Hero: The wait is over! Now that college is over for now, I can focus on my fics! This chapter nearly rivaled the Validar chapter in terms of length, but I can assure you that this chapter was worth the wait! We're nearing the Climax of Arc I of the fic, so get hyped. It's only gonna get better from here! Anyway, enough talk, here's Ch. 11 of "Resolve of a Family" Enjoy and man I sound so hyper today.

Chapter 11

"Ho boy, I can't wait to see how Orpheus is!" A chipper tone said despite how late it was.

"Henry, please. I don't know how that's worth getting excited for." The other person scolded the unusually excited Henry. "It's not like we're here because we want to be."

"Yeah, but come on, we should enjoy what little we can! Aren't you at all curious to see how he's been?"

"Well… yes, I am. But that's not the point here."

"It is now! Nya ha!"

"Henry, I question how we're friends sometimes.'

"Glad to hear you care!" He laughed again. "But this is a good time to maybe plan our move if we can."

"Yes, though I don't think it'll work. Even with Validar gone, she's now in charge."

"You mean, Lady Aversa? Yeah, she's watching the whole thing. And she knows who you are. Almost too well."

"Yes, and I hate that."

"Sorry! I know you don't like her. Like, at all."

"No, it's fine. We'll just have to be out of sight if and when the fighting breaks out. I wouldn't want Orpheus to mistake us as enemies."

"Well, technically we're his enemies right now!"

"Henry!"

"Nya ha ha!"


Meanwhile, in Orpheus' tent, Lissa had arrived to wake him up, but it seemed he woke himself up.

"Aah!" Orpheus gave a short scream as he forced himself up.

"Whoa! What's wrong, Orpheus? Did you have a nightmare? I didn't even try yelling into your ear yet." Lissa questioned with worry.

"Oh, Lissa… I think that's what it was. I heard these two people talking to each other about something. I can't remember, but I have a bad feeling about it... I think someone was talking… to me."

"Are you sure that was a dream or vision or something?"

"I don't know… oh well; what brings you here Lissa? Did you need something?"

"Frederick says it's almost time to march. And we can't start the plan without our Master Tactician!"

After that, Orpheus brought his tent down and armed himself with his needed weapons and found Cordelia, his partner for today's operation.

"Cordelia!" Orpheus called to her.

"Oh, Orpheus! Glad to see you're ready."

"Yeah. Today, we'll be rescuing Emmeryn, no matter what."

"Of course. I'll be there to help you through it."

"Thanks, Cordelia. Say… After all this, what do you plan to do aside from seeing your friends' graves?"

"Hmm… I'm not entirely sure. I'll likely still serve with the Pegasus Knights, but I may stay in the capital this time."

"That's good to hear. I was afraid you'd be stationed somewhere else."

"Am I that charming to you?" Cordelia teased.

"C-Cordelia, please! You know that's not what I'm thinking about!" Orpheus responded with a flustered face.

"I know. I just had a feeling you're easy to mess with."

"Just don't make a habit it out of it. Especially on the battlefield."

"Don't worry, I won't." Cordelia gave one small laugh. It put a smile on Orpheus to see her showing more positive emotions for once. "Now saddle up. You're flying with me right now."

"Already? Okay then." Orpheus shrugged as he climbed on to the Pegasus after Cordelia got on first.

Cordelia flew low with the army, and after about two hours of marching, they reached the edge of the capital, the Shepherds snuck in alone to avoid detection, awaiting for Flavia and Basilio to make the signal. Gangrel was making his twisted speech, trying to justify the execution of Emmeryn. And the Queen Exalt was atop a downed spire, with a guard nearby in case she planned to escape.

"...We ALL remember the crimes of Ylisse… Would you have their witch-queen answer for them? Here? Today!? NOW!?" The crowd fell for his propaganda and applauded, "YEEEEEEEEES!"

"Grr… I wanna place my sword down his throat really bad right now." Orpheus growled as his body shuddered in revulsion.

"Agreed." Chrom also was irritated beyond words.

"Let's just strike right now before it's too late." Orpheus took a step forward and was stopped by a steel lance that moved in front of him. "Cordelia!?"

"Orpheus… we must wait for Basilio & Flavia to make their move first. I know this hurts to see, but we mustn't be hasty. Everyone's lives are at stake. You too… Milord Chrom" Chrom only gave a forced nod and refocused his glare.

"I know… thanks Cordelia." Orpheus tried his best to calm down. Cordelia had become the voice of reason among the Shepherds.

"Finally, we will have JUSTICE!" Gangrel continued on with his speech as the crowd died down in noise. "WITCH-QUEEN! It's time for you to-"

"Basilio!" Flavia alerted her fellow Kahn to make his move.

"With pleasure!" Basilio already had set his aim and fired a lone arrow and struck the guard behind Emmeryn.

"Everyone: MOVE OUT!" Orpheus played his move and moved his group into position to begin the operation.

"Take out the soldiers first! We'll deal with the Mad King later!" Chrom followed up with his order.

"Oh will you now? Bwa ha! We've been expecting you, Little Prince. Men: kill him. Kill his sisters. Kill his troops, his friends and anyone else you find! KILL THEM AAAALL!" Gangrel responded back as he then left with Aversa.


Meanwhile, two hooded figures were spectating from a good distance away from the the battlefield.

"Nya ha! It's started! This should be fun!" The boy laughed obnoxiously.

"Henry, keep it down…! If the Plegians or Grimleal hear us, we'll be forced to fight too!"

"Oh, right. My bad." He apologized and scratched the back of his head.

"Now we get to see Orpheus' tactics in action at long last…"

"Ooh! I see him…!"

"Where? How can you spot him in that huge crowd?"

"He's flying on a Pegasus with someone."

"Wait, what?"

Henry pointed to the sky. "You can barely tell, but just look for the girl with the red hair. That should help."

"Ohh… now I see. He's clever, using her to help himself across the sand is a good strategy. I see he's improved a lot since we last saw him."


"Haaa!" Orphus slashed his blade onto an Archer's chest, quickly ending his life. "So you really brought me to help you with the Archers?"

"Yeah, you're a smaller target and you can just jump off to get them good." Cordelia explained as she then engaged a Soldier in Lance to Lance combat. The soldier aimed for her head and thrusted his lance forward, but she foresaw that, easily dodging and she then stabbed the soldier in the chest. "Predictable."

"Oh, I like you Cordelia. You might give me a run for my money."

"Haha. In what way? Humor or skills?"

"Both." Orpheus said as he lunged towards a Wyvern Rider, who instinctively swung his axe when Orpheus was in front of him, but Orpheus jumped again, but behind his opponent. Orpheus wasted no time swinging his blade and killed his foe. He spared the Wyvern as it simply flew away in fear after losing its rider. "Heh, predictable."

"Wow, you're getting faster."

"Only by a bit." Orpheus said as he hopped back on Cordelia's pegasus. "Ready to move on?"

"Yes." Cordelia agreed as she signaled her pegasus to move forward, along with the rest of the Shepherds.

Chrom and Sumia advanced the farthest after noticing a lone monk dealing with three of Gangrel's men by their lonesome while Orpheus stuck close hugging the wall of the castle. As he glanced up ahead, he spotted more soldiers blocking the way to the castle.

"Cordelia, I spot a Mage and two Soldiers. I think I can make quick work of the Mage."

"Orpheus, don't you know? We Pegasus Knights specialize in dealing with mages. Pegasi have a great resistance towards magic."

"But I think he has a Elwind Tome on him."

"...Most magic." Cordelia sighed. "Fair enough. When do we make our move?"

"The moment everyone else catches up. I want those guys to focus their attention on our main forces for just one moment, then, you fly us into those guys so we can take'em out quickly."

"Sounds fun. The army should cross this side any moment."

"Yeah, I'll give you the signal." Orpheus kept a constant focus on his target, waiting for his moment to strike. Like a hunter waiting for its prey to drop its guard.

Lon'qu was guarding Lissa, so he was to the rear, but it did not stop him from striking down anyone who had the thought of harming her. It was only recently where someone tried to assassinate her, which led to him being pierced by an arrow. Since then, he's had newfound resolve to protect Lissa. Most of his opponents fell in one strike, leaving Lissa in awe.

"Lissa, are you alright?" Lon'qu asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Lissa answered with some embarrassment in her tone.

"We'll be caught up with the rest of the group soon."

As they continued their advance, the mage that Orpheus was watching, locked eyes with Lon'qu and Lissa, one of the more important targets Gangrel demanded be killed, made his move towards her and his soldier guards followed suit.

"Now!" Orpheus shouted, giving Cordelia and her Pegasus the signal to move, gaining altitude quickly. Cordelia descended with perfect timing. The moment she hit the ground, Orpheus lept off the Pegasus and lunged towards the mage, aiming for the chest and piercing through, ending the mage's life before he could react. Cordelia fared well, removing one threat at the same time, but engaged in combat with the other soldier. Chrom and Sumia moved on quickly after speaking to that lone monk to deal with a couple of Wyvern Riders, but with Chrom's Falchion, they could be disposed of quickly if hit. Orpheus spotted someone approaching Cordelia; it was an archer! He quickly sheathed his blade and revealed a Tome and activated it with no hesitation. A lone thunderbolt struck down and shocked the Archer before he could take aim, limiting his movements as well. Orpheus took this to his advantage, moving towards his next target and unsheathed his sword, ready to finish it, when a blur of white blocked his vision. Cordelia had quickly moved on from her last fight to the next. Orpheus only shook his head.

"Efficient. You're a genius fighter, but that was my kill."

"Looks like you need to be quicker on the draw then." Cordelia giggled with some sass.

"Oh, you are a just a treat." Orpheus responded as he hopped back on Cordelia's Pegasus. "Let's move on before…" Orpheus looked to the side of the castle and noticed something approaching from the skies. "More Wyvern Riders!?"

"What? Reinforcements got here that quickly?" Cordelia was caught off guard.

"This is starting to look familiar…"

Meanwhile, away from the battlefield, Henry's friend was taking notes.


"Oooh, a game-changer! This is fun!" Henry laughed.

"Hmmm, I wonder how Orpheus will handle this. Will he wait for them to regroup and take them head on, or split his forces apart. Either one should work."


Back on the battlefield.

"...Okay! Lon'qu! You're with me! The rest of you control the forts and prepare to take out the leader! Chrom, your fight is with that General!"

Cordelia flew towards Lon'qu's position who stopped to anticipate the arrival of both his allies and enemies. Orpheus hopped off the moment she touched down.

"Lon'qu, do you have the sword?"

"Yes." Lon'qu nodded as he revealed a jagged, yet sharp blade.

"The Wyrmslayer should make things go smoothly as well as my Elwind. I assume Lissa went with the others?"

"Yes. She should be safe with everyone else around her. Let's move."

"Right. Cordelia?" Orpheus then turned his attention towards her.

"Of course."

"Alright, let's move out!" The three advanced against the group of four Wyvern Riders. As they neared the Riders, The three split.

"You two, engage them; I will provide covering fire with Elwind!"

When the leader of the squad noticed Lon'qu's weapon, he made his next order. "Take evasive maneuvers! The swordsman has a Wyrmslayer!" His subordinates immediately responded, spreading apart to force Lon'qu to chase one at a time.

"Heh, predictable!" Orpheus remarked as he launched an Elwind at one near Cordelia, striking the Rider before he could react.

"What!?" The Leader looked past Lon'qu and Cordelia and spotted Orpheus giving a huge grin to taunt them while preparing another Elwind to launch. "Get him! He's by himself! The Mage must die!" The remaining Riders gained altitude, ignoring Cordelia and Lon'qu, focusing on Orpheus, convincing themselves he was a mage. "Circle around him and attack in the Triangle Formation!" They circled him with no time or moves spared and in sync charged towards him, axes ready to drop, and as they neared, Orpheus jumped, and launched his Elwind downward, propelling him upward, catching them off guard. He immediately stuffed his Elwind Tome in his coat-pocket and unsheathed his sword and aimed his descent towards one of the Wyvern Riders, immediately piercing through one before he could react. "He's no mage!"

"Damn right I'm not! I'm better with swords anyway." Orpheus remarked as he pulled back his sword out of the nearly dead Rider, kicking his body off the Wyvern. Noticing its master's fate, the Wyvern grew frantic, desperately trying to shake off Orpheus to flee. He wouldn't be able to jump to another Rider a second time now that they're aware of his capabilities, so he had no choice but to jump back to solid ground.

"There's no way we're getting fooled twice! Prepare to die!"

"You see, I would but you're actually done already."

"What do you-" Before the Rider could finish, his Wyvern roared in agony, falling to the surface and writhing in pain. The Rider was forced off and as he looked up, he saw a sword jabbed inside his Wyvern. Lon'qu had made his move. "You bastard!" The Rider quickly got up and tried to swing his axe down, but Lon'qu quickly moved around him to deliver the finishing blow. "Agh… taken down by one hit…"

"No! You'll pay for this!" The last surviving Rider of the squadron was put into a state of panic, constantly shifting focus between Lon'qu and Orpheus.

"All too easy."

"Agh!" The Rider spotted Cordelia on the edge of his sight and took evasive maneuvers, flying upward after dodging.

"Oh, no you don't!" Cordelia shouted as she gave chase.

Lon'qu immediately put away his Wyrmslayer and unsheathed his Killing Edge right away, preserving the Wyrmslayer to use only when needed. "Will she be fine on her own?"

"Don't worry, she'll outspeed him in order to take him out. And if the off chance she does have trouble..." Orpheus stopped himself as he looked for a Tome in his coat. "I can still offer some support."

"Very well."

"Lon'qu, you should head back though. I think you may be needed for taking the front of the castle. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine on my own."

"Who said I was worried?" Lon'qu put a slight grit on his teeth.

"Fair enough." Orpheus said as Lon'qu walked off. His gaze focused then on Cordelia.

It was here that Cordelia truly shined as a soldier. Her Pegasus, Ai, was entirely in sync with Cordelia's mind; coordinating with each other both their movements and attacks. Cordelia gripped her Steel Lance and dove towards the Wyvern Rider. He raised his axe upward, anticipating the moment to strike back. Cordelia's acceleration was too much however; while being unable to get close enough for the kill, she adjusted her lance's position to deliver a wound to his Axe-arm before his weapon could drop downwards on either her or her Pegasus. The pain caused him to drop his axe, which fell back down to the surface.

"Wench! I'll kill you!" The Rider yelled in pain, grabbing a Hand Axe with his other hand, turning around and immediately throwing it without any real thought. The moment he threw it, his fate was sealed; he did not see her behind him. As he realized that, he felt something land in front of him, turning, he spotted Cordelia right before him. She gave him no chance to react, driving the lance through his chest.

"Like I said, all too easy." Cordelia said to herself as she pulled the lance out of him, her Pegasus came down as if on cue. She immediately hopped on and descended to Orpheus. As she touched the ground, Orpheus just closed his eyes for what felt like a moment and smiled.

"Great job Cordelia, but next time make sure they don't drop their weapons near me. I don't want to get executed, ya know." Orpheus jested, pointing towards a nearby Axe.

"Ha ha, I'll try to be more efficient next time." Cordelia only smiled back to him.

"Now, let's go see if they've taken the front of the castle. We have a score to settle and an Exalt to save." Orpheus said as he mounted Ai.

"Yes we do. Let's go, Ai!" Cordelia's expression changed immediately and the two flew towards the castle.


Back to the outskirts of the battlefield.

"It looks like they got this in the bag. All their reinforcements will be too late to protect Gangry and Lady Aversa! Nya ha!" Henry said with a very unserious tone.

"Something… isn't right here."

"What do you mean? Gangrel's army stood no chance to them. If they really wanted to win, they shoulda gotten good at fighting!"

"No it's just… Aversa hasn't made a move yet. It's like she's biding her time. I know for a fact she's super strong. Stronger than Gangrel himself. Validar is dead so she has no orders to follow. She could've left him to die if she wanted, yet she still obeys him."

"Maybe she expected this to happen?"

"Gods… Henry, they might be in some deep-"

"Trouble? Oh yeah, I think they are! Maybe we should help!"

"Henry, how many times have I told you? We can't do anything right now. It's all on Orpheus; he has to be ready for this."


At the castle gate, the moment Orpheus touched down with Cordelia, Chrom immediately ran up to him. Cordelia flew back up to meet up with Sumia for the next phase.

"Orpheus! Their Wyvern Riders have fallen and the skies are clear! I'm giving the signal!" Chrom called out, raising his arm and his current group of Pegasus Knights got to attention forming up near the entrance. However, what surprised everyone were three new knights. One led by Lady Phila.

"Lady Phila!" Cordelia and Sumia called to their leader, whom they thought was dead.

Phila returned a smile to her sisters before focusing on the Exalt. "Your Grace!"

"Phila! I'm so glad to see you safe. But how did you...?" Emmeryn gave a sigh a relief.

"Khan Basilio's men freed me. Come, we must hurry!" Lady Phila then tried to ascend to rescue Emmeryn.

"What? More Pegasus knights? How did they…?" Gangrel's tone grew more frustrated. "That damned Ylissean tactician does not play fair!"

Aversa only laughed to herself. "Yes, well. Neither do I."

"What!? How did they-? Chrom! There are Risen archers everywhere!" Orpheus' smug face instantly melted into shock.

"Bwa ha ha! Oh, did an army of living corpses just appear out of the blue!?" Gangrel laughed maniacally. "Truly, the heavens smile upon might King Gangrel this day! Bwa ha ha ha!"

"Gods, no!"

"Archers! Shoot every living thing in the air! Especially Pegasus Knights!" The Archers immediately readied their bows."Ready!"

"No! Cordelia, Sumia! Take your units and fall back!"

"What? But we can…" Sumia attempted to persuade Orpheus.

"Aim!"

"I ORDER YOU TO FALL BACK!" Orpheus shouted at the top of his lungs. The two didn't say anything and turned around at their fastest speed, unknowingly accepting the fate of their fellow knights that were too far in to escape.

"FIRE!" As Gangrel said that, a flurry of arrows show upwards, striking everything that was in the sky. The sound of arrows striking flesh agonized Orpheus, as well as Sumia and Cordelia. The first sound that Sumia heard, tears already formed. She finally got to see Phila after so long and already they had to part again. There was no rest for them as the bodies descended just as fast they took to the skies. Their agonizing grunts of pain were the only things that could be heard after they hit the ground. Life began to fade from them, but Phila had only enough strength to apologize to her Exalt.

"Y-Your Grace, I… Forgive me… Uhh…" Her breath escaped and her eyes closed.

"Phila!" Emmeryn called out to her knight, hoping she'd open her eyes once more.

"Lady Phila!" Cordelia called out to her sister as well, but her eyes were both filled with sadness, fury, and despair. She readied to charge to save her sisters, but Sumia got in the way. "Sumia! Out of my way!"

"Cordela, don't!" Sumia tried to speak while wiping the tears from her eyes. "If you get any closer, you'll die too! I don't want to lose you too!"

"Sumia, we have to still save the Exalt!"

"We do, but please think rationally about this!" Sumia tried her best to reach through to Cordelia, stopping her from moving, which was enough progress for her.

"Exeunt one Pegasus unit! Bwa ha ha! Wasn't how they fell so elegant? It felt like a ballet performance!"

"No no no…. NO!" Orpheus' world felt like it was crumbling before him. All of the plan went to ruin in a single moment. And there was nothing he could do… but fight. "GANGREELLL!"

"I believe this is what they call a reversal of fortunes." Gangrel mocked the Shepherds. "Now… grovel! Plead! Beg for your worthless lives!"

"I'd give up my life before I beg for it from you." Chrom fought back.

"Oh, now that is a good line. A fitting epitaph for your tombstone, perhaps? But it's not just your life in the balance. The Exalt still stands upon the block. And I have a dozen bows aimed on her. All it would take is an order from Aversa…"

"I'll kill them all before they have the chance, Gangrel!" Orpheus anger only continued to build.

"Emm! Hold on, I'm-"

"Aversa! If Chrom so much as twitches, give the command to make it rain arrows!"

"You're a dead man, Gangrel!" Orpheus threatened as he placed his hand on his sword's hilt.

"Come on! Go ahead! I welcome it. Just know it was because of you both that your Exalt met her bloody destiny! Become the hypocrisy that your nation truly is! ...And what of the rest of you, eh? Who wants the honor of killing the Exalt?" Gangrel taunted. Cordelia gripped her lance tight, wanting to take the chance to pierce it through Gangrel's throat. But Sumia stayed as the voice of reason, forcing Cordelia to stay at bay. "...No one? Bah! Your merry band isn't so headstrong anymore, now is it? Pathetic!"

"Damn you!" Chrom insulted.

"Damn you to hell, Gangrel!" Orpheus added on.

"Now, now, boys-no one else has to die today. Not you. Not the Exalt. Not your friends. Just lay down your swords and give me the Fire Emblem."

"Chrom! You can't trust him!"

"Of course I can't trust him! I'm not an idiot! But if I just say no, he'll kill her! The gods are cruel, damn them! My sister or my duty… A problem with no right answer, yet I must choose!"

"Don't give up! There has to be a way…" Orpheus began searching deep in his mind, trying to find a way to overcome the situation before him.

"If there is, I can't see it… Gods!"

Gangrel cleared his throat before speaking again. "I will count to three! Throw down your weapons, or your Exalt becomes the world's largest quiver…. One! Two! Thre-!"

"Gangrel, hold!" Chrom stopped Gangrel just in the nick of time.

Orpheus immediately saw where this was going. His time was up, and so just unsheathed his blade and dropped it on the ground first.

"...You win. Everyone, lay down yo-"

"No, wait!" Emmeryn cut Chrom off.

"Silence!" Gangrel barked.

"Emm…" A bad feeling arose into Chrom's chest. Like he knew what would happen next.

"King Gangrel, is there no hope you will listen to reason?" Emmeryn made one last effort to reach out to him.

"You mean listen to more of your sanctimonious babble!? I think not. No, all I want to hear now is a thunk of arrows, and a splat as you hit the ground! Take one, long, last look from your perch. You do so enjoy looking down on people. Then prepare to meet the ground; and your maker!"Gangrel's voice grew more disgusted with the thought of Emmeryn. "That is, unless someone were to give me the Emblem… NOW!" Emmeryn only offered silence.

"ALL RIGHT! All right… Emm, I know you won't like this, but this is my final decision. Maybe someday we'll face a crisis where maybe the Emblem would have helped… But I know for a fact that Ylisse needs you today! The people need their Exalt. And we need our sister. If those dark days should come, we'll face them together."

"Chrom… Th-Thank you." Her sincerity turned to hesitation, but then back into pure resolve. "I know what I must do."

"Emm, what are you-"

"Plegians! I ask that you hear the truth of my words! War will win you nothing but sadness and pain, both inside your borders and out! All it spawns is a cycle of hatred and pain! Free yourselves from this! From this cycle of pain, vengeance, & hate! It will only bring you despair! Do what you must… As I will do." Her eyes began to form tears, but they would not drop. It's as if her heart knew that if they were to fall, everything she said would be for naught. She then brought upon a smile. A genuine smile. "See now that one selfless act has the power to change the world!"

"Emm, no! No!"

"What is she…" Orpheus glanced back down to the Archers who began readying their bows. Aversa and Gangrel were fixated on Emmeryn's speech, Orpheus saw the opportunity. If the Risen were killed, there would be no need for her to die. "Now!" Orpheus pulled out an Elwind tome from his jacket and quickly charged it up; which was fired towards the sand in-between all the Archers, causing them to lose their sight. He quickly grabbed his sword off the ground and rushed to the Archers. Not wasting time, he sliced his sword through one's neck and began moving to the next one.

Chrom sprinted to Emmeryn in hopes of stopping

Emmeryn gave one final look around, seeing no reactions, she only sighed. "...So be it... Chrom, please stay strong. And Orpheus… please take what I said to heart… and watch over Chrom." Emmeryn took steps forward to the very edge. And after taking one last breath, began to fall. Chrom's eyes widened in horror, screaming out his sister's name; Lissa didn't want to look, choosing to cover her eyes; Orpheus looked up as he pulled his blade out of another Risen, eyes also widening, and could not move from that spot. The world only stood still and watched the descent until it ended. After Emmeryn's now dead body touched the ground, there was still no sound coming from anybody.

Chrom fell to his news, breaking the silence by quietly saying his sister's name. After a moment of silence, Chrom shouted in pure rage, "DAMN YOU GANGREL!"

"BWA HA HA HAA! Well now! How disgustingly noble! And so lovely a fall! Here I thought death to be an ugly thing. I've never seen one fall so gracefully, in fact. ...And I've seen many fall." Gangrel's smile was never wider than before. "Ah… So ends Emmeryn, Ylisse's most Exalted!" Gangrel's tone grew mocking. As if emulating a priest at a funeral. "But how can we ensure everyone remembers this beautiful moment of her sacrifice? Perhaps we should gather it and put it up on display! Bwa ha ha...!"

Cordelia had finally put it with Gangrel for more than enough. She was ready to make her move.

"Cordelia!"

"Enough Sumia, if no one else will fight him, I'll-"

"Gangrel! That's enough!"

"Who said that?" Gangrel looked down to see it was Orpheus, also with his own fair share of fury.

"I've... had… enough! Get down here so I can kill you myself!" Orpheus' tone intensified. The air and dust around him began to repel away and a bright red aura could be seen emanating around his feet. It was like his resentment had begun to take physically take form

"You have some nerve, boy!" Gangrel's mood now killed, he brought out a jagged sword in the shape of a thunderbolt. "If you want to die so bad, you only have to ask!" He pointed his sword skyward and lightning struck Orpheus almost right away. The air around him normalized and the red aura immediately dissipated. "Bwa ha ha! Come one, fight me! Where is that hatred you had just now!?"

Orpheus dropped his sword the moment the lightning stopped, feeling tingling pain, but he could not give in until Gangrel was dead. He pulled out another Tome from his coat. His Elthunder tome, which he immediately began charging. "I've got it right here, you bastard!" Orpheus fired his own thunderbolt towards Gangrel.

Gangrel raised his arm up again, and another bolt intercepted Orpheus' attack. Sparks pushed from both sides, with both unable to move forward. "Hmph, not bad, boy! But it's time to show you who's King!" Gangrel raised his arm again and his attack quickly overpowered Orpheus' magic. His power stood no chance to the Mad King and was immediately electrocuted again. The pain was even worse than before, with most of it concentrated on his upper chest. Gangrel only stopped the attack to continue mocking Orpheus. "Bwa ha ha haaa! Die! Die!"

"Gangrel, that's enough!" Chrom ordered the Mad King to stop his assault on Gangrel, to which he only laughed at him.

"He challenged me! It's not my fault he does not have the strength to defeat a King! If any of you try to get involved, I'll have Aversa here singe you with her magic. And let me tell you, she puts my magic to shame, and that's saying a lot! So let me finish my fight with him, you all will be next anyway. Bwa ha ha!"

Orpheus grabbed his sword with what little strength he had, hoping it would block out the lightning, but it would not help at all as the lightning would run through it.

Cordelia immediately tossed Sumia one of her Javelins. "Sumia, on my mark we throw these at Gangrel and save Orpheus! He will be killed if this keeps up!"

"O-Okay! We should just swoop in after we throw these, we have no time to see if they connect."

"Yes; alright, let's go!" Cordelia immediately moved her arm back, with javelin in its proper position. The moment Sumia was ready, they both threw them in sync, hoping at least to distract Gangrel long enough for them to rescue Orpheus. As they neared their target, a gust of wind separated them both into opposite adjacent directions which immediately drove into the ground. A smirking Aversa appeared in their sights as she closed her Arcwind shaking her head in both disapproval and mockery towards the other Pegasus Knights. "Not you again!" Cordelia's faced teared up with anger as her memories of their last encounter, but the tension broke as she saw an arrow dart its way toward Gangrel, forcing him to step away.

"What?" Gangrel looked to see where it came from, but found an airborne axe coming his way as well, forcing him to move back again.

"Boy! I secured an escape route! We have to flee!" Basilio arrived in the nick of time, quickly putting away his bow with Flavia following behind him.

"But her… body… I-I have to…"

"You have to run! Now do it!" Basilio's tone grew louder as he put Orpheus over his shoulder and Flavia grabbed Orpheus' weapons.

Marth, who had just arrived, realized her mistake in not arriving sooner. "No! No… I'm too late… Our bleak future is written once more… And darkness awaits us all…"

The main group had escaped and Gangrel's tone was disgusted. "We had them all in one place! We could have killed the whole family!"

"At ease, King; at least you killed the one you wanted to kill." Aversa somewhat attempted to calm Gangrel down.

"Yes… I suppose that is the good part of today. I nearly killed their Tactician too, but no matter. If he didn't die by me, he'll die at the hands of my soldiers instead."

"You know, if the Khans didn't stop you, I would have instead. Count yourself lucky."

"Eh? Why would you have to stop me?"

"Oh, you didn't know? He's the one."

"Wait, what? That fool is missing…? That can't be right!" Gangrel denied Avera's hint.

"It's the truth. I recognized him the moment he came into sight."

"Then it seems we might have to make do with the other. But without Validar, is it even possible?"

"One could only wait and see, King…"

"Tch…" Gangrel forced away his glance, before recalling something and turning back to Avera. "I just remembered, did you see something around his feet? It was reddish, pinkish colored of something I couldn't tell.

"Oh? Do tell, King…" Aversa averted her gaze towards the floor full of now dead Pegasus Knights. It was then that she noticed slight movement. "Wait, could it be...?"

"Eh?" Gangrel looked in the same direction and then spotted exactly what Aversa saw. "Ooh, I do believe we can use this to our advantage. Bwa ha ha!"

Hero: Did you enjoy that? I know I enjoyed writing this. Seriously, when I got to the post-chapter fight part, I wrote over 2500 words in about 1 hour. "MONSTER JAM, HE'S ON FIRE!" I was seriously so excited about writing this. But anyway, I really need to work on my P4G fanfic, so get ready to wait again for the next chapter. And as for the Orpheus info, I think that's all I'm willing to share on him for now. Please feel free to share your thoughts on the fic and let me know if it was worth the wait! Next time, DON'T SPEAK HER NAME WHEN I'M GONE!