And welcome back to this.
Last time, Ike had dragged Cecilia and Calvin into the past unwittingly. So after that, they're going to be joining Ike and the gang on their journey and whatever. So here they are, and please welcome Calvin and Cecilia to the epic! =D
By the way, I should mention that they're not mine; Cecilia and Calvin both belong to RoyalFanatic (the same person who owns Lyanna from the last book!), so thank her for the characters if you so happen to like them. So now, the clock is ticking, and we've got a past to save, so let's go!
Chapter 3: Past Phase 1
"So those stories were true! I'll bet you went to pick us off in a time where nobody would know us!"
"Oh, shut up! We're just trying to fix past mistakes here!"
"Yeah, mistakes you don't know about! Stop it!"
Ike finally slammed Ragnell against the ground, a dull thud resulting that got everybody's attention.
"That's it!" shouted the mercenary angrily at the arguing that had ensued for quite some time between Cecilia, Maria, and Fiordiligi. "All of you will shut up, right now!"
The three women stopped, Calvin looking to Ike with a confused expression on his face. Ike looked at Cecilia.
"Now, for you, whether you like it or not, you're stuck with us," said Ike, the acid in his voice apparent. "Mostly because the timeline we were just in probably won't exist when we're back in the future. I want you to shut up and stop arguing with us; we've only got six hours to fix the past, and you bickering about it isn't going to help anybody's case!"
"It won't exist?" shouted the angry female. "What do you mean it won't exist? That is not acceptable by any means! I--!"
"It's only twelve and a half years!" replied Maria just as angrily. "It's not that big a loss, now, is it?"
"Why, you, you, 'mother of a mixed person'!" insulted Cecilia. "I may be angry, but I'm angrier that Calvin and I are going to be completely lost!"
Ike shook his head. "Which is why you'll stay as close to us as you can!" replied Ike dryly. "Now let's stop arguing; we've only got six hours to fix up a mess that could jeapordize the continent and we don't even know where to start!"
Cecilia shook her head angrily. "No thanks to you..." she said under her breath.
Calvin, unable to simply stand by any longer, held his arms out in front of him. "Ms. Cecilia, I don't think it's such a good idea to disagree with Ike at this time," he said simply. "I know you don't trust him now, but please, at least stay with them for me."
The purple-haired female looked to her companion first before finally nodding and facing Ike.
"All right, fine," she said. "But only because of Calvin. That's the only reason I'm going with you right now!"
"We'll worry about the reasoning later," said Maria as she looked around her. "Right now we've gotta find out what happens, where it happens, and how it changes the future..."
"And a friggin' explanation would be nice!" added Cecilia afterwards. "Even if you did tell us of your journeys, there are still a few holes that need to be filled here!"
"Trust me, we would give you an explanation if we had time," said Fiordiligi with a shake of her head, her blank gaze fixed on a tree as if she was talking to it. "But as it is, we need to move, and we need to move fast. Now let's go before we wind up with the same future we had before!"
Ike, Maria, and Fiordiligi then all took off in a random direction, Calvin following along somewhat hesitantly. Cecilia stood rooted to the spot before groaning at the utter lack of politeness the strangers she had only met recently were giving her in that particular moment. Finally, she gave out a frustrated growl and followed the priest before she could get left behind by Ike and his friends.
A while of searching later, the group suddenly noticed a mountain in the distance with a large army surrounding it. There was nothing special about the mountain surrounding it, but the instant Ike laid his eyes on it he knew something was going on there. Noticing this, Ike stopped, his group stopping behind him as he took in the sight.
"I think that's it," he said, pointing to the mountain. "I think that's where we need to go!"
"How are you so sure?" asked Cecilia as she walked next to Ike and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I'm not," replied Ike with a shrug.
"Well, there is an army..." said Calvin as he came up as well. "So if there is an army at the base of the mountain there must be something going on."
"I agree with Calvin," added Maria with a nod. "If we're gonna get anywhere, that area might be one of the first places we should look."
Fiordiligi shook her head at this talk. "Well, standing here talking about it isn't going to save the continent!" she replied fiercely. "Let's move!"
Ike, just a little shocked at this, began to move towards the army a little nervously, Maria leading Fiordiligi right behind him with Calvin and Cecilia both in the rear. Quite suddenly, a thought occurred to Cecilia, and she was quick to speak up about it.
"Hey, if we can't get through the army, what do we do?" she asked.
This caused the group to pause slightly in their movements, and they suddenly realized that Cecilia had a point.
Ike looked into the cave, the entrance beckoning him to enter. It had looked like a normal mountain, but up close the mercenary had noticed a façade at the entrance of a cave that was as grand as the Tower of Salvation, possibly even more grand than that. The columns that formed the façade were not very tall, but they were very ornate. Ike got the feeling he would see this place more, but he still could not tear his eyes away from the sight in front of him.
However, Maria barely gave him any time to wonder about this at all, as she suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the cave just before his invisibility spell wore off.
The interior of the cave was even more grand than the façade, if that was possible. He found himself in a rather simple room, except for the throne that was situated immediately in front of them. To the side, however, Ike noticed an opening leading to a stone pathway that seemed to hover on the air. Ike looked to Maria and nodded, and Fiordiligi, Cecilia and Calvin were already in the room, the two natives of Elibe looking around at everything in awe.
"My..." said Calvin softly. "I never thought I'd ever see anything like this..."
"Spare me the dialogue," replied Fiordiligi snarkily. "My blindness is bad enough as it is, thanks."
"So, Cecilia, that invisibility spell you randomly pulled worked," said Maria. "Mind telling us where you got it from?"
Cecilia suddenly glared at Maria at this question. "No," she said. "Especially not if you're going to ask me like that."
"Hey!" replied Maria, inflamed by this statement. "I don't trust that spell! What if it does something to my baby?"
"Maria, please, know that Cecilia means no harm to your unborn child," replied Calvin to this statement.
Ike had walked to the opening and gazed out onto what he saw, and he saw several towers housing rooms that were connected by a system of stone walkways, all of which were suspended on vast columns of stone that seemed to be rooted in the abyss. The mercenary looked at this and gestured everybdy forward.
"Guys, check this out!" he said, pointing outside.
Maria, Cecilia, and Calvin were all by his side, Fiordiligi holding on to Maria's arm as they all looked out in amazement at the structure before them.
"My god..." said Maria dumbfoundedly. "I never thought I'd ever see anything like this!"
"Yep," replied Cecilia bluntly. "My only problem is, we've got a long way to go."
"Then why don't I hear you people moving?" asked Fiordiligi. "We already wasted four and a half hours getting to this point, so why are you sitting there admiring the scenery?"
Fiordiligi's straighforward comment surprised the whole group, and then they all turned to her abruptly.
"On it!" shouted Ike.
With this, Ike began moving down the pathway that they saw, the rest of the group following behind. However, as they walked down the pathway, the group suddenly began to hear a series of clanging noises in the distance.
"Is there a battle going on?" asked Cecilia.
"Yes," said Ike as he listened more carefully to the sounds. "I think we know what affects the timeline. Come on!"
And with this, Ike bolted down the pathway, Cecilia and Calvin suddenly finding themselves struggling to keep up.
"Hey, wait!" shouted Maria, holding Fiordiligi as she tried to keep up with them despite her pregnancy. "Wait for me!"
After a short time of running towards the sounds of battle, Ike finally looked up at a flight of stairs into a large room, stopping when he suddenly noticed Fiordiligi limping towards him ahead of Maria. When Cecilia had to catch her to keep herself from going much farther, the lady Jericho panted.
"Ike, I can feel the presence of a spirit!" she said. "I think Nergal's behind all this!"
Ike shrugged, looking up the stairs. "I can imagine," he said. "Come on, let's go!"
The mercenary ascended the stairs and beheld an image of absolute chaos before him. Two towering dragons were holding each other off, while a whole slew of people were trying to combat one person who was holding them back with magic and a hand out towards one of the dragons. The people that were held at bay were utilizing weapons to try to break through the magical shield despite their best efforts. Ike instantly recognized one of the dragons as Kuranga in his dragon form, although the other dragon was a subject of confusion for the mercenary. He was unable to pick out faces in the crowd of people that was aiming to attack the man who was trying to control the dragon. As Calvin and Cecilia came up behind him, Fiordiligi crawled up the stairs and pointed in the direction of the crowd of people that were trying to break through the shield.
It was the look of the person holding everybody back that surprised Ike, however; he saw a man with a black turban holding both of them off. The turban seemed to cover one of the man's eyes, but the turqouise eye that the mercenary could see was shining in madness as the figure laughed maniacally. Ike saw the man taunting the people trying to kill him, while a red-headed young lord was swinging his sword against the barrier especially hard.
You have no chance make your time.
"Huh?" asked Ike, turning around as he heard a voice say this. "Who said that?"
"The whole 'make your time' thing?" asked Cecilia. "I heard it too, but I don't think anybody actually said anything."
However, before anybody could make any further comments, Fiordiligi pointed her fnger at the direction of the group combatting the mysterious stranger. Ike then saw the sign of a spirit trap appearing past the barrier and under the deranged man. Seeing this, he had to teleport a short distance away before the trap snapped shut. Fiordiligi cursed under her breath, which greatly surprised Ike considering that she was blind.
At the same time, the dragon that Kuranga was holding off had stopped thrashing horrendously as the maniac appeared in another part of the room. However, a figure that Ike suddenly realized belonged to Willie had managed to fire a fireball in the direction of the man, and the man was hit by the flaming projectile, cursing the boy's existence before warping away.
And just before Ike could acknowledge his presence in the room, he felt himself black out almost instantly.