Chapter 5: Scares
"So girls, what do we do about Mikel's memories?" Anna asked the two as the three girls sat in the room.
"I already alerted Chrom, yet my guard has not returned." Say'ri told them. "I pray nothing has happened to him."
"If Chrom got the message, I'm sure he would've hopped on a Pegasus by now and flew over here." Tiki said.
"And I'm sure Sully would hop on a winged horse just to deliver him here." Anna laughed.
"I am sure he is on his way, yet I wonder where the others are..." Say'ri wondered. "I was told that Nah and Gerome would also visit tonight. Yet I have not seen any sight of them."
"Maybe they got lost." Anna suggested. "Valm is a big continent, even my sisters get lost sometimes. I'm sure they're fine."
"I cannot help but worry-"
"Take it easy Say'ri, no need to fret." Anna smiled. "All that sweating is unfitting for a princess."
"hmm..." Tiki thought to herself. "What if we deliver Mikel to Chrom ourselves?"
"That sounds like a good idea, but what if he is on his way over here?" Anna asked. "We could sail right past him and not even know it."
"Let's give it a day then, and see if Chrom comes by. If not, then we all set out for Ylisse."
"I like the idea." Say'ri smiled. "We'll transport Mikel across the sea within a matter of hours."
"Hence if he cooperates." Anna frowned. "I've known him to be difficult. And he's VERY persistent. I'd rather have the listener over the talker any day."
"I've never known him to be difficult, Anna." Tiki asked in wonder. "Did you two have a bad encounter?"
"I'd rather not go into details..." Anna sighed. "But let's just say he made me very upset."
"He does sometimes say the wrong things." Say'ri mentioned. "Word traveled fast around camp. One mistake of his and the girls knew of it within the hour."
"Well let's just hope he's fine going across the boarder." Tiki sighed. "I'm actually gonna go to sleep rather than ponder his difficultness."
"Oh come on Tiki, let's stay up!" Anna giggled. "It could be like a sleepover!"
"I don't think I really should." Tiki protested.
"Hey now, what's your problem? I'm sure you'd like it. We can roast some food over a fire, tell some stories, it'll be a blast."
"Well...I guess I can-"
"Great, let's get started."
"Wait, I have not agreed to this!" Say'ri told her.
"Who cares, it's unanimous now!" Anna laughed while the other two sighed.
Somewhere in Ylisse...
" *sigh* I should've taken a map..." a guard wondered to himself. "I didn't think it'd become dark so fast...I must journey back to Chon'sin and report back to Lady Say'ri." The guard wandered around a snowy field for a few moments. "Nothing but crops up here...it is quite unusual. Perhaps it is just my imagination." A loud cry was heard in the distance. "My hearing is not preforming well either...perhaps I shall go home and retire...wherever that may be. "A hazy figure appeared within his gaze. "Wow, my imagination is very active..."
"Are you alright?" The figure asked.
"Who...who are you?"
"Oh dear, you must be so tired...you seem ready to faint! Here let me take care of you." The figure stuck out a hand. The solider slowly reached for the hand and grabbed it.
"Thank you...whoever you are."
"Don't worry, I've got you..."
The guard passed out.
In Regna Ferox...
"Brigands here, brigands there, my sword makes their blood fly everywhere!" A woman sang. She had light brown skin and dark blond hair. She wore armor that was a mixture of colors-red, black, and silver. She wore white boots with a brown bottom and marked with red and black lines. She walked around in the snow with a silver sword marked with blood stains. "Heh, even though it's not as exciting as killing the dead, cutting up some damn lowlifes makes me happy."
"Still cutting down simple opponents, I see." Chrom stood a few feet behind her, smiling with a grin. As he spoke Flavia turned around and pointed her sword at him, only to notice the blue-haired boy already pointing his sword at her. She put her sword away and smirked at the man.
"And I've noticed you're getting better with a sword." Flavia commented. "What brings you by Chrom? Haven't seen you within a few months."
"A little birdie told me you had a key to a ship we need." Chrom put his sword away.
"Maybe I do, what's it to you?"
"We need to get to Chon'sin as quick as possible."
"Well, so far I only see you." Flavia let out a laugh as Chrom turned around, realizing he was along.
"I'm sure they went to the port. But I assure you, there is a team."
"And what does that team consist of?" Flavia raised an eyebrow.
"Two sages, a Grandmaster, a Great knight, a Paladin, and myself." Chrom smiled.
"Sounds like you have a pretty good team." Flavia commented. "And why is a fine team like that heading to a peaceful country?"
"Rumor has it that it was attacked recently. Say'ri requested that we show up right away."
"Well, I'm sure we can handle it."
"Wait, you're coming with us?" Chrom questioned.
"Ha! Of course, it's too damn quiet around here! I could use some excitement. Besides, I'm sure that oaf can keep things under control until I get back." Flavia pulled out a small brown key. "He doesn't really have a say in it otherwise."
"Heh, I'm sure the reigning Khan can do that." Chrom chuckled. "But we can't waste any time."
"Then we better leave at once."
Meanwhile...
"Where...where am I?"
The solider awoke in a dark room. The only thing he could see was the moonlight shining out of the window. The light made a small part of a wooden floor visible. The solider sat up and stood up slowly. He felt around until he found a wall. He walked to the right, only to bump into another wall. Biting his bottom lip, he walked to the left and felt a cold, metal object. He turned it and it revealed it to be a door. He walked into a room lit with nothing but candles. A ring of candles surrounded the room as two women stood in the center. One woman had dark black hair and wore a bluish-purplish robe. The other woman looked slightly younger and had white hair. She wore a light green robe. Both woman held dark tomes in their hands as they stood across from each other.
"By the powers of darkness..." The one in bluish-purplish chanted.
"And by the power of his blood and the gods' thunder..." The light greened one chanted.
"Bring him back to us with the power of the gods..."
"So that he may live once more!"
With a sudden flash, a blue bolt of lightning struck down between the women. The white-haired woman shielded her vision, while the black haired woman smirked and leaned closer. The bolt then spread out across the room, striking the candles lit. Their flames turned light blue and became bigger and brighter. The bolt no longer stood in the middle of the room, but instead the floor was covered in blue sparks. The two women looked down at the floor. A hazy version of a man wearing a hood appeared, but it faded away shortly after it appeared. The candles then went out and the two women closed their tomes. A light came on somewhere in the room, revealing it to be a living room with massive space in the middle.
"Hmm...Riveting..." The black haired one said. "Noire, did you see what I saw?"
"Y-yes mother..." the white haired one responded, shaking a bit. "No doubt it was a tactician's hood."
"First time we've made progress within years..." "Mother" smiled. She let out a devilish grin. " *giggle* That means he's out on the planet somewhere...shall we go look for him?"
"B-but what about father?" Noire let out a small yelp. "And the guy in the back? And Yarne?"
"I'll leave them a note...this is way more important, and if they can't understand...then we'll show them a good hexing when we come home. hehehe..."
The solider slowly walked out of the room. "H-hello?"
"Eep!" Noire jumped a bit and pulled out a blessed bow. However "Mother" took it away from her.
"Relax, it's only a solider that the men brought home."
"R-right...sorry..." Noire bowed down to the solider.
"I-I hope I'm not interrupting, but I overheard something about a man in a hood..."
"Yeah, yeah, what's it to you?" "Mother" said with a cold tone.
"Eeep! I just wanted to say that a man with that same description appeared in Chon'sin!" The solider backed up a bit.
"Hmm...really?" The black haired woman smiled. "Looks like we have our first lead Noire."
"Y-yes mother..." Noire sighed.
"Now what do we do with him...he's seen our dark arts...he knows too much."
"I-I didn't see anything milady!" The solider leaned against the wall.
"But Mother, I already arranged for Cynthia and Owain to come and get him hours ago like you asked!" Noire told her.
"Right...I almost forgot..." "Mother" sighed. "But that was hours ago...where could they be?"
At that moment the door flung open. Noire hid behind her mother as a girl jumped into the room suddenly. She wore silver armor from her neck to her toes. She had light brown hair, although there were traces of orange in it. Behind her was a man with black hair. He wore yellow and red armor and black boots. He covered his face with his left hand and wore a huge grin.
"Because the heroes of justice awaited in the shadows for their epic entrance!" The girl shouted.
"Yes, chosen ones know when not to interfere with harmless dark practices." The boy said. "My sword hand twitches each time one is harmless."
"Must you two always burst through the front door like that?" Noire sighed.
"Sorry, Noire, but you know how us heroes must act!" the boy chuckled.
"Right, the Justice Cabal must always practice their entrances when off-duty!" the girl smiled.
"Then how about you two quit smiling and get this guy out." "Mother" frowned. "Or leave him here and allow me to practice on him..."
"No can do Mrs. Tharja." the boy grinned. "To allow you to practice on another live vessel would not pass the trials of justice!"
"Owain. Cynthia. Get out." Tharja opened her tome.
"W-wait!" Noire spoke up. "Perhaps you two can give us a ride to Chon'sin...we need to investigate something there..."
"Chon'sin? That's all the way in Valm, isn't it?" Cynthia asked. "Mother is in Valm too with Mrs. Cordelia. We were going to visit them and help them out with their duties, but we can take you there! Right, my shining prince?" She turned to Owain and gave him a big, teary-eyed look.
"Why not? I'm sure we'd have plenty of time to make a detour on the path to-"
"Great, let's get you two packed and this guy tied up!" Cynthia then tackled the solider to the ground.
"H-hey, get off me!" The solider cried. "What are you doing with that rope?! Where did you get-"
In a matter of moments, Cynthia had the solider tied up and gagged with a piece of paper. The four stared at her in awe.
"Cynthia, why did you tie that man up?" Noire cried.
"Because he's not riding on my Pegasus, and Owain's horse can only hold two, so I'm gonna tie him to my Pegasus so we can take him with us!" Cynthia giggled.
"I suppose that's a fitting punishment for him being a peeping tom..." Tharja mumbled. "Come, Noire, we must pack at once."
"Yes, mother." The girl sighed.
And with that, wet meet 5 new characters, devise a disguise for the tactician, and have a few more set off on the hunt! Things are looking up, eh?
Flavia: The East-Khan and current ruler of Regna Ferox. She's very much a support of violence, but not mindless violence. She cares greatly for her own and has kept them in shape for the past five years. She's kept her rival and best friend, Basilio, on edge for a long while. Since the tactician left, she's done as much as she can to put a stop to mindless violence and even plain Ferox violence.
The first one to finish training and begin again.
Noire: Tharja's future daughter who has a knack for bows rather than curses. She has a bit of a split personality and is an extreme coward and pessimist due to years of being her mother's test subject. Despite that she still has a heart of gold and cares for all-despite her scary alter ego. She's assisted her mother with her curses since Mikel's absence.
The last one to be found during danger.
Tharja: The odd, Plegian dark mage with a verrrry jealous streak. She practices the dark arts regularly and has a verry unhealthy obsession with the tactician. Since his departure, she has been trying to bring him back almost every single day. She occasionally disappears without alerting her family, and when she returns she gives no explanation.
The one with the scariest expressions.
Cynthia: The loveable hero with a passion for heroics. For years, she, Owain, Morgan, and a few others have traveled the world helping those in need. She almost always goes with her husband, Owain, yet the two normally have semidelusional journeys with much mayhem and mirth. She eagerly waits her mentor's return.
The first to volunteer.
Owain: Lissa and Mikel's future son, and brother of Morgan. He always stands out, as to he has a very poetic speech and colorful ways. He's traveled the world with the Justice Cabal, helping those in need and even teaching them his "secrets." He and Cynthia have had many tales to share, although most of them have had more laughs than shivers. He is always on the lookout for his father, more or less on the behalf of Morgan.
The one with the most creative "special moves."