A young girl skipped into the hallway. She looked over at the group and gave a slight squeal of excitement. She darted over, her long curled pigtails bouncing as she ran. "Xander! Who did we get! Who did we get!"
"No one important Elise," Xander sighed, "How did you know about the summon?"
"Oh! Felicia told me." She giggled. "So who did you say we got?"
"No one important." Xander repeated.
Chrom looked away a little, his face still a little grim.
"Awww." Elise whined loudly "Our sister will come eventually." Xander assured his little sister. Sharena looked at Elise, "So, how is Seliph doing?"
"Oh! He's doing good. Sleeping right now. Looks like he'll come back good as new!"
"Wait." Chrom looked at them in confusion. "What happened to Seliph?"
"Oh yes, that's right." Xander said looking at him, "You just returned from the mission, during our last battle Seliph was struck by a powerful lightning strike. Most likely from that electric demon."
"But we don't know that for sure!" Sharena quickly noted.
"Oh… but he's alright now right?" Chrom asked.
"Yup!" Elise squeaked happily. "We did a good job patching him up."
"Oh, hey Chrom!" Sharena looked at him hopefully.
"Yes..?"
"I never got to hear about your mission. Did you find where the heart was hiding?" She looked at him with curiosity.
"Well, yes. They are putting up quite a fight and we were having some troubles taking them down." He grimaced a bit. "They have a fleet of dragon riders with them."
Things went quiet. "Wait, no ones really ever explained to me what a rogue hero is. Is it like a person who just wandered away?" Elise looked around in confusion.
"A rogue hero is a hero that the Emblian Empire had summoned and lost control of." Kiran explained.
"Lost control of?" Elise has never been on the battlefield and has never seen the enemy.
"Yes." Chrom looked at Elise, "The Emblian Empire can summon heroes too. But instead of the heroes fighting for them willingly, they forcefully control them to fight. Rogue heroes are people who have, for the most part, broken the hex that they were placed under. But now, not in their home world and not sure what to do, they wander. In confusion they can become hostile."
"So that why we go out to get them." Sharena picked up for Chrom. "So we can fully break their hex and let them stay here with us where," She hesitated a moment, "They don't have to fight if they don't want to. It's safer for them and all the people who may cross their paths."
"Some put up more of a fight though. Speaking of, a portion of the enemy group breaking off." Chrom sighed.
"Wait," Elise stopped to think for a moment. "What stops the bad guys from trying to control you guys when you fight them?" She seemed a bit concerned.
"Remember that mark you got when Kiran summoned you?" Xander looked at his little sister.
"Oh yeah! This one." She looked at the back of her hand. There was the symbol of Askr imprinted on her hand. Every hero fighting in the name of Askr had the symbol somewhere on their body.
"Yes, that one. That's what keeps the bad guys from controlling us against our will, among other things. It protects us." Xander said reassuringly.
"That's good." Elise sighed in relief. "It's no fun to be forced into things."
Xander gave a slight chuckle. "Yeah. Why don't you go play with Lissa awhile, she asked me to asked you if you wanted to have a tea party later."
"Alright." Elise giggled. "That sounds fun." She skipped back off down the hall. He turned around to see Alfonse and jumped slightly. Xander's not sure when Alfonse came back inside.
Sharena chuckled at Xander's surprise.
Xander cleared his throat and took on a more formal tone. "I think the magic of the brand needs to be addressed."
Alfonse nodded. "Let us go speak with the head enchantress." He turned to walk away. Xander and Chrom followed.
"Wait isn't what we have enough already?" Sharena asked them quickly.
Xander turned to looked at her. "Not while we have monsters hiding in the shadows." He was dead serious.
"Oh…." Sharena went quiet. Xander continued down the hall with Alfonse. "You guys have fun." Sharena waved them off and went off to the garden. Kiran followed her.
Once they had reached the garden Sharena's smile faded and her expression grew more serious. She looked at Kiran. "What do you think they will do with the brand?"
Kiran shrugged. "I don't know. They are becoming a bit paranoid. Especially after Seliph got hurt on the field. Do you think it was really one of our own?"
"I don't think so." Sharena sat on the bench. "No one would do that." She said this almost unsure of her own statement.
A man stood in the doorway, his deep gray armour almost blending into the dark. He bent down to pick up the rat and then stepped out into the light. The chains he had bound around his body rattled at every movement he made. However, they were not terribly tight around his body. Tight enough to stay on but loose enough that they are not unmovable.
His armour was well worn similar to Hector's, but segmented to allow easier movement of the waist. He also wore a cape, but it was a short cape that only seemed to come down on one side. He wore a head piece that wrapped around and stuck out on both sides of his head, they almost resemble horns.
He walked up to the table that Hector and Stahl sat at.
People moved as he approached, like they were trying hard not to be noticed.
"So." His voice was cold. "This is the new kid." He walked around to Stahl. Looming over him he grabbed Stahl's hair and pulled his head back. His demeanor was surprisingly calm.
Stahl whined quietly but he did not speak. Nobody said anything.
He scanned Stahl's face for a moment before letting go with a disappointed sounding grunt.
Stahl rubbed his head.
"You better get used to fighting on foot." He sneered. "Not that it matters. You are already nothing but crow feed at this point." His tone was dehumanizing. He dropped the crushed rat on the table in front of Stahl and turned to walk away.
Stahl made a rather audible disgusted noise and scooted the rat away. The man stopped for a moment. He turned just enough to look at Stahl, shooting him a nasty glare. "Then starve." He walked away.
But as he passed Nino and Gray his temperment changed in an instant. He flipped around to take a full forces punch at Nino. But just as fast as he attacked Gray put himself in between them and ultimately taking the hit.
Gray fell to his knees holding his throat, wheezing. "Gray!" Nino squealed, crouching to him.
The man was trembling a little bit. He looked at Nino rather frustrated and stormed off, people scrambling to get out of his way. Stahl stood up and rushed over to Gray who was breathing heavily. "Are you okay?" Nino asked him concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He responded a bit out of breath. "Just give me a minute."
Nino looked guilty, but she didn't say anything else.
Stahl looked at Hector, "Who was that?" He almost sounded agitated.
"That was Berkut." Hector said turning to look at Gray.
Stahl really didn't like him.
Gray stood up slowly. He looked at Nino, "Are you okay?" She nodded. Her held her arm nervously.
Reinhardt walked over to Nino and just loomed ominously over her. "You did something didn't you."
"What are you talking about?" Gray looked at Reinhardt with a hint of irritation in his voice. "It was totally unprovoked!"
Reinhardt looked a Gray and then to Nino.
"I didn't mean to." Nino said quietly.
Both Stahl and Gray looked at her confused. Reinhardt already knew.
"Didn't mean to do what?" Stahl asked.
"I'm sorry Gray." She looked at him sadly. "I accidently grabbed one of those dangling chains." "Every rookie figures this out the hard way at some point or another." Another man stood behind them.
Gray jumped at his presence.
Stahl turned around to see a relatively short guy with a long white braid that appeared to have sharp objects woven into it.
He wore what seemed to be multiple layers of old and stained coats, the top layer was a scaley hide. He also wore fur like coat wrapped around his waist. It was a unique appearance compared to everyone else Stahl had seen.
"O-oh hello ." Nino greeted him nervously.
Takumi gave a slight nod in acknowledgement to Nino's greeting. His stance was firm and powerful despite his smaller size. His expression was tired. He turned to talk to Hector, "So this is the new rookie." Despite the fact that Stahl was right there.
Reinhart looked at Stahl, "Despite his mannerism, Berkut does pose a important question. You can fight well off of horse correct?"
"Y-yeah I can," He had forgotten about Berkut's comment for a moment. But then he remembered, " But where is my horse?"
"They took it, and that means you won't be getting it back." Reinhardt stated bluntly.
Stahl stood confused at his statement.
"None of us have horses." Reinhardt continued, "All of the newcomers have had theirs confiscated, most of the people who have been here for a long time have lost their mounts in battle."
"Why did they take our horses?" Stahl asked.
"Because," Takumi answered, "When your mounted you can move faster. When you move faster you are harder to track and control for them."
"Wait this is new to me," Gray looked puzzled, "who is them? What do you mean control?"
"The Royal Army." Takumi sounded disgusted by even saying it, "They are the ones who get to live a more comfortable life on the surface. The ones who are responsible for us being put here. We do all the dirty work while they take all the credit."
"They are afraid of some of the people down here," Hector explained, "Because many of us are physically superior to them."
"There is a mark on your hand," Reinhardt stated, "You got it when you first came here. It serves many purposes. One of which is to prevent us from, intentionally or not, attacking members of the Royal Army."
"How do you accidently attack someone?" Gray asked puzzled.
"During the heat of the battle when the Royal Army and us fight in close quarters, sometimes things get confused and we may target the wrong person." Hector explained.
"We don't always know who is even in the Royal Army, so it is a safety measure." Reinhardt continued, "It also serves another purpose for the Royal Army." He paused for a moment, "It also prevents us from running away from them."
There was what sounded like a bell ring. Hector stood up and looked at Stahl. "You should try to familiarize yourself with some of your allies. It's information you might need later. I must attend to things." He walked away followed by Reinhardt and Takumi.
Stahl looked at Gray, "How's your throat?"
"A bit sore, but otherwise okay."
"Do you want this?" a fellow with long hair hair pointed at the rat. It was a younger man. Maybe early 20's. His reddish hair was kept up in a messy ponytail. His armour was light and was similar to Takumi's. "No, you can have it." Stahl told him. "Name's Subaki," The man introduced himself as he picked up the rat, "He sure crushed this poor thing." Subaki was friendly. He wasn't as uptight as a lot of other people in the place, but he remained to be just as tired as everyone else.
"Your one of the lucky ones." He said looking at Stahl. "Berkut was being nicer to you." Stahl was surprised by this. "That was being nice?"
"He's generally nastier. Sometimes aggressive." Subaki looked at Gray. "You where an entirely different situation." He gave a slight laugh. "I have never seen him freak out that bad when meeting a newcomer. He probably would have killed you, or at least maimed you, had Ike not stepped in to stop him." "Why was he so mean to you?" Nino looked up at Gray.
"He knew me from before in my home realm. He was an enemy to my team, and he really really doesn't like my friend. We fought in a battle before and his team was driven back." Gray explained.
"Either way," Subaki said, "You were lucky. You are lucky because now the Captains are watching and monitoring you and him, which can also be unlucky if you want to pull any kind of tricks."
"The captains? Who are they?" Stahl looked at Gray.
Gray just shrugged. It was the first time he had heard the term.
"The captains are those who are unofficially in charge. They get their respect for both combat capability and seniority. Long story short, you don't want to get on their bad side. Some are more passive and tolerant than others." Subaki said sitting down at the table.
"Alright," Gray crossed his arms, "Alright so who are they?"
"You've met most of them already, Hector and Takumi are both captains, Reinhardt, while doesn't have the title, is still someone with control and someone you don't want to be on the bad side of. The last captain is Ike," Subaki looked at Stahl, "He's the one you haven't met yet."
"Oh.." Gray thought, "That makes sense, they are all a bit intimidating and really impressive on the field, it makes sense." "I don't think they are very scary." Nino said moving around to the other side of Gray closer to Subaki. "Then your one of the few." Subaki looked at Nino, he looked a bit concerned about something but tried not to show it.
Stahl sat back at the table followed by Gray and Nino who joined them.
Stahl studied Subaki a bit before asking, "So what exactly is going on."
"What do you mean?"
"Why are we down here what are we doing."
Subaki sighed, "We are here to fight a war. Their war for them. That's all we do. When we aren't out on the field fighting we are trapped down here. That's all there is to really know." He looked glumly at his hands intertwined on the table, "The only way anyone has left this place is by death's embrace."
Everything grew glum and everyone's optimism faded.
Nino looked frightened by this statement. "Wait do you mean I'll be down here forever?"
"For as long as this war goes on. After that I don't know what will happen." Subaki perked back up again after this, "But! The most of us try to make the best of this situation. If you dwell on the negatives this will be the worst possible thing. But if you try to find the rainbow in the storm clouds you'll be a little happier. Make friends and try to make the best of the situation." Subaki smiled, "Keep your spirits up."
"I've seen you wander alone since i've been here." Nino looked at Subaki, "Where are all your friends?"
Subaki forced a smile, "Ah right. I don't have anymore now." You could tell this was a rather touchy topic. "Why not make more?" Nino's innocence was adorable and heartwarming almost.
"I'm not well liked," Subaki sighed, "Not to mention people have established friend groups and have their select friends. That's why I suggest you rookies stick together, your all new and can travel this path together."
"Well," Stahl looked at Subaki, "I doubt we'll make it far just the three of us," His tone was persuasive, "Not without someone who knows the place."
Subaki was rather shocked, he had given this talk to rookies before but never gotten a response like so. "You want Me to be your friend? Are you sure?"
Gray smiled, "I don't see why not. You've been here a while and one of the friendliest I've seen besides Hector, who I assume has his hands full, and we could use your help."
"Yeah! We could be your friend and you wouldn't be lonely and you can help us too." Nino chirped happily.
Subaki looked happy, legitmently happy. "As long as you watch my back I'll watch out for yours." "Deal," Stahl said holding out his hand.
Subaki hesitated for a second, but ultimately shook it.
Having an older member willingly supporting the rookies raised their chances of success greatly.
Suddenly there was a loud banging on the entrance gate.
"Get ready, you are moving out again!" A guard yelled into the room.
There was a sea of grumbles and groans. Subaki stood up "Moving out where?" Stahl looked at Subaki "To battle. A mission."
Gray groaned loudly, "But we just did one not very long ago." Him and Nino have only been in one battle since they arrived. "We've barely had time to rest."
"Sometimes that's how it is." Subaki walked to the great wall of weapons to prepare himself, "Just remember to stay sharp out there. Battle is no easy task."