Hello everyone, it seems that i'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. Hopefully I don't get sidetracked, lazy or lose all of my progress because my laptops want to shit the bed on me. Anyway on with the chapter.

Chapter 19

The Mainal cathedral, capital city of the Begnion empire, it is here where we see Shadow accompanying the rest of the holy guard as well as Ike and his mercenaries in their task to escort the empress and princess Elincia. After Shadow had calmed down from his laughing fit he had explained to Ike that the little girl before them was in fact apostle Sanaki of Begnion. When the empress had allowed Shadow to talk to the mercenaries he was met with a stern glare from Ike, one that demanded an answer about Shadow's current arrangement.

flashback

Shadow had taken Ike to the barracks where his armor and sword were stored whenever he was off duty. "Shadow, just what in the hell is going on here?" Ike asked. "Honestly speaking Ike I'm still trying to make heads and tails of all this...I got to the point where I meet my current teacher and he takes me under his wing, so to speak." Shadow said trying to lighten the mood. Ike nodded his head letting the boy know he understood that much but with that question answered another one popped into his head. "So then, why are you a member of Begnion's elite?" the question came out as a more annoyed one rather than curiosity, but nevertheless Shadow provided an answer. "My teacher thought that i had enough natural talent to get me in so he nominated me and one week later i got tested, and barely passed. I still think i should've failed that test but everyone else thinks otherwise." Shadow explained an annoyed look marring his face.

end flashback

A few days had passed since that meeting and Shadow had made regular visits to the rooms where the mercenaries were staying curtesy of the empress. Today however, would not be for pleasantries as Shadow was informed of an assignment that he would be taking part in alongside said mercenaries. The young swordsman reached Ike's room quickly knowing that by now at least a few members of his group would be bored out of their minds. knocking on the door Shadow was met with the beaming face of none other than Romeria who was with Mist and Ike, the latter two complaining of boredom like Shadow thought.

"Shadow, so what brings you here today?" Mist asked happy to see the boy. "Well, it seems that the empress has need of you guys for a job." Shadow said. At this Ike raised an eyebrow, he wasn't exactly on good terms with the little apostle so a job from her, in his eyes, was suspicious. "Ike don't give me that look and this job is authentic, basically we've been having a sort of problem with smuggling in this country and the empress wants me to accomany you guys on this assingment, most likely because we work well together." Shadow explained. "Smuggling problem? what kind of smuggling are we talking about here?" Ike asked his interest now piqued. The only thing Shadow gave him was a "living, breathing kind" and left Ike to decide who else to take with them.

"Hmm...now who to take?" Ike mused to himself as he looked over the roster Soren gave him. At this point in time Ike's choice were a tad limited. Soren was perusing through some scrolls and did not wish to be disturbed. Oscar had asked Boyd to help him gather supplies while they had the time to do so. Sothe and Rolf were being treated for injuries by Rhys. And Mia was out looking for another fortune teller to get her fortune told or some such nonsense. If Ike had really thought about it he supposed he could just go with a team of five, but Shadow had insisted that seven or eight people would be able to get the job done quickly, and Ike really wanted this job done as quickly as possible. "Well I guess I don't have much of a choice now do I?" He asked himself.

Romeria for her part had insisted on staying with princess Elincia during her meetings with the apostle and the senate. The young girl fidgeted with the hem of her skirt nervously as the Senate grilled into the Crimean royal possibly trying to see if the girl would break, to no avail. Romeria held alot of admiration for Elincia in that despite the situation she was in the woman refused to back down. In a sense it reminded Romeria of the sparring match Shadow and Lethe had against Ike and Ilyana, the latter of the two standing next to her looking like she would pass out from hunger at any moment. Romeria silently wondered just where in the world did Ilyana put all the food she ingests. With the meeting over with, Ilyana requested that they go to the nearest cafeteria to get something to eat, Romeria's stomach voicing its agreement loudly. The princess however, decided to turn in for the evening and bid her temporary bodyguards farewell, leaving the two to wander the cathedral alone.

The next morning Ike and his small, carefully chosen group had arrived at a small village that was supposedly along the smuggling route. The group consisted of Ike, Shadow, Mist, Lethe, Mordecai, Marcia, Jill, and Titania. "Shadow are you sure this is the spot?" Ike asked. "It's supposed to be one of the spots these guys go through when they're transporting their 'goods'. The biggest problem we've been having is that they have multiple routes to chose from and they do so randomly, we just don't have enough resources to take care of this and one other problem we've been having." Shadow said solemnly. It wasn't long before the two laguz of the group caught wind of a peculiar scent wafting in the breeze. Lethe sniffed the air a few times before catching the attention of both Ike and Shadow. "Someone's coming you guys." Lethe called out. At that moment, Ike and Shadow ceased all conversations and ordered everyone to get in formation. And deep in Shadow's young mind he prayed that the empresses hunch was wrong.

And there you have it folks that was Chapter 19. Hmmm I wonder how long it will take me to get chapter 20 out. If i'm being pessimistic here i'd say another two or three years. But i'm not and I say less than one month, but who knows anyway Leave a review please. also sorry if everything seems short.