wall and instead focused in. "This is everyone?" Mark yelled.

"There's no way!" Lyn yelled back. She gripped her sword arm, trying to stop blood from pouring out of it. "This is too few! We should wait for the others."

Mark shook his head. "They're not coming! If they were they would be here!" Mark yelled back.

"You can't know that for sure!" Sain yelled. "No, they must be on their way, if we just-"

"WE CAN'T!" Mark shouted. Everyone was silent. "The more we wait the less of a chance we have. We'll just need to do it with the eight of us."

"How can you just say they're dead like that!" Kent shouted.

"I'm not saying that at all! Survival was top priority remember? But if they needed to retreat, they're not going to get here in time! Now form up!" Mark pointed forward. "Wallace, Lyn, you're on point. Break through as quickly as you can. Kent, Sain, help them on either side, and once they're through, become the new point. Matthew, work your way around them, backstab. Erk, you're with me, Serra, behind us. As soon as we are in formation, burst around the corner and take them on." Everyone quickly got into position, taking a brief moment to hold their breath, the group rounded the corner and charged toward the entrance.

Mark guessed around thirty soldiers were there. The rest must have been inside, dealing with the blaze set by Matthew. Looking up, Mark saw Lundgren himself in royal purple armor, standing at the front steps. He raised his lance and slammed it against the stone, spurring his men forward.

"LUNDGREN!" Wallace shouted, gaining speed. "Today, you die!" He yelled. Holding the flat of his axe in front of him like a shield, he bashed through the charging soldiers, Lyn directly behind him, swiftly leaving light cuts on anyone she passed. Mark's vision of the situation was quickly cut off by Kent jumping in behind, sword at the ready, recreating the front like just like Mark had asked. Mark said a silent prayer in his mind as Lyn and Wallace exited his sight. Please St. Elimine… Please guide their weapons. He said. Quickly, he jumped into the fray himself and stabbed at a lancer, catching her in the arm. She grunted and thrust at him, forcing him back, with her superior reach. She continued a relentless assault, which Mark could hardly dodge in his weakened state. Eventually he sidestepped and sliced the shaft of the spear in half. As he closed in for the kill, a sword caught him in the leg and forced him to the ground. Looked to his left to face the man, Mark saw him raise his sword to kill him only to be met with a spear the the chest, which was quickly yanked back by a chain. Thank you Sain! Mark exclaimed in his head. Turning back to the lancer, Mark started to stand only to be kneed in the face. Sprawling back, Mark tried his best to ignore the pain and quickly forced himself up again, stabbing the lancer in the throat. She fell to the ground. Mark stepped over her only to be met with four more soldiers. The first shot a ball of dark magic directly at his heart. Mark ducked, but another man was there and quickly kicked him in the chest. Mark rolled over, using the momentum to set himself back upright and fired a lightning bolt at the dark mage. The dark mage went rigid and started to spasm in the mud. Another swordsman sliced Mark in the back, causing him to fall yet again.

Mark was now in full survival mode. Feeling a quick rush of relief from Serra's staff, Mark turned around and quickly thrust his blade into the swordsman's chest. Then, shoving him off, quickly turned again to see that the man who had kicked him in the chest was now barreling at him with an axe, accompanied with another lancer. Mark charged at them as well. At the lancer thrust, Mark grabbed the lance and sent electricity through the weapon. Mark looking in horror at the enemy's armor glowed but diffused the shock. Mark soon felt the side of the lince hit him in the side. As he stumbled to his side, he fired off a lightning bolt at the axeman, who was nearly upon him. The axeman yelled and dropped his weapon, having no protective armor. This didn't stop the man from punching Mark in the face right after. Mark stepped back and swung his sword in front of him to try and get some space, but the lancer's reach was longer. Taking a step forward and thrusting further than Mark could counter, Mark felt the lance enter into his side. Taking a sharp breath, Mark angrily brought his elbow down on the shaft of the lance, breaking the hard wood, but feeling his arm go numb. He grabbed his sword with his other hand and threw it desperately at the lancer. By some miracle, it found a chink in his armor and gave him a deep cut at the hip. The lancer fell over in pain, but another punch soon met Mark. Mark crumpled down, exhausted. He hardly had anything left in him. A boot hovered over his face. Just as it was about to slam down, a voice resounded.

"Lundgren's mercenaries, cease fighting!" Shouted a voice. Slowly, all around him, the fighting stopped. The man who was about to flatten his skull retracted his boot and looked towards the castle. Mark couldn't see from the floor, but he heard those glorious words. "I, Lyndis, have slain your leader! With your employer dead, there is no reason for you to continue fighting! Cease now and suffer no harm for having fought as the enemy of the new kingdom!" Mark heard the sound of clanking as weapons fel on top of each other. S cheer went up from the mercenaries and a chant for Lyndis began among their ranks. Mark felt a staff against his side and slowly sat up.

"...I guess they didn't like him either." Mark said as Serra helped him up.

"I'm just glad we're alive!" Serra exclaimed happily.

"...Give me a little extra Serra. The battle isn't over." Mark said, struggling to stand.

Serra creased her brow in confusion but healed him more anyway. Mark felt his strength slowly returning, just enough to be able to cast another spell or two and to be able to feel his arm again. "What do you mean the battle isn't over?" Serra said, pointing to the castle. "We just won! That's the castle right there, you know?" Mark ignored her and looked back towards the second bridge. The rain prevented him from seeing anything other than the occasional flash of light. He gulped.

"...But their front lines don't know. I'll be back!" Mark said, taking to the sky with his wind magic. He quickly shot himself towards the forests of the second bridge, leaving victory behind him. When he arrived at the forest, he saw Lucius dueling two dark mages. He actively only shot light with one hand, as he held a limp Nils in the other. Mark had never seen the monk's face show such emotion, let alone the anger he showed now. Lucius was fighting his own, one handed, against two men. Mark quickly dashed in. Realizing he forgot his sword, Mark opted instead to plow directly into the side of the mage, pushing him to the other. The two mages fell into a pile, and Lucius wasted no time in firing light magic directly into them. The two mages went limp. Mark fell to the ground and jogged to Lucius.

"Mark!" Lucius said, relieved. "I was certain I was going to die. What are you doing here? I thought you were with the main force?" He inquired.

Nils quietly stirred in Lucius's arm. Looking up, Mark could see a large gash on his head. "...Mark?" he said sleepily.

Mark ran up and bended to Nils's height smiling. "Hey, Nils, great job! The castle is won, the fight is finished."

Nils's face brightened. "R-Really?" He said weakly. Mark nodded and ruffled the child's hair.

"Yeah." He said. "You can take a nap. You deserve it." Nils quietly nodded and passed out in Lucius's arms.

Lucius looked up. "Is the day truly won? We succeeded?" Lucius asked. Mark now saw that the monk's once flowing white robes were torn and muddied in various places. Blood was coming from several wounds on his legs, and he looked ready to fall over.

"We have. I'm trying to find Florina and Wil. Any ideas?" Mark asked. Lucius shook his head.

"I am afraid I do not know." Lucius said.

Mark nodded. "Alright, I'll find them. Go to the castle and heal." Mark said. He took to the skies again, refusing to black out, and quietly flew above the trees, trying to find any sign of his friends. After several minutes of haunting silence, Mark saw Wil in a tree. He quickly flew over and checked to see what the damage was. Wil was unconscious, sitting on a branch near the top of the tree. The tree itself was near the mountain, so Mark figured it was his escape plan. Still, he was hardly unscathed. His bow was broken, he arm was bent in a direction it wasn't supposed to go, a deep wound bled from his shoulder down his arm, and a javelin was stuck in his thigh. Mark felt a faint heartbeat. Quickly, he scooped Wil into his arms and shot back towards the castle. Once there, Mark placed Wil in front of Serra.

"He's dying!" Mark yelled before taking off back to the woods. A deep dread began to set in him. On his initial search, Mark never found Florina, but she had to be somewhere right? Holding this comfort in his heart, Mark slowly combed the forest from above the trees. One rotation. He didn't find anything. Second rotation. Nothing. Finally, at his seventh time searching over the forest, he briefly saw a speck of white. Immediately flying toward it, Mark fell to the ground and found Huey. Huey was on his side, his saddle lay a few feet away, and all of his supplies had been stripped. The rain had caused the mud to come up over his beautiful white coat, leaving only a portion of it's splendor shining through. As Mark slowly walked closer though, Mark saw an arrow through his neck. He swallowed hard. He had not seen an archer, but that didn't mean they weren't there. Mark quietly pulled the arrow out of the still pegasus, examining it. Nothing stood out at first, but as Mark examined it, the blood was slowly washed off in rain, and Mark could faintly make out the crest of a mercenary group from Etruria known as the Immortal: A famed group known for having the least amount of casualties from any group of mercenaries. They were expensive, however, they would get the job done. Mark suddenly heard the clashing of metal in the distance. Dropping the arrow, he ran towards the sound.

Soon, he was in a clearing. Florina was on foot, dueling a heavily injured archer with the crest of the Immortal's on his shoulder pad. The man was out of arrows, and instead using his bow as a quarterstaff. The bow was ornate, with twin blades on the ends. The man had several holes in his body from Florina's thin lance, but none of them in vital places. Florina was looking worse. A deep wound was causing her to limp around the clearing, trying to keep the archer at bay. Several smaller cuts covered her body, her headband was cut in half and hung loosely in her hair.

Mark stopped analyzing smiled happily. Florina was alive. Unable to contain himself, Mark called out. "Florina!" He shouted, voice ragged from a day wrought with nothing but exhaustion. Florina raised an eye and turned to look at him. For a second, she had the most radiant smile on her face.

For a second.

That moment of taking her eyes off of her opponent was all the opening he needed. The man lunged past Florina's spear and stabbed his bow into her side. Florina's face quietly dropped, as her eyes closed and she fell onto her back. Mark stood there, mouth open, horrified at what he'd done. Horror quickly changed to rage. Firing himself forward through the air, Mark grabbed the archer by the back collar, causing him to drop his grip his bow. The man screamed as Mark quickly flew into the sky. The man quickly grabbed at his shirt, which was essentially hanging him at this point. Mark looked at the man in anger as he slowly suffocated in his hands. Just as the life was slipping from the man's body. Mark held the man up, turned himself sideway, spun to build momentum, and threw the man towards the ground with all his strength. Mark followed the man down, until eventually they reached the ground. Mark looked at the bloody mess that used to be an Immortal for but a moment, before running to Florina's side.

Picking her up, Mark saw that he breathing was heavy. Blood from her side was gushing out faster than a simple bandage or scrap of clothing could handle, and she'd already lost so much. Mark tried to take to the sky before falling to the floor, dropping Florina in front of him. After all of that, he was truly and completely out of magic. Refusing to pass out, Mark grit his teeth and crawled to Florina.

"M-Mark…" She said quietly, reaching out a hand.

"Florina-" Mark choked out. He grabbed her hand tightly. He quickly checked his coat for an vulnerary or elixir, only to remember they were broken a few battles ago. He looked back at Florina. "I-I'm so sorry! If I didn't yell out, if I just helped you immediately, y-you wouldn't…" Mark couldn't bring himself to say you wouldn't be dying. But it was true. This was a direct result of Mark's actions.

Florina smiled weakly and painfully brought herself closer, latching her other hand onto his. "...Can you… Sit up?" She asked. Mark nodded and brought his legs up to sit cross legged. He slowly watched as Florina desperately pulled herself up until her head was resting on his chest. "You don't have to… blame yourself…" Florina said, smiling.

"...What?" Mark said, unable to see how she could possibly say that.

"Mark…" Florina chided. "You don't have to blame yourself… for this…" She said, obviously pained. "F-For two reasons. I know you… like your logic…" She said. "The first reason… is that it's my fault… I was in that position in the first place." she said. She snuggled closer, moving her hands from his hands to around his neck. Mark could do nothing but look on, the tightness in his throat refusing to let him even make sound. "The second reason… is this… right here…" She said smiling. "I can't tell you… how long I've wanted… to do this… but I just couldn't, through my fear." She said, smiling. Now she was gently stroking his back as he cried. "I'm truly happy." She said.

"Florina… Please…" Mark choked out, taking all the air he had. "Please don't leave me… I wanted to do this too but… but I wanted to do it more than once! T-This is too unfair." He said.

Florina exhaled the only laugh she could muster. "I… Agree…" She arms slowly fell. "Mark…" She opened her eyes and looked at him. No fear. Nor embarrassment. It was the look Mark had been trying to coax out of her since they met. Just a kind, beautiful girl who was happy. Truly happy. "Thank you, Mark… and… I love… you… Mark…" She lightly touched her lips with he fingers and pressed them to his. "My… loving… Mage General… Mark…" Her hand fell to his chest. She kept looking at him, breathing shallow.

"...I love you too, Florina." Mark choked. "Please… Don't…" Mark begged quietly. Florina only continued to smile and stare at him. She breathed in. And out.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

In.

And then

Nothing.

Just a kind, beautiful girl who was happy.

Truly happy.