In the freezing landscape of the Feroxi countryside, there was not a soul to be found. Aside from Lucas, that is, as well as a horse that had been gifted to him by Basilio. The horse was silent, committing the entirety of its focus and strength to the grueling task of carrying Lucas and a cart through the endless snowy expanse.
Not that Lucas minded the silent company. He was more than happy with it. He did, however, get irritated whenever the sun set and they were forced to stop for the night. He loathed stopping for any reason, but he always heeded that voice of reason that resided in his mind.
"I know, Sothis…I know sleep is important," he said to someone within his consciousness. "But the more I sleep, the less time I have to search for Dorothea. And in that time, she may-"
He paused for a moment.
"We don't know that, Byleth. I remember very little about this world. For all we know, Dorothea could be faced with a great evil of some kind as of this very moment. Basilio said Plegia is dangerous, but we don't know what the extent of that danger is. Dorothea's safety is paramount. You well know that."
Another moment of silence.
"I understand. Dorothea would be upset if I were to die in search of her. Still…the same would be true for me if she were the one to die."
Regardless, he slept that night, no matter how reluctant he was to do so and despite his desire to continue his search through the darkness. It certainly didn't help that he slept in a cart filled with crates in the frigid air of the Feroxi climate, somehow positioning himself comfortably enough amongst the crampedness of the crates in the cart.
The next morning, he resumed his journey southward, bound at sunrise in silence with only the sounds of beasts, birds, and the wind filling his ears.
Approximately two days after leaving Arena Ferox, Lucas reached a path that led through a range of mountains. The biting cold had long since disappeared, now making way for muddy earth. A glance at his map and Lucas knew he found the border crossing.
As such, he rode his horse into the wastes of the border between Ferox and Plegia. The terrain was rough, filled with an endless amount of scattered rocks of varying sizes. Lucas' horse had to slow down because of it all. This meant that Lucas' progress toward his goal was slowed significantly.
A permanent scowl was affixed to his face throughout his entire time amongst the mountains between Ferox and Plegia. It didn't get much better when he and his mount successfully made it through the craggy environment after a few hours of travel.
Eventually, the stone and solid earth became an endless expanse of sand. Dunes littered the vast landscape before him with not a single landmark in sight other than the mountain range behind him.
At first, it didn't faze him. But when his horse started to walk upon the sand, Lucas noticed something immediately.
He growled to himself.
"Why is there always something slowing me down…?"
The soft sand made for slow going, far slower than the border passage where the ground was at least solid and did not sink with every step. Lucas' scowl only deepened with this revelation.
Regardless, he pushed on. Much to the dismay of his horse, however, as it became an innocent target for Lucas' frustrations. Sometimes, he whipped too hard, prompting the horse to cry out in pain, but its cries fell on deaf ears. Despite the pain, the horse shared its rider's determination to proceed forward.
The faint smell of meat wafting outward from the cart the animal was pulling was enough to keep it going.
On the third day of their journey in Plegia, they came across something. A town consisting of buildings made with beige-white stone and a path paved with the aforementioned kind of stone, which made up the streets. The exact color of the stone almost made it seem as if it blended in with the sand, yet there was a clear, albeit slight difference in the hue and shade of it.
What gave Lucas some pause was the state of it all. His expression lightened up slightly, entering a brief state of scrutinization as he visually inspected the town from afar.
Not a single building remained intact, as if a battle was fought street to street. There wasn't much else Lucas could make out from the distance he was at, but it was clear there were no signs of life anywhere in the town. There was also something purple in the streets - something he couldn't identify.
Having caught a dash of curiosity, Lucas decided to investigate and rode to the town where he dismounted.
All around him were piles of debris, covering parts of the streets with the way they had fallen. The structures they were once a part of had holes within them, indicative of the positions they once held as part of a larger whole. Now that he was closer, Lucas could finally get a good look at what those purple 'things' were.
He squinted at a gathering of dark purple goo that was on the ground, having long since soiled the sand below.
"What is this…?" He wondered out loud. "Purple blood? No…"
Crouching, he lowered one of his hands down to the strange substance, yet never fully committed. He shook his head.
"It's magical, but it looks like blood. What is this?"
He stood up and scanned his immediate environment. A faint wind coursed through the town, leaving behind nothing more than a weak breeze and an eerie sound.
"Something happened here. What do you two think?" He asked some people.
Lucas waited patiently for a response from them.
"Neither do I. This place, it feels like…"
In the blink of an eye, the world shifted. Everything became different. No longer was there any sand or stone tiles that looked like sand - Lucas was back. Back in a place he recognized from long ago.
A village he'd seen many times over. Once full of life, of people with hopes and dreams, of taverns, inns, shopkeeper stalls and all sorts of locales. It was the village beneath Garreg Mach, except devoid of life and light. In Lucas' eyes, the village was dark and wrought with the flames of a raging dragon, a beast lost to her fury. Her roars could be heard in the distance, though only faintly.
"What…?" Lucas asked himself. "What is happening?"
He checked behind himself, soon realizing that he was standing up against the wall of a ruined home. Nobody was standing beside him. Despite the confusion his new surroundings brought to him, one thing was for certain.
"I must fight-!"
Instinctively, he unsheathed the Sword of Seiros. No enemies were approaching him, but he was ready for a fight regardless. With the Seiros Shield fastened to his left arm, he was prepared for anything that would get in his way. The immediate area was narrow, which meant there was only one way for the enemy to come.
Forward. Out from the shadows ahead of him came an uncertain figure wrapped in darkness. Without even a moment of hesitation, Lucas rushed toward his enemy, striking them down in a single blow.
Many more shadows came his way. He grabbed the head of the first one, slamming it into the ground, causing a shockwave to be sent across the dark, barely visible area around him. The Sword of Seiros was lunged through the body of the next shadow, and then the third was ended just as easily.
No matter how many enemies came, Lucas would never be stopped.
"I must fight! For her…!" He exclaimed as he cut down another one of his foes. "For the woman I love!"
At that very moment, the area brightened up. Most of the flames on the various buildings in the distance disappeared and the faint, draconic roaring stopped. The darkness disappeared, as did the shadows he was fighting.
But he was still in the village beneath the monastery. Ultimately, nothing had truly changed. He looked down.
There, he saw the face of the woman he loved: his wife. But it wasn't her natural, radiant appearance. Instead, a stream of blood was leaking out of her mouth and pouring down her neck. Her eyes were devoid of any life.
"No! She's not dead…she's not dead!" His eyes widened in fear. "The Dorothea I know is still alive! I lived past that century, those one-hundred years o-of…"
Lucas shivered as a cold wave tightened around his very being.
"I will n-never go back…I will never go back to those days! I am living in the now, no longer shackled by the past! Leave me be, foul shadows!"
He dropped his Sword of Seiros and intensely balled his hands into fists, his knuckles turning white.
"LEAVE ME BE!"
In an instant, the shadows disappeared. Dorothea wasn't on the ground anymore and neither was he in the village beneath the monastery. He returned to the new world he subjected himself to, reality coming back into view. He was in the ruined town somewhere in the north of the kingdom of Plegia, far from home and all alone.
Lucas' eyes were still wide and he continued to shiver, his mind tortured with the images and feelings of events long past transpired. He stared blankly at the sand beneath him while his limbs shook.
"L-leave me…" He stammered.
As he spoke to himself, Lucas looked down at the Sword of Seiros he dropped. The blade itself was clean, but he knew of what truly lay within. Slowly, and while still shaking, he bent over and picked the sword up, carrying it carefully in his rightmost hand.
"This sword has seen hundreds of battles…just like I have. Perhaps more than that," Lucas commented. He raised the sword so it was level with his face. "You are as soaked in blood as I am."
He stood in silence, staring at his Sacred Weapon as if expecting a response. Although he never got one, Lucas nodded and then sheathed it.
"You haven't been Seiros' sword in over a thousand years…"
He shook his head. As his shivering slowed to a near-stop, Lucas looked around at the sandy, ruinous town. There was nothing to be heard aside from the howling of the wind and the shuffling of the sand. Despite the lack of noise, Lucas tried something anyway.
He raised his voice and called out to anyone that might have been able to hear.
"Dorothea! Where are you? It's me…it's Lucas, your husband! I know you're somewhere in this kingdom! The girl from the future told me as such! So please, if you're here, call out to me! Let me hear the harmonic tones of your voice, one more time! Please!"
Nothing. Lucas grunted at the lack of a response.
"No matter. If you cannot call out to me…" He looked over at a building that had an open doorway. "I will search through this entire town until I find you. I will not stop and I will never rest."
He began walking toward the open doorway.
"For I do not deserve such luxuries."
Lowering the volume of his voice to complete silence, Lucas refocused his efforts on finding Dorothea. He headed through the busted open door he sighted moments earlier and checked every room within. Keeping his eyes and ears open for any sign of life, anything that would give him some sort of indication as to the whereabouts of his wife, Lucas left no stone unturned.
The first building he searched had nothing of note. Some papers and other such meaningless-to-him objects were strewn around, mostly torn and decimated by the hands of an unseen force. None of the rooms had been free from the wrath of whatever occurred.
After failing to find anything useful in the home he randomly picked to search through first, Lucas ventured into another empty building to the right of the one he was just in. That one didn't have anything, either, but he refused to give up. Lucas kept on searching, regardless of the fading likelihood of him finding anything he needed.
His search took him through the entirety of the town. Even as day turned to afternoon, then to evening, he never stopped and was hardly slowed. Yet, he never drew closer to finding any clues regarding the woman he loved.
As the sun started to slowly drift toward the horizon amid a deep, orange evening sky, Lucas returned to his horse - which had been waiting outside the town for several hours - empty-handed. It neighed at him as he approached. He glared at the horse for a moment, but then relaxed after his eyes briefly widened in realization.
"You require food." Lucas put a hand over his stomach. "As do I. An unfortunate necessity for us both."
The horse turned its head and neighed again. Lucas frowned at the animal.
"If it were not for our needs as mortals, we could keep moving. Does that not frustrate you?" He asked his all brown-furred steed. It snorted in response, causing Lucas to narrow his eyes and sigh. "Why am I speaking to you…? I don't know what you're saying. Forget it. I'll feed you."
Leaving the horse's side, Lucas climbed into the cart and opened up one of the barrels of hay provided to him by the reigning Khan Regnant of Regna Ferox. He grabbed a moderate clump of the dried grass and brought it back to the horse outside, throwing it onto the ground for consumption. The horse neighed at Lucas once before beginning its meal.
As the horse was eating, Lucas took the opportunity to have some food for himself using some of the other stuff Basilio got for him. Unfortunately, some of it needed to be cooked first, which ultimately resulted in Lucas ignoring them and focusing on only the things he could eat right away. There was more than enough food for that, thankfully, though it did limit his options.
He ignored the insistent pestering in his mind.
Once the food break was over, Lucas got on the back of his horse and opened the map given to him by Basilio. It featured no indication of where any towns or cities in any of the three Arachanean nations were located, much to Lucas' displeasure.
"Whatever." He angrily folded away the map and put it into one of his black cloak's inner pockets. "I need no direction. I will find you, no matter where you are…!"
He stared into the distance, randomly deciding on a direction to travel in.
"Move," he said as he whipped the horse's reins.
Although the horse complained about the pain it was receiving, it shook it off, for it knew it would have been a useless endeavor to continue doing so. In the end, it did as it was told, and started heading in the direction its rider was looking in.
Lucas' search through Plegia continued.
Many hours passed among the sands of the desert nation. Lucas' journey continued throughout this time as he and his horse traveled slowly across the sea of golden brown. Two whole days went by since their arrival at the decimated town.
Nothing happened during that time. Everything was quiet, save for the grunts born from Lucas' confident, assured withstanding of the blazing desert heat, the occasional neigh from the horse and the shuffling of the sands below. The two of them were always on the move, but they lacked direction. They didn't know where they were going.
Whether they were making good progress or not - it was impossible to tell.
The passage of time was little more than an enigma to Lucas. A mystery he couldn't quite decipher, though he never spent much time doing so. He was solely focused on his goal, and thus, was unaffected by the distractions of the world around him.
However, he was occasionally distracted by something from within. As he rode his horse across the arid sands, he started to see and hear things nobody else could.
"Your very existence upsets the balance of reality. The balance I have sworn to protect!"
"The world will be a finer place without you."
"You are a foreign entity! You should not exist! A being such as you…has no place in this world!"
The deep, distorted voice of a certain deity of darkness resounded in his mind. Lucas clutched his head as the words repeated themselves to him constantly, a presence that never faded. He did his best to disregard them, but doing so fully was an impossibility.
Especially when the words manifested themselves in Lucas' vision as the visage of that same deity. Only he could see it and it wasn't physically there.
"Agartha…" Lucas said quietly, his eyes twitching and his body shaking. "You-!"
The ghostly presence of the possessed Adrian Aqulia remained still, even as the words the deity spoke in the past replayed in Lucas' mind. As Lucas proceeded forward atop his horse, Agartha would sometimes warp backward as to remain in the black-haired man's view.
He did not hear the voices of Sothis and Byleth. Regardless, Lucas did his best to ignore Agartha and their words. The deity even disappeared completely after some time, though their voice remained in his mind, albeit quietened.
"You were never truly gone, were you…?"
Lucas' journey was not one without suffering.
On a broad scale, the two of them were on their own. Sometimes a bird would fly overhead, or some kind of insect would crawl around the sand, but other than that, there were no other lifeforms around.
Until something appeared. Lucas squinted at the gathering of vague blobs he saw in the distance as he rode his horse.
"That's…"
A white flash appeared before him, changing his view of the environment. No longer was he in the Plegian desert. Lucas found himself in a burning city, facing down an army of cloaked soldiers with elaborate masks. Yet, despite their masks, he knew what they truly were.
His eyes gained a dangerous glint to them.
"Agarthans," he said with a viciousness to his tone.
Unsheathing the Sword of Seiros, Lucas urged his horse to move faster, whipping the animal with a high amount of force. The horse neighed in pain, but followed its rider's command. It burst into a full-on gallop, one that wasn't as effective as it could've been due to the sand, though it was moving much faster than before.
As he got closer to the blobs he saw earlier, he could see them much more clearly. A group of Agarthan soldiers wielding all kinds of weapons, some of which were riding horses of their own. Lucas' murderous intent grew stronger and more evident with each passing second. Then, when there was only a small distance between him and the soldiers, Lucas leapt from his horse and sprinted toward them, allowing his horse a chance to breathe.
The soldiers gradually noticed the approach of a lone swordsman.
"Sir, look! Someone's approaching from the north!" An average-looking soldier informed their commander, pointing in the aforementioned direction.
"Huh?" A bald, large, and heavily armored Great Knight turned to look in the direction their soldier pointed in. "What the hell? I thought we already got rid of the bandits around here. Did we miss one somewhere?"
"No, sir! He…" The soldier's eyes widened. "He l-looks like a Ylissean!"
"What?! How did he-argh, never mind. It doesn't matter how he got here. There's only one of him and a bunch of us. We'll take care of him no problem! Charge!"
At the command of their leader, the considerably-sized group of soldiers rushed ahead, preparing to dispatch the incoming swordsman promptly. Lucas was unfazed by their approach and kept moving.
One of the soldiers got close to Lucas. They thrust their lance at him, intending to incapacitate.
But Lucas was faster. With a vicious intensity, he slashed at the soldier's lance with such force that the ensuing shockwave blasted them off their horse. Unfortunately, they fell down the other side of their horse, though this wasn't much of a problem for Lucas, as he was simply able to jump over and perform a downward stab while falling. The Sword of Seiros pierced the soldier's chest, causing the end of the blade to be soaked in blood. Lucas also landed rather forcefully onto the soldier, which resulted in significant damage.
The soldier's agonizing cries soon faded in Lucas' ears as he pulled his blade out of their chest. He slowly turned toward his other opponents, who were all paralyzed with fear.
He said nothing, only giving them a blank stare that belied his quiet fury.
"What are you all doing?! Fight, damn it! Fight!" The commander exclaimed, raising his voice for all his soldiers to hear. "Don't let him intimidate you! We've got the numbers advantage! Surround him, and don't give him the chance to breathe! We've got this!"
The assuring words from their commander soothed the souls of the soldiers, reinvigorating their motivations to fight, even if fear was still prevalent among them. Doing as they were advised, several of the soldiers charged toward Lucas, but then surrounded him, ensnaring him within a circular trap of hostility.
Lucas stood in the middle of the circle, glancing curiously at the formation around him. He didn't wait for any of them to make a move. Again, he was faster.
Before anyone else could make even the slightest of movements, Lucas was already hurtling himself toward a randomly chosen target. Once he reached a random soldier, he crouched for a moment to charge up some upward momentum, then released that momentum through a jump that he used to kick the soldier in the face. They were sent flying into the soldier next to them, causing them both to tumble over into the sand. Their horses were also not pleased with this arrangement, as they soon went crazy and ran away.
After the two soldiers were incapacitated, Lucas turned to the rest of his enemies without a change in his demeanor. With blinding speeds, he performed similar decisive maneuvers on everybody else, either kicking them off their horses or slashing them away with his sword. Some of them were more resilient than others, forcing Lucas to use just a bit more strength.
In doing so, he ended up covered in their blood.
After dispatching all the ones that attempted to ensnare him, Lucas kept his momentum going by targeting those that remained. The others didn't put up much of a fight, as most of them chose to escape. Those that remained weren't able to fight for much longer.
Lucas' expression never changed as he fought. When he approached his final target, the enemy commander, he pointed his scornful eyes at said target.
"I will not let a single one of you live, Agarthans. You will pay for all that you've done," he spoke with a calm fury that yearned to be released upon the world.
"Wh-what?! Agarthan? I-I have no idea what that is! L-leave me alone!" The commander whimpered.
"Your lies will not work on me. Never again."
"No! Father-!"
With a single diagonal sword slash, Lucas cleaved a mighty blow through the enemy commander, one that largely ignored his heavy armor. The commander fell to the sand, causing a huge amount of it to splash upward in response. His horse galloped away, just as the others had. Once it was over, Lucas gazed up at the clear blue skies above.
All around him were the bodies of the few soldiers he'd slain, as well as the ones he'd caused serious injuries to. The sands of Plegia were stained with their pain.
"There are still more out there. This will not end…this will never end," he said to himself, quietly.
He continued to look up at the sky, the scorching heat of the desert becoming nothing more than an unremarkable footnote. A faint breeze helped him re-associate, snapping him out of his post-slaughter state.
"Help me, Dorothea…"
Sheathing his bloodied sword, he returned to his horse and continued his journey.
Another day passed as Lucas traveled through Plegia on horseback. The blood all over his body - obtained via his encounter the day prior - remained on him, having dried due to the passage of time. Lucas never made any attempts to clean it, or himself in general. Every bit of it remained on him for the entirety of his journey.
When Lucas first approached his horse after the battle with the soldiers, the animal turned its head away, recoiling from the horrible stench that lingered on its rider. Nothing was ever done about Lucas' unfavorable odor. The horse had no choice but to get used to it.
The two remained silent, never speaking to one another throughout the hours that went by. From that day forth, they only ever communicated in very basic forms, using headshakes, nods, and the like. Lucas rarely used his words, and the horse barely neighed. Still, it was enough for them to get by and proceed with their mission.
The next step of which took them to a brand new location. On the horizon, as evening fell, was a large city filled with the same sort of sandstone-based architecture as the destroyed town they passed through days earlier. Lucas checked his map, but to no avail. He shrugged it off anyway and proceeded on top of his furry transportation method.
"A city," Lucas spoke aloud to himself as he rode the horse toward his destination. "Is this where you are…?"
Some time later, Lucas was within reach of the city. There were no big stone gates that controlled who would be going in or out, unlike most of the cities Lucas was familiar with. Instead, there were a set of guards posted around a particular point of the city's outer edge, which Lucas assumed to be an entrance, thus he focused on getting to that point.
But as he approached, the guards stopped him. They were all wearing medium armor, the bronze coloring of which paired well with the varying yellow-golden tones of the sand all around. They were armed with spears, axes and swords, and their skin colors were all varying degrees of dark or tanned.
Lucas' skin color was neither. The guards frowned at him as his horse instinctively stopped in place, despite its rider's insistent whipping.
"Hey, you. State your name and your reason for-" One of the guards paused, their nose shriveling. "Oh dear god, what the hell is this smell?! It's like someone died around here! A-anyway, state your name and your reason for coming here. T-tell us why you've come to the city of Gra."
Lucas frowned back. "I've come to find my wife. She may be here. Stand aside."
"C-can't do that without a thorough examination of your carriage first. Have to m-make sure the city's free of anything that might e-endanger it. You know how it is. But if the source of this s-smell is in there…I am not doing this."
"Fine." Lucas sighed. "Do whatever you want."
The guard continued leering at Lucas until they nodded at two of their allies, holding their nose away from Lucas all the while. The other two guards circled to the back of Lucas' cart and promptly climbed inside, checking through all the boxes and crates that were within. They too shielded their noses.
"It's all just food and water, for both him and the horse! Nothing special here, sir!" One of the guards checking the cart called out to their superior as they poked their head out of the wooden box on wheels.
"Hmph. Alright then. Guess he really just stinks," the superior commented, getting reluctantly accustomed to the horrible smell. "Get out of there, you two! If he was smuggling something, you'd have found it by now!"
The two other guards did as they were told, returning to their leader's side, who kept their eyes narrowed at Lucas.
"So you're not smuggling anything, or anyone. Seems like you're all clean. For the most part, that is. There's just one more thing I have to ask, pal." The guard pointed at Lucas' face. "What's with all that blood? Get attacked by bandits or something?"
"I was attacked, yes," Lucas said without a change in his uninterested voice. "I took care of them."
"Huh. Well, if you really were fighting bandits, then I gotta thank you. Explains why you stink so much. We've been having lots of trouble with all those gangs recently. We sent out a group the other day to take care of at least one of them, but if you've stolen their job, then, well…that's kinda funny."
Lucas blinked, his frown only worsening into a scowl.
"Alright, alright, I can take a hint. Come on inside. You might be cleared for entry, but we'll still have to keep an eye on you. It's our job to keep Gra safe. And we haven't been fired yet, so…yeah. Don't do anything that'd cause us to get involved, pal."
Lucas turned away from the guard, focusing on the wide path into the sandstone-filled city.
"I will do as I please," he said under his breath.
All of the guards of the city moved aside, allowing Lucas the entry he desired. Whipping with his reins, Lucas forced his horse to move forward into Gra. As the horse and its accompanying carriage started to enter the city, the leader of the guards protecting Gra's gates called to the city's newest visitor one final time.
"The stables are to the south of the city. You'll know what it looks like when you see it," the leader said. "Welcome to Gra. My advice? Take a bath as soon as you can. I don't want you stinkin' up the entire place, y'hear?"
Lucas didn't reply, only focusing on moving onward. The streets of Gra were made up of faded gray stone tiles and barely any sand, which meant Lucas could proceed at a somewhat normal pace. Though, since it was an active city he was moving around in, he couldn't afford to go too quickly. Carefully, much to his own displeasure, Lucas followed the broad streets through Gra, not bothering to stop and look at the sights.
Some of the city's residents that happened to be out and about watched Lucas and his horse with great interest. His appearance vastly contrasted with those native to Gra, primarily his skin color, choice of clothing, as well as the splotches of blood all around him. His vile body odor was also easily noticeable. Several civilians even covered their noses as he passed by in the streets.
Lucas ignored all their disgusted looks as he made his way toward the stable.
Once he arrived at the stable, with the help of the local stablehand as well as a healthy chunk of gold, Lucas was able to find a place to park both his horse and his cart. On foot, Lucas exited the sandstone-covered stable and looked the spot, just outside the large entryway into the building behind him.
"A city of this size…must have a lot of people in it." His expression briefly flickered into melancholy. "Someone must have heard about Dorothea. But where do I look…?"
He paused for a while as he closed his eyes so he could think.
"That's right." He opened his eyes. "The inn. Lots of people gather in those places. I'm bound to hear something about her there."
All of a sudden, his expression changed into a more determined one. He began to walk away from the stable, heading further into the heart of Gra and keeping his eyes peeled for the place he was looking for.
Closer to the middle portion of the massive Plegian city, he found an average-sized building that had a notable sign carved into the front of its stone makeup. The word 'inn' was engraved into the middle of a narrow, oval-shaped outline.
With no hesitation, Lucas stepped inside the inn, passing through the open, stone doors.
Once inside, he laid his eyes upon a spacious tavern. Circular, gray stone tables were dotted around the place, a good chunk of them having multiple customers sitting at them while nursing their varying drinks. As soon as Lucas walked inside, his stench pervaded the air within, causing lots of people to turn in his direction.
The customers were all wearing either somewhat ragged, brown and black robes or long cloaks with hoods that draped over their heads. On the other hand, Lucas' extravagant, lengthy, and buttoned black shirt made for quite an intriguing sight for those native to Gra. The patches of blood all over his clothes and face were also notable.
Yet, as before, Lucas wandered inside without a care for those who stared at him. As he walked forward, slowly approaching the counter, the customers all gradually went back to their conversations, filling the inn with the sounds of background chatter that blended into an aural mess. Lucas looked all around, attempting to listen in on any of the conversations, but he wasn't able to hear anything of use. Irritated, he frowned, then sat down at the bar.
The bartender handed over a glass of alcohol to one of the other customers sitting at the bar before walking over to Lucas.
"You don't look like you're from around here, stranger." The bald man's nose shriveled up slightly. "What, uh…what brings you here? Lookin' for a place to stay? I got some rooms free tonight, but it'll cost ya."
Lucas blinked once. "Rest…? You could say I'm looking for that. Rest, of some kind."
"Okay, er, alright. Does that mean you want a room for tonight, or what?"
"No. I just want information."
"Information? 'Bout what? This ain't exactly the place for that kinda thing, y'know. It's either alcohol or beds you can get here. Or both, if you're feeling adventurous. Heh." The slim bartender grinned. "But yeah, information's not one of my specialties. And I'm not so keen on the idea of giving away what little information I have to somebody that hasn't even ordered a drink yet, let alone a smelly stranger like you that's stinkin' up the place."
The bartender looked at Lucas with a serious, almost threatening expression.
"So what'll it be, stranger?"
Lucas returned the bartender's gaze - unflinchingly.
"I'm looking for my wife. She has beautiful, brown hair, a divine appearance, and a black and red dress. Her name is Dorothea Arnault." He silently glared at the bald man behind the counter. "Do you know where she is?"
"I don't appreciate your tone, pal. Order something, and I'll tell you whether I've seen your woman or not."
"You waste my time with this…ridiculousness. You will tell me about the whereabouts of my wife. I have waited far too long. I will not wait any longer."
"Won't have to. Just gimme some gold and a couple of minutes, then I'll tell you everything I know. That's all I ask from you. Heck, depending on what you order, it won't even take a single minute. It's all on you, though. What do you want?"
"Bastard…! I will-"
Lucas suddenly ceased his glaring. His gaze became distant, surprising the bartender with the unexpected change in demeanor. Coming to, following a brief period of thought, Lucas calmed himself.
"What is the quickest thing you can make?"
"Uh…" The bartender checked the shelves behind his counter, which were all stocked with different glass bottles of alcoholic drinks. "How about some Plegian Desert Delight? Oh, I recently got some Feroxi Firewine imported from Ferox. You look like the kinda guy that'd be interested in that."
"No," Lucas sharply responded. He reached for the satchel behind his shirt and pulled out six gold coins. "Give me some water." He threw his coins onto the counter.
"Water? Plain water? For six gold…?" The bartender shrugged, grabbing an empty shot glass from one of the shelves behind him. "Alright, whatever you say. One water comin' right up!"
Scurrying over to the sink that was also behind the counter, the bartender quickly filled up the glass with water from said sink and handed it over to Lucas.
He downed the drink in a single gulp.
"Now," said Lucas as he slammed the glass onto the counter, shattering it instantly. "Tell me what you know of my wife."
"Ah-!" The bartender stood in bewilderment. "W-well, it's a good thing I've still got more of those little glasses. Anyway, about your wife…"
Lucas leaned in closer.
"I don't know anything about her."
Lucas scowled. "You've wasted my time, then." He reached for his sword, sheathed underneath his shirt.
"H-hey! I wasn't finished! Lemme speak, damn it! As I was saying, I don't know anything about this woman you're looking for. But I do know someone who might."
"Hmm?" Lucas stopped reaching for the Seiros Sword. "Who might that be? Tell me, now."
"General Omar, of the Plegian Guard. He's the one who's currently guarding this city with his soldiers. You see those people in armor walking around the city? Those are his people. I can't guarantee anything, but I think it's pretty likely that someone higher up in the ranks of the Plegian Guard, like General Omar, would've heard something about your woman. I'd be surprised if he didn't, considering how frequently they keep in contact and all. Would be worth asking, at least."
"Omar…" Lucas repeated quietly. "I see. Where might I find him?"
"In the big old castle in the western part of the city. You might have to get past some guards, but I think a guy like you can come up with a way to get in. Whether your way will work or not though - that's another question."
Lucas hopped off his seat, his eyes hardening in response to his skyrocketing levels of determination.
"I will always carve my own path."
"Whatever you say, pal." The bartender shrugged. "Guessing you're gonna leave now?"
"I shall." Lucas nodded. He turned around, beginning to walk away.
"Fair enough. Just don't get into trouble, alright? I wanna be able to welcome you back here someday."
Halting his departure, Lucas turned toward the bartender with a glare full of suspicion.
"You care not for my presence. Only for the potential profits my gold would provide."
"Hard to care for someone that threatens your life out of nowhere. You're not exactly the friendliest guy I've ever met. However, I can appreciate it when someone helps make my profits go way up as you have. I'm a simple businessman, after all."
"I thought as much." Lucas turned back around, facing the inn's open door. "One such as myself…does not deserve the luxury of friendship."
"Huh?"
The bartender watched, a mixture of astonishment and confusion on his face, as Lucas' retreating form passed through the door of the establishment and to the outside world. With the stranger no longer around, the bartender sighed.
"Who the hell was that guy…?"
After finishing his business within the inn, Lucas left. He stood outside the large, sandstone building as he stared into the distance, his gaze fixated on a particularly colossal structure that was relatively closeby. His eyes narrowed as he spoke to himself.
"The castle to the west…Omar, you must be there."
Forcefully, he balled his hands into fists. His voice became distorted by his innate anger.
"You will give me what I desire. If you refuse…"
Visions of a bloody, scorched battlefield filled his mind in that instant. He envisioned himself tearing apart a massive formation of cloaked, nameless soldiers - meaningless obstacles in his path - with only the ancient blade in his possession.
The path before him stretched forward endlessly, for all of eternity.
"I will take it-" He snapped back to reality, his bloodshot eyes bulging slightly through a surge of will. "By any means necessary."
He walked forward, continuing to traverse the path of perpetuity.
Author Notes: And now we begin the Plegia arc! Not even a full week into his time in the sandy kingdom, and Lucas is already causing problems. Will he be able to find Dorothea? Well, hopefully.
Just a little heads up for this arc. I'll be experimenting with a bit of non-linearity. I've planned it all out so it shouldn't be difficult to follow, but I thought I'd provide a small warning now just in case it does get difficult.
Shoutouts to Frost for beta-ing!
Review responses:
blueassassin996 - It is only a matter of time before Dorothea shows up, yeah. But will Chrom be the first one to find her, though? That is the question. Also, technically, Robin never met Seteth, it was Chrom. Robin's just relaying the information about Seteth's presence from Chrom to Lucas, which is why he knows about it. Hopefully that clears all of that up!
Thanks again for reading, everyone! Be sure to leave a review and/or a follow, if you so wish! I'll see ya next week!
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