A/N: Back for round two, where we see a pep talk- Sully style- and the beginning the final attack on Valm!
Taking the Capital, Part the Second
"Ya know why we're in here, right?" Sully said as she looked down at Cordelia. The red-head had not spoken a word to either her or Sumia since they had come into her tent to find her sitting on her cot with a vacant expression. Chrom had charged the two women with rousing their comrade from her depression in time for the assault on the Valmese capital, something that both of them were eager to try, despite previous failings.
So when she said nothing in response to Sully's question, the short-haired paladin grabbed the Dark Flier up by the collar and jerked her to her feet, surprising Sumia somewhat. "I asked you a question!" Sully barked.
Cordelia's only response was to maintain her blank look into space. Sully snorted in disgust and threw her back down on the cot, where she remained in a haphazard heap. "You're a real piece of work, ya know that?" the tomboyish rider said as she glared down at the broken woman. "All them good looks, and all that talent to boot… And as long as everything is all right for ya, all a' that can shine. But the minute ya got some personal grief in yer life, and you throw away everything that comes with those talents. You don't deserve to be in the Shepherds, much less call yerself a knight of Ylisse."
Sumia knew that Sully was trying to get Cordelia angry enough to react, but she thought that the rough-spirited knight might be taking things a little too far. "Now, Sully, maybe we-"
"No!" Sully barked, rounding on Sumia, and startling the timid queen. "I'm sick and tired of all this pity-party crap! When my brothers got killed off in the last war, ya know what I was told?! 'Chin up and weapon sharp, girl! Yer the next knight coming outta this House!' I didn't get none of this 'holding hands' crap! So don't expect me to be nice the minute little Miss Perfect gets a boo-boo!"
"Sully!" Sumia demanded a little more sharply. "Everyone deals with grief differently! You can't expect Cordelia to just bounce back like you did!"
"The hell I can't!" Sully grinned. "If I could do it, so can little Miss Genius! And I- Ack!" Her cry was drawn out by Cordelia's fist smashing into the back of her head, sending her face-first in the dirt.
Sumia's gaze jerked up to see Cordelia standing tall with her fist still extended, eyes wide, but pupils still small, a sure sign of madness. The Queen of Ylisse gulped nervously as Sully turned around on her back with a wide grin to say, "Now that's the spirit! So ya were still in there somewhere!"
"Don't call me by that name," Cordelia said with a slight growl lurking in her throat. "Nobody gets to call me by that name."
"Or else what?" Sully said as she leapt to her feet. "Genius?" Cordelia moved faster than Sumia had ever seen her move, and slugged Sully in the gut, causing her to double over. This was followed by a knee to the face, which broke Sully's nose, and blood sheeted down her face.
"Oh, yeah!" the knight grinned. "That's the genius we all know!" Another blow, and she was on her back, laughing weakly. Sumia just looked on, petrified by the site of her best friend beating the living daylights out of one their most reliable comrades.
"Tell me something," Sully gasped as Cordelia planted her foot on her comrade's chest. "If… you have so much fire… why aren't ya… burning the one's that did this to yer guy?"
"He… wasn't…" Cordelia began softly, despite her intense face.
"Bull," Sully snorted, despite her injuries and position. "You were way into Klein, and it's not hard for anyone to see that he was the same 'bout you. So quit yer blubbering and go get the dastards responsible for killin' him."
"But I can't…" Cordelia said as she stumbled back, off of Sully's body. "I can't keep on like this… I can't lose any more comrades…"
"Then it's a good thing we've got Robin," Sully grunted as she stood up with Sumia's help. "Klein got himself killed because he doesn't have Robin's brains. Actually, as a matter a' fact, he went against what Robin's brains said to do- which was let the khans go alone. The idiot volunteered to go die. That wasn't anybody's fault but his."
"No, it was Walhart's fault for killing him," Sumia argued.
"Right, what she said," Sully grinned crookedly as Cordelia looked with a film of tears in her eyes. "So this time, let's all do what Robin says, and go home alive. And let's get some revenge while we're at it, huh?"
"But-"
"I don't wanna hear it!" Sully barked. "The only thing I wanna see ya do is get dressed for war, then mount big ugly Walhart's head on that spear a' yer's!"
"But what if Robin's plan fails like it did with Exalt Emmeryn?" Cordelia said in a hollow voice. "He's not infallible."
Thock! This time it was Sully's turn to be surprised as Sumia punched her best friend in the face. "Don't blame Robin for that!" she shouted. "He did his best! Which is a whole lot more than I can say for you these past few weeks! And let's not forget, nobody in the Shepherds have dies since! Not to mention, he managed to get justice for Emmeryn despite his failing! Don't justify your weakness with his losses, because unlike you, he's managed to learn from them!" By the end of the rant, Sumia was red-faced and nose-to-nose with her best friend.
"Robin hasn't lost anyone close to him," Cordelia tried, but the others wouldn't have it.
"If you really believe that, then you really don't deserve to be called a Shepherd," Sully said thickly, her speech a bit muddled because of the trauma her head had been through. "Everyone knows that Robin takes every loss personally. You saw how he was crying when he heard about Klein's death. You know how bad Emmeryn's death hurt hum. Hell, it hurt all of us. But did that stop him from doing what needed be done?"
"Look, Cordelia, we all miss Klein," Sumia cut in. "But nothing we do will bring him back, whether it's sulking in our tent or conquering the Conqueror."
"This is supposed to make me feel better?" Cordelia said dryly.
"I didn't finish," Sumia said sharply, causing her friend to flinch. "My point was going to be that since Klein isn't coming back, we need to make sure that everything he ever did doesn't go to waste. And while he may not come back, at least we can say we did his legacy honor…"
Cordelia felt the familiar rush of adrenaline course through her body as she thrust he spear high over her head and let loose her war cry in unison with the rest of the Shepherds. Klein's fierce-yet-goofy grin was clear in her memory, the exact expression she knew that he would be wearing were he here today. And he was here in spirit, she knew, just as her sisters-in-arms had been since the beginning of the second war with Plegia.
"You're lookin' all fired up!" Morgan grinned from behind her. "Ready to throw down on those losers?!"
"As ready as one can be," Cordelia replied with a feral grin of her own.
"Shepherds!" Robin cried. "Advance!" Together, the heroes of Ylisse charged.
The pegasi took off, each one carrying two passengers. Cordelia was riding double with Robin's daughter, Morgan, while Sumia was flying with the somber child named Marth. Leafa, Sinon, and Yui flew by them, keeping pace easily as they shot through the sky towards the walls of the city.
As they drew close to the massive stone structure, Cordelia cast her throwing spear with all her might and accuracy, impaling one of the guards that had taken aim at Sumia's mount. "Nice shot!" Morgan called to be heard above the wind. "But can you do this?!" Opening her yellow tome, the girl cast Arcthunder, striking down three more archers in the same instance.
"I could if I had the tome for it!" Cordelia shouted back, slightly annoyed at the younger girl's attempt to one-up her- and the fact that it had worked. "Unfortunately, I don't have the time! My orders are to drop you off and the regroup with the others!"
"Yeah, I know!" Morgan giggled. "It was my idea!"
"Then let's see if you're as good at carrying through a plan as your old man!" Cordelia shot back. "Get ready to drop!"
"Who's waiting?!" Morgan laughed as she switched her yellow tome for a green one just before she leaped off of the black pegasus. Cordelia watched with wide eyes as the girl unleashed an Elwind spell to slow her descent as she landed between two very surprised archers.
She's definitely Robin's child, she thought with a shake of her head as she wheeled her mount around to rejoin the other Shepherds.
Morgan landed perfectly with a roll and immediately sprung to her feet while turning to face the archer on her left with a bright smile. "Hi there!" she said brightly. "We're taking over this city, so if you don't wanna get hurt or die, you'd better leave your post now!"
The man responded by dropping his bow and drawing a sword. Morgan sighed and blasted him off the wall with an Arcwind spell. "Ya can't say I didn't warn you!" she called in response to his scream as he fell to his death. She ducked under a wild sword swipe from the man behind her, who had moved to kill her while she was occupied with his companion. "Seriously, we're takin over the city," she said as she turned around.
Before she could issue the same warning to this guard, a long and straight blade sprouted from his chest, and he fell with a choked gurgle. "Hey!" she complained as Marth kicked him off of his sword. "I didn't get to finish giving him a chance to surrender!"
"You know as well as I do that they have been all but brainwashed by Walhart," Marth said coldly as he strode past his twin. "They won't surrender, even unto torture. Why prolong their suffering any more than necessary?" Without another word, he ran into the nearest tower, dispatching two more guards as he went.
"Man, regular ray of sunshine on the battlefield, isn't he?" Sinon muttered as she took aim and shot another soldier further down the wall.
"Like you can talk," Leafa said with a grin as she blasted his partner with an Elwind spell. "I used to consider you the Gloomy Gus of our group 'till I met some of these Shepherds."
"Thanks for telling me that," Sinon said tightly. "It's nice to know that I'm so highly regarded by my comrade."
"Uh, did I say that out loud?" Leafa said with a nervous grin. "I meant-"
"Can it," Sinon said as she sniped another archer. "Let's just focus on taking out these guards while the kids find the gate mechanism."
"Sure thing," Leafa said, all business. Looking back out over the battlefield, she said, "If everything goes according to plan, the others will be here in ten minutes."
"What about the legion of troops in front of the gate?" Sinon said dryly as another arrow flew away. "What's Robin's plan for beating them in less than five minutes?"
"He didn't tell you?" Leafa asked as she used an Arcwind spell to smash four oncoming enemies over the wall and into the city. "Just watch and learn, sister."
Marth and Morgan did most of the combat on their way down the stairs, although Yui did knock out a half-dozen guards with an intense light burst that flattened them against the wall before they dropped like so many potatoes. She also stunned a younger man by hitting him in the head with her healer's staff.
Marth took the opportunity to ask the enemy soldier where the controls for the gates were. At first he refused to cooperate, but when Morgan let her sadistic side show by threatening to make him bleed fire with her magic, he swiftly told them where they could open the gate. The twins bound him with ropes and forced him to lead the way at swordpoint.
While Yui appeared uncomfortable with the way that the twins conducted themselves in battle and how they got their information, she said nothing on the matter. If this would help save the lives of the Shepherds, she wouldn't interfere with it. She just hoped that she wouldn't have to kill anybody herself.
They found the gate's counterweights, and got set to open them for the reinforcements. While they did, Yui noticed that Marth's right sleeve was stained red with blood- and it was accompanied with a slash in the fabric.
"Marth, are you alright?" she asked as she moved over to look closer at the wound.
"Hmm?" he replied as he looked over at her, then down at his arm. "Oh. I hadn't really noticed it," he said as he examined the wound.
"Here, let me heal it," she offered as she placed a hand over the cut.
"No, save your power for later," he tried to say as he covered the gash, but she moved his hand aside.
"I have plenty of power, and I don't want to risk this thing getting infected," she said as white light emanated from her hand.
"Wait!" Marth said sharply as the cut began to seal. "Shouldn't you at least use a staff?!"
"Not for something this small," Yui said as the light faded and his arm was revealed to be whole once more. "See? Good as new."
"Yes, well-" Marth stopped himself and smiled at the girl. "Thank you, Yui Kirigaya."
"Just Yui is fine," the girl giggled. "I know you hate it when people call you 'Prince' Marth, so just think of it like that, okay?"
"Very well," the boy nodded. Before he could say any more, a loud horn blast reverberated throughout the city, prompting the teenagers to look at one another. "Was that…?" Marth said hopefully.
"The city's retreat call?" Morgan finished. "I imagine so. "Let's get these gates open."
"What?!" the lad that they had captured earlier said. "How is that possible?!"
"You don't know our dad," Morgan grinned.
Chrom whistled at the destruction strewn about him while Robin dusted off his gloves. "I'm still surprised that worked," the prince muttered.
"That makes two of us," Robin said heavily. "Nice work, Kirito."
"Hey, it was your kid's idea," the Black Swordsman grinned. "You should be thanking her. I just fine-tuned the plan a bit."
"Speaking of which…" Robin said as he looked at the massive gate, which was starting to groan as it opened. "It looks as though they succeeded as well."
"Never doubted 'em for a second," Kirito grinned brightly. "Your kids are pretty special, Robin."
"Yours is too, you know," the tactician replied, though the others could tell that he was pleased to hear somebody else praise his children. "Now, let's get in there and give Walhart hell!"
"You heard him!" Chrom shouted at the others. "Fairies and pegasi in the air, start targeting mages! Cavalry in the front, foot soldiers stay with your spellcaster at all times!"
"Um, Sire?" Sachi said nervously as she floated on her wings above the three men. "What is that over there?"
The other men turned to look at the direction that they had come from. All of them paled as they saw the banners of the dynasts that had betrayed them flying high above the armed men and women that carried them.
"Um, Robin?" Kirito said nervously. "Plan B?"
"Take as many as we can with us," the tactician said shortly.
"I figured," Kirito said in resignation.
"No, wait!" Say'ri said as she ran up to the commanding officers. "Look again, my friends! See what else they bear!"
Robin was the first to see it. "Is that…?"
"No way," Kirito breathed.
Shino: Curse you and you cliffhangers!
Mataras: Great, what is it now?
Shino: I want to know how Chrom and the other managed to take on an entire legion of Walhart's best men!
Mataras: Well, you'll just have to wait, like everyone else.
Robin: Are you some kind of sadist? Do you just enjoy tormenting your readers?
Mataras: No, I like to keep them interested and coming back for more! Why is that so hard to understand?!
Robin: They would keep coming back even without the cliffhangers!
Mataras: Would they? Very well then, let's put that theory to the test- for those of you that review, here is a prompt: do you want the cliffhangers to stop, or should I keep you dangling at the end of (most, not all) of my chapters?
Robin: I look forward to this! Next time: Taking the Capital, Part the Third.