I've heard.
We'll talk about it next chapter.
"Thank you!" The mayor of the small Plegian town exclaimed, shaking Jon'so's hand. He was a large, older man. "We may not be the largest town, but are resources are yours, should you choose to use them!"
"It was no problem at all, sir." Jon'so said. "It was the right thing to do. My group and I do not need a reward. We were happy to- AGH!" He exclaimed, as someone stomped roughly on his foot.
"What my friend is trying to say is that we will accept your payment!" The red-headed girl next to him growled.
The man laughed a jolly laugh. "Ah, I see you're not one to be trusted with making deals, lad! This Anna probably has to keep a close eye on you!"
The woman did look like an Anna, with only a few small differences. Her hair was cut short, as though she cut it off from a pony-tail. She wore goggles on her forehead.
She smiled a winning smile at the mayor. "Of course, sir. And, please, I prefer Annie."
"Ah-ha! I like her!" The mayor laughed again.
"W-Well, I don't think we should drain your resources!" Jon'so exclaimed, a bit flustered.
"Jonny, we aren't going to bleed them dry." Annie reassured the prince. She turned to the mayor. "Do you think you could provide the funds for eight people to get passage to Ylisstol? That's all we need. And housing for the night."
"Ah! That's simple!" The mayor exclaimed.
"We can probably make up the funds on our own!" Jon'so said. "You guys have really been through enough.
"Jon'so would be willing to do anything to get to Ylisstol." Annie said. "His fiancée is there, after all, and lover boy here couldn't be more eager to get to her!"
"A-Annie!" Jon'so exclaimed.
The mayor grinned. "Ah, young love! I'll give you the funds! No arguments! Shame, I was thinking of setting you up with my daughter. Oh well. How about that red-headed lad?"
"No!" Annie and Jon'so both exclaimed. The mayor raised an eyebrow at them.
"Just...don't do that." Jon'so clarified.
"Anyway, we should get going." Annie said, dragging Jon'so toward the door. "Do we have four rooms in the inn for us?"
"Of course!" The mayor exclaimed. "And you'll find the money there, too!"
"Put it in my room!" Annie winked. "It helps me sleep at night!"
"...We could have found another way to Ylisstol." Jon'so grumbled.
"You know, Jon'so, sometimes you are really naïve." Annie said. "Did you really expect to get there on good will and favors alone? Money gets you a long way."
"...Fine. I assume this is why you insisted on coming to this meeting with me." Jon'so said.
"Obviously! After that ride from Valm?" Annie exclaimed.
"It wasn't that bad!" Jon'so protested.
"I used a sheep as a pillow." Annie said. "After that, you lost the right to negotiations. You're a doormat, Jonny!"
"Jon'so." He corrected. "This isn't because you're mad about having to hold the fort during the rescue, is it?"
"Of course not!" Annie replied, casually twirling a stick of dynamite in her hand. "You guys didn't need the explosive punch I tend to pack. Although I am a bit surprised you still went with Mar'on."
"He takes less time to set up." Jon'so said. "You have to set up explosives and whatnot, and it's rather hard to sneak all of that into a temple."
"Ah, well." Annie shrugged. "So are you going to go check on him?"
"Yes." He replied. "You know how he gets with killing. Odds are he's praying right now. I think I'll go sparing after that."
"You should check on the 'patients,' while you're at it." Annie said. "And, since we just got into the mayors good graces, you should make sure we don't fall out."
Jon'so looked at her quizzingly, then narrowed his eyes.
"Aln."
"You go check on him. I'm going to the market." Annie winked at him, and walked toward the market-place.
Jon'so had asked the shadiest person he saw what the shadiest bar in town was. When he walked in, he spotted Aln immediately. He was grinning up at a pissed off, very large man. There was a very drunk woman on the side, giggling to herself. A small crowd had gathered around the three.
"What do you think you're doing, punk?!" The man exclaimed.
"Well, obviously I'm trying to get lucky!" Aln replied.
"With my girl?!" He pointed toward the drunk woman. "Who do you think you are?"
"I could be anybody to her." Aln replied. "She doesn't seem to care. I mean, she probably wants a little excitement in her life."
"Ahem." Jon'so said.
"Something you can't provide, big guy."
"Aln."
"I guess everything isn't up to scale."
"Aln!"
"What I'm trying to say is she's tired of your-"
"ALN!" Aln felt someone smack him on the head.
"Oh! Prince-y! You snuck up on me!" Aln exclaimed. "How surprising!" He joked.
"What did you do?" Jon'so asked.
"This guy's just upset that his girl is more interested in me." Aln replied.
Jon'so raised an eyebrow.
"...And I may have been the one to buy her all those drinks. But I was using money I won fairly in a poker game!"
Jon'so continued to glare at him.
"...Which really depends on how you see the word 'fair'. But it was money he put on the table!"
"..."
"...And his wallet that I picked off of him."
"WHAT?!" The man patted down his pants. "YOU BASTARD!"
"Not the first time I was called that." Aln commented. Jon'so continued to glare at him. "What?" He sighed. "Fine. Here." He handed Jon'so the wallet.
"Sorry about my...acquaintance." Jon'so said to the larger man, handing him his wallet. "I hope this covers it." He added a few extra coins.
"It doesn't." The man growled.
"In that case, you can punch my friend here in the face."
"What was that?" Aln asked, before he was decked by the larger man, and crumpled to the floor, unconscious.
"Thanks for knocking him out." Jon'so said. "He would probably have caused more trouble awake."
"Not a problem, mate." The man replied. "Now take your friend and SCRAM!"
Jon'so had dumped Aln in their inn room. He usually wound up rooming with him, mainly because he didn't want to force the others to be stuck with him.
While he was there, he decided to take Annie's advice and check on the 'patients.' However, as he walked down the hall, he heard someone stomping behind him. He stopped and sighed.
"Hello, Victoria."
"Jon'so." The girl said, a scowl on her face. "Why are we sleeping in this rotting horse stable? I have sized up the leader of this town. We could take him and begin our kingdom here!"
"We aren't doing that, Victoria." Jon'so said, as if he had gone through this conversation a dozen times before. That was because he had. Victoria always had a mind for conquering places.
For a girl who never even met her father, she sure tried her best to emulate him.
"And why not?" The girl asked. "I am not going to meet my father without at least a continent under my heel!"
"Victoria, even if we did try to fight them, there are eight of us. All of us aren't even in fighting condition." Jon'so pointed out.
"I could take them all with my hands tied behind my back!" She exclaimed
"...You're a mage." He said.
"I could still fight!" She replied.
"...Look, Victoria, I'm going to check on Mar'on. You...try not to kill anyone." Jon'so said carefully.
"I cannot make any promises." She replied. "I will fight whoever challenges. It would damage my father's legacy if I didn't!"
"Fine. Sure. Just don't get into any trouble. We leave tomorrow." Jon'so walked around the girl, hoping she was just all talk.
He could never tell with her.
"Mar'on?" Jon'so said, opening the inn room door.
A boy was sitting on the ground, in a deep meditation. He was bald, but his eyebrows suggested his natural hair color was white. He was wearing white robes, with the mark of Naga on the back. Laying in front of him was a giant sword, larger than him. At the hilt of the blade was a rainbow stone, a Dragonstone.
The boy opened his eyes, turned to Jon'so, and smiled. "Hello, cousin."
"Mar'on." Jon'so said. "Are you OK?"
"I am praying to Naga for those who have fallen." Mar'on replied.
"You mean the Grimleal?" Jon'so asked. "Why?"
"I seek the purification of their souls." He replied. Mar'on paused. "I seek the purification of my soul."
"You have the purest soul out of all of us." Jon'so said.
"I enjoyed killing them." Mar'on said. "I shouldn't have. It was...wrong of me to fall into the temptation."
"You did the right thing, Mar'on." Jon'so reassured him.
"You've heard the legends." Mar'on said. "Of the other male manakete. I do not want to become one of them."
Jon'so sighed. "I know how hard this is for you, but once we return to Ylisstol, you'll be able to seek the advice of your parents. You won't have to do this on your own anymore." He paused. "...You'll be able to pray again. Truly pray."
"...What do you do when your god is suddenly a stranger?" Mar'on said. "...I miss Mother now more than I ever have."
"Look, we're leaving for Ylisstol tomorrow." Jon'so said, putting a hand on his cousin's shoulder. "You aren't like them. You never were."
"I'm still young, Jon'so." Mar'on said. "You're younger. I pray the conviction you give me will last hundreds of years after your death."
"...A bit of a dark thought, isn't that?" Jon'so said uneasily. "I'm going to check next door. Are you going to be at dinner?"
"I would never miss a meal!" The manakete grinned. Jon'so was always surprised how fast manakete could change their moods.
"Very well!" Jon'so smiled. "I'll see you there!"
Jon'so could hear her complaining before he even opened the door.
"Gawd, Laurent! Why would I need a spoon arm?!"
"To spoon things. To carry small doses of water, or soup, or liquids of the like."
Jon'so sighed, and opened the door.
Severa had seen better days. Both of her legs were fine, but she had an eyepatch, a couple of scars, and was missing her left arm from the middle of the forearm down.
They had found her in the care of a widow, who had found her still near death, trying to protect her late husband's body. It took a while for Severa to remember them, but eventually she knew who they were. She explained how Prince Chrom had "tried to be a hero," and how happy she was with the look on his face when she fell. She didn't really remember much after that.
Laurent, however, looked fine, in a bit dazed and startled. They had found him half mad in the desert. He appeared to have been isolated for a while. He tried to attack them at first, but they managed to talk him down. He got a bit better, but now there was always something off about him.
"Well, if it isn't the prince!" Severa exclaimed. "To what do we owe the honor?"
"I just wanted to check on you guys." Jon'so said.
"Ah, I see you managed to succeed in your mission!" Laurent said. "Are we going to be making our way toward Ylisstol soon?"
"Yes we are." Jon'so replied.
"What, so you can get back to your stupid girlfriend?" Severa asked. "It's nice to know we're being led by your…"
"Penis?" Laurent suggested.
"...Yes, Laurent. Penis." Severa said. "Anyway, I don't see why we have to go to Ylisstol. Valm was nice. We could have stayed in Valm."
"Regardless of what you think, it would be best if we touched base with the rest of our friends." Jon'so said. "How are the...appendages going?"
"Very well!" Laurent exclaimed. "So far, I have made a basic knife attachment, a sword attachment, a crossbow attachment, a fork, spoon, spork, pen, screw, pleasure, trumpet-"
"'Pleasure?'" Jon'so asked. "...Nevermind. Dinner is in a few hours. I hope you two are there."
"Whatever." Severa shrugged. Laurent had already become distracted with another attachment.
Jon'so walked toward the village training grounds. It was rare for a village to already have one, but apparently, this town used to be a soldier training ground.
There was already a small crowd gathered on the grounds, watching someone train. Jon'so smiled to himself., and pushed his way through the crowd.
As he expected, Luna was there, practicing her moves on the post. While it was entertaining to watch her train, what really drew people toward her was that she was sprouting off stories as she fought.
"The Radiant Hero, Ike, was surrounded by five bears! Ike could easily take one of them on bare handed!" She continued training as she spoke. "Pun unintended! He looked at all of them, and he knew! He knew he had to to draw his blade! Ragnell!"
She held Ragnell up into the air. "As the blade was drawn, the bears began to tremble at its raw power! And in one fatal strike, he cut them all down to cubs!" She split the post in half. The crowd began to clap. In spite of himself, Jon'so clapped with them.
"Thank you!" She exclaimed. "Now how about another story! From the other side of my family!"
"Luna!" Jon'so exclaimed. It was alright for her to flaunt around the fact that she's Ike's descendant, but it would harder for them if people knew about her royal blood.
"Oh!" She turned to Jon'so, smiling. "Hello, Jon'so!" Despite how hard it usually was for people to sometimes notice Jon'so, Luna always noticed him. It was nice.
"Hello, Luna." He said. "That was quite a performance."
"Oh, you know, it's just how I train!" She laughed. "I can't blame people for being interested in it, given my bloodline!"
"Well, how about we spar?" Jon'so asked.
"Of course!" She exclaimed, readying her blade. "The people here are going to be in for a treat! The blood of Chon'sin royalty against the blood of the r-"
"Radiant hero!" Jon'so finished. He raised his eyebrows at her, making sure she got his point.
"R-Right! Radiant hero!" She exclaimed.
"Alright, Miss Radiant descendent!" Jon'so said, relaxing a bit as he drew his sword. "Let's see what you got!"
Jon'so looked at the sunset, which brought a red hue to the clear sky.
We're going to be in Ylisstol soon. He thought to himself. It's a shame we weren't able to help them stop Grima. No matter, I suppose. I guess all that means is we'll get to see our parents again. Or in some cases, meet them for the first time.
It dawned on him how many of them had never met both of their parents. Mine died when I very young, Aln's an orphan, Victoria and Annie never knew their fathers. Hell, Annie doesn't even know who hers is. Well, she won't tell us, anyway.
I suppose it's not that bad. Annie was right, anyway. Soon I'll get to see her again. And we can get married, away from that awful future.
I'll be there soon, Lucina.
So those are the introductions! Hopefully you have a basic gist of the characters, kinda like when you recruit a character in the game. And the hooks, too. You'll see how it all works out ;)
Anyway, here are some basic introductions to the characters:
Jon'so: The Forgotten Prince- Jon'so is the prince of the Chon'sin people, the child of Say'ri and Kellem. He inherited his mother's leadership skills, fighting style, and sense of honor. He also inherited his father's kindness and lack of presence. He was unspokenly chosen as the leader of the group of displaced children. He is arranged to marry Princess Lucina of Ylisse. He's more or less the Chrom and the Robin of the group
Aln: The Bastard Prince of Plegia- Aln never knew what happened to his parents. He grew up on the streets of Plegia, treated like dirt by the locals. He, in turn, decided he didn't have to be nice to people, since they always seemed to hate him. He later found out about his heritage, didn't care about it, and moved to Chon'sin, where he became a pain in the neck to the Captain of the Guard, Prince Jon'so.
Aln, personality wise, could best be described as the middle point between Aladdin from Disney's Aladdin and Aladdin from Starkid's Twisted. Listen to One Step Ahead from the former and I Steal Everything from the latter to get a grasp of it. He doesn't really care about others, but he does have a good heart. Maybe. probably.
Luna: The Radiant Moon- The daughter of Emmeryn and Priam. She share's her father's pride in her bloodline, which is also now contains the blood of the Hero-King. However, she also shares her mother's compassion for others.
She has a bit of a crush on Jon'so, but not to a Cordelia degree. She just kinda likes him. regardless, Severa doesn't really like her, due to the similarities.
Annie: The Explosive Merchant- The daughter of Anna. She's an Anna. However, she didn't really like the idea of being completely identical to all of her relatives. She decided to change her looks a bit, and developed a love for pyrotechnics. She began to make her living selling explosives. When the call to fight Grima came, she developed different kinds of explosives to help her in battle. She's the most flirty of the group.
Mar'on: Naga's Legacy- The son of Tiki and, surprisingly, Yen'fey. The circumstances of his birth, aside from his parents, are shrouded with mystery. He is well aware of the violent history of male manakete, and hopes he can avoid following suit. He is a peaceful man, and can sometimes act a little childish. He is usually reluctant to fight, but will do anything to defend his friends.
Victoria: Spawn of the Conqueror- The daughter of a peasant woman and Walhart. She idolizes her father, and wants to impress him with her skills as a conqurer. However, she only really has training in magic, nothing to do with leading or conquering. She has also never met her father. She bases herself on the images of him told through legends and stories. She is loud and threatens people all the time, but her small size and childish, girlish looks tend to cause people to not take her seriously. Depending on the situation, this can provide fatal.
Severa and Laurent. I know, I told you they were dead. However, they aren't. Since Severa was technically killed in my playthrough, I decided to cripple her a bit. She can still fight, but, given Severa's outlook, she is probably a little resentful of her situation.
Laurent is a bit sadder. I remember in one support, he said he was sent further into the past then the other, and nearly went mad by the isolation. I never recruited him. So, when this group found him, he was already beginning to go mad. They managed to stabilize him, but he's never going to be the same person again.
So the actually story is going to be a spinoff of this. If you liked these two chapters, look out for the story after I complete this one. It will include a general story, back story, supports, potential relationships, parent meetings, maybe some decruitments, and more! Just a general character building thing, some of which explores certain things that weren't explored in the games.
The two chapters before the last one, not counting the dumps, will be the theoretical support of Severa and Laurent, out of canon.