Chapter 19
The Maturity of Time
"Do you know how long you've been missing?" Severa asked Aaron.
No response.
Severa huffed, "Did you hear me?"
"Huh? What was that?"
"GAWDS you're insufferable!" She complained as she stormed ahead.
The small army had been marching for only a couple days and already Aaron had reminded everyone why he was both a necessity and an annoyance. His skill with picking locks was unmatched, which was convenient for the troop when Tia had accidentally locked the key to the cash crate within the crate itself. He was exceptional when it came to stealth, which proved useful when they nearly had walked into an ambush of Risen. But on the other hand, his personality had never changed a bit. The time hadn't changed him. Gold was still in his eye and his insatiable hunger for riches was never at peace. He sought only for himself, which caused others to tend to avoid him; all but Lucina, but even she had her limits of selfishness that she could handle.
Lucina decided to walk beside her old friend as they marched. She had one question she'd been meaning to ask him since he reappeared.
"Aaron, did you meet your parents?"
He looked down at the ground he was traversing to make sure he wouldn't trip as if to find an excuse to not look her in the eye.
"...Eh. More or less..."
"You used to talk about how great a thief your father was, how your mother was a wizard with any currency and how you'd be the best of both of your parents. Do you think you are?"
He chuckled lightly, "I remember the old days in on the road. When we played as kids, you'd be the valiant soldier that would 'bring me to justice for my thieving ways' and you'd drag me to the barracks and force me in a corner for my wrong-doings, but I always managed to escape with my treasure anyway."
"Then Severa would find out you'd stolen her good hairbrush and get you in trouble with the adults." Lucina reminded him as she laughed at the old times as well.
"Well," He said, "I guess some things never change."
"Have you?"
"What?"
"Have you, Aaron, son of Gaius and Anna, changed?"
He thought for a moment, then responded with a wink, "I only change with what makes the best profit."
"So...no." Lucina shook her head and walked ahead.
So I haven't changed. He thought to himself, I only need good health and what I have in my suitcase. And if I add to the contents of that suitcase, what's the problem? While Naga's power is limited, money is the god of the world and it's power is indefinite.
As they neared the first fortress, they decided to make camp.
""Start pitching the tents, everyone." Priam ordered, "Aramis, get a fire started. Jack, you give Noire a ride and you two hunt us something to eat. Clarisa and Nathaniel, see if you can scout out the area ahead, but don't go too far."
"Yes sir, commander" was the unison response.
They started to break off into their teams. When Noire approached Jack's horse, she seemed intimidated by it.
"It's such a...scary beast."
"You mean my horse?" Jack asked.
"Y-yes. Are you sure that it's tame?"
Jack laughed, "of COURSE it's tame! How else would I be able to ride it. I guarantee a safe passage, milady."
"Well...if you say so..."
Jack helped her up onto the horse and they galloped off to hunt.
Priam looked around the camp. He had a bit of pride in himself for being able to guide so many young people. He had pride in his team for how they've handled the swift transition from simple response-team to rescue/recover team. But his pride was quickly replaced with responsibility and his duty. He still had to somehow get around this fortress and he wasn't sure whether to sneak around it or engage it in combat, but neither option seemed good yet. He needed the scout's information on the size of the enemy first before deciding.
He looked around the camp again. Aaron, the New Shepherd who had reappeared simply to pay a debt he owed Raphael, was feuding with Severa over something. Aramis was trying to be as flamboyant as he could in order to collect the logs he needed for the fire by lifting them with wind magic (one stray log nailed Gerome in the head, who didn't flinch). Tia and Cynthia had become fast friends as was expected. Cynthia would tell stories of her magnificent adventures and Tia would brag about her cousin, Say'ri.
Now that he was thinking about her, where was Say'ri? He hadn't seen her since he'd ordered to set up camp.
Lucina approached him, "I hope we are able to save Raphael."
"We will." He quickly responded.
"Of course, but his time runs short and we are only at the half-way point. I'm merely pointing out the possibility that-"
"That what? We won't reach him in time?" He gave her an angered expression, "If you want to give up, I don't blame you, but I will not stand for that attitude in this convoy!"
She furrowed her brow. "I want this convoy to succeed more than you realize, commander Priam. Raphael was one of my closest friends and I thought he had sacrificed himself for the survival of humanity. I will not abandon him and let him die again. He's..." She stopped.
"He's...what?" Priam asked.
"I...cannot say." She replied.
"Just do not speak of failure or I will ask that you return to Ylisstol, understood?"
"Yes, commander." She bowed respectfully and walked away.
What if we do fail? He asked himself, No, Priam, this is no time to consider failure. If we find failure, we will react as if we hadn't been expecting it.
"Sir, Clarisa and Nathaniel are reporting back." shouted Clarisa as she descended with her pegasus.
"What did you find?" He asked her.
"You won't believe it, sir." Nathaniel shouted as he came in for a landing, "The entire base is EMPTY!"
"WHAT? Clarisa, is this true?"
"Absolutely, sir." She replied, "As we approached the fort, we were cautious at first, but as we got closer, we saw no signs of life; no fires, no voices, no...well...anything. We even went as so far as entering the base."
"There was literally NOTHING there!" Nathaniel added, "No chairs, no dead bodies as I had expected, no plates, no tables, no nothing! Just an empty shell!"
Priam was confused. Why would they have abandoned their outpost?
"It is most likely a trap." Lucina said, "But if it means we won't have to waste time sneaking around the entire fort and cut through instead, then I say it is a trap worth testing. Priam?"
"I agree." Priam said, "The fastest way through is straight, while not always the safest."
"So straight through?" Helen asked.
"Tomorrow, we'll check it out one last time before going through. Tonight, everyone get sleep because we're going to spring a trap tomorrow."
Jack and Noire had returned with a deer from their hunt. After experiencing Noire in her natural form, he was a little freaked out. Regardless, he started cooking the deer for the camp.
Morgan had gone with the team to try to remember Raphael, but also wanted to learn more about the cavalier, Jack, who had called her...beautiful. The two had a couple of awkward conversations as he cooked, but soon found it comfortable.
Priam was inspecting the entire campground as the team ate, but it seemed that there was one person missing. After looking around for a little bit, he discovered that Say'ri was nowhere to be found. He started checking the tents, then he checked the makeshift training ground and found her there. She was frantically attacking and parrying. Her usual gracefulness was not prevalent in her method of stance.
She paused momentarily, "Are you simply going to watch, Priam, our are you afraid to face me again?"
"Not today," he replied, "your stance is off and you're attacking with rage rather than the normal grace you possess."
She frowned slightly, "That is a lie, sir. I have as much...nay, even more skill than I have ever possessed."
"Prove it." He replied, "If I'm right, I'll have you on the ground in 3 seconds."
"You believe in your own strength all too much, sir."
"No, I'm merely assessing your concentration against previously."
"...Fie. Defend yourself." She said as she tossed him a practice sword.
He bent down to pick the sword up from the ground, but as he did, she made to strike. She swung vertically, which was her first mistake. Priam had lifted the sword to easily parry the attack.
"Attacking an opponent when he is distracted..." He shook his head, "that is low, Say'ri."
"I must do what I can to achieve victory." She replied. She swung horizontally, but it was also sloppy and he quickly parried it. She swung again, he parried again. He blocked every strike she took at him.
"You are not normally this sloppy." He said rather bluntly.
"I'm...not...getting...sloppy..." she said with each swing.
The next swing, Priam had enough and knocked her sword from her hand. She fell to her knees.
"Yield."
"Say'ri..."
"You win, sir. Are you not proud of yourself? Have you reclaimed your honor?"
"Something is bothering you, Say'ri." He sat down on the ground next to her, "What is it?"
She sat there, staring at the ground.
"I... The future, Priam, has caused me both grief and joy. I...don't know how to respond. Does that which belonged to me still belong to me, or the former Say'ri?" She started to tear up. "Is it just to want to save Raphael because he is my son, even though I never mothered him? Is it acceptable to love my brother, even though he is not the same man I once knew? I... I wish I had never had these experiences..."
Priam felt helpless. He had only met Raphael, but he knew he loved him like his own. The Priam of the alternate time died and was unable to be a good father, so maybe he could rectify that tarnished bond.
"Say'ri, Raphael is a strong boy. He inherited his fathers strength and his mother's grace. He needs you to help grow that gracefulness and who can better teach him of it than his mother, the one who passed it on to him? As for your brother, I still have no answer for you about him. But you need to understand that you are not the same Say'ri HE once knew. He died in this time protecting you, and you died in his timeline protecting him. He might feel the same way you do."
She wiped away a few tears, "You're correct, as always, Priam. Just...can we just...stay here for a bit?"
"Just sitting here? Sure." He said with a smile.
"Fie." She slid next to him. "I don't want to think of the futility of the future, or the perils of the past. I just want to think of now."
"So be it." He said and put an arm around her.
"So...there's no way out of here."
"Yep. Been telling you this whole time."
Raphael sighed, but then remembered the training his father had written down in his journal, When you channel the chi of something, you gain it's most notable attribute...chi can be found in all live forms as well as non organic material. That is how you can feel the steel run through your veins as you fight.
Raphael sat down on the ground and crossed his legs.
"What are you doing?" Esbern asked.
"If I channel the chi from the rocks in the walls and the floor, I'll be immovable, and they will not be able to budge me out of this cell."
"What good would that do you? They'll eventually make you move."
"But it will give them time to find us."
Raphael shut out every sound and became stiff as a statue.
Hey, reader.
So...this is kind of awkward... I haven't posted ANYTHING for about a year...I'm really sorry, y'all. Life got hectic after I graduated Highschool. I found love, fell out of love, got a high-paying job at Burger King (that's a joke...high-paying my-), started college, found love and fell out of love again and now I'm looking at starting my own TV car show at the college TV channel (still haven't OFFICIALLY gotten the green light for it, but it's definitely happening. Super pumped!)
Anyway, seeing as my life will be absorbed by numerous things, I've rekindled my love for FEA and I've promised myself that I will finish this story and Desperado (another chapter coming soon!) So about this story...
The part with Noire I threw in because I hadn't experimented with her yet and she seems like a dynamic character that I wanted to see if I could get right. Let me know if I succeeded!
The scene with Morgan was purposeful. I want Jack ad Morgan...Morgan and Jack...y'know...
Also, everything I said in the previous author's notes was a lie, obviously. Because I found this story so long from when I started it, I decided to take in in one new direction and I promise to quit focusing on the minor characters and more on Priam, Say'ri, Raph and Lucina.
If you liked the story, Fav, Follow, or Review! I love feedback!
'Til next we meet (hopefully sooner than last time...)
~TheSearcherer