Chapter 13
Out of Control
"…ME?! What the hell do you want me for?"
"It is quite simple, really." The sorcerer spoke with a smile that could make anyone uneasy, "You have power, and we need power. Oh, but please pardon me. Introductions have not been made." He bowed respectively to the small force and continued, "I am called, Perelous. I am Sorcerer Supreme of the Grimleal."
"I thought that Validar was the head of the Grimleal." Priam inquired. The only ones paying any attention to the matter at hand were Priam and Raphael. Everyone else looked at Raph in awe and wonder. Could he have been Priam's relative? How were they related? How did this man know of Raphael's lineage? No one knew the answers to these questions.
"Validar was only Grima's herald, meant to restore our master to his former glory! I manage all of the Grimleal in teachings, finances, and well… EVERYTHING."
"So you're like the mother of the Grimleal?" Raphael said with a smirk, "That's cute. Do you get a little apron with a 'best mom' label on it?"
Perelous smiled, "I'm more of an unforgiving father…" he said with a chuckle. "But I know not everyone's names. I have been gracious with you for invading my land, and this is how you repay me?"
"Apologies, sir." Priam said. He examined the situation his squad was in; a very powerful sorcerer with several foul-looking puddles at his feet, over nine thousand total, probably Revenants. "My name is Priam. I lead this small force, known as 'Greil's Defenders', against any Risen attack or any Grimleal."
"Ah! I know you!" The sorcerer narrowed his eyes on the hero prepared for combat, "You are the one who killed my son on the ocean that one night." He smiled darkly.
"You mean the commander who tried to kill us as we were returning home?" Priam asked. He readied a tomahawk, just like that night.
"The very same." The sorcerer pulled out a purple book with three triangles on it. The three triangles formed what looked like the Triforce of legend, but it was upside down. Priam leaned to Say'ri. He whispered to her, saying, "That man has Goetia. That is the most powerful dark tome of all time. Be ready." She nodded in response and put a hand on her katana.
"So this is your force, Sir Priam?" Perelous asked.
"Yes. Does it matter? Will you let us pass?"
"Alas, no. Who else will avenge my son's death other than me?" he chuckled, "No. It must be me who brings your dead body back to be burned for eternity." At those words, the Revenants rose from their puddles in a slow, disgusting way. All readied their weapons for combat. They stood apart, waiting for the other side to make a move.
"Revenants, you beckon to my call. Now obey your master and destroy the opposition before you!" At Perelous' words, the Revenants charged at a slow trot. Revenants are extremely powerful, if they're able to hit you. Because of their slow speeds, they are only good in large numbers, which they had.
"Remember, my servants!" Perelous called to them, "Leave the one they call 'Raphael' alive. He is of dire importance!"
Raphael grunted and spoke sarcastically, "Well, don't I feel special." What do they want with me? It makes no sense!
The battle was fierce. Anytime a Revenant succeeded in injuring a comrade, a couple of them had to protect them until the effects of the vulnerary began. Over the din of battle, Jack could hear Aramis counting how many Revenants he had taken out, "seventeen…eighteen…nineteen…" Jack knew how many he had killed already and he thought it would be fun to have a healthy competition with his comrade. He started to count aloud as well, "twenty-two… twenty-three…" The battle had gone on for so long that they were constantly asking the other how many they had.
Helen was defending Tia with all of the strength she had, even though Tia didn't really need it. She was fast for her age, faster than most of the other unmounted troops there. She found no difficulty in evading Revenant after Revenant. Tia even found new strength in the battle, increasing in speed, strength, and defensive maneuvers. She had gained in experience to a level 2 Myrmidon.
Clarisa and Nathaniel were the ones most hit, surprisingly. They could not strike the Revenants because every time they got close, the Revenant would duck down and attack them from behind.
Priam was unable to see what was going on around him. He only had two goals: protect Raphael and Say'ri from harm, and remove this 'Sorcerer Supreme' from power. The battle between he and Perelous was brutal to say the least. Anytime either of them prepared to strike, the other would counter-strike, sending both flying in opposite directions. Priam fought the sorcerer's long distance spells using tomahawks. When he ran out of that, he used Ragnell as a throwing sword.
Perelous lost ground, hit after hit from a determined Priam. He made an angry face, threw down his tome and began to utter something under his breath that Priam couldn't make out because of the distance. I wonder what has gotten into him… I wonder if this is sup- "ARRGH! GODS!" Priam fell to his knees, clutching his chest. His breathing was becoming raspy, if he were lucky enough to get a breath in. He felt his strength being sapped from him with the air in his lungs.
"Finally!" Perelous wiped the blood and sweat from his brow. "I have finally hit you with a hex!" Perelous laughed with relief. He then pulled out a dagger from a hilt he wore around his leg and approached him. Priam tried to get up, but every time he moved, the pain in his chest worsened. "You, Priam, are a hard man to hit with a hex. I tried what must be a total of…hmm," he put a hand on Priam's shoulder, "twenty hexes? Doesn't matter now, but please look to my face instead of the ground."
Priam had no strength to lift his head, let alone the strength to force the sorcerer away. Perelous lifted Priam's head for him and continued, "Don't you think it would be ungrateful to not be able to see the man who was strong enough to bring you down?"
"Not 'strong enough'…" Priam spoke through the pain, "'cowardly' is… a better…word"
Perelous brought the dagger to Priam's neck, using his other hand to hold Priam's head up by his hair, "See you in hell, servant of Naga!"
"BEGONE!" a swift sound passed by Priam's ear. He closed his eyes as he saw a silver object meet Perelous' flesh. He heard a shout of pain and the feeling of blood hitting his face. As he opened his eyes, he witnessed the Sorcerer Supreme clutching his shoulder. As his vision became clear, he saw that Perelous no longer had the arm that was holding the dagger, because it lay two body-lengths away.
"You will pay for this! You will pay for interfering with the master's plans!" Perelous was starting to lose a lot of blood. He stumbled back and fell to the ground. He started to shake his one good fist at the group before a triangle of light formed around him and he disappeared.
"…AH!" The tightness Priam felt around his chest left and he stood to regain his strength. He looked to his side to see who had saved him from Perelous. To his surprise, it was Say'ri.
"He got away!" Say'ri said angrily.
"Rescue staff, I'd bet my life on it" Priam said, trying to figure it out himself.
The sound of screeching rang through the sand dunes. The Revenants had no one controlling them, meaning that they would be a threat to Plegians as well as Ylisseans.
"This just went from bad to worse in a heartbeat." Priam said.
"We don't have the strength to face them all, Priam. We must retreat!" Say'ri was being wise, but Priam would have none of it.
"If our force falls to Revenants, then it means we were undeserving to be a regiment in the first place. We'll fight on!"
"Sir!" Nathaniel pointed to the sky, "look to the sky!"
Above Ylissean air-space, several white dots covered the horizon. They grew with each passing second until Priam recognized what they were.
"Is that what I think it is?" Jack asked.
"If you think it is the Ylissean Pegasus Knights, then you are correct." Priam said with a smile of relief.
They came in fast. They gave the signal for Priam's forces to clear out and they launched javelin after javelin at the defenseless Revenants.
"We can handle it from here, Priam."
Priam turned around to see Cordelia on her Pegasus.
"Cordelia? Are you back to work already?"
"Chrom had been afraid that you would meet opposition along the border, or that you would be chased across it. We arrived to stop any form of an advancement into Ylisse. We are her first defense, after all."
"Can you watch our backs as we travel to Ylisstol?" Say'ri asked.
"That was the plan." Cordelia said with a wink.
"Then we must flee, sir Priam!"
"Right. Defenders! Return to marching positions! We are to arrive in Ylisstol by noon today!"
The Defenders slowly regrouped and checked the supplies to see if there was any damage to anything that they had. Seeing no defects, they left the remaining Revenants to the Pegasus Knights.
On the road, no one spoke. They walked and rode in silence, thinking about the things said before the battle. Many of them looked at Raphael with curiosity, and Raph, himself, was also curious. But none were as confused as Say'ri. Is he a child from the future? Priam told me he had no other relatives and he is not the one to lie in order to be lifted up… Could he be…Nay, he can't. 'Tis not possible. The group rode to Ylisstol in silence.
All but Aramis were concerned with these thoughts; he had only one thought on his mind, "Hey, Jack. I bet you I killed more Revenants than you!"
"Seriously? I took on that pack that was trying to finish off Clarisa! There is no way."
"I got 197! Top that, pony-boy!"
"215. Did that top it?" Jack said with a smile.
Aramis was shocked, "WHAT?! No way! You're lying to me!"
"I counted aloud the entire time, you could have heard me and knew I wasn't lying."
"Bah, it didn't matter anyway!" Aramis groaned and repositioned himself on Jack's horse.
They finally arrived. Raphael looked around at the busy streets of Ylisstol. The people here were content, happy, and even gleeful. This image of Ylisstol seemed like a mirage. The area was the same, the buildings were the same, but there were no ruins, no children crying in fear, no men fighting and dying, and no charred remains of friends they didn't have time to bury. It was clean, perfect, and the exact opposite of what they lived through.
So this is what we fought so hard to save in our time… Looks like we did a pretty bang up job!
Priam stopped the convoy to speak, "Privates, welcome to Ylisstol, capital of Ylisse. Say'ri and I must meet with Chrom and Robin to discuss the inevitable fights. You are all dismissed to the barracks. When you arrive, Frederick, Chrom's second in command, will inform you of your sleeping quarters. You have a couple hours 'til then, so use them how you will, just don't go completely crazy." With that, Priam nodded to Say'ri, and the two started to walk up to the castle side by side.
"So," Nathaniel said, rubbing his hands together, "who wants an aerial tour of Ylisstol? I know the capital well enough to point out famous landmarks and other stuff."
Tia raised her hand excitedly, "Oh-oh-oh, ME! I still haven't had a chance to ride your griffon." She ran up to him and got directly in his face, "You ARE going to let me go with you, right?"
Clarisa stifled a laugh at her brother's discomfort. He backed away, slowly, "Uh… sure. Just don't get directly in my face…"
"I know a quaint little pub on the outskirts of the city;" Clarisa spoke up, "they have some of the best bear burgers in the realm!"
"You had me at 'pub'." Jack said, licking his lips.
"Do they have any good mead?" Aramis asked, "I could go for some heavy drinks after that long journey."
"Please," Raphael said with a smile, "You've never had a drink in your life. I don't think you could even drink goat milk."
Aramis's face turned red and he spat as he yelled, "You challenge me? I'll drink you under ANY table in the world!"
Helen swatted Aramis's arm, "The ability to hold down and control any form of alcohol is not going to help you down the road. You should do something more productive with your life, troglodyte."
"TROGLODYTE?! I'll have you know that I am a-"
"Calm down, Aramis." Raphael shook his head in exasperation, "I don't even want to think about mead or wine right now, so no thank you on the challenge."
"Ha! A forfeit! I'll accept that."
"Are you coming with us to the pub though?" Jack asked.
"Actually, I'm going to the barracks to train. We need to be prepared at all times."
"How noble of you!" Helen said with a smile and a nod of approval. "You consider us and yourself over free time. We could all learn something from out of your book."
What they didn't know is that he wasn't going to train. Well, he would train, eventually, but his primary purpose was to see his old friends from his time.
"Well, we only have an hour, so let's go, Tia." Nathaniel and Tia raced down the road to the stables to retrieve Ashnard.
"The pub is only a block from the barracks, Raph." Clarisa called out to him as their group walked down the road, "Feel free to join us at anytime."
"Alright." He called after her. Soon, they were all out of sight. Let's see… he tried to remember the road to the barracks from his time, they should be… this way! He picked a path and hurried along.
When he arrived there, he couldn't see anyone guarding the front gate. That's odd, he thought as he made his way to the entrance, I thought for sure that even in peace, they would have this place locked down like- CLANG! He had walked straight into something, but what? He felt around in front of him and realized he had walked straight into a suit of armor.
"What the heck is this doing here?" He asked himself, still wondering why he didn't see it before.
"Because there is someone in it…" A voice said from the armor.
He jumped back in shock, slowly realizing that this was Kellam, the warrior of Ylisse who vanished to time in the future. Tales said that he was like a ghost and that he was the father of Laurent. No one remembered much more than that.
"Is there a reason you are here at Ylisse's barracks?" Kellam asked.
"Just visiting for now, sir." He saluted Kellam and continued, "My squad is going to be spending the duration of the Grimleal threat here in these barracks."
"Oh, you're with the Greil Defenders. Then I guess you can-"
"HOLD KELLAM!"
A large man clad in all blue armor ran toward the knight standing post at the gate. He had brown hair that was just a little tangled and his eyes were piercing. He wore a face of skepticism.
"Sir," Kellam saluted the knight, "This man here says that he-"
"I heard," The man turned his attention to Raphael, "but how do we know that he isn't a Grimleal spy?"
A spy?! Seriously? Raphael did not like these accusations. Who did this guy think he is? "Look, pal, you either let me in, or you will have to deal with my commander, Priam."
"He is being defensive, Kellam. A tell-tale sign of a spy not wanting to get caught."
Raphael felt his rage fill his face. He drew his steel sword and pointed it at the blue-clad man, "Let me in, or you're going to be regretting the day you were born!"
"Observe, Kellam. I shall handle this spy here and now." He pulled out a silver lance that he was carrying since he had been there. He returned the point to Raphael, "I am going to enjoy this, spy."
"FREDERICK! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
Frederick? As in 'Frederick the wary' Frederick? The only man in the world who could train non-stop? He would have pulverized me! I'm glad that person said something… but then he saw who it was.
A blue haired woman made her presence known.
Raphael spoke, "Hey, Lucy. How was fighting Grima? I assume you kicked the crap outta him?"
"Do you know this cad, Lucina?" Frederick asked.
Lucina said nothing. She didn't even move. Time seemed to slow down for all that were present.
She finally spoke quietly with a small smile on her face, "…you're alive…"
"Yeah. Weird, right? I thought I'd be dead too-" WHAM
Lucina punched Raphael in the gut. "HOW COULD YOU MAKE JOKES ABOUT THIS?" She punched him across the face, "When Inigo told me of how you shoved him through the portal to safety, you had no plan of passing through!" she continuously punched him as many times as she could. "I cried because we could not save everyone! I thought our mission was a failure from the beginning! I thought that if I couldn't even save you, the strongest of us, how would I save father?" She fell to her knees and began crying.
Raphael remembered the last moments as if they happened yesterday.
"This rite will allow you to change that which is already written," Naga said, "go back to the time of Chrom and save him from his death."
"How did he die, Naga?" Lucina asked. It was an important enough question that she felt she needed to ask it.
"He was killed by one of his closest comrades. The name of the person was-"but an explosion from outside masked the rest of the sentence from their ears.
"The Risen are here!" Aaron said, running into the altar room. "I tried fighting a few off, but in the end, I wasn't fast enough." He clenched his fists.
"Hurry, children of the heroes." Naga said to the group of fourteen teens assembled at Mount Prism. "If you wait any longer, the fate of the world will forever be sealed."
"I shall test the portal for problems by entering in first." Laurent offered. He had not seen that the Risen had infiltrated the area and passed through. Two Risen followed him through with Lucina right behind them.
"There goes our fearless leader," Inigo said, deflecting an arrow, "she just went in to save Laurent."
"Comrades! We must plan carefully to go through this portal." Owain shouted.
"Got any ideas, genius?" Severa asked, fighting off a group of figher-class Risen.
"Uh…"
"I do." Raphael threw Ragnell so that it ricocheted off of three Risen before returning to his hands, "Weakest to strongest go through! Brady, get Noire and get through!"
"Ya ain't gotta tell me twice!" Brady responded, as he grabbed Noire by the hand and led her through the portal.
Everyone made it through eventually, leaving only Inigo and Raphael to fight the rest of the Risen to not allow them passage.
"Inigo, I already told you to go!" Raphael shouted at him as he clashed swords with a swordsmaster.
"If you think I'm going to let you die a noble death, you'd be thinking wrong." Inigo chopped the head off of a mage Risen.
Raphael looked up and saw Grima in the distance. Grima was controlling these Risen, not his servants! This would end with their deaths if Inigo stayed. If Inigo left, at least he would be safe. Raph was ready to make the sacrifice
"I said GO!" at that, Raphael turned his full strength to pushing Inigo through the portal. Inigo tumbled backward into the light, yelling Raphael's name.
The Risen stopped momentarily. They let out a unearthly screech and all charged for the portal. The portal began to close.
"Good, I'll be able to stop their advance!" Raphael told himself as he fought more and more Risen with each passing minute. The portal shrunk at a very slow pace, shooting random shots of light around the room. He felt powerful for the first time in his life. Maybe his father and mother were watching over him from the afterlife.
"MORTAL. ALLOW ME PASSAGE, OR SUFFER MY WRATH!"
Raphael turned to see a man surrounded by a dark aura. He wore a purple and black cloak and had white hair and fair skin.
"Who are you, pal?"Raphael asked the mysterious man.
But he didn't get the chance; a Risen knocked him from the side with a Rexcaliber tome. He lost his balance and fell through the portal, finding himself in the Garden of Giants, the legendary island of his father, Priam.
"Lucy, dry up those tears." Raphael chuckled, bending on one knee to wipe away her tears, "The princess of Ylisse shouldn't cry for joy when her loyal servant returns."
She looked up at him through tear-stained eyes, "Of course, but I wasn't crying because of that."
"Oh?" Raphael was a little confused, "What were you crying about, then?"
Lucina started to act strange, scratching her face and blushing a deep red, "W-well…" she paused momentarily, "Raphael… I lo-"
"Raph? RAPH!" Raphael was tackled by something fast and furry. He looked up at his assaulter, seeing his old friend, Yarne.
"Hey, fur-face! How goes the 'Save the Taguel Project' with Cynthia?" Raphael said, smiling and getting to his feet.
"Wh-what do you mean by that?!" Yarne stuttered, nervously.
One-by-one, the group of future children found their way to Raphael. Gerome seemed to be happy that the other lone wolf had returned, Severa yelled at him for doing 'a stupid, idiotic thing like that', Owain recited poetic theatrics and asked how Ragnell was doing, and Inigo hugged him with joy. All surrounded him to talk to him; all but one.
Lucina stood with her back to a wall. "I thought I lost you, Raph." She muttered to herself, "I thought I would never be truly happy again." She smiled, "But now that you're back, I'm going to let you know how I feel, even if your head explodes in embarrassment." She began walking toward the training grounds.
OVER 9000 REVENANTS!... Kellam made his guest appearance! He is easily one of my favorite characters in the game, so I forced him into this chapter for fun.
If my chapter titles start to not make any sense, it is because I'm taking them from the titles of hoobastank songs (this song is easily my favorite).
This was originally two chapters, but due to the length of the first chapter, which was to end after they made it across the border, I brought them both together.
I know Cormag will hate me for this, but Lucina is obviously going to play a BIG part in this story, whether Cormag cares or not :P.
By the way, the flash-back is to show that Raphael is the only one who knew that Robin was Grima from the future. That will make sense down the line…
I haven't gotten any break throughs with my story, Desperado. So expect some stagnation there, but I will have more free time beginning on Wednesday. (yay)
By the way, thank you for opening this story for a thirteenth time (if you've been following the story for that long). Leave a review on what I can improve on, or send me a PM about anything.
(Oh, yeah. It has come to my attention that I haven't done a Disclaimer. I will get one in this story, eventually…)
But again, thanks!
~TheSearcherer