AN: I don't own Fire Emblem or Touhou Project

This chapter isn't anything to special. Basically it's a Nohr version of 'Geoffrey's Charge' from Radiant Dawn, though it does have a bit more story behind it beyond 'beat up a bunch of people.'

So without further ado!

Let the Conquest begin!

Unit Roster

Celsius

Class: Vanguard

Skills: Strong Riposte, Sol, Razor Wind

P.S: Frozen Hero

Inventory: Siegfried, Celsius' Sword, Alondite

Tirado

Class: Sword General

Skills: Defense +2, Natural Cover, Seal Defense

P.S: Hero's Legacy

Inventory: Zonta's Blade, Blessed Lance

Nichol

Class: Wyvern Lord

Skills: Strength +2, Lunge, Miracle, Canto

P.S: Survivor

Inventory: Killer Axe, Hand Axe, Iron Lance, Wolf Berg

Seth

Class: Lance Paladin

Skills: Shelter, Outdoor Fighter, Canto

P.S: Loyalty

Inventory: Silver Lance

Orson

Class: Sword Paladin

Skills: Shelter, Outdoor Fighter, Canto

P.S: Unbreakable Bond (Units with A support with this unit gain +2 to all stats)

Inventory: Silver Sword

Duessel

Class: Great Knight

Skills: Shelter, Outdoor Fighter, Luna, Canto

P.S: Strengthtaker

Inventory: Silver Axe, Silver Lance

Selena

Class: Dark Knight

Skills: Anathema, Malefic Aura, Seal Magic, Canto

P.S: Loyalty

Inventory: Lightning, Elfire, Levin Sword

Kyle

Class: Lance Cavalier

Skills: Shelter, Outdoor Fighter, Canto

P.S: Smart Guy (+15 hit & avoid when holding weapon advantage.)

Inventory: Steel Lance

Cormag

Class: Wyvern Rider

Skills: Strength +2, Lunge

P.S: Hot Blooded (+2 Atk, Spd & Lck, -1 Def, Res & Skl)

Inventory: Steel Axe, Hammer

Glen

Class: Wyvern Rider

Skills: Strength +2, Lunge

P.S: Calm Minded (+2 Def, Res & Skl, -1 Atk, Spd, & Lck)

Inventory: Steel Axe, Bone Axe

Endgame: Celsius' Charge

BGM: A Test of Will - Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn

North of Windmire a large group was gathered. The Knights of Renvall all gathered, alongside their leadership, to take the Northern Fortress. This fortress had been abandoned years ago, and had been taken over by bandits, but now it was time to take it back.

Standing on a hillside that was overlooking the front of the Northern Fortress, Celsius stood, the scarf of her mentor waving in the wind behind her, Siegfried on her left hip in its sheath, her personal sword on her right hip, and Alondite on her back. Her scarred arm viewable to the world as she looked over the fortress they were to assault. "Celsius." Someone called, Celsius turning her head around to look behind her and smiling at who was coming up behind her. "Orson. How have you been?" Celsius asked happily as Orson gave a sad smile. "I've been… alright I guess. Monica has been helping me stay on my feet after my apprentice got kidnapped…" Orson said with a small cringe in his voice as Celsius sighed.

"I'm sorry Orson… what was your apprentice like?" Celsius asked as Orson smiled. "He was a kind boy. I think he would have made a great knight, hopefully one day I'll find him again." Orson said with a soft smile as Celsius nodded. "Cheer up, we'll find him, we'll find all of them." Celsius said, chipper as ever as Orson chuckled a little bit. "I hope so Celsius, I hope so. By the way, Tirado and Nichol wanted to see you before we began the attack." Orson said as Celsius nodded. "Alright." Celsius said, turning around and walking past Orson, the short girl managing to put her hand on his shoulder and pat it. "Take care Orson." Celsius said with a smile as Orson nodded before turning to look out over the fortress himself.

Nearby Duessel and Selena were talking, more like Duessel was trying to get Selena to listen to him. "Selena, why don't you sit this one out. If anything happened to you…" Duessel started as he looked down at Selena's belly, which was slightly distended as Selena smacked him. "Eyes up here Duessel, and I'll be fine, I'm not going to be directly engaging anyone." Selena said as Duessel rubbed his face. "I know that, but I don't want to risk anything." Duessel said as Selena sighed. "Get a room you two." Someone said, Selena and Duessel looking over from their position at Kyle, who was sharpening his lance as he sat on a tree stump. "Kyle… leave." Duessel said, glaring at the cavalier, who sighed and got up, walking away from the two lieutenants. "He's dutiful, but he needs to learn when not to open his mouth." Duessel muttered as Selena rolled her eyes. "Sounds like someone I know all too well." Selena mumbled.

A little bit away from them, Seth was addressing the troops, Cormag and Glen among them as Seth spoke with calm authority. "Men, and women, we are about to assault a massive bandit encampment, so I've been tasked to make sure you all understand how this is going to go down, understand?" Seth asked calmly. "Yes sir!" came the resounding response, Cormag remaining silent as Glen nodded.

"Wyvern corps are to come in from the skies. Watch out for any archers. Reports say that there are no magic users among the bandits, but don't let your guard down. There could still be some surprises we don't know about." Seth said as the wyvern riders of the knights all shared a look between each other. "You hear him Cormag, don't go charging in like you usually do." Glen said as Cormag grumbled. "It would get rid of the archers a lot faster that's for dam sure." Cormag said as Glen sighed.

"The Calvary is to back up the main knights, once we've assaulted the main gates you are to come from behind and help us clear them out. The reinforcements will likely send them into a panic. Aside from that, these bandits are known to be disorganized, so they will likely focus on what's in front of them rather than a single unit, so if you get the chance, try to team up with a partner and take them down together, remember the stances." Seth instructed as he focused on Cormag and Glen.

"I know it's a little late for any more information, but I want one last review. What are the two stances of battling with a partner?" Seth said, Cormag ignoring him as Glen looked up. "Attack stance and guard stance. In attack stance both partners take an attack, while in guard stance the support unit blocks attacks made on the lead unit and gives the lead unit support." Glen said as Seth nodded. "Nice to see that someone has been paying attention in training. The attack will begin shortly, so get ready." Seth said as the men saluted, aside from Cormag who was still ignoring Seth.

Inside the sole tent in the area, set up for a quick meeting, Tirado and Nichol were going over a map they had been given, showing the layout of the fortress. Celsius entered as they were observing the map, Tirado looking up as Nichol started talking. "About dam time, what were you doing general." Nichol snarked as Celsius sighed. "I was observing the fort, I didn't see anyone from my position but that could be because of how far away we are." Celsius said as Nichol huffed. "Quiet Nichol, she has the right to do that. She does have a rank on us after all." Tirado said as Nichol crossed his arms. "Not like I would ever actually use it. So, what have we got here." Celsius said, looking at the map… upside down.

"The plan was for the stronger knights to go in first, and then have the cavalry follow up behind us. Nichol would lead the wyvern riders from the skies, as usual. A simple sweep operation. Putting her hand on her chin Celsius nodded. "I understand, that sounds like a good plan… it's just…" Celsius started as Nichol and Tirado looked up from the map at her. "What Celsius?" Tirado asked. "I've got a bad feeling about this. I know the report said there wasn't any magic users, but I can't help but feel a rather dark presence from the fort." Celsius said as Nichol raised an eyebrow. "What kind?" He asked.

"Not unlike…" Celsius started before looking behind her at the tent entrance to make sure no one was listening. "The Faceless." Celsius whispered. "Why would there be any of those monsters here? Wasn't all the research on them destroyed?" Tirado asked. "It was, and I hope I'm just being paranoid. But you can never be to sure." Celsius said as Tirado nodded. "I'll make sure to bring my blessed lance, just in case, alright Celsius?" Tirado suggested as Celsius nodded. "Alright Tirado, just don't die out there." Celsius said. "If all goes well, we'll have the fort back with no casualties." Nichol said as Tirado rolled up the map of the fort. "Gather the knights, we're starting now." Tirado said as Nichol left, Celsius leaving the tent alongside Tirado.

BGM: Darkness Eternal - Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn

Deep inside the fort, a callous man sat on his makeshift throne. Half his face was covered by an ornate gold mask, a decorative horn sprouting out of the mask as well as the man's unkempt locks spilled past his neck and onto his shoulders. His robes were finely dusted and a purple gem sat in a golden ornament on his chest. The man was Iago, a bandit sorcerer of great power, having been exiled from Nohr after his dark experiments had been discovered.

Sitting on his makeshift throne Iago heard the door to his chamber open. "Who dares to disturb me at this time?" Iago asked, his voice a slight growl with barely unearthly tones lying beneath it. The bandit who had entered was wearing a purple headband, a gold earring in his right ear and a goatee on his chin. His clothing was rather torn but well cared for, but a quiver of arrows and a sword sat on his back. "Uhai… what do you want?" Iago asked, glaring at his… tentative ally.

"I spotted a large group near the north of the fort, they are heavily armed and are preparing to attack." Uhai said, his voice rugged and rough. "Well then, take the men and kill them Uhai. You owe me remember?" Iago said, growling as Uhai nodded. "I thought you should know… I spotted a woman on the hillside. Her description matched that of General Celsius." Uhai said, but his voice showed he didn't want to as Iago raised his head. "Is that so? Well then that changes things… hold them off Uhai, I'll need to prepare for combat." Iago said as Uhai growled. "You plan on using us as meat shields!" Uhai shouted at Iago. "Don't you dare raise your voice at me Uhai! I could kill you with a mere thought! Now do your dam job and stall them!" Iago yelled at him, dark magic glowing in his hand as Uhai backed down.

"It will be done…" Uhai said, glaring at Iago as he left. "Little does he know I've left a little surprise in everyone… a pit I was unable to infect him, his faceless would have been so strong." Iago muttered as he stood up and walked towards a wall, opening it up with a candle lever and walking inside the hidden passageway to get his tools of destruction.

BGM: Uncharted Fates - Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn

On the hillside, Celsius stood with Tirado at her side, Seth and Orson ready on their mounts as Duessel and Selena sat ready on their mounts as well. "So… here we go." Tirado said as he pulled his sword out of his sheath. Celsius nodded as she pulled Alondite out of its sheath. "Then let's do this." Celsius proclaimed as the gates to the fort opened, bandits pouring out as a man on a horse rode out onto the battlefield alongside the bandits.

"General Celsius! I parley with you!" The man called. "Parley? Isn't that pirates?" Celsius asked as Tirado shrugged. "It could be a trap." Seth said as Celsius shook her head. "No, he calls for negotiations, it shows he's got some form of decency, I'll meet with him." Celsius said as she ran down from the hill towards the mounted man, who raised his hand. "Do not advance." The man commanded the bandits as Tirado looked them over. "This isn't right… the reports said these bandits were disorganized." Tirado muttered as Orson shrugged. "Nothing we can do about it; we just have to get ready." Orson said, pulling his sword out of its sheath.

Celsius and the man stood ten feet away from each other, Celsius with Alondite in hand and Uhai holding his bow. "So… what do you want bandit?" Celsius asked as the man spoke. "My name is Uhai, I am the sub commander of these bandits under 'lord' Iago." Uhai said, the disdain in his voice audible as Celsius raised an eyebrow. "He wishes us to fight you… and I owe him, so I must fight your forces." Uhai said as Celsius spoke. "So, you asked for a parley? To say that you were fighting us?" Celsius asked, slightly confused as Uhai nodded. "Yes, I know it sounds stupid, but for as dishonorable as Iago is, I will not fight dishonorably. So now we will fight, feel free to bring your whole army." Uhai said as he rode back towards the fort gate to stand guard.

Celsius stood still as the bandits took up positions around the rocky terrain in front of the fort, their numbers large as Tirado and the others came down to join her. "Bring in the cavalry, but tell Nichol to stay behind, he'll be going in after we finish here." Celsius said without missing a beat. "Ok…" Seth said as Tirado took up his position next to Celsius, the others forming up behind her as Seth went to get the cavalry. "They don't seem like normal bandits." Tirado said as Celsius sighed. "That bit was obvious… but their leader, he's much different, he's got honor… I hope I get to fight him myself." Celsius said as Seth returned the cavalry behind him as they all got into position. "So how are we going to do this?" Seth asked as the cavalry all got ready to charge.

"Same plan as before, we go in first, followed by the cavalry." Celsius said as the Knights got ready. "Alright… let's do this!" Orson called as he pointed his sword forward.

BGM: Battle Of Pride - Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn

Orson was the first to move, riding towards a warrior who had a silver axe. Swinging quickly, he charged past the warrior, nicking the warrior's side and drawing blood as he turned around for another charge. But the warrior was ready as he sidestepped Orson's second attack before retaliating with his axe, only for Orson to get his horse to jump out of the way.

Seth went a different direction, going after a hero who was wielding a brave sword. Riding towards the hero he made an attempt to stab him, making a clean stab at the hero's armored chest. The hero flinched but retaliated, swinging his brave sword at Seth once, who blocked the first strike with his lance, before pulling back and trying to stab at Seth's horse, but like with Orson, Seth pulled back to avoid getting hit by the dangerous weapon.

Selena paired up with Duessel, following him as he rode towards a bandit who was wielding a lance, a halberdier. Swinging at the bandit with his axe the bandit rolled out of the way, only to take a stab at Duessel's horse with his lance, the silver lance managing to poke through the heavy armor of Duessel's horse and making it bleed. But years of training kept the horse from panicking as Duessel tried for another attack, taking a swing at the halberdier's head, which the halberdier dodged.

Tirado was the next to move, running towards a different halberdier. Taking a swing with his sword the Halberdier brought up his shield to block, only for it to be flung away from him as he was knocked back. But the bandit recovered and went for his own attack, stabbing at Tirado with his horseslayer, which bounced off of Tirado's heavy armor. Making another swing in retaliation Tirado tried to take off the halberdier's head, but he was quick enough to dodge that he only got nicked in the side, which still hurt like hell.

Celsius then took her turn, following up on Tirado's attack with Alondite, running after him and taking her own swing at the Halberdier, making a large gash in his armor as Tirado followed up on her. "Face me now!" Tirado called, making a heavy swing that the halberdier wasn't able to avoid, sending him flying with blood pouring from his chest, dead.

Kyle was the first of the cavalry to ride forward, riding towards Seth to help him in his own fight. Taking his own stab at the hero, the fast moving and hardened bandit dodged, only for Seth to quickly follow up with a stab to the chest, denting the plate mail that the hero was landing and causing him to cough up blood. Angry the hero got back up, sheathing his sword and pulling his throwing axe off his back, tossing it at Kyle and managing to hit him square in the chest, knocking him off his horse and onto the ground with a fair dent in his armor. "Stand back Kyle, he's strong." Seth called as Kyle got back up and climbed back on his horse. "All due respect sir, you said it yourself, it's better to fight together." Kyle wheezed. "Indeed, then stay behind me." Seth commanded as Kyle paired up with him.

The rest of the cavalry moved forward, not making much progress towards any enemies as the bandits took their own moves. The warrior fighting Orson took a powerful swing at him, But Orson dodged the lumbering brute easily, taking his own swing at him with his silver sword again, this time landing a clean swing on the warrior's bare chest, drawing lots of blood as the warrior keeled over, quickly bleeding out and breathing heavily as Orson made his second strike, stabbing the warrior in the head before pulling his sword out and letting the warrior fall over, dead.

The hero, having thrown his axe took his sword out again, and instead of going for Seth and Kyle he ran past them towards one of the cavalrymen, who was wielding an axe. Attacking quickly, he took a vertical swing at the man's horse, drawing blood and causing it to panic, only to follow up with killing the horse, the cavalryman falling off his dead horse but getting back up and running at the hero, swinging his axe. The hero back flipped out of the way, only to follow up with running at the axe fighter, taking a quickly slash that dented his armor hard, and then finishing off with a stab to the chest, killing the axe fighter as the hero picked up the man's axe.

"We got a man down!" Someone called. "Form your ranks and pair up! Don't let anyone else fall!" Tirado called, the cavalry quickly scrambling to pair up with each other to avoid any more casualties. Nearby the halberdier that was fighting Duessel decided it would be a smarter choice to fight Tirado, running towards the sword wielding general with his silver lance. Making a fast stab at Tirado the sword general took the hit with his heavy armor, which was much stronger than Duessel's before retaliating with his sword, swinging downward at the halberdier, intent on cutting him clean in half. The halberdier was quick enough to bring up his shield, which blocked most of the blow but sent shockwaves down his arm, shattering a few bones from the sheer force as Celsius followed up on Tirado's attack. "Hey watch me!" Celsius called, jumping at the halberdier, who quickly turned towards Celsius and tried to bring up his shield again, only for Celsius to land and swing under his shield, cutting the man's legs and causing him to fall over as Tirado finished him off with a stab to the chest.

The rest of the bandits took this time to move, adventurers and rouges moving towards the soldiers as other heroes and warriors moved forward, alongside a single berserker who had a killer axe. Uhai however, remained in front of the gate watching the battle with wary eyes. 'This isn't going well. We've already lost four men to their one, and they can easily tear us apart. I need go back on a debt but Iago is just too much for me, the bastard.' Uhai thought in his head as he focused on Celsius.

At this time a group of wyvern riders came in from the east, led by Nichol as Cormag and Glen backed him up. "Alright men. Our turn." Nichol said as he joined the fight. "Great, let's do this." Cormag said. "Don't rush ahead Cormag." Glen said, trying to reel in his brother before he did something stupid.

Seth and Kyle moved towards the hero to avenge their comrade, the weakened fighter easily taken out with a stab to the chest by Seth as Kyle looked down at the body of the cavalryman and cringed. "It was our duty to keep them safe, they were our backup but now they are the targets rather than us." Kyle said as Seth nodded. "Then we'll need to keep the rest safe. No move allies will be lost today." Seth proclaimed as he moved back towards his previous position with Kyle, several cavalrymen following up behind them, just far enough that they wouldn't be in the line of fire, but able to assist if needed.

Duessel stood his ground, not wanting to go any further for fear of Selena getting injured, several cavalrymen pulling up to their position as Orson moved forward to make an attack on an out of position hero wielding an axe. Swinging his sword at the hero he got a clean hit on the hero's armor, denting it heavily as the hero recovered before running at Orson with his axe. Trying to make a swing at him he nicked the side of Orson's horse, denting the armor on it as Orson took prepared his second swing his horse rearing back in a whiny. "Fall so that others will live!" Orson called before rushing at the hero, running him right through on his sword as Orson flung the corpse of the hero off his silver sword with ease before back up a little bit to defend, several other cavalrymen moving towards him to back him up.

Cormag took this time to make his own assault on a halberdier who had a guard naginata, swinging axe down hard on the halberdier, who held his shield up and used his guard naginata in combination with his shield to lessen the blow but he still cringed as Cormag pulled back. Getting out of his defensive stance the halberdier tried to strike at Cormag with his weak lance, but Cormag flew out of his range before growling at the man. "Just die already!" Cormag shouted as he flew down at the man again, swinging even harder as the halberdier brought up his shield and naginata again to block. The critical strike shattered his shield, leaving the man with just his naginata, but alive as Cormag pulled back, angry as Glen flew after him.

"Watch yourself Cormag, that man has a guard naginata. It's an extremely defensive weapon that can double as a shield." Glen chided Cormag. "Well then how do we deal with it!" Cormag yelled as Nichol flew past both of them. "Watch and learn kids." Nichol said, holding Wolf Berg, his prize from the war with Walhart, as he flew at the Halberdier. Taking a fast swing at the injured lance man he forced the man to tank the first hit with his naginata, only to pull back and strike again, this time planting his axe between the man's head, killing him finally and picking up the guard naginata. "This could be useful…" Nichol muttered as he strapped it to his back… alongside the other four weapons he had.

"Showoff…" Cormag muttered as Glen shook his head. "He was just showing you how to deal with someone using a guard naginata, they aren't easy foes to beat." Glen said as Cormag groaned in annoyance. "Nichol and the other riders are within archer range." Celsius noted from her position next to Tirado. "Then let's take them out." Tirado said as he ran towards an adventurer who was getting ready to line up a shot on Nichol. Surprised the adventurer didn't have time to pull away as Tirado slashed him across the chest, drawing lots of blood and sending the man into a spiral before he landed on the ground, dead.

Following Tirado's example Celsius ran up towards another archer, swinging Alondite in a downward slash, sending a razor wind at the adventurer who was about to aim at Cormag, hitting him in the side, but not killing him as his attention was drawn towards Celsius. Taking aim at her, the adventurer fired his arrow at her instead, but Celsius blocked it with her sword before sending another razor wind at him, but this time he rolled out of the way to avoid getting cut by the attack.

This time the enemy bandits advanced, the adventurer fighting Celsius taking another shot at her, which she easily deflected before sending two razor winds at him, the adventurer rolling out of the way of both of them as the heroes and warriors drew closer to the front lines the berserker splitting off from the group and heading towards the east side where Nichol and the wyvern riders were.

Still watching the battle go on Uhai noticed Celsius' attack. 'So the girl can attack at range with her swords? Impressive.' Uhai thought, still holding his position as the battle continued.

Going first, Celsius charged at the adventurer, who tried to shoot at her, but she closed the gap between them quickly, running her sword through him easily before Tirado followed her to keep her backed up.

Seth and Kyle moved forward again, Seth charging at a hero with a wyrmslayer, a sword designed to slay wyverns with ease. But the sword was relatively ineffective against anything else, like a paladin such as Seth. The hero's armor however saved his life as he was pushed back by Seth and coughed up a bit of blood. Moving to attack himself he ran at Seth before swing, only for Seth to be pushed out of the way by Kyle, who blocked the wyrmslayer with his lance. "I'm on guard." Kyle proclaimed as Seth nodded, his horse rearing back as Seth held his lance high. "For Nohr!" Seth called as he charged at the hero, running his lance through the hero with ease.

Nichol moved next, flying towards Tirado and landed next to him for a moment. "Well isn't this a surprise, seeing you on the front lines." Nichol snarked as Tirado rolled his eyes. "Cut the crap Nichol, we've got a battle to win." Tirado said as Nichol smirked. "Very well then." Nichol said as he took his position beside Tirado, still mounted on his wyvern.

Cormag paired up with Glen, and with Glen in the lead he flew towards an adventurer in the backlines of the bandit forces. Swinging his axe quickly he cut the adventurer's head off before flying back out of range with Cormag, who stuck with his brother to because he didn't want to do anything stupid.

Orson moved next, riding towards Celsius, Tirado and Nichol, joining up with them as his group of cavalrymen joined with the group that had been following Tirado and Celsius. Nodding to Tirado he took op a position beside him as they backed up Celsius, who was watching the enemy carefully.

Duessel and Selena finally moved up, taking up a position behind Tirado, Orson and Nichol as their cavalrymen joined with the others. At this point the bandits moved forward again, finally close enough to assault the front line.

The berserker was the first one there, taking a swing at Celsius that thankfully missed as she back flipped out of the way. Celsius followed up by running at the berserker with Alondite, trying to run her sword through his exposed chest… Only for it to draw a little bit of blood as the Berserker laughed and took a second swing at Celsius. "Stand tall." Tirado called, pushing Celsius out of the way and blocking the hit with his armor as Celsius nodded. "I'm on it!" Celsius called, Alondite glowing yellow with Sol's might. "You're going down!" Celsius called as she tossed Alondite in the air, jumping up and grabbing it before bringing the full force of the meteor style move down on the berserker's head.

While it did kill the berserker it only spilt his head open and not the rest of him, leaving his corpse to fall to the floor as the rest of the bandits moved in. A halberdier made a move on Orson, moving to try and stab his horse, and succeeding as his lance pierced the armor on his horse. But the horse didn't panic thankfully due to how little blood was drawn, allowing Orson to keep it under control as he slashed at the halberdier, smashing his sword against his lance, and cutting the wooden rod of the lance in half before running his sword through the halberdier's face.

An adventurer however decided to try and take a potshot at Nichol, who managed to fly out of the way as he held Wolf Berg high. "Let's see what this thing can do…" Nichol muttered as he flew the twisted looking axe, the red metal weapon flying through the air and into the adventurer's front, killing him as blood poured out of him. Throwing his arm out Wolf berg came out of the corpse of the adventurer, flying back into Nichol's hand as he smirked. "Well dam…" Nichol said with a small smirk.

"That's quite the axe." Selena commented, having seen what Nichol did as Duessel looked at his silver axe and stared at in before sighing. "I know I have magic weapons… but I can't use them." Duessel said, slightly annoyed by their commander's better equipment. "Don't worry Duessel, we'll have a smithy make you your own axe later." Selena said, trying to cheer him up as Duessel shook his head. "Just wishful thinking." Duessel muttered.

The next warrior advanced on Celsius, pulling out his bow to shoot at her. Taking quick aim and pulling back the bowstring with two fingers he fired his arrow at her, missing as she rolled out of the way and swung her sword horizontally, sending a razor wind at him that hit his bow, cutting it in half as Celsius stood back up and sent a vertical razor wing at him, which the warrior brought up his axe to block.

A second warrior didn't make the same mistake, running at Celsius with his axe with the first warrior backing him up. Swinging fast and powerfully Celsius rolled out of the way of the first axe swing, and blocked the second thankfully. Getting back up Celsius was quick to retort, slamming her sword into the warrior's chest as Tirado came up from behind her to follow up. Swinging backward he cut into the warrior's head killing him as Celsius pulled her sword out of him.

Finally, they all finished their movements, leaving Celsius the main force to start clearing the way toward Uhai. Seth and Kyle managed to move up to everyone, joining with the main force as from the east, Cormag and Glen swooped in and attacked an adventurer, killing their final archer besides Uhai himself.

Tirado pushed forward towards the warrior a little bit in front of Celsius, attacking him with his sword and planting it between his eyes before pulling it back out easily. Nichol was the next to move once more as he flew at a hero, pulling the guard naginata off his back in place of Wolf Berg to attack with. Taking a swing at the hero with the guard naginata he struck him, the hero flinching a little bit before retaliating, only for Nichol to block his swing with the guard naginata easily, Tirado however, choose to follow up on Nichol, stabbing the Hero in the chest and killing him easily as Nichol glared at him. "I was handling him." Nichol complained.

"Deal with it later." Tirado said, annoyed as Orson moved up again, taking a swing at a warrior and managing to knock him off balance before he retaliated, forcing Orson to back off as a cry came from the cavalry. "Enough waiting around! It's our turn!" A horseman said, riding up next to Orson and swinging at the warrior with his sword, the warrior jumping out of the way as he prepared to retaliate, only for Orson to follow up on the attack made by his ally and stab the warrior in the chest, killing him. "Stay close." Orson commanded as the horseman nodded.

With this one horseman's attack, the other's followed up, charging and helping destroy the bandit forces. As the horseman helped handled the bandits Celsius made a beeline for Uhai, finding herself standing in front of him as he held his bow.

BGM: Battle is Joined - Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn

"Uhai!" Celsius shouted as Uhai nodded. "General Celsius, you are most impressive. I know now that I could not beat you not matter how hard I tried. You've displayed your strength against these bandits… but I ask you one thing." Uhai said as Celsius raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?" Celsius asked. "Beat me, and I shall aid your cause, I have been under Iago's heel long enough, the bastard." Uhai said, talking about the man he owed a debt to.

"Don't you owe him?" Celsius asked as Uhai nodded. "Yes, and while I have my honor, Iago has not. He has asked of me more then I was indebted to him, so now it's my turn to strike against him. But first, face me general Celsius!" Uhai yelled as Celsius smiled. "Bring it!" She yelled as they began.

Running at Uhai, Celsius got ready to swing with Alondite, but Uhai shot at her with his short bow, using his refined aim and power to get a quick hit on her as she was charging, landing an arrow in her unguarded shoulder. But Celsius continued her charge, taking a long swing at Uhai, enough for him to dodge out of the way as she pulled the arrow out of her shoulder and wind milled her arm. "Nice shot." Celsius complimented. "Thank you, but you have yet to beat me." Uhai said as Celsius smirked. "Then try this on for size." Celsius proclaimed as she charged at him again.

Uhai shot at her again with his short bow, Celsius rolling out of the way this time and sending a razor wind at him that he got his horse to jump out of the way of. But Celsius continued charging as Uhai pulled his katana out of his sheath, jumping off his horse as Celsius swung upwards to meet his blade.

Alondite and the steel katana clashed, sparks flying as Uhai struggled to push back against Celsius' strength, gravity overtaking him as he started falling, landing on Celsius' sword before back flipping off and landing on his feet. "Nice jump." Celsius said with a smirk as Uhai sheathed his katana. "Indeed… you have bested me." Uhai said as he climbed back on his horse.

BGM: Super Smash Bros Brawl - Together We Ride

"So then, you'll help us?" Celsius asked as Uhai nodded. "I will, I'll unlock the gate so that we can enter to fight Iago, I intend to cut the bastard down myself. As Uhai moved to unlock the gate the Knights of Renvall and the cavalry rode up behind Celsius. "Are you sure we can trust him?" Tirado asked as Celsius nodded. "Call it gut instinct, but this guy I think we can trust." Celsius said with a smile as Tirado looked back at Celsius.

"Nothing seemed to happen though, so I think that your paranoia was unwarranted in this case. Thankfully." Tirado said as Uhai over heard him. "What are you talking about?" Uhai asked. "It's nothing… at least I hope it is." Celsius said as Uhai nodded, about to finish unlocked the gate.

BGM: Waves of Discord - Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Someone yelled, everyone turning around as the cavalrymen all looked towards the source of the scream. One of the horsemen was pointing at the corpse of the berserker from earlier. Pushing their way through the crowd Tirado and Celsius were left to watch as the corpse slowly stood up, still bleeding as it started to tear itself apart from the head down. A strange sickly yellow faceless horror starting to come out of it as Celsius and Tirado stared, alongside everyone else Uhai stopped unlocking the gate and was left with his mouth hanging open in shock.

The corpse finished splitting open, bits of flesh hanging off the faceless as it picked up the berserker's killer axe and tried to roar, only a deep but loud growl coming from it as all the other corpses on the battlefield, with the exception of the only cavalryman that died during the battle, stood back up and started to split open horrifically, blood splattering everywhere as the sickly green horrors started to emerge. "UHAI GET THAT GATE OPEN!" Celsius shouted in shock as Uhai complied, hurrying to get the gate open and quickly getting it open as the faceless finished coming from the corpses. "EVERYONE GET INSIDE NOW!" Celsius called as the army started to pull in, Tirado and Celsius the last ones in as Uhai closed the gate again, the faceless rushing towards it and beating on it with their fists to try and break it down.

"What the hell are those things?" Uhai asked in panic, the normally calm nomad trooper utterly shocked as Celsius, Tirado and Nichol all shared a look at each other. "Faceless… I can't believe someone rediscovered how to make those monsters." Tirado said as Nichol gripped Wolf Berg tightly, ready for combat the moment the gate came down.

"Everyone, spread out into teams of at least three, these things are fast, tough and strong. We need to kill all of them before we can advance, understand? I need archers anyone who can shoot a bow at the back of the hallway, Knights, you're the main front line against theses monsters. Uhai, you're with the archers. Let's hurry people these things are about to bust down the gate!" Celsius yelled, commanding everyone to get into position, and get into position they did as Duessel left Selena with the archers, Uhai already nocking an arrow as Tirado put his sword away and brought out his blessed lance for the first time in years, ready to fight the faceless horrors once more.

Everyone stood at the ready, tense and slightly scared as the gate finally burst open, but wasn't busted down, the faceless starting to pour in as Uhai took his first shot, landing an arrow right in the middle of the head of one of the faceless, but it just kept on going. "Here we go!" Celsius yelled as the battle truly began.

BGM: Time of Action - Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn

Tirado was the first to move, remembering the first time he had fought these monsters that blessed weapons were their bane. Running up to the one with the arrow in its head he stabbed it hard in the chest with his blessed lance, causing it to groan in pain as the holy weapon pierced its dark skin. Uhai followed up, shooting a second arrow into its head, toppling the faceless from the shot and the stab to the gut by a holy weapon.

"Anyone who's got a hammer or armor breaker! Use it!" Nichol shouted as he tossed his hammer to Glen before jumping off his wyvern and running into the fray with Wolf Berg. Swinging the twisted axe, he planted it deep into a faceless before trying to pull it out, only to get punched for his troubles, being sent flying, but thankfully his wyvern caught him as he threw his hand out, Wolf Berg returning to him from the faceless as it was barraged with arrows, slowly bringing the behemoth down.

Celsius, deciding now wasn't the time to fight fair, sheathed Alondite and pulled Siegfried from its sheath, the sacred sword glowing with black fire as she pointed it at a faceless, blasting it with dark energy that it had to raise its trunk like arms to block, but it was still pushed back as Seth followed up on her attack, stabbing the monster with his lance before retreating back behind the main force as arrows continued flying.

The faceless were starting to look like pincushions as arrows kept flying, none of the monsters having actually fallen to the barrage as Tirado, Nichol and Celsius kept pushing back against the monsters, Tirado the only one engaging them up close and personal thanks to his heavy armor and blessed lance, leaving Celsius to blast them with Siegfried and Nichol to toss Wolf Berg at them over and over.

Cormag however, decided he had had enough standing around. Flying out above the arrows in the large hallway he dove down on the faceless with his hammer, smashing it into one of the faceless and bringing it down as he jumped off his wyvern, which flew out of there to avoid getting pummeled to death as Glen groaned. "Dammit Cormag." He muttered as he flew after his, jumping off his own wyvern and landing next to him as he smashed as faceless with his own hammer that Nichol had just given to him.

"You didn't have to follow me." Cormag said as Glen huffed. "Like I'm going to let my brother die on me." Glen retorted as Tirado ran up beside them, stabbing a faceless with his lance as it was about to try and attack them. "If you are going to fight them, keep your eyes on them." Tirado said. "Yes sir." They both said as they joined the fighting.

"Can't let the rookies have all the glory." Orson said as he looked at Seth. "No Orson, I'm not doing it." Seth complained as Orson shrugged. "Suit yourself, it'll be faster this way." Orson said, riding past the front line and into the faceless horde, jumping off his own horse as it rode back without him, Orson swinging his silver sword left right and center to keep the faceless off him as the damage they had taken from the arrows, alongside the brute force from Orson took a few down.

Slowly they were starting to push the monsters back, but it was left unspoken that the biggest problem was the one with the killer axe and golden skin. It easily seemed to be a lot tougher than the normal faceless, which was saying a lot given how much punishment a normal one could take.

Deciding to ignore it for now, the main force focused on the monsters in front of them, but slowly and surely they were bringing them down through a combined might of armor breaking weapons, strong range attacks, and Tirado basically barreling through them with his lance with ease. Eventually, and thankfully, the one with the killer axe was the only one left.

The golden faceless roared as it charged at Tirado, going after the sword general as he switched his lance for his sword, ready to fight as the monster roared at him, taking a swing with its fist and staggering Tirado before trying to plant its axe between his head. "Not on my watch!" Nichol shouted, jumping in between Tirado and the golden faceless, bringing up Wolf Berg to block the critical strike from its axe.

Nichol stained under the force, his knees slowly buckling as he tried to hold back the faceless monster, Tirado pulling back as Nichol tried to push back. "Hold up, I'm here!" Celsius shouted, joining Nichol and raising Siegfried to help him block. The faceless simply pushed down harder, Nichol being forced to roll away as Celsius was now the one baring the weight and force of the killer axe against her sword.

Grunting in pain she slowly pushed back, using her immense strength to try and push back the golden faceless. The monster growling in annoyance as it kept pushing harder, everyone watching as Celsius and the monster struggled for dominance.

But the struggle wouldn't last as a runic circle sprung up under the faceless, Celsius only having a moment to look down at it before a group of trees sprung up from the circle and impaled the faceless on them, it's corpse bleeding out as it dropped the axe, everyone looking at the busted open gate to see who had arrived.

BGM: Eternal Bond - Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn

"I come bringing help and what do I find, you fighting faceless." Minerva said, sitting on Albus with Kilma sitting behind her. "Sis! What are you doing here? Who's that guy?" Celsius asked as Kilma looked at Celsius and went hmm. "This is Kilma, he's the chief of the Ice tribe, I brought him to help set up defense for the fortress… though it looks like for right now we are going to need more than just defenses." Minerva said as Celsius shook her head. "You got that right. Uhai said some guy called Iago is here, and he's apparently found out how to make faceless." Celsius said as Minerva raised an eyebrow. "Uhai?" She asked as the man in question rode forward.

"I am Uhai milady, I've been in Iago's debt for quite a while now and I've decided to go against him… even more so after seeing this fresh horror he's made." Uhai said as Minerva nodded. "Where would he be now?" Minerva asked as Uhai pointed to the castle throne room. "He's usually sitting on his throne, I'm sure just a few of us can take him, and I certainly have a bone to pick with him." Uhai said as Minerva nodded.

"So what's the plan sis?" Celsius asked as Minerva took in the information. "You, me, Kilma, Tirado, Uhai and Nichol are going after this Iago person. Everyone else spread out and try and start clearing out the fortress, we want this place ready as soon as possible. Understood?" Minerva asked as the men saluted. "Alright Celsius, Uhai, lead the way." Minerva said as the selected group started walking towards the throne room, leaving everyone else to get on with their work.

BGM: Vanity Judge - Fire Emblem Fates

Uhai and Celsius worked together to push open the door to the throne room, the group walking in as Nichol and Tirado took the point, Nichol holding Wolf Berg and Tirado holding the sword of his friend. Kilma followed them with Uhai, Minerva at the back with her staves ready and Celsius closing the door behind them as they looked at the throne. "No one's here." Nichol said as he carefully walked towards the throne.

The group slowly spread out to look at the throne room. "Do you think he ran?" Celsius asked as Uhai huffed. "Iago is an arrogant fool. I know this better than anyone… if anything he likely hid himself somewhere…" Uhai said, feeling the wall of the chamber. "What are you doing Uhai?" Kilma asked as he looked over Uhai's shoulder.

"This isn't the first time he's disappeared… but he never seems to leave the throne room, so how else could he leave." Uhai started as he looked at a candle holder that was poking out of the wall that had a small indent behind it. "Without some sort of passage." Uhai said, grabbing the candlestick and pulling it, causing the wall to go into the floor and reveal a hidden passage downwards into the depths of the castle.

"Nice going Uhai." Minerva said as Tirado and Nichol entered first, Celsius behind them as the others followed, the group making their way down into the castle depths as the way closed behind them. "You know I honestly expected this to be boring. But this is getting interesting." Kilma said to Minerva. "Trust me, we don't go more than two months without something interesting happening." Minerva muttered, more annoyed than anything else as the group entered the cellar.

Quietly Celsius poked her head into the room, looking in as everyone else hid behind the doorway and on the stairs. "I don't see anything." Celsius whispered as Minerva rolled her eyes and pulled out her aura tome. "Get ready, this is probably going to alert him to our presence." Minerva said as everyone readied their weapons, Uhai holding his bow and Kilma a fimbulvetr tome.

Opening her aura tome, she fired a beam of light into the room, illuminating it and revealing the figure standing at the desk, facing them and covering his eyes from the blinding light as the group rushed in, all pointing their weapons at the masked man. "Iago!" Uhai shouted as he pointed his bow at him, the unkempt sorcerer huffing in annoyance as he looked at the group before him. "Really Uhai, you betrayed me… I should have made you a faceless like the others." Iago said, annoyed as he looked at the group around him.

"You bastard! I knew you were just using us as meat shields! But as experiments! What kind of monster are you!" Uhai shouted, not letting Iago respond as he let loose his arrow at Iago's mask, Iago about to bring up a magic shield to defend himself, only for the arrow to hit his mask and knock it off him.

BGM: None

Silence reigned as the group stared at Iago, who was holding his face as his mask clattered to the floor. "You ungrateful prick Uhai!" Iago shouted, glaring at the group as all of them stared at him in shock.

With his mask knocked off, it revealed a feature that by all rights should not have been able to have been hidden. The golden horn on the mask gone, revealing a blood red and twisted horn in the middle of Iago's head. "Not again…" Minerva muttered, thinking this was Nergal all over again.

"Hmm… I'm not stupid." Iago said as he vanished from view. "I was never here, I simply left an illusion. I've taken all my precious work and left. A pity you've seen my true face, but no matter, you'll never find me. So goodbye and good riddance." Iago's voice echoed through the chamber as Uhai growled as threw his bow down. "Dammit… he was playing with us the whole time." Uhai said as Celsius put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Uhai, you don't have to follow him anymore… though what are you going to do now?" Celsius asked as Uhai stood up.

"I'm going home… I haven't been home in a long time and I miss the plains… thank you for sparing me Celsius, and thank you for at least trying to help me." Uhai said as Celsius nodded. "It's alright, go enjoy yourself." Celsius said with a smile as Uhai grabbed his bow and turned to leave. "Goodbye then." Uhai said as he went back up the staircase to leave.

"Well that was interesting." Kilma said, wondering just what had happened as Minerva sighed. "Next time we see him he'll likely be even less human." Minerva said, still slightly in shock from seeing the red horn that reminded her so much of Yuugi's. "If we see him again I'm planting my sword right between his eyes." Celsius said as everyone except Kilma stared at the normally chipper girl for saying such a dark statement. "Yeah… I can see why." Nichol said as Tirado huffed.

"Whatever, let's go help with the preparations, we need to get this all done before Garon and the children arrive." Tirado said as everyone nodded. "I'll be with Kilma; we have to set up the magical defense." Minerva said as she left with Kilma. "Well then… let's get started." Tirado said, leading Celsius and Nichol out of the basement to help prepare the fortress.

The Northern Fortress, once a place that was abandoned, then home to Iago, a sorcerer cast out for how vile his magic was, soon to be home to the children of Nohr, where they can grow away from danger. A place of darkness returning to the light, or at least the twilight.

(Stage Clear)

AN: That was fun. If anyone here expected Iago, raise your hand. Who here expected him to have a horn? Yeah I took that horn on his mask, did some retcon and now Iago is on a similar path to Nergal, who we all saw how he ended up. Still that's Iago and Hans, the two biggest pricks in Fire Emblem Fates. Also Uhai, who' like many other characters, we'll be seeing him again later.

No need for a unit roster at the end given I already have one at the top, but still next chapter is going to showcase the completed fortress and the children who enter it, and then we get onto the final arc of phase one. Years Past.

Please leave a review and I'll see all of you next time.