Welcome back to my first (published) fanfiction! I really had some trouble writing this one, mainly for the fact of not trying to have an OP OC, but... Just read the story and lemme know how OP he is :)

Chapter Two: Having someone important...

Looking down at his captors-turned allies, Zyre couldn't help but notice there was another person with them. A Brown-haired archer, possibly from the Castle's reserve guard, or another position of minor importance. It didn't matter much, as he wasn't going to have time to acquaint himself with any of the warriors on the field, as another force had just arrived from the north, a red-haired man along with a blue one stood at the front of the small army.

He wasn't the only one to notice their presence, as Lyn had made the announcement to her band of soldiers that relief has arrived. Feeling some unrest come with the newly arrived troop, Zyre rushed as fast as he could to inform Lyn and her allies of the foe's numbers, only to quickly change his direction as feathers fluttered in front of his face. He was too late. Florina was already heading out, and there were several archers waiting for her.

Cursing his long reactions since his sealing, Zyre nearly sprinted, in vain, to catch and warn the Pegasus Knight. Realizing he was losing ground on her, he reached to his side and grabbed the handle, then reached for the steel on his back. In one swift flicking motion, the steel unfolded into a Great-Axe, and he attached the wooden handle to the bottom of the already existing handle. When the two pieces met, they began to softly glow until Zyre twisted the handle into place, fusing the weapon with it's new grip.

Looking up to see how many archers had spotted her, he was nearly in a panic. Nearly all of the archers were already aiming and were about to fire. Opting for a more accurate approach, Zyre decided it best he try to kill the closer enemies with his daggers, then use the axe at either a close range, or as a hefty projectile.

His method proved quite effective, downing half of the archers in only a few throws, and an axe swing (poor bastard was nearly cleaved in half!), he made his way to finish off the last 3 that were out of his original range. Two more dagger, two more dead bodies.

Last one, but the previously unaware archer had long noticed the Pegasus Knight, and, as his comrades before him, was drawing an arrow and preparing to fire. He was well out of range for Zyre's daggers to effectively wound him, so he deemed this a last (and painful) resort.

Letting the axe fall to the ground, Zyre took several steps back, and broke into a sprint. Just before he passed it, he grabbed the axe, and with a grunt (and a few cracks), flung himself off of the ground and into a spin. Letting out a cry, he flung the axe.

Needless to say, it found it's target, but not before the bastard loosed his arrow. Would the Gods be so unkind, and blew a stronger gust of wind, it would have found it's mark, but it was slightly off, and the only damage done was frightening the Pegasus.

Deeming Florina as safe as she could be at the moment, he hurried to retrieve his daggers, not caring or bothering with the axe, as he found his back slightly heavier, and with wood at his side. He found that his charge didn't go unnoticed, and was swiftly met with cavaliers and mercenaries. Ignoring the pain in his right arm, he got into a defensive stance, prepared to deter any and all attacks… from his enemies.

Moving only slightly, he avoided an arrow heading for his chest. Not breaking his stance very much, he turned to see who had fired the arrow, and he was surprised to who it was.

His assailant, or who he thought at the time was a girl a good distance away. She was in light armor, brown (in some form or another) dominated her mid-section, with green dominating the top. Green hair, green bandana, and green eyes.

She was holding, what seemed to be, an old and worn-out bow, and had her hand drawn back away from it. She had fired the arrow at him, but much to his surprise, an enemy standing between the two had turned to see who had fired as well.

Bad choice, as he found his head nearly separated from his torso in a matter of seconds. Not only were his enemies shocked and surprised, so was the archer-girl.

He wasted no more time than needed to dispatch the other foes that surrounded him. In a flurry of blades and blood, only one figure remained standing. Everything about him was different. He was no longer an assassin, he was a full-blown monster.

Something familiar in his mind had snapped, and he could hold it back no longer. He was covered in blood, most on his arms and chest, completely covering his blood from the previous night. Even though he was cloaked in crimson, he sent a chill down anyone's spine unfortunate to set their eyes upon him, and the deepest red was in his eyes.

No longer the gold of the Morphs, or the blue Lyn had seen before. This red was deeper than the fires of Hell.

He wasn't Zyre anymore, he was something that made the Gods tremble in fear. Years of torture, and years of fending for himself in the realm of the Dragons had tempered this side of him.

His senses began to drown out, and he could feel himself slipping into the hatred, his only drive left after the events of his life. He became unstoppable on the battlefield, lashing out at any foolish enough to approach him, and chased the ones who ran like they were animals, which wasn't too far from the truth…

The battle lasted mere minutes, Lyn met with Eliwood's troops near the middle of the battlefield, and after warning the villagers of the battle, decided to move north towards the castle.

They were soon greeted by the horrors left by their new comrade, but the more shocking thing, was that there were two new soldiers for every corpse. The remainder of the Laus army was serious about holding Castle Caelin, and killing the young lords attempting to retake it.

"I really do wish we could've met again under different circumstances," Lyn directed toward a cloaked man, "But I wouldn't want anyone else at the moment. It's sure great to have you here Mark, and I know you'll direct us wisely!" The man Lyn was talking to, nodded, but held his head lowered, allowing the hood of his cloak to hide the blush creeping across his face. He was used to praise, but something about words from Lyn had extra effects on him...

With Mark reunited with his old allies of Caelin, the combined force moved towards the castle, routing any opposition before they could pose any significant threat. Mark was glad to have everyone that Lyn brought with her, while Lowen and Marcus were capable knights, he was still learning their weaknesses, something he knew about Kent and Sain. Rebecca had talent from years of hunting, but Wil was more experienced in actual combat, and was more comfortable with taking the lives of enemies.

Florina was the much needed air-control: Helping others with their battles, scouting ahead, letting him view the battle from the air, and various other actions in-between. Lyn herself, although she wasn't constantly facing battles, fought even better than when he last saw her, letting him observe how much she's grown... as a warrior, of course…

Mark shook his head, he couldn't start thinking about those kind of things in the middle of a battle, especially one that could decide the fate of his friends and the Marquess of Caelin.

With his allies in position, he ordered the march towards the castle, where the last resistance should be. When they were close to the front entrance, they heard the clashing of metals, along with pained groans. The order to halt was given, and all the members marching were standing several meters away from the hulking mass of moving armour, and the battered form of the assassin. Zyre was still alive, but terribly wounded, seeing as he could no longer hold his right arm up.

Before they arrived… (flashback, "Flashback Dialogue" 'Flashback Thoughts')

He could feel his body coming back under his control, but along with control came the pain of his fractured arm. He had ignored it for this long, but it would see no rest, as he was fast approaching the front of the castle.

He was met with minor resistance, until he reached the doorway. His advance was halted by a large man, in a huge set of armor. His name was Bauker, commander of the Imperial Guard of Laus.

"You've done well to come this far, boy. However, your pathetic excuse of retaliation ends with this battle!" Bauker lurched forward, his armour undoubtedly heavy, but as he moved he began to pick up speed, eventually breaking out in a sprint.

Surprised that the man could even RUN in the armour, let alone sprint, gave Zyre a small taste of his training and strength. If he were to hit him, Zyre's journey of knowledge would be ended before it even began.

He noticed the weapon the knight was using, and instantly knew that his only option was to stay at a reasonable distance, but not believe that his distance protected him from the weapon. Bauker had a javelin, making him a threat at close-quarters as well as medium distance in battle.

'I can't make careless mistakes,' Zyre began to think to himself, his right arm slowly reaching back and grabbing the folding-axe off his back, 'so I have to adapt quickly. This won't do me much good as a weapon with my arm fractured, but I can still use it in it's current state...' As he thought of what would happen should he need to use the axe, he attached it to his right forearm.

Good thing his weapons always have more than one use… Blow after blow was dodged by the assassin, seemingly dancing around the lance as it was brought forward towards it's target, but Bauker soon adapted to his opponent's movement style and the lance was soon biting flesh.

Realizing that he was obtaining more and more wounds while attempting to dodge, Zyre opted to switch to a more defensive stance. Holding his shield-axe in front of his body, he started to absorb the blows from the lance.

Bauker found this quite annoying, but he had observed a delayed reaction involving his opponent's shield-arm. Bauker decided to push Zyre's arm to the breaking point, and began slamming his lance harder and harder into his foe's shield.

He was rewarded for his actions with a sickening crack, and his opponent groaning in pain, dropping his now-useless arm to his side. What Zyre did next slightly surprised the Commander.

Instead of conceding defeat at the loss of use in his shield-arm, he simply switched his dagger from an upward position, like a sword, to an underhanded grip, more like an assassin's dagger, and extended his left arm in front of himself, issuing a challenge.

"Hmph, so you still wish to continue? What are you going to do with that measly dagger, when my armour's strong enough to withstand direct strikes from axes? You should just admit your defeat and make this less pathetic of an end!" As Bauker finished taunting Zyre, footsteps began to come into earshot, but neither warrior turned to greet whomever was approaching. Whoever let himself be distracted was the one who lost the advantage…

Back into it…

The army under Eliwood's command were amazed, yet horrified at the sight. The man standing against the metal giant had no visible armor, an injured (and unusable) arm, and the only weapon he had was a dagger.

While Bauker looked to be in perfect condition, Zyre had ragged, unsteady breaths from his overexertion and his wounds, both new and old, were open, letting his blood flow freely onto his body (Not that they could see it clearly through the rest of his bloodstained clothes and body.)

The group individually held their own expressions, most were of horror, though, there were a few that respected the man throwing himself against the titan, with his weapon being almost nothing against the plate-armour.

One moment, Zyre was across from Bauker, the next, and he was in front of the man's plate-shield. Everything happened in a flurry of metal… But after the exchange, Zyre was flung back past his starting position, and landed face down, limp.

Bauker wasn't faring any better though, as he soon fell onto one knee with his helmet in front of him. He soon found his hands bracing the grounds in front of him, as blood pooled around them.

"We've been… defeated? Such… a shame… Lord Darin… I hope you find the right path…" As the words left him, Bauker soon found himself in the same position as Zyre, neither moved, not Bauker, nor Zyre, or anyone from Eliwood's army.

Nobody moved forward until a shadow flew over them, and then landed next to the fallen assassin. The lavender haired girl dismounted and knelt next to Zyre's broken and bloody (mostly, not his) form, pressed her head against his chest, and then called out for Serra.

"Serra! H-he's still br-breathing! I need your help, please!" Snapping out of the trance, the cleric in question rushed over to where the Pegasus Knight was, readying her staff as she approached. Soon following her was a red haired woman on a horse, also bringing her staff up to charge some energy into it before she arrived.

As the healers were focused on the wounded man, the leaders were discussing their next plan of action with the Tactician, Mark. While Hector, the Blue haired Lord opted for a direct charge into the front of the castle and then rush through the remaining forces, Eliwood and Lyn proposed a more safe (if not sensible), slower approach to clear each floor of enemies, before reaching Marquess Darin to confront him about Marquess Elbert.

They were soon joined by Sain, Kent, Lowen, and Marcus. They were all discussing the happenings during their adventures, and what knights of Pharae were doing in Caelin. Kent looked somewhat excited to be talking to fellow knights, as did Lowen and Marcus, Sain however, kept glaring over his shoulder at the tent that held Zyre.

He wasn't bothered about him being on his side as much as he was with who the person that rushed to his aide was.

Florina, the one who feared men, had rushed up to him and was physically touching him, checking for signs of life on the assassin. Any time he even thought of approaching her, she fled from him, and anytime he tried to speak to her, Lyn was there to intervene.

They were comrades, and yet they barely spoke as such, yet Zyre could come around and earn her trust in just a day? This aggravated Sain to no end, knowing how swiftly this brigand, who was originally tasked with ending his lord, and her friend Lyn's life, had wormed his way close to Florina.

He wasn't going to stand for that, and would confront him about it when he was healed… "Sain!" Lyn called out, "Uh? Ah! Milady Lyndis! My apologies for being inattentive! Why were you calling upon me?" Sain probably would've continued acting that way, had it not been for Kent punching him in the side.

"She was asking what was so interesting about the wounded tent." Kent said, ashamed of his sub-commander's lack of attention. "Oh, uh, nothing much. I was just wondering… Why is Milady Florina in that place, she wasn't injured was she?" Sain asked, replacing his lie with a semi-truth, though he knew the reason why she was there.

"Florina's fine, though you do raise a valid point, why is Florina in a place such as that?" Lyn began to ponder herself before walking over to the tent.

Before entering, however, she was nearly bowled over by Sain, who had rushed ahead as Florina screamed. Opening the tent, they were greeted by Florina rushing to hide behind Lyn, and with Zyre as he stood up and searched for something in his pack.

Sighing, Lyn turned to her friend. "Let me guess, he startled you again, didn't he?" While Florina nodded, Lyn couldn't help but notice that she was blushing furiously, then turned to see the cause of it. Zyre had no shirt on, bar the light bandaging, but he quickly remedied the situation by retrieving another tunic from his pack.

This one wasn't completely black, with dark red being the dominant color, with black and blue trimmings. She noticed that when he recovered his top, Florina's blush had settled considerably, but it wasn't completely gone, but it was hardly noticeable.

Before she could ask Zyre what happened, Sain had approached him, with a… less than friendly aura about him. "What the Hell makes you think you can just lounge about half nude in the presence of women!? You're quite lucky you're injured, otherwise I would have to take action against your barbaric actions!"

Sighing, Zyre reached up and started to massage his temples, "I just recently awoke, and I'm already being yelled at…" "Sain, ease off of him, he did get injured fighting for us…" Lyn interjected. "I understand that, but I don't believe that he just awoke," Sain began, "he could've been plotting some heinous actions against the beautiful Florina!"

Zyre, growing irritated by the knight's accusations and arrogance, let out a soft growl. "I'm still right here, you know. And I'm nothing like a bandit or a wolf, I'm human as well, whether you chose to believe that is up to you though." With that, Zyre grabbed his pack, attached his axe to his back, then exited the tent.

"H-hey! Wait!" Florina called, only to be ignored, fueling Sain's ire. "Why did you call out to that brute Milady Florina?" Sain asked, his voice practically dripping venom at this point. "B-because…" Florina started, but her voiced trailed off. "Because… why?" Lyn asked, again, using her motherly tone.

"I still need to thank him…" She said, her face turning a shade of red. "For what?! All he did was run out onto the battlefield and getting himself injured" Sain asked, the venom being replaced with rage. "H-he saved me an-and Huey when we flew out to meet Lord Eliwood!" "And how do you know he was saving you! He could've just been killing for the joy of it!" Sain interjected, having calmed down a bit.

"Be-because-" "Because I told her of what he had done!" A new voice interjected, belonging to the girl with green hair. "Oh? And who might you be?" Lyn asked, unsure of how the girl was related to the matter.

"I'm Rebecca, I was saved by Lord Eliwood and his knights when my village was attacked, so I've been under his service since. Concerning your friend there, I saw her flying towards us, so I decided to scout a bit ahead, then I saw someone tearing through archers like he was getting paid to do so. I saw he was attacking only archers, and decided to duck out of the way and lay low, so he wouldn't think I was his enemy but… I probably messed that up."

"How so?" Florina asked, concerned at Rebecca's fallen face. "After he finished the archers off, he was surrounded by enemies, so I knocked an arrow, and let it fly towards a myrmidon that was between him and myself, but… My bow isn't very reliable at long ranges, so the wind made the arrow miss the target, and head for his chest. Thank the Gods he was able to avoid it, but… it was still too close for comfort…" as she finished her tale Sain couldn't stop himself from saying some… nasty things to himself.

"S-see Sir Sain? Zyre r-really was helping me…" "Well he apparently didn't do a very good job of it, considering you still could've been injured from your fall…" Sain really wasn't giving in to any good things Zyre did during the battle. "The least he could've done was to stay around and properly thank you for all the trouble you've put yourself in for his sake over the past few hours!" Sain exclaimed, then left with a sigh after seeing Florina's eyes.

She was on the verge of crying, and he couldn't bear that on his conscience, and couldn't just blame Zyre, as he wasn't the one instigating tension with everyone. Sighing heavily again, he decided to seek out the rogue to try and let his problems with him be known. He didn't have to search for long, as he found him in a tree, being badgered with questions from Mark.

"Alright, thanks for the information Zyre. I might not have use for you in the coming battle, with your injury and everything…" Mark said, his face slightly downcast. "I have a suggestion, why not pair me with one of the Lords, so they can be a little more lenient in the battles?"

"Hmmm… I may have to take up that offer, and since we need an anchor for him, why not pair up with Hector? You could watch his back while he plows through enemies." "And I shall take up your offer, and after the battle we could partake in a game of chess!" At this, Mark smiled, nodded, then bid his farewells.

As Mark left, Zyre began to lean back onto the tree branch, but stopped halfway to call out to Sain. "I know you're there Sain, and yes, I realized you extremely dislike me." Sain froze, was he easy to read? "Why yes, yes you are. I can tell what you're thinking by your aura, and how you handle yourself. It's really easy once you grasp the basics of it, so if you'd like, I could teach you sometime!"

Sain was in shock, he had come here to give him a piece of his mind, but was batted off with a friendly offer, making Zyre seem like he could care less about his ire! "Listen… I know we- er, I, started on the wrong foot, and for that I apologize, I just don't want to see Lady Lyndis or Florina hurt… You understand, don't you? Having people dear to you, not wanting those people to get hurt?"

Zyre didn't answer, but instead jumped down, and walked away. Sain didn't need his confirmed answer, his actions were loud and clear. He never had people to care about, being alone most of his life. Gods, he had been a fool. Letting his anger get the better of him, and lashing out on someone who never had a family, or a comfy place to call home…

Then he brought himself back, he was here on a mission: To kill his Lord, Lady Lyndis. He didn't deserve sympathy, especially not from Lady Lyndis or Lady Florina. He sighed yet again, here he was, arguing with himself instead of resting for the upcoming battle… Zyre sure did have a strange effect on people...

(A/N) I'm seriously trying not to make Sain such a huge asshole... but it's kinda just gonna happen, since he has the strongest connection with Florina (Y'know, aside from Lyn.) I'll try to have some other characters play a more prominent role in the story in side-stories, but other then that, would mostly just be mentioned during battles or other important events. I sincerely hope you can see the pairings I've planned out... ;) Until next time, Kerota, out.