A/N: Well, it has been a while, I think at least two more fire emblem games have come out since then, thanks to Bigsmallz, chm01, NinjaSheik, and Sentinel07 for the reviews.

Ike stared at the sight in front of him. Listening to how Jill had described her father, he had been reminded of his father, and yet, this man had allowed all of this to happen. The flooding had ravaged the countryside, all in attempt to prevent his army from crossing. While he had offered Jill a chance for revenge, he was glad that no one else was around. He couldn't have handled Mist yelling or worse, crying. And if Titania or Soren had also heard about what he had offered, they might have overreacted. Jill hadn't accepted as he expected, he just wished they could do more than just make sure the villagers could eat while they were around.

"Ike, the guards are worried that something might happen to our great general." Titania spoke from behind him, a small smile on her face as she handed out a small bowl of soup to a young boy.

"Soren's still claiming that the army will fall apart due to my unnecessary gestures?" Ike questioned as the last of the Daein citizens willing to eat food from the Crimeans left. He stretched before starting to walk, with Titania following.

"Well, Soren always has been a bit blunt with his feelings."

"When they don't have to do with him, he is." He adjusted his cloak yet again. At least he had not lost this one to his sister's concern about the holes in his clothes. The worst part was she thought she was being helpful. "He's still avoiding me." His gaze searching for the elusive mage in their camp, though he avoided detection.

"And can you explain why you are avoiding Astrid?" Ike paused as Titania waited for his answer.

"It's more that I have Mist's lost medallion and Ashnard on my mind." He replied, leaving off why exactly those two things stayed on his mind. "Besides, Sothe seems to open up a bit to her, I think." He sighed before turning his attention back, "though we are reaching the castle soon. I will face the Black Knight again."

"Ike, if he beat Greil…" Titania warned.

"Father was not at his best against him." He grasped one hand to his sword's hilt. "But I do promise to survive, I cannot let everyone down."

"Just long as you make sure of that, Ike." Titania remarked before walking towards her tent. Adjusting his cloak one more time, Ike marched past the Begnion soldiers to the one place that Soren would hide. Of course, if Aimee intercepted him, well, he might get lucky and have plenty of room to run.

Fortunately for him, there were no interruptions, but Soren's slightly cryptic words worried him. What had him so worried more than his early life? Why couldn't he see that it would not matter? He was still his best friend. At least he would stop Ashnard soon. Then he could deal with all of his friends' problems. His thoughts were interrupted as his door guards rushed in.

"General, we were wondering if everything was alright, the strategist just ran out and we thought-" he rolled his eyes at their reaction before walking past them. He would make sure to aim his frustration at the Daein royal guards when they worked on storming the castle.

OoOoO

"General, are you sure about the deployment of the soldiers? Won't you need more to defeat him?" Tanith questioned as she stood in front of Elincia, who held a healing staff.

"Yes, our group should be enough, besides, he wants us to see the surprise. Though be ready in case reinforcements are needed."

"I will ensure that none shall step within ten feet to harm the princess." They saluted before Ike walked to the middle of the attacking force. Soren was giving last minute instruction to the group.

"Two forces will attack the throne room, to cover both entrances to the throne room. The force lead by Titania and I will cover the outer section, while Volke and his escort will secure the treasure rooms. The general will lead a smaller secondary force to push through a secondary route, and if necessary, reinforce our team before striking at Ashnard." Gatrie clanked in front, his lance and shield in hand.

"Ah, Ike, should Shinon and I start with lighting and thunder again?" The other part of the maneuver harrumphed as he finished inspecting his arrows. He nodded as he motioned for Tormod and Boyd to reinforce the lighting part of the plan.

"Hey, you know, I could probably do the thunder part better than Gatrie, anyways." Boyd comments with a smirk.

"Ha, Ike could, but you're still not strong enough." Mist shot back at Boyd.

"Eyes on the enemies, pups." Shinon commanded while Gatrie shouted as he dove in, drawing all of the nearby enemies' attentions. The enemies' swords crashed against Gatrie's shield as flame, arrow, and axe flew past and drop his stalled attackers. Gatrie grinned before marching forward, as Ike glanced over to where he thought the other group was. Though the fact that shouting was going on throughout the nearby rooms cut his search short.

"Ha, these fighters are no match for my strength, I'll have us to Ashnard's throne in no time." Gatrie boasted as he pushed through and knocked an enemy general into one of the fountains. However, he halted as he started to stumble, before dropping his lance and shield while crumpling to the ground.

"Gatrie." Shinon kicked the large man to no avail. "Naturally he had to fall to a sleep stave."

"Mist, do you have a restore staff?" She shook her head in response.

"He's going to fry in that armor from those mages." Tormod shouted as he pointed at the charging mages. An arrow whizzed by Ike as he charged down the nearest mage, drawing their attention as his support helped bring them down quickly.

"Shinon, stay here with Gatrie until he wakes up, everyone else, forward." Ike commanded as something seemed off. The Black Knight did not seem the type to hide behind his men, unlike many other Daein generals. Then again, if Ashnard wanted to trap them in the throne room, the two of them would greatly increase Daein's chances. These questions continued to trouble him as the four continued to push through. At the next passageway, his sword kept two armored knights at bay as Tormod's magic fried them.

"Now what, General?" Boyd questioned as he gave the passageway a look over, it seemed that they reached the hallway before the throne room before the rest of their forces. While he wished to push ahead, without Gatrie, it would mean that they would not be able to cover their flank properly, as anyone that closed inside of Tormod's casting range would push the group into being overwhelmed. The sound of hooves drew the group's gaze as Titania led both Oscar and Astrid ahead of the rest of the second group.

"It seems that one of the commanders attempted to hole up in front of a treasure room." Titania paused before continuing, "Ike, we saw none of the four riders."

"They must truly believe that their surprise will be that decisive for the battle." Soren remarked before continuing, "Kieran and a few others have been left behind while Volke pilfers the armories." Clanking armor announced Gatrie's recovery as Shinon muttered admonishments at him.

"Very well, Titania, Soren, take your force to the right, we'll take the left and meet before the throne room. Once both groups meet in front, then we'll charge and take down Ashnard." Turning away from the separating force, Gatrie huffed as he moved to pass the group as Ike followed next to him. He felt the air around him becoming heavy as his eyelids started to droop. Shaking his head he was able to fight it off as they continued.

"Another sleep stave user in front of us." Ike warned the rest.

"Great, why didn't you do the useful thing and just let yourself sleep?" Shinon retorted right before a group of Daein soldiers charged as Gatrie set his lance while raising his shield. Their strikes crashed against his defense as Ike swung and left one of the men with his weapon dropped, his arm useless. He started to scream as a blast of fire engulfed him. He crumpled as Ike pushed past and stared down the next man in his way, who seemed to be staring at him, but unlike the usual glares, he seemed more interested in what he was seeing. Ike led with his initial blow and found his opponent's shield interrupting his blade's path. He attempted the next swing up to find the man's lance to deflect it enough to only graze his armor.

"You've seen how I fight before, you must have known my father." Ike commented while the man moved his lance into a more defensive position.

The man smiled as he asked, "you must be the son of Gawain. How is the old goat?"

"He was killed by the Black Knight. And while I wish to talk to someone that knew him, that will have to wait until after the battle."

"Do you have any siblings?" Ike glanced behind the tall man as the other Daein soldiers were pulled away, it seems they trusted this man to hold them off.

"Just my sister."

"The world cannot lose Gawain's style of swordsmanship. I surrender to you, General, do what you wish." Ike smiled, at least he would not have to fight a friend of his father's. He already had to beat his student today anyways.

"Then I guess you have no qualms turning around and helping us take down Ashnard?"

"You would be willing to fight with me?"

"You're not the first Daein to change their mind about who is right." The man grunted before turning to face the throne room.

"General, I must warn you, Ashnard is not here." Ike charged in at the words, unable to believe it. [I]What type of king abandons his throne?[/I] Yet sure enough, the man was missing. Though what stood in his place, Ike had only seen once before. While a bit smaller than those at the cliffs, the laguz still towered over everyone else in the room.

"What is a Goldoa dragon doing here and fighting for these scum?" Lethe complained as he gave his forces a look over. They had two archers, though Astrid would not be as nimble here since her maneuvering would be hampered as well as three mages, as Rhys had been feeling better the last couple of days and did not need to rest, yet.

"Soren, I will attack first, get everyone ready." Soren stared at his commander for a few seconds before turning and quickly barking out orders. Ike started to march forward towards the dragon.

"You are willing to throw your life away?" The dragon questioned as it frowned.

"We don't have to do this, you know."

"No, I have to, for him." Ike nodded as he threw his sword into the air and came crashing down. The blow caused a snarl of pain to ring out, but a massive arm nearly launched him away, stopping his up swing. Springing to a stand, he had just enough time to partial block the breath that burned at his skin. He grimaced as he felt his cloak fall as it was engulfed in flames. The blaze cut out as the laguz screamed as twin bolts of lighting struck out, as it fell to the ground before transforming back.

"That was beyond foolish for you to have done that, we had Gatrie and the new recruit to have taken the attack." Soren ranted as he pulled out a mend staff, bring relief as Ike had to drop his heated blade.

"And let either one of them be cooked alive?" Soren turned to give new instructions as Ike moved to talk with the now defeated laguz.

OoOoO

Ike felt his left eye twitch, but he knew that they would not be getting any sleep soon. Nasir always seemed genuine, yet it seemed that Ena was important to him. The problem would be a bit more manageable if it was not combined with the fact that Ashnard had the medallion and the remaining Daein forces were much more powerful than what they had just faced at the capital. Even with Titania's assessment of the fact that the Daein generals continually underestimated their fighting ability, Soren reminded them that they would not assume this to be so with Daein's elite forces. Ike stared at the nearby walls, did his father ever come to this room? While his father was a famed general, the fact he was not found by Daein until running into the Princess makes him wonder. Unless Ashnard had been waiting for the right time to recover the medallion.

"My lord Ike, are you free to speak?" Standing in the doorway was Princess Elincia, her hands resting on the wall. Ike motioned to the chairs in the room as they both sit. "I must thank you for your help since the beginning."

"Princess, we have been paid adequately for the services. Besides, I don't go back on a contract."

"Still, I am greatly relieved that you are safe." Elincia's brushed a lock of hair behind her ear as she continued, "my lord Ike, what will you do after the war?"

"Well, the base will need to be cleaned, especially since we burnt everything. Shinon's not going to be the only one complaining about that."

"Perhaps you could stay in Melior instead." She suggested as she folded her hands.

"Depends on how the war goes, but that might be a better alternative."

"That would be wonderful, my lord Ike." She beamed while he stretched.

"Is there anything else you need help with?" She shook her head before standing and walking out. Ike sighed as he rubbed his head, there was something going on there that he felt like he should have gotten. Preparing for bed, his thoughts moved to visiting Palmei Temple while making sure to keep enough forces that Nevessa didn't turn into a lawless town.

OoOoO

"Excuse me, General Ike, Senator Lekain has demanded an audience with you immediately." A red-faced Begnion knight explained as he used his lance to stay straight. The demand part pushed a frown onto his face, but if the man had traveled all this way, at least he could meet with him. Even if he had probably just arrived by Wyvern.

"Let him know I'll meet him in the throne room." The guard rushed off as Ike stared at the departing messenger. The fact the senator got so close that Soren's placed guards did not warn him made him wonder a bit. Soren always had guards out, and yet it seemed that the Begnion soldier who announced the noble was worn out. Of the faults Soren had, not preparing the guard was definitely not on the list. Sighing as he rubbed at his face, Ike really wished that they had taken off to Palmei Temple already. Then Tanith could deal with the senator, though if it was about the Begnion senator's son treatment, it would be better to give a proper account. Also, while it would have been easier at the moment, it could have been considered a slight on the other hand. Sometimes he wished he just kept with not caring about the social norms.

"Ah, General Ike, it is a pleasure to see you again." The blond hair man was already sitting in the throne room, at a place where one of the main advisors would sit. Ike marched over, while consciously avoiding putting his hand on his sword's hilt. "I did not expect to have to come to such a dreadful place. But I have heard that you may have a child whose parents are missing her greatly." Ike slowed his steps at the comment, why would such a snobby noble come on a simple errand such as this?

"I am surprised that a man of your status had the time for such an errand." Ike commented as he kept his gaze neutral. If he could have, he would have never planned to see this man ever again. Though this meant that there was a bit more to Astrid's story.

"They are very personal friends of mine, besides, Begnion has more efficient ways to travel." Lekain smirked. "Now, I assume you'll allow my men to find her immediately. After all, one shouldn't waste your precious time." Glancing around and noticing that none of the man's guards were personally around, he replied,

"No." The senator blinked for a few moments as the word sunk in. Ike did not care if the man thought his asking was just a formality. He did not trust him and with Nasir's betrayal…

The man frowned as he leaned forward, "you do not understand what will happen if you do not agree?" His tone was deliberate, as though he was speaking to a child.

"I know full well what could happen, but I doubt anything will." He replied, "though this will be as fruitless as the last time you came around."

"Ah, yes, but unlike last time, I have proof that she is with you." Lekain smirked before continuing, "wouldn't it be too bad if Elincia's help would have to be recalled?" Ike glared.

"So, when I speak with the apostle next, she'll say that you are here on her orders?"

"Yet you know that the Princess will need significant help in secure Crimea, even the force you have now will not be enough." Which gave Ike the idea that the man was not here with her permission. Soren's comment made about how the nobles may have been helping Oliver until he was caught came back.

"How do I know this person exists? How do I not know your men aren't here just to kidnap someone, and this is just a charade? It would not be the first time a Begnion senator attempted a game like this. Perhaps Oliver had aid in hiding his activities for so long." Lekain glanced at the door before turning to stare at a sheet of parchment.

"I had thought you were a reasonable man, General Ike, but I will have to insist." The door opened as Ike stepped back, giving him just enough room to effectively defend himself from the intruder and Lekain.

"I am sorry, General Ike, I did not mean to interrupt, but I assume Lekain will be leaving now." Titania marched up to the senator as she held her axe in front of her.

"Yes, he is leaving now and taking his men away." Lekain attempted to loom over Ike as one of his hands reached under his robe. "You will not threaten anyone in the Greil's mercenaries again." Titania hefted the axe to her shoulder as the man froze in his actions.

"She belongs at my side, why deny her proper place?" He casually mentioned, "besides, it is obvious to my healer that she is suffering out here. The poor child."

"She has made her decision, and if you do not leave peacefully and not return, you will be forcefully removed." Ike glared as he returned the comment.

"You will regret your decision, boy. I had believed you to be a reasonable man, Ike of the Greil mercenaries," Ike frowned at the repeating of the statement, "I believed we could have solved this peacefully, but I guess you have shown your true colors." Lekain stormed out as both Titania and Ike followed. The senator's guards, mostly Wyvern Knights, stood at attention as their gazes followed their leader exit of the camp. Whispering to the head knight, who paled, the senator walked behind the wyvern and after a few seconds the knights took off. However, only a fading light remained, while the senator was gone. A moody storm walked towards Ike as he kept his frown.

"Soren, do you know what magic was just used?" The storm stared at his leader before looking back at where the senator had seemingly vacated.

"It looks like Begnion has warp powder as well." Soren commented as he rubbed at his forehead.

"Wait, didn't the Black Knight do something similar, Ike?" Titania questioned as they attempted to search for signs of any magic residue.

"Yes, but I was not exactly concentrating on what he did after the fight." Ike blinked as he felt the tension in his shoulders start to seep out. He could understand not remember seeing anything like that, as he tried to limp his father to Rhys. If only he had been carrying a vulnerary, but no the wound was much worse than a simple vulnerary could have stopped.

"General, what you did was reckless." Soren snapped breaking him out of his thoughts. "We will need support from Begnion to liberate Crimea and now you threw away the support from the one senator that would have been able to ensure-"

"Soren, enough, I do not abandon friends." Ike cut in as he grabbed Soren's shoulder.

"He's right you know, the girl isn't cut out for being a mercenary." Soren retorted.

"She is contributing to our success, correct?"

"But she is not like Rhys who performs a critical position for the group. Fine, if you want your sentimental-adled brain to lead us all to doom, so be it." Soren complained as he marched off as Ike let go.

"I really wish that he would tell me what is really wrong." Ike grumbled while watching his best friend walk away.

"Honestly, I think he's worried you'll leave him alone." Titania comments as Ike stared at where the mage had been standing. "I know you know you won't, but whatever it is he learned in Begnion has him worried."

"Well, I just wish that he would tell me or someone else what it is so that we can help him." Ike sighed as he rubbed at his face, now was not the time for this.

"Perhaps Shinon found out and gave him suggestions." Ike slumped at the thought of Shinon gleefully attempting to attack him through a friend.

"Or maybe Stephan did something." He muttered before walking away. He noticed there was quite a bit of murmuring in camp, especially from the Begnion part of camp. While not being able to corner Soren, he had found himself a bit of quiet upon seeing that the archery field was empty. It seems that Boyd felt decent enough at training with a bow. Of course, he could also be pestering his sister. Hopefully it was the former than the latter. The quiet moment was interrupted as he heard someone else walk in. Turning he smiled at Astrid, who was biting her lip while fidgeting with her bowstring.

"General Ike. I didn't realize that you were here."

"Don't stop your practice because of me." He motioned for her to continue. She shook her head before continuing,

"General, I have to thank you for helping with Senator Lekain." She replied as she stood there.

"I thought you would endeavor to make sure call me by my name." Ike complained with a smile as Astrid looked down. "Are you alright?"

"I am sorry, Ike I was just tired and worried, I did not think Lekain would come back again." He walked over and grabbed her shoulder.

"Like I said, you're part of the mercenaries and your family, so don't worry about it."

"He might try to limit any reinforcements and if Daein still has their main forces in Crimea, I do not want to risk failure because of my situation." She replied as he moved his arms to wrap her up in a hug.

"We will figure it out, besides Sephiran seems canny enough to get forces for us even if Lekain does not want to. Also, the senators should be in trouble because of Oliver." She smiled as she laid her head against his shoulder. They stood there for a few moments before Ike looked up and saw Soren glaring at Astrid's back.

"Sorry, Ike, I'll leave you alone as you seem busy." He spat as he ran off.

"Soren, hold on." Ike spoke to his back but Soren continued to storm off.

"I'm sorry, Ike." He shook his head at Astrid's comment.

"I'll go figure out what's wrong with him, don't worry about it." He ended the hug and started to follow where he thought Soren had ran off to. As he made it back to the main area of the mercenaries, he caught sight of his friend slipping into his tent. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the tent flap while asking, "Can I come in?"

"Go away." The curt response was the only acknowledgement that Soren gave.

"Soren, I really think we need to talk." Ike replied.

"Ike, just go away." He sighed, while he could push it, he really did not want to have to force the conversation. Shaking his head, he paced back to his own tent. Fortunately, none of the mercenaries wanted to talk to him as he did not want to snap at anyone.
Though if Soren was worried about what Stefan said, did he have to go yell at him for something he said? It did not seem anything was amiss until he showed up. Then again, he did help him with his technique. Looking down at the map of the nearby, hopefully at least, at least this would give him something to work with.

A/N: Thanks for reading and let me know what you think.