Chapter Twenty-Two: Plotting and Scheming

(Omofrisit's POV)

Finally! The shanks were done and it was almost dawn, meaning that it was almost time for my execution….yay…

Currently, we were waiting for the guards to come and escort me to the guillotine. (At least, I assume it'll be a guillotine.)

Colm was sitting in the corner, gripping his shank tightly with a look of concentration on his face. I stood near the door of the cell, contemplating the water that could be heard dripping from the ceiling of the cell into a small puddle.

Drip…drip…drip…

Footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs.

Drip…drip…drip…

The light of a torch could be seen as the guards descended further and further into the dungeon.

Drip…drip…drip…

Colm started to get restless, shifting his feet back and forth, trying to get into the perfect lunging position.

Drip…drip…drip…

"Step away from the door, scum!" A voice said from outside the cell.

Drip…drip…drip…

I flattened myself against the wall next to the door. The door was opened and the guards stepped in. Colm and I lunged at the same time, stabbing the throats of two guards.

Drip..drop..drip..drop..drip..drop..

The dripping of the water was now joined by the dripping of blood.

Drip..drop..drip..drop..

The two remaining guards were too slow. They were dead in a matter of seconds.

Drip..drop..drip..drop..

Their bodies fell lifelessly to the floor. Their blood, running through the cracks and crevices of the stone floor, found its way to the puddle of water.

Drip…drip…drip…

The water droplets were alone once again as they fell to the cold stone floor that was now coated in the still warm blood of the unfortunate guards.

Drip…drip…drip…

It seemed as if the dropping water would never stop, as if it would continue to drip long after this kingdom was gone. It almost seemed to have a will of its own, like it was desperate to reach that puddle on the floor, no matter the cost. I suppose they were kind of like me in that sense. We both had a specific goal in mind, and we would do anything to achieve that goal.

I suddenly realized that Colm was shaking me.

"What?" I asked.

"Are you okay? You were kinda spacing out there." He said, looking worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I was just thinking about something." I answered with a wave.

"All right, if you say so. Anyways, let's go while the coast is still clear."

He bolted out the door with barely a sound. I followed suit. But even as I ran up the stairs, I could still hear the dripping of the water.

Drip…drip…drip…

(Frey's POV)

I was honestly starting to get a bit worried. I had looked literally everywhere for Hershel, and I had found no sign that he had even been in the palace. The only thing I hadn't tried was asking the King or Validar.

I would almost certainly end up seriously injured or dead if I asked Validar. But asking the King was almost as dangerous. The man was a lunatic, who knew when he would snap and start killing people willy-nilly…but what choice did I have?

I marched into the throne room with a firm resolve. As soon as I entered though, I immediately felt foolish. Don't you normally request an audience if you want to talk to the King?

I took a deep breath and continued on, deciding to own up to it.

I drew closer to the King's throne and noticed the almost amused grin on his face.

I decided bowing might be the best idea at this point. I bowed and instantly I heard him laugh.

"Ahahaha. There's no reason to be so formal, after all, we are friends, are we not?" He said, a cruel grin making its way across his face.

I stood up straight a little awkwardly.

"I, uh, came to ask you a question." I stated.

"Well? Spit it out. I don't have all day, because as you can see, I am sooo terribly busy." He said with heavy sarcasm.

"Well, I was wondering if you knew where Hershel was. I've been looking for him all day, and I haven't found a trace of him."

"Ooohh, well why didn't you say so earlier? I'd been meaning to tell you, he's a bit…indisposed at the moment. GYAHAHA!"

I could tell something wasn't right.

"What did you do to him?!" I yelled.

"AHAHA. I haven't done anything to him. At least not yet, anyway. GAHAHAHA!"

After that, I couldn't get anything more out of him, he just kept laughing insanely.

I stormed out of the room. What was I supposed to do next? Hershel was probably dead and I had no way to contact Omofrisit.

For the first time since I met Hershel, I was completely and utterly alone. And I had no idea what to do with myself. I had no one left to turn to.

(Hershel's POV)

Okay, so as far as I could gather from the history books. Plegia was once an empire known as Grado and Lyon had been the prince of this empire. According to the books, Lyon had forseen a terrible event that would happen in Grado. In an attempt to stop it, he made a tried to use the power of the Demon King who was sealed inside what was known as a Sacred Stone.

The soul of the Demon King was drawn into Lyon's body. Lyon tried to control the Demon King, but was unsuccessful and his soul was devoured and the Demon King was resurrected. Shortly after this, however, the prince and princess of a neighboring country known as Renais (which seems to be partly Regna Ferox and partly Ylisse these days) defeated the Demon King and he was sealed away once more.

Hmm. But if Lyon's soul was devoured, then how could Omofrisit be Lyon? Gah! I wish I could ask him. Maybe he would be able to shed some light on this.

Well, now that I've finished reading about that, what else can I do? Let's see, I could try practicing magic or I could read some more history books that I'm not even interested in.

I'm thinking I would rather practice some magic.

I started flipping through the book.

Let's start with wind magic.

(Robin's POV)

After Omofrisit was hauled away to the dungeon, Chrom started working tirelessly on a plan to destroy Plegia. And I don't mean just kill Gangrel and Hershel. He wanted to completely destroy Plegia, plain and simple.

I tried telling him that we didn't have the man power to do such a thing, but still he insisted.

It was obvious that he was torn up about Emmeryn's death, but this was completely out of character for Chrom. Normally, he would've been depressed for a couple of days, but then he'd get over it and vow to be a better person so that no one would die because of him. Something was definitely wrong.

"Chrom." I said.

"What!?" He snapped, still poring over a map.

"Something is clearly wrong, and I need you to tell me what it is. Because even with all that Gangrel has done, you would never order an attack like this. There must be some other reason."

"Robin. This has nothing to do with Gangrel. This is about Hershel." He turned to face me. "I trusted Hershel, I brought him to Ylisstol. I very well could have left him in that forest to die, and I probably should have, but I didn't. I trusted him, and he thanked me by murdering my sister. What would you do?"

I thought for a moment.

"I would kill him. But I wouldn't destroy an entire kingdom with him, there are innocent people there. And they don't deserve to die, Chrom!"

"Emmeryn didn't deserve to die either, Robin!" Chrom yelled.

"Chrom…by starting a war with Plegia, you'll throw away everything that your sister worked so hard to build. Is that really what you want?"

"If it means avenging my sister, then yes."

He turned back to the map and began plotting Plegia's downfall once more.

I couldn't believe this. What had happened to the Chrom that rescued me?

I needed to talk to Frederick.

I left Chrom to his scheming and went looking for Frederick. I found him in the training hall, practicing with his lance.

"Frederick. I need to speak with you."

He stopped his training and walked over to me.

"Yes?" He asked.

"I assume you've noticed the change in Chrom's demeanor?"

"I have. What of it?"

"Wha? What of it!? Frederick! He's a completely different person, and if we don't stop him, he's going to kill everyone in Plegia!" I sighed. "Frederick, I need you to help me confine him until he cools off. I can't do it by myself."

"My apologies, but that would be treason. And after all, I am his protector before I am his friend."

I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of Frederick's mouth.

"And," Frederick continued. "Who else would be able to do the duties of the Exalt if Chrom was kidnapped by a few mysterious masked people while the guards are changing shift in precisely thirty minutes?" Frederick smiled and gave me a wink. "If I recall correctly; Stahl, Kellam and Cordelia are down at the garrison. You guys should get together and do something."

After that, he went back to his training.

I had never loved Frederick more than at that moment.

I ran to the Shepherd's garrison as fast as I could, already formulating a plan.

A/N: Wow, I've just been uploading these chapters one after another; I'm just soooo fast at updating. (Please note the sarcasm filling that sentence.)

In all honesty, I was just lazy. I was on vacation for a week, and then I got lazy, and when I finally got back around to writing, I found that I had been cursed the vile curse known as 'Writer's Block'. And then I found some inspirational music, and it dispelled my writer's block, and here we are.

So anyway, tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what I could improve upon. You know…the usual.

Reviews are appreciated. And by that, I mean, I need reviews to keep my health up. But you know, my health's not THAT important. So do whatever you want.

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And as always: Thanks for Reading!