A Summoner's Journey
Chapter 9: Heroes Invade
Team for this chapter: Lyn, Julia, Abel and Sophia
A man dressed in pitch black cloth and dark feathers ran into the Emblian castle throne room. He knelt at the foot of the throne and threw off his cowl.
"Princess Veronica! The Askrian force liberating the World of Awakening has returned! Do we draw back our troops or do we continue?" the thief asked.
"Continue our attack" Veronica said in monotone "It's only four more enemies to defeat. They won't make a difference in our grand army"
"Yes milady. Another thing, the Askrians haven't even touched our forces in the World of Blazing. Shall I go and bring the troops from there?"
"Yes. Do that" Veronica faced a tall, tanned, muscular and masked mage beside her "Lead the troops from the World of Blazing to Askr's doorstep. Make them regret their actions"
"Understood Princess" the man absently nodded and left the throne room. The sound of a horse neighing echoed through the empty Emblian palace and the mage knight trotted off.
"Return to Askr and gather more info for me" Veronica dismissed the thief and turned to her left "Xander, attend me"
"Yes, Princess Veronica?" Xander walked into the throne room, his steel-plated boots making loud thumps in the ominous room. He was holding a heavy-looking purple sheath in his right hand, with the jewel on Siegfried's crossguard glowing dark purple.
"Assemble our best men and escort me to the summoning ruins in Askr" Veronica ordered "There, we will destroy Askr's only way of creating more heroes. Understood?"
"I understand Princess. We'll leave in an hour" Xander bowed and left the room towards the barracks. Veronica gazed around the empty room wearily. She was lonely. She wanted company. Veronica sighed and opened her palm, summoning her personal magic tome, Elivagar.
"You are here to continue your father's quest, not to be a child" she chided to herself silently.
Meanwhile, a spy wearing white robes rushed through the backdoor of Askr's castle.
"Commander Anna! Sir Lucian! I have news of the enemy's whereabouts!" the thief exclaimed, panting.
"Hurry up and tell us!" Anna cried impatiently as the marching of Embla grew closer.
"A wyvern rider and a cavalier by the names of Michalis and Camus are leading their forces from the south towards the palace gardens!" the thief reported "A mage knight named Ursula is attacking from the north west and an armor knight squadron led by King Zephiel is advancing from the north!"
"We'll be surrounded in mere minutes…" Alfonse muttered "Any reports of Veronica moving?"
"Sadly, no Prince Alfonse. Please forgive me!" the thief hung his hand low in shame.
"We have bigger things to worry about than them" Anna said "We'll deploy a line of Askrian guards to defend the front door and another to guard behind us. We can follow the same strategy as back when Eldigan attacked"
"I'll take Lyn, Julia, Abel and Sophia to meet our enemies head on" I said "We'll tackle Michalis and Camus first, then Zephiel and then Ursula. Hopefully, we'll be able to disable their generals before their army reaches us"
"Alright, let's hurry!" Sharena said "We don't have much time!"
I brought up my troops's skill menus and taught Sophia "Dragon Fang" while also giving her Warding Blow 2 and Fortify Resistance 1. I upgraded Abel's Holy Vestments to Aegis and also gave him Swordbreaker 3. I gave Galeforce to Lyn as well as Defiant Attack 3 and finally, upgraded Julia's Breath of Life 2 to Breath of Life 3. I shut off the skill menus and led my troops out the backdoor.
We arrived at a forest south of Askr Castle. As the spy said, a wyvern rider and a cavalier were leading the attack force comprising of an Emblian Lance Flier along with a Emblian Red Mage Cavalier.
"Ah, so the pesky flies have decided to make the first move" the wyvern rider said in a sharp voice "Veronica informed me that you'll be in my way, but will you be worth my time? Let's find out. Camus of Grust, to battle!"
The cavalier Camus raised his lance, which was different from any other lance I've seen before "On my honor as a knight and the power of Gradivus, I will slay the foe before us. My deepest apologies to the foe"
Michalis spat beside him "Pah, too honorable. Too soft" and he raised his axe, the Hauteclere "All forces, attack! Destroy the Order of Heroes!"
I sent Abel and Julia to the right side to deal with Camus and the red mage knight. Lyn and Sophia were sent to the right to fight Michalis. The mage knight galloped forward, making the ground explode with Bolganone+. Abel managed to avoid it and strike the mage knight twice with his lance, taking him down easily. Camus however, wouldn't go without putting up a fight. The sable knight jabbed his Gradivus down onto Abel in expert fashion, then slammed the spearhead onto Abel's chest. Julia launched a Naga strike from behind Abel, but Camus threw Gradivus like a javelin at the mage and it got stuck in her leg. Abel took advantage of the distraction and attacked twice with his Brave Lance. Camus blocked the dual strike with his shield and thrust his hand forward. The Gradivus glowed bright yellow and rocketed back to Camus's hand, expelling a large cloud of blood from Julia's leg. Camus struck Abel hard in the stomach, then reared back, his spear pulsing with electricity.
"What a pity" Camus galloped back, then charged, stabbing Abel in the chest.
"Growing… THUNDER!" Camus willed his Gradivus to burst in a line of electricity, turning Abel into a heap of ash and severely wounding Julia.
"Away with you!" Julia glowed with blue light, then rose her Naga tome. Camus tried to stop her, but the force of Dragon Fang knocked him back. A gigantic spectral dragon rose from Julia's tome and roared, sending a powerful shockwave towards Camus. The attack was overwhelmingly powerful and amplified a ton by Dragon Fang. The blast knocked Camus off his horse and he tumbled into a tree, defeated. Meanwhile on the other side, Lyn and Sophia were doing their best to combat Michalis and the Lance Flier. Lyn's Sol Katti attacks barely made a dent in Michalis's armor and Sophia was barely avoiding the Lance Flier's attacks. Lyn slashed the flier in the back and turned to counter a Hauteclere strike from Michalis. Suddenly, Michalis flew into the air, his axe pulsing with red electricity.
"Consider this an honor, insect. BLAZING THUNDER!" Michalis slammed his axe down onto Lyn and sent a huge wave of electricity on their path, snapping down trees and causing a forest fire. Lyn fortunately got away from Michalis's axe, but the electric shockwave managed to wound her. The Lance Flier charged with her Silver Lance+ towards Sophia, but Lyn blocked the lance with her blade and cut the flier's neck off.
"Lyn… distract Michalis. I got… my special ready…" Sophia said and Lyn nodded, running towards Michalis with her sword. Sophia opened her Fenrir tome and murmured an incantation. She shut the magic tome and cried as loud as she could "Dragon Fang!"
Purple flames rapidly started surrounding Michalis. They reared back and rammed into the wyvern rider, erupting in a massive purple inferno. Michalis roared in anger, but he couldn't resist the attack and when the flames died down, Michalis was no more. All was left was a heap of ash.
Michalis reappeared in flash of light without his axe or mount "You defeated me? Impossible! Yet I must admit that your group has proven themselves strong today. Should our paths cross again, don't expect me to be so merciful" and the wyvern rider disappeared in the shade of the burned down trees.
We went back to Askr castle, where we picked up Robin to replace Abel, then we headed north. We encountered Zephiel's armor knight squad at the plain nearby a large river. The squad consisted of Zephiel himself, a Lance Knight, an Axe Knight and a Cleric. Zephiel was huge, easily towering over his men. He wore a kingly purple robe and heavy armor beneath it. In his hand was a tall scepter, taller than his men and even himself.
"Hmph, the Order of Heroes we've kept hearing about shows themselves? You band is nothing more than colony of insects!" Zephiel said in a gruff voice "My team of armor knights will walk over you. Come! You shall not bar my path!"
Zephiel's scepter in his right hand shifted, mechanically morphing into a gigantic blade. I doubt anybody could even lift it, but Zephiel swung the sword around like it was a stick. Robin attacked first, sending a cloud of ravens towards Zephiel, then backed away, taking advantage of his low speed. Zephiel flinched from the attack and rose his sword , the Eckesachs into the air. Then, he slammed it forwards, sending a wave of light towards Robin. Robin staggered from the attack, but wasn't extremely hurt. Lyn attacked the Axe Knight on the left of Zephiel with her sword, but the knight retreated every time she struck, currency of his Wary Fighter skill. The cleric behind the squad kept on healing the knights, dragging on the fight and tiring out my troops.
"Lyn! Ignore the axe knight and target the cleric!" I called and Lyn obeyed, slashing the axe knight to activate Galeforce. A burst of wind appeared beneath Lyn's feet and she rushed behind the axe knight to cut the cleric down in two hits. Then, Lyn stabbed the knight in the back, forcing him to turn around. Using the knight's speed against him, Lyn darted behind him again and ran her Sol Katti through, taking more of the knight's life away. The enemy quickly realized this pattern however and swung his Silver Axe+ in a circle, cleaving off parts of Lyn's clothes and made a long bleeding cut on her chest. The pain made a red aura burst beneath her feet. Lyn, powered up by Defiant Attack, charged in a rage and smashed her sword onto the knight's helmet. The steel helm broke into pieces and the knight was knocked back.
"By my sword!" Lyn leaped and cleaved the man's head into two. The knight stumbled around, blood spouting like a sprinkler until he collapsed on the ground with a massive thud. Two foes down, two to go. That's what Lyn thought until a wyvern rider appeared over the river, carrying a Emerald Axe. Narcian rammed into Lyn with his axe, but due to his weapon being… an Emerald Axe, Lyn easily took him down with a Defiant Attack-boosted strike. Meanwhile, Robin was still fighting Zephiel. Zephiel also carried Wary Fighter, making Robin only able to strike once before Zephiel retreated. But after three Blarraven+ attacks, Robin managed to break through Zephiel's Wary Fighter. Robin rose his tome to finish the king off, but Zephiel had other ideas. Zephiel rose his Eckesachs into the sky and lightning struck it, knocking Robin to the ground.
"You won't get in my way!" Zephiel's blood that covered his robe glowed blood red and he used it to power up his special, Reprisal. Zephiel launched a wave of light energy towards Robin, boosted by Reprisal. The wave hit Robin hard, but he survived.
"Time to tip the scales!" Robin countered with his own special and finally took down Zephiel with a Bonfire-charged Blarraven+.
"Im...pressive…" Zephiel murmured before collapsing on the ground and fading. Julia finished off the Lance Armor and the battle was done.
We moved to the west, where we found Ursula leading her squad of Emblians. There was an Emblian Sword Cavalier, an Emblian Green Mage Knight, an Emblian Axe Knight and an Emblian Lance Knight.
"Oh, I've never had my target come to me before" Ursula said, feigning surprise "That just makes my job easier then. Prepare yourself!"
I sent Julia into the woods on the left to attack the Lance Knight while I sent Lyn to attack the Axe Knight on the right. The Lance Knight fell easily under Julia's magic, but Lyn took more time to pierce the Axe Knight's armor. Unfortunately, Ursula wasn't patient. She galloped behind Lyn and opened her tome.
"Blarwolf!" she called and huge blue wolf head rammed into Lyn's back. Lyn barely avoided falling into the axe knight's attack and glared at Ursula.
"Ursula, I remember you! You were hunting Ninian and Nils!" Lyn accused.
"Ah, I recognize you too. You were the lording that tried to protect Prince Zephiel, Jaffar and Nino back in the Bern Manse" Ursula smiled cruelly.
"Take this!" Lyn slashed at Ursula's arm with her Sol Katti, injuring the mage knight.
"Oh, where's your Mani Katti?" Ursula taunted, then shot a blast of Blarwolf at Lyn.
"I don't need it to kill you!" Lyn dodged the magic blast and slashed at Ursula's chest, leaving a cut on her waist. The Axe Knight came out of the trees and tried to protect Ursula, but he was weakened enough for Lyn to easily kill him in one stab. Ursula took advantage of the knight's distraction and hit Lyn again with her Blarwolf, leaving her hanging on by the thread. Lyn gritted her teeth and her Defiant Attack aura came back to life. Lyn ran with blazing speed and slashed Ursula on the leg, then finished the Black Fang assassin off with a uppercut to the face. Ursula toppled off her horse and faded away. Meanwhile, Robin was able to finish off the Sword Cavalier, but the Green Mage Knight proved troublesome for the tactician. Luckily, Sophia and Julia were nearby and together, they overpowered the mage knight and killed him, ending the fight. Triumphant, we headed back to Askr Castle.
On the way back to Askr Castle however, we came across some old ruins and an unfamiliar face.
"It's you" the man said.
"Huh? Do you know me?" I asked the man.
"You're that summoner Veronica is so obsessive about. I demand that you turn back. Now" the man said darkly.
"You're standing in our way of Askr Castle. We will not back down" Lyn said boldly.
"You don't wish to keep your lives? Fine. I'll bury you right here" the man rose his hand and a purple portal opened nearby the ruins. Four Emblian troops came out of the portal: an Axe Knight, two Clerics and a Bow Cavalier. Then, three heroes came out of the portal: Lyn, Eliwood and a blue haired armor man wielding a golden axe.
"Wait… those guys are from the World of Blazing!" I mentally slapped myself "Dammit, I forgot to liberate the World of Blazing!"
"You were foolish, forgetting to free the World of Blazing" the man hopped onto his horse and opened his magic tome "Now, I will turn your mistakes against you! Troops, attack!"
The man and the Emblian soldiers retreated into the old fort while Lyn, Eliwood and the armored man stood in front of us. My Lyn attacked first, striking the armored man in the chest with her sword.
"You're strong, but could never beat me in a duel" the armored man said and swung his axe, the legendary Armads down onto Lyn.
"This time will be different Hector!" Lyn dodged the axe strike and attacked Hector in the shoulder, leaving a dent in his armor. Meanwhile, my other heroes were dealing with the enemy Lyn and Eliwood. Robin was fighting Eliwood, but Eliwood had a strangely high resistance to magic. He managed to blow through two Blarraven+ attacks and hit hard with his Durandal, the huge broadsword lighting on fire before striking the tactician. Fortunately, Robin had high defense for a mage and managed to take multiple attacks before being worn down.
"Now, take this!" Eliwood's body glowed light blue and ice glazed onto his blade before he charged, hitting Robin with a Iceberg-charged attack.
"What a minute. Eliwood doesn't have Iceberg. How did the enemy Eliwood use it?" I wondered.
"Here's how it's done!" Robin burned with glowing heat and launched a powerful Bonfire attack, tearing through Eliwood's resistance and taking the sword cavalier down. Meanwhile, Lyn managed to wear down Hector through repeated strikes of her sword. However, every once in awhile, a thick blue shield would project over Hector's body and it would shield him from Lyn's next attack.
"Sophia! Assist Lyn in attacking Hector!" I called and the red mage stopped attacking the enemy Lyn. Sophia stood behind my Lyn and fired Fenrir attacks on Hector, but Hector did someone I thought I'll never see.
He threw his axe.
Hector held his Armads like a tomahawk and threw it boomerang style at Sophia. The axe instantly cleaved Sophia in two and she fell to the ground, defeated. I looked over Sophia's mauled body in shock. How did Hector do that? I concentrated on Hector, who was still dueling Lyn and brought up his skill menu. I saw a skill in his A slot called "Distant Counter", which allowed him to attack back at any range.
"Son of a gun" I silently cursed.
With nobody to guard Julia, the enemy Lyn began chasing the green mage and Lyn was easily catching up. Lyn's Sol Katti was about to hit Julia's leg when Robin caught the blade with his hands. The sword made a deep gash in his palms, but Robin held on, kicking Lyn in the stomach with his boot. The swordswomen skittered back and Robin unleashed Blarraven+ onto her. Lyn survived, but Julia finished her off with a swift blast of Naga. Meanwhile, my Lyn finally defeated Hector, after what felt like a million sword attacks. When Hector faded, Lyn dropped to the ground, panting.
"Don't rest yet. That man and the Emblians are still within this fort" Robin said and Lyn got up.
"Yes, of course. I can still fight" Lyn huffed, but she managed to smile and stand up straight.
"I detect a bow cavalier on the right side of the fort" Julia said "And the man on the left. How should we approach this Lucian?"
"I'm going to send Robin on the right to deal with the bow cavalier. His Blarraven+ can get the triangle advantage against bows, daggers and staves" I said "Julia, you can go to the left and lure the man out. I managed to read him before he left into the fort. He's a blue mage knight"
"Got it. Good luck everyone" Julia said softly, then she went over to the left side of the fort. She waited there for a second before she heard the man's voice from behind the wall.
"Valaskjalf!"
Suddenly, a permafrost formed underneath Julia and sharp ice crystals jutted into her feet. Julia managed to resist it and attacked back with her Naga spell. The man took the attack hard due to Julia's triangle advantage, but was able to survive. The Cleric beside him healed his wounds and the man attacked again. Julia dodged the ice crystals and glowed with a swirling white aura.
"May the gods protect me!" Julia launched her Naga strike again, which was powered up by Dragon Fang. The sheer force of the blow smashed apart the fort's walls and blasted the man to the ground incredibly wounding him. The man seemed incapable of fighting anymore, so Julia looked around at her comrades. Robin faced her and gave her a thumbs up, signalling that the bow cavalier was dead. Lyn emerged from inside the fort, reporting that she slain the axe knight and the two clerics. Now it was time to confront the man behind the mask.
"Urk, I can't keep… fighting" the man groaned under the pile of rubble Julia buried him in.
"Tell us what you know. Why is Embla attacking Askr?" Robin grabbed the man by the collar.
"Hmph, you Order of Heroes… so naive. By fighting me, you bought more time for Veronica and her forces to attack the summoning ruins" the man informed us.
"Why would she want to do that?" Lyn asked.
"To cut off your source of power of course" the man looked at me "You should go, before they succeed in their plan"
"Why are you revealing this to us?" I asked.
"That's a secret I have to keep. Now, farewell" and the man vanished in a burst of light.
After the man vanished, Robin turned to me "How should we go about this Lucian?"
"We should at least check the summoning ruins, in case he was telling the truth" I replied.
"Just in case though, we should pick up someone to replace Sophia. She was defeated in the last fight" Lyn advised.
"Right, let's go back to Askr Castle" I said.
After picking up Lon'qu from the castle, we made our way towards the summoning ruins. As the man told us, Princess Veronica and her forces were approaching.
"Now, just HOW did you know that we'd be here?" Veronica asked, genuinely surprised.
"Someone must of leaked our plans to them" Xander said beside the princess "Shall we continue our attack on the ruins?"
"Press forward with our assault. Lucian being here makes it much more easier. After all, why destroy the summoning ruins when we can kill Lucian once and for all?" Veronica got a sinister look in her eyes.
"Understood Princess. Lucian, I'm afraid your life ends here. You were a fool to try and save the ruins. In the end, it cost you your life" Xander said sternly, drawing his legendary sword, Siegfried.
"You'll have to get through us first" Robin glared at the prince of Nohr, "We will not allow you to destroy the ruins or kill Lucian. He's our friend and we'll protect him to the very end!"
"Such loyalty. Let's see how it holds up. If you have come to play, then I'll provide the game. Let's begin!" Veronica held out her hand. A sickly green orb formed and a book formed in her palm, her personal tome Elivagar. Then, the princess snapped her fingers. An Emblian Sword Fighter, Blue Mage and Troubadour appeared out of thin air and joined Veronica in battle. Xander rose his Siegfried to the sky "For Embla! Forces, attack!"
"For Askr!" all my troops yelled and they ran to meet the enemy. I sent Robin to deal with Xander and sent Lyn and Lon'qu to fight Veronica. Julia was sent to the far right to deal with the blue mage. Robin dealt the first blow by shooting a cloud of Blarraven+ at Xander. Xander managed to survive and countered with a bolt of dark magic at the tactician. While Robin was knocked back, Xander shot another bolt, courtesy of his B slot skill, Quick Riposte. Robin managed to regain his footing and attacked with another swarm of ravens, dealing heavy damage to Xander and knocking him off his horse.
"How can I be so… careless…?" Xander murmured as he faded away. Meanwhile, the blue mage shot a powerful bolt of Thoron+ at Julia, but Julia's magical resistance was sky high. She took the attack like it was nothing and attacked back with Naga. The Naga shockwave knocked the mage off his feet, but he managed to stand. The mage glowed with faint white light and an image of a night sky and moon burned into the air.
"Moonbow!" the mage called and launched his Thoron+ spell, the Moonbow special attack piercing her magical defense. But it didn't kill her. Julia cast Naga again and killed the mage. The troubadour came trotting quickly towards Julia and rose her staff. A powerful force of gravity stopped her from moving and left her wide open for the sword fighter to cut her down with his Killing Edge+. Julia fell to the floor, defeated. Robin dashed to the right side to deal with them. Meanwhile, Lyn and Lon'qu were dueling with Veronica. Veronica's defense was on par with Robin, which meant she was unusually bulky for a mage. Her tome Elivagar caused a green mist to spread over the battlefield, turning Lyn's Defiant Attack aura against her. What normally done a ton of damage to Veronica turned into Lyn's Sol Katti bouncing off of Veronica's face. Fortunately, Lon'qu didn't seem affected and dealt a fair amount of damage to Veronica. The Emblian princess willed green mist to surround Lyn and then the mist exploded, sending Lyn crashing into the jeweled wall where the coloured orbs were. Lyn slid down the wall, leaving a long trail of blood, then faded away. Veronica turned back to see Lon'qu dashing towards her.
"You're no challenge" Lon'qu jumped and delivered a swift triple slash of his sword with Glimmer. That left Veronica covered in cuts and blood, but she used her wounds to strengthen her attacks.
"I have no use for you…" Veronica's bloody wounds on her dress started glowing dark red and she shouted "Reprisal!"
Green mist started swarming Lon'qu and they exploded, sending him flying towards a column in the ruins. Lon'qu was badly injured, but he managed to stand and rush back into the fight. Veronica shot another blast of Elivagar, but Lon'qu skill, Vantage activated and he swiftly avoid the magic, dealing a hard blow on the princess's shoulder. Veronica was stunned for a moment, then Lon'qu activated his special.
"No hard feelings" Lon'qu jumped and finally finished the Emblian princess off with Glimmer. The green mist all around the field slowly dissipated as Veronica fell to her knees, the tome of Elivagar falling on the ground. All of the Emblian troops were dead. Veronica was defeated. The ruins were silent. The battle has been won.
"Why?" Veronica murmured as we stood over her.
"What?" I asked.
"Why… why do I keep losing? It's not fair!" Veronica suddenly yelled, tears forming in her eyes.
Me and my troops remained silent as Veronica continued to rant.
"Your kingdom has everything! So many heroes… a summoner… and a pretty realm that's healthy, wealthy and happy! Why… why do you keep tormenting me?! I have nothing! Nothing that matters!" Veronica put her hands on her eyes and continued to bawl.
Robin approached the princess, "Princess Veronica, are you just waging this war to try and improve your kingdom? Are you just in need of resources?"
"I-I don't know…" Veronica never looked so broken and frail, but suddenly, yellow light began gathering around her feet, pushing Robin back.
"A warp circle…" Robin murmured "Veronica! Where are you going?!"
But the princess didn't respond as the warp circle vanished her from the summoning ruins.
"There's nothing we can do but go home" I said, my heart heavy from all the fighting "Come on, let's leave"
The mood at the castle wasn't as happy as I expected. Alfonse, Sharena and Anna looked grim as I approached. All my heroes were assembled in the lobby, covered in dust and blood among other things.
"We routed them, but I doubt that's the last we'll be seeing of Embla" Alfonse said.
"Veronica gave us some insight of her thoughts of the war when we defeated her" Robin informed "Would you like me to share them with you?"
"Yes please. Thank you" Anna said.
Robin recounted what Veronica told me at the summoning ruins.
"She was bawling about how we have everything and she doesn't have anything of value" Robin said "If she's telling the truth, then we're the villains in this whole war because we aren't providing for her people"
"But I don't understand" Sharena put her finger on her chin "The last Emperor of Embla, Veronica's father, hoarded heroes and warred with Askr. After he died, the war was declared over. Veronica could've asked for supplies if she needed them"
"Yet she continued the war anyways, but for what purpose?" Alfonse wondered aloud.
"Perhaps it's the support of her advisors and people that spurred her late father's ambition forward" Anna theorized.
"But even with all that support, Veronica seemed very… lonely. I felt that when we battled her" Lyn pointed out.
"Does that mean Veronica is hoarding heroes and invading Askr because she's lonely? This has a gone for the worst" Alfonse faced me, eye to eye "Lucian, please stay with us. The Order of Heroes is going to need you for the battles ahead"
"Of course. I won't leave until this world is at peace" I nodded.
Later, I took a walk alone in the forests outside Askr Castle. The recent battles have drained me hard. A heard a twig snap beside me and turned to see the masked man from before.
"Greetings summoner" the masked man said, as if we never fought at all.
"I suppose I owe you a thank you. Without you warning us, the summoning ruins would of been-" I began, but the man cut me off.
"Say no more. I heard from your conversation with Lucina in the World of Awakening that you're looking for someone?" the man asked.
"Yes, Alfonse's good friend, Zacharias" I replied.
"You can stop searching. You'll never see him again" the man said, not a hint of sadness or comfort in his voice.
"Well, did you see him anywhere? How do you know?" I asked suspiciously.
"That's all I have to say on the matter. Farewell" and the man vanished in a flash of light, like he was never there.
Author's Note: Woo, got this all out in one day! Because I completely forgot about World of Blazing (Sorry!), I'm going to have Lucian and his crew liberate it next chapter. Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows!