As the afternoon carried on, the sounds of chatter, seagulls, and accordions echoed through the streets. Meanwhile, Chrom and his two daughters walked the streets, now freshly replenished by their afternoon meal.
"Right," Chrom said. "Souvenirs are next, right Morgan?"
"Yup!" Morgan replied, energetically bouncing up and down as she did so. "Where's a good place, Father!?"
Lucina simply smiled as the scene unfolded.
"Perhaps we could take a small walk while we look for a store?" she suggested. "We can do some sightseeing at the same time."
"Let us do that, then," Chrom replied. Morgan, meanwhile, kept her head on a swivel, looking for anything interesting to do or purchase. Her eyes immediately landed on a set of wooden rabbits, displayed on a windowsill. She tugged on Lucina's sleeve.
"Can we go to that store?" she asked her sister, to which Lucina replied with a sigh.
"I don't see why not," she said, before notifying her father of this development. Upon receiving permission, Morgan immediately made a dash for the store while Lucina followed, her caring smile still spread across her face.
Chrom finally made his way to where his two daughters stood, Morgan peppering the store owner with questions in the meantime. She soon picked up one of the wooden rabbits as she stared at it in wonder. Chrom's eyes then landed on a certain wooden box inside the store.
"Excuse me, good sir," Chrom began, the store owner's attention now switching to Chrom. "What is that over there?"
"Ah," the owner said. "That is actually an unfinished product. One of my good friends sends me these every now and then for me to carve a nice exterior into them."
Morgan's curiosity immediately went from the wooden rabbit in her hand to the wooden box, specifically its handle jutting out from the side.
"What's that?" she asked, pointing at the handle as she did so. The store owner smiled at the question. He reached for the box and slowly began turning the handle. Suddenly, a gentle melody began to resonate from the box, causing Chrom and Lucina to each raise an eyebrow. Morgan, meanwhile, seemed to jump up and down in glee.
"Wow!" she exclaimed. "That's amazing! How does it work?"
The store owner chuckled in response before pointing further down the road.
"The owner of that store over there makes these," he replied. "Try asking him. Even I don't know how this works."
Morgan's grin grew wider.
"Thank you mister! Come on, Father, let's go!"
"Are you making another one, Fleance?"
"Yup."
"Is it the same song?"
"Nope."
"Can I make one too?"
"Maybe when you're older."
"Aww."
The young child pouted at Fleance's comment before entering Fleance's workspace anyway.
Fleance sighed upon seeing this.
"Watch your step, okay?"
"Okay!"
The five year old then pulled up a small stool before sitting next to Fleance. He kept quiet as the older boy worked, observing every little move he made. Fleance picked up a small piece of spring steel before plucking it. A single note resonated through the silent room as Fleance closed his eyes, trying to analyze what note the piece was.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"I cut it too short," he muttered. "Time to make a new one."
As Fleance reached for another piece of spring steel, the ringing of a bell echoed from the floor down below. The young child sitting next to Fleance quickly jumped up from his seat and ran down the stairs, hoping to be the first to greet the customer outside.
Meanwhile, Fleance continued to work on his project, finally managing to get the length of the spring just right. He smiled as he began to screw the spring into place atop a small bronze plate.
The previous music boxes took up the same amount of space as a small box of fruit. Fleance wanted this new one to be nice and pocket sized, just like his derringer.
Suddenly a voice echoed from the floor below, the voice belonging to Mr. Hartmann.
"Fleance, get down here," said he. "I need some help."
Fleance playfully rolled his eyes before putting his equipment away and setting his apron aside.
"One second," said he. "Let me clean some junk up first."
Within seconds, Fleance found himself at the bottom of the stairs and almost ran into the aforementioned five year-old in the process.
"What happened Mr…"
Fleance stopped mid sentence. There, standing in front of him, was Exalt Chrom himself, his two daughters in tow.
"Ah, Fleance," Mr. Hartmann said. "Glad you could make it. Do you mind showing this lady here how your music boxes work?"
The toymaker gestured towards the younger of the two daughters, the one with short blue-ish hair, eyes died a royal violet, and an energetic and caring smile, before returning his attention to Chrom.
"Is there anything else we can do for you, Lord Chrom?"
"Well, let's see…"
Fleance sighed. Seems like he had little choice in the matter.
He gestured the young girl to follow him to one of the completed music boxes as Chrom watched via his peripheral vision.
Mr. Hartmann seemed to notice this.
"There is nothing to worry about, Lord Chrom," said he. "Fleance will not bite."
"... So when you turn this handle, it causes this thing here to spin, and its teeth interact with the teeth in this disk here, making that disk spin, which makes this drum spin, and the pins on the drum pluck these metal bits here in a specific pattern to produce music?"
"Exactly. You catch on pretty quick."
"Thanks!"
Fleance took a quick glance over to the girl next to him, an eyebrow slightly raised.
He could see the curiosity burning in her eyes at an intensity that he had never seen since he left the world he knew.
Memories returned to him, flashing before his vision in the briefest of moments.
A woman in working clothes, surrounded by other women, ladies of the royal court, and her husband and son, sighed as she finally placed her creation on a small table.
Small specks of grease dotted her face and stained her clothes, but these working clothes came into her possession for this purpose. She did not care if she got dirty, especially doing something like this.
"Is it done, my dear?" the woman's husband said, leaning down to pull the woman into his arms.
The woman giggled at this action.
"Careful," said she. "You will stain your clothes. And besides, the other ladies are watching."
The son then began tugging on the woman's sleeve.
"Can I listen to it, mother!?" the boy said excitedly. The woman laughed before picking up her son and placing him on her lap.
She then slowly began to turn the handle of the newly made music box, a calming but simple melody drifting into the air as she did so.
Everyone in the room closed their eyes as they took the melody in, even those of more noble birth.
"Mother?" the boy whispered just loud enough that his parents could hear.
"Yes Fleance?"
"Will you teach me how to make one of these?"
The woman smiled before patting her son on the head.
"Of course I will," said she. The boy returned his mother's smile as the melody continued to echo across the room.
The melody…
The melody…
"Hey, you okay?"
Fleance immediately jumped back to the present as the girl next to him waved a hand in his face. Seems like he zoned out a little.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry."
The girl blinked a few times in curiosity before returning her attention to the music box.
"Can you play it again?" she asked. Fleance hesitated slightly before replying.
"Sure."
He reached for the handle of the music box before slowly turning said handle, an all too familiar melody (to him at least) echoing through the room. Fleance took a quick glance at his temporary guest, and noticed her close her eyes. She began humming the tune, though in a quiet and gentle manner, and her previously energetic smile became more gentle and soft.
Fleance returned his attention to the music box, the girl's smile now spreading to Fleance's face as well.
The Calm Before the Storm.
The above expression is one that many people use often to describe a period of relative peace or calm before some sort of disaster. In the case of the analogy itself, the disaster is some sort of storm. In the case of Fleance, it is the gunfire and screaming outside.
Night had already engulfed the small city, so when Fleance jumped out of his bed to look outside of his window, he could clearly see the fires and muzzle flashes all over the city.
What the bloody hell is happening? Was his Uncle already launching an invasion?
Fleance then noticed the looting going on, and concluded that, no it was not a Weisstein invasion, but a raid by some pirates instead. How mere pirates managed to get their hands on firearms, he did not know. As far as Fleance was concerned, however, repelling these raiders soon rose to the top of his priority list.
He grabbed his sword and derringer and proceeded to burst out of the room.
"Mr. Hartmann!" he exclaimed. "Is everyone alright?"
Fleance then saw the toymaker's wife huddling in a corner with two of her sons and the toymaker himself peeking over the counter at the front door, repeating crossbow in hand.
"There are so many ruffians outside!" Mr. Hartmann exclaimed. "I can't handle them alone!"
Fleance immediately drew his sword, despite knowing the overwhelming disadvantage he had.
"I'll distract them," he announced. "Can you cover me, Mr. Hartmann!?"
The toymaker smirked as he readied his weapon.
"Ready whenever you are," he replied.
Fleance nodded, took a deep breath, and ran out through the slowly opening door. The door, now off of its hinges, slammed straight into the face of one of the ruffians, breaking his nose and sending his weapon flying. Fleance knew he did not have much time, however, as he noted four more of the pirates around him.
Fleance rolled off of the door (which still was on top of the first ruffian) just in time to avoid a shot from the nearest enemy. With little hesitation, Fleance leapt at the pirate before slashing with his sword, sending the pirate tumbling to the ground. He then heard the distinctive sound of an arrow hitting its target, as the pirate behind Fleance collapsed.
"Two more," he muttered, before lunging at his next target.
The pirate in question leveled his weapon at Fleance and fired, but the bullet simply grazed off the boy's shoulder. Fleance immediately slashed at the man's hand (he could have cut it off entirely if not for how dull the blade was) and jammed his sword into the man's stomach. The last pirate fired his shot at Fleance, but Fleance simply used the dead pirate as shield before hearing the satisfying sound of an arrow punching into the pirate's skull.
Suddenly a bolt of lightning flashed past Fleance as he kicked one of the pirates' weapons into his hands. He looked up just in time to hear an electrocuted ruffian fall down behind him, and see an energetic princess run towards him.
"You okay there?" Morgan asked, to which Fleance cracked a small grin.
"More or less," he replied, before examining what he held in his hands.
An Enfield P53 rifle-musket, he thought to himself. I know Weisstein surplused most of these, or turned them into Sniders, but how did pirates get their hands on them?
The sound of Chrom asking the Hartmanns if they were alright brought Fleance back to his senses.
"Please Lord Chrom, help us!"
"Where did you last see him?"
Fleance and Morgan walked over to the group, and Fleance noticed the toymaker and his family had become more scared than before.
"What happened?" Morgan asked. "Is everyone alright?"
The toymaker and Chrom both turned towards Morgan and Fleance, a slight bit of panic on both their faces.
"Arvid, my eldest son, has not returned," the toymaker said. "He should be fine, but I still worry for his safety."
"Lucina is currently looking for those that did not make it out," Chrom said. "She should find your son eventually."
Suddenly, a loud boom echoed across the city before a house a few blocks away exploded.
Chrom clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Gods!" he exclaimed. "What just happened!?"
Morgan, meanwhile, frantically looked around for what caused the explosion before running to help put out the flames.
Fleance, on the other hand, was horrified.
He knew what these weapons could do when used properly, and even when now used properly they delt terrible damage.
And Yilesse was not ready for it.
"Cannons…" he muttered, before his lips curled into a scowl. "Those bastards are shelling the city!"
Fleance tore a bayonet out of the scabbard of one of the pirates and proceeded to fix it to tend of the rifle he held.
He knew the gun was loaded, and knew who to empty it into.
Fleance immediately ran in the direction of the docks, but not before Morgan noticed him run.
"Hey!" she exclaimed, before running to catch up. "Wait! Where are you going!?"
"I am going to get rid of their leader," Fleance replied. "An army without a leader is just an unorganized mob. They'll break."
Morgan then stood to block Fleance's way.
"Are you kidding me!?" she exclaimed. "I mean, that's strategically sound and all, but you might want to look at your tactical situation first! You are NOT fighting all those pirates on your own!"
"Then what do you suggest I do, huh!?"
"Take me with you, that's what!"
Fleance blinked in surprise. The fire in Morgan's eyes had changed to that of a different tone, not that of excitement or energy but that of determination.
"But you're unarmed…" he tried to counter, before Morgan held up the book in her hand.
A tome, to be exact.
Fleance finally sighed.
"Alright," said he. "But don't try to get yourself killed."
A grin began to spread across Morgan's face, now more determined than before.
"That's my line," she replied, before the two set off towards the source of destruction.
Author's Notes: I'm starting to be torn on which Morgan I like more: the calm yet still teasing Japanese version or the energetic and teasing English version. I'm also torn on what I should arm certain groups with later on in the story. So far I have the following:
1. The Weisstein Army will be armed with British equipment, namely the Martini-Henry rifle, Snider-Enfield rifle, and Webley Mk.I revolver.
2. The Weisstein Navy will be armed with French and Austrian equipment, namely the Gras rifle, Kropatschek rifle, Mannlicher 1886 rifle, and Webley Mk.I revolver, as well as some other hyper-advanced prototypes such as Ferdinand Mannlicher's 1885 Handmitrailleuse. Some Smith and Wesson 3rd Model Russian revolvers will show up as well.
3. A certain unit under the command of the main characters will be armed with P53 Enfield rifle-muskets, Snider-Enfield rifles, Lorenz rifle-muskets, Wänzl rifles, and Werndl–Holub rifles.
Also, should I give the next generation of characters (yes, they will show up eventually) World War I era weapons? Considering what else I plan on putting in this story it doesn't seem like too much of a jump. Let me know what you think.
Anyway, that's all from me. Please leave a review in the review box below. I value all the feedback I get, as it motivates me to write more. I hope to see you in the next chapter!
-SPSH Karl