A/N

Sorry this update took so long, writing this chapter really only took me a few days. I'll explain myself at the end. This is just a fluff chapter, setting the stage for the war. Gonna try to get the new Earthlings some screen time in this chapter, too.

Review responses:

Guest #1: Aw, thank you so much! I am glad that my OC is relatable, and I am equally glad to know that the integration of the other OCs is working out alright.

godofmaddness: ...sorry about that, I know I've been kinda teasing people with the Adam/Nephenee ship since chapter 11. Don't worry, though; I'm far from done with those two characters *maniacal laugh!*.

TriforceandSheikahArts: 4am? Jeez dude, get some sleep! The story will still be there in the morning, I promise. In all seriousness, though, I'm glad you like it!

Guest #2: You're right; I forgot to lock the windows! Motherfuc- ARRGH! GUURRRK! *dead*

Disclaimer: In dis disclaimer, I claim to have no claim to any of dis.

Chapter 22

To War

Tellius had a wonderfully rich history... and by wonderfully rich, I mean bloody beyond all comprehension. Seriously, for the last three hundred years Tellius never had more than a decade of peace at a time; it's like they just loved the thought of cutting each other to pieces. Sad? Yeah sure, real tear-jerker, but it made for some awesome reading!

Princess Elincia loaned me a few military treatises a just few days out from the capital (she reads really fast). After that I spent as much time as I could reading, even when I was in the saddle, and when we broke camp on the fifth day I disappeared into my tent with the books and a few candles. The treatises were a treasure trove of information chronicling centuries of conflict between Daein, Begnion and Crimea, and more importantly the battle tactics used by each nation. Daein was the one that interested me the most, seeing as I would be facing their armies soon.

Even before it became an independent nation, Daein was famed for having the finest heavy infantry in Tellius, and like Begnion always maintained a sizeable, professional army even during peacetime. Unlike Begnion, whose Central Army took quite some time to mobilize, Daein had instituted supply reforms that allowed them to mobilize the Royal Army in a single day; this is what allowed them to catch Crimea off guard. They were a formidable force on the battlefield, literally smashing their way through whoever opposed them.

Those strengths aside, I noted that Daein had a few weaknesses. The worst one was that they had almost no light troops to speak of; while their heavy troops were tough on an open field or the rocky highlands of Daein, they would not fare so well in forests or swamps. I grinned evilly when I came to that realization. I could think of plenty of ways to use that against them, mostly hit-and-run tactics, ambushes during a march, and attacks on supply convoys. Attrition could crush them where strength of arms could not, and it might even make it easier to outmaneuver them on the battlefield.

"Adam!" Zihark's familiar voice called from just outside my tent, stirring me from my studies. "Come out of the tent already, you need to train." I growled in frustration, marked my page, and poked my head out the flap of my tent.

"Can it wait? I'm kinda busy," I said. Much as I liked training, it had been too long since I had a good book to read.

"Really, again?" Zihark asked, a hint of sarcasm breaking through his normally even and unflappable tone. "Are you sure you aren't just hiding away from a certain someone?"

"I'm not hiding from anything," I snapped, ducking back inside my tent. Gossip traveled quickly in this army, but Zihark was wrong. I was there because of a good book, nothing more. I'm not some lovesick idiot; I fucked up, and that's the end of it.

"Certainly looks like you're hiding to me," Zihark commented. I grumbled expletives at him and reached for some warmer clothes.

"Alright, fine. I'll finish the book some other time," I said reluctantly. Satisfied, Zihark went off in the direction of the training grounds while I pulled a fur-lined cloak around my shoulders.

Stepping outside into the chilled winter air, I couldn't help but be amazed at the sheer size of the Begnion army. Ten thousand men was a modest force by most standards, but even so they filled the plain with tents as far as the eye could see. That wasn't even the whole force; several Senators had sent troops of their own, or rather Hetzel pledged to send two hundred men and the rest of the Senate eagerly followed suit lest they look poor or disloyal. We had delayed our march today so that the reinforcements, rumored to number between one and two thousand, could catch up. Add in all the non-combatants in the army - cooks, blacksmiths, fletchers, merchants, stable boys, squires, whor... ahem, I mean washerwomen and camp followers - and we would be marching on Daein with almost sixteen thousand people.

Just a few more people than I'm used to, I thought drily as I strode through the sea of tents and unfamiliar faces. Still, the Greil mercenaries remained a tight-knit group, and they all got to pitch their tents fairly close to Lord Ike's command tent at the center of the camp. My own tent was right next to Elincia's along with the other newly minted Royal Knights, which meant I was still pretty close to my old comrades as well.

It took me only a few minutes to find the training area - a square patch of flat, frozen ground in the middle of the Greil Mercenaries' tents - and when I got there, I saw that pretty much everyone was out training. Rolf and Al were feathering targets, Boyd was showing Beth how to wield an axe, Zihark was running through a few drills with Matt, and Ike was sparring against Stefan, their blades working with incredible speed and precision. I was so distracted by their duel that I failed to notice one of the mercenaries jumping back to dodge a thrust from their opponent. We collided, and the other person lost their balance and fell.

"Oh shit, sorry!" I exclaimed as I helped her up. She turned to face me, and I froze. It was Nephenee.

"Hey Adam," she greeted me, her tone a little embarrassed but still friendly as she dusted herself off. "I haven't seen y-"

"I-I've gotta go do some stuff over there!" I cut her off awkwardly. Without another word I hastily turned away and jogged to the other side of the training area. This is exactly why I didn't want to leave my tent! I admitted to myself as I joined Zihark. Not that I would ever admit it out loud...

"About time you showed up," Zihark quipped as he handed me a training sword. He pointed to Matt. "Matt's already had a little sword training, so I thought you would be a good match for him."

"Sounds fair," I said, turning myself towards Matt just enough that I could see him while still making it look like I was focused on Zihark. Matt was cleaning a bit of mud off his training sword; Zihark had probably been knocking him around. Breaking in the recruit, eh? Let's give him a little surprise... "Want me to just spar with him, or should- YAAHHHHH!" I suddenly let out a battle cry and charged headlong at Matt just when his eyes were fixed on his own sword. He reacted just in time, backpedaling to escape the reach of my sword, but I reversed my swing and brought it straight across at his head. Matt had to jerk his head back to avoid getting hit, and for just a moment he was off balance.

"Excellent!" Zihark chuckled. "You should always be on your guard."

Matt got his sword up to block my next attack but I kept up the relentless assault, pressing him furiously and driving him back a few more steps. To my surprise, Matt matched me strike for strike, and even got in a few measured thrusts of his own. Finally, he created enough of an opening to get in a solid swing, but I saw it coming and pivoted out of the way while I deflected the strike. Our blades locked, leaving us standing side-by-side. He threw an elbow but I ducked and stepped behind him, dodging the strike and giving me a great opportunity to put him in a choke hold. He immediately latched onto my arm with both hands, but I was still confident that I had this fight in the bag.

That was easy, I thought as I felt his weight sink. He's going down alread- OHGOD MY SHOULDER! Far from being unconscious, Matt suddenly leaned forward and I went sailing over him to land hard on my back. I was so surprised that I didn't even remember to breathe out on my way down; the ground took care of that for me when I landed.

Even with the wind knocked out of me I kept the presence of mind to roll away, dodging the inevitable strike. I regained my lost sword just as Matt took another swing at me, and I just barely deflected it into the dirt beside my head. I lashed out before he could retract the sword, swinging my foot into the back of his knee. Matt didn't go down, but he was off-balance just long enough for me to get my feet under me, stand, and get out of his reach.

Neither one of us waded back into the fight, but rather exchanged wary glances as we circled. I couldn't keep a grin off my face; sure, Matt almost won that and had a pretty decisive advantage, but now I knew that he was more comfortable grappling than I was. I would keep my distance from now on. Matt murmured a quick apology when he saw me rubbing my shoulder, but I waved it off. I would be fine.

"Not bad," Zihark said to Matt. He motioned for me to attack. "Again."

Before beginning my attack, I took a quick glance to see how the Beth was doing. To my surprise she was giving a good account of herself, even though she was against Boyd. She didn't have the subtleties of combat down yet, but her athleticism was compensating nicely. Looks like the two new earthlings will fit in just fine, I thought with a smile, just before I raised my sword and rushed Matt.

Later that night, after the Senate troops - all seventeen hundred of them - had arrived and made camp, I sat around a cookfire with Boyd and the other earthlings. The nights were getting colder, bringing icy winds from the mountains that swept through the city of tents, and even in our warm cloaks we had to huddle close to the flames for warmth.

"So Adam, I heard you were part of yesterday's strategy meeting," Beth said as she held her hands dangerously close to the fire. She grinned mischievously. "Wanna share Ike's plans, or are you gonna leave us in the dark?"

"Well first, I technically wasn't part of it, I was there as Elincia's retainer," I said, just to clear things up. As it turned out, being a Royal Knight really meant that I made more money and had better armor, but no leadership position in the army. I was literally in the meeting for decoration. "Anyway, the strategy isn't all that elaborate. Ike's going to wait until we reach the border and see what resistance there is to make any detailed plans."

"And the non-detailed version of the plan is..." Beth replied.

I sighed; technically I wasn't supposed to tell people what was discussed in the meeting, but in this case it really wasn't much. "Well, the mountain pass into Daein is blocked by this fortified wall called Tor Garen, so our first objective is to take that."

"I know that, I played the game," Beth said impatiently.

"You mean read the book," Matt corrected her, sticking to the story we'd agreed upon. Videogames just wouldn't make sense to anyone here.

"Oh yeah, right. The book," Beth said, glancing furtively at Boyd. Luckily, he didn't notice her slip.

"Ugh, I hate books. Back to the war stuff, man!" the meathead exclaimed.

"Well after we get rid of their protection at the border, the strategy for the first few days of the invasion is to go in fast and hard and penetrate as far as we can into Daein," I explained, keeping it simple for Boyd's benefit.

Without missing a beat, Boyd and Beth both cried "That's what she said!" There were a few seconds of silence as the two looked at each other in surprise, then they burst out laughing and high-fived.

Al chuckled and tugged at a strand of hair. "Gods help us, there's two of them now," she said quietly to Matt and I.

"It's like a pervy match made in heaven," I joked with an unconscious shudder. "Best keep those two away from Gatrie at all costs."

"Anyway, what you're saying is that the fighting's going to be pretty intense for the first few days," Matt clarified once Beth and Boyd had calmed down a bit.

"Yeah. Well, they expect it to be that way, and they're laying their plans accordingly," I replied. "That being said, with Daein's main strength away in Crimea Ike doesn't expect any serious resistance to last more than a week or so."

"You know, they could plan better if we just told them what's gonna happen," Beth suggested.

Al started to nod her agreement, but Matt and I both cut her off with an emphatic "No!"

"...Why not?" Beth asked, shocked. "We could save a lot of lives this way."

"We could... but we could also completely change the outcome of the war. We shouldn't mess with the timeline," Matt countered with uncharacteristic conviction. He was usually a very reserved person, but this was evidently something he felt strongly about. "Let events take their course, and everything will work out."

"You don't know that-" Al started.

"We don't, but it's not a chance I'm willing to take," I interrupted. It wasn't the first time we'd had this argument, but at least now I had Matt to take my side. "Not only would we be messing with the timeline, but we can't even be sure that we're giving accurate information. We could get a lot of people killed."

"Do you remember what happened the last time you gave me the 'we don't know for sure what will happen' speech? Because it turned out we knew exactly what would happen," Al countered.

I sighed in frustration. She was right in a way, but... "Yeah, but it didn't go exactly like it did in the ga- book. And besides, the book had nothing about-"

"Guys!" Boyd finally hollered, shutting us all up. He seemed a little surprised with himself, but after a moment he spoke again. "Look, I don't really get all this stuff about timelines and books and whatever, but I don't care what those books say; this isn't some dumb story, we're going to war. Look, we've all got each other's backs in a fight, right?" he asked, looking each of us in the eyes. We all nodded. "Good, that's all that matters. Now let's stop arguing about the future and just worry about staying alive, and this time next year we'll be sharing drinks back home in Crimea!"

"You're right, man," I said after a few seconds, clapping him on the shoulder. "We're gonna have our hands full just trying to stay alive. Worrying about the time continuum really isn't so important."

Boyd wasted no time turning the focus of the conversation to plans for after the war, deliberately dragging it in a more cheerful direction as Zihark, Iyana and some of the other mercenaries joined us at the fire for extra warmth. We spent the night talking and laughing, but sadly I couldn't stay as long as I wanted; there was another meeting early in the morning, just ironing out a few chain of command issues with the Senate troops (a few officers thought themselves above an up-jumped mercenary), but I had to be there. With some reluctance I excused myself and made for my tent.

Not far from the fire, I suddenly found myself facing a man wearing the armor of a Begnion scout. A Senate soldier, I noticed. My hand went to my sword hilt without even thinking, but he was faster and caught my arm.

"Relax. A mutual friend sent me," he said, stepping a little further into the light to reveal the heraldry of Asmin - Duke Hetzel's territory - on his armor. Oh, must be one of Hetzel's assa- Then the helm and very convincing fake beard came off to reveal...

"Hey Kezhda... why didn't you just tell me it was you?" I asked, confused by the unnecessary theatrics.

"This is more fun," he said simply. I rolled my eyes, and he continued indignantly. "Hey, skulking around and killing people all the time is not as fun as you might think. I need to loosen up every now and then."

"Yeah sure, whatever," I said, not really caring. I can't believe Nephenee- No, Adam, no jealousy. Happy thoughts, puppies puppies puppies. "Shouldn't you be in Daein already, searching for that research facility Matt and Beth escaped from?"

"Actually, that's why I'm here. We reached out to our contacts in Nevassa, but no one knows anything about this." He pointed back to the campfire. "No one but them."

I followed his gaze to see Matt and Beth. Beth was laughing with Boyd about something, and even Matt's stoic facade had cracked and he was actually talking with Zihark and Ilyana.

"Don't make them do anything they aren't comfortable with," I said. I did not know them very well yet, but they were good people.

"Not to worry, I know exactly how tough it can be to go back to places like that. I will not talk them into anything they are not ready for, but if one of them is willing to guide us there it would be our best shot at finding the place," Kezhda explained. He flashed that obnoxiously charming smile. "And besides, it is a good excuse to see Nephenee."

"And why tell me this?" I asked, ignoring the last comment.

"I know you have an interest in those researchers too, and I am certain that it has something to do with that non-existent past you and a few of your friends share. Thought you might be grateful enough for my help to tell me how it is that you simply did not exist before this year."

Normally I would refuse, but I smelled opportunity. "I tell you what; you give me one of those researchers alive - preferably a high-ranking one - and let me interrogate him privately for as long as I need, and then I'll answer your questions," I offered. Kezhda did not look surprised.

"Are you sure you do not want my help with that? You do not seem the type to use the more... aggressive interrogation methods," the assassin asked. He actually sounded genuinely concerned.

"I'm motivated," I assured him. Privately I was not so sure that I could torture someone, but I reassured myself with the knowledge that information obtained by such methods is unreliable. No need to find out if I'm actually capable of it.

"Then we have an accord," Kezhda happily declared. "Now go on back to your friends."

"Actually I was on my way to my tent," I corrected him, but he gave me an admonishing look as he put his beard back on.

"Adam, I have been to war before. Believe me when I tell you that you must treasure this time with your friends; you may not see them again," the assassin said, his voice uncharacteristically grim. He clapped me on the shoulder, and then he was gone, vanished among the sea of tents.

I glanced back at the campfire and realized this could indeed be one of the last times we were all together. There were so many people in this camp that I cared about, but all the bravado and friendship in the world would not save someone from an arrow or a spell. There was a good chance that post-war celebration Boyd spoke of would have a lot of empty chairs. I headed back towards the campfire.

A/N

So sorry that this update took so damn long. You see, after the last update I spent two weeks writing final essays and such, and I had to do a whole bunch of all-nighters to get them all done. So the day I have to hand the last of these essays in, I woke up with a headache, sore throat, sniffles and all that fun stuff, I was shivering uncontrollably in class all day and it still took me until 4 pm to figure out that those all-nighters made me very sick. So then I was out of commission for several days, which almost made me miss the martial arts test I've spent the last six months training for, and then I had exams to do, and then I went to my workplace Christmas party and had to drink several mixed drinks with an unfortunate name that were actually really tasty and while I learned that I do not get drunk easily despite never drinking before, I also learned that hangovers don't care that I wasn't drunk the night before and they SUCK! ...What was I saying? Right, tardiness. So, I have recovered from my illness and hangover, completed my exams and martial arts test, and while I do not know if I passed I did get assigned to train one of the new students (I think it's a promising sign). Unfortunately, I did not get a single word of this chapter written in that time, but now I have time to write. So there you are. As excuses for me not writing go, this one sounds surprisingly valid.

Just in case I don't get another chapter out before Christmas, I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I send cookies and hugs... Imaginary ones, obviously. Just go eat a cookie when you read this and... hug yourself or someone else or something that doesn't sound quite so weird? I don't really know how that last one works, but it's the thought that counts. As always, please leave a review and let me know what you think.