Okay... All I have to say is that I'MSORRYI'MSORRYI'MSORRY since I have done hardly any writing to this story for the month. Not only was I busy...but I was BUSY...

Mihara: (sigh) She really was... She brought her Successor notebook to her sister's place and forgot US...

Me: I'M SORRYYYY! (sob) BUT, I did start writing almost as soon as I got home...

TheSilverHairedMaiden: I must admit that you bring up a really good point. I didn't really realize it until I read your review. I thought I was doing good at displaying their emotions, but I wasn't really. (gasp of horror) So, thanks sooo much for slapping me...with...your...words? And I apologize about the action chapters, but the switching point of views is just trying to show how many things are happening at once and how fast everything can go in life. But if it gets absolutely too, TOO confusing, just tell me. Thanks for your helpful (yet kind) criticism!

Angel Of Darkness And Light: I'm glad you're really into the battle scene with Mihara and Kyo! And, of course, I'm glad you liked the chapter! Thanks for reviewing!

Iline: I'm glad you liked Silvan's story...since it was a preview of Successor... (evil laughter) You shall find out what Mihara knows soon... The new laguz shall soon come into play... MWAHAHAHAAA! Naesala? Good daddy? Babysit? HAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAA! Thanks for reviewing!

vampireizzy: Roger. I gotcha. Watch this.

HEY! YOU WHO'S SCROLLING DOWN THE PAGE BECAUSE YOU DON'T READ THE REVIEW ANSWERS! HEYYYY! I COMMAND YOU TO STOP!

...That got your attention, didn't it? (innocent smile)

Okay, sooo, vampireizzy says that if there are any artists out there and you want to draw the still-fangirl-crazed-Sylvia, you can as long as you pm him/her!

Right. There you go, v.i.! Thanks for reviewing!

Disclaimer: (hums Jeopardy! theme and shakes fortune ball) ...Nope. Not buying out Fire Emblem today. Rats. (goes to buy lottery ticket)

XxXxXxX

Chapter 31

"This is ridiculous...!" Shoen voiced for the umpteenth time.

"You're telling me... And I even told him what to do..." Mihara replied...also, for the umpteenth time.

"Gosh, this makes me feel like a three-year-old," Sylvia grumbled unpleasantly, her head propped in her hand. The girl was sitting on a barrel – only one of two furnishings in the room.

"No kidding," Harmony hissed.

"I just feel useless sitting in here..." Irea sighed.

"Well, your complaining isn't helping any, let me tell you," came Naesala, who was sitting by the door, which happened to be the only exit for the room.

He got five sets of glares in return.

"Hey, it's like I said earlier: I could be doing so many more important things. However, none of them have my life on the line. This one does, so...I think I'll keep my head today, thanks." The former raven king shrugged and gave a dry chuckle.

The five all rolled their eyes and turned their attention away from Naesala. Mihara tapped her foot in thought, her arms crossed across her chest, leaning against the wall, and her eyes closed. This was just too insulting! Her own father put them in the room (with only one exit) and left Naesala to make sure they wouldn't follow them. Tibarn had taken Janaff, Ulki, Nailah, Ranulf, the Greil Mercenaries, Keenan, and Aislyn ("Dammit, we just got here and we're already turning around?" complained Shinon), leaving Volug to aid Naesala. One guarded the inside and one guarded the outside, and they switched every so often.

This is just beyond frustrating! I know Dad just wants to protect us, but I want to help! I want to help put an end to Ashera and give Mom a new body... At least Yune can take care of that. Not to mention, I still haven't gotten over my shock of Harmony getting her. To be honest, I'm surprised I remembered her...

A knock on the door broke Mihara from her thoughts. Naesala gave the four a cautious glance (since they'd already tried to escape once), and opened the door. Volug stood there and just said, "Switch?"

"Please. Goddess, I think my ears are going to fall off. I should bring you guys some cheese to go with that wine..." Naesala stepped out, tucking his wings in to get through the narrow doorway.

Volug took his place and stepped inside. Once the door closed, Volug looked at them all. "Ideas yet?"

"Don't we wish?" Shoen mumbled from his spot in a chair (the other piece of furniture), while he sat in it backwards.

"I say we just break the door down and make a break for it! While he may be really fast, he can't possibly catch four of us," Sylvia suggested, her face brightening at the idea.

"How are we supposed to get across the water to Begnion? Only two of us can fly, and if they were to carry us, we would only slow them down," pointed out Irea.

"I could swim," Harmony inputted from her spot on the floor.

"Have you figured out how to transform?" Mihara inquired. "I couldn't do it at first."

"Hnn..." Harmony groaned. "Well, I thought it would be easy...but when I tried it Shippo-style(1), it just didn't work..."

Sylvia broke out in fits of hysterical laughter while Mihara, Shoen, Irea, and Volug gave puzzled looks to the two girls. "Please tell me you didn't literally yell 'transform!'" she managed to gasp out.

"Psh. Of course not..." Harmony muttered, trailing off.

"I dunnooo...!" Sylvia leaned Harmony's direction, but didn't move from her spot. "That sounded awfully suspicious to me!"

Harmony frowned and glared daggers with her baby blue eyes at Sylvia. "Oh, shut up."

"Your words wound me!" Sylvia cried dramatically.

"Uh, hello? Guys? Planning time here?" Shoen droaned.

"I must agree. We need to find some way out of here to help." Irea looked up thoughtfully, also leaning against the wall. "I did see a sleep staff in the infirmary. Perhaps...if you were to get it, Sir Volug..."

"How would he sneak it in?" came Mihara.

It fell silent.

"I still say we just break down the door!" Naturally, that came from Sylvia.

All but Irea groaned and shook their heads. Harmony told her, "Okay, that is a great idea, but we'll keep thinking. It's good backup."

Sylvia pouted.

"Sadly enough, it is really the only plan you have." Volug crossed his arms and shrugged. "It could be worth a try."

The lightning mage pumped a fist. "That's what I'm talkin' about!"

"Hey, how long would it take to teach me to transform?" Harmony turned to her 'little sister.'

"Oh. Just gonna ignore me, huh?" Sylvia said to Harmony.

"Well, it took me..." Mihara looked up at the ceiling, thinking. "About...a day."

"Ugh..." The new otter laguz winced at the thought of being stuck in there a whole other day.

"We've been in here for four hours and forty-seven minutes. But who's keeping track?"

"Apparantly, you are, Shoen." Mihara gave her younger brother a sarcastic look.

"Me? Perish the thought. I'm thinking up an escape plan!" Shoen folded his arms on the back of the chair and set his head down on them, falling silent.

"...Something tells me that being in here has caused Lord Shoen to go mad," Irea commented with a completely straight face.

"I'm not there yet, but I'm getting there!" protested Shoen, his voice muffled from having his head down in his arms.

"Yeahhh, well, he's not the only one. If we stay in here too much longer, I'm gonna go crazy." Mihara drew out a long sigh. "I don't like little rooms."

"Yeah. I mean, I like you guys and everything, but...a little room with six of us in here just isn't working for me." Sylvia seemed to scoot away from Shoen, who she was beside.

"Going back to the escape plan..." Volug's eyes twinkled with amusement at the scene. "We could try and lure Naesala away from the front of the door, but I can't think of anything major enough that would get him away..."

"Hmm...that sounds most reasonable to me." Harmony nodded. "We'll think about it."

"In the meantime, how about we try and teach you how to transform?" Shoen brought his head up.

"Oh? You've recovered from your madness?" Sylvia gave him a smirk.

He shot a glare at her.

"Chill, chill. Just asking..."

XxXxXxX

"So...what? We're going to wait for you, Janaff, and Ulki here while you go all the way to Daein and talk with Micaiah to find Yune?" Ranulf dully inquired.

"Yes," Tibarn replied. "We'll be quick."

"Hnn...I suppose we could always go see Sanaki..."

"Are you kidding me?" Ike gave Ranulf a dumbfounded look. "I can already hear her giving me a lecture on everything..."

"You missed her and you know it. Someone needs to nag you every once in a while." Nailah crossed her arms.

"Yeah...Felicity did enough of that..." the hero mumbled under his breath.

"What about meeting up with Lady Laurel and King Xavier?" Aislyn demanded, standing beside Rhys. "Don't we need them?"

"Indeed. It would be easier if we simply split paths here and just met back up here tomorrow afternoon," suggested Keenan, his ears constantly moving to listen for danger.

Tibarn thought about it for a moment, then sighed. "I suppose that would work out better. Then, let's do that."

"How about we leave that to you laguz?" Boyd smiled happily.

The seven laguz gave him dry looks.

Soren looked back at them. "Boyd is correct. We are only beorc-"

Tibarn raised an eyebrow. So Ike is still the only one of them that knows...

"-and thus, we would only slow you all down. We can go and meet with the Empress and explain to her what is happening."

"He's right." Nailah nodded her head. "Let's do that. Ranulf and I will go get Lady Laurel – unless you two would rather," she added, directing it at Keenan and Aislyn.

"No, that's fine. You two may be able to protect her better than us," Keenan admitted. "We shall meet up with Xavier."

"Alright then. Let's meet back here tomorrow at noon at the latest." Tibarn shifted into his full form, Janaff and Ulki following his lead.

With a nod from all the others, the bird laguz flapped their wings, causing the trees around them to rustle, and took off into the air. They aimed towards Daein and took off, flying fast. Wordlessly, the other laguz shifted and ran off, as well. Aislyn, however, tossed a backwards glance at Rhys, whom she'd become closely attached to in the short time she had known him. She considered herself lucky that they met up once again. They hadn't seen each other since the battle in Altiaire. Now, she was leaving him once again...

Once the laguz were out of view, Ike turned to the mercenaries he commanded. "Well, I suppose now, we have to go see Sanaki." He gave Soren a light glare.

"We haven't seen her since the party," Mist told him. "So, it's been a month or two."

"Party?" her brother echoed.

"The laguz party in Altiaire. Well, Tibarn rather called it a 'formal get-together' to welcome the new laguz tribes to Tellius."

"Oh. I see."

"Well, shall we be on our way?" Soren gestured towards Sienne from where they stood at the outer wall. The snow had not yet fallen in Sienne, but it was very chilly outside.

"Yeah." Mist confirmed.

"Once we get in there, I am so stripping my armor and hangin' out with the hot girls!" Gatrie smirked at the thought.

XxXxXxX Three hours and fifty-two minutes later... (According to Shoen) XxXxXxX

"You know, I think you're getting it," Mihara praised her Earthling sister.

For the past (almost) four hours, Mihara, Shoen, and Volug – when he was in the room – gave pointers to Harmony to try and teach her quickly how to transform into her full otter form. She was making good progress and her light was steadily growing brighter. How Naesala hadn't caught them yet was beyond them. He probably had heard everything they had talked about, but wasn't about to fall for anything.

"Argh... You're right. This is really frustrating." Harmony narrowed her eyes in concentration. "I can get this. I can get this."

"Hmm...a pointer than Janaff and Ulki gave me was to just imagine being the creature. So, just picture yourself being an otter. Swimming, or whatever." Mihara slapped herself on the face. "I can't believe that I just remembered that. Stupid."

"Yeah. I mean, that is pretty lame. It was a big reason on how you learned, right?" Sylvia droaned, flipping through the elthunder tome that Volug managed to swipe and sneak in. When she glanced up, she saw Mihara giving her a death glare that matched her father's. Sylvia shuddered. "I was just kidding, yeesh. Easy. Down, girl!"

"...Y'know, you're lucky that Shoen's chair is in front of me with him sitting in it." Mihara pointed a finger down at the said male. "Otherwise, I'd probably throw it at you."

"Hey, I'll volunteer to stand," Shoen immediately voiced.

Sylvia grumbled under her breath. Irea looked up from her light tomes that Volug had also managed to get. "Well, I don't mean to sound bossy, but you should probably keep at it. The sooner you can transform, the sooner we can get out of here."

"Yeah, you're right-"

A voice shouted from outside the room. The laguz could just barely make it out: "Rebels! Rebels are attacking!"

The door to the small room opened. Naesala's face wrote out rage. "Hey! Get out of there! The rebels are about to attack!"

"What? Rebels?" Harmony frowned with deep confusion.

"We'll explain later! C'mon!" Shoen jumped from his seat and followed Volug, who moved quickly to get out of the room.

Out in the hallway, major chaos was happening. Hawks and ravens were running about the halls, the women and children running for cover, the men preparing for battle. Naesala gestured to them. "Let's go see how far away they are!"

They're not too far. I can hear wings. Mihara growled, following the former raven king.

They ran to a balcony that was on the third floor of the castle, being careful not to slip in the snow. Mihara's hearing hadn't been wrong. Heading towards them, fast, were rebels on the back of wyverns, not pegasi, this time. Naesala gave a stern look to the younger laguz, branded, and beorc. "I want you guys to go find a spot out of sight."

Shoen narrowed his eyes at Naesala. "Bull. I'm going to help you fight."

Naesala looked at him, the Hawk Prince being just about his height. "I can't fight, knowing that I need to watch out for you all. Not to mention, last time we met, you were badly wounded from your battle with that dragon."

Shoen growled in his throat, angered at the memory, not backing down from Naesala. "This is different. He was a trained assassin. These humans aren't."

Irea flinched, sensing the deep hatred in Shoen's voice.

"Let us help, Naesala!" Sylvia revealed her elthunder tome. "I can help shoot down the wyverns!"

With a glance behind Shoen at Sylvia, and then to Volug, he said, "I'll ask later how you got that."

"I know thunder magic, as well," added Irea.

Naesala sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Fine. But I want you to stay in the back. Get whoever may get through."

When Shoen was about to argue more, Mihara put a hand on his shoulder. "Shoen, it's better than nothing."

He looked back at his sister, paused, then nodded hesitantly. "Fine."

Naesala then jumped over the rail on the balcony and shifted, gaining altitude and heading out to the frontline of the soon-to-be-battlefield. Volug moved towards the edge, as well, then turned back to them. "You know...this would be a good time to break for it. Go and meet up with the others."

Shoen clenched his hands, turning his head down to the snow-covered ground. Dammit... I can't just abandon Altiaire... I wasn't here last time to help defend it. But...I want to go and help Dad with getting Mom back...

As a great, simultaneous battle cry emerged from the frontlines, Volug turned to look. He looked back at them. "I need to know now. Are you going?"

Mihara spoke up her, hesitation in her voice. "I'm going. I hate to leave like this, but..."

"I'll go with you," came Sylvia. "I mean, last time I stayed behind, you aged a lot of years..."

"Heh... Yeah. I can carry you. You're light."

Irea gave a nod. "I shall accompany you."

There was suddenly a bright flash of white light. They all turned to see a large, silver otter with a completely baffled look on its features. Mihara grinned. "Looks like you got it under pressure, Harmony. You coming with us?"

With a grin that flashed off her teeth, Harmony nodded, excitement bubbling inside her. They all turned to Shoen.

"Well, Shoen? What about you?" Volug inquired, creeping towards the edge of the balcony.

He turned his head back up, locking onto Volug's amethyst eyes with his own intense golden eyes. "I'm going. Ashera is the root of this problem."

"Right. Be careful, guys. It doesn't look like they're coming in from both ways, so you can escape from the dock side." With that, Volug, too, jumped from the balcony, shifted halfway down, and landed gracefully on his paws. He ran out to join the fight, which had already moved slightly closer to the castle.

"Okay. So, now, Harmony can swim. I can carry Sylvia. You got Irea, Shoen?" Mihara gave her brother a look before turning towards a different side of the balcony.

"Yeah. Let's get going. Harmony, can you change back so we can just carry you down to the edge of the water?" Shoen inquired. "It's the same concept, but just think about being half-beorc again."

The otter nodded, and closed her eyes to concentrate. Moments later, Harmony stood there in her half form again. She opened her eyes and looked herself over, making sure she had changed back. She gave them a wicked grin. "That's awesome."

The two laguz siblings rolled their eyes. Mihara offered, "I can carry you, Harmony."

"Gee, thanks." Harmony walked over to Mihara, who transformed while still standing on the balcony. She bent down and allowed Sylvia onto her back. She then flapped her wings to get airborne, which confounded Harmony. "Hey, am I not riding on your back?"

"Nope!" Mihara flew up just enough to the air where she outstretched her talons. "Hey...will you guys be warm enough?" she added to Sylvia and Irea, both of who were not dressed in the warmest of clothes.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Sylvia told her. "I can burrow into your feathers, anyway."

"I shall be fine, as well." Irea urged, "We should get going."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're expecting me to just dangle in the air?" Harmony made an X with her hands. "Not happening!"

"Harmony, we don't have time!" Mihara jerked her head toward the rising sun. "I'll hold you tight. I'm just dropping you at the edge of the water. It's not that far. Just down the cliffs!"

"Hnn...cliffs, hmm?" Harmony hesitantly moved towards Mihara's sharp talons. She sat in her left talons, that Mihara had bent to make it like a seat. She cupped her right talons around Harmony's middle, which the otter laguz also used to hold on to. Very tightly. "I know otter fur keeps them warm against cold water, but...isn't it, like, freezing?"

"You'll be fine. Hold on."

They flew up higher in the air, Mihara glancing down to make sure her brother was coming. Shoen, too, had shifted, and was waiting while Irea climbed onto his back. He flapped his wings and gained altitude, flying up after his sister. They flew up and over the castle, leaving the scene of battle. Once they cleared the castle, they immediately began going down the cliffs. That was when Shoen snapped his head around. "Stop!"

Not about to question him, Mihara stopped moving forward, and instead, backed up a few feet. Right where she was about to fly, a wyvern and a beorc, weilding a bow, atop its back appeared. They all stared at each other, waiting on someone to make a move first. Mihara moved down slowly, since she was closer to the footing on the path that led up and down the cliffs. Once she wasn't but three feet from the ground, she released Harmony, who managed to land safely, despite the fact that she was startled by the sudden action. Sylvia, too, quickly slid from her back, and in that instant, Mihara screeched and flew at the wyvern. Taking the time she was buying, Shoen moved to where she had put down Sylvia and Harmony and told Irea to get off. "Head down the path!" he added, and went to aid his sister.

Not hesitating, they all began practically sliding down the path, the snow making it difficult, watching the skies to make sure that the wyvern or an arrow was not about to fly at them. Mihara kept the wyvern distracted while Shoen went in and grabbed the beorc riding it. He tossed him to the cliffs, where he hit the ground and rolled down before stopping on the path, up above where the three girls were. Once Shoen had taken care of that, the two quickly overpowered the wyvern and chased it off. The girls continued moving, not stopping to look anywhere else.

They were almost to the sea level when an arrow shot at them, landing in the ground just beside Irea. They froze in their tracks and turned, seeing that the wyvern rider still breathed, though he was bloodied terribly. He still tightly gripped his bow and set ready another arrow. When he pulled the string back and aimed at the girls, Sylvia and Harmony scattered, hiding behind random boulders. However, Irea remained frozen, staring at the man. She didn't even hear Shoen yell, "Move, Irea!"

When the Hawk Prince saw that she wasn't about to move, he flew down at her, since he was closer to her than the man, and shifted back to his half form, tackled her to the ground, and covered her body with his. It was just in time, for the arrow narrowly whizzed by Shoen's wings. Mihara screeched angrily and flew up at the man, not giving him time to prepare another arrow. She dug her talons into him and flinched when he screamed with pain before falling silent. She released him and made sure that he didn't move again. Down below, both Harmony and Sylvia shuddered at what she had just done.

Once Shoen saw that it was fine, he sighed and moved away from Irea, helping her to stand. "Damn it, why didn't you move?"

Obviously, Shoen had not seen the light flush on Irea's cheeks. She stuttered, wiping the snow off her body, "I'm-I'm sorry, Lord Shoen. I...I don't know what came over me. That's...never happened before."

"That's another thing." Shoen narrowed his eyes at her. "Will you stop calling me ,'lord'?"

"I cannot possibly! You have now saved me not once, but twice!" Irea cried.

"That doesn't have anything to do with calling me 'lord'!"

"But-!"

"You don't have to. Please. Stop."

Irea averted her eyes, as though she were thinking it over. "Very well. Thank you...Shoen."

"Thank you! And you're welcome!" Shoen threw his arms up in the air, turning away. "Jeez, women are so stubborn."

"Riiight. Now that this touching scene is over, can we get on with this?" Sylvia's voice told everyone that she was annoyed.

"Sor-ry, Your Majesty." Mihara landed by them, speaking with a sarcastic tone. "Although, she's right. Let's get going."

Shoen and Harmony shifted into their full forms. While Irea climbed back onto Shoen and Sylvia onto Mihara, Harmony slunk into the water. She swam around, making powerful strokes. She moved quickly and the water washed over her smoothly. She gave off a happy chitter and leaped out of the water, landing back in with hardly a splash.

XxXxXxX

"My lord Ike...?"

The blue-haired man turned suspiciously, holding a drink in his hand. He instantly relaxed when he saw who it was. Elincia of Crimea stood before him, Geoffrey and Kieran behind her, giving Ike equally surprised looks.

Ike had gone outside the Empress's palace for a breath of fresh air. He had found his way to the gardens, where it was most quiet. Not only had the mercenaries met with Sanaki, Sigrun, and Tanith, but Tormod and Muarim were there, as well. The fact that Elincia was there had clearly startled him. He set his drink down on the guardrail outlooking the gardens and gave the green-haired lady a friendly smile. "Hi, there, Elincia."

"My lord Ike...when did you return?" Elincia demanded.

"Umm...a little while back. Few weeks ago. I'm sorry that I haven't gone to seen you yet." Ike scratched his head with embarassment.

"It's fine, but... Honestly, I didn't even know you were alive."

"...Oh."

"Well, either way, Lord Ike, it is great to see you fit and well!" Kieran stepped forward and extended a hand.

"Thanks, Kieran." Ike grinned and shook his hand.

"I must agree with Kieran's words. It is relieving to see you, Ike. Perhaps we shall spar again soon." With a smirk, Geoffrey, too, offered a hand to shake.

"Sounds good." Once Ike and Geoffrey released hands, he asked, "So...why are you three here?"

"Oh, Lucia and Bastian are around somewhere, too. I was contacted by Yune. She asked me to come here and go to the Empress Sanaki. I have yet to find out why," Elincia explained.

"...She must want you to be involved, then." Ike frowned.

"Involved?"

"...It's a long story. Here, come with me."

XxXxXxX

Shippo is from the Inuyasha series. He is a fox demon that can transform into many different things. Ninty percent of the time, he yells "TRANSFORM!" So, obviously, Sylvia knew what Harmony was talking about.

Mihara: Hey, watch out. Last time you mentioned someone in your a/n, you got half the cast in the trailer...

Me: Oh, how could I forget? Ah! Also, I want to ask my awesome readers and reviewers: who do you think should kill Ashera? Deliver the final blow? Don't worry about Ike and Yune being the only one who can really kill Ashera! Just tell me! Tibarn? Shoen? Mihara? Sylvia or Irea, even?

Mihara: ...Wait...if you're asking that...then...that means...!

Me: Yeah... This story is starting to wind down. (sob) The pain!

Mihara: You mean, you DON'T want to make a sequal this time?

Me: Well...there's not really anything I could do unless it was about the characters' children...

Mihara: ...ANNND with that thought, please review!