A/N
So, two more OCs are showing up in this chapter. One is BritRecon's OC Matt, who appeared briefly in chapter 18, and the other is someone else's. Read on and find out. Oh, and if your OC does make their appearance in this chapter, please please leave me a review or PM to let me know how the portrayal was. I want to be sure I get it right.
Disclaimer: All content from the games, including characters, settings and plots, belong to Nintendo. My OC belongs to me, and the other OCs belong to other people.
Chapter 20
Escape
"Looks clear to me," I whispered to Kezhda as we lurked in the shadows of an alley not far from a hidden entrance to Hetzel's mansion. Just a few minutes ago all the city guards in this district had rushed off to respond to a disturbance in the docks, but still Kezhda insisted that we wait.
"Then you aren't looking close enough," Kezhda murmured. "Now quiet down; I swear you are the loudest whisperer I have ever heard."
He spent a moment scrutinizing the street before us, squinting slightly in the fading light, then nudged me with his elbow and indicated a man standing outside a tavern, smoking his pipe. "There, that's one of Gaddos' men. Two more; there, and there." He pointed to two other men, both occupied with equally benign tasks. "See? Between them, they have this entire street under observation."
"Sooo... detour?" I asked impatiently, eager to get back to the safety of the cathedral. I couldn't help but think of how my last run though a bunch of alleys went, what with getting shot and stabbed and all that other fun business. I took a quick swig of an elixir to keep the pain in my leg down.
"No need for a detour. Just wait." Kezhda cocked his head to the side as though listening, but the only sounds were the faint footsteps of passerby and a small ruckus from a nearby tavern. I was about to ask if he'd been hit over the head recently when a low and distant rumble sounded from the direction of the harbour. I glanced to the south just in time to see a bright flash, then the sky darkened as smoke blocked out the stars. Kezhda smiled and chuckled to himself. "Rhodri, you crazy bastard!"
A few minutes later a man came running down the street, calling out to the first watcher Kezhda had identified. I did not catch everything that was said, but I heard a few words clearly: Warehouse, fire, and hurry.
"There's our distraction," Kezhda declared as all but one of the watchers ran off to help deal with whatever destruction Rhodri's team was causing. Once they were well clear Kezhda whistled softly, and suddenly Alda - the woman who'd treated my wounds - strolled out of the alley across the way. Casual as could be, she sauntered right up to last watchman, smiled, and started talking to him in hushed tones. The watchman grinned and leaned close to her as if he wanted a kiss, but Alda merely reached out as though to pat him on the cheek. A small river of blood suddenly ran down his neck, and as suddenly as he had leaned forward the guard sank back. Alda strolled away, leaving the dead watchman to collapse behind her. From where I stood, he could have been just another drunk passed out in the gutter.
Wow, I thought. These guys are almost as badass as Volke. Almost. I tried to say as much to Kezhda.
"Hehehe, you guys are awesome," I said, not nearly as articulate as I'd planned and for some reason feeling strangely giddy. I cleared my throat in embarrassment, and glared at the elixir on my belt. Medicine here must have side-effects too, I thought, making a mental note to use it sparingly from now on. Kezhda ignored me and waved Elincia and the other two members of his team out of the alley. We pulled up our hoods and headed off down the now empty street, the last leg of our journey to the Mainal Cathedral. All the assassins but Kezhda went ahead to make sure the way was clear of Gaddos' watchers, leaving Elincia and I alone with Hetzel's chief assassin. We made it a few blocks before my curiosity got the better of me, and I moved closer to Kezhda.
"Alright, out with it!" Kezhda exclaimed before I could figure out how to approach the issue. "You've been staring at me for the last five minutes, so just ask what you want to ask."
"You knew I was friends with Nedata and his crew. Why?" I asked.
"Oh, we had you under investigation," the assassin replied as though it were the most normal thing in the world.
I stammered incoherently for a moment before I choked out "W-why?!"
"We thought you were the traitor," Kezhda deadpanned.
"WHAT!?" I cried in indignation. Kezhda motioned for me to quiet down. "Why the hell did you suspect me?!" I demanded, more quietly this time but still inches away from completely losing my cool.
"Well, we knew someone at the cathedral had been bribed, but we couldn't tell exactly who it was. Rhodri, the man assigned to find that out - I think you've met him: big suspicious fellow, very strong, likes to kill people and burn down buildings?" Kezhda waved towards the flickering glow of the burning warehouses.
"Yeah, we've met," I replied, unconsciously rubbing my shoulder as I remembered the behemoth at Numida's party all those weeks ago.
"Anyway, Rhodri identified you as the most likely culprit - after all, mercenaries are notoriously unreliable - and made sure to bring you before Hetzel for interrogation."
"I guess that makes sense," I grumbled after a few seconds. I still wasn't happy about it, but what could I do? "So what's the verdict? Am I still a suspected traitor?"
Kezhda laughed. "No, but the investigation did turn up a few interesting things. For instance, we can't seem to find anything about you before the Daein invasion, and you've been asking a lot of questions about Daein's magical research - a topic on which we share your interest. I rather hoped you would be willing to share what you know."
"Not much. I know they're using elder magic or something like that, and they're experimenting with warp powder, but that's about it," I said, shrugging helplessly. I'm not exactly making a lot of headway.
"Elder magic? Hmmm... What about the mages themselves? Have you seen any of them?"
"No, they're always one step ahead- wait no, that's not right," I said as something finally clicked into place in my head. I probably would have remembered earlier if it weren't for that healing magic making me kinda dopey. Gosh, stupid healing! "This morning when I was in the bookshop, the man posing as the book merchant used magic I've never seen before, then escaped with warp powder." I offered a quick description of the man, but Kezhda shook his head.
"He doesn't sound familiar, but then we haven't been able to identify many of the researchers. Anyway, our focus is on a different branch of their research; you see, for a few years now Daein has been buying a lot of slaves. Most are never seen again, but they've sent a few back to Sienne. Those slaves are... changed. Twisted and violent, completely out of control. We call them Feral Ones, and as far as we can tell there seems to be no cure. You recall the beast that nearly killed your lovely friend Nephenee, yes?"
I shuddered at the memory. That thing... Ugh. "Who could forget?" I replied darkly. "Wish I knew something that could help."
"Ah well, it is still good to have a little more information. But that reminds me; I have been meaning to ask you a question of a more personal nature."
"...okaaay... What about?" I asked hesitantly. I snagged my boot on a cobblestone and felt a nasty surge of pain from my leg, so reluctantly I took a small sip of my elixir.
"Are you courting Nephenee?" the assassin blurted after a few seconds.
"PFFT!" Elixir spewed from my mouth, showering the assassin's boots. "What the- where the hell did- WHAT?!" I sputtered. Why the hell would anyone ask that!?
"I just got the impression that you two were close." Kezhda said, taking a step back at my outburst and shaking some of the liquid off his boot.
"No! What the hell, why would you think that? We're just friends!" I snapped more harshly than I'd intended. Kezhda raised an eyebrow.
"Really? It sounds like I struck a nerve," Kezhda replied doubtfully.
"No! No nerves struck!" I insisted, turning away from him and walking onward. "Can we get back on topic now?"
"Sir Kezhda, how much further to the Cathedral?" Elincia, who must have overheard the last bit of our conversation, asked before I could make a fool of myself... well, more than I had already, at least. I mouthed a 'thank you' to her.
"Just around the corner, Your Grace," Kezhda replied, indicating an intersection. "We are almost at the servants' entrance."
Rounding the corner, we found ourselves facing the Mainal Cathedral's east wing. All the windows were dark, but the soft glow of a single lantern marked the servants' entrance and silhouetted the hooded forms of the other three assassins, waiting patiently for our arrival. Elincia led the way to the door while the assassins formed a perimeter, eyes scanning the empty streets. Elincia took hold of the bronze knocker and rapped gently on the door. There was no response, so she knocked louder. The seconds ticked by, but still there was no response. I couldn't help feeling extremely vulnerable out in the open, and found myself constantly glancing up and down the darkened streets.
There was still no answer from within the cathedral, so finally I stepped in front of the princess and raised my hand to deliver a heavy blow to the door, determined to wake someone. Just as my fist descended, though, the door swung open and my hand connected instead with the very surprised face of the east wing's pompous seneschal, dropping him on his rear.
"Bloody beggars!" the man hollered, as he struggled to get up. "I should have you put in irons for that!"
"I would prefer you simply let us in, dear steward," Elincia replied, pulling back her hood and helping the poor man to his feet. He blanched when he saw who she was.
"By the Goddess! Princess Elincia, is it really you? We thought you were dead!"
"Not I, but many others have lost their lives today. I trust my companions and I can enter?" she asked politely.
"O-of course, please, please come in! Forgive my manners, but I did not-" he stopped abruptly and took a closer look at the assassins as they pulled the door closed behind them. "These men are not guardsmen," he said, suspicion and scorn returning to his voice.
"They are local mercenaries; I hired them to protect me," the princess lied without missing a beat. The seneschal opened his mouth to speak, but Elincia cut him off. "Your guardsmen betrayed me. These men may be sellswords, but at least I know who is paying them."
The seneschal stammered in consternation, but made no further objections (although he did curse under his breath when he saw the dirt I'd tracked onto his pristine floors). He offered to show us to Elincia's quarters, but the princess declined.
"I am sure you understand that after everything that has happened I will be entrusting my security only to people of my choosing, so I do not want to see any guards near my chambers unless I tell you otherwise. Is that clear?" she asked, using her most commanding voice. The seneschal just nodded meekly before rushing off to spread the word.
With him gone, we moved up through the levels of the palace towards Elincia's quarters. Since most of the guards were out searching for Elincia, the halls of the cathedral were completely deserted and we reached the guest rooms without running into anyone else. When we reached the room, though, we found the door jamb splintered as though it had been kicked in. One terrible thought came to mind right away; Al had stayed in the room alone. If someone came looking for Elincia...
"Princess, stay back," Kezhda whispered. He waved one of the other assassins over and ever so slowly swung the door open. I took a quick drink of my elixir - just so that if we were attacked I wouldn't have any pain slowing me down - then followed Kezhda into the room. It was dark inside, but as I stepped in after the assassins my eyes adjusted, revealing a scene of utter carnage; couches were overturned, drapes pulled down, tables and chairs broken, a window shattered, and all the room's various ornaments strewn about the floor. There were bodies, too. In the darkness it was impossible to tell how they'd died, but they looked too tall to be Al. I was about to rush in and search the place for any sign of her, but the sound of a bow being drawn behind me made me freeze in my tracks.
"Don't move a muscle! I've got an arrow aimed at your skull and I'm not afraid to use it!" a familiar voice hissed. The assassins whirled around, but I held up my hands to stop them.
"Al? Please tell me that's you," I replied, letting out a relieved sigh.
"Adam? Gods, what took you guys so long?" Al snapped, lowering her bow. One of the assassins found an unbroken lamp and lit it, providing a clearer view of the trashed room as Elincia entered. Now that I could see the bodies, I recognized them immediately as more of Varus' men. One lay near the door with an arrow in his chest, and the other, much larger man was slumped with his head and neck through the shattered window, dried blood staining the broken glass beneath him. Kezhda barked a few orders, and his assassins spread out to watch all approaches to our room once Elincia was safely inside.
"Lady Alarice!" Elincia gasped when she saw the room. "What happened?"
"Holy shit, Al," I gasped, turning to see if she was okay. To my relief, she had only a few bruises. Part of me wanted to burst out and hug her and the princess and tell them that they were my best friends ever and I was super glad they were both okay, but I realized that was the elixir talking so I clamped down on that urge. Stupid medicine! "You took those guys on alone?"
"Yeah. They came looking for you, Princess Elincia," Al replied in a deliberately casual tone. "Is it true? Did our own guards really sell us out? Wait, why do you have a cane? And who the hell are these guys?"
Elincia and I hurriedly explained the day's events to Al. Her reaction? "So... I took out two guards unprepared and on my own, and you took out one guard when you were armed and ready... hmmmm," she said with a cocky grin, raising one eyebrow at me.
"I'm not sure I like this conversation anymore..." I grumbled.
"Just saying, I'm clearly better at this than you are," Al gloated.
"Hey, I got shot!" I snapped indignantly, pointing to my bandaged side.
"And I didn't. Again, clearly better than you," Al replied condescendingly, still wearing that infuriating grin.
"Do you wanna get shot too? Cause that can be arranged..."
All of a sudden, the assassin watching to door slipped back in and motioned for us to be quiet. "Someone's coming!" he hissed.
Instantly the other assassins spread out and trained crossbows on the door, setting up a perfect crossfire. The assassin closest to the door held up two fingers, and Kezhda hastened to join him. He eased the door open a crack and peeked out, but from where I stood I couldn't see who was out there.
"They're not guards, but they're armed." He started to give hand signals to his squad, but Elincia called softly to hm.
"Please do not kill anyone if it can be avoided, sir Kezhda. There has been too much bloodshed today," she said earnestly.
"As you wish, Your Grace. We'll take them alive." He waited for several seconds in tense silence, and then finally gave the slightest of signals, barely more than a wave of his hand. Immediately he and the other assassin burst into the hallway, eliciting a pair of surprised cries from the two people out there. There were several muted thuds, and suddenly the assassins came back in dragging two struggling forms in with them. The newcomers were forced to their knees in the middle of the room, and found themselves starring down a pair of crossbows.
"Agh! What the hell?!" one of the intruders, a dark dark-haired girl I didn't recognize, gasped.
"So sorry! We didn't mean to cause any problems!" the other intruder, this one a tall muscular fellow about my age, said. Unlike the girl, I recognized this intruder; it was the guy who'd distracted our pursuers in the market. I think he said his name was Matt or something, and his accent sounded a little like an American one... but then I was still kinda loopy from the elixir, so it could've just been my imagination.
"Sir Adam, these people have almost the same speech as you and Lady Alarice," Elincia observed quietly, confirming my suspicion.
Al must have noticed their voices too because she nudged me with her elbow and murmured "There's more of us?" I just shrugged and hobbled over to the assassins.
"Hold on, they're with us," I said before any of Kezhda's men could put a bolt through their skulls. The assassin leader looked to Elincia, who nodded after a few seconds.
"Very well," Kezhda said, his tone conveying more than a little doubt. He waved his squad away. "Back to your posts, and let me know if anyone else shows up."
The two newcomers looked at me in bewilderment as Al and I helped them to their feet. Al pointed to Elincia's bedroom and whispered "Earthling meeting, right now." Elincia hurriedly closed the door behind us, giving us a decent amount of privacy.
"Okay, so..." I began tentatively, examining our new guests as I did. They were both dressed like locals, and they were armed. The only thing identifying them as displaced earthlings was their accent, but even then I was unsure. "Names."
"I'm Beth," the girl with curly brown hair said, eyeing us warily.
The guy was a bit quieter. Odd, I'd picked him out as the leader of the two. "Matt. I helped you guys in the market."
I nodded. "I know, and we appreciate that, but we just need to get a few-"
"Aw, c'mon, get to the point!" Al interrupted impatiently. "You're from Earth, aren't you?" Their jaws dropped, and Al grinned. "Yup."
"Wait, how? I didn't think anyone else escaped!" Matt exclaimed. And it was my turn for the whole jaw-hanging-wide-open thing.
"Say what now?" Escape? We were brought in with the mercenaries...
"Escape, you know, from Nevassa. You weren't there?" he asked. Nevassa? Why would they be there?
"No, I was in Gallia when I arrived," I explained.
"And I was in the ocean," Al chimed in. "But you ended up in Daein... How?" she added, puzzled.
"Daein mages brought us in about two and a half months ago," Matt said. That was right after Al arrived, but the way he said that made me wonder...
"Deliberately?" I guessed.
"Obviously- Wait, you mean you guys weren't?" the girl - what did she say her name was... Beth, that's right - asked.
"We're here purely by accident," I explained. Beth and Matt exchanged surprised looks. Tentatively, I added "What happened to you?"
"I arrived in some kind of dungeon, and the Daeins were right there waiting for me. They seemed kinda surprised, like they were expecting someone else, so they tried whatever they were doing again - that's how Matt got here too. Anyway, they interrogated us - useless stuff like 'where are you from?' 'why are you here?' - I have no idea why but it seemed important to them," Beth explained.
"It wasn't just a prison, though," Matt continued. He shuddered. "They were doing... things to the people in there; most of the prisoners were laguz, and a lot of them were insane. I think they were Feral Ones, y'know like the ones from the games. The human prisoners were almost as bad."
"Holy shit," I gasped. The Daeins must have realized that their new and improved warp magic wasn't working as intended, and now they're trying to figure out what went wrong by bringing people into their own facility... Kezhda's gonna want to hear this.
"How long were you in there?" Elincia asked, her face a mas of concern.
"Not long, maybe half an hour. One of the Ferals got loose while they were taking us to our cells. We escaped through a window while the guards were distracted." Beth explained. "We hid in the town for a while, but once we figured out we were in Tellius we stowed away on a merchant caravan headed for Begnion."
"We've been working as mercenaries since then, mostly just escorting caravans." Matt added. Damn, these two have been through a lot.
"Why did you wait so long to approach us?" Elincia asked.
"We had a hard time getting close," Matt said cautiously.
"Yeah, cause your bodyguards are fucking paranoid. We couldn't get anywhere near you," Beth added, throwing a pointed glare at me.
"Hey, I'm not paranoid..."
Al snickered. "Yeah, you really are."
"Anyway, I figured that you would see us if we got some useful information for you, so I followed that guard captain that I threw off your trail. He's holed up with some mercenaries in the harbour district."
"You found Varus?" I asked eagerly. If a Daein researcher was involved in the assassination like I suspected, and he was still in town, then Varus might be able to tell us where he was. Plus, I really wanted to kill Varus. "Can you take me there?"
"Yeah sure-" Matt said, but Elincia pulled me aside.
"Absolutely not, sir Adam. You are in no condition to be walking around," she protested.
"Your Grace, I feel fine," I said. It was true; I felt little pain in my legs because the elixir and healing magic had kinda numbed... well, everything. "And I have an elixir with me just in case."
"Lady Alarice could go instead," she suggested, but I shook my head.
"Look at her, she's been up all day waiting for us and she looks exhausted." More importantly, I knew what an interrogation of Varus might entail, and I refused to let Al or Elincia to have anything to do with that.
"Very well, but do be careful," she allowed reluctantly.
"Thank you, Elincia," I replied quietly. I opened the door and called out to the assassins "Kezhda! Got something you might want to hear."
As soon as he found out that Varus might have information on the Daein mages, Kezhda wasted no time sending word to Hetzel, then proceeded to escort Matt and I personally to Varus' hideout. En route, I gave Matt the description of the mage who I suspected was a Daein researcher, and he recalled seeing a man who looked like that when he first appeared in Tellius. Another team of assassins met us at Varus' location, and wasted no time surrounding the shabby, two story store in the middle of the slums that looked like it had been abandoned for some time. Since we weren't trained like the assassins, Kezhda insisted that Matt and I stay clear of any fighting, but he did agree to let me come in once he and his men had captured Varus. And so it was that I found myself once again skulking in a back alley next to the deadly but friendly killer.
"So just to be clear, we're gonna take Varus alive, right?" I asked as I watched Kezhda lovingly prepare an array of knives, blades and other tools of death, doom and destruction.
"Of course, but there are at least six mercenaries protecting him. I assume you are not quite so concerned with their well-being," the assassin explained. Despite his impeccable manners, I couldn't help being a little disturbed by his approach to killing; it almost seemed like an art, and one he took a bit too much pleasure in at that. As I watched, he lined up a crossbow shot on the lone sentry at the back of the house and waved one of his men forward. The other assassin got as close as he could without getting spotted, then Kezhda shot the sentry in the throat. As soon as the sentry was hit, the other assassin darted forward and caught the body, guiding it soundlessly to the ground.
"Alright, everyone move in," Kezhda whispered as he reloaded his crossbow, waving the other assassins forward. As we'd been instructed, Matt and I stayed several steps behind.
"Are you sure you trust these guys?" Matt whispered. "Back home, they would be called serial killers."
"They saved my life, and I tend to trust people who do that. It's why I trusted you," I pointed out. "You sure you wanna come in? Things could get ugly in there." Honestly, I wasn't even sure I wanted to in there if they had to... persuade Varus to talk.
"If he can lead us to that mage, then I'm in. You don't know ugly until you've seen their experiments," Matt replied with grim determination.
"Fair eno-" I was interrupted by a shout as the assassins busted into the hideout through doors and windows. For several seconds there was a chorus of dull thuds and a few muted cries, then silence. Thinking it was over, I hobbled in through the door.
"Okay where's the piece of..." Aaannd I found myself staring at a standoff; one assassin lay unconscious on the floor, while Varus trained the assassin's crossbow on Kezhda. "...shit."
"Put the weapon down," Kezhda said evenly as his men spread out and surrounded the former guard captain. "We just want to talk."
"No way," Varus growled. He looked scared.
"Varus!" I snapped. "All we want to know is who hired you, and where they are. That's it!" And I plan to hand you over to the Apostle for execution later, but no need to mention that now.
"Do you have any idea what they'll do if they find out I talked?"
"You should be more worried about what we'll do to you if you don't talk," Kezhda hissed.
Varus gave a panicked, almost hysterical laugh. "You really have no idea what you're dealing with, do you? Fine, I'll tell you something; go home and forget about this! If you pursue these people, you'll end up dead too."
"That's not good enough! We know your employer's still in town!" I bluffed.
"You'll never find him, and nothing is good enough to get me out of this," Varus replied, his face becoming strangely calm. He looked past us, eyes unfocused. "I did what I thought was best for my country, keeping it out of a war it has no stake in. I failed, and now I will either be beheaded as a traitor or quietly killed for my failure." He looked right at me. "But I am a soldier of Begnion, and I will die on my own terms!"
"NO!" I screamed as I realized what he was doing, but Varus just smiled, brought the crossbow up under his chin and squeezed the trigger.
A/N
Well, that wraps up the assassination plot. This leaves me a few chapters for fluff and character development (yay), and then I can get to the war with Daein (YAY). Anyway, on to more important matters. The other OC to appear in this chapter, Beth, was submitted by RequiemForNightmares. There may yet be a few other Earthlings locked away in Nevassa, though. Hehe, obvious hint is obvious. If you read the chapter please leave a review to let me know how I'm doing, I could really use the feedback.
In other news, I finally got Awakening, and it is unbelievably awesome. To all you guys who told me to go and get it ages ago... (sigh) you were right, and I am stupid for not listening to you earlier.
Responses/Stuff I gotta say
BritRecon: So I had to make a slight change to the Nevassa part of your OC's backstory to fit with the overall plot/plan for this fc. I hope that's okay, and apologize if it is not.
Sine Gloria: You remembered correctly, Hetzel is indeed a reluctant baddie in the games. His character and part in this story are not quite canon, and I based them on two ideas
1. Despite being a card-carrying bad guy, he did nurse Rafiel back to health and then free him, and...
2. I've always kinda wondered what would have happened if Hetzel had the balls to oppose the rest of the Senate.
I threw in assassins because I love Assassin's Creed and figured a clandestine organization was the best way to take on the Senators (short of decapitating them, that is).