I claimed that I discontinued this fic entirely, didn't I?

Well, that claim was true, for a while. However, Pebblekit, 73ayay, and other authors have inspired me to continue. Granted, this fic won't be as great as before due to a lack of ideas, but I feel that no fic should be simply abandoned by me... Thus, I give you a revamped Chapter 3. Please stay tuned for Chapter 4...

Chapter 3: Confederacy

Nine people stood in a circle in what was once the Empress's throne room. Five of them: Lekain, Izuka, Valtome, Numida, Hetzel, these five all shared a contented expression as they stood together. Four others: Sergei, Sophia, Linus, and Jarod stood at attention in this circular pattern. They shared the stern look of a soldier.

Two people were slouched over, huddling the ground in the center of this circle. Both were gritting their teeth in rage.

"Sephiran, I commend you for holding out so long. And you too, Levail, you've performed the very best a warrior can do. With less than thirty men you held off my army of four thousand for two days. You both killed a good deal of my finest veteran soldiers. It is fitting that one of you should be the Prime Minister of the fallen Begnion Empire, and the other should be Zelgius's squire and second in command. And now, I ask you again: are you willing to join the Confederacy? After all, Zelgius and the girl have left you behind." Lekain spoke, his sneer chilling to even Hetzel's eyes.

Sephiran stared back at Lekain with cold eyes. "Under my orders Zelgius was to protect Empress Sanaki till the bitter end, no matter what happened to me. That was my request to him, and he agreed to follow it word for word. He did not abandon me; he only did his duty. Thus, there is no reason for me to ever wish to join you and your ragtag band of fools."

Levail nodded. "As a knight of the Begnion Empire, I am to stand by my banner no matter the cost. You may have seized the capital, and destroyed the vast majority of our army, but I am still loyal to the Empress and to the Prime Minister, and as long as one of them lives I shall not serve under any other banner!"

At that moment Valtome let out a laugh. "No wonder we were victorious. Fools like you are unworthy of standing before the might of the Confederacy."

"Had the Empire seen though your ploy sooner, you'd be dead." Sephiran snapped.

Valtome immediately shut up. Yes, during the Gallian Civil War, he personally provided the rebels with Begnion regulars and even the services of one of its top generals: Saigo. Unfortunately, Saigo and every legion sent by Valtome to assist the rebels was destroyed, and Valtome himself joined the rebel's defense of their capital against Gallian royal, Crimean, and Phoenician forces. Unfortunately for him, he was utterly defeated. Soren had ordered their troops not to kill him, for Valtome's fate should be determined by Empress Sanaki, not by the Master Strategist of the Gallian Royal Army.

And General Sigrun had thrown Valtome in prison, only to have Senators Lekain and Numida release him shortly after they took control of over seventy percent of the Begnion Imperial Army and most of Begnion's territories.

That had been the rise of the Begnion Confederacy. Originally a joke among Numida and Lekain, the Confederacy was a common topic of Lekain's when he wanted to vent about the incorrect policies of Empress Sanaki. For example, granting the Laguz Emancipation Army a reprieve, and giving it her undying support was an extremely bad idea. Because of this bad idea many wealthy senators and noblemen, like Lekain and Numida, were in danger of attacks by these sub-human pirates.

Long ago, Lekain joked that they should have the Senators who dissented with Sanaki's decisions ally with the various dukes who despised the girl Empress and create a 'Confederacy,' a nation where each of these lords could have self-rule over their own territories. It would basically be an alliance of Kings, under one unified banner. Only then could everyone get along somehow, and no one would have to complain about the bad ideas of an Emperor or Empress... Only then could Begnion walk a better path than the one it was choosing now.

But this joke soon became reality when Lekain could no longer stand Sanaki's actions. After making a secret agreement with both King Naesala of Kilvas and Prime Minister Izuka of Daein, Lekain began to call upon the various dissenting lords, noblemen, and dukes.

To be honest, he expected to have only a minority support him, and, thus, he'd have to fight his way to reform Begnion. But, to his utter surprise, the vast majority of these men immediately accepted his terms and joined his cause. They each exchanged their old Begnion Imperial flags to the banners of the Begnion Confederacy, and pledged themselves to this new purpose.

And like all leaders, Lekain was quickly blinded by this sudden gain in power. Now these various allies of his turned to him, the founder of the Confederacy, to guide them. Lekain quickly rescued Valtome, for that old Senator would clearly join him. Heck, Valtome had supported Lekain even before the Confederacy became official, but now that it was so powerful he was certain to continue helping Lekain in his newfound ambitions.

Lekain was certain that the rest of the lesser nations and armies arrayed against him would surrender merrily soon enough. After Izuka, a longtime ally of Lekain's, killed Prince Pelleas of Daein, Izuka became King of the Daein Province of the Begnion Confederacy. This ensured that he'd keep his own sovereignty as "Daein," except that, in a way, Daein was involved in a permanent alliance with the rest of Begnion.

And now their dreams had come true. In Hetzel's eyes, Begnion could finally be restored to its former glory. With Daein, the subordinate state that for many years defied the Empire's might, currently considered a part of Begnion, there was no need to fear any significant retaliation. Crimea, a nation that prided itself in research and peace, Gallia, a nation of sub humans who would rather frolic in their vast forest, and Phoenicis, a nation that enjoyed raiding Begnion ships but had begun to follow the path of its Gallian ally, would hardly prove much of a threat if Daein and its own great power was added to Begnion's. Now the only potential ally to recruit would be Kilvas, and with the help of the ravens nothing could stand in Begnion's way.

But Hetzel and Lekain had differing views on the matter. Lekain felt that, in order to ensure that Begnion would truly become what it once was, all the nations had to be united under its banner. It was folly to assume that longtime traitors would ever accept the rising power of the nation they abandoned.

They'd try to strike the great Begnion, try to prove to themselves that their choice of independence was correct, with the excuse of "self-defense in advance," or "to protect us all from this growing tyrant." Thus, it was imperative to destroy these traitors and conquer them first.

That way, no one would be able to threaten this great Confederacy, this union of powerful states that would never collapse, for under one ruler an Empire can fall apart from rebellion, but under a Confederacy there are many rulers standing side by side, and to split apart would be suicide, for the precious alliance would crumble and the infighting that would result would, at the very least, destroy many nations and force one man to rebuild everything, and the cycle of chaos and destruction would continue.

Thus, Conquest was the key to breaking that cycle... The key to saving Tellius.

And the longtime allies of Crimea, Gallia, and Phoenicis would see that key heading for their throats...

"Your majesty, Begnion shock troops have assaulted Fort Susa. They are crying for reinforcements." The laguz scout bowed low.

"When our laguz brothers cry for help, the prey must be strong. Uncle, let me kill them all!" Skimir growled.

The old lion sighed. He turned his head to scan the whole throne room with his eyes. Why was it that this mighty Gallia had to go through such a devastating Civil War? Though they tried to keep casualties at a minimum, so many young laguz died that it would be excruciating to go to war again. Their army was crippled; there would be few veterans or new recruits available. Gallia was crippled, and it would take generations for those wounds to heal. Another war would surely destroy the nation...

But those damn hu-, no, beorc were asking for war again. These Begnion scum wanted to strike Gallia once more. To let Gallia fall into their hands was ridiculous. No, the Gallian Army would charge forward once again. Thanks to their trusted ally Crimea to the north, there was little need to keep large numbers of troops in the northern border. So, gathering soldiers from the southern districts, Caineghis ordered a counterattack. Begnion would be driven out of Gallia, or Gallia would cease to exist as a nation. Those could be the only fates for both parties now.

Confederate troops overwhelmed Susa Fort. The kitties, both slim and fat, ran for their dear lives when they saw the might of the Begnion army. Killer and Laguz lances were definitely weapons that no laguz wanted to face. Warriors all over Tellius feared the Killer weapons, for they were somehow designed to mortally wound opponents much more often than typical Silver or Steel lances. Laguz weapons were specially designed to hunt laguz, and thus these sticks of steel were quite effective against the Gallian army.

Skimir, Ranulf, and bands of laguz brothers tried to avenge their defeat, heading for the Begnion troops. Little did they know that those powerful weapons, along with things like tomahawks and short spears were heading for them. Little did they know that pegasus knights with powerful flame lances would strike them from the air, and that their sonic swords could knock their hawk friends out cold. But what the Gallians could never imagine was the fact that the ravens would betray them all, again.

Kilvas had long performed deeds for other nations in the name of getting rich. This war was no exception. The Confederacy offered large sums of gold to have Kilvas join it, and with Kilvas as the sole laguz state of the Confederacy, another nation decided to join as well: Goldoa.

Deghinsea's reasoning was this: The Crimean, Gallian, Phoenician alliance had a difficult time trouncing the Gallian rebels, who were assisted by Begnion. To have Daein and Kilvas by Begnion's side would make it impossible for Gallia and her allies to claim victory. Goldoa had to choose the Begnion Confederacy, in order to have at least two laguz nations as part of the Confederacy. That way, when Begnion finally triumphed over Gallia, it could not damn all laguz. Instead, it would be forced to recognize the difference between "good" and "bad" laguz, though of course the entire beast tribe and the hawks might have to suffer in order for the ravens, dragons, and any other form of yet-to-be-seen laguz not affiliated with Gallia to survive.

But the dragons declared that they would only be willing to commit troops to destroy Crimea, but they would not assist in the attacks on Gallia and Phoenicis. Since Crimea had General Ike, who clearly could not be defeated by the ravens or Begnion's elite troops alone, Lekain agreed to use the might of the Dragons to kill Ike and his mighty companions, but not to kill those sub-humans.

Thus, with the odds stacked against them, Gallia's army was doomed to fail...

Though the old reviews for my message of "retirement," if you will, still exist, I would like to hear your thoughts via PM. Thanks for your support!