A/N: So sorry. The combined forces of writer's block, the lack of motivation, distractions, and literally everything else combined to prevent me from releasing this chapter.
I can't promise that I can continue writing at a steady rate. Not that it was steady to begin with.
Not that anyone will care. I'm willing to bet that most of you forgot this story existed. I don't blame you.
But on the bright side, most of this chapter has more character development than story. But then again, something important is still going to happen.
Le-yaaaaawn. What a surprisingly peaceful awakening.
My eyes slowly flutter open, and I view my surroundings.
An infirmary. I've been in these more than long enough to realize that.
"So, who is in charge of my injuries this time?" I yawn and lean up.
Ah, hey there Lissa.
"Me." she mutters. "You lost a lot of blood."
Oh. Yeah. I did a lot of lampshading back there.
...
"So I assume we won, since you aren't a zombie trying to eat my brains."
Lissa giggles in response. "If anything, you are the zombie, after how much you've had to been dragged off that battlefield."
Yeaaaaah... "I've been trying to improve... But nooooooo... I just have to submit to the self-insert cliches."
"Self... Insert cliches?"
I shake my head. "Just a bad inside joke. It's nothing."
The princess shrugs. "Ah. Okay." she turns around, and puts something into a bowl of water. I can't tell what it is, my sight is still a bit blurred.
Just as I open my mouth to ask, the door bursts open.
"HEY! WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THERE WAS A FIGHT?!" Geoff rushes into the room, red-faced and grinning. Clearly he isn't actually mad, he just likes to screw with me.
...And he used to make really bad sex jokes. Eugh.
"Because you were out with Lissa." I eventually respond.
I chuckle at both of their shocked expressions.
"Robin told me."
Both of them pause, before turning to one-another.
"Lissa, are you thinking what I am thinking?" Geoff grins, except menacingly this time.
Lissa nods. "Yes. I'll bring the honey. You bring the bear."
They both laugh, before heading out of the room.
Haha...
Wait.
"Hey. Guys."
No response.
"DAMMIT YOU GUYS!" I scream into the air.
"H-Hey!" I hear a different voice groan.
W-Wait?! What?!
I quickly swivel my head to my side, spotting a man lying down on a bed.
"C-Can't you see I'm trying to get some rest?" he growls.
I blink. "Er, sorry." ... "Wait, who are you?"
"The name's Cyrus."
"Ah. Cyrus. Cool. How'd you end up in here? You don't look like you're in the Ylissean army."
Cyrus leans up slightly, glaring at me. "And how would you know that? Oh yeah- you don't!" I leans back down, shifting his back away from me. "I'll have you know that the only reason I'm here is that I was attacked by Risen while trying to get to town."
Damn. "Yeah. I hate those nasty little pricks. It's bad enough I'm in here all the time."
He laughs. "Hah. Yeah. I've heard stories of people like you. Bloody glorious battlers, but just stubbing their toe would send them off the battlefield." He looks toward me, opening his mouth to say something, but eventually stopping.
...
Why is he staring at me?
"O-Oh man!" I yells. "I had no idea it was you!"
...
What? Have I finally been discovered? Am I finally famous?!
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-
"Listen, do you know a girl named Ayla?"
... Oh. Nevermind.
I nod.
He grins. "Has she explained the thingie to you already?"
I nod again.
"Good. Now I'm just gonna jump straight to the point: I'm Niro's and Alyssa's future son."
I smile. "Really? I was wondering when I would meet mooore-!"
... Did he say Niro?
Cyrus blinks. "Is something wrong?"
I feel the color rush out of my face.
W-W-W-What do I do...?! What do I tell him?!
"C-Cyrus..." I gulp.
He stares at me in bewilderment. "Something wrong, Uncle Ravel?"
... He calls me uncle? G-Gah! That makes it even worse!
"Er, C-Cyrus... Your mother is..."
"Yeah? What about her?"
"Dead."
I sigh at the look of utter disbelief crossing over the priest's face.
"D-Dead?!"
I bow my head slowly.
"W-What do you mean DEAD?!"
"She died in the battle at the Lake of Tears. Sh-... She was struck down."
She priest gasps, before flipping onto his stomach and burying his head into a pillow.
I barely hear a muffled "No... No... No..." as I carefully try to climb out of bed.
"I'm sorry." Is all I say as I slowly pace out of the room.
"Ravel!" Maribelle slowly approaches me as I enter the hallway. "You shouldn't be out of-!"
"I know what I am doing." I pause and look back toward the infirmary door. "Trust me."
RunRunRunRunRunRun
"WHY COULDN'T YOU PROTECT HER?!" Augh! Ignore the guilt! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!
I hear the infirmary door slam open, a furious Cyrus emerging out of it.
Eep! I quicken my pace and turn, spotting a staircase and diving down it.
"Excuse me, sir!" I yell, pushing past a guard. "But can you please attempt to restrain the angry man approaching me from behind...?"
"Yes, Ravel sir." Muehehe. Power.
I quickly retreat behind his spear, just as Cyrus barrels down the stairs.
"Halt!" the man enters a defensive position. "You have been ordered by Ylissean authority to-!"
"ORDER THIS!" Cyrus runs up and punches the guard, knocking him unconscious on contact.
For a priest... He sure does high strength.
What am I saying? RUN!
I rush further down the hall, eventually spotting an open door.
Without a second thought, I throw myself into the room and slam the door behind me.
Wiping the sweat off of my face, I quickly lock the door.
S-S-Shit... I think I got away.
Now, which room am I i...
...
Just as quickly as I see the partially unclothed female Shepherds, I turn my head around and pretend that I didn't see anything.
"Er... S-Sorry... About barging in..." I hide the growing blush on my face. Of course I of all people have to embarrass easily. I just had to go into a girls' bunker?
"What was THAT all about?!" Eek! Sully?!
Oh gods, I have doomed myself to a fate worse than death!
"I'm sorry! I-I was just being chased by an angry priest and this was the only open room!"
...Wait, why were they changing clothes with the door-!
"Oh, yeah. Like I haven't heard that one before."
...You have heard that before?
"Yeah! Peeping Tom!" I... Think that was Olivia?
"I'm serious! There is an angry man out there right now threatening to kill me!"
I hear Sully laugh. "Fine. If you are so damn sure about that, how about I check?
I give a nervous nod. "Y-You can gladly do so."
Sully grabs a weapon, and I quickly move over to the side of the wall so that she can open the door.
The cavalier unlocks, the door, before pacing out of the door and looking both ways and turning back toward me. "Oh, look. Nobody. Guess what that means?"
G-Gulp... "T-That you are going to believe me anyways and let me go...?"
She grins, before taking her weapon and pointing it toward me. "Nope. Much worse."
Eek...
The next half-hour was a flurry of agonizing pain and screaming.
The sad part? They blind-folded me, so I have no idea what the hell they were even doing to me... But Apparently Anna was in here. Is perfectly fine with torturing me. ...Not surprisingly. And Cordelia is also in here... Neutral about it, but I heard something about 'venting out her frustration...'.
"Alright, Red." Sully laughs. "You get a five minute break."
Eep... It hurts so much... "Why...?"
"So we can teach people like you a lesson, of course." The cavalier laughs.
"But this is a bit rough... Isn't it...?" I hear Olivia mutter.
I hear a bit of muttering, some disagreement and agreement.
The muttering continues for a minute.
"N-No... I meant... Why would you change with your open...?"
The muttering stops.
"A-Alright, Red. Break over!"
"OH, NAGA! NOOOOOO!" I give another scream as the flurry of pain resumes.
I swear I hear a snicker somewhere. But... It hurts too much to focus!
Eeeeeeeeeeee-!
The pain stops just as I hear the door swing open.
Is that... Is that...?! "Hello. I just wanted to tell you that Robin wanted-!"
Is that... "Oh no... Maribelle?! Are you here to torture me too?! Naga, just kill me already..."
"Ravel?!" I feel her begin to untie my blindfold and restraints.
Wha...? "What is the meaning of this?!"
I think she's talking to the women... I... Ouch...
"What is the meaning? He's the cheeky little dastard that ran into here and thought that he could make up some excuse just so he could-!"
"And was that excuse about him being chased, by some chance?"
"Yeah, sure, did he try and use it on you too?"
Maribelle eventually unties my blindfold. "You are mistaken. He was indeed being chased. I was a witness." She shortly afterward begins to untie the rest of my restraints. "But even if such a thing was true, that is no excuse to do what you did, especially for Shepherds!"
The women all bow their heads in shame. I'm almost tempted to laugh, but I'm too busy hurting everywhere to care.
"Besides, Ravel just got out of the infirmary. He is still weak. Those injuries you inflicted upon him did not help at all."
Agh... "Thank you... Mari..belle..."
"It was no trouble, Ravel." she smiles. Her smile disappears and she looks back toward the others. "You shall know that Robin will here about this!"
She takes my hand and helps me out of the room just as she finishes freeing me.
"How shameful of them..." she mutters, as the door closes behind her. She looks back toward me, her eyes now caring. "Are you alright? What did they do to you?"
I sigh. "I couldn't tell, I was blindfolded. I gaze down at my arm, cringing. "But clearly I has a lot of bruises." I frown and look back up to her. "I can't thank you enough for helping me."
"It is a healer's duty to help the injured." she smiles.
I nod. "But seriously, if you ever need anything, don't be afraid to ask. I owe you one." Oh, almost forgot. "And by the way, what happened to the man that was chasing me?"
She smiles again. "I... I have not a clue. He simply... Vanished."
I frown. So... He knows about everything now. And... I still feel bad about it. It doesn't matter what he did to try and get me... It's almost... Understood.
And I now have an angry priest that hates my guts roaming the world.
Just... Damn. I'm almost surprised Niro hasn't gone missing.
"Ah, yes, and Ravel?" Maribelle turns toward me. "During the cleanup of the Lake of Tears, we found something that we thought you would find interesting."
Hrm? "And what would that be?
She pauses. "Well... Namely, we found... A person... A girl... Calina. She is alive."
A/N: Le-gaaaaaaaasp!
And for any that don't know yet. I have another story. Convenient Original Story tie-in to Change of Fate. Ties up certain plotholes of this story. And it will also accept OCs.
Said story was one of the only reasons I was able to break through the writer's block.
Anyways, I'm still story for taking two months to get a chapter.