A/N And it all comes together. Kind of. I'm so filler-y it hurts. Maybe I can bullshit my way through the fillers by calling them "arcs." Yeah. Welcome to Arc 1, of insert undetermined number here. I don't own Fire Emblem or any of its alternate timeline forms.
A crow stood on the outside of a closed window. Attached to its right leg was a small slip of paper. Impatient, the black-feathered bird poked the glass with its beak. Tap, tap. "Hold on just a second!" cried a sing-song voice from inside.
One second passed. Tap. "Wait!" yelled the same voice. A loud crash resounded through the armory as a white-haired shape knocked over a battered knight suit.
Tap… tap… taptaptaptaptapta- the window swung open and the bird cocked its head to the side. He was greeted with a face of a young human girl whose hair was up in snow-white pigtails. She wore a worn, but gleaming suit of armor and her face was flushed from her hurry to answer the window. Slight irritation was on her face. You said one second, the crow's innocent eyes seemed to say, and Cynthia huffed in mock annoyance.
"Yeah, but I also told you to wait. There really was no... caws for your impatience," she pouted comically. The bird sincerely wished it could roll its eyes.
The pegasus knight spotted the crow's message and raised a brow. The crow lifted its wings slightly, as if to shrug. It continued to look at her expectantly with wide eyes. "All right, here you go," Cynthia relented. The crow really was too cute, she thought happily, giving the feathered creature a single kernel of corn. As the crow took experimental bites of its reward, Cynthia swiftly extracted the message and read the single line of script.
Flavia is here with Lissa. She has the gem, but Lissa is in bad condition. Tell Inigo.
Her good mood dissipated and was replaced with an odd mixture of tension and relief. It was a relief that the former Khan Flavia had arrived safely with the gemstone, but there was the tension from what the Emblem's completion would entail.
From the table in the middle of the armory, Kjelle glanced up from polishing her armor. "What does it say?" she asked quietly. Cynthia informed her stoic friend. Kjelle only nodded once before resuming her task, with perhaps a little more force than before. Both of them knew that Flavia's arrival was one step closer to the ritual and it put them on edge. Once Say'ri and Noire came with the last gemstone, that was it. There was no turning back. Cynthia didn't allow herself much time to dwell on the what-if's, but a part of her was definitely worried.
Like her friends, she had heard stories about the Time Before, when Emmeryn was alive and Grima hadn't been reborn. Hadn't killed Chrom and the Shepherds. Hadn't killed the mysterious young travelers who bore a striking resemblance to the Shepherds… She gulped and redirected her thoughts elsewhere. Things will be different this time, she was sure of it.
Looking once more at the note, Cynthia thought about the long walk up to Inigo's study and mentally groaned. Sure the long, winding stairs leading up to the study was dramatic enough, but her legs ached already.
But as soon as she reached the door, a candle was lit in her mind. Cynthia poked her head back into the armory and chirped, "Hey Kjelle, know where Severa is?" She dangled the message at the brunette warrior to imply her meaning. At the suggestion, Kjelle gave her a tiny smirk of amusement, before shaking her head. "Entertaining as it might be to have Severa tell Inigo a message again, she's already out. South Wall," she replied.
Cynthia's mood dropped. Bummer. It would have been funny to see Severa blushing and complaining about the extra work it would take to get to Inigo, but delivering the message anyway. With a short sigh, Cynthia grabbed her spear and headed out, but not before tripping over the fallen suit of armor.
"Ow!"
"Are you alright, Cynthia?" drawled Kjelle, still engrossed in her polishing. "Y-yeah, sorry!" Cynthia responded, embarrassed. A door slammed shut immediately after, leaving Kjelle alone in the room.
She sighed, and walked to the door. "...I had better pick this up before someone trips on it again," she muttered.
"Hello? Inigo?" Cynthia banged on the wooden door to his study. The door opened and Inigo looked at her tiredly. "Yes, Cynthia?" he blearily said. There was an imprint of several sheets of paper on his face-probably from sleeping at his desk again. Chancing a look, the pegasus knight could see that papers littered the room even more than usual, and would have inspected it some more if the reigning ruler of Ylisse hadn't given the biggest yawn in the history of mankind. He stayed quiet after that and shoved his hands in his pockets, not even bothering to hide the disarray.
Cynthia's heart reached out to her dear friend. Inigo didn't even attempt to flirt with her-he must have really been stressed out. Ever since Severa had told him about the ritual, no one had seen the blue-haired prince out and about the castle.
"Got a message from Owain," she said, raising up the small note from earlier. "He says that Flavia is here and talking to Lissa. We have the gem, but I'm going to guess that seeing Flavia put Lissa off again."
Inigo nodded tiredly as he digested the information. "Okay." Then he sighed and made to close the door, but he stopped halfway through the motion.
"Cynthia… the plan for the portal… what do you think of it?" Inigo asked.
She clenched her fists in front of her. "I think it's a great idea. Just imagine, you, me, and everyone else out there, fighting for a better future!" Cynthia responded intensely.
The blue-haired prince let out a short smile at her heroics, before saying, "But… aren't you worried? It could all go wrong again. It did before."
Her smile faltered, but only for a fraction of a second. She shook her head vigorously. "Not this time. It's going to be different, I can feel it. And, keeping this between you and me, I'm a little bit excited. I'm going to see my mom again!"
He shrugged. As childish as Cynthia was sometimes, even Inigo had to admit that her cheerfulness could be contagious. In all of his conflicting thoughts on the plan, he had forgotten that by going back, he could see them again-Mother, Father, maybe even baby Lucina…
Cynthia punched him in the shoulder-hard and unexpectedly painful because of the armor. "Yeah! That smile suits you more than that dumb frown, mister!" she crowed triumphantly. Inigo glared at the girl, only half-meaning it. She really could be careless, but at least her heart was in the right place. Besides, it wasn't the first time he'd been subjected to violence by a pretty girl.
Suddenly, a bell rang. Ding… dong… Both teenagers ceased their laughter and focused their attention on the rings. One meant a wake-up. It was not quite dawn. Two meant a drill. Inigo hadn't issued one. Three meant an accident inside the walls, be it a stray group of Risen or a rogue fire.
Ding… Four meant a Risen attack.
The last bell hit. Dong.
From her position at the warning bell, Severa barked orders frantically. Surrounding her were her childhood friends, all comrades, all equally capable warriors. Inigo was noticeably missing, but Severa knew that after he had assembled the villagers into safe zones, he would join them presently. She put her hand on her forehead to block out some of the sun as she scanned the enemy forces mounting against Ylisstol.
East Wall looked bad, West Wall seemed slightly better, North looked to be the easiest to defend, and South… the Risen in that area looked to be scattered and sparse, but she wouldn't put it past Grima to divert her attention from that area. Still, with the other walls in obvious need of help, she had to concentrate a majority of her forces elsewhere.
"Laurent! I need you to go with Nah and some villagers to the western wall and help defend. If the situation gets bad there, don't even bother staying out and becoming mincemeat. Go back in and fortify the walls as best as possible, got it?" Nah gave a solemn bow to the fiery commander before standing on the edge of the wall. After a bright flash of light, the petite humanoid was replaced with a rose-pink dragon. She wordlessly gestured to the dark-cloaked mage to ride, and the two flew hastily to the west.
"Kjelle and Brady! Same instructions, East." The two looked at each other pensively, reluctant at their pairing. Severa narrowed her eyes at them. "Don't get in my way," Kjelle finally directed at Brady, walking towards her designated post. The auburn-haired healer just sighed, accepting his fate, and followed her.
"On second thought, Yarne, go join them. East Wall needs help fast," emphasized Severa, hoping that Yarne would catch her hint. The half-Taguel cringed in surprise of her addressing him, but speedily bounded after the two in his shifted form.
"That leaves Owain and Cynthia on the North, and Gerome and I on the South." This arrangement was best for Owain, really. By giving those two the easiest and closest wall to defend, Owain could reach his mother at any time if need be. That was the unspoken agreement between the remaining three, and Owain shot them all a grateful look. With a flutter of pegasus wings, Cynthia and Owain bounded towards their mark.
Severa was alone with the stoic wyvern rider, who was watching the pegasus rider go. "They'll be fine," she murmured reassuringly. "Focus on what we have to do." He only nodded, and summoned Minerva.
Once the two were mounted, the aged wyvern took to the air and Severa felt the familiar heart-stopping sensation of flying. High over the land, the two were free to observe the sweeping destruction that the past few years have wrought over the outer walls. Sickly grass, scrawny trees… Up ahead, just over a nearby hill, there was a lone bridge with a flowing river underneath. The water always looked the same bubbly blue, but they knew from experience how deceivingly polluted the source really was.
"I don't think our Wall will be at too much of a threat level, at least compared to what the others have, but I can't just dismiss the possibility of danger," she spoke into his ear. "After a quick sweep, I need you to go help out Kjelle, Brady, and Yarne, as they lack aerial assistance. Hopefully nothing too major comes out of here…"
Severa's voice trailed off as she spotted a dark cluster of figures chasing a lone figure on a horse. It was Risen, too many for her to count, but what shocked her the most was the fleeing victim.
Was that… was that Noire?
From a great distance, Severa couldn't be sure, but she still watched with horror as an arrow shot through the terrified horse's leg. The great beast stumbled a couple more steps before collapsing on its' side, taking its rider with down as well. However, the small figure quickly adapted, hopping off of the animal and pulling out a bow from behind. She spun midair and quickly fired off one, two shots and nailed two pursuers. That done, the archer ran.
Gerome stiffened at the sight. It was obvious now. "Gerome!" yelled Severa. "We have to do something!"
He stiffened in his seat, eager to comply, but worried at the same time. "Severa… I can't. There's too many ranged attackers. If I fly Minerva close enough for combat, we're both done for!"
Severa dug her fingers into his frame in frustration. Noire was her friend, she couldn't…
"Drop me then," she said resolutely.
Gerome turned towards her. Though his mask covered his face, she didn't need to see his eyes to know what he thought of her crazy, even suicidal, suggestion.
"You heard me. Drop me. I'll protect her, but I need you to go and get as much help as you can get. South Wall is by far the short end of the stick," she commanded. Gerome needed no more explanation. In times like these, it was listen to orders or die.
Noire was reaching the bridge by now, but even the two could see how winded the archer was becoming. Noire was never one for sustained exercise, preferring to station herself in one area and shoot enemies from a distance.
"Prepare yourself!" Gerome shouted over the howl of the wind. Severa nodded, and placed a hand on his shoulder to reposition herself so that her legs were swinging on only one side of Minerva. The ground rushed up to meet them as the wyvern nosedived towards the melee.
Severa could feel her heart thundering and willed it to be calm. A hundred feet… eighty… fifty… thirty… twenty… Noire, I'm coming, she thought, and jumped off. Minerva flew back at a sharp angle, avoiding magic bolts and arrows with finesse.
Thud! The ginger-haired warrior unsheathed her weapon just in time to drive the blade into the back of a Risen berserker. The monster started to dissipate into dust as it broke her fall, but already Severa had raised her sword to meet her next attacker. "Agh!" she yelled, slashing another undead across the chest. Its red eyes faded, only to be replaced with another foe. More and more she cut down, and with each step she neared her archer friend.
Soon the redhead found herself on the middle of the bridge. "Noire!" she shouted when she was within a couple feet of the other girl. "S-Severa? Oh thank g-goodness!" Noire fired off another arrow, nailing a rival Risen archer through the eyes. Sweat beaded her forehead and the archer breathed heavily as she notched another. Severa hacked down on a shorter Risen, her sword drawing a line of symmetry down its skull before it disappeared. The redhead took a final step and was right next to the archer.
Severa and Noire stood back to back, feeling each other breathe heavily. The captain of the guard glared at the surrounding Risen as they closed in on the bridge. "Th-there's so m-many of them!" Noire stammered. Despite her worries, she managed to down two spell-slinging cadavers in quick succession. From her behind, Severa grunted, "Quiet! Gerome will be here with the others-" she dashed and stabbed an enemy, hopping back in formation afterwards "-soon! For now, fight!"
Initially, Severa's plan was to pair up with Noire and, with their combined strength, fight their way past the bridge and to Ylisstol's walls. From how the Risen fought, Severa had felt secure in their abilities to force an escape.
But the numbers kept coming, and coming, and coming. Unceasing, without end. The hordes of Risen swarmed the little bridge, and Severa was straining under the pressure. From behind her, she could feel Noire tense up as she pulled the bow back, and release the arrow with a little more tiredness as they went on. Sweat poured in rivulets down the sides of her face, and Severa savagely pushed her bangs aside. Her muscles were becoming sorer and the fatigue weighed heavily on her. It felt like she and Noire had been fighting for hours. Where were the others?
She heard a sharp cry of pain, and felt a slump against her back. Noire groaned and Severa felt as if someone had dumped ice water on her head. "Noire?!" she exclaimed, dispatching several more Risen with the difficult of Noire's dead weight. She then turned her attention towards the archer. The brunette's face was shadowed by her hair, but Severa could make out her pained expression. Letting her eyes rove down for a split second, she saw Noire clutching her right forearm with her left hand, and the red seeping through the fingers. Intermingled with the red was a sickly green. She swore. Poison.
"Idiot," Severa hissed, grabbing Noire and propping up against the side wall of the bridge. Noire moaned a little and hardly moved. Her bow lay uselessly beside her. The redhead was faced with the very real possibility of her friend's death. "Don't die on me!" Severa stood in front of her friend to face the Risen. She raised her sword until it was level with her face. Then, with a new rush of adrenaline, turned off all thoughts and swung.
And through it all, a pair of eyes watched. It observed how the redhead fell from a wyvern and charged straight onto the bridge. It watched with some sort of respect as the woman cut her way through the horde of undead to save her friend. It noticed with a dash of hatred and satisfaction that the friend was a familiar archer, who right now was oh-so-conveniently injured.
Adriane blinked once, before sprinting towards the two women at top speed.
A Risen reached out an arm towards her, and with a quick slash, the offending limb fell to the ground. Another swung its axe. She ducked and slashed off its legs before running some more. Nothing would stop her advance.
Finally, she stood next to the red-haired girl with the sword and shield. Without warning, the other girl spun and slashed at Adriane from above. The blue-haired warrior just barely managed to bring her sword up horizontally in a block.
Adriane met the girl's maroon eyes with her own grey, and registered the shocked look on the other's face. "W-what? Who are you? What are you doing here?!" the redhead said.
Every instinct screamed at Adriane to end this pathetic girl's life. She managed to tamp those feelings down and focused on her next course of action. From behind the girl, Adriane could see an approaching enemy and the shine of steel. "Look out!" she yelled, before pushing the other girl aside and blocking the attack. She felt the force of the blow as her arms absorbed the shock, before retaliating with a sound kick.
The blade master sunk to its knees and Adriane took the opportunity to decapitate her opponent.
When she next met eyes with the Ylissean, Adriane saw grudging trust. A temporary arrangement, and nowhere near her goal, but Adriane knew that if she survived this onslaught, she would be that much closer to finding out the plan and erasing all possibility of it happening.
For my parents, for Master Grima, she repeated to herself as a mantra. She channeled all of her energy in every precise swing, every calculated blow.
Even alongside an unfamiliar partner, Adriane found that on the bridge their teamwork… flowed. The redhead's blunt, head-on style of fighting synergized with her own fast-paced swordplay. It became an unspoken understanding that the redhead would take on the slower enemies and soak up damage with her shield, while Adriane would weave in to finish them off. With the limited amount of space on the bridge, only a set number of Risen could actually come and attack them, which facilitated their system.
Of course, there were flaws. Being melee fighters, they had to be in close combat to put down the Risen. However, neither could venture very far from their original position and take out their ranged opponents. Whenever Adriane tried to dispatch the archers and mages in the distance, a surge of undead would rush forward at the redhead, forcing Adriane to help. And the other woman refused to budge from her injured friend's side, which meant that the blue-haired woman couldn't leave at all. At least, not if she wanted to keep those two Ylisseans alive. For now.
Adriane's lip curled in annoyance at the predicament, but she continued fighting. Still, the two couldn't go on forever. She couldn't dodge every single spell or arrow, and while her wounds were minimal, she was beginning to lose count how many she had sustained throughout the fight. And with every movement, every attack she put out, Adriane felt her energy draining.
And the Risen's numbers felt endless, and the two were pushing their limits.
She ducked under a flying arrow, the point sailing over her head. In the same motion, she swerved her hips to the left, managing to dodge a poison-tipped sword. She turned and deflected a light axe. Defensive sword fighting, that's all it was now, with her movements becoming more and more sluggish. She fell out of sync with the redhead, the other woman caught up in her own solo battle.
A Risen charged at her, and she barely had enough time to raise her sword before its weapon crashed down upon her blade. The walking corpse stared at her with those glowing red eyes for a moment, keeping up the immense amount of pressure and by extension, Adriane in place. Suddenly, it released its pressure and Adriane stumbled forward before she felt cold fingers grasp her neck.
"Ngh," she choked out, before she was slammed on her back on the stone bridge. Darkness and stars filled her vision and she wanted to throw up. Adriane saw the weapon come down on her and it was only by adrenaline alone that she just rolled out of danger. However, the next time she wasn't so lucky. Metal pierced flesh as the blade entered her thigh and dragged down.
Adriane didn't say anything, despite the blinding pain that flooded her senses. With a determined expression, she picked up her fallen sword and ran through the through the chest. The Risen disappeared, along with the weapon.
She tried to stand, her mangled left leg screaming in protest and dripping blood. She fell back down, and managed to escape the Risen's attention in her weakness. A soft moan escaped her lips, and she hated, hated herself because she wasn't good enough to survive even this.
I… I can't fight… not like this...
Blood pumped in her ears at her failure. The sounds of battle echoed in the background, a dull cacophony of grunts and clangs of weapons. Then, "Severa!" A loud, male voice. Worried, panicked-sounding. Ylissean. Help.
"Inigo, over here!" yelled the redhead-Severa.
Adriane shifted to try to get a better look from her position on the ground, but pain, it hurt so much more, and she lay back down. It was all she could do to keep her eyes open, because she knew that if she so much as passed out, there was a high chance she would die out here without medical aid.
"Severa, Naga, are you all right?!"
"I'm fine, really, just…"
But that was how battle worked.
She had learned long ago that in battle, if the weak fell, they stayed down. Having someone help another would just get the two of them killed. No one stopped battle to help another if that person was injured, not when victory was so near. It would be... inefficient.
Blood spilled freely from her leg, making her dizzy with the loss. Voices drifted in and out of her consciousness as Adriane fought.
"...vera, who…" The same male voice.
"...'s okay…elped me…Please ge...them bo... on Minerva… see Bra…" Severa.
"Are… ure?" Doubt in the male. She might not get help after all.
"...es, yes… trust her." The fool. I win.
Adriane smiled, a little blood coming out of the corner of her mouth. She closed her eyes.
A/N Part 3. May release Part 4 tonight if I get finished with it, but most likely not. Thank you all again for your patience. Good night.