THIS STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR BOTH THE DAO GAME AND VALKYRIA CHRONICLES SERIES
Be sure to leave a review with your opinion on the story and if you like the story, FOLLOW it for more updates.
Also, be sure to check out my other fanfiction, a triple crossover between Fate Stay Night/ Supernatural/ Smite
Naggiar Plains, Gallian camp, War Room.
The whole Gallian camp was in uproar, the rumor was that an unknown assailant was targeting Gallian soldiers to test new chemicals weapons on them and naturally everyone was worried that they might be next. Squad 1 and squad 5 had arrived and secured the camp along with a dispatch from the regular army lead by major Greenhorn.
Welkin's squad mates were anxiously waiting for him outside the tent to learn more about Alicia's incident. Welkin's proposal was to form a search team and search for the assailant, but the major was downright opposed to the idea of wasting resources for a lowly militia soldier. Welkin made an effort to convince the major otherwise due to the peculiarity of the situation, but it was futile, like most of the army high ranking officers he cared only for the regular army's troops and didn't give a damn about the militia.
"Unless you want to be relieved from your duties permanently lieutenant, I suggest you step outside. There's nothing more to discuss here." The tent's cover opened violently and Welkin walked out obviously angry.
"I guess that didn't go well, huh?" Largo asked rhetorically, Welkin shook his head disappointed.
"Have you told them about the poison that was found on the arrowhead?" Rosie asked, he nodded. "Did you tell them that it wasn't a known poison?"
"I did, I also told them that they may target regular army troops next and that Alicia's may only have been a test hit….He completely ignored me, how can they be so ignorant? What if the Imperials are planning on using that poison as a weapon on the field? By the way, has Zaka's team reported anything?"
"Boss?!"
"Speak of the devil!"
"Boss, you have to come with me. It's important." Zaka said distressed.
"What is it?" Welkin asked.
Zaka approached him, carefully whispered in his ear. "I think we found the assailant or assailants to be precise. There are two of them; women both."
Everyone blinked in shock "Where are they?" Welkin asked.
"Since you told me to keep it quiet, we smuggled them inside your tent and told the other two to guard them."
"Let's go!" Welkin started walking when Zaka grabbed him by the shoulder. "I should warn you! Don't underestimate them. They put up quite a fight before we subdued them."
"You shot them?" Welkin asked.
"No, you told us not to unless it was necessary. But we knocked both of them unconscious. We also carried their belongings with them. A bow and a sword; we stashed them in your chest."
"No guns?" Welkin asked, Zaka shook his head. "Ok, let's go." They all fast walked to his tent.
They entered the tent where Emile and his brother Oscar greeted them "Listen to me, you can't tell about this to anybody, not until I finish questioning them. Okay?" Welkin said seriously and looked each of the siblings straight in the eyes. They nodded. "Nice, you're dismissed, if someone asks me tell them that I'm retiring for the night."
They headed for the exit when Oscar turned around and stared at Welkin. "If they are the ones who hurt Alicia make them pay."
"Yeah, Alicia was like a big sister to us. We grew up our whole lives together In Bruhl and Alicia was always there for us." Emile said in an angry voice.
Largo sighed "Okay kids show's over. Go back to your duties and let the commander take care of it. And remember…."
"Not a word to anyone." The said in unison, Largo smiled and they walked outside.
Meanwhile, Welkin and the other were observing the captives. They found them really peculiar. Everything on them struck them odd. Their clothing, their choice of weapons even their appearance; one of them had pointy ears.
"Zaka, just in what kind of fight did you get into?" Welkin asked.
"They were already like that when we found them commander. The only thing we did was to give them an extra bump at the back of the head just to keep them quiet."
"Hey Boss! They are awake. " Largo said.
Welkin approached them and observed them. One of them had short red messy hair and she was wearing a leather jerkin and a leather skirt. You could tell she had recently participated into a serious fight due to the scratches all over her hands and legs and the dirt on her clothes and face and also the condition of her clothing. And the other one had long dark black hair down to her shoulders and she was wearing a purple robe with embroidered golden wing-designs.
Welkin was momentarily lost in her abnormally large emerald eyes. "They both seem confident, despite their situation."
"What? Are we getting the silent treatment now? I thought you were going to question us." The black haired woman said contemptuously.
"You're here, because you shot my subordinate." Welkin said briskly.
"And why do you think it was us?" The red haired woman asked.
"We found a bow with you and she was shot with a poisoned arrow, so…." Welkin explained.
"Since you already looked through our belongings, then you would have seen that my bow is cracked, I can't fire any arrows with that, it would break in two if I tried. Besides, I have no arrows with me." The red haired woman replied.
"Maybe it cracked afterwards, the thing is someone was shot with an arrow and you were found in the vicinity with a bow in your possession, no matter how I look at it, you're suspects." Welkin said in a confident tone, in an effort to intimidate a confession out of them.
The red haired woman was the one who answered him. "We are…lost. We were forcefully taken from our homeland and we somehow ended up here, wandering. We were looking for a settlement, but instead, we got ourselves into this mess. We are sorry about your friend, but we are not the ones who killed her."
"Killed? If they were the perpetrator they would have known that Alicia was just wounded. Also, their excuse sounds believable considering their condition, but what if they are lying…."
"Just look at us, you can tell from one glance that we are not from here. If we were spies or assassins we would have tried to blend in and not wear so fancy clothes that stand out." The black haired woman said, interrupting his train of thoughts.
Welkin walked away from them and proceeded to discuss the matter with his team " What do you guys think?"
" I don't know boss, their excuse seems rather lame if you ask me." Largo said.
"I'm with Largo in this one. Besides, who uses bows nowadays? Rosie added.
"I agree with the other two, but…maybe, they are telling the truth. I mean what kind of assassin or spy would dress like that." Zaka said.
"Hmmm…." Welkin let out a long sigh. "Release them." He said out loud.
"Are you sure boss?" Largo asked questionably.
"Just so you know, I don't like this." Rosie said disapprovingly.
"We can't keep them here forever. Untie them and I will take full responsibility if anything happens. You two can stay at the refugees' camp."
"As you wish!" Largo walked behind them pulled out his combat knife and with a quick move, he cut their ropes.
"Thank you!" The red haired woman said. "We won't cause you any trouble, we will stay here a few days and then you'll never see us again."
"I will lead you to the refugee camp then." Welkin said.
"Shall we come with you?" Zaka asked him.
"No, it's okay, Take the rest of the day off. You're dismissed." Once his squad mates were out the black haired woman spoke. "That subordinate of yours, was she someone of importance to you?"
"Not was, is!" Welkin said distinctly.
"Is? Then, is she alive?" The black haired woman asked.
"Yes, she's being tended by the doctor as we speak." Welkin said; for a few moments he remained silent as his feelings about Alicia came to surface, but he quickly found his composure. "Follow me and keep a low profile." He said.
They walked through the camp which had calmed down mostly, most of the soldiers were sleeping in the tents and the few of them who were still awake were too busy with themselves to notice them which made their trip easier. They were walking past the infirmary where Alicia was being operated, due to the lack of personnel there was only one doctor inside, Fina, her other two sisters were tending to the wounded from the rest of the squads who were injured during the battle. Welkin heard a single scream of pain from inside. It was Alicia's.
"Alicia!" Welkin shouted and without thinking he barged in, leaving the other two alone. "What happened?" He asked panicked.
"Commander! She suddenly woke up, I had given her a sedative so I could operate her. I was waiting for it to take effect before I started, but it didn't. So, I gave her a bit more and just when I thought it was okay, she woke up. She's in shock. Can you hold her still while I massage her chest, so that her heart rate will return to normal."
The tent's front cover opened violently and the black haired woman stepped in. "Let me handle this!" She said in a commanding tone.
"Hey, who are-" The doctor tried to ask her, but Welkin intervened.
Welkin stepped between Alicia and her and glared at her "Don't even try to touch her." He said in a menacing voice.
"Andraste's sake human! Let me help. You trusted us enough to untie us, I can save her, trust me." She looked him right in the eyes, her bright emerald eyes reflected his, a long moment passed before Welkin backed off and made way, she rushed to Alicia's side and put her hands atop of her chest. Her palms glowed a soft green.
Welkin was about to grab her hand when he saw the light, but a hand from behind stopped him. It was the other woman who shook her head in a way that told him. "Trust her."
"That should be enough." She wiped the sweat of her forehead and then grabbed with one hand the arrow protruding from her chest and with the other one she pressed her down. The medic was watching her in awe. "Now for the hard part. Hey, you! Come here and press the wound once I pull the arrow."
"But she may bleed to death, if you pull out the arrow without the proper medicine for her blood flow." The doctor objected.
"No she won't, I managed to slow down her blood flow, but I still want you to apply pressure to the wound." The doctor put up puzzled face, but in the end she agreed.
"One, two, three!" She forcefully pulled out the arrow with a swift move and a small stream of blood gushed out, splashing her on her face. "Press on it!"
Welkin watched with half breath the bandages pressed on Alicia's chest turning red really fast and he panicked. He saw that the black haired woman had started chanting something in a language which he didn't understand. "What is she doing?" he asked the red haired woman beside him.
"What she does best, saving people." She replied smiling
Alicia's body was bathed in a soft blue light, her breathing slowed down and her spams stopped, she was stabilized. "Phew…you can stop pressing on her now."
The medic pulled away the bandages and looked at the wound. "I don't believe it. There's nothing here. How? What did you do? Even ragnite doesn't have such immediate healing effects. The only ones who I can think of with such a powerful healing factor are—"
"Valkyrias, just like the one we faced earlier." Welkin cut in. "You two have some explanations for me."
"Sigh, that's why I told you not to use your magic unless it was absolutely necessary. Now, we're stuck here." The red haired woman said, shaking her head disappointed.
"Oh, relax Leliana, at least they know, we're not enemies now. Besides, we're stuck here for the exact same reason, if you had let me use my magic on those soldiers we wouldn't be here now. And you!" She turned to face Welkin "You actually owe us now that we saved your friend. You should let us go." The black haired woman said.
Welkin blinked surprised at the change of their tone of voice. "I can't let you go after what I've seen. I have questions for you."
"And what happens if you don't like the answers?" She asked.
"We won't execute if that's what you're asking, but you might have to stick around a little longer."
"Figures…" She brushed her black hair out of her eyes. "Ok, ask away."
"Not here, we should return to my tent. Doctor, take care of Alicia and notify me the moment she wakes up." Welkin said, as he headed towards the exit. "By the way, how should I call you?"
"You can call me Leliana." The red haired woman said.
"And you may call me Sinseerelle or Sinseer for short."
"I'm Welkin, commander of the squad seven of the militia. Come with me please." Welkin said.
After a small walk, they were again back inside his tent. "Tell me now, who are you? And what job did you really have near our camp?"
Leliana was the first to speak "We said to you that we were forcefully taken from our homeland and we ended up here, yes? We didn't lie, but there are a lot more to it."
"I'm listening." Welkin said and crossed his hands
"I will tell you, you have to promise me not to freak out and not to interrupt me ok?" Sinseer said; Welkin nodded and she started explaining him about how they ended up here.
What Welkin learnt was literally jaw dropping material; With Valkyrias and their powers, he could deal with, that one about parallel worlds, dragons, darkspawns, mages, knights and other fairytales' content were too much for him, but he had seen it, that magic of that other world, he had seen it with his own two eyes, it was that magic that saved Alicia and for that he was thankful. He decided to just accept it and not overthink it.
"Hey!" Sinseer waved her hand in front of his face to draw his attention. He snapped back to reality. "I'm sorry, it's that all this was too much for me."
"Don't apologize, it was the same for us when we realized that we ended up in another universe." Leliana said.
"And how did you deal with it?"
"We're used to nasty surprises, we met quite a few in our journey, so we adapted quickly to the situation." Sinseer said.
"I see… Normally, I would have to hold you and deliver you to my superiors "When he said that both Leliana and Sinseer exchanged glances. "But since you saved Alicia, you're free to go. Also, I didn't have the chance to say it before, but thank you for saving her."
Sinseer blushed a bit. "You're welcome. I have a question though, about Alicia if you don't mind."
Welkin looked at her curious. "Question?! Ok ask."
"Has Alicia displayed any strange powers?" Welkin and even Leliana were surprised to hear such a thing, meaning that only Sinseer had noticed that something was off.
Welkin frowned "Strange powers?" he repeated, looking at her suspiciously.
"How should I say it? When I used my magic to heal her, I didn't have to use a spell, I just poured my magical energy inside her and she healed herself. I cast only one spell; At the start to slow down her blood flow, but it wasn't me who closed her wound, she did it herself, that blue light she emanated wasn't my doing. That's why it struck me curious, maybe magic exists here in this world in a more primitive form. You mentioned before about some people called Valkyrias and their healing powers, maybe those people are related to us mages, maybe Alicia is one."
Welkin jumped on his seat. "Alicia's a Valkyria? No, it can't be. Valkyrias were said to be extinct, except for that one the Imperials have, there exists none other. No, it has to be something else. Maybe, you're wrong."
"I'm sorry, but she is rarely wrong when it comes to magic, she is a prodigy when it comes to magic stuff." Leliana said.
"What are those Valkyrias' myth exactly?" Sinseer asked.
"The short story is that once upon a time two major civilizations, the Valkyrur and the Darcsens clashed. According to historians, the Darcsens wanted to enslave the people and be the absolute rulers and the Valkyrur came later as saviors of the world. They fought off the Darcsens using their magical powers enhanced by their special armaments, their lance and their shield. The Darcsens knew they were losing the fight, so in a last desperate effort they used a super weapon and burned a whole continents to the ground, in the end the Valkyrur managed to defeat them, but their own kind came to extinction. That happened over two thousand years ago and all this time there were no records of any Valkyrias, what's why everyone considered them a myth rather than history, up until now at least." Welkin explained them.
"And just how powerful that Valkyria is anyway?" Sinseer asked.
Welkin took a big breath and exhaled. "She single handedly destroyed two regiments of the regular army along with two of our militia squads."
"So, they have you pinned down. But if I'm correct and Alicia is a Valkyria you may fight them back." Leliana said.
"That would never happen!" He said in a strict voice. "I could never do this to Alicia, if words gets around that she's a Valkyria then she…they will turn her into a human weapon. She will be used to play the power games of the higher ups and fight for them, she will have no more freedom than a slave."
"I see, I didn't know that you feel that way for her. I should have known better before saying something so insensitive. I'm sorry." Leliana apologized.
"Don't worry, we won't say anything. We'll leave right away and you won't see us again. Only the three of us would know about it and only you could reveal it should you choose that it is wise." Sinseer reassured him, then she turned her gaze to Leliana. "Shall we be off then?" She nodded at her.
"Your belongings are over there." Welkin pointed at his chest beside the entrance. Head south from here, that way you would avoid the war. The next big battles will occur to the north. Take this too." He said and pulled out a knapsack from below his desk. "It's my emergency backpack. It has provisions for about a week, since you are two, it will last for about four days, but I trust you will be able to get by. I'm sorry for not letting you stay in the refugee camp after all."
"It's okay we understand and good fortune to your battles." Sinseer said and walked outside the tent with Leliana.
They were almost outside the camp when they passed behind one large tent, it was the major's tent. They heard angry voices from inside. "How is this possible? Are you sure the report is correct? If it's wrong, you will regret it."
"Sir, I confirmed it with the whole detachment. The imperial have more than one Valkyria!" When they heard the word Valkyria, they froze in place and got closer to listen.
"And why are you so sure that she is a Valkyria?" The angry voice spoke again.
"Yes sir, definitely! She managed to force a whole scouting party to retreat without even using her valkyrian weapons."
The angry voice started swearing loudly, losing any shred of patience he had before. "Are you militia completely useless?! How did she manage to destroy you without her weapons?! "
"Sir, she had different powers from the other. She threw fire and electricity from her hands. And our bullets didn't even reach her. They were being deflected meters away from her."
Glass shattering followed his reply. "Damn it! General Damon won't like this. Tell me, how does she look like, we have to know how she looks, so we could keep the army safe, in case she decides to target us."
"Yes sir, she was average size, short black hair edged with a fringe to her left eye, hazel eyes and also her clothes..."
"What about them?"
"She wore strange clothes. Never seen anything like that before sir. She was not wearing an Imperial outfit like the other Valkyria."
"What she was wearing then?"
"Black pants, black leather skirt with a split and black feathers attached to it and as for her top, I don't really know how to describe it…." the soldier hesitated.
"What's the matter private? You've been really detailed up until now."
"Well, it's somewhat difficult to describe it…It was deep crimson blouse-like with a really, really low cut up front and a black bra."
"Are you kidding me soldier? Who in their right minds would walk around like this in the middle of a war?" The angry voice shouted.
"Sir, I was the first to see her roaming around our camp. I thought she was a refugee at first, but when I approached she became aggressive so I defended myself, she took me out quickly, but I'm sure that what I told you about her is true, I took a pretty good look at her , before passing out."
"Do you know at least what direction she fled to?"
"The others told me that she ran towards Ghirlandaio fortress."
"Imperial territory, there no doubt, she's one of them. I have to alert the higher ups. You! Get out of here and also make sure they bring me another bottle of wine. And also clear up the broken glasses before you leave."
Sinseer and Leliana walked away from the tent. "It has to be her don't you think so?" Leliana asked.
"I think so, the description fits perfectly also I can't think of anyone else more suitable than Morrigan when it comes to terrorizing people this way." Sinseer said chuckling.
"Hehe...indeed, she has her own unique way. So, what do you think we should do?"
"Hmm… That man said that she went towards a fortress. Do you think she went inside or she kept wandering?"
Leliana thought about it for a while and replied. "Knowing her I would bet on the second."
"Under normal circumstances I would too, but these are not normal. I think she already knows we're not in our world. In her position if I was alone I would stay with people here until I get a grasp of the situation and then make my move." Sinseer said.
"Well, it's a risk!" Leliana said briskly.
"I think we should stay with them here for a while. Back in Welkin's tent I think I saw some papers that were saying 'Operation Ghirlandaio'. My gut tells me that our friends here are soon going to assault that fortress and we would be there. If Morrigan is inside I will make sure that she notices our presence before the battle and I will signal her to prepare for a quick escape."
Leliana smirked. "Have I told you that I love it when you make such decisions all by yourself? Is there any reason why you keep asking our opinions, since in the end you do whatever you want? Like when we were about to embark in the Deep Roads and you were roaming around Orzammar hunting nugs for that nug breeder."
Sinseer reminisced the event with a smile. "Ah that! Yes, it was a quite stress relieving activity. We had travelled one week through the snowy mountains and they wanted us to wander off as soon as stepped inside. Hell no! Everyone deserves a break from time to time. Besides, that turned out quite well for you too. I brought you a present remember?"
Leliana chuckled "How could I forget it? Schmooples! I wonder, how he's doing. I hope that Sandal is taking care of him properly. To hell with it! Let's do whatever you want, we got as far thanks to your judgement."
"Hey, I'm pretty good right?" Sinseer said with a smug smile on her face.
"Yes, you are. Now, come here. Before we go and tell our friend that we're staying we should find a quiet place away from prying eyes to make ourselves presentable. I think I saw the baths on our way out, nobody would be inside at this hour. Just the two of us" Leliana smiled impishly at her.
She smiled back at her. "Oh I know what you mean. All this dimensional journey made me so hot and sweaty. I think I need a bath."
"What are we waiting for then?" Leliana grabbed her from the wrist and dragged her through the camp; there was no one around whe they arrived at the baths. They spent the next couple of hours in there bathing, among other things they did to each other.
Sinseer stepped outside of the tub bare-naked and stretched her limbs. She then turend around and faced Leliana who was still in the tub. "So, shall we go announce our friend now that we will be staying a little bit longer?"
"I'm sure, he's ll be delighted..." Leliana asnwered with a small chuckle.