Chapter Two

Eastern Gallia, region of Susa, the mountainous entrance of the hidden Kauku Caves...

Warm words of greeting were exchanged quickly. Amy seemed a tad disappointed of the absence of a certain feline, but she hugged Mordecai whom she remembered.

"Have you brought it?" Soren asked Lethe.

She rolled her eyes. The growing anxiety from the last hours of waiting had put her in a bad mood. "What a pointless thing to ask." She turned to Mordecai who was lifting a giggling Amy. "Mordecai."

He nodded, knowing they did not have time, and put Amy down quickly, withdrawing a thick bundle of clothing. He offered it to Soren who looked reluctant to take it.

"What's the matter now?" Lethe hissed when some seconds passed and still the mage did not make a move towards the bundle.

Soren sensed her nervousness and knew the risk they were taking by coming here with it, yet he didn't trust himself with the thing inside the bundle. "Amy," he called. "Come here." His tone invited no disobedience and she hurried to him.

"We will take this back to Grann. You will be in charge of holding it for safekeeping. You will never, I repeat, never for any reason, remove the cloth it is wrapped in. Do you understand?"

Amy was puzzled and a bit surprised but she nodded, taking it from Mordecai. It was thickly wrapped but did not weigh too much. "What is it?"

Her question went ignored as Stefan began to speak, "The Herons have done their part with this, correct?"

Lethe nodded. "They have loosened the bonds enough for her to speak when she wishes. With Micaiah, they believe the rest of the bonds will eventually weaken. It is all in her hands now."

"... How are things on this side?" Stefan inquired.

Lethe grimaced. "It is the same. They are all weak-minded fools, easily controlled. King Skrimir has long since bent to the Order's will, though he and the others will never realize it. Easily influenced. Those in the beast tribe will remain weak pups to a puppet leader! Giffca knows though. He works with us secretly. It seems Mordecai and I are the only other ones to know the truth however."

"We can trust no one," Mordecai added somberly.

To hear her speak of her own King so disrespectfully when she had once been the most loyal of subjects told Stefan enough.

"And Lyre?" he asked again. "Has no breakthrough been made in her memory?"

Lethe looked to him, her voice had turned bitter. "Why ask? Did you really expect some change?" Stefan realized he had touched upon a touchy subject and chose not to answer that.

"Excuse me?" Amy approached Lethe shyly. "How is Kit- I mean! Ranulf?"

Lethe looked to her and then to Soren and Stefan. She recognized the girl from the past but had never had much interaction with her. Obviously the girl was not completely informed of the situation here. "Why does she not know?" Lethe asked in a low voice, looking away from Amy's bright, expectant eyes.

Stefan chuckled awkwardly. "We didn't brief her very well, I'm afraid."

Lethe's eyes narrowed. "It is not very wise of you to have brought a child." The last word was almost hissed.

Amy looked puzzled but protested anyway. "I'm not as young as I look!"

"Never mind her. What news of the other tribes?" Soren asked before Lethe could become more uncomfortable.

She unexpectedly broke into a grin, her bad mood temporarily forgotten and sharp feline teeth showing. "The Bird tribes are doing much better. The White Prince and his siblings have secretly been able to return King Tibarn's memory. I do not know much of King Naesala, but I believe Kilvas and Phoenicis are slowly breaking from the Order's control!"

Stefan almost cheered. "Haha, finally Reyson does it! It was only a matter of time!"

"As for Goldoa, I cannot tell you much," Lethe continued.

"Much news does not travel from there," Mordecai added.

Lethe inched forward, as if she was going to share something secretive. "We have heard rumors though." She looked grim. "King Kurthnaga is not well."

"As in health?" Soren asked and received a shrug in return.

"Stricter Order needed to control dragons, but young Kurthnaga is too strong in mind," said Mordecai slowly. "His memory was never controlled since beginning. His has been only ploy and act. Maybe they learned of truth?"

"Then we have reason to fear for his well being," Stefan surmised and a brief silence seemed to settle over all of them.

"We must go," Soren broke the silence. "We cannot hold you up any longer."

Lethe nodded, already turning away. Mordecai had already transformed and was nuzzling Amy in parting affection. "Prince Rafiel sends with us a final message," she said, her back to them. "We have been in close contact with him."

"The Order is becoming too suspicious. They've been taking select Laguz to Begnion every year in the guise of a ceremony. We must act soon or risk inevitable capture ourselves."

A flash of orange and a large golden cat was in her place. Her head turned to look at them and nodded a farewell before bounding off into the mountains on their sides.

"Farewell friends," Mordecai growled softly, nodding a goodbye to Stefan before heading after her. Amy waved after them with the hand that was not holding the bundle.

Soren and Stefan turned back to the cave opening, discussing something quietly. Amy noticed they were returning and made a face. "You mean to say, we have to go back into that inferno after we just got out ?" She couldn't help but whine.

"Is there a problem with that?" Soren asked.

Amy sighed, resigning herself. She placed the bundle of cloth in her bag to keep her hands free. "No."

~xxx~

During the return trip through the fiery pass, Amy asked about what Lethe had meant about Ranulf. What hadn't they told her? Half of what she had heard, she didn't understand. She didn't know much about how the Laguz side of the world had been affected after the Disciples of Order took control. Those in the desert who tried for a quiet living spoke little of the outside world.

Jumping to extremes, she asked if Ranulf was dead. She was glad they were in a darker part of a cave where there wasn't enough light to see her worried face.

"Ranulf... he is alive. However..." Stefan trailed off, and his tone suggested he had more to say but lacked the words to explain.

"He is no longer himself," Soren continued cryptically. "None of them are."

"...What does that mean? How...?"

Soren didn't answer right away, instead choosing to launch into a recount of an earlier time period. "After we were defeated at the Tower of Guidance and the Order took over, the Laguz still rebelled. Being able to live much longer than Beorc, other methods were required to control them. Unlike humans, the laguz who knew, they would not be a dying race soon to be replaced with a new generation. The Laguz would not willingly bow down to Ashera."

Amy caught on quickly. "So they brainwashed them?"

Soren nodded. "It wasn't that much of a feat. Most Laguz have a one-track mind, they're beasts after all." Amy wondered about the bitterness in his tone. "Some of the Laguz Royals that opposed Ashera were disposed of because they possessed too strong a mind to simply forget what they had been fighting for like their subjects. The past king of the beast laguz, Caineghis... no one really knows what became of him. Skrimir took power as the next heir but by that time, the Order had seeped deep into Gallia. His mind, as well as the rest of his subjects, was clouded to very piously believe in the Order. The same is with the the other tribes. I was never sure, but I believe Dheginsea died at the Tower of Guidance. His son, Kurthnaga, ascended to the throne. " He paused, as if he was thinking about something.

Stefan took up where he left off before the silence became too big. "Tibarn and Naesala succumbed to the Order's brainwashing so they were able to keep their thrones. In time though, they have rediscovered their hearts. They are on our side. The Herons, who are still under Tibarn's protection in Phoenicis, have helped much with that. They could never be brainwashed in the first place. In fact, increased Order in the world has only made the Herons stronger! Haha! Now they work to turn as many Laguz as they can in secret." Stefan smiled. He'd brightened considerably with the hopeful news; not even barely missing to get speared by a falling stalactite earlier could ruin his mood!

"Though they are Kings, their true power is limited. They are only figureheads to keep their people in check, while the Order rules behind the scenes," Soren added.

Amy nodded, absorbing the knowledge. No one had ever ventured to explain things to her more thoroughly in the desert! And whenever she asked, she got a sorrowful shake of the head in reply. Contrary to her childish nature and the fact she was one of the youngest Branded back in Grann, she really did understand! "So Ranulf is still under the Order's influence, huh? I hope he remembers soon."

A few moments of silence passed before she asked some more questions. "What were you talking about with that bundle? What's in it that you didn't want me to unwrap? How is Micaiah going to help? "

"You'll find out about that soon enough. All you need to know is that it is vital to opposition against the Order and you must keep it safe until it reaches Micaiah's hands." Stefan said.

"You can handle that, can't you, Amy?" Soren added.

Amy pouted, although no one could see. "Of course!"

There was no talk after that. A few hours later they were out of the lava-filled caves, much to Amy's relief. There was orange light from a dying sun streaming through the trees. It was late afternoon already? She collapsed to the ground after stumbling out of the cave opening, utterly exhausted.

"We'll rest here," she heard Stefan say. He sat on a rock nearby in an almost equally tired manner.

Amy didn't realize she had instantly fallen asleep there on the ground, but it was to be expected. They hadn't slept in more than a day and time passed quickly in those caves.

Something nudged her foot. A faint voice bugged her.

"Amy."

She just wanted to sleep! No go away!

"Amy!"

She had to be shaken lightly before she came to. She met annoyed crimson eyes with her own. "W-what?" she asked groggily, thinking it was an emergency and they needed to move. However, she saw no urgency in his eyes.

"Up."

"Aww, Soren! No, I'm really tired!"

"Amy, please get up."

She huffed. Only because he asked nicely! And really, she could never win with Soren. She yawned and watched him ruffle around in her bag. "Those are my things!" she protested feebly, struggling to keep her eyes open. Fatigue kept pulling her eyelids down.

He tossed her the fire tome she had kept hidden in there and stood, wincing for some reason as he did. "We are going to practice before it gets dark," he stated matter of factly.

It took a moment for Amy to process those words. She realized she did not like them. "B-but-!"

"No buts Amy."

She looked to Stefan, hoping he would heed her plea but he was passed out on his rock. No fair! she thought.

"Aren't you tired, Soren? We should use this chance for rest!"

"You are returning to Grann with us, correct?" he asked instead.

After a moment, she nodded, eyes flicking down. She didn't want to seem like a puppy returning home with a tail in between the legs, but it was inevitable. As Soren had once told her, Grann Desert was the only haven in Tellius for any Branded. She had not listened to him.

"Then you must regain your old skills. I feel you have not used them in a long time and the trip back to Grann is hazardous. You will be a burden if you cannot take care of yourself. Right now is the only time we can do this; any later and it will be too dark, meaning the smoke may be visible from elsewhere. Serenes Forest is not completely untouched by the Order after all. And there will definitely be smoke if you've forgotten how to control your magic."

Grouchily, she stood, holding the tome. He had a point.

"Well?" she said awkwardly. "What should I do?"

Soren took a few paces back. "Attack me," he said. The smallest ghost of a smile appeared on his face, and Amy felt cross because it was most likely her suddenly surprised face that had amused him.

She already knew arguing was a lost cause. She closed her eyes, ignoring her weariness, and drew power from the tome in her hands by focusing energy. It was a familiar exhilarating feeling to have the magic course through her. She hadn't known she had missed it until she now felt it again. When enough power was drawn, she lifted a hand above her head, wrestling the power to her will and sending an arc of hungry flames licking out to Soren.

...But the fire didn't even reach him, dissipating a few feet away from him.

Amy sensed disappointment. Her cheeks were already turning pink from embarrassment and she was sure strong criticism was to follow.

"That try was... pathetically comical," he scoffed. "Did you even put any effort into that or is that truly the extent of your abilities?"

"Hey!" she protested. "I haven't used this tome in a few years! I'm only rusty!"

It was true. Back in Begnion, any type of magic was outlawed by the Order. Only by joining the ranks of their troops could you be allowed to learn the art if you had the talent. She had kept the tome hidden, never using it. One look at it was all that was needed to give her away. No one but the Order really knew magic anymore.

"Again," Soren commanded, stepping some more paces back, meaning she would need even more power to reach him. He was really trying to make this difficult for her, wasn't he?

Amy closed her eyes again as she remembered her surrogate mother. Calill had been an excellent magic user. Although she hadn't been the one to teach Amy, as she had still been too young for such a dangerous art back then, the girl had always idolized her. The Fire Mage's skill over flame anima was unmatched and Amy had often watched her mother practice in the courtyard. She remembered how Calill used to move gracefully with the flow of magic, directing flame with absolute control, her movements becoming one with it. A dangerous, beautiful dance.

Calill had died in the Tower of Guidance.

A Beorc man named Tormod, her own mother's student, had been the one that had taken care of Amy after the war when fugitive Branded, Laguz and Beorc had retreated to Grann Desert and she was taken with them. He began to teach her magic and in the years as his student, her mind grew, if not her body. Amy forged a deep bond with Tormod that made her slow aging over the years a painful foreshadowing of the inevitable future. Eventually, she and the other Laguz and Branded outlived all the original Beorc that had arrived there.

Soren, a withdrawn and grim Wind Mage she had believed to be more than a little scary back then, saw potential in her. He continued her studies, working her even harder than Tormod. Truly he was not the kindest of mentors, but his skill surpassed that of her former master.

Amy concentrated harder, this time focusing more power until she felt she couldn't hold it anymore. With a yell and a bit of a twirl that was more for show than anything else, she released it.

Large violent flames flew towards Soren and everything else. For a horrid moment, she thought they had consumed him. When the fire had settled. The closest trees were smoking but the darkly-clad mage himself looked fine. She berated herself silently. Worry for his safe being was silly.

"Much better."

Amy beamed at the praise as Soren sent a sharp gust of wind to extinguish any remaining flames. Like the light of a candle being blown out by a sharp breath, the fire was gone. Renewed confidence flowed back into her and she felt she could do better in a real fight.

"How is your resistance?" he asked.

"Is that important?" she asked. "There aren't many magic users among the Order's troops, is there?"

"Not much magic users, but an abundance of magically augmented weapons ," Stefan yawned from his rock. He had been watching from half closed eyes. "They are potentially more deadly. How would you like to suffer from a bleeding cut as well as a scathing burn?"

"Ah."

"Amy." Soren brought her attention back to him. "Defend."

Without warning, she was assailed by icy wind that almost made her wish she was back in those hot caves. She yelped. Although wind was supposed to be the weakest of the anima magic types, she had the worst resistance to it. No wonder she had passed out in the magical blizzard the day before.

"Please stop!" she yelled. He didn't. How cruel ! Did he not care if she turned into an icicle?

Defend, he had said. She began to remember one of the very first lessons he had given her back in the desert...

Amy collapsed on the sandy ground, breathing heavily as she wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to generate warmth. It was one of the rare times she wished the cool desert night was as hot as the daytime. She heard footsteps in front of her and she looked up, glaring at the one who had subjected her to such an icy torture.

"That was so mean! You're horrible!" she whined loudly, almost in tears. "Tormod would never have-"

"Tormod is dead." The harshness in that single remark silenced her immediately. "What he 'would never have done' is out of the question. You are no longer his student, you are mine. And as such, you will be subjected to my methods of training."

Amy's hands came to her face as a lump appeared in her throat. Why and when had she ever agreed to be this passionless mage's student?

There was a few moments of silence before he spoke again.

"Amy."

"Go away!"

"What did you have in your hand the whole time?"

Her hands slowly came down from her face as she looked down to her lap. A bright fire tome coated with frost. "A tome," she said quietly. She looked back to him and realized with some disappointment that his eyes were a hard crimson that did not look the least remorseful for hurting her feelings.

Her new mentor crouched to her level. "If you cannot dodge, counterattack. Remember the weapon triangle. What has an advantage over lighting?"

"...wind," she pouted.

"And over that?"

"...fire."

"Correct. Air fans flame into a more powerful force if your spark is strong enough. If it isn't, your fire will be snuffed like a candle. When the conditions are right, you should use it to your advantage."

That's right! She was still clutching her fire tome! The magic wind that swirled about her did not have enough intensity to cut, it was only cold. She grinned, she would show him.

A few seconds later, a bright sphere of fire grew larger around her, fueled by the wind. It swirled around her with the flow of air before both magical forces moved outward violently and dissipated after a showy display.

The effort to produce a big enough flame left her feeling faint and she had no time to celebrate her victory. The familiar sound of thunder sent her hairs on end and she dived out of the way just before it hit the spot she was standing on. She hit the ground, quickly getting up lest she not be prepared if any more magic was sent her way.

He just had to ruin her little personal victory, didn't he?

A soft clapping sound was heard and she looked quickly to the source, fearing it might be another bolt of lighting. Soren stopped his brief clapping, looking a bit pleased.

"My, Soren," Stefan drawled. "If I didn't know better I'd say you might have had the intention of killing her with that bolt."

"Yes!" Amy agreed indignantly, nodding her head vigorously. "He tried to kill me!"

The mage ignored them. "Her reflexes aren't that bad, perhaps she might just be able to hold her own." He moved to a formerly smoking tree and placed his back to it. "It's gotten too dark to practice anymore. We are finished for now. Try to rest for a while, we'll start moving in a few hours to try to make it out of the forest in the dark. It will be easier to sneak out before dawn." He sighed heavily, and slid down the tree with one hand placed tightly on his abdomen as he did so.

It was that show of rare emotion that gave away how debilitated he really was.

"Is that wound giving you trouble?" Stefan asked immediately. "Did you reopen it?"

Soren's silence was the only answer he needed. Stefan hurried off the rock he was resting on to the boy's side, ignoring protests as he came.

"Did Soren get hurt?" Amy asked.

"Before we came to the inn, I was off investigating the news in Telgam city. I left Soren at a small camp we made. I came back to find he had been ambushed by a group of Order soldiers. That blizzard was created to cover our tracks."

Amy gasped, hurrying to Soren's side as well. She ignored the tired glare from Soren that suggested it was dangerous to approach him any closer.

"Is he alright?"

Stefan had only lightly touched the front of Soren's robes when his fingers came up red. Again, the dark of his clothes had disguised the blood. "Soren!" he scolded. The effort from the lengthy walking and constant avoiding of the dangers in the cave had taken their toll. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"...I didn't notice."

Replying like a guilty child, Stefan thought. He began the process of removing the heavy robes and cleaning out the wound. "Amy, get some rest," he said distractedly.

Amy nodded, although she didn't move. She couldn't. She was worried. Her small hands came to cover her mouth when she saw the actual wound, one that was quite long and currently oozing red.

Soren wouldn't meet their eyes, looking into the deep of the forest to his left instead. It occurred to Amy that he disliked such attention.

This went on for a few minutes and Soren found himself slipping into thoughts of older times.

Whenever Stefan scolded him about about his 'self-destructing' habits, Soren couldn't help but remember her. That same tone. That surprising care. It reminded Soren of a certain fiery paladin with the motherly eyes and red mane of hair.

He would look away as she scolded him something fierce for his harsh manners, refusing to be cowed by the woman.

They would argue and debate fiercely over a course of action, while their conflicted blue-haired commander would look back and forth between them, trying to calm them both down.

She would criticize him for being so cold and he to her for being so soft.

In the end, despite their ages and differences, Titania and him had come to view each other as equals, advisers to their young commander. She had been the mother figure the Greil Mercenaries had looked up to after Greil's death.

He had been a mere boy on a search back before he had joined the mercenaries. He had joined because the person he searched for was in their ranks. Titania had been one of the first to approach him. He was so unused to such affections that he did not know how to deal with her. She was not well received but that did not faze her. She did not let him neglect himself.

With endless patience, she was the one that had taken care of all the reckless idiots the Greil Mercenaries were part of.

And she was long since gone with the rest of them.

Stefan finished his task and both he and Amy moved away to find a soft spot on the ground to sleep after some yawning. He had not thanked Stefan.

The older Branded too, had been a guiding light after the war. Without him, he would have lost the will to survive...

After Soren was sure his companions were asleep (it really wasn't too much of a wait), he rose with some steadying help from the tree at his back. His tired knees shook from the effort but he was able to walk. The wound was throbbing painfully on his torso but he ignored it.

He couldn't sleep. There was suddenly too much on his mind. He headed off into the trees for a short walk.

He had not walked far until something interrupted his thoughts. "You're not sleepy?"

He tensed, it was a familiar voice he had not heard in a very long time. He had almost forgotten she was with them now.

"No, and we need someone to keep watch," he answered tersely.

"There are no Order troops anywhere close to this area and you know it, otherwise the Kauku caves would have been found already. You need rest!"

"I'm fine," he insisted.

A few moments passed and Soren hoped she had gone quiet.

"... Liar," came the reply in a childish tone.

He sighed. "Please leave me alone."

"Why?" the voice asked, there was almost a taunt in her tone. "Do you enjoy being alone?"

Soren slumped against a tree, standing on his feet seemed to have become a feat. "And if I do?"

"Then you're lying again!"

There was no winning against Yune.

"Tell me, Goddess. Weren't you completely alone, locked for ages in that medallion?"

Again there was silence and Soren dared to hope it would keep that way.

"...Yes." Something like a sigh followed.

"Though I was sleeping, the part of my consciousness that had detached itself from me roamed. I could sense what happened in the world and interact in a minuscule degree, and the Herons would always sing to me... yet I was always alone inside the metal." Yune's voice continued, tone no longer childish but somber and sad, "I could feel lonely. I was so happy whenever someone touched my medallion because I was able to feel another presence."

The voice made a sad noise. "Yet my power is too great for a mortal without a strong heart to handle. It destroyed the minds of many. People were led to believe that I was evil so easily. It makes me...sad and angry."

"You are that part of Ashera, then. The one which embraces such emotions while she herself casts them away."

"Yes," she answered. "Yet my sleep is nothing compared to what my sister endured. She locked herself completely away, detached from the world entirely in her cold tower. Her efforts to remain perfect and untainted by emotion have only made her bitter. There are vestiges of me that remain in her, just as there is some order that yet restrains me now. We cannot be separated into two wholly pure essences, because at core, we are still the one and the same. Even in our diluted states, there most be a trace of balance, no matter how unequal."

More silence.

"Why do you bury your feelings behind that mask of coldness?" she asked, suddenly directing the subject back to him. "They are just beneath the surface: Anger, regret, pain. I sense them very well. If you would let them out they would not be so agonizing."

Soren didn't answer, instead choosing to stare at the tree in front of him. A squirrel ran by his feet. A few moments passed and the heavy silence stretched on heavily. He knew she was there, expecting an answer. An answer he himself didn't know.

Gradually, her presence faded. Soren felt it. She was gone. With some difficulty, he made his way back to camp. He once again slumped against a tree, slowly sliding down and eyeing Amy's bag warily where he knew the cloth-wrapped Medallion lay.

He stayed there, thinking about what Yune had said. He didn't notice when his eyes closed on their own.

~xxx~

..

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Haha, Yune!

...Earlier, there was the thing about a cut and burn at the same time...but really I think the the burn should cauterize the cut? So like...what is magic logic?!

Okay! So anon Guest asked about OC's and children. In the Branded colony, there are some Beorc that are decendants of some of the characters in the games. XD Some have Laguz blood too. The Branded and Laguz have had children and the such, just not our main characters specifically...unless you guys actually want some children OC's? XD

I've actually been thinking about that for a while. I'll need some OC's for villains...unless the originals didn't die in the Endgame and Ashera's blessing gave them longevity of life...a thing I'm still debating on. I would like some of the other human characters to reappear...reincarnation and such? I'm wondering if I should change their names though...or even bring characters from other FE games? Or should I just make random OC's when I need them?

I'm a bit indecisive when it comes to this stuff due to the fact that I like sticking with the canon, so I'm reluctant to create original characters because I feel they intrude...but leave a review and tell me what you think! I don't want to upset my readers either!

Should I reincarnate some characters? Bring in new ones from other games and integrate them into this world? Or just make OC's?

I'll make a poll as well so you guys can vote on my profile page. Let's see how that works out..if it even does. XD Keep in mind I'm probably going to use a mix of the three choices, I just want to see which I should use the most.

Thanks for reading!