Author's Note: I'm sorry it took me so long to get to this. I've been trying to get some work and that just drains time. Then I replaced a thing that needed to be replaced, and I'm too hyped for Smash Bros on Friday to make much sense. Enjoy! I'll try to update the next one much quicker than this one.

Chapter 20: Hurry to Kathelet!

"You… you killed them, didn't you." Will said. His voice shook slightly, but that was too be expected. What he had just witnessed was not an act of self-defense, or even what one would describe as a 'mercy killing.' It was a slaughter.

"Yes… I did. Their quintessence was excellent." He responded, a merciless smile that held no joy for other fixed on his face. Jaffar nudged Will quietly, telling the younger man to stop talking. Even if Jaffar's face held no emotion as he looked on, when Will chanced a glance at him he could see the assassin's hands shaking with fear.

Will's strength, the little he had regained over the past week, left him in a rush. It was only his fear of showing weakness that kept him on his feet. This Man had just slaughtered a pack of wolves for… something. Entertainment? Will couldn't be sure.

I'm no warrior. I couldn't even pass as a tactician. Is that why he's letting me live? Is my Quintessence or whatever so useless that even wild animals provide better nourishment? No… he could have killed me at any time. I'm simply not worth the effort.

"Boy." He said sharply, causing Will to look up immediately. It was as though an invisible hand grabbed onto his hair and forced his face upwards, to look into the man's eyes. Apparently Will's question of why he was alive was about to be answered. "I will let you live on one condition. You will serve my every whim."

The strange force let go, and immediately Will's gaze dropped back to the floor. Will couldn't decide. It was obvious the man had no use to him, and now it was even clearer he wouldn't be allowed to leave. Maybe it would be better to submit to the man's judgment and finally pass?

Jaffar looked at Will harshly. His gaze seemed to reprimand all his thoughts on ending his life. Will clenched his teeth as his gazed back, as if to ask if living under this man was any life at all. Jaffar's gaze didn't answer, only once again pierced his resolve on death. "Say it to me." The man in the black cloak said, sweeping down from his standpoint to loom over Will like a cloud about to rain.

Will knew now what this man was. What he was capable was. No one stood up to this man and lived. If he wanted to live, to even have a chance in life past this moment, there was only one choice. A friendly smile and flash of green hair surfaced in his memory, and he fell to one knee. "I…" he began, in his best attempt of a strong voice, "I, Will… Pledge my service to you. I will go wherever you send me, and do whatever you ask of me." He uttered the words of a defeated man.

"Good…" The evil one said, smiling. "You will get strong, boy. And I, Nergal, shall hold you to your words. If you ever betray us… it means death."

"Yes… Lord Nergal." Will said, standing. Jaffar turned, and Will followed him from the hall. Only then did the reality of his actions sink in. The memory of green faded, and he felt like vomiting. Jaffar, who seemed to smile softly, helped Will to his new home.

"Why are you still up?" Came the voice of the soon to be Lady. Will turned, seeing Lyn leaning against a tree nearby. It looked like she had been watching him for some time. He merely smiled lightly, and continued practicing enchantments for fireballs, forming them in his hand and then diffusing them.

"You know, that'll only make the poison spread faster." She said, this time sounding a little worried.

"Not really." Will replied. "The poison's spread is more gradual now. As all poisons are. Truth is, that ointment helped a lot." He responded, forming another fireball. This one was much smaller than the previous one. The strain was harder to deal with when talking or giving out orders, it seemed.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lyn asked, approaching him as he made the fireball disappear. He sighed as he closed the book, before looking over at Lyn.

"If I say yes I'm lying, so I can't exactly say that can I." Will said with a small shrug. "I'm grateful you care, but I'll manage. I promised to get you to Caelin safely. Believe it or not I do intend to keep that promise."

Lyn sighed. This wasn't exactly going as well as she had hoped. She looked at Will again, noticing the bags that were forming under his eyes. "You really should get some rest though…"

"For what?" Will laughed bitterly. "I'm not of any real help right now. Every time I fall asleep, I'm plagued by doubts of the coming battles." He sat down, rubbing his eyes as he did so. "I'm afraid… that I won't wake up." He clenched his teeth angrily. Lyn noticed that his hands were trembling as they tried to ball into fists.

"You won't die." She said simply, making Will look up. She said it with a surprising amount of conviction.

"What makes you say that?" He asked, grinning.

"Well, we know now that you are a proud member of the Lorca tribe." She said. Her face flushed a little as she realized she hadn't thought through this particular reasoning. "I happen to know that we are very stubborn when it comes to dying." She said this as convincingly as she could. "Well… I know I am. And considered you managed to survive a fatal event more than once, I'd say the same about you."

Will laughed. Though it was a weaker laugh than before, the sound filled Lyn with joy. She hadn't heard him laugh that genuinely in weeks. "If you say so, Princess." He managed through his chuckling.

"What's that?" She asked, taken aback.

Will smiled a smile that would look more on place on Matthew. "Well once we save Caelin, you'll be a princess, won't you? I'm just getting a jump on everyone else."

"No way!" She shouted, flushing even more. "The most I'll be is 'Lady Lyndis' and I refuse to let you call me that!"

"Why is that? Afraid I'll besmirch the name?" He responded, cocking his head slightly. She found it cute and irritating at the same time. She knew he was doing it on purpose.

"No but we're friends, right? And you don't serve under me so… I'm still Lyn." She defended, and Will shook his head again.

"Sorry Milady, but you got that wrong. Who do you think is paying the bill for me when this is all done?" She thought about it for a minute before stamping her foot in annoyance.

"Well, fine. But…" She looked away, hiding the red that was slowly creeping onto her face. "If you have to call me milady in front of the others, I don't mind, but…" Now she could feel her whole face starting to burn. "When it's just the two of us… could you still call me Lyn?"

Will seemed to think about this. He had initially meant it as a joke, but now she seemed to be taking him seriously. To be fair Kent had been ragging on him lately for not addressing Lyn properly even though he understood there were culture differences between the two. It wasn't like he was against the idea, but he didn't want Lyn to get in trouble or give others the wrong impression either…

The silence persisted for some time. Finally, Will spoke. "Well… we are friends, right?"

Lyn immediately turned. How could he have not thought that after all this time? How long had it been? At least three turnings of the Moon Cycle since they had started out on this journey together. "Of course! You're my best friend after Florina!" She cried, startling some sleeping birds out of the tree. She looked at them, and suddenly felt a pair of arms encircle her. She froze, not knowing what to do.

He was hugging her. Did he… might he feel something to? She shivered as he whispered close to her ear. "Thank you… for believing in me… Lyn."

His hold released, and he walked off in the direction of camp. Lyn stood there for another two or three minutes, still unsure about what had just transpired between the two of them. Finally, a warm smile spread across her lips. He was truly… a good person at heart. She had already known but… sometimes, it never hurt to have reassurance. She headed back to camp.

The two spend the rest of the night side-by-side as they received a lecture from Kent about the dangers of going off alone and without informing the others of their whereabouts. They took it with a reasonable amount of humility. It was his way of showing that he cared.

"Serra, for the last time, I will not be bossed around by you." Erk said as Serra continued to chirp, trying her best to get Erk to help her perform even the most menial of tasks. He was not obliging her, which was causing her to act up further. Sain, who was nearby, knew better than to interfere.

Wil and Dorcas sat by the fire, keeping it stoked as Wil listened to Dorcas. He was currently elaborating on a tale of his days while searching for work, before he had ended up in the bandit group they had first found him with. Fence repair, house work, even a tiny bit of heavy lifting at a dock. Dorcas had seemed to get around a lot.

"So, you don't have any family besides your wife?" Wil asked.

"No. Recently my parents passed away." Dorcas said. "Yes, after that Natalie and I got married. We'd like to start a family, but with her illness…" Dorcas trailed off.

"What is wrong with her anyway?" Wil asked. "I mean, I didn't want to pry, but…"

"It's fine." Dorcas said, smiling sadly. "She's had problems with her legs since she was little. In fact, I'm on this journey to earn money, in the hopes to buy her the medicine she needs to be cured."

"So, you two were childhood friends? Sounds a lot like me and Rebecca!" Wil chirped happily, resting his arms behind his head.

Dorcas looked at Wil curiously. "Rebecca?"

"I suppose it's my turn then? Alrighty." Wil said, sitting up. "Well, there were actually three of us. Dan and I are the same age, and Rebecca is two years younger. She's also Dan's younger sister. We used to hunt together all the time in the woods around the village. Rebecca might be an even better shot than me."

"Interesting." Dorcas said. "So how did you end up following Lyndis?"

"Well, our village is really poor, and neither of our families had much money. Even though Dan was the village Elder's son." Wil said, putting up a finger in explanation. It always seemed to make things more… educational. "So Dan and I set out to make our fortunes. But after a month with no luck, Dan decided to turn back."

"Seems like he gave up too easily for my taste." Dorcas grunted, and Wil shrugged.

"I'm glad he did. Hopefully he can take care of Rebecca. After that, I kind of… got robbed." Wil continued, scratching the back of his head. It was an embarrassing thing to admit. "Then I met Will and Lyndis, and they let me tag along." He made a sweeping gesture, as though to say 'And here I am.'

"What a fascinating tale." Lucius said from behind them. The two turned. "I hope you don't mind, I was passing by and caught wind of your conversation. It was very engaging."

"I don't mind." Wil said. "Though since you've heard our tales, it's only fair to pony up, wouldn't you say?"

"You'd like to hear my story?" Lucius looked slightly wary, but took a seat next to the two. "I should warn you a monk's tale may not be very interesting."

Both of his listeners stayed silent, so Lucius took a deep breath before beginning. "I was brought to a monastery when I was young. They believed I would be a good priest or Monk, so they trained me. I was not the most devote of followers. I suppose you can blame that on the childish need to rebel." He sighed. "I cannot claim to have ever heard the voice of St. Elimine."

This surprised the two. "Then how do you stay faithful?" Wil asked.

"It is simply a matter of resolve." Lucius said. "Like Will in his resolve to help Lady Lyndis, I have resolved to believe in St. Elimine. It is a simple choice." He looked out at the miles they still had to cross, as though remembering something. "I traveled and used my magic to help others as I searched for Lord Raymond. I know fighting betrays a monk's vows to honor life, but I also believe I could not stand idly by while a child was hunted down."

"Who is Lord Raymond?" Dorcas asked.

"I.. I would prefer not to say. Forgive me." Lucius said while bowing his head.

"It's fine." Dorcas said.

Everyone was smiling. Lately they had been hearing a rumor that they were 'an evil mercenary group bent on taking the throne of Caelin.' The knights had told everyone there was no need to worry, and even as they spoke they were scouting their road to Kathelet. If they could meet with Lord Eliwood, things would likely turn in their favor. At least that's what they had to tell themselves.

The next day as they traveled Matthew, Rath, Nils and Ninian were all walking together, three silent as Nils happily expounded on their recent battles and how amazing everyone was.

"And then Lyn beat him like swoosh! That was just so cool! I knew you guys were strong, but I didn't realize you were that strong! You all really surprised me!" Nils chirped, and the other three just shook their heads. He really was just a kid, after all.

"Nils… maybe we should talk about something else?" Ninian asked her brother politely. Nils changed tact at the speed of sound, suddenly seeming much more secretive.

"So, how far you think Lyn's gotten with him? Do you think she's done 'it'?" Nils whispered, and the three almost fell over, Rath actually grabbing the reins of his horse to steady himself.

"I didn't think a child like you would be interested in romance." Matthew said, somehow remaining composed even in his current state of tottering dangerously to the side.

"Nils always has been… rather observant." Ninian said with a sigh as the other two looked at the boy, who had gone back to smiling happily.

"Should I ask Lyn about it?" Nils asked, preparing to walk over to her.

"No!" The other three shouted quickly, Ninian grabbing his arm to keep him there.

"Does he even know what 'it' entails?" Rath asked the thief. Matthew merely shrugged.

Nils looked at the nomad. Apparently, he had really good hearing. "Of course! It means hugging and holding hands, duh."

The three nearly fell over again, this time Rath actually angered his horse, and it knocked Matthew onto the ground as it started to gallop, Rath desperately trying to regain balance.

Nils blinked. "What, did I say something wrong?" The three companions began to laugh, and though he didn't understand, Nils joined in.

Lyn was walking alongside Kent and Sain, who had dismounted to save their horses' energy in case of a fight. They didn't want to take any unnecessary risks.

"Milady, we are only a few hours away from where Lord Eliwood promised to meet us." Kent said, and Lyn nodded. Luckily, Lucius had a carrier pigeon that had arrived with a message for them. Will seemed to be quite good with the animal, Lucius remarking that the bird adapted to him much faster than the bird had warmed to him. Will had then written a short letter to Eliwood and sent it off.

The bird had returned with a new letter at noon carrying the news that Eliwood was very close and would be willing to meet them as soon as possible.

"Will has decided we'll stay at the inn with the extra money we retrieved at the Black Fang's previous hideout. It will be a good rest for us before the final stretch." Sain said, adjusting a pouch containing Vulneraries to his horse.

"Yes, we'll need everyone in top form." She said, glancing over at Will. He was currently engaged in a more one-sided conversation with Florina. She still had trouble talking to him, even though she could be in his presence much better than before. Helping care for him had likely had a calming effect on her fear of Will at the very least. She was still pretty bad with the other men though.

"Milady?" Kent asked, and Lyn turned back around.

"It's nothing." Lyn said quickly, pushing out the memory of those arms wrapped around her. She hadn't felt a hug like that since… since her parents had…

Sain patted her on the shoulder. "Well, I would say I'm off girl hunting, but I think it's more like mage rescuing." He said, walking off towards Erk who looked about ready to pull out his spell book and blast Serra into oblivion. It was a short time before Sain was looking just as annoyed, with Serra clinging to him and making rather provocative advancements that in truth he hadn't been ready for at all.

"I can see why you'd need a break." He managed to mutter to Erk who was taking his small break chance to read his book.

"I suppose I owe you one." Erk whispered.

"Yes. Any silence magic in that book of yours?" Sain hissed back as his ears began ringing from the constant jabber.

"I wish." Erk grumbled. The two men seemed to have formed a friendship over their mutual hardship.

"We'll be there shortly." Will said, smiling slightly. "It'll be good to see Eliwood. I have a feeling things will go much better after our meeting."

"Why?" Florina asked, saying one of the few words she had this whole time.

"Well, for one thing, he seems to have decent influence in Lycia. For another, I'm pretty sure no other nation really wants to get involved in the power struggle." Will explained.

"Maybe…" Florina responded.

"You know, you could try and say more than one word. Otherwise I just feel like it's me talking to myself." Will said, sighing softly.

"But…" Florina started, trying to find an explanation.

"I was kind of hoping that all our training sessions would help you get over your fear of men. I guess they haven't helped at all." Will trailed off, looking at her.

"Th-That's not true!" Florina responded quickly. "You've helped me so much! It's just hard to… say something." She said, then realized that she had said something.

"There, you see? Now if only you could talk that much when you aren't being defensive." Will smiled.

"I wasn't being defensive!" She actually shouted this back.

"You so were." Will retorted, smiling even border.

"I was not!" She squeaked, blushing furiously.

Rath, who was traveling with the other three still, had managed to calm his horse and was now walking like the nights. "Is Will arguing with Florina?" He asked, spotting the two and hearing rather impressive volume from the small Pegasus knight.

"Florina is arguing?" Matthew asked in amazement.

"Hmm… Lyn might actually have some competition after all…" Ninian mused to herself. Nils looked at her curiously but she merely smiled in a strange knowing way back.

Will and Florina's friendly spat eventually drew everyone's attention, and it managed to last for a good minute longer before they realized that everyone was staring at them. Most of them had been surprised at Florina's capability, but were equally surprised that the relatively calm and thoughtful man had ended up in an argument with her. In the end the two looked at each other before breaking out into a small fit of laughter. The small amount of tension broke, and the entire group shared a hearty laugh.

"I see the town!" Kent called from the front. Sure enough, the small building of the village had come into view.

Shortly after Lyn and Will entered the town pub, and spotted a familiar head of red hair.

"Eliwood!" They said in unison. Eliwood looked up from his drink and waved them over. They quickly joined him at his table.

"So, you needed to talk to me, right? What was it about?" He asked. "Your messenger bird said very little."

"Will, explain." Lyn said, more as an order than a request.

"Me again?" He asked her in a put out tone, but a glare silenced him. Eliwood merely chuckled. "Fine… it's like this…" Will began. The tale took a considerably shorter amount of time than their first interaction.

"I see…" Eliwood pondered, thinking hard as he placed his glass of water on the table. He was under age after all, and now wouldn't have been the time to drink anyway. "So, you want me to ask the other territories to stay out of the conflict?"

"Yes, please." Lyn said, speaking up as Will was exhausted from his explanation. "We can bring down my granduncle and save my grandfather, but only if he doesn't get any outside help."

Eliwood considered this. "Very well. I'll send word right away. It will take a few days for the replies to come, so I recommend taking this time to rest and recover."

"That was our plan." Will answered, and Eliwood smiled.

Eliwood departed immediately to send word, wondering how the responses would be. He certainly hoped for the best. Lyndis and her friends seemed like genuinely good people. There weren't enough people like that in the world.

Everyone else, after having gotten the horses and Florina's Pegasus to the stables, joined Lyn and Will inside for dinner.

"Oh hell…" Will muttered.

"What is it?" Lyn asked.

"I forgot to assign rooms…" He groaned, as the others sat down around the table.

Lyn laughed. "It'll work itself out. Don't worry so much."

"I'll guess hope for that…" Will muttered. And in the end Lyn turned out to be right. Serra, Lyn and Florina shared one room, Ninian stayed with Nils and Rath ended up with Dorcas. Erk and Sain shared a room with Kent. Lucius ended up staying with Wil and Will ended up with Matthew.

"I think it's time we had a talk." Matthew said, as the two reached their room. "There's a lot I need to know, and I'm getting a little tired of waiting. If you're going to get killed by poison, at least let me know what happened."

"What happened huh…" Will said. It was a strangely serious end to a day that had otherwise been good. "I don't like giving information for free when it comes to you, Matthew."

"Fine. Tell me about the Fang and Maria, and I'll tell you about Ostia, Lord Hector and Leila. Maybe I'll even let slip why I'm spying on you all." Matthew said, a playful smirk appearing on his face as the two stared each other down.

Will crossed his arms, considering the thief's proposal. To be honest, it wasn't a bad one. His past was getting in the bad habit of not leaving him alone, and learning about Lycia could only help him in the long run. If Matthew could be turned into a pseudo-ally, it could only benefit him later on. With a sigh, Will sat down on the bed. Tonight was going to be a long one and he got the feeling his vocal cords would be completely spent in the morning. "Where do we start?"