Fire Emblem Fates
Chapter 14: Preparations
Everyone was in uproar following the recent events of Corrin being captured by the deceitful Kotaro. They were all gathered in the mess hall, some screaming in rage and others crying. Elise was being comforted by her retainers, with her eyes filled with tears as she snuggled with Effie as Effie held her arm around her. Arthur was watching her with a guilty look; he had failed to protect Corrin. Sakura was with Subaki also crying into his shoulder, with Hana nowhere to be found. When she heard of the news, Hana simply rushed out into the training grounds and began training once more, except more fiercely. Azura was watching over the crowd with Kaze by her side, looking to find some form of calming the raging room. She was still in shock herself when she received the news, but was able to calm herself faster than her comrades. Kaze felt ashamed for letting another ninja get the better of him, but he was able to hide his feelings behind years of ninja training. Azura finally found some way to capture the attention of the group, and she said,
"Everyone, please listen up. I have something to tell you." Her soft voice was barely carried by the wind, fighting for it's spot in the room against all the chaos. Kaze saw the princess struggling with garnering the people's attention and found it upon himself to help her out. He slammed his tea cup into the ground, the crash able to turn the people's gaze towards both him and Azura.
"Everyone please. Listen to what Lady Azura has to say about the matter. With Corrin gone, I believe she would be best in charge." Kaze reasoned.
"I refuse to trust someone who betrayed Nohr for Hoshido in a time of crisis." yelled a drunken Jakob.
"That's a rather out of place point considering we could say Corrin did the same to Hoshido." countered Subaki. Jakob turned to glare at the perfectionist, before turning around and barging out of the mess hall.
" I better go after him. His drunken state is not one which many could endure. I can hopefully rein him in enough to listen." Gunter said, and he walked out of there after Jakob.
"Well, now that that's out of the way, I believe we should listen to Kaze. I agree with his point and I will listen to what Lady Azura has to say." Subaki said, with a hope of bringing order in an otherwise chaotic room
"I will listen to the Lady, but like Jakob I'm sure had, I hold doubts. Not because of your kidnapping but due to your lack of leadership skills. I feel like Lady Elise has more skills necessary to lead a group." Effie said, but Elise tugged on her pink shirt, and said,
"No, Effie. I trust in big sister. I want you to listen to what she has to say." and with that, Elise attempted one of her signature smiles, but she was too tired to complete it.
"Very well then. I will also listen to Azura." Effie concluded. With that, Kaze opened the floor to Azura and gestured for her to begin her speech.
"I know we are all distraught from the recent discovery that Corrin has been taken by the ninja clan known as Mokushu. I am trying to devise a plan to retrieve him, while keeping our entire group safe in the process. Me and Kaze have come to the conclusion that he will take a group no bigger than 4 and infiltrate their camp." Azura spoke softly. Kaze stepped forward and announced,
"I am planning to bring 3 individuals who can keep a low profile and be able to move in and out quickly." A hand was raised immediately. Everyone turned around to see Felicia shyly keep her hand up, while everyone was staring at her.
"What? Corrin is my master and I will do anything to make sure he is back safely. Since Jakob doesn't trust Azura, I will go. Plus, I can offer healing to any who require it." Felicia explained. No one else was raising their hands, but there was chatter between one another. Subaki whispered to Sakura,
"I would go, but I don't think my pegasus would be able to keep a low profile. What about Hana? Where is she? I feel like this is one mission she won't want to miss out on." Subaki told his princess.
"I will go talk to her. She's probably just at the training grounds clearing her head." and with that Sakura left the hall. Meanwhile, Elise and her retainers were in discussion.
"Effie, you can't go. Remember the ninja said 'low profile'. Your armor would give you all away in seconds." Elise told her pink knight. She then turned towards Arthur, "Arthur, can you go and get me my brother back? You fit the necessary requirements." Arthur looked at Effie as if to gain approval from her, to which she agreed and he held Elise's hands and said,
"Of course I will Elise. That damned ninja made me make a fool of myself in front of everyone anyways, so I want to get me some well deserved payback, in the name of justice of course." He shouted heroically, and he stood up and said, "I will go with you to retrieve Corrin." Kaze nodded and Arthur sat back down.
"Now we only need one more volunteer." Kaze announced.
Sakura was walking toward the training grounds until she saw Hana. She rushed over to see her best friend, only to see that she was blindfolded and hitting a practice dummy.
"Hana. Can I talk to you?" Sakura asked, calmly. Hana lifted up her blindfold and said,
"Of course Lady Sakura. What do you need?" Hana replied, also calmly.
"Kaze is arranging a rescue party to save Corrin, and he said he needed 3 people for the job and I think you're one of the few who matches his description. He wants someone who can keep a low profile and you're the best person I know for that."
"Yes, of course I will go." Hana replied. "Sorry I wasn't over there with you. But I just needed to blow off some steam." and she repeated to strike the dummy.
"Hana." Sakura said, almost in a different tone.
"What, Lady Sakura? That tone shift was pretty scary."
"When are you going to admit to me that you love Corrin?" Hana looked at Sakura in surprise, in an almost 'what do you mean?' kind of look. "I know you and Corrin were always good friends growing up. You and him would always give each other awkward stares when you came to play, so I always knew you guys liked each other. When you started going on dates too, and even when you sparred with others and always won using your synchronized moves, you two looked like more than friends." Hana was blushing as she looked at Sakura, then turned away quickly, and said,
"Sakura, this is not an appropriate conversation between a retainer and her superior."
"I'm not asking as your superior, Hana. I'm asking as both a sister and friend. Do you love my brother?" she asked, in a innocent way. Hana decided to cave in and began to talk to Sakura about her feelings.
"When he was kidnapped, I was devastated. I knew then that I loved him. Before that, I was too young and naive, but when he was taken from us, that was when I knew. I trained with the goal of getting him back one day as well as to protect you so you would never be taken from me like he was." Hana explained. "Now that I'm with him again, I felt happy, even though he doesn't remember the fun times we had. I felt like I did when we were kids. So now that he's taken once again, I need to find him as soon as I can and get him back. For us." Hana seemed focused and determined while Sakura was smiling brightly.
"That's so inspiring Hana. Thank you." Hana was caught by surprise and merely shook her head in embarrassment. They started walking back towards the mess hall.
"Man, Sakura. You're more perceptive than you look. I may need to be extra careful when hiding something from you." Hana said, as Sakura was just smiling and laughing with her best friend. They entered the mess hall together, and Hana raised her hand proudly and yelled, "I'll go too!" Subaki looked at Hana and just smiled his perfect teeth at her.
"Well, looks like that settles it. We will leave tomorrow at noon, so prepare yourselves and get a good night's sleep." Kaze ordered, and with that Azura waved her hand as if to dismiss the meeting.
Arthur was preparing his axes and going to the armory to stock up on some better weaponry since he had to be ready for the upcoming battle. Once he bought a new steel axe and forged his iron axe to hit harder, he decided he was ready. He went to the home that he, Effie and Elise were sharing in their new accommodation, and said goodbye to his fellow companions.
"You're gonna kick all of that ninja butt and show them who's boss, right Arthur?" Elise asked Arthur, with her puppy dog eyes.
"You betcha, Lady Elise! A hero may be struck down, but good always rises to the occasion and evil is always vanquished." Arthur replied, confident in his abilities.
"I'm happy to hear that!" she beamed, satisfied with her retainer's answer. Elise got up to go fetch her brother's sword, which was left behind when he was taken. "Ugh, this is heavy, Effie can you help me?" The pink knight did as she was told, though she had taken her armor off, and wore a casual pink workout top and black leggings. Effie gave the sword to Arthur as Elise instructed, and Elise said, "Give that to my brother for me, please? And tell him Elise misses him alot and that when he gets back, she's gonna give him a lot of hugs and kisses." Arthur nodded to say yes and Elise decided to leave to go find Sakura, leaving her two retainers alone in the house.
"She's so worried for her brother. It's evident even if she keeps on her brave face." Effie commented on her superior. Arthur nodded in agreement. Effie then changed her mood, and started walking towards Arthur. "Now that Elise has left, I guess it's my turn to give you your farewell." Effie said.
"Come on Effie. I don't think it's right for us to be like this when our superior is hurting as she is. I know she gave our relationship the okay, but she still feels awkward every time we act like this around her." Arthur said.
"I know, I know. But you're going on a tough mission without me or Elise to protect you, so I think I deserve to give you a good luck kiss." Effie said, with a little face that she knew Arthur couldn't resist every time.
"Alright, alright. But you know I hate when you use that face to get me to do something against my hero's conduct." Arthur complied, and Effie, with a big smile on her face, and they kissed, each enjoying one another's body as they passionately interlocked their lips. Arthur felt Effie's strong biceps, and broke off the kiss to comment on them. "Effie, one day, you're gonna get stronger than me." Effie showed him a confident smile and said,
"That's the plan! That way, I'll be strong enough to protect those I care for." She kissed him one more time, and then Arthur decided he should go to the meeting place to begin the mission.
"Alright, I best be off to fulfill another heroic mission. This time, one which will hopefully bring a smile to Lady Elise and my darling Effie. Farewell!" Arthur said, as he took off.
"Hey Arthur." Effie said, as Arthur turned around to see what his girlfriend wanted.
"Remember me and Elise aren't the only ones who need you. Remember about our son." Effie said. Arthur nodded, and said,
"I could never forget our Percy."
Kaze was waiting for the remainder of his team to arrive so they could take off. Hana had already arrived and was sharpening her katana, and Lilith was also their so she could transport them to the designated spot. Kaze turned around to see Azura walking towards him. He straightened himself out, seeing as he was soon to be in the presence of loyalty.
"Kaze, I came to see to it that you and your team leave safely." Azura said.
"Thank you milady. I am merely waiting on two of our members to arrive, the maid and the retainer of the Nohrian princess." Kaze replied. Azura nodded, though Kaze could tell that something else was on her mind. "Anything else milady." Azura looked up to him, and shyly said,
"You could start with calling me by my own name. I really don't like formalities, and it makes me feel distant. Just call me Azura from now on, okay?" Kaze nodded. "The other thing is, well I wanted to thank you for helping me out in the mess hall to get everyone's attention. I've never been able to lead a crowd of people, so to have you watching my back, felt reassuring."
"You really don't have to thank for something so small, mi..., I mean Azura." Kaze said, but Azura merely shook her head.
"No, my mother said to always thank someone if they do something kind for you, no matter how small." Azura replied.
"Your mother sounds very wise." Kaze responded, and Azura nodded her head in agreement. Felicia and Arthur arrived soon after, so Lilith decided they should be on their way. Azura looked at the four people and said,
"Good luck everyone. Please, everyone arrive safely with Corrin." Kaze nodded.
"We will. Thank you princess Azura." Kaze said, and with that they took their leave.
Hey everyone. Sorry for the long wait.
I wanted to take this chapter to flesh out relationships between some of the characters introduced thus far, so there wasn't much action involved. A couple easter eggs in this one as well.