Hero: This one didn't take as long! Although, there is a reason for that. To be honest, I really wanna get to the good parts I've been wanting to get to for a while now. I'm glad I made the smart choice of not starting from Chapter 1/Prologue of the game's story like everyone else(That's not a shot at anyone btw) 'cause it's really hard to present anything new to the table from the get go. I started at Chapter 4 because most of the groundwork was set for me, and it shows some characters at least somewhat used to his personality. And the parts where I think my story really stands out from the rest will come at Arc III or the Walhart Arc to those who play the game. Arc II serves a last bit of establishing relationships and familial ties where as Arc III has more unique tactics, twists, and combat which as I said before, is going to be a big focus of the story. So basically, we're gonna be speeding up a bit. Next chapter is where the final battle with Gangrel begins which'll be separated into two parts. And I'm gonna be cutting a bit of things I had planned for Arc II so we can introduce the children and the better parts of the story in Arc III. I hope you all understand as I'm juggling both stories and school. But fear not! This chapter I have been excited about writing and it should be a good read, although yeah; do expect some time in between both. Anyway, here's Chapter 13 of "Resolve of a Family", hope you like it!
Chapter 13
After the fighting was all over and everyone knew they were safe, that was when the pillars had collapsed. They had arrived at the one of the better strongholds that was far enough from the border. Everyone was either quiet or weeping tears of despair. The Shepherds were scattered, especially to give the Royal siblings some space; even the Khans did so.
Orpheus meanwhile was holed up in a room that he borrowed to rest and plan his next moves. Though, he was doing neither of those things. He would simply lie on his bed, staring into the ceiling in pure silence; filled with grief, conflict, and uncertainty.
Meanwhile, in another room; the Pegasus Knights were together, also filled with a mixture of hindering emotions. The two mourned over the loss of their sister, now that they were in a safe enough location to do so.
Cordelia's crying was quieter; like she was used to it at this point. Her emotions were more stable, she had let it swallow her up on the ride to the southern part of Regna Ferox. Now, she was at the acceptance phase of this grief. Sumia on the other hand, was much more open about it. Sobbing loudly to where she was likely heard outside of the closed door. Though, this was to be expected. And no doubt, she was not the only one.
The redhead was the first to calm herself after a moment of mourning, and attempted to soothe her closest friend. She needed to step up and become the lead figure that she was destined to be. Or so she told herself. "Sumia… We need to better ourselves. We must defeat Gangrel to properly avenge our fallen sisters."
"But Cordelia, we didn't stand a chance against that Dark Flier! W-What makes you think we can beat Gangrel? Even Orpheus didn't…"
"But we're all still alive, though! That's all that matters! We need to take this chance to better ourselves quickly before Gangrel can strike back."
"C-Cordelia, but I-"
"No!" She placed her hands on Sumia's shoulders, keeping her focused. "None of this 'useless' babble like you usually do. You're not. You kept me in check from trying to fight Gangrel earlier. You kept calm back then when we were caught up in the moment. Now I need you to stay strong, Sumia. We've had our time to mourn, but now; we have a more important goal in mind. We have to prepare for another confrontation with Gangrel and that wench, Aversa!" Cordelia's face grew agitated just at the thought of Aversa. "And we're not the only ones who are suffering."
"Y-Yeah… Chrom and Lissa are. Orpheus too! Everyone's feeling terrible." Sumia had slowly come to realize the scope of the situation, not just thinking of only herself and Cordelia. "Well, what do we do?"
"I'm thinking we talk to someone each. I'd like to talk to Chrom, but I don't think it'd be a good time for that."
"Oh… this is his sister, after all. He should feel worse than all of us."
"...Yeah, of course." Cordelia was actually recalling the argument he had with Orpheus some time ago, but that was a good reason too. "I think I should talk to Orpheus. If we both go, it might make him uneasy."
"Yeah, maybe so. I'll see if there's a way we can all help Chrom and Lissa out then. I'll ask the Khans to see what we can do."
"Alright, I'll see you then." Cordelia turned her back, ready to go on her way.
"W-Wait!" Sumia grabbed her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.
"What's wrong, Sumia?"
"I wanted to ask you something." She pulled her in, whispering into Cordelia's ear. Not even when most of the message (which was quite long, mind you) was put across, catching Cordelia of guard, unsure on how to respond. "...Well?"
"...Maybe. W-Why do you ask that?" Cordelia questioned, still flabbergasted by Sumia's whispers.
"Oh, I think you know." Sumia hummed, seeing a rare sight even among her. "I hope you do well then!" Sumia then dashed off, looking like she had an edge over Cordelia or something to that accord.
"Y-Yeah, you too…" Cordelia awkwardly waved to her, still unsure on why she asked that question. She had no choice but to shrug her words off and go find Orpheus.
Within moments, she reached his door. Giving it a light knock, her armored gloves meeting the creaky wood, there was no reply from the recipient. Likely he didn't want to answer, she pushed the door open anyway. Locking a gaze with his apathetic eyes, she simply sat down on the chair before greeting him.
"Hello, Orpheus." There was no response from him, only a stare then changed back to the roof. "You're probably still hurt about what happened back in Plegia. I don't blame you. I still am too." There was still no response, though Cordelia was not fazed. "I, no, Sumia and myself were both scared when you provoked Gangrel. We feared we'd lose you too. We even tried to save you, but that wench Aversa interfered with us; although, Basilio timed his arrow perfectly and saved you in the nick of time. I was so glad to hear you were still alive." Orpheus turned his head, seeing her tear up. "And when you went fought the general, I was worried for you. And then I yelled at you… I won't apologize for that, though." She giggled through her tears. "You're one of our leaders; you know that, right? But more importantly, you're also our friend. I know you deny that, but Sumia and I will be the first to admit that we think you're important to us. I bet there are others who would agree too, like Stahl. I don't really have a main point to this, I guess. I just want to be here for you like you were for me when my sisters were taken from me. You were there for me a few times now and this is the least I could do."
She wasn't looking at him, but she could hear him getting up from his bed. She then felt something rub the tears against her cheek. He had sat on the side of his bed, looking at her.
"Looks like someone is up." She remarked to herself. "I'm hoping you're up and at'em by tomorrow. I understand if you need today to work out everything. But I'd like to see you trying to prepare for one more fight against Gangrel. I'll be doing the same with training to fight Aversa." She stands up, knowing her impact was made. She then walked towards the door, disappearing from his sight for a moment before her bright red hair popped up again. "Oh, and that's not an order. More so a… personal request." She elaborated before this time actually leaving.
Orpheus sat there, listening to her footsteps fade away. "...She didn't even give me a chance to say 'thanks'."
As soon as Orpheus was able, he left the room, seeking out a particular person. His search would end in a tent set up near the Convoy. "Oh, there you are Miriel."
"Good afternoon, Orpheus. Is there something you need of me?" She asked, closing her book after placing a bookmark in between the pages.
"Well, I was wondering if you knew of anything that could counter electricity. Something that maybe doesn't conduct it so I can try and get closer to Gangrel next time I fight him."
She would pause; thinking on what might best counter it. "I have one possible option. May I see the sword you intend to fight him with? I won't need it for too long." She would request, Orpheus immediately taking out his Killing Blade out of its sheath and handing it to the Scientist. "Yes, I think this will be an interesting experiment. Have you heard of rubber by any chance?"
"I think so. Isn't that extremely rare to find?"
"Why, yes. It was only recently discovered and can only be found in specific climates; such as tropical areas or some rain forests for example. It's made of a material called latex and it can indeed resist the currents of electricity. What I'll do is with the help of some magic, make the grip on the handle have a rubber weave of sorts to prevent the electricity from reaching your hand and therefore, into your body." It was impressive that Miriel could go on like this without really catching her breath. "This is my first time trying such a thing, so please come back later today. I should have it ready for you by then." She would then take the blade into her tent, no doubt immediately getting to work. With a shrug, Orpheus moved onward.
Seeing his friend Stahl polish his weapons, he would see if he could speak to him to pass away the time. "Hey, Stahl; are you free?"
"Yeah, is there something on your mind?" Stahl would ask, placing his weapons down to focus on Orpheus.
"Kind of… I'm having my sword tuned up by Miriel."
"Oh, I never knew she was a blacksmith." He laughed to himself, getting little reaction out of his friend.
"Well, she's just giving it an upgrade so I can have better odds against Gangrel. His Levin Sword is such a nuisance."
"I could tell. I don't think I'd handle it any better than you did."
"Yeah…" A pause could be felt; Orpheus was trying to change the subject to something more trivial. "Say, Stahl; any luck with the ladies?"
"Nah. I'm not sure if I've got any chances with them at the moment; this war is just too distracting."
"Fair enough, I suppose. But if we kill Gangrel, it'll end much sooner than we think."
"I hope that's true. How about you? Someone caught your interests?"
"I dunno. I can't say I'm leaning towards anyone at the moment. I think I'm going to wait it out myself. See how things play out."
"Yeah, wartime can be very stressful on people. Love is the least of their worries."
"Well, it's the least of their worries when their single. When they're married, it's a whole other field."
"That's true. I didn't really think about it that way." The two would talk idly by, until it was time for Orpheus to receive his adjusted blade. When arriving, he spotted the Mage holding the now sheathed sword.
"Here it is. I look forward to seeing how it holds up."
"Thanks, Miriel." He took the sword her, feeling the hilt be slightly different than before. It felt a bit easier to grip than before.
"There's one thing I should warn you about. Rubber can only take so much electricity at a time. If electricity flows inside it long enough, it'll cause the rubber to melt, possibly burning your hand, so please don't use this as a means to escape any situation."
"I see. I'll keep that in mind. I was going to work on my countering with Kellam for the rest of the day. Thanks for warning me."
Orpheus would indeed spend the rest of the day training; training for one last battle against Gangrel. The night and the day of traveling would be composed of devising a strategy against Gangrel's fighting style he had heard of what little he saw in person. While Chrom had all the reasons in the world to fight him, Orpheus wanted to do the honor himself. End the King and in turn, end the war. A new chapter was about to begin for Ylisse, and one man and the closest of his men were all that stood in their way.
Hero: This was short like I mentioned before. I was going to have a scene where Orpheus was training against Kellam, taking advantage of his "Invisibility" to try and predict Gangrel's attacking and basically use sound to pick up on how to defend properly and not take damage. I also had a scene with Orpheus and Sumia, but I don't think it would've contributed much. I think you all are starting to see who's pairing with who, but would you all like to know who Stahl is getting with? It's one of my favorite non-Avatar pairings and I wouldn't mind sharing it with you all. Unless, you'd rather be surprised with who he dates, although you'll see it coming when he starts interacting with her.
So yeah, next time; the final fight with Gangrel draws near! How will Orpheus handle Round 2 with the Mad King and just what does Gangrel have up his sleeve? Will it provoke new powers hidden away with our Grandmaster? Find out next chapter! Until then, stay golden!
