Honesty
Lex - Gran 757
I had expected to be in the frontlines, but things apparently always went weird when it came to battles. Or at least, they did for this campaign. Random attacks from peaceful allies, lords stampeding over their own dead, blasted with dark magic, Sigurd getting a fiance… all weird shit, really. At least this current bit of weird shit had some logic to it. While we were charging forward, Jamke noticed that there were some servants running from the castle. And when the servants were evacuating, you knew something bad had happened. Well, that something bad had happened and their boss was a nice person. And, since Sigurd was also a nice person, he immediately sent people to go try and help the evacuating people. Led by Alec, Naoise, and myself. Why us? Knightly-knights, and Dozel specialized in defensive techniques. Simple, really. Now, Arden might've been good for this sort of thing too, but he was sloooooow. And busy protecting Deirdre. Sigurd's fiance. Seriously, the fact that Sigurd had a fiance was the weirdest thing about all of this.
But neither here nor there. There were things to do, and for me, that meant patrol. Naoise and Alec were busy helping the soldiers calm the absolutely terrified servants (never a good sign), so I rode around to make sure no enemies were hiding with their annoying arrows. Well, I found them annoying, since I had Neir blood. If they didn't bounce off and leave little cuts that hurt way more than they should, they just stuck in at awkward angles. And I got yelled at for pulling them out, which made them more annoying…
"Man, if Tailtiu were here, she would've been shocking me or something to make me pay attention," I sighed, dismounting. I was all the way at the lake, on a little part of the coast that jutted into it. Why? I let my horse wander like an idiot. "Or, worse, if my father…" Automatically, I tensed, clenching my fists tight enough for my knuckles to turn white. That man… when I was younger, I had looked up to him. My hardworking, strong, dutiful father… I had wanted to be just like him. Even with my antics, I strove for his praise. I treasured every kind word, every affectionate gesture. I worked hard and studied harder, so that I could exceed his expectations. I had loved him, after all. Hell, part of me still did.
But as I had gotten older, I had noticed my father's flaws. Temper, gruffness, lack of tact… but worst of all was the envy. The envy of the other houses. A feeling of not being acknowledged. I watched that envy slowly devour my father's good traits, and I saw how it was affecting his ruling. I could see how it would hurt our people, lead our soldiers to their deaths. So, two years ago, I had tried to talk to him about it. A simply discussion, no different than any other time we had discussed philosophies or political matters.
Except this time had been different. He'd punched me. He'd beaten me. Startled, horrified, and betrayed… I ran. I grabbed my things and ran to Velthomer. Technically, sure, Friege had been closer, but my father and Reptor had aligning values. Arvis, though? Arvis had been polite, sure, but I'd known he'd let me stay. Not just because I was Azel's friend, but because I was a son beaten by his father. Something he himself had suffered with his own father.
And I'd been right. Arvis let me stay. Arvis let me live in Velthomer, and I'd lived there for two years, pretending I didn't care about anything, especially my father. Azel saw through it easily, but he let me get away with it. Because it was hard. Even now, it was so hard to acknowledge why that had been so different. Hard to believe that my father, who I loved and admired, had hurt me. But now, no small part of me wished I had done something more, because of what was happening in Isaach. I didn't care what anyone said. I was damn sure my father did something to either provoke the campaign in Isaach or capitalize on it. After all, the people he hated most were conveniently heading off to battle and people died in battles all the time. Death didn't exactly care about your rank. Be super easy just to off them and blame the war. Or even set up other people he didn't like and, damn it all, Father was crafty and petty enough to do that.
"Damn it…" I growled, raking my hand through my hair. Then I took a breath and retrieved my axe, simple iron, so that I could do some practice swings to bleed off my frustration. Almost immediately, though, I swung too hard and it went flying out of my hands and into the water. Because of course it did. Why wouldn't it? Sure, I had a couple of others, but it was the principle of the thing. "Better calm down before Azel sees. He'll fret himself silly…"
"My pardon, good sir." A voice caught my attention and I looked around for a moment before realizing the voice came from the water. Where a lady was casually treading water. "You dropped something, yes?" she asked. I nodded, wondering what the hell was going on. I mean… Random lady coming up from the water? Yes, this was a totally normal thing. "Was it this golden axe?" She pulled up a sparkling golden axe and set it on the shore by my feet. "Or was it this silver one?"
"No, nothing so fancy." Really should've just run like a smart person, but manners just had to force their way in. "Just a simple iron axe." Besides, why would I want the others gold one? Gold was pretty and all, but soft. It made a piss-poor weapon. Now the silver axe was a bit tempting, but I hated lying. Well, less hated and more… Mother made me promise to be as honest as possible. And even if it had been a child's silly promise to a parent, since she had died soon after… I strove to live up to it. "You don't need to worry about it. Unless it hit you or something. In which case, I'm sorry."
"Hee…~" She waved her hands over the two axes and they suddenly disappeared. In their place was a single axe, one that was very different. "You are a very honest person. Please, take this. I do not know if it will change your fate, but it should be of use nonetheless."
"Uh… what?" Unfortunately, I could only stare as the lady disappeared into the water. And she disappeared. Sank into the water and there was nothing there. I even stuck my hand into the water to check if it was just super dark or something, but no. It was like she had melted into the water or something. And the only proof I had that it hadn't been a hallucination was the axe on the shore. The axe that was an amazing weight and felt like it had been made for my hand.
Was… was this a normal thing in Verdane? Random ladies appearing from the water, asking questions, giving weapons, and then disappearing again? Seriously? Ah, forget it. I'd break in the new axe and hit things until things started making sense again. Or at least until I felt better. Either-or.
Author's notes: So, this scene is an oddball, so to speak. It involves having to move Lex to the very edge of this tiny little peninsula (that is the exact opposite direction of the castle and enemies btw) in order to trigger. You get an 'Honest Axe' scenario, and for it, Lex gets the Brave Axe, his best weapon (and the only way he can attack twice in a battle thanks to how double-attack works in FE4). There is absolutely nothing that hints to the event in-game. Not even a throw away line from a villager. Yeah. On the other hand, I thought it would be hilarious to showcase it because of how random it is. So, here?