Chapter 15X: A Simple Challenge...
At the break of day in Caelin, the three lords, the tactician, and their huge army of oddities make their way to their next destination: the port of Badon, found on the southern coasts of Lycia as Leila informed. The huge group then enters the city that is rich in marine agriculture and crowded with the lively townsfolk that are making a joyful livelihood by the seas. However, that was merely the surface as the lords and the tactician inquired of the town folks' methods to reach their destination.
"Listen! We need a boat to Valor!" Hector frankly announces.
"You want a boat to the Dread Isle? You're mad! No way! Never has anyone in our village ever wanted to travel to that accursed place!" A villager hysterically responds with a great warning before leaving in fear and frustration.
"I have told you. No one wants to go to that godforsaken place." Lucas says sighing in frustration and rubbing his head, cloak billowing in the breeze. "No one is that much a fool to sail there."
"Kind sir, if you can't help us, can you take us to someone who will?" Eliwood anxiously asks another man, ignoring the tactician's pessimism.
"Well, since you seem to be on an urgent business...there is only one way," the villager trailed off nervously.
"Oh really? Who…?" Lucas asks sternly.
"Pirates…" The villager answered with worry.
"W-what? Pirates?" Lyn hysterically clarifies with fear.
"Yes, pirates. They are fearless in the open seas and will go anywhere for a fee. Your chances of getting to Valor are greater if you journey with them," the villager assures them until Lyn protests with fear.
"No! I can't accept this!"
"Lyn, we got not much of a choice. This could be our only way," Hector replies.
"Are you serious Hector? Working with pirates?! Unbelievable! Eliwood, Lucas, have you considered your thoughts on this?" Lyn protests as she turns to her close friend and the redhead noble.
"If there's no other way, what else could we do?" Eliwood replies with worry.
"Well, let us see if they are noble. If they aren't, we can do the town a favor and free them." Lucas replies after a little bit of thought.
"I could understand your sentiment as I sympathize with your longing for your father, Eliwood. But you too Lucas!? I've misjudged you, grandfather must have misjudged you! You are foolish to beg to those ruffians! I'm finding another way to Valor myself, I shall return in a while!" Lyn angrily replies before running away, irritating Lucas with her painful statement.
"Wait, Lyn!" Lucas called out to her and when she did not respond, he sighed in frustration. "Dammit."
"Why is she so angry?" Hector wonders.
"It is not my story to tell." Lucas answers, interrupting them and making them silent.
"Why not? Aren't you the closest among the three of us right now?" Hector deadpans.
"I may be closest to her, but some stories aren't meant to be opened without the story teller's consent." Lucas answered wisely. "All rulers must know when they should or shouldn't join topics not related to them. It is far from a laughing matter."
"U-understood," Eliwood nervously responded while Hector scratched his head in lingering curiosity.
"Too bad for your lady friend, but there really is no other way," the villager persuaded.
"You guys settle this without me, I'll find her." Lucas says before leaving to look for her before he got interrupted.
"I'm not so sure, Lucas, she might need the space. After all, you are guilty of agreeing with us in this matter," Hector advises.
"I am not doing this because of her personal matter. I am doing this because this is a town filled with those water-surfing bandits. She might be kidnapped, young master of Ostia. And I am not going to lose her right after I just reunited with her." Lucas says, replying with a blunt response and his mind preoccupied with Lyn's feelings.
"Oh do not worry young man. On the contrary, the pirates in these coastlines are much more tamed and understanding, for good reasons of course. I can assure you with that. The inn nearby is the favorite of those jolly freebooters. They're reckless and unpredictable, so watch yourself when interacting with those men," the villager warns.
"Well, since it's your idea, you two talk with those pirates. I am going to make sure that Lyn is alright." Lucas says before leaving the two Lords so he could look for his "beloved."
"Who is that stranger? A friend?" The villager asks.
"Well, in that sort, he's also our master strategist in our group," Hector gallantly answers.
"I think he can catch up with us, but right now, let's ask the man that can take us to Valor," Eliwood prays as he and Hector enter the inn to meet their "guide" to Valor.
Meanwhile, things are not going as planned by the young lady and her closest companion. She wanders around Badon without the other members of the Legion and harbors distaste with the pirate folk that are scattered around the vicinity.
"Lyn, is something really the matter? You've never been this silent, much less with that crossed face of yours," Lucas says while catching up to her and slowly following from behind. "I know you are stubborn, but this isn't like you."
"I am baffled that someone as intelligent as you would forget why I detest pirates," Lyn hisses as she turns away from Lucas.
"Lyn, I've never forgotten the reason why you hate bandits or pirates in general. But didn't you squabble only with the Taliver? These other men had nothing to do with them. And as much as I know that I will never know your pain, nor will I know of your loss, but what I do know is that these people are innocent."
"No! I dare not place my trust in those greedy beasts. If you wish to go through with this, then there's no use arguing anymore," Lyn hisses with aggression and her face downcast in disappointment.
"Lyndis, listen." Lucas says, making the woman stop at the mention of her first name. "I know that they have done some sin but listen. No one is foolish enough to go into that island and leave unschathed. Think about this, how are you, with no resources, no manpower, nothing whatsoever, going to offer men to sail to what they can assume is their death."
"I have always known how smart you are Lucas, and I have deeply admired that until you agreed and accepted it. Just...leave me be, give me time," Lyn whimpers as she slowly strolls away before getting her left wrist gripped tightly by the worrywart Lucas.
"No." Lucas insists. "I am not going to leave you alone. If you aren't going with the pretty boy and company, then I am going with you. Just like old times."
"No, please don't make me do this. Everyone else needs you," Lyn protests while looking straight into his confident eyes now glimmering with worry for the woman.
"I don't care. The only reason why I came with them is because they forced me to go. I have the right to leave anytime I wish. It was only because you were in danger that I chose to charge with them and defend Caelin."
"Lucas...I–"
"Hey! You guys!"
In the light of the moment, a pair of pegasus knights and a passenger breaks the intimate mood with urgent news from the two leaders in the middle of their negotiation.
"You know, all of you guys really know how to annoy me." Lucas says, gripping his emblem spear harder than he did that Lyn shuddered as she noticed a small splinter on it.
"No time for that man, it's really bad now," Ren, riding with Florina as her passenger, protested. "Something big is coming up, and we need to regroup right now."
"What did pretty boy do this time?" Lucas says, glaring at Ren. "Let me guess, he challenged the pirates. Didn't he?"
"The details weren't exactly mentioned, but he did mention that they made some sort of bet, now come on!" Ren replies as he reaches his hand to Lyn and lets her take his seat with Florina.
"Come over," Farina assists Lucas as he eventually climbs aboard with Farina atop of her mount
"I swear, I should charge the pretty boy and lord Ostia for some extra gold as a fee for my services." Lucas grumbled before slowly climbing up the winged horse with Farina smirking at the frustrated tactician.
"That's the spirit of a freelancer!" she comments gleefully, making the tactician roll his eyes in frustration.
"You guys go on ahead, I need to find the rest of the team that may be scattered around the area, careful out there!" Ren bids before climbing over small ledges and hops over the small cottages like an agile spider.
While Ren wanders in search of the other members to gather them to their location, the two pegasus knights and their passengers return to the two lords in the inn where they have found a guide that could assist them.
"Look! They've returned!" Wil announced as he saw the two flying mounts descend and let their passengers dismount.
"What's the situation now?" Lucas asks in frustration and annoyance.
"Well um, I uh–"
"Hahahaha! This boy is smart! I'll give you credit for that! Least better than the other two!"
Out of the inn came a rugged gray-haired, old-looking man with a huge-built body and a giant razor-sharp axe over his shoulder with the size of its axehead two times bigger than Lucas' whole body.
"I assume that you are the leader of the rowdy bunch?" Lucas asks calmly while stretching his arms as a way to warm up.
"Rowdy!? Hahaha! Humorous I see! Good good, yer gonna need that! The name is Fargus! Captain would be much obliged! Here's the deal: my men around the place will be aftering each of you from every nook and cranny in this tiny land. Your job is to find me and reach me at the other side of the pier over yonder!" the pirate captain explains the game and points to the pier. "Once you do, I'll take ya to your destination!"
"How sure are we that no one in the town would be harmed? It would be a great shame and disgrace if the innocent men and women of the town were killed in our skirmish." Lucas asks, facing the clearly taller man with a calculating gaze in his eyes.
"Hey hey! No need to sound so hostile, little man. This place is like our second home next to the open seas. Those little cowards won't be touched in anyway," Fargus assures.
"There is a difference between hostility and caution." Lucas says, warning Fargus to make sure that he wasn't underestimated.
"Whichever you put it, either way, see you on the other side!" Fargus bids before heading to the pier and calling out his rowdy comrades to pop out like prairie dogs in the packets of forests and from a variety of bars, restos, and leisure entertainment areas with their arms ready for combat.
"Where are you, pretty boy?" Lucas says looking for a certain redhead in the group. "We need to talk about...recklessness…"
"I-it was not my fault! He was the one who suggested it! And he subtly wants us to prove our worth if we want to go to Valor with no strings attached!" Eliwood answers.
"Yeah, our ticket has turned free of charge because of this," Hector adds.
Lucas, in deep disappointment, sighs as loud as he can while rubbing his nose bridge in annoyance to the captain's reckless offer before rubbing his eyes in frustration.
"Start by making sure that all the people would be safe during the battle and we will meet back here in a few minutes. I need to calm down."
"Hey Lucas! I've got everyone back! And things are getting really weird! We managed to slip away from crazy sailors wielding axes! What's going on out here!?" Ren asks hysterically after noticing the number of pirates in Fargus' ranks while gathering the scattered members.
"Ren, you are coming with me. We NEED to talk." Lucas says before dragging Ren by the ear to the nearest inn.
"Owowowow!"
After a while of walking, the duo stopped by a nearby inn as he stopped pulling on his ear and stood in front of him like a father disciplining his child.
"So, when were you going to say that you were a Fang?" Lucas says crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently.
"...Fine, yes, I believe that girl already mentioned me, and this time no strings attached: I am, well, was a member of the Black Fang, but not just an honorary member, as I believe that's what she said yes?" Ren deadpans.
"I heard about almost everything from our mutual associate." Lucas says, eyebrows furrowing in anger, not his usual explosive anger but an anger that was like venom, slow-acting but very much poisonous. "What happened to our trust Ren? Was this why you did not write back? I thought we both agreed that we trust each other til death claims one of us, as brothers till the end."
"Things have gotten messy ever since that woman appeared in my godfather's life. Never trusted out of my intuition, and I think Leila did too. I was not just uneasy, I was both fearful and anxious after what that wretched whore has done to some of my men in his squad while working with the Black Fang," Ren explains.
"If you don't trust me, Then what about Wil? Lyndis? Kent and Sain? Do they mean nothing to you? What of Florina?"
"I do trust everyone enough, but not to let them know about my past affiliation with them. What are you getting at, brother?" Ren hisses.
"Trust does not involve secrets, Ren. This secret of yours will be a dagger pointed at us. If the Fang knew that you were working with us, that secret will choke us."
"Not if I die along with those secrets," Ren hisses as he attempts to leave Lucas.
"Ren, we both know that you are too stubborn to die." Lucas hisses back. "You will die a fighter and the odds of that happening are very much slim. Your secret will spill before you die."
"On the contrary, brother, I'd rather not," Ren protests while looking straight into Lucas' eyes.
"Well-"
Their argument was interrupted by someone slamming their door open.
"Will you two shut up?! Some of us are trying to sleep!" A shrill woman's voice yelled out, interrupting the argument as the two turned to see a young red-haired woman who was glaring at them at the reception booth, what was noticeable about her was her red eyes and her gloved left hand.
"Ah, my apologies, uh...miss?" Lucas apologizes with a stiff bow.
"It's Missus you hear!? Oh wait, are you perhaps companions with those two fancy-looking guys out there? Overheard their little talk and I remember that my husband happens to be a member of his crew. Would you be a sweetie and tell him his lonely wife Anna is so worried for him? I'd be grateful for that," the receptionist named Anna begs.
"Your husband?" Ren asks curiously. "What's his name?"
"Jake is his name, he's got the same hair as mine, just not long. You can't miss him. Have fun out there in your little bout!" Anna bids.
"Thank you, will d–"
In a flash, Ren's anxiety builds up like a basin being filled under a waterfall upon looking at Florina by the entrance of the inn with a terribly anxious look and teary eyes as she grips her slim lance tightly.
"Florina...wait!" Ren begs, startling Florina that she immediately leaves the inn with tears falling out. The pressure becomes unbearable that Ren laments loudly while smashing a stone slab on the inn's floor, partially shattering it with one fist
"I told you...Your secret will spill before you die." Lucas says, sighing to himself, while rubbing his tattoo. "I suggest that you tell the others before it gets worse."
"...Shut your trap...let's just go now," Ren hisses angrily as he leaves the inn in a fit of rage.
"Try not to kill the crewmen, they can be much grateful if you do," Anna advises.
Lucas nods before leaving, but not hearing Anna say with exasperation. "Be careful of what you preach..." Before she removed the glove that was on her arm, showing a tattoo with a certain tattoo composed of 2 circles, one inside another, with lines drawn outside the inner circle crossing the outer circle and with lines coming out of the corners and one pointing out to the middle finger. "...Keeper of the Mark of Blaiddyd."
At the vicinity of the inn's entrance, all the members of the three lords' teams met and waited for the tactician to respond to the current situation.
"What's the plan, man?" Rebecca wonders.
"The tactics are simple. Ren, Florina, Serra, Lucius, Wil and Rebecca, I want the six of you to guard Merlinus. Kent and Sain will cover the right flank. Eliwood, Hector, Farina and Bartre will be the vanguard with Prisicilla, Erk and Raven as their support. Lyn, Dorcas and I will cover the left flank. Guy, Marcus, Oswin, I ask that you become our support. But according to my scouting information, there is an arena nearby, I want Marcus and you lot to go and win a lot of gold in the arena." Lucas says seriously before throwing a small amount of gold at the paladin. "Also, Merlinus, after the battle you are to give me a summary of all the things that everyone got during our time scouting for information."
"Oh, pardon me kind sir, but I have overheard that you wish to embark on a trip to the Dread Isle of Valor correct?"
Getting everyone's attention was a lone scholarly man with violet hair and a monocle, wearing dark sacred robes and a tome in his belt side.
"Who are you? State your business," Lucas interrogates the frail scholar while pointing his lance to him.
"Oh please wait! I mean no harm!" the scholar pleads with his arms held high in fear.
"I don't believe it with that strange book of yours. You don't look ordinary to me," Lucas deadpans warily.
"Wait! Wait wait wait! Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Canas, and as you have noticed, I am a practitioner of elder magic. People mistook it for dark magic, even though they are used differently. After all, it's those inhuman wielders of the dark arts that are to blame that also dragged my reputation to the ground as well, but I do hope to be of good use to anyone that needs my aid. You see, my business to travel to Valor is because I wish to research and learn more on that mysterious island. Please take me with you!" Canas explains and pleads with his hands clasped.
"Urgh, fine, welcome aboard Canas. Just keep your hands to yourself...actually, nevermind. I need you to assist our flank as we try to break through the enemy lines. We need a pawn there anyway..."
"Oh I'd be delighted!" Canas eagerly rejoices.
Lucas sighs as he leaves the group in order to prepare for the skirmish, not leaving any time to talk to anyone and picking up his spear from his satchel.
"I'm just gonna stay over there and keep watch for any suspecting moves that these guys will make. Pirates are sneaky like normal ruffians, just more ruthless," Ren nervously replies as he keeps his distance from Canas while Florina stays her distance from Ren, which was weirder than normal.
Upon seeing this tension between the two of them, he decides to "console" the anxious pegasus knight before further surveying the battlefield as it may be detrimental to his plans by the time they might engage in combat.
"Hey, are you...doing alright back there..?" Lucas tries to get her attention, startling her unintentionally as she recollects herself.
"Uh-huh," Florina hesitantly responds, being frightful and wary of Lucas.
'Dammit, forgot that she's scared of men,' Lucas curses before gently inquiring of her current condition and the tension between her and Ren. "Florina, mind telling me what is really wrong? You should not keep these feelings or else they'd hamper you in combat."
Upon hearing no response, he sighs before "Listen, I can't speak for Ren but I am pretty sure that he had the best intentions." Lucas says simply before leaving to prepare for combat.
"W-wait!" Florina calls out, halting and surprising Lucas in his tracks. "P-please, tell me briefly...w-what was happening earlier…?"
"Oh, so you didn't hear anything?" Lucas asks looking back at her in the eyes upon realization of a wrong interpretation in the previous incident. "I see… Well, you should probably ask Ren about it."
"I-it was my fault, I should have asked rather than running away back there. I-I don't think he would—"
"Apparently, that could actually fix things. You need to clear things out and just be straight with him, and right now may be the time before we start getting through this annoying challenge. Alright?" Lucas advises, getting a nervous nod from Florina as she takes the initiative and goes to Ren as instructed.
"Well, let's survive for today before we get to conclusions." Lucas smiles at her before walking ahead, whistling quite a bit before he was met with Lyn. "Hey Lyn…"
"Lucas! Is there something you are worried about? You seem distressed," Lyn asks anxiously, her green eyes twinkling like polished emeralds.
'Damn she's too cute,' Lucas thought to himself as he clears his throat. "It's nothing too important, Lyn. What's the situation for now? How's everyone?"
"So far, there are those pirates lining around the center path, but they don't seem to be directly hostile to us. Raven and Matthew surveyed over the walls and noticed more pirates scattered in the hidden pathway, but they are fewer and less menacing than the rest in the middle," Lyn explains.
"Well it cannot be helped now, these pirates at least know some semblance of a strategy." Lucas says knowingly, "However, they don't know that I seem to favor flanking over direct assault any day."
"Lucas!" Marcus calls, waiting for orders on the battlefield with the vanguard of their team.
"Excuse us, kind sir. Take these with you in your journey, and be careful not to kill anyone please. They may seem to be out for blood, but they were generous enough to defend this city like it's their home. Be careful," a village elder advises as he and a couple other elders hand a Devil Axe, a Sleep staff, a short bow, and a Lancereaver.
"Thank you Ma'am, sir. We will make use of these gifts." Lucas thanks the village elders, but gets annoyed by the two sword fighters in the army.
"Oooh! Another Lancereaver! May I please?" Ren excitingly asks.
"Hey, cut me some slack, I could use that," Guy protests.
"Oh yeah?" Ren protests back.
"Yeah!" Guy argues until a cruel mediator gets between their heads and pushes them back.
Lucas was close in considering hitting the both of them with the blunt part of his spear to make them shut up but before he could do that, Raven intervened.
"Back off already, stop screwing around," Raven strictly urges with his arms crossed, intimidating the two Sacaen swordsmen. "Besides, Guy, you and I are on the reserve, so it's best if you take the sword with you until you're ready to fight. And Ren, aren't you supposed to be guarding Merlinus?"
"Fine…" Ren groans as he follows Lucius and Serra to assist Rebecca and Wil guard Merlinus and organise their supplies and gifts that they've received from the village elders while keeping his distance from the androphobic rider.
Lucas sighs in exhaustion as he needs to make sure that the two don't get carried away again. In fact, the reason why Lucas made Ren and the archer duo stay with Merlinus was not because he needed them to protect him, it was more of a punishment of interrupting his… research… with Lyn and entering doors without knocking. He sighed as the pirates were looking eager and excited to start charging at the line, making the others fight back as a result.
"Up and at 'em boys!" Fargus rallies.
"Arrr!"
"Aye Cap!"
With that, two frenzy pirates wielding razor sharp axes start to strike at the main line. Lucas wasn't surprised as those men were obviously weaker than the others. It was a simple yet effective battle tactic that was tried and tested again and again. The bread and butter of any tactician.
"Alright, we advance slowly!"
Meanwhile back at the tent, while Serra complains how she should be out there, helping the others and healing their wounds and while Merlinus was busy keeping inventory of each item that they had received. Wil and Rebecca whisper to each other. They had noticed that both Ren and Florina both looked away from one another, not even glancing at each other. Florina looks like she desperately wants to talk but she kept shying away from him while Ren was busy sulking and sharpening his broad iron blade.
"What do you think is happening?" Rebecca whispered to her childhood friend.
"I don't know." Wil replies, unsure how to approach the situation.
"I pray that Lord Eliwood and Lord Hector will survive, after all, this is supposed to be tryst for our trip to Valor," Merlinus prays all the while staring at Ren with his face downcast and tense as Florina is staring intently at him, hesitant to try approaching him after the previous incident.
They could only watch as this awkwardness continued as the tactician had essentially made sure that no pirate could approach them from any direction whatsoever.
"H-hey, Ren, whatcha doing?" Wil breaks the silence, but is left unanswered, making the mood more tense than it already was.
"Oh dear, goodness, ohh…" Merlinus whimpers from the tension between two of their companions in his small tent.
"E-excuse me sir Ren?" Merlinus begs as he takes a sword in a scabbard with him. "Pardon me, but I happen to have an exquisite sword that you might like! I was intending to ask Lord Marcus if he was interested but–"
"Thank you for the offer my friend, but that is unnecessary. I still have spare blades with me, " Ren gently refuses, making the peddler feel depressed from his answer and puts away the silver sword in his trunk.
"Hey! Not cool!" Rebecca barks.
"Rebecca, what are you–"
"Ren! Just what is happening to you right now?! Stop being an ass! What's gotten into you!?" Rebecca scolded, startling the nervous pegasus knight and getting the attention of the now depressed swordsman.
"What do you want…?" Ren plainly responds and puts down his iron blade to lazily listen to the tomboy archer's scolding.
"It's not like you being so down!? Can't you open up to us?" Rebecca consoles.
"I-I wish I could but–"
"Stop squeaking!" Rebecca scolds sternly like some instructor.
"Y-yes ma'am," Ren distastefully replies back with his face downcast.
"...Ren, look, see that nerve-wracked lady yonder? She is distressed from staring at you, and looks too shy to talk to you for whatever she's got in her head," Rebecca consoles and startles Florina as she points to her.
"B-b-but—"
"Nope, no buts, just move!" Rebecca kicks Ren off his seat and motions him to reluctantly walk to the rattled pegasus knight, but keeps his distance so as to not frighten her unintentionally.
"F-Florina…" Ren stutters nervously while scratching cheek and refrains from looking straight into her eyes
"Oh… h-hello Ren…" Florina says nervously not looking at his eyes. "A-are you mad at me?" She asks cutely, while tearing up from the events that happened earlier.
"Not quite exactly sure with what you mean, but far from that," Ren replies nervously, a blush slowly forming on his face. "What did you...hear about my last conversation with Lucas earlier?"
"N-no, I-I was told by Lyn to fetch Lucas for the battle, and then I saw that you are having a small talk, so I decided to wait out a bit. The talk seemed serious, but I have not completely heard a single detail, I promise!" Florina explains while trembling and flinching before Ren.
"I...I'm sorry...for scaring you. What me and Lucas have shared...would you care if I opened them up to you?" Ren gently asks, remembering the words of his sworn brother.
The frightened pegasus knight then calms down before the vulnerable swordsman as he reveals his shared secrets, tells of his past, and explains his reason for his distaste of being a wandering mercenary.
"Ren...you have been through so much...I...I…" Florina whimpers before sobbing hard out of sympathy like a swollen sprinkler, but was momentarily comforted by a rugged hand gently stroking her wavy orchid hair before getting pulled into a warming embrace.
"Don't be...yesterday is already history, tomorrow may be a mystery, but today is a gift to me, that's why it is called the present," Ren smiles with content as he gazes gently on the comforted Florina. The two slowly stare into each other's eyes as they had forgotten that the world existed until they were interrupted by the clapping sound of a green haired archer and the giggling sound of the serval Ostian cleric.
"Pffft, c'mon brother, think something up better than that!" Wil jests, making the gentle Lucius smile a little more.
"Oh shut up!" Ren protests, making the two archers, the peddler, the monk Lucius, and the shrilled cleric fill the tent with laughter. Like an epiphany, the frightened Florina now has seen Ren in a different light than any other man that she ever encountered with a feeling of closeness.
"Ren I–"
"Hey!" A familiar voice interrupted barging inside the tent that they were in.
"Lucas?! Whoa!?"
"W-watch out!"
The tactician returns abruptly from the strenuous challenge and to see the swordsman and the pegasus rider of the reserved members of their army, down on the floor in an extremely embarrassing position with Florina's face floating just an inch away from Ren's lips while safely cushioned by his fit and rugged person. Her face suddenly bursts deep red as she screams and leaves the tent like a running rabbit.
"Hehehe, lemme guess: was I interrupting something 'magical?'" Lucas muses with a smirk, but is fazed as he sees Ren's deeply embarrassed composure and attempts to hide his growing smile, making the others stop laughing at the events that happened earlier as the tactician's aura turned a little threatening as they had realized why the tactician purposely left them out of the fight.
"I assume that all debts are repaid in our eyeless and toothless society."
"..." Ren sat upright in silence as he smiled contently.
'I can assume that my plan worked a little too well…' Lucas thought in both contempt and worry about what his friend's next move will be. '...but then again he did need to be punished. Even if Florina had to suffer a little bit.'
"Hey hey hey! What's up!? What happened to my li'l sis?!" Farina scolds the habitants of the tent, breaking Lucas from his thoughts. After a few minutes of silence, all, but the tactician and the purple haired rider, point to the flustered swordsman sitting on the floor of the tent.
"You! What the hell did you do to my sister!?" Farina scolds as she grabs and raises his collar up high in a fit of rage, but to avail she is left unanswered with him looking away from her.
"Answer me Dam-"
"Now, now, Farina, Don't be too hard on him." The tactician assures making some of the tension filter out of the room, as he tries to placate some of her anger. "Why don't you talk to him later. Right now, I need to discuss something important with you. Could I ask that you find and bring Lyn with you?"
"Hmph," Farina grunts, too angry to make a joke. She glares at the swordsman before leaving the tent, in a huff.
Lucas sighs and sees the rest of the group just watch around awkwardly as he then remembers the incident that they had just seen, before making a strategy that will ensure that the two will be left alone.
"Merlinus, Serra, Lucius, There was a shop here that sells magic, tomes and staves. Why don't you guys go there and refill the supplies? Wil, Rebecca, why don't you get the extra funds from Marcus first, then chase after them?" Lucas commands all of them before they reluctantly leave the room, assuming that the coast is partially clear of hostility.
"So, I can safely assume that Florina and the others who were in the tent heard everything?" Lucas says, taking an empty chair nearby so he could sit next to the swordsman. After a few minutes of silence, he slowly opens the wineskin he had and opens it.
"Glad to see that you took my advice." He says taking a sip of wine through the opening. "I am safe to assume that it went well, right?"
"Hehe, hehehehe, ahhh," Ren drowsily responds in his currently infatuated state before snapping into reality and answers Lucas with formality. "Why yes. Actually things really went well, though I was thinking the outcome would be otherwise."
"At the very least, you took my words seriously, and that's an achievement," Lucas compliments as he noogies Ren's rugged hair, proud of his aloof friend to finally lift something off his chest.
"Yeah. Oh right! I have heard that there is an arena nearby from here, mind taking me there?" Ren gleefully requests.
"Yeah, I was going to ask you to enter and make our army some gold. Marcus can take you there, but you better wait for the others' turns. Raven and Bartre are trying to burn some steam over there as we speak," Lucas tells him as they exit the peddler's small tent and allows Marcus to guide him to Badon's arena, but not before calling out to the swordsman. "Also Farina is definitely there after we talk, going to quell her anger there. Pray that you don't fight her."
The swordsman left with a smile on his face.
The battle was hectic and getting out of hand as the hearty pirate crew engaged with the heavy vanguard Marcus, Oswin, and with both swordsmen dealing out hits as they were mowing down one pirate at a time without killing or fatally wounding them to gain their loyalty.
As Lucas was slowly heading towards one of them, he managed to maim one nimble fighter with his emblem lance and sedate him with a blunt strike to his temple with the flat side of his lance. A little bit more than usual so that he could maintain some distance, he normally does well against bandits but against pirates he was practically a squishy, fragile opponent. After Marcus and Oswin took care of most of the rowdy sea-surfing ruffians, Lucas, Lyn and Guy slowly forged a path straight ahead as they swiftly sedated the magic-wielders in the pirates' ranks. With Guy on the forefront leading to keep going forward, Lucas wondered if everyone was fine or if they were injured. As Lyn was right behind him, his instinct telling him that it would do him no good if he was yelled and screamed at by the woman who was in his thoughts from time to time. However, as they were close to the finish line, a lone purple-haired, shrewd-faced cavalier—wearing a knight crest on his pauldron, showing his status as a paladin—suddenly blocks their center route along with his two cavalier cohorts and a troubadour, with the intention to kill.
"End of the line, peasants! Show me Eliwood! I can consider sparing all of you if you do it fast!" the purple-haired paladin demands for the redhead noble with his razorsharp killing edge brandished for battle.
"No! I would rather not!" Lyn protests as she unsheathes her Mani Katti alongside the two other knights and a pair of swordsmen, Eliwood and Guy.
"Yeah, no." Lucas intervenes in front of Lyn as he uses his spear as a way to block her from advancing. "Why not leave these men to me? I am useless against those pirates back there and had an urge to blow some steam. And there are some things that I would love to ask the riders."
Lucas shoos them with a wave of his open hand, almost assuring them that he will be fine. As soon as they left to flank the pirates, Lucas drops the smile before looking seriously as he twirls his silver spear in his usual threatening manner, and taunts. "Why don't you tell me all about your organization? Make it easier for me to learn about you."
"Hmph, I have nothing to say to an ant like you. Now be the first to taste my blade!" the shrewd paladin roars as he orders his horse to arch back as high as it could before galloping swiftly like the wind and charging forward towards the steady strategist against his silver spear.
In that fateful moment, Lucas manages to parry the paladin's swift sword before striking and flinging him off his armored mount before pointing at him with the silver diamond-pointed tip of his lance just an inch close to his pointy nose.
"Well, no dice? Fine then, I'll have to do it the hard way, by dragging you off your horse!" Lucas quips as he grabs his emblem spear before throwing it at another rider that was engaging in combat with the impregnable aide Oswin, making his horse arch back and knock its rider off his saddle, enabling Oswin to end him rightly with a stab through his broken armor while Guy and Eliwood finish off both the other cavalier and the troubadour without breaking a sweat.
"I hate this life..." the purple-haired paladin curses with his rear on the floor.
"Eh, it gets bearable over time." Lucas shrugs before picking up his emblem lance from the rider's fallen forse. Before checking the rider, who had already been stabbed. "You realize that I needed him for information, right?"
"Forgive me, but you didn't say anything about killing them, but he attempted to attack lady Lyndis, so I had to take extra precaution."
"Oswin, it was implied." Lucas deadpans, before sighing in exasperation. "No matter, as long as no one else kills the others then…"
"So how do we deal with—what's he doing?" Guy questions as he sees the paladin pull out a tiny black vial and ingest a dark liquid as he pours it into his mouth. Before Lucas could stop him, he had started choking from his poison and was saying his last words.
"Ughugh….haa...Crow in...triumph…." He choked his last and flopped flat on the stony road lifeless.
"Tch, poison." Lucas says kicking the corpse. "The coward's way out."
"Hmhmhm, oh! Ahoy! You managed to keep yer life! Not bad for landlubbers!" Dart boisterously compliments with his arms crossed.
"Oh, the battle ended." Lucas finally noticed that his plan went well, even without his supervision.
"Yeah, if ya like it that way. Unless ya wanna fight me ha?!" Dart suggests excitedly as he brandishes his throwable handaxe.
"Please no, that won't be necessary," Lyn protests kindly.
"Psh, ayt ayt, go ahead, the cap'n awaits, yer ladyship," Dart muses courteously to the confused Lyndis, leading her and the two lords that caught up with the others into Faerghus' ship.
"Anyway, I need to check up on something. Marcus, could you go get us gold in the arena? Oswin, go with him." Lucas says, a musing expression on his face as he slowly leaves the vicinity.
—-
As the sun goes down, Lucas thinks to himself, reminiscing the final moments. The cavaliers and the paladin all acted strangely. It wasn't as if they had to stop the group. In fact, they had nothing to lose even if they had chosen not to intervene. So why? Why would they intervene in a battle that was totally unrelated with them, it did not make sense. He soon shakes himself from his thoughts, he needed to meet up with Lyn and Farina. As well as check up on those who went in the arena. He sighs and decides to ignore what the shrewd paladin says before leaving to meet up with the 2 "marked" women. After a few minutes of wandering around, sightseeing the jolly townsfolk jump and gather merrily—probably at the fact that the pirates will be leaving tomorrow—he had entered the same alleyway that led up to the inn from where he discussed pressing matters with Ren earlier. Upon seeing that the women were not there yet, the tactician sat down at the porch of one random house before he started to sharpen his spear. He was so concentrated and focused on his own business that he did not notice another presence there he was preoccupied with himself.
"So, how did that battle go?" The person asked, startling the tactician and making him drop it in shock, while making him stand, alerted.
The tactician saw the same woman who told him to bugger off because his argument with Ren was too loud. Same long red hair, Same red eyes, and the same left handed glove, but since he wasn't seeing her from afar like last time he noticed that she was not wearing anything what a normal villager would. Her dress was rather short sleeved as well as red, with gold and her hair, which was loose last time, is now in a high ponytail.
When his initial panic wore off, he sighed a little before he picked up his spear and kept it at his side. "It went well, I do not understand why you are so concerned with a small skirmish such as this."
"You tell me, but it's likely the fact that those knuckleheads happen to be my most loyal clients in lodging over in my inn. They pay their tabs, organize the mess hall. Yeah! Best people I ever met, hehe!" Anna muses.
"Gee, I noticed." Lucas answered in a straight face. "So, we haven't seen your brother at all during the battle. Mind explaining that?"
"Hmmm, oh yes! I forgot to mention that he's still new to the pirate life and dislikes confrontations, so it made sense why he ain't fighting in the fray, oopsies!" Anna explains, in a joking manner, while rubbing her head in a goofy manner and making her tongue stick out in a playful manner.
"So either way, we weren't even supposed to fight him? Seems a little bit weird to mention that now, if your brother wasn't going to fight anyway." Lucas says, shrugging from the answer that she gave before he decided to ask what was in his mind ever since the woman decided to talk to him.
"So, Missus Anna, if I may be so curious to ask why do you wear that glove?" He asked pointing to it, making her stop sticking out her tongue and being serious for a moment.
"Why do you ask, Tactician?" she asks, all hints of joking earlier gone now from her face as she looks at him in a way that says 'you should drop the subject right now'. Lucas looks at her kind of confused but decides that he should drop the subject.
"Well, you always seem to be wearing one but not along with the other?" He says trying to diffuse the situation.
"Oh you know, it's meant for aesthetics. People love a woman with mystery, don't you know?" She says, her voice going back to its usual joking manner.
"Anyway, I must leave. I am sorry for taking your time. Goodbye." Lucas says, before standing up and dusting his cloak before he moves away from the woman deciding to take a stroll around the dim-lit roads of Badon while making his way to the arena, surprisingly still lively in the silent night. Anna smiles as he sees him leave. "I wonder what your words would do to you and where fate would bring you, tactician of Etruria. I hope the mark will serve you well…" She says, knowing that the tactician would not hear her words.
After a few minutes of being lost, Lucas had finally arrived at the huge coliseum. He enters it as a bystander and searches for a vacant seat before chancing upon Lyndis, who happens to also be present to view the ongoing battles, despite her noble lineage in a rowdy crowd and environment. As a quick response, he goes to inquire of her reason being in the arena.
"Um, what are you of all people doing here, Lyn?"
"Oh! Lucas! Well, we have a good reason for being here, I think…?" Lyn adorably stutters.
"We?" he looks to her side and notices Florina as her seat companion with a nervous look at the ongoing battle then smirks amusingly as he sees Ren giving the entire audience a good bloody show.
"Okay then. Anyway Lyn, where's Farina? I told her to look for you then to meet here." He muses before realizing a familiar blue-haired pegasus knight slowly hovering to the center stage and takes Ren's place with her lance ready for a thrilling single-combat. Her opponent appears from the other side of the arena, revealing a lone sword fighter, wielding a steel blade over his shoulders and immediately engages with the pegasus knight without hesitation.
"Well, I guess we should wait for her then." Lucas sighs before he decided to take a seat beside the green haired swordswoman. "I mean, gold is gold."
"I-I hope my sister will be okay...R-Raven and Guy were in trouble and heavily wounded earlier…" Florina stutters with worry.
"I believe she will be fine Florina." Lyn tries to assure her as Lucas hyper-focuses on the battle, as Farina deflects the steel blade and follows up by deflecting the next attack..
"...Haagh, hey! You guys are here!? Why didn't you say so?!" Ren ran up to them excitedly as he ran all the way from the arena barracks to their seats before catching his breath.
"I just arrived. I don't know about the other two..." Lucas says as he sees Farina immediately impale the sword fighter in through his leather tunic and rams him to a wooden barricade, leaving him to bleed to death before raising her lance in victory and rallying the crowd's applause. "...plus, I need to ask Farina and Lyn a few important details. You should be lucky that person she just impaled wasn't you by the way."
"Gee, now that you mention that, I agree," Ren nervously replies after remembering her burning fury last afternoon, but looked on the orchid-haired pegasus knight who's nervously tugging on his gray, bloodstained long sleeve.
"I-I-I can ease the misunderstanding! P-please no need t-to worry," Florina assures as Ren strokes over her head with his rugged tipless gloves.
"Thanks, that would be relieving. And thanks for watching over these two," Ren smirks to the stoic tactician.
"You're welcome." Lucas answers back, standing up before stretching as he sees the pegasus knight leave the arena. "You should probably find a way to explain to her. But not before I borrow her time for about a few minutes. C'mon Lyn, let's meet up with Farina."
"I can stay here for now 'cause there are others that wanted to blow off some steam, and I am here to make sure they try not to get themselves killed," Ren assures as he takes his seat and lays his head on the stony ground beside Florina.
Lyn nods and follows the tactician as both leave the arena, to find the arena barracks where Farina would be resting at so that they could find another quiet place to talk at. They eventually find her talking to one of the other fighters. Upon moving closer to them he saw that the other guy looked familiar.
"Whew, you're up! Big guy…!" Farina bids to the blue-haired noble while sipping on a water cask.
"Got it!" Hector gallantly replies as he enters into the fray with a standard iron axe against an armored knight as his opponent.
"Y'know, it is rude to keep an acquaintance waiting, Farina." Lucas says, after seeing the battle-hungry prince leave the arena and startling the pegasus knight that she spat a bit of water in surprise to her previous agreement.
"Ehehehe, heeyyy Lucas….?" Farina tensely replies while wiping her mouth clean.
"You know, I gave you one job." Lucas sighs, as he slowly started unwrapping his bandages in the arm, making both Lyn and Farina look in surprise since he hadn't removed the bandage in front of the other.
"Whoa, Lucas wait–now does not seem to be the right place to show that thing. Marcus and Oswin are still here, and I think I saw Canas and Sain in the vicinity," Farina warns from remembering that other members happened to take part in making more gold for the entire army.
Lucas hastily wrapped his arm again then slapped his head in frustration. "Sorry, I got carried away. Let's meet up outside. Now."
Lucas says before leaving the room, making Lyn look confused at the tactician. Now, he can start doing his research on the tattoos. He still knew nothing about them so he had to make haste in getting information about the tattoos.
He had a feeling that this had something deeper than what's presented.
Chapter END