6/12/14
Until then, waka waka Pacman in Smash waka waka cool Nintendo livestream stuff waka waka quote waka waka
"No, no, no, no no. We're right on schedule, but if I answer in any more detail I will lose my job, so please have mercy on me."
-Intelligent Systems rep on Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem
That is better than nothing, my best guess is the next Nintendo Direct will have the first look at gameplay...or just a trailer...or both, we shall see.
Now this chapter has been quite the pain to write, I've revisited and rewrote the center part of it at least 5 times, I'll tell you why at the end.
From Feelings, Love
"Crackers and cheese, I did NOT see that coming." Marcia groaned before falling to the snow.
Looking to her friend Mia sighed "Me neither…"
Heather scratched her head fiercely "Let me get this straight! The Goldoan Prince Kurthnaga, in his infinite wisdom decided to join Daein and fight against us?"
"Don't forget about Nailah and Rafiel jumping ship…"
At that Marcia continued to groan from below.
Frustrated, Heather kicked the snow as Mia rubbed her temples "Now we have to fight them…again…this is not why we came here…this is not why we stopped the battle!"
Sighing Heather thought about the Daein forces "They just won't stop…why?"
At that moment Nephenee approached while stretching and letting out a rather heavy yawn. She kept herself up all night in deep thought and was now, somewhat regretting it.
"I thought we agreed to call it a night so we could get some sleep?" Heather stated to which Nephenee nodded.
"We did…I just…couldn't sleep."
"You two were…together, yesterday?" Mia stated cautiously to which Heather nodded.
"After the Nox fiasco we spent the rest of the day together. It was fun and a great way to get rid of all that stress."
Nephenee smiled "It was."
As Marcia stood back up she looked at Mia giving a big smile to the other women and raised her eyebrow "What's going on here?"
"Nothin." The other three replied in unison.
Mia's gaze turned elsewhere and she smiled even wider "Finally!"
Heather, Nephenee and Marcia watched as Mia shot off across the snow towards another woman they recognized.
"Lucia!"
"Huh? Oh! Mia, greetings. How ha-"
"Draw your blade!"
"Again? Mia-"
"We must duel!"
Lucia laughed to herself "Mia. Why did you take that fortune teller's advice so seriously?"
Mia shrugged "Why not? It gives me something to aim for each and every day, and you are not disappointing in the least!"
Lucia shook her head "Alright. We can go again…honestly, how does Ike keep up with you?"
As the two drew their blades Heather looked to Nephenee "Fortune teller?"
"Mia was told a long time ago by a fortune teller that her true rival would ride towards her wearing white…something like that…"
Heather turned from Nephenee as the Falco Knight added "She first thought it was Rhys, poor guy…he can barely lift a sword in his condition but Mia tried to force it on him. After meeting Lucia though she became even more convinced that she found her true rival."
Heather laughed at that, having recalled the one time she freaked out at Rhys she was actually worried she might have killed him.
As the two female swordmasters from Crimea dueled, the army began to form up and prepare its charge against the Daein forces once again.
Standing at the ready Heather and Nephenee turned to one another and asked in unison "Ready?"
After a small laugh they nodded to each other with Nephenee speaking "Would you…mind terribly if I fought with you?"
Heather smiled "Of course not, let's me keep an eye on you all the better."
As the Halberd smiled back Ike gave out the order and the Apostle's army charged forward.
Tibarn and Skrimir led their soldiers to the right and left, flanking the ends of the Daein army through the trees while the central forces including the Greil Mercenaries clashed with their former allies.
Brigades led by Aran and Zihark attacked the Mercenaries first, the brute warriors led by Boyd countered Aran's Halberds while the Falco Knights attack Zihark's group from above.
With those groups held back the defense lines led by Nolan, Meg, Fiona, Jill and Edward surged forward.
In the middle of the combat Heather found herself looking back, Nephenee seemed to have fallen behind and she wasn't sure why.
After striking down an enemy warrior the Rogue found her partner looking back "What's up?"
"That man, Aran…he's the one who helped me back at Nox."
Heather followed her gaze to the Daein Halberd as he struck down one of the Begnion forces.
"We're still enemies, Neph…as much as it sucks."
The woman nodded before joining Heather in proceeding forward "This whole thing sucks…"
As the battle continued the allied forces could see the mighty black dragon ahead as well as the Queen Wolf, ready at Micaiah's side.
With a savage howl Nailah charged forward, a screech rang out and the massive green Hawk King dove down, talon meeting teeth. The Laguz Royals began traveling in circles around one another, sizing each other up before charging forward fiercely.
At the same time the mages and archers under Laura and Leonardo moved forward with a division of Daein wyverns.
"MOVE!" Heather yelled as she leapt up and struck a man with her dagger. As he fell she flipped away from oncoming sniper bolts, Nephenee jumped forward and used her shield to cover the rogue.
Bringing the shield up, Heather rolled forward and threw several knives in the snipers' direction, killing one and forcing the other two to move back.
Just as they aimed forward, Mia and Lucia appeared and rapidly cut through them, the purple haired swordmaster waved at Nephenee and Heather before returning to the battle at hand.
As the armies fought the Laguz began to experience not only enhanced aggression but a loss of their senses.
Heather thanked Reyson as he sang his galdr to her, with renewed energy she shot back into the fray. As Nephenee disengaged from an enemy warrior she noticed Reyson stumble over and quickly ran to his side.
"Reyson…you don't look too good."
The Heron Prince smirked "That obvious?"
"I know it's more Tibarn's business to watch for ya…but to be honest, ya look really bad…"
Reyson shook his head slowly, despite the dizziness and strange feeling in his chest; he wanted to remain with his friends and allies.
"Just…stick to the top of us, be careful."
"Thank you." Reyson stated and bowed as Nephenee returned to battle.
The effects of the battle continued to spread; Micaiah found herself walking off the battlefield followed by Sothe while Mist collapsed at Ike's side.
As the higher chain of command questioned what was happening Tibarn and Nailah broke away from one another upon noticing Rafiel and Reyson on the ground.
Passing on command of the Mercenaries to Titania and Boyd, Ike left with Mist in tow, something was very wrong, he could feel it.
Falling to the ground, Nephenee held her shield up as a large man brought his axe down. The shock reverberated through her arm and up to her shoulder making her cry out as he raised his weapon again. Heather slid by and slashed the back of his legs forcing him down. Seizing the opportunity, Nephenee stabbed him with her blade before rolling across the ground and to her feet. Grabbing a discarded javelin she swung about and hurled it past Heather, striking an enemy sword master.
"Thanks beautiful!"
Nephenee smiled despite the pain in her arm and pulled her weapon from the dead warrior.
"You! You won't get away with that!" Nephenee turned and barely stopped a blade with her shield. As she prepared to strike back a powerful Arcfire spell exploded around her and she lost sight of the swordmaster.
Seeing the explosion Heather leapt away from the axe knight she was fighting, his pursuit cut off by one of the hawks.
"Neph!"
Leaping into the fading smoke she tackled the swordmaster to the ground and stabbed him. As she stood up an arrow caught her in the shoulder, cursing she turned and spotted the archer as another arrow struck her in the side, throwing her to the snow below.
"Damn it…not good…"
The sky above her seemed fuzzy and she felt pain in her leg as well.
"Did he shoot me while I was down? Coward…"
Turning her head she saw her knife not too far off in the snow but she was also very aware of the Daein soldier calling out.
"Move in!"
Straining herself she gripped her knife just as a boot stepped on her arm.
"Don't even think about it lass!"
As Heather prepared to speak a spear thrust itself through the man's chest. As he stumbled away, Nephenee turned and struck the approaching sage with her shield before rolling away from a sniper shot.
Groaning, Heather forced herself to stand and threw her knife in the direction of the sniper, clipping his arm.
Nephenee retrieved another lance from the snow and killed the sage before clearing the distance between her and the sniper with blinding speed, killing him as well.
"Behind ya!"
Heather swung about and brought one arm up to catch the Daein soldier's arm, controlling his blade and keeping it away from her.
Another pair of knights surrounded Nephenee, distracting the Halberd causing the Daein to sneer "Well Thief, what now?"
With a smirk Heather brought her knee into the man's lower stomach then wrenched the blade from his grip before stabbing him.
Turning she picked up another blade and headed towards Nephenee as the Halberd finished off one of the knights.
"Die!"
Raising her shield, she deflected the second attack causing the knight to reel back which gave Heather the chance to run him through.
The pair was now standing in the blood stained snow breathing heavily with over a dozen bodies around them. Coughing, Heather sat down on the snow and groaned, kicking the swordmaster saved her life but her injured leg was pulsating as a result.
"Neph…you alright?"
Turning, Heather spotted Nephenee also sitting in the snow with a deep red stain in her side "I'm…fine…but you-"
Nephenee was about to remark on the injuries all over Heather but the rogue just shook her head and made her way over towards her "Clearly not, c'mon, stand up."
"But Heather, your shoulder-"
"…and my leg and my side, stop worrying about me, I can deal with it…I'd rather you didn't have to."
Nephenee remained silent for a bit as Heather applied the last of her vulnerary to her side before pulling out a satchel of Olivi Grass and applying it to her arm, moving it around to make sure the bones weren't broken.
"Heather…you care too much for me…you're wounds-"
"I'll be okay…and I don't think you can care too much for anyone."
As Heather helped Nephenee up she noticed the combat had moved farther north. Sighing the rogue took the opportunity to break off and remove the arrow bolts from her body.
Nephenee watched her and tried to say something but wasn't sure how to phrase it. Dropping the last bloodstained arrow to the ground, Heather turned to Nephenee who wore a rather confused expression "Hey Neph, nothing to worry about, we're winning this battle, who cares if Daein's got a black dragon, we've got each other. That's enough."
Nephenee smiled at that "…I know I can keep going…cause I have you."
Heather was taken aback by this, she scratched her head and chuckled "Yeah…you do…and I have you."
Staring at each other they seemed to forget about the deadly combat not too far away from them.
Taking a deep breath Heather spoke "Nephenee, now is definitely not the best time to…say some things, y'know given everything that has been going on but…"
Looking at the Halberd before her, she nodded, mostly to herself to continue "There's been something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now."
Nephenee began to grow nervous herself, casting a glance in the direction of where the battle went the sounds of clashing steel faded away as she looked back to Heather.
"W-what is it?"
Heather sighed "I've been debatin with myself on how to tell you this…what way I should…say it…till it just came to me."
Heather's words echoed quite a few things on Nephenee's mind right now. She was starting to grow more certain about what Heather wanted to say and as the rogue prepared to speak again she cut her off.
"I know you…really care about me…not as a friend but…more…I don't know…just…more. I've also come to care a lot about you and just like…being with you. I've felt things I never thought I would and…"
Nephenee noticed the smile on Heather's face, the rogue took a step towards her "I know what you want to say Neph…but before that…I want to…take you out."
"Take me…out?"
"You know…you and me…out…on a…date."
Nephenee continued to stare at the rogue as she nervously ran a hand through her golden hair "Suffice to say I've never done this before but…I really do want to…be with you…so, once this is over…I'd love to go out on a date with you, Nephenee."
The Halberd struggled with her words as Heather looked to her "You can…say no…I'll understand if-"
"Yes."
Heather felt her heart flip as her smile grew "Yes?"
Nephenee nodded "Yes…I'll go out on a date with you…Heather. I…want to be with you too."
She knew the setting was bad, everything was against her and she was bleeding to boot but the rogue couldn't help but laugh as she embraced the woman before her.
Nephenee hugged her back; deep inside she felt as if a massive weight was removed and she was just, happy to be with Heather. Then she noticed something strange "Do you hear that?"
Heather backed away "Huh? What?"
The two turned, all around them was absolute silence, the fighting had stopped.
As Nephenee opened her mouth to speak Heather looked up and saw a bright light approaching "Neph!"
Quickly, she tackled the Halberd to the ground as the light struck; a brilliant and silent white flash covered the area.
"She said yes…I don't think I've ever felt this…happy. What should we do when this is over? Eat some place fancy? Nah, I think she'd be fine with anything…see a play maybe? Just…be together? I'd like anything. As long as I'm with her."
Heather opened her eyes slowly, no pain, nothing, just silence.
"Neph?"
She looked to see Nephenee below her "I'm fine, Heather, whatever that was…it didn't hurt at all…"
Heather stood up and helped the Halberd to her feet, the pair looked around. Together they began walking towards the combat with Nephenee taking Heather's hand in her own.
To their shock, they found the battle but almost everyone was frozen in place, the Beorc and Laguz soldiers of Crimea, Daein, Begnion, Gallia and Pheonicis had all turned to stone.
"What the hell…"
Heather murmured as she looked about.
"Am I dreaming?"
Nephenee looked to the rogue "Dreaming? This would be an odd one…"
"Did I…did I ask you out a few minutes ago? Did you say yes?"
Nephenee blushed and nodded "You did…and I did…"
Heather sighed in relief "Then…what is this?"
"Nephenee! Heather! You're alright!"
The pair turned as Mia approached them, "I was worried when I didn't see the two of you back at camp, did you see anyone else around?"
Nephenee and Heather looked to one another before turning to Mia with the rogue speaking "What happened?"
Castle Nox
During the battle, Micaiah revealed she could sing the Galdr of Release and successfully awoke the 'Dark God'. However this Dark God who goes by Yune revealed that she wasn't the one who turned everyone to stone, instead that was the Goddess Ashera who came to the conclusion that the Beorc and Laguz, incapable of not warring amongst each other for 1000 years were no longer fit to continue living in her world.
As Yune spoke with the powers that be about what to do to: which basically amounted to saving the world, the remaining soldiers grouped together, becoming a new allied force and all but disregarding the battle they were just fighting.
Thanks to the situation Tauroneo revealed to the Mercenaries and Royal Knights that the Begnion Senator Lekain had Daein under his thumb through the use of a Blood Contract. Had they not fought in the war on Daein's side he would have cursed Daein and killed countless people, possibly all of them if given enough time.
As the troops spoke with one another Nephenee approached Aran "Hey there."
"Ah, you…listen-"
Nephenee held up one of her hands and shook her head "You did everything you did for your country; I understand that better than most people. I just wanted to formally thank you for your help during the Nox battle."
Aran laughed lightly "No thanks needed…I'm just glad I don't have to fight against you or your friends anymore, I was never certain if what Sothe said about you all was true until I saw you taking on our forces with little effort back in Begnion. It's a frightening sight."
Nephenee outstretched her hand prompting Aran to shake; the female Halberd smiled "Either way, we're allies now. It truly is better for everyone."
Aran nodded and once they released each other's hands the man from Daein took off to find Laura.
Hearing a frustrated sigh, Nephenee turned to see Heather approaching.
"You don't seem too good…what's wrong?"
"I finally…finally asked you out…I let myself express myself to you. I was so happy and now…we've got to fight for the world…it just…it's just not exactly what I'd call fair…"
Nephenee smiled "Heather."
The rogue looked up to her "We'll get through this, we've fought through everything else…we'll bring peace to our world…then we'll have our date."
Heather had a curious expression despite the smile she felt forming "You're fine with…all of this?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"I'm…well…we…y'know…it's-"
Nephenee just laughed as Heather struggled with the words "I think we have this backwards."
Heather laughed lightly as well "It's just…I spent so much time worrying about what you'd think of me…I'm not like everyone else…I-"
The rogue fell silent as she felt one of Nephenee's fingers on her lips "I love being with you Heather…I realize that now or rather, I realized it not too long ago…I love spending time with you…my best memories of this whole mess have been with you…I want to continue…being with you."
As Nephenee took her finger away and blushed at what she just said, Heather couldn't describe how happy she was "Neph…"
"Heather! Neph!"
The pair turned as Mia approached; she noticed how close they were to one another and put her hands on her hips "Am I interrupting something?"
Nephenee shook her head "We're fine…"
Heather took Nephenee's hand and smiled "Very."
Mia couldn't help but give them a wide smile before remembering why she came to find them "We're all heading for Sienne and the Tower of Guidance now so thanks to Ike and Yune we're splitting the army in three, breaking up to become smaller targets for Ashera and all that."
"Where are we?" Nephenee asked to which Mia smiled "With the Mercenaries of course…Soren made most of the placements, I strongly suggested to keep you with Heather. He was fine with it."
Heather laughed "You knew…"
Nephenee looked at Heather then back at Mia "Knew…what?"
"Well after you told me about the 'she' you had feelings for and after I saw how much Heather really cares for you…I just put two and two together."
"You're…really fine…with this?"
Mia sighed at Nephenee's apprehension "What did I tell you before Neph? We're best friends…when you're happy, I'm happy and seeing how happy you are right now…it really is the best feeling. Though it may have come at a bad time."
Heather nodded "Definitely…but at least we now have something to look forward to when this is all over."
The rogue turned to Nephenee who blushed "Something for us…together."
I was debating with myself over how to get Nephenee and Heather to at least admit in a way they had feelings for each other.
But I did not want to use Love and I definitely did not want them to Kiss, now just wouldn't have been the right time at least I don't believe so.
Don't get me wrong I've read relationship stories where the first thing they admit after tons of flirting or 'does she/he like me' moments is kiss and say I love you, and several of them feel right but I just didn't think it would be right in my case, ultimately I decided not to do either during the course of the game...is that stupid? I don't know...
Anyway, I was lying in bed one night and the perfect scene for this chapter came to mind, come the next day I sat down to write it and...nothing.
The scene here is the result of 6 revisions and I'm still upset it isn't that one that came to me in that moment of clarity, I like it better than versions 1 - 5 for sure but that version 0 was perfect...Naga damn my memory and Martel blast it I am cursed by Grima. Lorelei help me if that should happen again whilst I pray to the Crimson Dragon that it doesn't...geez...