6/17/14

Here we begin the ReQuadrilogy with another fun chapter I enjoy destroying! Revelations!

Though I will say that playing it on hard took forever because there were like 10 turns of straight up reinforcements, way too many people were in this mansion, serious fire hazard.

Realize

"Valtome? Wasn't he the dirtbag that ordered that attack on Elincia back in Crimea?" Heather asked to which Mia nodded.

"According to the report we got from Tibarn's group he came after them…I think it goes without saying that we don't have to worry about him anymore."

Heather groaned "I'd give anything to sink my knife into that scum!"

Mia nodded, agreeing with the statement before looking back to the rest of the group. She spotted Nephenee talking with Mist and Rolf and something came to mind.

"Heather…"

"Yeah?"

"Was…"

The swordmaster trailed off, thinking to herself and earning a curious look from Heather

"Was it difficult getting so personal with Nephenee?"

Heather looked back to the Halberd who was laughing at some joke Rolf was telling then turned to Mia "Well, you know me, I'm not too subtle with what I want or what I hate…though I did move a lot slower with Nephenee because of…how strongly I felt..."

"Was it always like that?"

Heather shrugged "Not necessarily…in the beginning I just flirted with her cause she was…well, beautiful…though through the course of these crazy wars I came to find out that everything about her was beautiful. It did take a while to get close to her but I'm not sure if it was hard. If anything it was easier than convincing her to take her helmet off."

Now it was Mia's turn to give Heather a strange look "You haven't seen her without her helmet?"

The rogue shook her head "There were a few times were I coulda snuck a peek but…I decided against it…I'm sure when she is completely comfortable with me it'll happen but till then I'm just happy to be with her."

The Greil Army was drawing ever closer to Sienne, Soren's estimations were looking good though the sky above was not. Sure enough, the rain came down and as it grew stronger the group decided to find shelter. Recognizing some of the area as the Duchy of Tanas, Ike led the group to the mansion of the late Duke.

Duke Tanas' Manse

"Thanks for nothing rain." Heather muttered, her hair completely soaked through.

"It's not that bad." Nailah commented as she passed the rogue.

"It doesn't take with my hair." The rogue stated as she shook her head about.

Volug, still in wolf form walked past the pair and shook himself vigorously causing Heather to groan as Nailah laughed.

"Hey Soren! Any new report come in?" Mia asked.

The sage looked up from his desk, casually moving a book aside "Yes…though Rafiel is the one with the sending stone, it'd be better to-"

"What's up with Micaiah's group? How's Marcia?"

Shrugging Soren recalled the Silver Army's exploits. They most recently found themselves marching through the Grann Desert where Senator Numida and Lekain led an army against them. Though with Skrimir, Naesala and the many flying troops they brought along, the battle proceeded quickly in their favor.

"Grann Desert…isn't that where-"

Soren nodded "Yes, Micaiah actually mentioned that she came across Stefan…he seems to have joined our cause once again."

The sage then noticed the glint in Mia's eye "You're going to-"

"Duel him! Of course, it's been too long. The guy isn't exactly the easiest to keep up with, I better get to training!"

Soren tried to tell her something but decided against it and let the swordmaster go. Looking down he moved his book away from a plate of cookies. While not completely fond of sweets he found the gesture…nice.

"Hey Soren, Ike's callin fer ya!" Heather stated as she appeared.

The Sage stood and began walking past the rogue.

"Did you thank Mia, Charmer?"

Soren looked back at her; she wore a knowing smile gesturing at the plate on his table.

"I'm not…"

Stopping himself he shook his head and walked away, muttering "Not yet."

Heather returned to the rest of the group, they'd become very comfortable in the mansion and she really couldn't blame them. As lavish as the place was, it was nice.

"Rafiel?" Heather stopped upon seeing the Heron glancing about, he seemed nervous.

"Ah…Heather, tell me, do you feel something…off?"

Heather tilted her head and glanced about "Off? No…nothin here."

Hearing Nailah call him over the Heron left, though knowing the Heron's senses, especially as improved as they are in this 'peaceful' world, Heather didn't doubt that something was coming.

That Night

Nephenee smiled as Heather threw herself one of the massive beds. "These are sooooo COMFORTABLE!"

Laughing, Nephenee approached and sat next to the rogue as she sat up "Neph?"

"Yeah?"

"It's somewhat of a long ways off but…what do you want to do? For our date?"

Nephenee turned away and started thinking to herself "I'm not sure…I just…know that I want to be with you."

Seeing the small blush on Nephenee's face, Heather moved closer to her and put an arm around her.

"Whatever we do, we'll be together…h…"

Seeing Nephenee's face Heather pulled her in "What's wrong?"

"I don't know why I didn't think of this…but…everyone is a statue now right?"

"Except us, seems so."

At Nephenee's silence, Heather understood "Don't worry, we'll win this. When we do, your family and friends will all be back to normal. We're not losin anyone, ever."

The Halberd nodded "Everythin will be fine…thanks Heather…"

After a short silence, Nephenee turned to Heather, their faces were so close it caused her to remember that dream from so long ago.

Any tenderness was ruined when the call came out that they were under attack.

Springing to their feet, the pair retrieved their weapons as their door was kicked in. Three Disciples of Order charged in but in several swift moments they were on the ground and Nephenee and Heather were running through the halls towards their allies.

Main Hall

Uniting with the rest of the Mercenaries they also found Tormod and his Laguz allies Maurim and Vika engaging the enemy. Calling out to him, Ike told him to stand strong, they'd join up soon.

The mansion's extravagant halls were now covered in the blood of the invading Disciples of Order. Not only did they flood the three floors before them but more were constantly warping in from all sides.

The Mercenaries countered these actions by having the sides and back of their movement covered by a strong pair while everyone else pushed forward through the horde of Disciples.

"Do you see that Neph?"

Upon striking down another enemy the Halberd turned to see Heather pointing at a bishop and two sages in the distance.

"What about em?"

"That's a Sleep Staff and some long range magic, that'll be trouble for our forward movement."

"You can see from over here?"

Heather nodded and moved forward, gesturing for Nephenee to follow.

One sage swung his arm causing a giant shard of ice to form above him and shoot towards the Mercenaries while the other began chanting as an orb of fire appeared above him.

"Don't think so!" Heather yelled, tossing her knife through the Fire Sage's Meteor Tome. The bishop noticed them approaching and prepared to cast Sleep as Nephenee landed near them and struck down the Wind Sage.

Before the Bishop knew what was happening, Heather ran past him and took his staff, swinging about she struck the Bishop to the floor as Nephenee killed the other sage.

"How dare you!? You are not beautiful fighters in the least!"

The pair turned to see a rather fat Saint armed with a Nosferatu Tome.

Nephenee took a step forward "Oliver? Is that you?"

The man peered at Nephenee closely and scratched his chin "My lady, I'm afraid I'm drawing a blank. Though I am honored that you know of me I must say that my radiant mansion will not be marred by you lot's continued existence within it! Prepare yourself!"

Swinging his arm the Saint unleashed tendrils of light magic, noticing Heather prepare to charge Nephenee grabbed her and dove aside.

"What the-"

"That's Nosferatu! It drains your life and gives it to the user, be careful."

Heather looked up as Oliver laughed and prepared to strike again "You know this guy?"

Nephenee nodded "While we were lookin fer Reyson in Serenes Forest we fought against Oliver and his cronies who were tryin to get at him. I for sure thought we killed him at the end of that."

Heather pulled out her dagger "I'll fix that, no worries."

As the tendrils of light shot from Oliver's tome again Heather and Nephenee dove in opposite directions. The Halberd threw her javelin as Heather cleared the distance between her and her opponent.

Raising a wall of light magic the javelin struck it and fell to the ground harmlessly. Immediately after the wall's collapse Heather leapt into the air above Oliver "Gotcha!"

Strangely enough the Saint seemed to move at lightning speed away from her attack. Landing and rolling across the ground, Heather cursed and turned to find Oliver nowhere in sight.

"Neph! Where'd he-"

Seeing Nephenee's strange expression Heather turned to see Oliver talking to Rafiel, or rather, obsessing over Rafiel.

Before the Rogue or Halberd could question what was happening Oliver turned and began attacking his own men.

"Uh…what?" Was all Heather could manage as the battle continued around them.

Following the battle, Ike begrudgingly allowed Oliver to remain with the group. The man's single minded desire to protect all things beautiful and his obsession with Heron royalty practically solidified his position. He wouldn't be double crossing them anytime soon, somewhat to Ike's chagrin.

Then another Senator from Begnion named Hetzel appeared. Rafiel seemed to recognize him and despite Hetzel's fear and disagreement with Lekain and the Goddess' action he still supported them and left warning them not to anger Ashera.

Realizing how late the hour was Ike ordered everyone to sleep, Sienne was drawing ever closer and they had to be at their best.

"…and there." Heather took the wet cloth away from Nephenee's cheek and smiled.

The Halberd was still blushing; she knew Heather did all these very personal things for her. Patching her wounds and helping clean them after battle but seeing the other woman so close to her with recent events in mind, she couldn't help it.

Heather smiled at Nephenee's face "You're the perfect mesh of beautiful and adorable."

"Heather, stop…"

Nephenee turned away as Heather laughed "It's too easy to tease you…though I mean every word."

With Nephenee still looking away Heather thought it time to revisit a question that is still burning at the back of her mind.

"Neph…will you really be fine with us?"

Nephenee turned to her slowly "With…us?"

"Yeah…with us being us out in the open."

The Halberd thought about it, she'd like to believe the people she knew well back in Ohma wouldn't mind seeing her so close to another woman. It was stranger's eyes she was worried about, what they might be saying in hushed whispers about her.

"I…I'm not…"

Heather sat next to the Halberd and put an arm around her waist.

"Neph. If it's other people you're worried about…I understand. In public I can…keep my distance if it makes you feel any better."

Nephenee looked up to see Heather's sad expression. The rogue was comfortable with who she was and cared very little of other's opinions of her. Yet she knew Nephenee wasn't like her and still had fears and anxieties around strangers, those fears weren't being helped by the relationship she found herself wanting.

"It wouldn't make you feel to good…would it, Heather?"

Heather tried to fake a smile but Nephenee saw right through it "Heather…I'm not as strong as you…but I don't want you to think that I…don't want this…I said it before…I want to be with you."

The warmth in the rogue's chest grew stronger as Nephenee laid her head against her. Despite the helmet, Heather was happy to be so close to her.

"Neph, I promise…I'll be nothin but good to you…and those idiots with their opinions of us can shove it. We just need each other and we'll be fine."

Despite not knowing how she'll behave in such a public situation Nephenee smiled, she knew she could trust Heather now she just needed to trust and believe herself.

"We should get ready to sleep…we-"

Heather realized they were in the same room and cursed causing Nephenee to look at her "I'm gonna have to go, you'll be fine by yourself…right?"

"Why?"

Heather pointed to the helmet on Nephenee's head "Its fine Neph, if you're not comfortable with it I can go."

"I don't want you to go."

Heather was about to say something when Nephenee's hands came up to her helmet, the rogue remained silent as Nephenee took the piece off and put it aside. Inhaling the Halberd turned to Heather, trying desperately to ignore the flush that was most likely showing on her face.

Heather brought one of her hands to Nephenee's cheek; she could feel the warmth and smiled.

"All those months ago…I was right…"

Nephenee's eyes met Heather as the rogue spoke "You're even more beautiful than I could've imagined."

Despite Nephenee's constant reminders that she'd unarmed herself before, Heather insisted on helping remove her shoulder guards, breastplate and other assorted pieces of armor so the Halberd could sleep comfortably.

The rain returned outside as Nephenee got into her bed and looked to Heather "Good night beautiful."

As Heather turned to walk to her bed she felt a hand grab her arm and looked back to Nephenee.

Once again another powerful blush covered the Halberd's face; Heather just nodded and got into bed next to her.

Closing her eyes Nephenee inhaled deeply, taking in Heather's scent and calming presence.

"Good night, Heather."