Chapter 12: Hangovers all around

Firedude: Viola! The next chapter as promised!

Zeek72: I thought it was comical yes. Well it's not like Zega and his dragon are invincible undefeatable killing machines, but maybe I did take it easy on Matthew.

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fire Emblem. I own Chikage, Alderoffe, Shadow, Quill, Onimaru, Inomaru, Marco, Yuan, Vren, Dopple Ganger, and Girfu. Zega Verdan, Gustaph, Kota, Mystic, and Tyrana all belong to friends and fans.

Firedude: On with the show!

"So? What's your answer?" Alderoffe looked up at his nephew with a grin. "Don't listen to him Mystic! It's sure to be a trick!" Called out Fiora. Mystic looked over at Fiora then at Alderoffe. He lowered Zantetzugen. "If this is a trick I will kill you regardless of this tournament!" Alderoffe took out a small purple sphere and threw it at the ground. There was an explosion and then a purple portal opened up. Then the staff of life came flying out and stabbed into the ice. Mystic walked over to it and yanked it out. He looked at the gold of the staff and studied it to make sure it wasn't fake. He then heard footsteps behind him and twirled around to see Alderoffe about to stab him in the face with a concealed knife.

Mystic quickly reacted and smashed the staff over his head. Alderoffe stumbled backward and Mystic grabbed him by the throat. He dragged him over to Gustaph and stood over him. He raised Alderoffe a foot off the ground and shouted out "Revoffe!" A blue light shot out from the staff and hit Gustaph. His wounds instantly began to heal as Alderoffe was obviously losing energy. The light stopped and Gustaph opened his eyes. Mystic and Fiora both smiled as they saw this. "I'm not done yet Alderoffe!" Mystic dragged Alderoffe on the ground across the arena and out the door. "Where are we going?"

Alderoffe's question was answered as he saw them quickly approaching the square. He ran into the medical tent and threw Alderoffe to the ground. He ripped open Tyrana's coffin and took out the staff. "Revoffe!" The blue light came out again and hit Tyrana. Once again Mystic used Alderroffe's energy to do it. Blood returned to Tyrana's face as Alderoffe lost all of his life. Mystic dropped him to the ground. Alderoffe chuckled and spoke his final words. "An underhanded… and dastardly plan… you're more like me… than…I…thought…" Alderoffe's eyes rolled in back of his head and died.

Mystic heard a sound come from the coffin. He turned to see that his sister had returned to life and now was sitting up. "What…happened to me?"

"Tyrana?" Tyrana turned and saw her brother standing over her. She felt tears weld up in her eyes and jumped up to hug him. Fiora then came into the tent and saw the two of them hugging and a dead Alderoffe. I think I'll give them some time. She then crept out of the tent.

They then spent the afternoon healing everyone with the staff. Everyone was awake from their unconscious states and was healed up. They were even able to cure the poison injected into Pent. They even healed Dopple Ganger, who was surprisingly grateful towards Mystic. They successfully broke Priscilla's daze and weren't able to get much info on Chikage out of her. People rejoiced and spoke with each other. A few hours later Girfu called everyone together to talk about the next round. "We are now entering the third and final round of the tournament! The finalists are Matthew, Jaffar, Wallace, Lyn, Inomaru, Chikage, Mystic, and Fiora. Congrats to all of you!" Everyone clapped and cheered for them.

"So tell us about the next round already!" Called out an eager Matthew. "The next round… will not take place here in Yurai." Everyone was puzzled. "I've arranged our final round to be held in Ostia itself!" People began to talk amongst each other. "Of course you'll all have some time to get there of course!"

"So how long do we have?" Called out Mark. "Well let's see… I'll give you all a maximum of three weeks to make it there. Can you all make it by them?" Yeses and nods came from the audience. "Then it's settled! The third and final round shall take place in Ostia twenty- eight days from today! We will all leave tomorrow morning! Dismissed!" Everyone walked back to their tents and did what they needed to.

Mark sat in his tent drinking whiskey while looking at a portrait of a man who looked similar to him, but with a goatee and longer hair. He had a scar going over his left eye and he wore a hero's battle armor. He heard his tent flap open and turned to see Tyrana. "Hello Master. I haven't had a chance to talk to you ever since… you know…" Mark simply nodded and poured her a cup of whiskey while Mark told her about everything she missed. "So you mean I was the one who gave Mystic that scar across his nose?" Mark simply nodded as Tyrana took a sip of whiskey. "You were a fool that day…"

"Huh?"

"When we were at the Teruig stronghold, and you jumped into the portal after Alderoffe. It was something very foolish to do, and you should of thought it over." Tyrana hung her head. "I was mad at him, and I wanted to kill him for what he did to my family."

"You still should have used better judgment though." Just then the tent flap opened again and Vren and Mystic walked in. "Mind if we join the party?"

"No not at all come have a seat. I'll pour you some whiskey." Vren, Mystic and Tyrana laughed and told stories about their childhood as Mark just sat and listened. Vren took a big swig of whiskey and slammed his cup down. "I sure have missed a lot while I was encased in that silver didn't I? Black Fang, Nergal, Athos, Eliwood and Hector becoming the new Marquesses. It's hard to believe that I was encased for five years!" The tent flap opened again and Fiora and Lyn poked their heads in. "What are you all doing in here?"

"Having a drink! Why don't you two come join us?" They looked at each other and shrugged. They both walked in and sat down.

Three hours and six bottles of whiskey later they were all drunk and laughing hysterically over nothing. Lyn and Mark had both fallen asleep after having a drinking contest. "Good god! They both drank a whole bottle!" Cried out Vren. Tyrana started to giggle. "Hey I think I have an idea, hehehehe…"

Zega Verdan was in Chikage's tent sitting next to Dopple Ganger. "What do you think she wants to speak to me about?"

"Not sure, but don't sweat it." Chikage then walked in and sat down in front of Zega. "Now Zega I've valued the help you've been to us in the recent events. However I see no reason to keep you on contract now that you've lost the tournament. "Of course that's understandable. I'll take my pay and will be on my way." Chikage reached into her pocket and pulled a small sack. "There that's 250,000 gold." Zega looked at her with shock. "What? The payment you promised was 750,000!"

"Well I gave you 250,000 in advance, and then I did promise 500,000. However you were eliminated from the tournament which makes me deduct your payment. So take it or leave it." She threw him the bag and stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me I'm going for a walk." She walked out leaving Dopple Ganger with Zega. "Sorry man." Dopple Ganger got up and also walked out leaving Zega alone in the tent.

Both Yuan and Lucius had returned to the town cathedral to pray. They were kneeling in front of a statue of Elimine praying, while Pricilla sat in a chair behind them. Guy walked in and took a seat next to Priscilla. "Hey Priscilla. How're you feeling?"

"Ok I guess…"

"You've been kind of distant from the people in the group ever since we broke that daze on you? What exactly happened?"

"…There were skeletons… hundreds of them marching down the street. It was really weird, because I saw them right in front of me. Yet they looked like they were illusions at the same time too… I couldn't escape and my magic had no effect of them… I felt their teeth sink into me and through my bone, but here I am still alive and unscathed…" Guy felt sick after hearing the story. He felt really bad that Priscilla went through that. "So what are you doing here at the cathedral?"

"I don't know… I think I needed reassurance that there was a god. For if he existed then how could he have let this happen…" Yuan and Lucius turned towards Pricilla. "God does his best to help all his people. However he can not have everyone avoid hardship completely." Priscilla just simply nodded in response to Yuan. "That's true he can't help us all the time. There were times when he failed though. Like with the Scouring, Nergal, and Serra. They all thought about Serra and sighed hearing her never ending sentences.

"Lucius is right Priscilla, god just does his job like the rest of us, and sometimes people make mistakes when doing their job so don't rely on him all the time." Priscilla just nodded again as Guy embraced her. "I'll make sure nothing like that ever happens again." Priscilla smiled and whispered a thank you.

Fiora, Mystic, Tyrana, and Vren were all walking sluggishly back to their tents after their little party. Fiora stumbled into her tent where Florina and Farina were playing cards. Both of them were surprised to see their sister drunk. "Fiora do you not remember that you're not supposed to drink alcohol?"

"Heehee ummm, yes?" Farina and Florina sighed and helped Fiora into bed. When she fell asleep Farina took the whisky bottle from Fiora's hand. "It wouldn't hurt to try a sip right Florina?" She shrugged slightly as they began to share the bottle.

Gustaph Inomaru and Onimaru sat by the fire talking about the recent events. "I'm glad that you're back to life master. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you when it happened." Gustaph laughed and laid a hand on Onimaru's head. "It's fine Onimaru. We were in a tournament, and in tournaments you take risks." Onimaru smiled and looked at his brother who was starring into the fire and hadn't talked for quite some time. "Big brother, you shouldn't feel obligated to fight Chikage after what happened."

"Yeah I know, but she almost killed you! How can I forgive her?"

"As master Gustaph said we were in a tournament so you can't really blame her for wanting to win." Inomaru sighed and saw Raven walking towards them. "Alright it's been done Inomaru." Onimaru saw that Raven's hands were covered in blood. Onimaru was shocked and looked at his brother. "You had Raven kill her!"

"What? No! I had him ask her to stay away from us on the trail to Ostia." Onimaru sat there dumbfounded. "Then why are your hands covered in blood?"

"Karel got drunk and accidentally fell on top of Nino. Jaffar got ticked off and the two of them got into a fist fight. I had to jump in there and stop the two of them from killing each other." Onimaru nodded slightly and thought for a minute. "Why was Jaffar mad that Karel fell on top of Nino?" They were all silent for a minute before Inomaru replied. "I'll tell you when you're older."

Firedude: It felt weird not ending the chapter off with a cliffy or anything like that, but it still works. I hope you liked it!