Author's note: The boat battle chapter is an interesting staple in fire emblem games. There is almost always one chapter that takes place on a boat. To be fair, I love these chapters, even if occasionally they are the absolute worst if you haven't trained any of your fliers to counter the enemy's own.

MalevolentDarkness16: True, Rebecca really did overreact, but hopefully you don't hate her. She's got just as much confusing emotions going on as everyone else. Wil is also a nearly incurable dork, though I think that's why he's awesome at the same time.

As always, review if you get the chance. I love to hear from the readers on what they liked and didn't like along with what I can improve.

Chapter 54: Pirate ship

Writing sucks. Hard words are hard. I don't like the monocle guy that much. I don't like the tactician much for making me practice this writing thing. Dorcas is okay. I need something to fight.

Bartre

"I'm fine, sir." Eliwood replied to Fargus as the old Pirate Captain approached. "This is a really beautiful ship."

"Hah!" Fargus guffawed. "For a sea rover, she is indeed quite the beauty."

"May I ask you a question?" Eliwood inquired.

Fargus crossed his arms. "What is it?"

"Why did you agree to give us passage? Sure, I know you went out of your way to challenge us to that duel and you may not have considered it without Will's involvement, but… When we asked others about passage to Valor, the people in the harbor began to treat us like madmen."

"Of course they did." Fargus grunted. "Valor is the Dread Isle after all. If it wasn't for a good cause, we wouldn't want to go either."

"And yet you've given us passage, furthermore for free." Eliwood said skeptically. "I wouldn't have been surprised if you simply lowered your asking price a bit instead."

"Listen to me, laddie." Fargus said conspiratorially. "Men are strange beasts. We can't resist a challenge. Something appears on the horizon and we immediately set sail for it. Some dream we conquer, others we abandon." Fargus trailed off, before letting out a rather amused snort. "I've grown old. I haven't had a good challenge in many years. Even that Ostian spy's request was less dangerous than yours. Moonclaves appearing in my tavern, seeking passage from me to the Dread Isle…" Fargus laughed. "Your courage made an impression. I think you may just be the ones to survive and make it back in one piece."

Eliwood smiled in return. "We won't disappoint you. We always planned on returning."

"Good. Then we can weigh anchor and wait for you. You'll light a signal fire when you want to return and we'll pick you up as quickly as we can." Fargus said, thumping his chest.

"Thank you." Eliwood said.

At that moment, the burly but young pirate known as Dart approached. "Captain! There's a dory adrift to port! It looks like a person is aboard. What are your orders?"

Fargus shrugged. "Bring 'em aboard lads! We'll have ourselves a visitor! Odd though, finding a boat adrift around here…"

"Odd?" Eliwood asked. "Why is that?"

"We've reached the change in currents." Fargus explained. "Anything drifting here came from the Dread Isle." Eliwood grimaced. Fargus grinned in return. "Shall we go greet our guest?"

Around this time, on the opposite side of the deck, Lyn was still having trouble collecting her thoughts. Barely a week had passed since Florina's declaration in the bar and even now Lyn had difficulty wrapping her head around it. What had Florina meant by declaring her intent like that? To challenge her? For Will's affection? True, she certainly held Will in a special place in her heart but… why would she ever fight Florina over him? They had been friends for years, far longer than the time she knew Will. She just couldn't bring herself to do it. So how had Florina declared it so easily? Had she… Had she been misinterpreting Florina all along? She thought she knew her friend the best, and yet… Her doubts continued to grow stronger by the second.

At that moment, Hector emerged from below deck, looking around for someone. Lyn supposed it was Eliwood. "Oh, Lyn. Have you seen Eliwood?"

Right on the nose. Lyn smiled to herself for her small victory. "If you're looking for Eliwood, he's talking with the captain."

Hector let out a sigh. "Oh. I won't bother him then."

He continued to linger, looking out from the railing into the sea alongside her. It was beginning to get on her nerves. "Did you need something?"

"Well, it'd be nice if you stopped pouting." Hector said unceremoniously. "The pirate ship is our only way to the Dread Isle. I thought you had come to accept it. Was I wrong?"

"How I feel or what I think isn't your concern!" Lyn snapped back. She had indeed let the pirate issue go and if she was pouting she had a perfectly good reason to. At least, it felt like a perfectly good reason. Why did she feel so… defeated?

"Look." Hector said, continuing his unhelpful train of conversation "Eliwood told me about your parents and the Taliver. But these pirates? They honestly don't seem like bad fellows."

"It wasn't just my parents." Lyn stated, angrily. "It was my entire tribe. Everyone was killed. They poisoned our drinking water, waited until my people could no longer stand due to illness… and then they struck. They waited until we could no longer defend ourselves." Hector didn't reply, so she continued. "My father put me on his horse and spurred it away from the tribe, which allowed me to escape. Just me… The few Lorca that escaped never returned. Never trusted my ability to lead. My father… he must be so disappointed. After he lifted me up... in his shaking arms… with his last breaths… fighting the pain… Now do you get it? I was found unconscious by another tribe. They nursed me until I awoke, ten days later. When I awoke… what I felt… the bodies of my people had already been buried. I never had the chance to say farewell. My last memory of my father was him broken… dying… I can still see the axe rising and falling even to this days. When I try to contemplate moving on I…" Lyn felt tears falling down her face, burying herself in the fur around her neck. Hector turned away. "What now?" She asked, exasperated as she tried to wipe away the tears.

"You're a strange woman." Hector mused. "Strong, but caring. I thought you wouldn't want me seeing you cry."

"Fool." Lyn chuckled darkly. "If you think that's what I want, you can just leave."

"I said it before, right? I lost my parents too." Hector said, beginning a story of his own. "It was an illness that took them. Nothing like what happened to you. I wanted nothing more than to cry like a child when I lost them. And yet… I couldn't cry. Not in front of others. When I was alone, I found I still couldn't cry. So… I thought… I don't know."

"You really are a fool." Lyn said with a sigh. Somehow the tears had stopped, for which she was the tiniest bit grateful.

"Looks like something's going on." Hector said, bringing Lyn's attention to Eliwood and Fargus, who were beginning to move over to a group of pirates. "Shall we go see?"

"I assume you're done talking to old man Fargus?" Hector asked as he and Lyn joined Eliwood. The pirates were pulling on a rope, which was attached to something in the water.

"You saw us?" Eliwood asked.

"Not really, Lyn just said you were talking to him and I took her at her word." Hector explained. "You learn anything good?"

"We can trust him." Eliwood affirmed. "We may have gotten extremely lucky, finding him."

"If you say so." Hector shrugged.

"Hey, get over here!" Lyn called at the two. "They've pulled the dory aboard! I wonder who… a girl?"

"Oy!" Dart called to Lyn, who looked at the pirate in confusion. "Give me a hand, would you? I don't know where to… grab her."

"Okay." Lyn agreed, heading over to the small congregation of pirates.

"Such the gentlemen." Hector whistled.

"Stow it!" Dart shouted.

As she grabbed the girl and pulled her off and away from the dory, Lyn recognized the face she had known a year before. "Ninian?" It certainly was the mysterious dancer. Her usual garb was covered by a pitch black cloak, but the hood had fallen revealing her light blue hair. "Ninian! Wake up!"

Eliwood's eyes widened as he recognized her as well. Barely a year earlier he had rescued the young woman from captors in a fortress. "Unbelievable… What are the chances?"

"Huh. You know her too?" Hector asked in surprise.

"She's how I met Lyndis a year ago." Eliwood explained. "I rescued Ninian from a band of villains."

"The Black Fang, you mean." Hector deadpanned.

"Indeed."

Ninian's eyes opened. She looked up at Lyn, her eyes somewhat vacant as she seemed to fail to recognize her. "Are you well, Ninian? Why were you on that boat? Where is Nils? Why wasn't he with you?"

Ninian didn't respond. She continued to stare vacantly into Lyn's eyes. "Lyndis, something's wrong with her." Eliwood realized.

"Who…" Ninian spoke, her voice barely above a whisper, "Who…"

"Captain!" Krunk shouted from the Crow's Nest, startling everyone. "Ships approaching from the northwest! They're preparing to fire!"

"They dare attack Captain Fargus and the Davros? They must be mad!" Fargus bellowed.

"What flag are they flying?" Dart asked, looking out to the boat that was fast approaching. "I've never seen that pattern before."

"These seas belong to us! Whoever they are, they be in our waters! This be a day for strange occurrences, it seems." The Pirate Captain turned to the four. "You whelps better look after your own hides. We've no time to waste on you!"

After Eliwood nodded, Fargus rushed over to the First Mate, who was currently driving the boat. Taking the wheel, he spun it fiercely and caused the ship to buck angrily as it suddenly changed course, attempting to avoid a collision with the oncoming ship. Lyn hurriedly led Ninian under the deck, while Hector rushed off to get Will and Eliwood rallied the rest of the troops. Lyn brought Ninian into the girl's barrack room and sat her down. "You'll be safe here, Ninian. Stay here until I return, alright?"

Ninian looked back at Lyn, but didn't give her any form of real acknowledgment. Gritting her teeth in frustration, Lyn dashed from the room. As she reached the deck, she caught up with Hector, Will, Kent, Lucius, Priscilla and Raven, who were all present currently. The ship suddenly shuddered wildly as the sounds of crashing could be heard. "We've been hit." Will muttered, quieter than his usual firm tone.

As they exited onto the deck, a pirate came barreling from below deck and rushed over to Fargus. "Captain! The hull's been breached! We're taking on water!"

"Breached? Damn!" Fargus cursed. "These scum are more dangerous than I'd thought!"

"It's bad, Captain!" The pirate continued. "We need all hands below decks, or we'll sink!"

"Take care of it!" Fargus barked. "They're angling to board us! I'm going to carve these scallywags a new gizzard the moment they do!"

"We can't manage without your strength, Captain!" The pirate argued. "The water's already up the galley! You must come below!"

Fargus cursed again. Will quickly joined in the conversation, no doubt realizing their time was limited. "Fargus! Leave the enemies to my group. Take any you need for helping you patch the hull and the rest of us will hold the deck! Fighting is something even a monkey could handle, but a sinking ship is the Captain's affair! I'd rather not drown if it's all the same to you!"

"Fine!" Fargus barked back. "The deck is yours, then! I'll be back as soon as the breach is plugged! Father Figure, Wild Man, Heavy Knight, Paladin, General and Pudgy Merchant, you come with me!" He pointed to Dorcas, Bartre, Oswin, Marcus, Wallace and Merlinus.

"Go!" Will shouted to the six, who all nodded quickly before heading out. Within a minute, the pirate ship was within range. To Will's horror, both a second and third ship appeared on the sea, no doubt coming to surround them on three sides. "Damn it! Could things get any worse?"

"Calm down, Will." Eliwood said. "What's the plan?"

"I…" Will began, but he faltered. "My thoughts aren't… I'm trying but…"

It was at that moment that Eliwood and Hector noticed just how badly the tactician was shaken up. His face had turned pale and he looked nauseated. "Will? Are you well?"

"Sinking… We're sinking…" Will muttered. It was as if his strength had vanished entirely. A moment later, he collapsed on the deck in a faint.

"Will!" Lyn shouted in surprise and fear. She had never seen this happen before.

"Damn. It must be memories catching up with him." Hector cursed. "What the hell are we supposed to do without a tactician?"

"Umm…" They heard a timid voice from behind them. They turned to see Florina, who flinched away from their gaze. "If it's a plan… I have one."

"Better than nothing." Eliwood said. "Please, Miss Florina. Tell us."

"Well… there are three ships, right?" Florina began, counting them on her fingers. "So we need three teams. Luckily, there's three of you and in the field each of you are good at giving orders."

"I see. Split us among the three." Eliwood nodded. "Who deals with the first ship?"

"Your team." Florina said. "Lord Hector and Lyn will deal with the second and third ship."

"Right." Hector agreed. "Makes sense to me. What about Will?"

"We have one of the pirates get him inside." Florina said. "If he's not awake, better to leave him off the deck altogether. I'll use my pegasus to travel and communicate between the teams."

"What are the teams?" Eliwood asked.

"Eliwood, Lowen, Rebecca, Erk, Priscilla are team one." Florina rattled off quickly. "Hector, Raven, Lucius, Guy and Kent are team two. Lyn, Canas, Sain, Wil, Serra and Matthew are team three. Team three should be ready to disperse if the other two teams need help. The third ship approaching is considerably smaller than the other two, so with a slightly larger fighting force we should hopefully overpower that ship quickly and avoid a drawn out battle."

"Right." Eliwood said with a nod. "You'll be keeping an eye from the sky."

"I believe the enemy will have aerial units." Florina said. "So hopefully this plan won't need to be modified. I'll do everything I can to keep any sky fighters away from the teams."

"Are you sure you'll be alright on your own?" Lyn asked with concern. "This is a lot to handle, Florina."

"Please trust me, Lyn." Florina insisted. "I can do it."

"We all can." Hector grunted. "Let's get to it."

The ships continued to approach. A man in a dark robe addressed his forces calmly without a smile. "All we need is the girl. Kill the rest."

The first ship approached, and from it two large wooden planks set upon Fargus's ship. Across it came both sword users and shamans. These attackers quickly fell afoul of the full force. With no need to split the teams to fight them, the four scouts were quickly slain. Guy, Matthew, Raven and Lucius all delivered quick and decisive blows. During this time, the second ship came upon them. This one also laid two planks next to each other, creating stable crossings between the ships. They were now surrounded on both the left and right sides. The front of the ship and the back continued unhindered, but the third was beginning to approach from behind.

Eliwood and Hector's teams immediately set out to defeat them. Eliwood led the charge to the first ship, but quickly realized there was a huge problem. The moment Lowen crossed the plank a blast of dark magic nearly engulfed him. Only an immediate dive from the saddle saved him and Strawberry bolted back to the main ship, leaving Lowen on foot. Rebecca shot an arrow into the darkness, but it was swallowed by the void. Erk followed up her arrow with a fireball, which did manage to pierce the darkness. However, another dark spell stopped it in its tracks. Priscilla hung back as Eliwood signaled their team to retreat back across the plank.

"This isn't going to work!" Lowen shouted. "They have shamans!"

"Can we hold the bridge to the main ship?" Eliwood asked.

"I doubt it!" Erk shouted. "If we had a light magic user like Lucius we could fight them off, but my Anima magic has almost no effect! Lowen's also already lost his steed!"

"Should we perhaps burn the planks?" Lowen asked.

"And risk setting our own ship ablaze as well? That's madness!" Eliwood shouted back. "We can't afford the risk!"

Rebecca pulled back her bow, firing a series of three arrows across the bridge. Two of them missed, but the third did manage to catch an advancing dark mage in the shoulder. Erk quickly followed up with a blast of thunder, dropping the mage. Their cloaks did not seem to be magically enchanted like Erk's own. Come to think of it, were magic cloaks made with a similar style to Will's proposed Enchantment theory? He supposed it was possible considering how few there were in the world, but such thoughts would have to wait.

On the other side of the main boat, Hector's team quickly advanced. Unlike Eliwood's boat, there were no dark mages here. There were mercenaries and archers, but both were manageable with the team Hector had at his side. Kent was not entirely pleased, despite carrying out his orders to the letter. Only hours ago Raven had very plainly stated his selfish purpose in accompanying them. With Will out of the battle, Florina had simply put the two together without knowing the truth. Sure, it was an unexpected situation, but it wasn't one he enjoyed.

However, Raven seemed to be sticking to his earlier words. His sword flew in the air as he punched an archer in the face, before catching it and cutting down a mercenary. Lucius followed Raven's attack with his own, finishing off the archer. Hector continued to swing his axe without worry, beating down the enemy with sheer force. Kent found himself backing the blue haired lord, using his sword and lance combo to strike from behind or switch in when Hector began to run out of breath. Guy hung back, keeping an eye on the enemies. "It looks like Eliwood's team is running into some trouble!" He reported. "The first ship must be their main boat! They have a lot of dark mages from the look of it."

"Those eyes of yours are impressive!" Hector grunted. "We'll just have to speed up our side then!"

-lololololololololololololololol

The fight continued as the third boat quickly approached from behind. Lyn's team quickly took cover behind the barrels and boxes near the rear of the ship, waiting for the ship to make its move. The planks lowered, and a few mercenaries and shamans began to cross the moment they lowered. The moment they reached the ship, Lyn's team launched their assault. Wil's bow quickly took out the dark mage with a shot into the side of his head, while Sain and Lyn quickly overpowered the coming mercenaries and finished them with quick strokes. Matthew looked over to the third ship, but was surprised to find that there were no more people on board. "Third ship is a decoy!" He shouted to Lyn. "They didn't bring any extra on this ship! Even the driver's seat is empty!"

"Canas, can you use your magic to cut the planks from us?" Lyn asked.

"Of course." Canas nodded. "Give me just a moment."

With a flourish of his tome, Canas summoned a small flux spell that cut the plank right in the middle. The two halves fell into the ocean, and the third ship began to drift away into the waves. Florina, who had been circling the skies, quickly descended. "Lyn, your team needs to head over and back up Lord Eliwood! The first ship seems to have been their main attack force! There are a ton of mages that use dark magic."

"Elder magic!" Canas exclaimed exasperatingly. "It's only dark to you because they're our enemies. The magic did nothing wrong!"

"Oh umm…" Florina faltered. "Well still, Lord Eliwood needs the… the help. Serra, could you come with me? I may need to drop you off with team three or go help heal anyone injured below deck."

"Right." Lyn nodded. Serra quickly trotted over, having Florina help raise her onto the Pegasus' saddle. "I'll have my group head over right away. Keep safe, Florina."

"I will." Florina said, spurring Huey back into the air. Contrary to her earlier belief, the enemy did not seem to have brought any aerial units with them. A foolish move in her opinion, but to be fair their own company only had one aerial unit themselves: Her. If she could contact her sisters, she would have liked to have asked them to join Eliwood's search, though since they were busy with their own problems maybe they wouldn't have been able to help her anyway. How would Will say it? 'I'm glad we have an aerial unit that's as reliable as you, but to be honest with the expanding of our forces I wish we had one or two more. That way it would be easier to survey the battlefield from multiple locations. Or devote a single unit to hauling me around to give orders.' Admittedly, she may have embellished the praise he gave her, but it was her own interpretation and it's not like she was going to tell anyone so who cares? She just needed to make sure everyone made it through the battle alive. So Will wouldn't have to worry.

After Lyn backed up Eliwood, they were able to start making better progress through the enemy forces. While Lyn, Eliwood, Sain and Matthew created a makeshift front line (Lowen had gotten injured holding the enemy back and was currently being healed by Priscilla), Erk, Canas, Wil and Rebecca began to shine. Erk, adapting Will's magical technique, began to use fireballs to direct the enemy's attack. Even if Elder magic was strong against anima, they had to counter his spells before they were hit by them. Without the magical protection of a cloak, they were easily burned and defeated. This was where Canas came in. Because they were forced to counter Erk's quick spells, they couldn't spend time focusing on Canas' larger and more deadly ones. Before five minutes had passed, four dark mages had been swallowed by the very void they channeled. Wil and Rebecca were perhaps even more amazing. Despite the earlier argument, when it was time for battle their differences seemed not to matter at all. Wil's arrows were strong and true, while Rebecca's were plentiful and quick. This led to several enemies being overwhelmed by sheer numbers, their casting speed unable to compete with the draw of the bow.

Once the numbers were thinned, the front line advanced. Lyn and Eliwood worked together while Matthew and Sain struck from the back. Matthew's daggers and stealth skills helped him slip in just when he was needed and Sain's lance could strike from just behind Lyn or Eliwood doubling the damage to an enemy. Lyn and Eliwood were relatively unused to fighting dark magic users (Eliwood more than Lyn) but both were managing with their superior speed. Due to the casting speed, the elder spells were easier to see coming and much easier to dodge. In this way, the first and third team began pushing the enemy's strongest point.

Hector's team had nearly finished their job. Despite the unease Kent had felt when the fighting began, he and Hector held the front line and pushed forward while Raven used strike and retreat tactics to keep himself safe. Lucius used light magic whenever he needed to help aide them or give them a path forward. Guy followed after Raven, using strike and retreat tactics of his own to take down enemies. He had likely begun to adapt them from Matthew, after his last sparring match and loss to the aggravating thief. Despite pulling it off rather adeptly, he looked displeased with himself for engaging in a tactic he felt was dishonorable. Soon enough, the third ship was clear. Retreating back to the main ship, Lucius used a shine spell, to blast several holes into the planks, which fell away into the sea.

Only one team of enemies remained and thankfully by combining Lyn and Eliwood's teams earlier they managed to overpower the leader of the ship with ease. Gargling some nonsense about power and warning someone, he fell to the ground with his chest pierced by Lyn's blade. After that, they quickly retreated across the bridge, Canas using one last flux to cut the planks from their ship.

"Ahoy!" Fargus' voice echoed in the silence that followed. "I'm back! Who wants to die first?" He looked around, just to see the three ships all vanishing into the horizon. "What's this? You've routed them already, eh? Nicely done, whelps!"

It took a few minutes, but Florina was able to relay (through Lyn to Fargus) how the battle had gone. Serra, after holding a quick examination, was able to wake Will up without any further difficulty. He looked extremely pale, but he apologized and bowed he head to Eliwood and Hector.

"Don't worry about it." Eliwood said. "Everything worked out in the end. I'm sorry for pushing you so hard."

"It's my job." Will said. "I shouldn't have let my personal feeling have such a negative effect."

"Stop beating yourself up about it!" Hector demanded. "Those sea dogs were no match for us!"

"Ah, Ninian!" Lyn cried. The group turned to see Ninian tottering out from below deck, the same blank look in her eyes as before.

"Ninian?" Will asked in surprise. "How did she—"

"Found her on a dory." Eliwood explained quickly. "Ninian, please return below deck. There's blood everywhere from the fighting."

"…Blood?" Ninian said, just as blankly. She continued to walk towards them, before slipping on a small amount of blood on the deck. Eliwood and Will both rushed forward, managing to support her just before she fell. "Ah." She said, sounding surprised. "I'm sorry."

"Are you okay?" Will asked. His surprise still etched on his face. "Ninian?"

"Ninian…" Ninian began, as if pondering the sound, "is that my name?"

"What's happened to her?" Lyn asked.

"My head… so foggy…" Ninian mumbled, clutching her head. "Am I… at sea?"

"Yes." Lyn said. "We found you adrift in a small boat."

"Those scum were probably after the girl." Fargus said gruffly. "Even if not, you should take her with you. The men are already whispering that she may be cursed."

"Cursed?" Hector asked skeptically.

"Are you suggesting we leave her behind?" Lyn asked Hector.

"We can't take her with us, can we? We're heading for the Dread Isle. Old Hannah stayed behind because of how dangerous it was going to be! Dread doesn't mean happy and sunny, you know!" Hector said. It was a rather compelling argument.

"Regardless, I would take her with us." Lyn argued.

"I agree." Will said.

Eliwood raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"Look, Ninian was with me when I left The Fang. If she's here, that means she was captured and taken back to the Dread Isle. The Black Fang is clearly hunting her for some reason." Will elaborated.

"If that's true, she'll likely be attacked again." Eliwood said, crossing his arms thoughtfully.

"Almost certainly." Lyn said. "We can't leave her behind. I'll take personal responsibility for her, so please…"

"No, I understand the situation now." Eliwood said with a small nod to himself. "We should keep her by our side so we can protect her."

"Thank you." Will said. "I'd appreciate it."

"We're all going to that island." Lyn said kindly to Ninian, who looked at her blankly. "Will you come with us?"

Ninian did seem to ponder this, before nodding her head minutely. "Yes… Please take me with you."

"Say, Eliwood." Hector said, sheepishly. "When I left Ostia, I was attacked by these black-robed friend of ours."

"What?!" Both Will and Eliwood cried in surprise. Eliwood continued. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"A lot of people have a grudge against Ostia, Eliwood." Hector said with a shrug. "To be honest, I didn't think it had anything to do with this until now."

"Wait." Lyn said, pausing. "The Taliver that were causing problems in Lycia were controlled by the Black Fang as well, right?"

"What is going on in Lycia?" Eliwood sighed, ruffling his hair angrily. "Father…"

"There's something foul in the air." Lyn said. "The sooner we get to the Dread Isle, the sooner we leave it."

"Agreed." Will said. "But we need to find out what's happened to Ninian. If we can, we also need to find out where Nils is. If he's stuck there on the island, or worse being held prisoner…"

"We'll save him." Eliwood agreed. "And my father. We'll put a stop to The Fang as well. They will threaten Lycia no longer."

The trip continued in relative peace. Ninian's condition didn't improve, nor could Serra, Lucius or Priscilla understand why she was in the strange blank state she was. It wasn't like with Will, where his memory had been effected, it was as if her entire personality had been wiped. Lyn continued to stay close by, as did Will and Florina. Much to her embarrassment, Will complimented her on her command of the situation when he had fainted. He also apologized, which she quickly tried to refute. "I'm sure you'd have done a much better job." She said. "But nobody blames you. After what happened…"

"It's still something I should have been prepared for." Will said. "So I will next time. Florina, I want you to be the group's official back-up tactician. Would you be willing to do that?"

"Eh?" Florina gasped. "But I-I'm nowhere near as good as you are!"

"That's fine." Will said. "What's important is preventing a breakdown of leadership in combat. If I'm unable to give commands, the entire group could fall apart if we aren't careful. Lyn, Eliwood and Hector all work best on the front lines, so trying to pull one of them back to take command is a poor choice. You, on the other hand, can give orders from the sky and traverse the battlefield. It's the smartest choice."

"Yeah but… I mean…" Florina trailed off. His logic was too sound for her to argue.

"You can refuse if you want." Will said. "But at least think it over."

"Oh… Okay." Florina said.

"Now I think I'll head to the mess hall." Will said, standing up. "I could use a good meal. Care to join me?"

"I uh… I'm okay." Florina said. "I'd like to think for a bit."

"Got it." Will said kindly.

As he left, Florina slumped against the nearest wall. She let out a sigh. Sure, she could spend more time with Will by accepting it, but that'd be pretty selfish of her, wouldn't it? On top of that, could she really handle the responsibility? She sighed again. Tonight was going to be one without much sleep.