Chapter 21) Dark Pontifex

Kris POV

Macedon was conquered, and we obtained Starlight. With the aid of Gotoh's warp magic, which would've been way useful a while ago, a small group of us was transported to the faraway city of Thabes. According to Bantu, it was once an advanced civilization. Now? A ruined wreck. And in this wreck, Gharnef waits with the Falchion. But we're ready with Starlight, because Starlight can counter Imhullu, for some reason. It was as baffling as why Gharnef would be here at all, aside from dramatics. Though, apparently Gotoh was going to check on 'something' in 'the labyrinth' while we dealt with his mess, I mean, Gharnef. Bah… this is annoying and lame, too many questions and secrets. But hey, we get to kill Gharnef, who started all this mess. Yay?

I wondered what happened to this place. If it was a prospering city at some point, then how did it fall? Our small group walked through lifeless streets, past worn and weathered buildings slowly being devoured by the desert. In fact, most of the city already was taken by the sands. We were walking in the sole part still visible. In a few decades, or centuries, the entire place would be buried, lost forever.

"I feel like I'm walking through a graveyard," Linde whispered, tucking herself into my side to leech a little bit more warmth. Perhaps it was because we left so early that the sun hadn't quite risen, or maybe it was just something about the area, but everything was damn near bone-chilling cold and there was barely any light. We had all dressed lightly, expecting the desert heat again, so the cold was even worse. "I also feel like a ghost is going to pop out at any moment."

"Well, with luck, we'll be adding a ghost to the pile," I replied lightly, mostly to avoid being creeped out. I… didn't like ghosts all that much. "Well, you'll do it."

"Yes…" She clutched Starlight to her chest, smiling slightly. There had been a long debate on who would wield it; Merric and I had both argued for her and eventually won. "Do you think we are a large enough group?"

"I hope so." I looked over our little group, wincing at how small we were. "I really freaking hope so."

Marth was here of course, and Caeda skipped along next to him, both perfectly silent. Jeorge, surprisingly, was with us; apparently, the Parthia was particularly suited to fighting mages. I didn't know much, but Merric babbled something about the Parthia having extended range, could boost the user's resistance, could heal the user, and maybe a couple of other things. Merric was chatting with Jeorge now. Lena was also here, because we weren't foolish enough to go to a battle without a healer and she had the best resistance to magic, and she was walking alone, checking her medicines and staves. That was it, though. No one else. We had to be the stupidest people in the world.

"Say, Kris?" Linde began quietly. She looked suddenly shy, glancing down. "How do you know if you've got a crush?"

"...Why are you asking me?" I replied, voice going a little high because of how incredulous I was. That was more something people asked Caeda, not me!

"Because?" She shrugged, still not looking at me. "So?"

"Er… There's a bit of awkwardness, I suppose. There's a feeling of butterflies in your stomach?" This was definitely not what I expected today. "There's a warm feeling, I suppose. Though, that one might be attraction of a different sort."

"Have you had many crushes?"

"Well, I've had a few. They were all surface things, though, more or less based on how they look and how they acted when I happened to see them." Cain was probably the first crush I had gotten on a friend. But, then again, I hadn't had a lot of friends. "They felt a little different depending on if I was crushing on a girl or a guy."

"Girl or guy?"

"I like both. I get crushes on both." Considering the guy to girl ratio of the army, I supposed it wasn't too much of a surprise I happened to have a crush on a guy for the time being. We really needed more girls in the army. Then again, it was a little late to change things like that. "Why are you asking anyway?"

"N-no reason!" Her face went bright pink and her voice went squeaky. "Um… ugh, fine. I might have a crush on someone." Her eyes darted over to where Merric was still happily talking with Jeorge. "But I don't really know? I never had conversations like this before or anything. I didn't care when I was younger, and the past couple of years…"

"Please tell me you know where babies come from."

"I got that awkward talk when I had my first period. Mostly because I panicked and thought I was dying." She grimaced. "Father didn't think to warn me about that part of puberty."

"Seriously?" Grandfather had thought to tell me. "Wow, that's awkward."

"Isn't it?" She giggled and I had to muffle my own laugh. We didn't want the others to think we were insane. "Oh…" She stopped walking, and tugged me to a stop as well. It took a moment to realize the others had stopped too, and the reason for that. "We're here."

"So, we are." I looked up at the temple, now at the foot of the steps that led to the entrance. Of course, it hurt my neck to look up at it because it was just so damn tall. It stretched up to the sky, like a spidery, skeletal finger pointing to something. Parts of it were gouged out, the edges smooth and rounded. There were intricate carvings, but weathering had worn them down to simple shadows, impossible to tell the details. I wondered who made this. I wondered why.

"My, my, have you come to play, little Marth?" A dark voice echoed all around us then, sourceless and endless. "I've been waiting." It was slimy, oily, like a fast talking con man selling you poison instead of medicine. "I have wanted to give you my thanks."

"Your thanks?" Marth repeated. He drew his sword, and Caeda stepped next to him with her Wing Spear at the ready. Jeorge looked up, one arrow casually dangling from his fingertips. Lena looked like she was praying. Merric stepped over to Linde and me, his own staff in hand. "What for?"

"Why for helping me, of course." A dark laugh oozed its way through the air. There was still no source for the voice. It was everywhere and nowhere. "You've been dancing about the continent, gaining powerful weapons, dealing with my competition. A shame you somehow learned of my hostages and spared Camus, but I at least no longer have to deal with Michalis. His pride overcame even his ambition, thankfully."

"Monster…!"

"Am I? I didn't put the thoughts in their heads." There was a pressure in the air, bearing down on us. It felt like someone resting their hand on your shoulders, in order to shackle you in place. "Camus willingly bent knee for his precious prince and princess. Michalis willingly killed his father. I did nothing but set up the board, and watch the pieces move as they wish. Rather like you. And now you can do me one last favor." The shadows started flickering around us. All of us tensed up, prepared for anything. I hoped. "Die for me, will you?"

"I'm afraid I've got different plans today." Marth shifted into a stance at last, eyes narrowed in determination. "We're here to take your head, Gharnef, as well as retrieve Falchion and rescue Elice."

"My, my, such loft goals." The laughter came again, wobbling in time with the shadows. "But a simple battle is too boring. If you mean to harm me, then you must find me."

"What does that mean?" For once, there was no answer. "Gharnef!"

"Look alive, Prince Marth," Jeorge scolded. He was completely nonchalant, his eyes darting this way and that to take in everything. "We've got company." Just as he finished the sentence, the shadows grew and twisted into humanoid shapes. Each one took the form of some corpse-looking male with really bad hair and worse clothes. I could hear Diana screaming over the fashion emergency. "Wow, someone Diana would scold more than me on fashion choices."

"That's Gharnef…" Linde breathed. She then growled, eyes sparking in quiet fury. "He's created illusory copies to wear us down while he waits in the crowd. Bastard."

Well, no one said this would be easy.

There were way too many stairs for this place. My legs were killing me and I was the athletic one of us three. Merric and Linde nearly fell a couple of times, too tired to move properly at this point. But we couldn't stop. After all, then others were playing bait and, hopefully, not dying or breaking their few weapons fighting all the copies. We had planned for a fight, certainly, but not… quite like this. And if not for us getting absurdly lucky days ago, we might be in an even worse situation.

It turns out that green sphere Julian and I found in the Fane could create damaging earthquakes. We found this out because Marth had forgotten to take it out of his pack after giving Gotoh the orbs to make the Starlight spell and you activated it via throwing it hard on the ground or, in our case, throwing your pack to the side because it kept getting in the way. Now, the earthquake hurt us quite a bit, but hilariously, it hurt all the copies too. Every. Single. One. Since the thing that made Imhullu annoying as hell was that it prevented the user from being hurt, we automatically knew Gharnef wasn't actually any of the copies.

So, the three of us snuck around all the traps and whatnot to head for the top. Either Gharnef was there being dramatic, or we'd get a good look at things. At least, that was the theory. These stairs might kill us first.

"Oh, thank freaking everything, we're at the top," I breathed, stumbling a bit on the suddenly level ground. Of course, at the other end of the hall, I could see more stairs. "It's voting time. Do we explore this floor or head up higher?"

"No more stairs!" Linde groaned. She whimpered and leaned against the wall to bring up one of her legs and massage her calf. "Holy… ow… how does Gharnef make it up all of these things? He's old."

"You've seen Lorenz trounce people in spars, right?"

"He's an old mage. Aside from you, we're not exactly known for athletic prowess."

"Can't he just warp everywhere?" Merric pointed out tiredly. He scrubbed the sweat off his face and sat down on the top stair to massage his own legs. "I can't feel… wait, no, now I can. Ow, pins and needles. Like I sat down studying for ten hours again."

"Warping is cheating," Linde groaned. She switched to massaging her other leg. I worked on stretching and checking the area, just in case. "Wait, Lena has a warp staff. Why didn't we use that?"

"Lena has to know where to send you, so it either has to be in sight or a place she has been. The top of the tower is nowhere." Merric smiled slightly. "But, also, he uses Imhullu. He's a 'cheater' by nature, clearly."

"Damn right." Linde sighed and rolled her shoulders. "I think I'm as recovered as I can be?"

"I think I am as well." Still, Merric groaned when he stood up again. "I feel like an old man. Like Master Wendell when the rain is bad. Kris? How are you?"

"I'm a bit stiff and annoyed, but I can keep going," I answered easily. I smiled sheepishly at their dirty looks. "I've been stretched and, as you pointed out Linde, I am more athletic. I'm sure I'll be complaining tomorrow, but we're exploring this floor?"

"For now, yes," Merric confirmed. He checked that he had Excalibur still tucked under his arm, as well as his healing staff. With Linde as our main damage dealer for the fight, and me not knowing staves, Merric had the unenviable job of trying to keep us alive. "Gods, I hope he didn't move downstairs to among the shadows."

"If he is, I hope we have a balcony or something that'll let us just snipe everything from above." I looked around again, noting that we were already at the end of a hall. The only ways to go was straight, to the stairs, or left, to explore. "I'll take point."

Carefully, we walked forward, making sure our weapons were at the ready, just in case. I made us pause at every little possible oddity, just in case. But, strangely, there weren't any traps. You always heard stories about how old ruins were filled with traps, but not this one. Did Gharnef disable them? Did time rust them over? Had there been any? Traps implied that you wanted to keep something safe, something locked away. Had there been anything like that here? If not… er… I didn't know where to go with that thought. Before I could think of a direction for the thought, we stepped into a large, open room and, right in the middle of it all, was Gharnef.

"Ah, so this is why you triggered the Geosphere," Gharnef noted with a dark chuckle. The three of us exchanged 'sure, we can go with that' looks. There was no need for him to know it had been a complete and total accident. "I do not know two of your number. But I remember you, little girl." He pointed to Linde and smiled patronizingly. "You challenge me again? You must not value your life. You will cower before the might of Imhullu again, just as your father did."

"Not this time!" Linde snapped. She opened up Starlight with shaking hands, glaring. "You're just a corpse lingering past its death, and I'm happy to correct that anomaly!"

"You may try, little one. But you will-"

"Why are you all trying to imitate a bard's song?" I sighed. I tossed out one of my 'gifts' and ignited it with a quick thunder spell to create a smokescreen. "Linde, go ahead and charge up. Merric?"

"I'm with you!" Merric replied. He smiled warmly. "You're the bait, though."

"Yep." And if I got hit once, I might die. This was the worst. "Linde, make sure to hide, and don't falter, no matter what."

I drew my sword and charged then, darting to the side so that I could hopefully ambush and get a decent strike in, Imhullu or no Imhullu. However, as I got close and swung, a clawed, skeletal hand made of black flames shot out from the smoke and caught the blade. I stared in horror as a face suddenly emerged, flames stretched taut over it like twisted skin, and eyeless sockets staring at me. It opened its mouth, with too many teeth to be human, no matter what the face looked like, and it tried to bite me. I threw myself back automatically and the thing twisted my sword out of my hand… and then threw it straight at me. I rolled out of the way and the sword clanged on the ground next to me, still close enough to nick my shoulder.

"Smokescreen? That's a clever little parlor trick." The smoke gradually cleared away, revealing a still amused Gharnef. Patronizing. He wasn't taking us seriously at all. Arrogance was a nice way to catch someone off guard, but for one, I couldn't blame him for being arrogant since he was literally invincible save for one thing he didn't know we and and, for two, it was still damn annoying. "But Imhullu does not suffer fools who attempt to match it. It is derived from part of the power that sealed away the dragons. You think you really have a chance?"

"Well, it's better than looking at your ugly face," I growled. I swung about to my feet and loosed a Thoron spell at him. To my surprise, he brought up his hand and caught it, like it had been a simple and badly thrown spear. "Uh…"

"Not badly cast, for someone so obviously self taught." He twisted his hand and threw the Thoron back at me. I rolled out of the way. "Your magic clunks a bit. You never had a proper teacher. You stumbled and flailed your way through."

"It's served me well so far."

"Of course." He suddenly grinned, the expression splitting his face. "But it makes you so easy to toy with."

"Par-GUH!" Pain exploded in my back, through my back, through my stomach. Coughing and choking on air, I glanced down and saw a blade sticking out of my gut. It took a very long second to realize it was my own sword. He'd thrown it through my back somehow. "I…" I ground my teeth, tears pricking my eyes as the pain truly registered past shock and fear spiked through me. It didn't help that I coughed up blood. "You…"

"It is adorable to see you trying so hard." Gharnef paused and looked to the side. "The wind… ah!"

"Excalibur!" The wind blades of Excalibur sparked into life, battering Gharnef. The skeletal flames wrapped around him to protect him from the strikes, but Merric used the distraction to race past. "Sorry for the delay," he whispered. Without hesitation, he grabbed the blade and pulled it out. I gasped in pain and tried to not buckle. "Linde needed help hiding. She's almost ready to cast the spell, though."

"To be fair, it's been what? Six heartbeats?" I gasped out. I coughed up a bit more blood, and spat out more after he healed me up. I still rested a hand on my gut anyway, an instinctive response. "Well, it could be more. My heart is pounding."

"Your heart is? Mine is trying to outpace a stampeding horse." Merric tensed as black flames devoured what remained of Excalibur. "What sort of twisted mind comes up with a spell like this?"

"There is always balance in the world," Gharnef replied. He brought his hands up and the flames grew around him. I felt nauseous when I saw the twisting, skeletal arms clawing up through the flames, a mockery of a human. "Where there is light, there is shadow. Simple. You may see for yourself." He gestured sharply, and the black flames of Imhullu raced for Merric and me, clawed into our legs and began to climb...

"Divine radiance, heed me!" But then light sliced through the flames, erasing it from existence. It spun about, brightening the room, but not harshly. It was a strangely gentle light, the same light you had at night during a moonless night. It sparkled as it eradicated Imhullu and, distantly, I wondered how that light could hurt.

Then that light converged on Gharnef, multiple rings tearing through, and his screams of pain made it very clear that, yes, the light could hurt. It was a spell, after all.

"What…?" Gasping in disbelief, Gharnef clawed at his body, like he was trying to stop the injuries. But with each moment, he fell apart more and more, with not a speck of blood in sight. "Where did you get Starlight…?" His shock faded for a mad bit of laughter, the shaking causing him to crack more and more. Literally. "What fools! Your power is no match for Medeus! So I will wait!" He reached out with flaking, clawed, skeletal hands. The skin had already sloughed off. "I shall be waiting in the pits of the inferno!" His face split with a grin, the skin cracking and falling off to reveal ghost-white bone underneath. "For when he sends you to join me!"

He cackled. He cackled and cackled, the sound raucous as it bounced off the walls. It continued even after his body crumbled into dust, to the point that even when the silence rung through, I swore I could still hear it. But even eerier was that there was really was nothing left of his body. To confirm it, I stumbled over on my bleeding legs and stepped on the pile of robes left behind, frowning as I didn't even find a tome. There was nothing but dust. That was… in the end, Imhullu turned him into something no longer human. I'd feel bad if not for the whole 'he literally decided to use the tome because he got passed over for another tome' thing. Of course, that was assuming I'd been told the truth and that I'd heard correctly. I never cared.

I did care about Linde suddenly collapsing, worried she'd been injured, but she hadn't. No, she was simply bawling, overcome with the knowledge that she had finally avenged her father. Without a single bit of hesitation, Merric badly bandaged up his legs and hobbled over to her to pull her into a hug so that she could at least cry on someone's shoulders. I thought about joining, but instead looked around to make sure we were fine. My attention fell to the throne nearby, wondering why it was there. Why would a temple need a throne, after all? Though maybe that was why this place was abandoned and ruined now. You always heard the stories of hubris. Though maybe this hadn't been a temple. Maybe it had simply been a… really weird… I didn't even know.

Shaking my head, I sighed and crouched down to bandage up my own legs, wincing as my back and abdomen reminded me that they had been stabbed. As I did, though, I caught sight of something shiny tucked where the throne met the wall and, as soon as I tied off the bandages, I snatched it up, curious. It was a very dark gem, almost pitch black like it swallowed up light, but with a strange 'flame' to it that made it shimmer between black and purple. It was a pretty, if a bit off putting, and automatically, I started to price it. It would likely sell for quite a bit. Though, you'd have to hide where it came from likely. And you'd want to sell it to someone easy to steal from, so that you could steal it back and continue making a profit…

I stiffened, startled by the thought. I… well, I had pulled that sort of con in the past, though it wasn't my typical thing. I preferred not getting involved with people, and the con had made me feel all icky and gross. But I hadn't thought about cons in a long while. So, I didn't understand why… sure, Julian and I had joked about it, but… Ah, but what if this was a 'special' gem like the Starsphere or Geosphere or… whatever? It could be. It wasn't like Gotoh actually told us a gods damned thing. He just let us do all the hard work, pushing us this way and that, like pieces on a board or like toys he didn't particularly care… about…

Now I pinched the bridge of my nose, wondering what was wrong with me. Yes, certainly I was a bit annoyed with Gotoh about keeping things quiet, but honestly, there wasn't much time for anything. It was annoying how little time we had. We fought and fought and fought and when we weren't fighting we were training. There was so little time for fun or flirting. I could actually pursue Cain and see if this crush would fizzle or turn into something more if it weren't for all my damned duties and having to serve my silly, stupid, oblivious pri-

I threw the gem then. I wasn't sure why, exactly, but I felt so much better as soon as I did. Well, actually, I didn't. I felt gross. I felt like I needed to take a thousand baths and claw off my skin. I felt like I needed to crack open my skull and dig out parts of my mind. I felt like something had sunk its claws deep into my soul and left jagged pieces of thoughts that I didn't want. How could I…? Those thoughts… how could they be mine? I didn't… I…

"Kris?" Merric called. I whirled, wincing as my legs protested. Linde had stopped crying at some point and was helping Merric with his injuries. "Is everything okay?" He peered at me worriedly. "You froze up and then suddenly threw something."

"It's nothing," I lied through my teeth. I felt like throwing up. "I thought I'd vent some frustration and threw a rock. I'm not having luck finding anything yet."

"What are you looking for?"

"Falchion." I hadn't, but it was a good idea, so I began poking around the throne and room, hunting for the fabled blade. I could feel Merric watch me worriedly, but I remained stubbornly focused on the task, just so that he couldn't call me out.

However, my frustration only grew as I found next to nothing, save that no one dusted this place in a long while. Eventually, I returned to the throne and got on my hands and knees to look underneath. Lo and behold, that's where I finally found the hilt of a blade. Feeling a bit smug and triumphant, I snagged it and tugged it out with enough force that I actually rolled and nearly dropped the thing on my face. But I held onto it and held it up, intending on studying it. But then I heard a slight hum, felt my teeth buzz, and again, there was the presence of something in my head. It was quieter than the last one, but no less unnerving.

What the fuck was wrong with these things? Gods, this was lame.

After getting our wounds treated, and the battle fever faded for horrible and hobbling pain, the three of us limped our way back down the far too many stairs to rejoin the others. As soon as we killed Gharnef, the copies all died as well, so they were tending to their own injuries. Marth was fussing over Caeda, mostly because Caeda had gotten fairly badly hurt protecting Marth. I dragged my sill… I dragged pretty boy away and distracted him by melodramatically presenting the Falchion to him.

"Finally, we have it…" Marth breathed, holding Falchion up. Despite the dim light, the blade sparkled, glowing with an internal light. "The sheathe?"

"It wasn't there," I replied dryly. I leaned against the wall and glanced at the others. With the worst of the wounds tended to, Lena focused fully on comforting Linde alongside Caeda. Merric and Jeorge had gone to search around and try to find Elice. "So, I hope you don't particularly like your belt, pretty boy. You might want to consider going pantless as well to avoid cutting them."

"Ah, yes, let's go fight Medeus in nothing but my underwear."

"You could wear a tunic, or a dress." I smirked. "I'm sure Diana can make you a pretty dress."

"I don't have the legs for a dress." He grinned at his own joke and I did manage a laugh. "But that's neither here nor there. "Are you okay?" Marth crouched down a bit to peer up at me. I wasn't sure why at first, but then realized it was because I kept looking down. "You're off."

"I'm just a bit tired, and in a bit of pain." I gestured to my legs for emphasis, still bandaged because they resisted healing magic. That worried me a lot, since the final battles were coming up, but… "Does the Falchion buzz for you?"

"Buzz?" He frowned and glanced at the sword. "No? Did you?"

"Maybe it was rejecting me, then?" I shrugged and smiled, or tried to. The thoughts I had early… they really did make me feel uncomfortable. I wanted to deny them, especially those last ones, so damn much, yet I… "But really, pretty boy, it's nothing. It was just a very tiring, somewhat unnerving fight. I'd never fought someone I couldn't hurt before, and I did have my own sword thrown through my gut."

"Okay, fair." He still frowned a little, like he knew I was talking around something. But he shrugged and smiled, deciding to simply take me at my word and do his best to cheer me up. This was why I adored him, and why I was proud to fight alongside him. But those thoughts… "Wait, did I give a melodramatic answer to your presentation or did I just take the sword?"

"You just took the sword."

"Then I need a proper reply." He hummed a bit in thought, and I had to snicker. "My dearest companion, savior of my life, guardian of my sanity-"

"What sanity?"

"Shush. Drama." He scowled and I began laughing. "You can't laugh. This is super serious."

"Sure it is."

"It is most serious, actually. If Jagan was here, he would scold you severely."

"Now that's a horrible fate right there."

"Prince Marth." Thankfully for any sort of dignity Marth and I might have left, Merric walked up then with a bright smile, escorting a woman with long, tangled blue hair. I… I knew her. She was thinner than last time, paler. Her dress hung loosely and her eyes were puffy. Her smile was thin and tired. But it was warm and it was real. She was real. She was really here. "She is insisting on talking with you before letting Lena check her over," he explained. Marth, for his part, stared like a dummy. "Er… Prince Marth?"

"I think he went into lala land," I deadpanned. I nudged his leg and after getting no reaction, I rolled my eyes and outright shoved him. He yelped and stumbled, but Elica caught him and the two clung to each other tightly. "There we go. Merric, I'll make sure they don't suffocate each other with their hugs if you want to rest."

"Probably a good idea, since there are far too many stairs." Merric made a face and gestured to his legs. Since he'd removed the bandages, for whatever reason, I could see the injuries were angry red lines that half looked like they'd shatter. "She was in a room above where we killed Gharnef."

"Yeah, go rest. Mine are still doing fine." I nudged him over to Lena and then rested against the wall, relaxing. I knew how much it had hurt Marth to not reunite with his mother. I was glad Elice was okay.

Eventually, Elice pulled away, smiling even as tears slipped down her cheeks. "Oh, it's been too long," she murmured. "Here, let me look at you…" She cupped Marth's face, studying him closely. Marth was also crying, but smiling. "Goodness, you're a man grown."

"Oh, I've still got quite a bit of growing to do," Marth replied. His voice wobbled a bit from the tears. "I'm so glad you're… "We heard a couple of rumors, but there was nothing more than that. I thought…"

"I was prepared for the worst, but Gharnef required someone of royal blood to wield the Aum staff." She smiled bitterly. "I do not know what made royal blood more special than any other, but I have that to thank for my life and the chance to see you again."

"The Aum Staff? The one that brings back the dead?" Marth frowned. "I thought it was a tale."

"Apparently not. It's in Dolhr. You're heading there, yes?"

"Of course. I must deal with Medeus."

"Then we should retrieve the Aum staff along the way, just in case." Her smile softened and sweetened, but there was a very familiar stubborn light in her eyes. We shouldn't even bother pointing out that she could stay somewhere safe. She would come with us, end of discussion. "Perhaps…"

"Perhaps we could bring our parents back…" Marth also smiled softly, but I frowned. That wasn't… "Or… how many people can the staff-?"

"It wouldn't be enough to resurrect everyone who died because I highly doubt that's possible," I pointed out bluntly. I crossed my arms and… tried to appear stoic. I wasn't sure how good of a job I did. "In which case, how do you decide? Do you bring back your parents? What about Nyna's? What about other people's parents? What makes…?" I almost asked 'what makes yours special?', but the answer to that was obvious. They were theirs. "Sorry, I probably should word this better."

"You're pointing out that it's unfair," Marth summarized neatly. He smiled so sadly, so bitterly, that I wished I'd kept my mouth shut. "And you're right. It is. To just bring back our own… that isn't right. I am to be king. I must share my people's sorrow, not try to erase it solely for myself." He closed his eyes and I winced. I really did wish I'd kept my mouth shut. "Still, I don't like the idea of it just lying around."

"I'm sure it's on the way anyway, or that we can make it. We can still get it." I sighed, wishing I had worded things better. "Oh, whatever. I'll give you a break on teasing. Let's see if we can tease Jeorge."

Anything was better than continuing that conversation, and we needed to wait for Gotoh to transport us back anyway. Then, it was to Dolhr and the final battle. I hoped it was easier than trying to forget that clawing in my skull. I really hoped that was the case.

Notes on Elice:

Marth's older sister, the calm and collected princess of Altea. Thought dead or worse after the fall of Altea, but was kept alive due to her ability to use the legendary Aum Staff

A talented healer, though spending years in captivity have severely hurt her physical condition. She can be a powerhouse, but since we're so close to the end, it might be best to have just another healer. It's not like you can have too many healers, particularly when we're going to be fighting dragons.

Very protective of her little brother, even as she acknowledges his duty puts him in harm's way. She was prepared for the worst when she stayed behind as a decoy in Altea, and would've happily accepted that fate so long as Marth was safe.

Author's note: Elice technically joins next chapter, but we're adding her notes here. Have the second-to-last Kris chapter. Yep, Kris is bisexual. In FE11, the Geosphere deals a flat 13 damage to all enemies on the map, making it very useful for determining which Gharnef is the real one in this chapter (in FE1/3, it damages all units on the map, which I have kept because I felt it made more sense in this context). And a bit of foreshadowing involving having that dark gem here… maybe more than a bit. It doesn't appear in Fe1/11 at all, but since it plays such a huge role in FE3/12... well... yeah.

Gharnef himself isn't that hard of a fight, or at least, I've never found him hard. Without Imhullu's damage-negation abilities… well, on normal, his magic is 5. Now, Imhullu is powerful (14 might), and no one has any real resistance, but still. That's only 3 higher than Linde's starting magic when she's a level one mage. (It's 2 higher than Merric's starting magic. At the same level.) He does have a stupidly high speed stat, though (18 on normal). That all being said, I did want to play up that damage-negation, specifically how unnerving it would be, and play into how Gharnef was/is a talented magic user taught by Gotoh. 'Divine radiance, heed me' is one of Linde's skill quotes in FE heroes.

Elice joins with low bases and underleveled, but her growths are the best out of any magic user in the game, meaning that if you put in the effort (not as hard as it sounds, since her A rank in staves lets her use practically any staff in the game). If you level her up, she'll likely be your fastest magic user. The Aum staff is locked to her in FE1/3 iirc, but FE11/12 changed it to any of the princesses, providing they're in the right class.

If you use Parthia as an item, it'll boost your resistance, though it gradually fades, much like the Barrier staff or Pure Water. The extended range and recovery comes from its Echoes variation, where it has a Trance Shot that extends the range by another three squares if activated and has the passive Recovery.

On the guys to girl ratio of the playable cast… out of 56 playable chars (not including the decoy, counting Arran/Samson once b/c of how their recruitment works, not including the last paralogue char, including all the others), there are 13 women. 15 in this story, because of Kris and Diana. This isn't including bringing in Camus and Nyna into the army as I have (that would be 57 and 16 respectively).

Next Chapter - The Dragonkin Realm (penultimate chapter)