WARNING: There's some pretty unpleasant imagery in this chapter. You have been warned.
Chapter 13
"I don't know. Looks abandoned from here."
Robin nodded, squinting through his spyglass at the sprawling villa in the distance. Next to him in the light forest Gaius crouched, doing likewise with his own equipment while behind the two men in the bushes Lucina, Galle, Van and Arya waited patiently for them to give the all-clear to advance.
With a fluttering of wings Huginn, Tharja's large raven-familiar, landed on a branch above Robin and cawed softly.
"What...?" Robin asked, glancing up at the bird.
"What'd he say?" Gaius asked curiously.
"That… no one's in the villa," Robin responded. "I think, anyway. Tharja and Henry had to rush me through the 'talking to birds' lessons. I think he said 'silent as a grave' or something."
Huginn ruffled his feathers before taking flight again and moving lazily through the air to circle around the Villa.
The small group had been travelling for a few weeks now, the remainder of the party camped just outside of Southtown while Anna did some business for her Aunt, their cover for this mission. Lucina had insisted on coming along, complaining that she didn't get to practice her stealth abilities anymore, and Galle, Van and Arya had just wound up being dragged along in their wake. The Plegian boy looked a little lost without Mariko at his side at first, but that could also have been Robin's over-active imagination.
Arya, on the other hand, was beginning to grow a little bit of confidence. Thanks to the training she had been receiving with Robin and Lucina she was currently, to his thinking, an adequate tactical mind. Also, after her time under Tharja's tutelage in Plegia she had become a fair bit more confident, as well as a decent beginner-level mage. He wouldn't give her overall command of a unit, but perhaps a squad or two of her own would probably be within her current abilities.
Silently Robin and Gaius made their way back to where the others waited.
"Okay Arya, you're up," Robin said expectantly.
The girl jumped a little before nodding confidently. This was another part of her field training; she was in charge of this mission, under Robin's supervision.
She had begun to grow at an alarming rate now that she was being fed and looked after properly; gone was the hollow-eyed girl that they had picked up in Themis, replaced with what was quickly becoming a strong and intelligent young woman.
"What's the situation?" she asked. "Give me tactical."
"Villa seems to be deserted," Gaius responded instantly. "Fields are overgrown, the crop's gone bad. No signs of life. Could be the wrong place."
"This is where Anna's Aunt said the Villa was," Arya said, shaking her head.
"Could be a trap," Galle grunted.
"How do you want to proceed?" Robin asked.
Arya stopped to think for a moment before nodding again.
"We split into two groups. Circle around the grounds, looking for any evidence of inhabitants or any signs of an ambush. Meet back here and then decide what to do from there. Gaius, you take Galle and Van and circle west. I'll go with Sir Robin and Lady Lucina around east, and we'll meet back here. If you run into trouble…"
"I'll make some noise," the thief said with a grin. "C'mon boys, let me show you how the master does it."
"Goody," Galle sighed, rolling his eyes and hitching his coat higher on his shoulders.
"Stay safe, kid," Van said to Arya with a grin, before following after the other two members of his team
The tactician-apprentice looked up at Robin, who nodded approvingly.
"Er… Sir Robin, you lead the way," she said.
"Why?" he asked, arching a brow. "Explain your reasoning."
Arya hesitated a moment before explaining.
"B-because you're the second-best at stealth ops behind Gaius," she explained. "I want… no, we need the best eyes and ears up front."
Robin nodded, breaking into a grin.
"Good reasoning," he chuckled. "But I'm taking points off for hesitating."
Arya sighed, indicating her teacher move ahead. Robin spun on his heel before disappearing into the light forest around them, leaving Arya and Lucina to follow.
Gulping down her nerves Arya set off, her time-travelling, God-slaying, fate-defying fencing instructor at her shoulder. Glancing at the older woman out of the corner of her eye Arya saw a cool, stony face scanning the trees around them, the way she should have been. Arya found it a little hard to focus around Lucina, especially after she had learned that the blue haired woman was royalty. Ylissean royalty, no less. But here she was, slogging through the forest into certain danger alongside a slum-kid that-
Arya let out a little squeak as a jolt of electricity ran up her spine. She looked up guiltily, coming face to face with a frowning Robin.
"You're now dead," he said matter-of-factly. "So are Lucina and I. That's what happens when your head isn't in the game. Focus. Compartmentalize. Whatever's on your mind can wait."
Arya nodded as her instructor returned to point, leaving her with a grinning Lucina.
"Don't worry," the blue-haired woman whispered conspiratorially as they started to follow again. "I stopped counting the amount of times he shocked the other students on training missions like this."
Arya let out a little snort before she could stop herself, clamping both hands onto her mouth as Robin spun. The tactician narrowed his eyes at the two women, Lucina trying to look as innocent as possible while Arya tried to stifle her laughter. With his eyes still narrowed he raised his hand in front of his face, magical lighting dancing across the appendage as a warning before turning back to the task at hand.
"I think we made him angry," Lucina whispered, earning another snort from Arya before they hurried to keep up.
"Find anything?" Arya asked.
Gaius shook his head.
"Nothing but a bunch of dead crops, Squirt," the thief said.
"It's like the fields were left alone for months," Van added. "It's been a while since anyone's been through here, too. No tracks besides animal ones. Something big was here, too. Bigger than a horse, but again, that was a while ago."
Arya nodded, resisting the urge to glance at her instructor as she thought.
"We have to check the Villa," she said after a moment. "Sir Gaius, Sir Robin and I will go in; Van, you, Galle and Lady Lucina wait out here. You're our back-up. If you hear a commotion, come save us."
"Yeah, I'm starting to get real good at the whole rescue-duty thing," Galle muttered.
"Why are you splitting our forces?" Robin asked.
Arya hesitated, looking up at her teacher.
"Lady Lucina and Van aren't… as skilled at infiltration as the rest of us," she explained. "And Sir Galle… is fast. He's the best option to leave behind to head a quick-response team."
Robin nodded. "Good. Solid reasoning."
Arya let out a breath, earning a pat on her shoulder from Lucina as Robin turned to look at Huginn circling overhead.
"We've still got a few hours of sunlight left," he said, squinting.
"I know we should wait until dark to infiltrate," Arya said. "But all the evidence points to this being either a trap, or the Villa is abandoned. If it's a trap it would be better to deal with this in the daylight, right?"
Robin nodded, grinning at her over his shoulder.
"Who taught you to be so smart?" he asked smugly.
"Yeah, like your ego needs more stroking, Bubbles," Gaius sighed. "Let's just get on with it. This place gives me the creeps."
"I know what he means," Van agreed. "It's… eerie how quiet it is."
"Agreed," Robin said. "But I'm making one change to the plan. Galle goes in my place. I spotted something I wanted to go and check on while we were circling the forest."
Galle shrugged, stepping forwards to stand beside Gaius and Arya as Robin moved towards the forest. Lucina gave him a questioning look, to which he shrugged.
"You all have your orders," he said. "Galle, make sure Arya comes back."
"What about Sir Gaius?" Arya asked petulantly.
The thief snorted, giving her a nudge with his elbow.
"Squirt, if something actually manages to get a hit on me we're all screwed," he laughed.
Galle strained his senses as he followed Gaius, the older man moving as silently as a shadow up to the house. Behind him Arya followed, the trainee-tactician far less stealthy than the other two, but still quiet enough that no one inside the villa would hear her. She had clearly been paying attention to the way Gaius moved, watching his techniques carefully.
They followed the perimeter of the building, hugging the outer wall and ducking under windows until they came to a verandah. The delicate glass doors swung lazily in the breeze, the inside of the building dark despite the time of day.
"Anyone else getting that bad feeling?" Gaius asked under his breath.
"Yeah," Galle agreed with a shudder.
He took a few silent steps on the verandah, freezing when something crunched softly beneath his boot. Fly-casings. Thousands of them, scattered all over the floor.
"Never a good sign," Gaius muttered, crouching to look at the casings.
"C'mon," Arya urged. "We still need to check inside."
The two men exchanged glances as she passed between them, Gaius giving a shrug and following first. Galle let out a sigh as he moved to follow, hesitating as the wind shifted and a familiar scent wafted towards him.
Decay. The whole Villa smelled like death.
"Galle, get in here!" Arya called in a hushed whisper.
Fearing the worst the Plegian tactician rushed forward, already channeling his mana for a worst-case scenario, but came to an abrupt halt as he found Arya and Gaius studying a dark smear on the wall-
"It's definitely blood," Gaius nodded, brushing his fingers over the stain. "A few months old at the least. But… where's the body? There's no way someone lost this much blood and walked away."
"Scavengers, maybe?" Galle asked, glancing up and down the hall.
Arya shook her head, pushing herself to her feet.
"This is supposed to be an important trading post," she said. "There should be… someone, or at least the remains of someone. Let's keep looking."
Galle and Gaius shared a look as Arya ventured further into the Villa past them, before the older man shrugged and moved to keep up with her, leaving Galle alone with the smear. He took another look down at it before shaking his head and clicking his fingers, a small flame appearing above his outstretched hand.
"Can you two even see in there?" he asked as he jogged to catch up.
Arya advanced slowly beside Galle, the two of them leading an uncomfortable looking Gaius through the abandoned Villa.
Everywhere they turned now that they were inside there were traces of battle and struggle; walls and doors were broken, and there was debris scattered everywhere. Broken and discarded weapons lay among the remains of what must have been priceless art, torn from the walls or knocked from their resting places.
But the worst part was the blood.
Dried blood covered almost every surface like a macabre coat of paint. There was splatters on the ceiling, and Arya could see where it had run down the walls. A lot of people had died in this place, and the thought made the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
But they had yet to find a single body.
"This is creepy," Gaius muttered, shuddering a little.
"Yeah," Galle agreed, playing his little flame around the space.
Arya found it hard to agree with the two men, though; after spending so long in slums she was somewhat desensitized to violence like this. There had been times where she had been forced to stay in abandoned houses that looked a lot like this inside, rather than sleep in the cold. This was actually preferable, actually; she hadn't seen any bodies in this Villa yet.
"Let's just keep going," she said quietly. "We need to find out what happened here."
Galle nodded, but she could hear Gaius sigh behind her. The lazy thief seemed to be really out of sorts in this Villa; he was usually much more professional than this on a mission.
They continued in silence for some time, eventually coming out of the servant corridors on to a colonnade lit by large windows. Gaius sucked a breath in, and even Galle looked a little uncomfortable at the sight. It was no different than what they had been dealing with, but in the daylight it was far more unpleasant. Dark brown and black stains were everywhere, as were massive scars in the walls and floors seemingly made by some large bladed weapons. Arya stopped to investigate one of them, brushing the tips of her fingers over the tear in the wood and plaster. She withdrew her hand, a hostile tingling sensation in the tips of her fingers startling her.
"Galle, what…" she started, trailing off when the older Plegian came up behind her.
He sucked a startled breath in through his nose, before shaking his head.
"Dark magic," was all he said before moving away.
Arya studied the scar on the wall again, reaching out with her senses the way that Lady Tharja had taught her to. There was indeed a foul magical resonance to the hole, similar yet different to the Dark Magic that she had been taught. It made her sick to her stomach, yet at the same time felt strangely nostalgic for her…
"Hidden door," Gaius called out from the other end of the hall, gagging. "Oh Naga… I don't think you kids should… see this…"
The two young tacticians hurried over, peering down to the darkened stairway behind a shattered wall panel. Galle squinted into the dark opening before summoning his fire again, throwing a few magical embers into the stone passageway and…
"Oh I do not get paid enough for this," Gaius muttered. "I'm a thief, dammit. A thief. This is… above my pay-grade."
There was a thick coating of blood and gore on the stairs leading into the hidden basement. The stench of decay was much stronger in the passageway, almost like a physical thing in its potency. Galle recoiled as if struck, coughing into one hand and glaring at the offending air as Arya knelt down, studying the first of the steps with cold analytical precision.
"We're going down there, aren't we?" the thief whined from behind the two tacticians.
Arya nodded.
"Watch your footing," she said, beginning to descend the staircase. "It'll take forever to get the smell off if you fall."
Galle sighed again as he followed the student into the opening, taking shallow breaths through his mouth. Gaius let out a small whimper before gingerly stepping down after them.
"It disturbs me greatly that you know that," he muttered, following the two tacticians.
The way that the surface of the stairs stuck to the soles of Arya's boots was unpleasant in the extreme, but she compartmentalized the way that Robin had taught her to and pressed on. She kept telling herself that it was nothing she wasn't used to. At the base of the stairs they came to another hall running both directions, the trail of old blood smeared onto the stone floor leading one direction.
"Follow the trail," she instructed, taking off again without hesitation.
They walked through the darkness with Galle's small flame as their only illumination back in the direction they had come from. Every few meters there was a dead torch or a sconce that would once have held one attached to the wall. Arya resisted the urge to tell Galle to light them; it would make leaving easier but would also give away their position. It would also illuminate more things that Gaius would probably rather not see.
The trio reluctantly followed the trail of red-brown through the basement for some time, emerging into a large, empty store room. All the signs of a struggle had ceased once they had gone underground, replaced instead by signs of hastily abandoned work; tools and other detritus had been left lying around, and there were unsealed casks of wine that had long since gone bad.
The trail continued through the room and into the next, Galle's flames not quite reaching far enough to bypass the small opening left between the wall and door. In the center of the big room there seemed to be some sort of mixture between a cauldron and an anvil, more discarded tools lying around it. Against the opposite wall was what appeared to be the remains of a forge, again hastily abandoned. Arya approached it slowly as Galle and Gaius moved to inspect the rest of the room for any clues.
The nagging feeling of hostility had grown when she had entered the room, a sense of wrongness that made her want to run as fast as she could back to the surface yet still felt overwhelmingly familiar.
She knelt down next to the anvil, inexplicably drawn to the small box sitting at the base of-
"I really wouldn't touch that if I were you."
Arya screamed, leaping to her feet and falling backwards. Galle and Gaius were at her side instantly, drawing their weapons ready to face off against…
"Bubbles?" Gaius asked, lowering his daggers. "I thought you wanted to check something out…"
Robin nodded, kneeling down where Arya had been earlier.
"Sorry," he said with a grin that was anything but. "Didn't mean to frighten you like that."
"Yes you did," Gaius muttered sulkily.
Robin shrugged, reaching into the box he'd scared Arya away from.
"I thought you were looking for something outside?" Arya asked, letting Galle pull her up.
"What did you find?" the other tactician asked.
"Spotted the forge's chimney, which led me to the back door," the white haired man shrugged. "And a lot of bodies. Don't go through that doorway. It's not… not pretty."
Arya and Galle exchanged glances before she steeled herself and made for the doorway. With a tired sigh Galle followed after her. It made Arya feel better knowing that he would be with her; she needed to see this through. She needed to know.
"Don't say I didn't warn you…" Robin sighed. "Huginn wasn't being poetic when he used the word 'grave'…"
The older tactician rose to his feet, subtly tucking something into his pocket as he did so. Arya didn't care, though; she trusted her teacher. And she needed to know what had happened to the people that had been here.
As she drew closer to the doorway the stench of purification grew even stronger, making Galle gag again. Arya pushed on, covering her face with her sleeve and forcing open the door.
Arya had seen bodies before; she was no stranger to violence, and some would even come to argue that the life she had led up to that point had been more horrifying than what the veteran soldiers of the Valm campaign had lived through. She was desensitized to it. She had seen it all before already in her short life.
But still, the sight beyond the door made even her sick.
"Oh dear sweet Grima…" Galle muttered in horror, his eyes wide as he arrived at her shoulder.
The Plegian boy retched, doubling over at the sight as Arya stood rooted to the spot, her horrified eyes wide.
There was a pile of shriveled, shrunken flesh and white bones lying in the center of another room like the one Gaius and Robin waited in. The bodies had yet to properly decompose, due most likely to the cool darkness of the basement. The bodies weren't the problem, though; it was the parts. Limbs, fingers, heads and torsos, strewn about randomly, all in various states of decomposition. Some of the bones had clearly been gnawed on, sticking straight up out of the pile. There, on the top with the head of a spear that was planted into something to make it stand upright protruding from its mouth, was the corpse of the man that had to be the Villa's master.
"Stop looking," Galle groaned, pulling her away.
Arya nodded, her eyes still wide as she let the older Plegian lead her away from the pile of corpses.
Robin and Gaius were watching her carefully, probably waiting for her to panic like she had before. Arya took a deep, shuddering breath to calm herself as Galle half-pulled, half-leaned on her. She wouldn't go to pieces again, though. She wasn't a scared little girl any more…
"Call it, kid," Robin said, his voice sounding more tired than she'd ever heard before.
Arya nodded, taking another deep breath.
"We need to inform someone. Knight Commander Frederick, maybe; if nothing else someone needs to come clean this up. But an investigation needs to be made into this… monstrosity."
Robin nodded, satisfied.
"We'll do just that," he said. "Let's get the hell out of here."
Arya resisted the urge to yelp as the icy cold water splashed onto her face, gripping the edge of the barrel outside of Southtown's inn with white knuckles as the liquid dripped off her face. Try as she might she couldn't get the mental image of that pile of corpses out of her head. Galle had been tight lipped since they had left that basement, and it wasn't until they hit sunlight again that she noticed that Gaius was white as a sheet.
What they had seen… had been abhorrent.
"What kind of monster could do that…?" she asked out loud, her voice barely a whisper.
She jumped a little, still twitchy from the mission earlier that day, when a large raven cawed above her. Huginn tilted his head quizzically as he watched the girl, blinking a few times and ruffling his feathers up before hopping along the edge of the roof he was perched on across from the inn. He cawed again, somehow managing to sound annoyed when Arya stared at him mystified and clearly wanting her to follow.
Shaking her head at the absurdity of taking orders from an overgrown buzzard, Arya moved towards the alleyway between the inn and the general store next door to it, where Huginn was perched.
She hesitated at the mouth of the alleyway, noticing a weak purple light emanating from within.
"Hey, kid," Robin called out to her. "Little cold to be out without your coat, don't you think?"
Arya stammered an apology to her teacher, rooted to the spot. His back was turned to her and he was hunched over something, holding it in both hands. Whatever it was he was holding was the source of the light in the alleyway, and Arya felt her curiosity getting the better of her again.
"Er… sir…?" she asked trepidatiously, taking a small step into the alley.
"Come here, Arya," Robin said, his voice taking on a distracted, far-away quality.
She nodded, moving to her teacher's side. She felt her pulse quicken at the prospect of finding out what he was holding, but that excitement quickly turned to confusion when she reached his side. Floating between his hands was a small ball of purple mana, an image playing out within it. A young girl with shoulder-length hair the same colour as Lucina's was sitting on the edge of the bed, an older woman with tanned skin wearing dark mage's robes running a brush through her hair. No sound was coming from the scrying, the scene playing out silently before the enraptured tactician.
"This is my daughter, Emm," Robin explained to Arya. "The woman with her is my sister. They're back north, in our home in Regna Ferox. My school. It's been rebuilt, finished for months now."
Arya nodded, watching as the young girl turned in her Aunt's lap and smiled up at her, the older woman clearly trying not to smile back as she turned the younger one back around.
"Whenever I see stuff like we saw today," Robin went on, "whenever I feel homesick, or I feel like giving up and returning to the north, I cast this spell, and just… watch her. Not for too long… I don't want to invade her privacy. But I just remind myself why we're doing this."
Robin flexed his fingers, the spell dissipating and leaving the two of them standing in the dark. The older tactician gave a great sigh, running a hand through his long white hair.
"It's been more than a year now since I've seen her last," he muttered, more to himself than his student.
Arya was somewhat stunned by seeing her teacher like this. She was also felt slightly guilty at the small twinge of jealousy she felt. Usually Robin was unshakable, always smiling or thinking or prompting her to think for herself. The pained look on his face just didn't suit him.
"Sir, what… did you find in the Villa?"
Arya's eyes widened at the same time as Robin's. She hadn't meant to ask that, but she'd been thinking it since they had gotten back to town. Her teacher chuckled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out something carefully wrapped in a handkerchief.
"Don't tell the others," he instructed as he unwrapped the little parcel. "I don't want to cause any undue panic. This stuff does answer a lot of questions, though…"
Arya's breath caught in her throat as a small lump of black something was revealed to her, barely the size of a coin and sitting snugly in the palm of Robin's hand. The little lump was shot through with lines of deep red, but apart from that Arya couldn't tell much else in the weak light.
"You wanted to know about Grima," Robin said suddenly. "This is… what's left of him."
The girl gasped as she involuntarily stepped back, recoiling at the revelation.
"What… how…" she stammered, starting to shake.
This explained the sense of nostalgia and hostility…
"Relax," Robin said, quickly re-wrapping the lump. "I've used some pretty complex warding spells on it so that it's inert. But this explains a lot, and raises a lot more questions I'd rather not be asking."
"Didn't they learn after last time?" he muttered so softly that the shaken Arya almost missed it.
"But don't say anything to the others," Robin warned again. "If this is a one-off I don't want to worry them. If it's not, I'll take care of it. I'm kind of an expert at killing this stuff, so don't panic the others. That goes double for you!"
He said the last part glancing up at the big raven perched above them, watching with inquisitive eyes. It let out an indignant squawk at being singled out, ruffling its feathers before hopping away down the roof's edge again.
"Come on," Robin said, turning. "Let's call a meeting. It's about time we thought about our next step."
"Well, we're stuck," Robin sighed. "The trail's gone cold. I was honestly hoping for a repeat of Ama al-Tha at the worst, but… I don't… know what to do now."
Silence met the tactician's admission, all eyes watching him in stunned disbelief.
The group of travelers was sitting around in the common-room in Southtown's inn, the entirety of the small building being rented by Anna's Aunt to house the travelers. Not that the inn saw much traffic, anyway. Everyone sat or stood in the small parlor, facing Robin perched up on the abandoned bar.
"We found nothing in the southern vineyard," he went on. "Whoever killed the people there did a damn good job covering their tracks. All the documents were gone, and as far as we can tell there wasn't a single survivor. Hopefully Frederick will have something new for us to go on, but I doubt it. Once Huginn's rested I'll send out word and then… yeah."
"So… that's it, then?" Van asked tentatively. "We're… we're just done? Just like that? After all this time?"
Robin sighed again, leaning forward and massaging his tired eyes.
"I'm not saying that," he said. "But if we've used up our last leads we'll need to think of a different approach. And if it comes down to that I intend to do said thinking from Nauta."
"But we can't just give up the ground we've taken-" Van started to argue before Robin cut him off.
"What ground?" the older tactician snapped. "We've been running around in circles! We've been grasping at straws! We're supposed to be some of the brightest minds in the world, and we're being outsmarted by a bunch of bloody merchants!"
"No offense, Anna," he added, glancing over to the plucky woman.
Silence reigned for a moment, before Robin let out another tired sigh and pushed himself to his feet.
"We need… to think," he muttered. "We can't do this on our own anymore. We're at the end of our rope. There's no shame in admitting we need help here."
"You know," a new voice said from the parlor's entrance. "When you were leading the Shepherds you had the foresight to at least put a man on guard duty."
The entire group turned to face the intruder, more than a few hands dropping to their weapons. Robin just let out a tired laugh, leaning back against the bar and crossing his arms.
"We can't all be paranoid our entire lives, Frederick 'the Wary'," he chuckled.
"Daddy!?" Severa cried out in disbelief.
"S-sir Frederick!?" Owain shouted in a panic, hiding himself behind the red-haired girl.
A big man stepped into the room, his head bowed beneath his travelling cloak. His footfalls were heavy, and it took Arya a moment to realize that he wasn't so much 'big' as he was covered in thick plates of armor.
"Do not worry," the big man added. "I took the liberty of leaving one of my own men to stand guard."
Severa crossed the space in the blink of an eye, throwing herself at the man to wrap him in a tight hug. Frederick smiled, returning the embrace before stepping around her and approaching Robin. He hesitated as he passed Lucina, stopping to offer her a deep and respectful bow. The blue haired woman hesitated for a moment before nodding graciously.
"Princess, it does me good to see you well," he greeted formally.
"Sir Frederick," Lucina responded. "While it is good to see you again, too, I must remind you that I renounced my claim to the throne."
"Of course, my lady," the Knight said, straightening. "But while you bear the brand my loyalties are clear."
Frederick nodded again as Lucina let out a small defeated sigh, moving to stand in front of Robin and crossing his arms.
"You know, I was just about to send you a message," the smaller man said.
"We're out of time," Frederick said without preamble.
"Explain," Robin said, instantly alert again.
"The Rommels are on the move," Frederick said. "Lady Maribelle has sent word that they have abandoned their Villa in Themis and are fleeing north to Regna Ferox en mass. They have apparently been at it for some time, but one of them tipped their hand by trying to assassinate Lady Maribelle for investigating."
"The land acquisitions…" Van whispered, his eyes widening.
"Is Maribelle alright?" Robin asked.
"She is rattled, but more angry than anything else," Frederick answered. "She is going to personally lead the Themisian contingent that is attending the Meet."
Robin let out a relieved sigh, hesitating a moment before he frowned.
"They tried once to take over Silva by force, and when that didn't work they just threw money at it," he said, distaste plain on his face. "But why? That's what I don't understand."
"It's simple," Frederick said. "Any citizen of Regna Ferox can challenge the Khan of their region for the position. And any land-owner in Regna Ferox…"
"Is a citizen," Owain finished, his voice betraying his fear at the notion.
"It all makes sense. How did we miss this…?" Robin muttered, rubbing his eyes again with the heels of his hands.
"It was Morgan's deduction," Frederick went on. "She's… too smart for her own good. Her and that damned woman from Chon'sin that follows her around everywhere. I'm surprised we managed to keep this a secret as long as we did."
Robin snickered, a few of the others in the room doing the same at the revelation. Frederick's tone held no malice, though, and instead he wore a slight upturning to his lips on his usually grim face, the closest he got to a smile in public.
"I wanted to tell you this personally," the Knight Commander went on. "I've already contacted Basilio and Flavia. The Shepherds will be infiltrating the Khan tournament as contestants for Eastern and Western Regna Ferox."
Robin nodded, stroking his chin in thought.
"We're not going to make it to Silva in time to stop them," he muttered. "The best we can do is hope to delay their army and beat them in the tournament. They own Silva fair and square, but we can't let these madmen gain control of the entire country. If they do, trying to bring them to justice for their crimes will be tantamount to declaring war on Regna Ferox."
Frederick nodded. "That was my thinking, yes. And we cannot simply let them go unpunished for their misdeeds."
"We'll move to stall their troops," Robin declared. "I'll call in Tharja and her mages, too."
"Wait, what?" Galle asked, sitting up straight.
"Yer kiddin', right Boss?" Brady asked.
"When's the next Khan Tournament? How long do I have?" the tactician asked, ignoring the weak protests.
"Two months," Frederick said.
Robin stood, turning to face the assembled Shepherds he had gathered over the last year. Every one of them, new and old, looked to him for guidance, for orders, for direction. His eyes met Lucina's gaze, her own face stony and cold at this new revelation, and she nodded, spurring him on.
"Shepherds, this changes everything," Robin declared. "This has gone from a fact-finding investigative mission to all-out war. The endgame is the same; bring the Rommel merchant family to justice. But this is no longer the time for sneaking around. I intend to march into Regna Ferox and bring them down myself if I must."
He hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with everyone in the room.
"I won't make this an order," he said finally. "I'm past ordering people to risk their lives for me. If any of you want to leave, now is the time."
"I want to leave," Galle said instantly, raising his hand.
Mari shushed him, slapping his hand back down before nodding at Robin.
"We are with you, master," she said. "Both of us."
"Don't just decide that kind of stuff for me!" Galle said indignantly.
Mari simply turned, raising one brow at the Plegian boy. He wilted instantly, throwing his hands up in defeat and slumping in his chair.
"Fine, we're in," he said.
"Me, too," Van said. "This is a Ylissean problem. I'd be a failure to my Knight training if I let them get away with it."
"I wanna help, too!" Fae said excitedly. "It's been too long since I've been to Regna Ferox!"
"I suppose we're going, too?" Ita sighed, looking to Kowrowa.
"Where the Alpha goes, we go," the big shape-shifter nodded in confirmation.
"This is the second time you've dragged me into a war," Gaius grumbled. "You'd better have some damn good sweets for me at the end of it."
"We stand with you, Robin," Panne declared, resting a hand on the pouting Gaius' shoulder. "The Taguel shall champion you."
"Yes!" Owain cried. "I sense adventure on the horizon! My sword hand burns with anticipation!"
Severa sighed, rolling her eyes as she shook her head.
"We've followed ya this far," Brady shrugged. "Guess we're in it fer the long haul, Boss."
"Like I said in the desert, these bozos make all merchants look bad," Anna said with her trademark wink. "I think a little liquidation is in order, don't you?"
"My friends…" Robin said, at a loss for words. "Thank you. Truly. You have no idea what this means to me."
Arya cleared her throat nervously, stepping forward a little.
"I-I'm with you, too, master," she said hesitantly. "F-for whatever good it does…"
Robin nodded, turning to smile at the girl.
"That means a lot to me Arya," he said. "Thank you."
Frederick stepped forward again, his commanding presence instantly diverting the attention.
"Then I will go and make the preparations," he said. "I… wish you luck, Robin."
The tactician nodded, holding out his hand to the Knight. Frederick hesitated for a moment before grasping the proffered hand, nodding once. With that, he left, leaving the Shepherds alone now to make their preparations.
Tharja let out a small sigh, crumpling Robin's message in her hand. He hadn't even had Huginn deliver it. One of Cordelia's Pegasus Knights had been pressed into playing courier, the woman currently standing looking extremely uncomfortable being surrounded by so many Plegians at once as she waited for Tharja's response.
Not that the Dark Mage needed to think very hard about it. A promise was a promise, after all.
"Tell your Commander that we can meet the tacticians at the Longfort when the time comes," she said dismissively. "And tell them that next time they had best contact me personally."
The Knight nodded once, swinging back into her saddle and kicking her mount into the air. Tharja had opted to meet with the woman outside the old temple, rather than bring her through to the inner sanctum. Both were equally as private, but Tharja still had a healthy dose of mistrust for outsiders, if she were completely honest.
As she strode back towards the temple, still in a foul mood at being brushed off by her friend, she failed to notice that someone was waiting for her on the steps.
"Mother?" Noire asked. "What… w-was that about?"
Tharja glanced up, eyes narrowing ever-so-slightly. Noire didn't miss this, and let out a little squeak as she wrung her hands in front of her chest in a subconscious movement.
"We are being summoned," was all the answer that Tharja gave.
She brushed by her daughter, moving into the temple to make preparations. Robin needed her to be ready; she would have to step up her training schedule for the advanced class to ensure that they were, too.
"Summoned to w-where?" Noire stammered, hurrying to keep pace.
"War," Tharja spat, frowning.
Frederick grimaced, standing slowly from his chair in his office. One of the many drawbacks of being Knight-Commander of all of Ylisse was the sheer amount of paperwork that found itself on his desk. But that was to be expected; ever since the disaster that was the Valm campaign Ylisse had redoubled their efforts to field cavalry and mounted support units. There were even numerous priests and mages attached to the knights now, and Cordelia had been experimenting with trying to increase her own order's numbers to include male Pegasus Knights. The winged creatures had been less than accommodating so far, but once his wife set her mind to something little could change it.
He glanced up as Stahl came into the small office he kept in the Knight Wing of Ylisstol's palace, the brunette Lieutenant swallowed, clearly still chewing on something as he snapped to attention and saluted before dropping another sheaf of papers on the Commander's desk.
"Reports from Sully and Kjelle's squads in the north," he said, swallowing again. "They're both in position at the Longfort, waiting for orders to move towards the Coliseum. Vaike and the others have already infiltrated."
Frederick nodded, clasping his hands behind his back.
"Good," he said, moving out from behind his desk. "I'm sorry to separate you from your family for so long, Stahl."
The other knight shrugged, falling into step with the Commander.
"Someone's got to look after little Kjelle," he said flippantly. "Besides, as much as I miss them, I don't miss camp rations."
"I agree," Frederick sighed as they walked. "It was difficult at times to ensure the Exalt and Princess got adequate nutrition during the campaigns."
Stahl chuckled a little as they walked, the two men lapsing into silence with their own thoughts.
They were as ready as they were going to get in regards to the Rommel uprising; as long as no unforeseen circumstances occurred, Frederick was certain that they could quash this coup before it became a problem for Ylisse.
Flavia let out a weak groan as she rose, the skins and furs she slept beneath, all either trophies or gifts from other clan leaders, falling away as she sat up. The Khan blinked a few times, letting wakefulness return fully as she glanced around her private quarters in the Coliseum. It had taken some time for her to get the smell of the oaf out of the room, and with the Khan Tournament coming up she didn't even want to think of giving it up now.
Yawning, the older woman stretched, feeling a small painful twinge in her shoulder from an old wound. She hissed, rotating the joint and standing. Her naked, dark tan skin was covered in scars, as befitting of a warrior leader to her people, yet still she had been told by various men over her life that she held a certain type of feminine allure that only a warrior possessed. Such compliments had usually ended in Flavia beating said men into tavern floors, but such was life in Regna Ferox. If you wanted to flirt, you had to be prepared to get hurt.
She snickered a little at that line, something Robin had said to her when they'd been drinking together back in Valm.
As she went about dressing for another day of preparations for the upcoming festival that marked the start of the Khan Tournament she reminisced on the time she had been one of Ylisse's Shepherds.
It had been more than six years ago now, and it felt like a lifetime ago. Back then, with the fate of the entire world on their shoulders, they had stood firm against the evil dark dragon god of destruction Grima, snatching victory out of the jaws of almost certain defeat. She and her counterpart, the West Khan Basilio, had both played pivotal roles in Robin's strategies, leading troops and eventually standing shoulder to shoulder in the final battle with the younger generation of warriors.
With a snort Flavia realized that the thought made her feel old.
They had been good times, despite the looming threat of extinction. Simpler times. Rather than lead a country Flavia had led her army; rather than listen to endless petitions day in and day out she had fought for her life and her future. It had been desperate, harsh and brutal, but some days she would give anything to have those days back.
As she pulled her wrist-guards over her hands her gaze settled onto the bright golden-bladed sword leaning in the corner of the room next to her battered old longsword; the ancient weapon Ragnell, supposedly blessed by a foreign goddess of chaos. She had taken it in Valm when its bearer had fallen before the Conqueror Walhart, thinking that the blade would come in handy when they finally faced Grima. And it had; the ancient sword had cut down the Risen with an ease that had almost made it boring. She had been meaning to return it for some time now, but no one could find Priam's next of kin to accept the blade, and Flavia would be damned if she sent such a beautiful weapon to sit in a tomb.
She strapped the heavy weapon to her back, the familiar weight comforting as she emerged into the wide, pillared audience chamber that overlooked the Arena Floor.
"Good morning, Khan Flavia," Raimi greeted, meeting her halfway across the floor.
"'Morning," the older woman yawned. "What're you doing here? The Coliseum burn down while I was sleeping?"
Raimi snorted, falling into step with her Khan.
"What, I can't come to see my beloved Aunt before I return to the Longfort?" she asked condescendingly.
"No, you cannot be my champion for the Khan Tournament," Flavia laughed. "No family, remember?"
Raimi let out a sigh, her shoulders sagging slightly. This was the same conversation they'd been having for years now, but rules were in place for a reason, and the people of Regna Ferox were sticklers for tradition.
"Fine," the younger woman sulked. "But I'm still fighting in the preliminaries."
Flavia laughed as they came into the hallway outside the audience chamber, the space already bustling with dozens of attendants and clerks running back and forth preparing for the upcoming festivities. She exchanged greetings as she strode through them, smiling at the sight of the industry of Regna Ferox.
The Tournament had been delayed for the last couple of years as the two halves of the nation recouped their losses. She had even discussed with Basilio simply doing away with it and uniting the nation permanently; it would be an unpopular decision, but it would have made things easier in the long run. As it was it was almost like two smaller nations inside the bigger one, constantly at each other's throat. Even if the rulers got along the people still didn't see eye to eye.
The red-armored Khan stopped as she passed an opening looking out at the busy city beneath them. All around the exterior of the giant arena was the Coliseum City, a sprawling, wheel shaped metropolis that, while not as pretty as Ylisstol, was every bit as grand. She leaned on the edge of the low barrier, watching her people going about their daily lives. The Coliseum was one of the few places in Regna Ferox where the people of the East and West met and coexisted, the other two places being the Longfort and more recently Nauta in the north.
Flavia glanced over her shoulder as something thumped her back armor, Raimi grinning behind her.
"Don't you have work to do?" the younger woman asked.
"Don't you have a Longfort to lord over?" Flavia asked back, standing again.
Raimi snorted, crossing her arms and grinning.
"Of course, Khan Flavia," she said mockingly. "I will return to my post. I'll be back in time for the tournament, though."
"Yeah, yeah," Flavia said, waving her off. "Go on, get lost."
Raimi laughed, shaking her head as she turned and strode away. Flavia grinned and watched her niece's back before a thought occurred to her.
"Hey!" she called out.
The other woman turned as Flavia grinned.
"I expect a good showing from you in the prelims, Warden," Flavia said.
Raimi scoffed, crossing her arms and walking backwards a little.
"I don't think there's going to be much of a preliminary tournament if I fight in it," she shot back.
"Yeah, talk big after you win," Flavia laughed. "Now get lost. I have a country to run."
However, contrary to her earlier words to her niece, Flavia reflected as she strode out towards the training grounds, there was very little left for her to do this close to the Khan-meet besides wait for it to happen and ensure that the preparations for the festival went properly. Technically there was no ruler in Regna Ferox for the month leading up to the meet, both the East and West Khan traditionally marshalling their forces and saving their best soldiers for the tournament. Bandits were usually a problem at this time, but ever since Silva they had been quiet, keeping mostly to the deepest parts of the forests and making very little trouble for the Khans.
Which meant really all that Flavia had left to do was train away the boredom.
Ragnell bounced slightly against her shoulder guard as she walked, it's well-worn grip like an old friend in her hand. The weapon was lighter and thinner than her old sword, but Flavia couldn't well wield the beaten old thing forever. Besides, Raimi was her favored subordinate; one day she would challenge Flavia for the title of Khan and hopefully beat her. If no one in Valm stepped forward as Priam's next of kin she'd just give the stupid thing to her as a victory trophy. Hopefully she wouldn't have to wait long for the challenge-
"Khan Flavia! K-Khan Flavia!"
She sighed, turning slightly to the young clerk racing towards her.
"What?" she asked, bouncing the sword up and down against her armor irritably.
"T-there's… some land-owners from Silva here to see you," the clerk gasped, out of breath. "They're… they-"
"Bring them here, then," she snapped, cutting the boy off. "I'm not skipping another training session."
The clerk nodded and raced off back towards the Khan's quarters, leaving Flavia standing alone on the training ground. She had missed enough training already, and wouldn't be made to look a fool in front of Basilio just because she'd been too busy. The Khan's personal training grounds were on the roof of the Coliseum, just above their audience chamber. A strong, cold wind buffeted Flavia, but she ignored it as she began to run through her warm-up drills. It wasn't unusual for the Khan to see their subjects while they were training; it was Regna Ferox, after all. Like all the traditions passed down from their barbarian roots, martial prowess was valued above all else.
She glanced up as the clerk reappeared, leading two cloaked and hooded strangers out onto the training ground from the recessed stairway. The first was small, no taller than Robin and clearly a woman judging from the way she walked. The second, though, caught Flavia's eye instantly; a big man, covered in thick armor if the lumps beneath his cloak were anything to go by. The handle of a massive two-handed broadsword stuck up over one shoulder, and as he got closer Flavia could tell that beneath his hood he wore a full-faced helm.
"Oh?" she asked as they drew nearer. "Are you the landowners?"
"We are," the woman answered, drawing her hood back.
Flavia chuckled a little as a woman that had only been described to her revealed herself, Idallia Rommel standing before the Khan with a determined set to her features as the harsh north wind blew her perfectly braided light purple hair about her face.
"I've been waiting for you to show up, Rommel," Flavia declared, smiling predatorily as she turned to the clerk.
"Leave us," she barked at the boy.
"Wait," Idallia said, stopping the clerk mid-step. "We require a witness for this."
"Khan Flavia!" Idallia declared, drawing herself up to her full height. "As the majority landowner of the city of Silva in Eastern Regna Ferox, and a citizen of said nation I hereby challenge you for the title of East Khan!"
Resisting the urge to laugh Flavia nodded, grinning at the smaller woman.
"It's highly irregular to challenge the reigning Khan this close to the tournament," she said. "But very well. I accept your challenge. I assume the quiet one's your second?"
Idallia nodded as the man behind her stepped forward, pulling the cloak off of his sinister black armor and casting it into the wind.
"I will be your opponent," he declared, drawing his sword. "I am Maris of the Rommel clan."
This time Flavia did snicker, shaking her head.
"Boy, I stood toe-to-toe against the Conqueror in Valm," she said warningly. "I stood against the Deadlords on Mount Origin, not to mention was part of the party that personally killed the Dark Dragon. What hope do you think you have!?"
"I know," Maris said, sinking into a ready-stance. "I was there."
"Then you know you're about to get hurt," Flavia snarled, launching herself forward.
Maris chuckled beneath his helm, bringing his huge sword up to block Flavia's blow. The Khan grinned savagely as she knocked him back with brute strength, lashing out with a kick to his armored mid-section for good measure.
As Flavia brought her foot down, preparing to launch herself forward again she found herself flying backwards. She hit the ground and rolled, coughing. Glancing down at her chest-plate she saw a huge dent.
Maris growled, stalking forward with heavy, sure footfalls.
As Flavia struggled back to her feet she marveled at the fact that she hadn't even seen him move.
"Ah, to be young again," she coughed, a small line of blood running down her chin.
Something in her chest had been ruptured by that blow. Flavia could only wonder in awe what kind of monster this man was.
"Youth is wasted on the young," she grunted, wiping the blood off her chin with the back of her hand and raising her sword again.
"And Regna Ferox is wasted on you barbarians!" Maris snarled, throwing himself forward this time.
They traded blows, Flavia slowly giving ground as she struggled to parry his weapon. Each attack was like being hit by a hammer, and her arms were slowly beginning to go numb.
Stupid, lazy woman skipping training, she admonished herself. This is what you get.
With a strange sense of clarity Flavia realized that she was outclassed. There was no way she was going to win this fight. It had probably been foolish to accept their challenge, but there was no doubt in her mind that this monster would have killed her even if she had declined.
She yelped as Maris' blade bit into her thigh, forcing her to one knee. She grasped at the injury as he withdrew, trying to hold the wound together as her blood poured out onto the stones beneath her.
"That was the artery that supplies blood to your leg," the helmed knight spat. "You'll be dead within minutes. Unless you yield."
Flavia laughed, tearing a strip off of her kilt and tying it around the injury. It wouldn't completely stop the bleeding, but at least she was less likely to slip in her own blood this way.
"I don't think you know how things work in the north, boy," she growled, pushing herself up using Ragnell as a crutch. "You want my throne? You gotta kill me."
"I can do that," the armored man practically purred.
Flavia grinned again, holding her sword in a way she'd seen Basilio's champion Lon'qu do before; it was a defensive stance, feet spread shoulder-width apart and both hands holding the weapon out back at her shoulder so the blade extended horizontally near her face. It stung to put her weight equally on her wounded leg, but this stance wouldn't work if she didn't.
Maris stomped forward again, bringing his blade up low in an attempt to disembowel Flavia, but the Khan spun, lashing out horizontally at the knight's neck. She felt the sacred blade bite, and she let out a little laugh as the Rommel boy fell backwards, his helm flying away.
Flavia pressed her attack, stomping down on his armored ankle and bringing her sword down to-
With a sound like the tolling of a bell Ragnell was torn from her grip, sent flying away into the distance as Maris rose, bringing his empty fist back to strike again.
Khan Flavia closed her eyes as his fist hit her shoulder with all the strength of a runaway cart, crushing her armor and collar bone and knocking her back down to her knees.
She looked up and grinned, more blood running down her chin as she coughed.
Maris glared back down at her, his eyes bloodshot and his skin an unhealthy, corpse-like ashen grey. Dark black lines spread up his face from beneath his collar, similar to the red lines through his armor. She chuckled a little as Maris turned, moving to pick up Ragnell and studying it in his gauntleted fist.
"Now I get it…" Flavia coughed. "This isn't your strength at all. You're just leeching his leftovers-"
The rest of Flavia's taunt was cut off as Maris roared, thrusting the sacred Valmese blade through her chest.
Flavia let out a little gasp as the air left her body, grinning up at Maris all the while. All she could think was this is what I get for holding onto it for so long. A cold wind blew across the training ground, tossing her thick blonde mane about her shoulders. She sucked in a shuddering breath, ignoring the searing agony in her chest as she inhaled the scent of her homeland one last time.
"They'll come for you…" she managed to choke out around the blood bubbling up in her throat. "And… when t-they do… I'll be… laughing… in hell…"
"I'm counting on it," Maris growled around the fangs invading his mouth.
With a vicious kick the knight knocked Flavia off the sword, the Khan falling backwards with a pained grunt. Maris stepped forward, bringing Ragnell down again. And again. And again, until Flavia's last breath escaped her body and her dead eyes still grinned up at the northern sky. With a frustrated snarl Maris realized she'd never screamed in pain.
And still she smiled her damned confident smile.
Maris rose and tossed Ragnell aside, sweeping the lank light purple hair out of his eyes as he turned his baleful gaze on the clerk standing, shaking with tears in his eyes next to Idallia. His sister stood, staring rooted to the spot with wide, unbelieving eyes at the corpse of Khan Flavia cooling on the stone training ground. She retched, doubling over as she voided her stomach's contents all over the floor of the training ground.
"Go spread the news," Maris growled. "The warriors of Eastern Regna Ferox fight for Khan Idallia in the coming tournament. Anything less will be met with death."
AN2016: Conquest is brutal. This game has reduced me to frustrated tears more than once, I swear to Naga… I have five days to beat it before Revelation comes out, though!
So, not a lot of changes to this chapter, even if the little time-skip there is a little jarring. I did say I was going to skip over Arya's mage training. It's time to move this damn story forward already. The next chapter isn't long off, either. I'm in the process of editing now, but after that we may be back up to longer waits as I actually write more new content.
And yes, I went there. Not even the original cast are untouchable in my AU canon.
Remember I'm doing a podcast? CAB Anime and Gaming, new episodes every second Friday! Find us on iTunes and Soundcloud!