Chapter 17
The Blind Spot
"Legs…are…dead…" Aramis said with a groan.
"You've sat down more than any of us on this patrol." Jack snapped back. "I'm not used to walking for this long; I normally have my horse for transport."
"I usually have Ashnard, as well, Aramis." Nathaniel said, "If anyone should be used to walking, it should be a mage rather than a cavalier or a rider."
"Alright, enough of this complaining." Lon'qu said. He was assigned to show them around and be their temporary guide to everything in the camp. Why Chrom had chosen the quietest of the soldiers to be their tour guide was beyond him, but he didn't argue with orders, he just followed them, even if he would much rather be with his wife, Panne. "I consider this to be a 'healthy walk.'"
"We apologize for our comrade, Sir Lon'qu." Jack said, apologetically.
"Yeah, really sorr-" But Nathaniel stopped, he saw a cloaked figure jump through the bushes right behind them. The figure swiftly crossed into the sleeping area and was out of sight.
"Nathaniel, what is it?" Jack asked.
"Sir Lon'qu, I just witnessed a breach in our barracks." He pointed in the direction that he saw the man run, "I saw a hooded man run to the sleeping area."
Lon'qu smiled, "This should be fun." He unsheathed his sword, "Watch the perimeter, continue your rounds, I'll investigate." Lon'qu bolted down the path shown to him.
In a couple seconds, Lon'qu was in the sleeping area and, seeing that no one was there, he started to doubt the truth in Nathaniel's words. But as he was heading back, he heard a scream from the Defender's building, "NOOOO!"
Sprinting to their apartment, he opened the door to see a bright flash of light with a triangle formation below it and a cloaked man kneeling on the ground. "I have failed both Say'ri and her son…"
Lon'qu, remaining fairly stealthy, snuck up on the intruder and put his sword around his throat. The hooded figure quickly grabbed at his assaulter's arms in attempt to get out of the grip.
"Listen closely, intruder." Lon'qu spoke quietly into the hooded man's ear, "you're coming with me to my superiors no one is allowed into the barracks after-"
The man quickly stood up, bringing Lon'qu to an awkward holding position. The intruder bent forward and stepped back, rolling Lon'qu over his shoulders. Lon'qu slammed to the ground.
After a moment or two, he recognized the intruder's face.
"Yen'fay?!" Lon'qu said, "You know that if you had knocked, you would have gotten into the barracks easier." He got to his feet, shakily.
"Sound the alarm!" Yen'fay yelled in terror. "Call in the troops! Call in whoever you can!" Yen'fay grabbed Lon'qu's shoulders and shook him, "Get the Exalt himself!"
"Whoa, slow down, Yen'fay." Lon'qu said, trying to comfort his old sparring partner, "What has happened?"
"They took him! I promised myself that I would protect the boy, for Say'ri's sake, but now, it is impossible on my own." Yen'fay stared directly into Lon'qu's eyes, "Take me to Priam."
Lon'qu didn't know what to make of his ramblings, but he was not one to bar Yen'fay's path. Lon'qu shrugged and opened the door.
The two exited the building in search of the descendant of Ike.
Somewhere on the road to the border of Plegia and Ylisse…
He couldn't move. The wagon he was placed in the center of did its best to make him uncomfortable as it hit every single bump on the road it could find. Raphael's wrists were red from the shekels he was put into on the makeshift stretcher, and he felt nauseated from all of the weakening curses they had put on him. He was being guarded by two weak mages that he knew that he could handle, even with the weakening curses on him. The only thing holding him back was his imprisonment.
The whole situation was weird; he had been in dark areas ever since capture (maybe they couldn't afford good torches so they deal with candles), Perelous looked at him with an excited expression, and to top it off, Aramis had defected! Out of all of the Defenders, he was the one to be least suspected of pulling something like this. He was just too easy to read. So this came as quite a shock to Raphael.
The wagon hit a big bump and his wrists rubbed sorely against the shekels, causing him to groan in pain. He could barely speak through his hoarse throat (also caused by the curses). But the wagon was stopped and soon, Aramis was in Raphael's sights again.
"How'd our package fare after that last little bump?" Aramis said as he entered the wagon with a smile on his face.
"Painfully." One of the guards said with a dark chuckle.
"Excellent. The Supreme One would be upset if his delivery isn't tried and true." Aramis bent down to directly face Raphael. If Raph had any saliva in his throat, he would have expelled it at the traitor. But as he closely examined this man's face, he noticed a few things off. His hair was not exactly straight up as Aramis' was, and he was a little taller than the mage. Plus, this man was a dark mage, something that he was sure that Aramis could not be.
"Wh-Whooo… are…you?" Raphael tried to say.
"Why, can't you tell?" He said with a smile, "I'm your good pal, Aramis!"
That term, 'pal' finalized his thoughts, "Who are you?!" Raphael practically yelled.
"My," he said with a shake of his head, "you are not an easy one to fool. Though, I did have you going there at the beginning." The man faked a polite bow and introduced himself, "I am known as Athos, Aramis' long-lost twin brother. I was hired by these Plegians to wreak havoc amongst your small band of 'Defenders', and I think I did, with flying colors, I might add."
"Aramis'…brother…?"
"Oh, but you're a fast one!" Athos said with a laugh. He turned to the dark mages on duty, "hit him with a few more hexes, I think a couple of them are wearing off."
The two dark mages grinned and nodded. The held out their hands and started to utter words under their breaths. Instantly, Raphael felt them surging through his body, unable to stop them.
"If you need me, Raph," Athos said over his shoulder as he was exiting, "let these fine…gentlemen know. After all, they are here for your comfort." He gave a dark laugh and headed back out to the front.
I don't understand. Why would- "ARRGGHH, AAAAAARGH!" The torturous curses continued to shower him.
The War Council was on full alert. Chrom and Robin were standing at the side of a planning table. Beside them were Cordelia, Frederick, Sully and Stahl.
"We had reports of a large group of travelers outside the city." Stahl said shaking his head, "I can't believe that I didn't send someone to investigate."
"How did they even get across the border, Cordelia?" Robin asked.
"We were preoccupied with a Risen assault on a small farm-town near the Plegia-Ylisse border." Cordelia shrugged, "We sensed a diversion, but refused to let the town-folk be harmed."
"That is good, Cordelia." Chrom said to reassure her, "We would want the safety of our people above the safety of our soldiers."
"What is our plan, Robin?" Frederick asked, "Are we truly going to start another war?"
The door flung open and made a slamming sound against the stone wall. Say'ri and Priam stood in the doorway. Priam was breathing heavy, as if he had just run two marathons, but he held an expression of anger. Say'ri appeared to be trying to slow him down by putting her hands in front of him, but she also looked worried.
"If starting a war is necessary, then so be it!" Priam said with a roar in his voice.
"Priam, there is no need." Robin said, trying to calm him down with his hand up, "We don't need to start a war to stop them. It will just take time."
"'Time' is something that he doesn't have a lot of, and we're wasting it by sitting here and discussing strategies!" Priam thundered back.
"We are not just going to charge in there and get ourselves killed without knowing if it is a trap or not, Priam." Robin said, raising his voice.
"Trap or no trap, I'll go save him myself if I have to!"
"Priam, please!" Say'ri begged, "'Twould be useless to try if you haven't the strength to fight them all."
He looked into Say'ri's eyes. She was just as upset as he was, he could tell, but she was not showing it. She was right, though. It would be pointless to try to save him by himself if it were a trap. Priam took a deep breath and asked Robin simply, "Where is their base?"
"We assume it is at the former site of the Castle, which was build upon Grima's bones, located here." Robin pointed to a circle on the map, indicating the location. "The problem is, though, they have three fortresses located in a row that will alert head-command if they spot anything out of the ordinary."
Priam looked over the map.
"Why does this matter, Priam?" Sully asked, "Who was the guy that was kidnapped?"
"His name is Raphael, and he is…" he looked to Say'ri, but she shook her head. She probably felt as if it were too soon to tell everyone, just think of the scandal. A Soon-to-be Queen and the captain of her special forces… that didn't sound like good gossip. "…one of my troops. And he is from the future. That is all you need to know. And I don't like leaving men behind!" He concluded.
A look of shock passed over everyone's face, except for Robin who knew of him back in Chon'sin. The room started to murmur, people were asking others who Raphael was related to, but all stopped when the door slammed open, and three of the 'New Shepherds' stepped through the door.
"If there is any rescue mission to save him, sign me up." Lucina entered the room, followed by Gerome and Inigo, "What happened? How did he get kidnapped?"
"You know this…Raphael, Lucina?" Chrom asked.
"I know him better than he knew himself. In fact, he knows ME better than I knew myself! We were the closest of friends in that time, father."
"Why didn't you tell us of him sooner?" Chrom asked with a cocked eyebrow.
Lucina frowned, "At the last minute, he tried to sacrifice himself to save us all. I thought he had succeeded, so I didn't bother to bring him up." Lucina stared directly at Priam, and with a determined look, she continued, "I must repay the debt of his sacrifice. If you have need of my Falchion, You shall have it."
"You can count me in as well, Sir Priam." Gerome said with a nod.
"I'd love to go toe-to-toe with those Grimleal fools!" Inigo added with a shake of his fist.
Priam smiled, "Robin, think up some strategies. I'll go rally the troops."
Priam left the room, followed by Say'ri, Gerome, Inigo and Lucina.
"Well Robin," Chrom said as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "looks like you're back in business."
Robin shook his head and looked back down on the map.
Gerome, Lucina, and Inigo started to go around and ask for volunteers for this risky rescue mission. During this time, Say'ri and Priam were getting all the supplies in order to get going faster.
Priam would not take a moments rest. He was determined to save the son he had only briefly met. He had been working so hard that he didn't even realize that he had accidentally reopened his wound after his fight with Walhart. He tripped and fell to the ground with the crate he was carrying. Say'ri immediately came to his aid, but he shook her off.
"I don't need help if he needs mine. I won't be the weakling I was in his time."
"If you try to help him with all you have," Say'ri said, "then who will help you?"
"I…" He was out of breath. He could barely stand. "I can do this on my own. He needs me. My son needs-"
"OUR son, Priam." She interrupted, "You didn't walk alone in that time, so why do you choose so now?"
He didn't know what to say, "Say'ri…I…"
"Priam, I do not wish to see the boy hurt myself, please realize that." He had reclined against the crate, and she sat beside him. "I hardly know the lad from the few words we exchanged on our long voyage -not to mention, they were filled with…strangeness- but I still know that he is my son, and you are his father."
He looked at her, she was as beautiful as ever, but there was something she was on the verge of saying, he could tell. There was a long pause between them before she finally spoke up, "Priam, my defender, my companion, my sparring partner… and my friend." She took his hand into hers, "I would never wish to see you harmed, and I know you feel the same of me…correct?" He quickly nodded and smiled, which made her blush, "I…well, I…"
He put his hand up to her mouth to stop her, "…Say'ri, Princess of Chon'sin, and its only heir, and my best friend. I would be honored to walk by your side and protect you with my blade, if you so wish it."
"Does that mean…?"
"We can plan the formalities later." He had now regained his breath and was ready to go back to work, "We need to save Raphael."
She smiled just as brightly as her blush, "Agreed." Priam got up and assisted Say'ri to her feet.
As she was pulled up, she met with his lips. They had officially mastered the art of kissing; an odd fighting-style that neither had planned to learn, but had learned it nonetheless. As they backed up, he whispered with a smile, "And I now know for certain what love is."
"I shall assist in the rescue of Raphael, with my trusted blade, Misstletain in my hands. No Grimleal servant can hide from the wrath of Owain Dark and his companions in arms-"
"Thank you, Owain, for volunteering." Lucina said with a nod. "Anyone else?"
"Count me in."
The voice came from the entrance of the mess hall the New Shepherds had met in. They each turned around and gasped as if a ghost had entered into their presence.
"Aaron?!" They said in unison.
The red-headed man entered wearing a red tunic with the sleeves rolled up. "Raph has an I.O.U. that I never cashed in on, and I don't want him to die before he repays his debt." He said with a smirk.
HEY!... Happy new year, y'all! I am really sorry about not updating recently, but hey, whatcha gonna do?
If you are just tuning in, this chapter includes, Aaron, the son of Gaius and Anna from my incomplete fanfiction, Desperado. I could do a character run-down for you, but I think I'll just post it on Desperado instead…meh…
And, yeah, I rushed the proposal in this chapter. It seems like a short time, but then again, they also have known each other for a while now, and they confessed their feelings quite a bit ago. So I felt like this was a good time, especially since I'm starting to wrap up this story.
I probably won't be able to do half of the stuff I wanted to for this story, but I feel like it will be better if I shorten it. If you oppose this, leave a review.
Actually, just leave a review in general. I love to hear from you guys. What you liked, disliked, or just felt…bleh.
Also, PM me anytime if you feel up to it. I don't have as much time to respond or read fanfics as I used to (senior year. The hardest thing you'll do before college…).
Thanks 9000
~TheSearcherer