Chapter 16

An Unexpected Occurrence

The Defenders arrived at the barracks after a day of sight-seeing and fighting. They viewed their temporary home and were surprised by the size of it. The training arenas were about ten feet longer than their dusty circles in Chon'sin, the living quarters were not simple tents, but small stone buildings large enough to house a total of five comfortably. The mess hall was also a building instead of a large tent. The only tents used were for weapons, and even those tents seemed better than the ones they had been hauling around since the beginning.

Remembering Priam's words, they started off to find Frederick, the second-in-command. Their search lead them through the mess tent, where they met the legendary Vaike (at least, he SAID he was legendary) who told them that Frederick was inspecting the weapons in the tents. When they went there, they only found a man spectacled man named Laurent, who informed them that their best bet to find Frederick was at the training grounds.

Arriving at the training grounds, they did, indeed, find Lieutenant Frederick. When he found out who they were, he smiled and informed them it was time for 'Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour'. They all groaned in dismay, but no one dared to object out of fear.

An hour later, he showed them to their quarters, a building for the women and one for the men. He informed them of the curfew, which he stressed for some odd reason.

"Is that all, sir?" Aramis asked with a half-salute, "I was hoping to amputate my legs for the torture they have put me through all day."

Frederick chuckled, "I don't know how your commander puts up with you. I had assumed Priam would have told you that HE was much harder on work-outs than ME."

"I didn't get to that with them, yet." Priam said with a chuckle.

They turned to see their captain walking from the entrance of the barracks toward them; Say'ri was a couple steps behind.

"Ah, Sir Priam. Wonderful to see you and Princess Say'ri again. Did you hear of the ruckus down in the square today? Some insolent child opened a reeking box!"

"We did hear about that and naturally assumed it was caused by one of ours." Priam said, looking around at each of them. The team soon pointed their fingers at Tanuitia, who, in turn, pointed hers at Nathaniel.

"Tia…" Priam said shaking his head.

"In my defense," Tia started, "I didn't know that the box wasn't supposed to be opened and-"

"All reeking boxes have 'do not open, only for the brave' printed cleanly on its exterior!" Say'ri said, raising her voice.

It was clear that Say'ri was going to scold Tia for what she did, so Priam dismissed the rest of the soldiers to their respective quarters.

After Say'ri had led Tia out of earshot, Frederick spoke, "Why did you choose to serve as a Chon'sinian commander? I would have thought that you would return home after the war."

"Plans change." Priam said with a shrug, "Did you hear about what happened on the return trip across the Long Sea?"

"I heard you were assaulted." Frederick responded. The duo started to aimlessly walk and talk around the camp with no destination in mind. "I also heard that you were severely injured."

"…I nearly forgot about that."

"Tell me, Priam, how does one with the strength and skill that you possess get hit by three targetless arrows?"

Priam cocked an eyebrow, "Who said they were targetless? I took those to save one of our comrades."

"Ah," Frederick said with a smile, "now it all makes sense."

Priam was hoping that Frederick wouldn't pry any further. The reasons he saved her were for him and her alone, and while Frederick might not have cared or said anything, it still felt comforting knowing only he knew why.

"I hate to cut this chat short, Priam," stopping in front of the training arenas, "but I have a score to settle with a certain, red-clad conqueror."

Priam grinned, "He challenged you too? I also have an appointment with the oversized lobster."

Frederick smiled, "then we shall watch each other defeat him."

Raphael made his way through the barracks based on his memory of the barracks he grew up in as a child, then trained in as a boy, then fought in as a man. The only problem with that, though, was the fact that these barracks were completely different from the ones he grew up in. Sure, the mess tent was were the mess hall is now, and the latrine was where it always was (thank the gods), but everything else seemed 'whole'. The buildings weren't missing walls, the cobblestone path was not made of rubble, and there were buildings that he didn't know had ever existed that were probably destroyed before he could remember. As he ran through the old path, the memory of first arriving at the barracks came back to him, vividly.

"But Uncle, I don't want to leave! Where is mother?"

"…Your mother is resting, lad. We don't want to disturb her."

They were on their way to Ylisstol, a beautiful country, Raphael had been told. He was only 3 at the time, but he could tell that something was up, but he didn't question it. He just simply wanted to know one thing, "Will father return home and travel with us?"

Yen'fay turned to the boy and looked him in the eyes and placed a hand on his shoulder, "…You need to be strong, young one. Your father wants you to have these when you get older and can carry their burdens." He pulled out a book with the words The Warrior's Way on the front and showed it to the small boy, then showed him a very large sword. "This book is your father's journal to the world of chi and ambient energy, and this sword shows his, and your, heritage. It once belonged to the Radiant Hero, the man I told you about in your bedtime stories. Ike."

The young Raphael's face lit up with awe and excitement. Yen'fay then returned the items to one of the crates they were packing on the ship and nodded to the captain who had just ran below deck to see if everything is alright.

The ship started sailing, and soon the outline of Chon'sin was just a blur on the horizon.

Three years passed and Raphael had grown strong in that time, strong enough to pick up Ragnell. The world seemed to be changing each day, it grew darker and dimmer every passing month. People were sad and running everywhere franticly. Raphael didn't know why these people were behaving this way, and neither did his new friend, Lucina. They enjoyed playing in the private training grounds in the castle; they enjoyed acting like their fathers, each boasting that their father was better. They played with wooden swords most of the time but would occasionally wrestle, just for the fun of it.

They were playing on that day, that life changing day, on the training grounds when Lucina's nurse, Agatha, who was holding Lucina's baby sister Cynthia, called her inside. She told Lucina it was news of her father on the front.

Lucina jumped with joy and ran inside. Curious on what the news was, Raphael followed. They soon found themselves in the Exalt's court, where one of the Shepherds stood in silence, three guards behind him.

Lucina bounded up to the large Shepherd and spoke, pretending to be a Shepherd."Greetings, Frederick. What news from the front?"

"…um, ill I'm afraid, milady." Frederick kneeled in front of Lucina, partly out of respect, but partly out of pity.

"Well?" Lucina said with a smile, not understanding what 'ill' meant.

Raphael witnessed an action that he had experienced when he was three. Frederick pulled out a special sword and held it before Lucina and spoke softly, "I'm afraid…your father has…fallen."

There was a pause through the entire castle. No one seemed to move, not even the fidgety Lucina. "…'fallen'?"

"He…will not be returning home with the rest of the Shepherds."

Raphael figured it out. Exalt Chrom had died in combat and her being given the sword was a sign that she was to- 'wait… didn't that happen to me?' Raphael thought. He had forgotten about that day and always thought that his father and mother would join him in Ylisse, but this made it clear that-

"Uncle!" Raphael shouted as he ran down corridor through corridor, eventually ending up in their living quarters. When he had arrived, he saw his uncle packing his things, including his legendary blade, Amatsu.

"Uncle, where are you going?"

Yen'fay stopped and sighed, "Home, lad. To Chon'sin. They need my help there instead of here. I am the rightful ruler, after all."

"But uncle, have you packed my things?"

"You need to stay here, boy. 'Twould be foolish to have both princes of Chon'sin die and leave no ruler."

"But I won't die!" Raphael insisted, "I can read now, I can count, I can even lift father's sword!" The boy made a mad scramble for Ragnell, and after finding it, attempted to lift it unsuccessfully.

Yen'fay chuckled, "if you can read, read this." He gave Raph Priam's book and patted him on the head. "Agatha has promised to watch over you until I return. 'til then," he shouldered his bag, "grow strong, grow smart, and grow noble."

Yen'fay walked out of the room, leaving the young boy alone without any family in his life. He started to tear up, then cry, followed by a full out sob. As he finished, he remembered what caused him to run there in the first place; the death of Lucina's father. He ran out of the room to try and comfort his friend.

The memory was emotional, but he didn't concern himself with it. The fact that he could never be born in this time was a staggering one, and required a lot of research on the subject of 'quantum physics' as Laurent used to put it. Raphael would have to speak with the mage in order to find answers.

There was one more thing on his mind as well; the curfew. He didn't want to go from Frederick's bad side, to his 'list' of trainees to be especially hard on, even though Raphael thought that he could easily manage anything the Great Knight had to throw at him.

He, nonetheless, ran faster than before after seeing a couple candles go out, signaling the curfew. Fortunately for him, he made it in time.

As he entered the small stone building, he noticed that he was going to be bunking with not just his crew of Defenders, but also his old pal Gerome. He could see in each of the bunks something that showed where each person had reserved a cot. Gerome left an extra mask on him cot, Nathaniel's had a small barbell, Jack's had a plethora of fruits, and Aramis had his latest tome resting on his.

Seeing that the building was empty of his colleagues, he wondered at where they were until he read a note on the table:

Hey Raph,

If you're reading this, Frederick put us all on late-night patrol to 'get to know one another'.

We won't be back until well after curfew. Jack left some fruit for you if you're hungry (although he DID eat about half of it already…)

Anyway, see you late tonight or early tomorrow.

-Nathaniel

Raphael reclined on the empty cot and pondered everything that had happened today, and was slowly drifting to sleep when he heard a knock on the door. He stood up and opened it to find his uncle, Yen'fay, wearing a cloak and a worried expression.

"Uncle?"

"Raphael, you must leave! Come with me." He grabbed Raphael's arm, "You are in danger!"

"Woah, slow down, Uncle." Raphael said, prying his arm from Yen'fay's grip, "What is going on?"

"Something dreadful! Please, come with me! Hurry!" Yen'fay was acting strangely worried. Something was up, but he wasn't making any sense.

"Let go, uncle! Gods, what has you so worked up?"

Just then, Raphael felt the familiar tingling sensation of a Rescue Staff. He was being pulled somewhere, but where? Only allies could use the Staff on other allies, it was part of the magic of it. But it felt… different this time.

"…no…" Yen'fay said, "NOOOO!" He began pulling frantically on Raphael's arm, but to his dismay, he was too late. Raphael was covered in light, and he was gone.

"…gods forgive me…" Yen'fay said with a sob as he fell to his knees, "I have failed both Say'ri and her son."

After the light began to diminish, he started to see around to see where he was. He was in a dimly lit tent with several dark mages around him. He was sitting in a chair with restraints on it and he was quickly put in those restraints when he realized he had been kidnapped. Standing above him, with the Rescue Staff in hand was…wait…

"Aramis?!" The light faintly revealed Aramis standing over him with the rescue staff in hand. It would explain how he was captured by enemies. "What's going on? Why have you done this?!"

"Are those restraints strong enough?" a voice said in the dark.

"Yes, they should hold him." Aramis said with a smirk.

"Then take him to the chamber!"

The chair was quickly folded into a stretcher and he was carried through the door by four dark mages.

HEY!... Not much to say about this chapter, other than "WHOO, that was so much fun to write!"

Check out the latest chapter in Desperado, I just posted it yesterday.

Other than that, please leave a review. I love to get feedback as this story grows and matures like cheese. PM me anytime. I love chatting with people, I don't know why…

And keeping with tradition, thanks for reading!

~TheSearcherer