Disclaimer: Nintendo and its subsidiaries (including Intelligent Systems) own Fire Emblem. I'm too poor to afford the entire company (currently valued in the hundred millions). I have the games though.
Sairn: (_) Huh? You mean to say that for the past 20 years that you have games from FE1 (for NES) all the way to FE7?!
Yep! What's wrong with dat?
Sairn: EVERYTHING!!! (_) YOU NEVER TOLD ME THAT?! FRIENDS SHARE SECRETS!!
Uh-huh. Yeah. Right. (*cough*bullshit*cough*)
Sairn: Huh? (_^?)
Sairn, do you want me to cast "Ereshkigal" on your midgety rear?
Sairn: Uh... *looks behind Kingkazul400's shoulder* HEY!! THERE'S FIORA!!
*looks behind* WHERE?!
Sairn: *runs away*
On with the show...
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`
SPOILERS ABOUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Lost Hearts
~~~~~~~~~~~
`
Reason: Clear up some "issues" from "unnamed personas"
`
Time: 1st Excursion Upon Dread Isle
`
`
`
The vast sparseness of the ocean was nothing new to Fiora. It just completely sickens her to look at it.
Fiora, the Pegasi Knight Commander of the 17th Wing of Ilia, wished that the great blue ocean below her was gone. As much as she liked soaring high above the grassy plains of the Sacae or the wintry fields of Ilia, the potential water hazard below her was too much.
It had been mere weeks since she had been ordered by the Mage General, Lord Pent of Etruria, to attack the Dread Isle on reports gathered from an unknown source. A handsome sum of gold had switched hands to allay most of the Pegasi Commander's fears.
A sigh escaped the blue-eyed knight's shapely mouth. The pale steam coagulated together briefly before it dissipated into the wind.
Almost the entire wing was decimated when they began their offensive.
A tear began roll down her reddened cheeks. The salty liquid was barely halfway down to her jaw when she hastily wiped it away with the blue cloth of her shoulder.
She had been the only survivor.
The only one out of an entire wing.
Her eyes glared down at the ocean. It had cost her a lot of things just to become a commander of her own wing but losing it after several years was unheard of back in Ilia!
Closing her eyes, Fiora felt something within her awaken.
(I should make them pay,) the saddened yet angered warrior knight thought to herself. (Where they have fallen, the enemy will fall. Where they have died, the enemy will die.)
Raising the crystal amulet charm from her neck, Fiora chanted a small prayer. It was shaped like a scroll with arrows piercing it.
"Hail St. Elimine," she began. "I call upon thee. Watch over my companions and spare no enemy. Blessed be those who fought bravely and cursed be those who denounce thee. My lance and my sword, you are my armor. All hail thee, St. Elimine."
She shut her eyes and continued to mutter the names of those who had fallen merely weeks ago.
"Morwen, Frieda, Margaret, Shania, Farla, Carol," she continued with her eyes still shut. "They shall pay dearly, my companions."
A small burst of turbulence shook the Pegasi Knight out of her reverie. Glancing furtively about her, she quickly secured the pack behind her. Several bound leather scrolls were almost falling out. She reached quickly but another blast of wind knocked it out.
"No!" Fiora yelled as the leather scrolls fell out of her pack and sailed downward toward the earth. She made as if to order her pegasi to fly downward and catch the documents.
But looking down at the vast and unwelcome ocean made her wish she never had looked down. For the rest of the flight, Fiora made sure the rest of her stuff were securely tacked down.
`
`
~~~~~~~
`
`
On the ship that the Lords Eliwood and Hector and the ever lovely Lady Lyndis were upon, a heated debate was breaking out between the Pirates of Farghus and a blustering Mark.
"If you had just told me beforehand," A red-faced Mark screamed at the Pirate Captain. "That the maps I had were TEN FRIGGIN' YEARS outdated, then I would've gotten new ones!!!"
The scarred and grizzled Pirate Captain frowned at the spitting Tactician. Several of the crew were coasting over and one particularly well-bulked youth with a white rag bound upon his head was interested. After all, those two double-bladed axes were in his hands rather than sheathed on his shoulders.
"Now listen up, yun' pup!" Farghus yelled over din caused by Mark. "Jus' 'cuz that yer maps ar' ou'dated don't mean a thang to me, laddie!"
"WHAT?!" Mark cut right in. He was hopping on one foot for he just kicked the mast. "WHAT DO YA MEAN BY THAT?!" Mark was hopping forward to kick the Pirate Captain before a tired Kent held the angry Tactician back.
"DART!" Farghus yelled at the youth with the axes out. The Pirate Captain glared particularly hard at his crew. "No axes out and git over here!"
"Ar..." Dart muttered as he sheathed his lethal weapons. "Yessir."
Wil and Rebecca saw the Pirate walking quickly to his Captain. Both Archers looked at each other.
"Who's he?" Wil asked while they studied the Pirate's gait, which was rather quick and short. "He looks familiar."
The Pirate heard them and looked back at Rebecca. They locked glances briefly. Rebecca stared deeply into those blue eyes.
They looked so familiar...
"Yes," Rebecca slowly replied, her gaze still locked upon the Pirate's features. "Very familiar."
"Here sir," Dart reported to his Captain, his gaze still looking up and down the hopping mad Mark. "Whaddya need?"
"Well, laddie," said Farghus as he rubbed his beard. "I need you to lee' these landlubbers through the Dread Isle."
Before an astonished Dart could reply, something that resembled a brown package struck Mark on the head. Very hard on the head.
"Owie," Mark muttered as he swayed left and right with the rocking of the ship. He rubbed his head briefly before he fell over.
Farghus rolled his eyes at the clear sky. How the hell did a friggin' leather thingy fall out of the clear sky?
"Well," said Kent as he hoisted Mark up by one shoulder. "At least our Tactician's out like a light." The Red Knight began to half drag and half carry the green-robed Mark toward the 'aft end of the ship into the sleeping quarters.
"Ar..." Dart grunted as he walked right over to Kent and grabbed the other shoulder of Mark, helping the Knight move the unconscious Tactician down into the hold.
Farghus picked up the tightly bound leather articles. The weathered brown skin was bound by a thick length of string. Farghus was going to open it with his dagger until the Pirate Captain shook his head.
"It's a good thing that this scroll knocked that young whelp out," he muttered as he headed after Kent and Dart. "Otherwise, I would've gave that laddie a piece of me mind."
Before the Captain shut the door, he glanced back up into the sky. Clouds dotted the wide blue expanse of sky while the occasional seagull called out to one another. Scratching his grizzled features, Farghus stepped in and shut the door.
`
`
~~~~~~~
`
`
Fiora's Pegasus neighed as they sighted a small but still potentially lethal party wearing Lycian colors land on the beach. That beach was on the north side of the island known as Valor.
Biting her bottom lip to cope with the cold blasts of chilling air, Fiora mentally cursed herself.
Why had she not secured that scroll in her belt rather than her pack?
Of all things that just had to happen, it just had to be last scroll in all of Elibe that tells the exact location of the Dragon's Gate.
Shaking the shoulder-length green hair of hers, Fiora sighed. That island was better known as the Dread Isle. Checking the Steel Lance that was strapped onto her mount, the Pegasi Knight leaned forward, giving the winged horse the signal to start descending.
`
`
~~~~~~~
`
`
By the time Mark had recovered, Farghus and the crew had landed on the northern shore of the Dread Isle. Rubbing his cranium while wincing at the bright light, Mark swore.
"Gods, damn that infernal thing that hit me!" His language was mild compared to most of the pirates but the look that Lady Lyn gave him was enough to wither even an oak tree.
"Sorry..." Lyn humphed and walked away to help with the unloading of supplies and weaponry onto the beach where Merlinus was running about in a dither.
"Gently, gently!" the merchant hollered at Guy as the Myrmidion was lugging a great crate of supplies. "Lord Eliwood and Lord Hector only gave me enough gold to purchase enough food to last us several weeks! CAREFUL!"
The apparently heavy and bulky crate teetered in the thin Myrmidion's arms. It swayed while Guy struggled to keep himself in balance. A large muscled arm came out of nowhere and quickly picked it up. Guy looked at his savior and was met with a withering glance.
"What is that fellow's name?" Merlinus muttered as he followed the pirate down to where camp was being set up.
Sighing as he walked toward the plank, Mark swore once more. This time, he earned an earful from a certain lady.
`
`
~~~~~~~
`
`
By the time Fiora reached the northern woods, a battle was raging. Her highly attuned ears heard the clash of steel against steel but this time there was something new among that.
"Let's go," she told her mount. The winged horse snorted as it picked up more speed.
Speeding above the canopies of trees, Fiora's eyes darted from clearing to clearing, glen to glen. Her hand was itching to pay those murderers at least ten fold of what she and her wing had suffered.
A loud harsh yell was heard and the sickening THUMP of a axe embedding itself in flesh registered to her ears. Flying low, Fiora found what she was looking for.
A tall blue armored man that appeared no more than at least nineteen or twenty years old was bent over the body of a fallen Foot Knight. The axeman's free bloody hand was searching through the plates of the dead Knight. Finally, the blue armored warrior's hand came up with a small vial of clear blue liquid.
Gripping her Steel Lance tightly, Fiora's mind quickly thought of an action.
(Should I go ahead and stick him or should I just speak to him?) she wondered as the man uncorked the vial and took a swig of it. (Maybe I should just follow him.)
The man shifted his axe upon his shoulders and walked deeper into the woods, whistling a tune. Fiora made sure that he was sufficiently far away but still within her sight. Then she goaded her pegasi forward, hovering.
`
`
~~~~~~~
`
`
By the time Uhai, "The Soaring Hawk", was slain, Mark was one-hundred percent sure that there were going to be no more falling objects from the sky. But he was completely wrong.
"Aiya!" a feminine voice yelled. Mark looked up and was immediately flattened by a Pegasi. He gave a high-pitched scream before his face was kissing the grass.
"Ack! I'm so sorry!" the woman's voice said again. The winged horse snorted as it got up and began to graze on the grass just a few feet away.
"Ow..." Mark moaned as he rolled over. His vision was a little bit woozy, almost reminding the tactician of the time when he drank some apple cider that had sat in his uncle's cellar for at least five years.
A image of beauty came into his view. Strangely enough, his vision quickly corrected itself when she had come into his sight. A soft face appeared above his head.
"Hi..." said Mark as his vision slowly faded away. His mind panicked.
(Noooooooooooooo!!) his mind screamed as he struggled to stay conscious for once. (Not now! I was gonna like being helped for once!)
Mark promptly fell unconscious again for the second time in less than 24 hours.
"Ah..." Fiora was speechless. Nothing but complete honesty is going to save her now.
She turned around and was running blindly to her Pegasus when she ran into a wall. She bounced off of it and fell on her rump. Looking up into a pair of confused eyes under blue hair, Fiora swore.
"Damn..."
`
`
~~~~~~~
`
`
Dragging themselves back onto Farghus's ship amid a fog was enough to dampen anyone's mood. But after a crushing blow to Lord Elbert before the de facto Lord Eliwood's eyes, nothing could take him lower.
Most of the company quickly muttered their condolensces when they passed the downcast Eliwood. They were usually met with a stare of shock and sorrow. After that, almost everyone generally stayed away from the brooding lord.
Lord Eliwood of Pherae watched the sun as it set as he leaned against the topdeck railing. The red ambient glow was similar to a flame on a candle yet this abnormally large candle was setting rather than burning out.
A breeze blew through his red hair and ruffling his robes. Looking down at the sea below him, Eliwood's mind drifted to several things.
(Why, Father?) Eliwood thought as he bit his lower lip. (Why did you embark on a mission of folly? Why?)
A small rustling was heard behind him but the silent young lordling kept his gaze upon the ocean. The swishing of a gossamer dress grew louder, just barely audible.
(Mother and I have wondered why you left us six months ago,) thought the future Lord of Pherae. (Why did you want to incite a continental war?)
"Lord Eliwood?" a hesitant and quiet voice spoke behind him.
Eliwood glanced over his shoulder. His gaze briefly ran the length of of the newcomer. The almost ice-like color of her hair and dress were something his flaming spirit had never encountered before. He returned his gaze back to the seas.
"Hello, Ninian." The dancer bowed her head. Perhaps just speaking to Eliwood was too... too much for her.
"I'm sorry about Lord Elbert," Ninian said quietly after a brief silence.
"It's alright," Eliwood replied with a hint of despair. "I've wondered for the last six months what he's been doing. This... this act of..." Eliwood struggled for the word. The crimson haired lordling couldn't think of one fitting for his father.
Shing! Thunk!
Eliwood's Rapier was out and he buried it into the deck rail he was leaning against. The light blade bit deeply into the spray blasted wood. Ninian jumped back and nearly screamed.
"I'm... I'm... sorry..." Eliwood stammered as he collapsed on the ground. He covered his face with both hands as he began to sob.
"I'm... so sorry... Father!" the broken lordling managed between sobs in a thick voice. The circlet on his head fell off as his chest heaved at each sob. It clanged and ranged as it struck the ground. It stayed on its side and it rolled up against Ninian's foot.
Ninian just stood there. She had seen women break down but never in her long life had she ever seen a man crack and break. But then something struck her.
"I'm... I'm sorry for you, milord..." said the pale green-haired dancer in her quiet tone. She sat next to the still sobbing lord.
Eliwood and Ninian sat there side by side in silence on the deck of the ship
Each contemplating their own thoughts.
Each their own memories.
And each their own past sorrows.
`
`
~~~~~~~~~~~
`
`
Hah! There goes Chapter 4! Now I've got some hunting to do...
Sairn: I hope that's a good sign!
Heh, you've got that right for once. Come, let us search out and follow Fiora to the ends of the earth!
Sairn: ... I think you're better off going by yourself
Why so?
Sairn: 'Cuz I don't wanna be some messenger for both of you. I'm a muse, not some messenger!
Shut up! *casts "Ereshkigal*
Sairn: AAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!! *shrivels into a husk*
Ah... much better... Review or I shall kill him again!! MWHAHAHA!!
Sairn: Eh... better... do what... he says... *swoon*
`
`
Sairn: (_) Huh? You mean to say that for the past 20 years that you have games from FE1 (for NES) all the way to FE7?!
Yep! What's wrong with dat?
Sairn: EVERYTHING!!! (_) YOU NEVER TOLD ME THAT?! FRIENDS SHARE SECRETS!!
Uh-huh. Yeah. Right. (*cough*bullshit*cough*)
Sairn: Huh? (_^?)
Sairn, do you want me to cast "Ereshkigal" on your midgety rear?
Sairn: Uh... *looks behind Kingkazul400's shoulder* HEY!! THERE'S FIORA!!
*looks behind* WHERE?!
Sairn: *runs away*
On with the show...
`
`
`
`
SPOILERS ABOUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
`
`
`
`
`
`
Lost Hearts
~~~~~~~~~~~
`
Reason: Clear up some "issues" from "unnamed personas"
`
Time: 1st Excursion Upon Dread Isle
`
`
`
The vast sparseness of the ocean was nothing new to Fiora. It just completely sickens her to look at it.
Fiora, the Pegasi Knight Commander of the 17th Wing of Ilia, wished that the great blue ocean below her was gone. As much as she liked soaring high above the grassy plains of the Sacae or the wintry fields of Ilia, the potential water hazard below her was too much.
It had been mere weeks since she had been ordered by the Mage General, Lord Pent of Etruria, to attack the Dread Isle on reports gathered from an unknown source. A handsome sum of gold had switched hands to allay most of the Pegasi Commander's fears.
A sigh escaped the blue-eyed knight's shapely mouth. The pale steam coagulated together briefly before it dissipated into the wind.
Almost the entire wing was decimated when they began their offensive.
A tear began roll down her reddened cheeks. The salty liquid was barely halfway down to her jaw when she hastily wiped it away with the blue cloth of her shoulder.
She had been the only survivor.
The only one out of an entire wing.
Her eyes glared down at the ocean. It had cost her a lot of things just to become a commander of her own wing but losing it after several years was unheard of back in Ilia!
Closing her eyes, Fiora felt something within her awaken.
(I should make them pay,) the saddened yet angered warrior knight thought to herself. (Where they have fallen, the enemy will fall. Where they have died, the enemy will die.)
Raising the crystal amulet charm from her neck, Fiora chanted a small prayer. It was shaped like a scroll with arrows piercing it.
"Hail St. Elimine," she began. "I call upon thee. Watch over my companions and spare no enemy. Blessed be those who fought bravely and cursed be those who denounce thee. My lance and my sword, you are my armor. All hail thee, St. Elimine."
She shut her eyes and continued to mutter the names of those who had fallen merely weeks ago.
"Morwen, Frieda, Margaret, Shania, Farla, Carol," she continued with her eyes still shut. "They shall pay dearly, my companions."
A small burst of turbulence shook the Pegasi Knight out of her reverie. Glancing furtively about her, she quickly secured the pack behind her. Several bound leather scrolls were almost falling out. She reached quickly but another blast of wind knocked it out.
"No!" Fiora yelled as the leather scrolls fell out of her pack and sailed downward toward the earth. She made as if to order her pegasi to fly downward and catch the documents.
But looking down at the vast and unwelcome ocean made her wish she never had looked down. For the rest of the flight, Fiora made sure the rest of her stuff were securely tacked down.
`
`
~~~~~~~
`
`
On the ship that the Lords Eliwood and Hector and the ever lovely Lady Lyndis were upon, a heated debate was breaking out between the Pirates of Farghus and a blustering Mark.
"If you had just told me beforehand," A red-faced Mark screamed at the Pirate Captain. "That the maps I had were TEN FRIGGIN' YEARS outdated, then I would've gotten new ones!!!"
The scarred and grizzled Pirate Captain frowned at the spitting Tactician. Several of the crew were coasting over and one particularly well-bulked youth with a white rag bound upon his head was interested. After all, those two double-bladed axes were in his hands rather than sheathed on his shoulders.
"Now listen up, yun' pup!" Farghus yelled over din caused by Mark. "Jus' 'cuz that yer maps ar' ou'dated don't mean a thang to me, laddie!"
"WHAT?!" Mark cut right in. He was hopping on one foot for he just kicked the mast. "WHAT DO YA MEAN BY THAT?!" Mark was hopping forward to kick the Pirate Captain before a tired Kent held the angry Tactician back.
"DART!" Farghus yelled at the youth with the axes out. The Pirate Captain glared particularly hard at his crew. "No axes out and git over here!"
"Ar..." Dart muttered as he sheathed his lethal weapons. "Yessir."
Wil and Rebecca saw the Pirate walking quickly to his Captain. Both Archers looked at each other.
"Who's he?" Wil asked while they studied the Pirate's gait, which was rather quick and short. "He looks familiar."
The Pirate heard them and looked back at Rebecca. They locked glances briefly. Rebecca stared deeply into those blue eyes.
They looked so familiar...
"Yes," Rebecca slowly replied, her gaze still locked upon the Pirate's features. "Very familiar."
"Here sir," Dart reported to his Captain, his gaze still looking up and down the hopping mad Mark. "Whaddya need?"
"Well, laddie," said Farghus as he rubbed his beard. "I need you to lee' these landlubbers through the Dread Isle."
Before an astonished Dart could reply, something that resembled a brown package struck Mark on the head. Very hard on the head.
"Owie," Mark muttered as he swayed left and right with the rocking of the ship. He rubbed his head briefly before he fell over.
Farghus rolled his eyes at the clear sky. How the hell did a friggin' leather thingy fall out of the clear sky?
"Well," said Kent as he hoisted Mark up by one shoulder. "At least our Tactician's out like a light." The Red Knight began to half drag and half carry the green-robed Mark toward the 'aft end of the ship into the sleeping quarters.
"Ar..." Dart grunted as he walked right over to Kent and grabbed the other shoulder of Mark, helping the Knight move the unconscious Tactician down into the hold.
Farghus picked up the tightly bound leather articles. The weathered brown skin was bound by a thick length of string. Farghus was going to open it with his dagger until the Pirate Captain shook his head.
"It's a good thing that this scroll knocked that young whelp out," he muttered as he headed after Kent and Dart. "Otherwise, I would've gave that laddie a piece of me mind."
Before the Captain shut the door, he glanced back up into the sky. Clouds dotted the wide blue expanse of sky while the occasional seagull called out to one another. Scratching his grizzled features, Farghus stepped in and shut the door.
`
`
~~~~~~~
`
`
Fiora's Pegasus neighed as they sighted a small but still potentially lethal party wearing Lycian colors land on the beach. That beach was on the north side of the island known as Valor.
Biting her bottom lip to cope with the cold blasts of chilling air, Fiora mentally cursed herself.
Why had she not secured that scroll in her belt rather than her pack?
Of all things that just had to happen, it just had to be last scroll in all of Elibe that tells the exact location of the Dragon's Gate.
Shaking the shoulder-length green hair of hers, Fiora sighed. That island was better known as the Dread Isle. Checking the Steel Lance that was strapped onto her mount, the Pegasi Knight leaned forward, giving the winged horse the signal to start descending.
`
`
~~~~~~~
`
`
By the time Mark had recovered, Farghus and the crew had landed on the northern shore of the Dread Isle. Rubbing his cranium while wincing at the bright light, Mark swore.
"Gods, damn that infernal thing that hit me!" His language was mild compared to most of the pirates but the look that Lady Lyn gave him was enough to wither even an oak tree.
"Sorry..." Lyn humphed and walked away to help with the unloading of supplies and weaponry onto the beach where Merlinus was running about in a dither.
"Gently, gently!" the merchant hollered at Guy as the Myrmidion was lugging a great crate of supplies. "Lord Eliwood and Lord Hector only gave me enough gold to purchase enough food to last us several weeks! CAREFUL!"
The apparently heavy and bulky crate teetered in the thin Myrmidion's arms. It swayed while Guy struggled to keep himself in balance. A large muscled arm came out of nowhere and quickly picked it up. Guy looked at his savior and was met with a withering glance.
"What is that fellow's name?" Merlinus muttered as he followed the pirate down to where camp was being set up.
Sighing as he walked toward the plank, Mark swore once more. This time, he earned an earful from a certain lady.
`
`
~~~~~~~
`
`
By the time Fiora reached the northern woods, a battle was raging. Her highly attuned ears heard the clash of steel against steel but this time there was something new among that.
"Let's go," she told her mount. The winged horse snorted as it picked up more speed.
Speeding above the canopies of trees, Fiora's eyes darted from clearing to clearing, glen to glen. Her hand was itching to pay those murderers at least ten fold of what she and her wing had suffered.
A loud harsh yell was heard and the sickening THUMP of a axe embedding itself in flesh registered to her ears. Flying low, Fiora found what she was looking for.
A tall blue armored man that appeared no more than at least nineteen or twenty years old was bent over the body of a fallen Foot Knight. The axeman's free bloody hand was searching through the plates of the dead Knight. Finally, the blue armored warrior's hand came up with a small vial of clear blue liquid.
Gripping her Steel Lance tightly, Fiora's mind quickly thought of an action.
(Should I go ahead and stick him or should I just speak to him?) she wondered as the man uncorked the vial and took a swig of it. (Maybe I should just follow him.)
The man shifted his axe upon his shoulders and walked deeper into the woods, whistling a tune. Fiora made sure that he was sufficiently far away but still within her sight. Then she goaded her pegasi forward, hovering.
`
`
~~~~~~~
`
`
By the time Uhai, "The Soaring Hawk", was slain, Mark was one-hundred percent sure that there were going to be no more falling objects from the sky. But he was completely wrong.
"Aiya!" a feminine voice yelled. Mark looked up and was immediately flattened by a Pegasi. He gave a high-pitched scream before his face was kissing the grass.
"Ack! I'm so sorry!" the woman's voice said again. The winged horse snorted as it got up and began to graze on the grass just a few feet away.
"Ow..." Mark moaned as he rolled over. His vision was a little bit woozy, almost reminding the tactician of the time when he drank some apple cider that had sat in his uncle's cellar for at least five years.
A image of beauty came into his view. Strangely enough, his vision quickly corrected itself when she had come into his sight. A soft face appeared above his head.
"Hi..." said Mark as his vision slowly faded away. His mind panicked.
(Noooooooooooooo!!) his mind screamed as he struggled to stay conscious for once. (Not now! I was gonna like being helped for once!)
Mark promptly fell unconscious again for the second time in less than 24 hours.
"Ah..." Fiora was speechless. Nothing but complete honesty is going to save her now.
She turned around and was running blindly to her Pegasus when she ran into a wall. She bounced off of it and fell on her rump. Looking up into a pair of confused eyes under blue hair, Fiora swore.
"Damn..."
`
`
~~~~~~~
`
`
Dragging themselves back onto Farghus's ship amid a fog was enough to dampen anyone's mood. But after a crushing blow to Lord Elbert before the de facto Lord Eliwood's eyes, nothing could take him lower.
Most of the company quickly muttered their condolensces when they passed the downcast Eliwood. They were usually met with a stare of shock and sorrow. After that, almost everyone generally stayed away from the brooding lord.
Lord Eliwood of Pherae watched the sun as it set as he leaned against the topdeck railing. The red ambient glow was similar to a flame on a candle yet this abnormally large candle was setting rather than burning out.
A breeze blew through his red hair and ruffling his robes. Looking down at the sea below him, Eliwood's mind drifted to several things.
(Why, Father?) Eliwood thought as he bit his lower lip. (Why did you embark on a mission of folly? Why?)
A small rustling was heard behind him but the silent young lordling kept his gaze upon the ocean. The swishing of a gossamer dress grew louder, just barely audible.
(Mother and I have wondered why you left us six months ago,) thought the future Lord of Pherae. (Why did you want to incite a continental war?)
"Lord Eliwood?" a hesitant and quiet voice spoke behind him.
Eliwood glanced over his shoulder. His gaze briefly ran the length of of the newcomer. The almost ice-like color of her hair and dress were something his flaming spirit had never encountered before. He returned his gaze back to the seas.
"Hello, Ninian." The dancer bowed her head. Perhaps just speaking to Eliwood was too... too much for her.
"I'm sorry about Lord Elbert," Ninian said quietly after a brief silence.
"It's alright," Eliwood replied with a hint of despair. "I've wondered for the last six months what he's been doing. This... this act of..." Eliwood struggled for the word. The crimson haired lordling couldn't think of one fitting for his father.
Shing! Thunk!
Eliwood's Rapier was out and he buried it into the deck rail he was leaning against. The light blade bit deeply into the spray blasted wood. Ninian jumped back and nearly screamed.
"I'm... I'm... sorry..." Eliwood stammered as he collapsed on the ground. He covered his face with both hands as he began to sob.
"I'm... so sorry... Father!" the broken lordling managed between sobs in a thick voice. The circlet on his head fell off as his chest heaved at each sob. It clanged and ranged as it struck the ground. It stayed on its side and it rolled up against Ninian's foot.
Ninian just stood there. She had seen women break down but never in her long life had she ever seen a man crack and break. But then something struck her.
"I'm... I'm sorry for you, milord..." said the pale green-haired dancer in her quiet tone. She sat next to the still sobbing lord.
Eliwood and Ninian sat there side by side in silence on the deck of the ship
Each contemplating their own thoughts.
Each their own memories.
And each their own past sorrows.
`
`
~~~~~~~~~~~
`
`
Hah! There goes Chapter 4! Now I've got some hunting to do...
Sairn: I hope that's a good sign!
Heh, you've got that right for once. Come, let us search out and follow Fiora to the ends of the earth!
Sairn: ... I think you're better off going by yourself
Why so?
Sairn: 'Cuz I don't wanna be some messenger for both of you. I'm a muse, not some messenger!
Shut up! *casts "Ereshkigal*
Sairn: AAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!! *shrivels into a husk*
Ah... much better... Review or I shall kill him again!! MWHAHAHA!!
Sairn: Eh... better... do what... he says... *swoon*
`
`