The Dustbin
Day 41: Pomp & Circumstance Part 1
1st of Ethereal Moon, Morning
Winter has now set itself upon Fodlan.
Daylight has become scarce, skies have turned gray, the air carried a dry chill that made one's bare fingers numb to the touch, and human breath has now turned visible. The Adrestian Empire's fields are now brush with strong winds from the western coast, Faerghus is now practically buried under snow, and Leicester Territory experiences a mix of hail and rain from Almyra's dry winds stirring up sandstorms and snow alike.
At Garreg Mach, although the weather was relatively temperate, it wasn't exempt from the winter's chill coming from the north, forcing both the student body and staff to dress in thicker clothes to avoid freezing themselves.
"Well, chances of snowing here is more or less crapshoot, albeit, very little," Karna pursed the corner of his lip upwards, then sticking his tongue out to lap up the white flakes coming from above. "Although, if it piles high enough, I wouldn't put it past the monastery if they decided to just make us shovel the damned thing along with the pages."
"Speaking of, some of them have now reached that certain age and begun their training in legitimate knighthood," said Topaz, "particularly that 'Pit' kid."
"Who names their kid 'Pit'?" Cyrus said incredulously, "that's like naming a girl 'Hole."
Outside of the gazebo where the Dustbin were conversing at, Vidar was rolling up balls of snow across the lawn to make a snowman roughly the size of a small doll.
"I like 'de look," Selene mused as she took sketches of the gray sky, "snow rarely comes to Brigid, although I 'eard dat Dagda has em."
"Meh, not so great, if ye ask me," Sorcha grumbled before she looked towards Byron sitting across from her, "oi, why the fek are ye bundled up like dat?"
"I'm sorry, but I HATE, the cold," said the pile of pilfered coats and trapper's furred hides in a muffled voice, "my ice magic was tolerable for two reasons! One, I can cast it at the expense of my own body heat, which is really helpful during warmer weathers! And two! Dying while freezing and starving to death is the worst way to die! And I prefer to reserve that kind of fate towards my enemies exclusively!"
"Speaking from experience?" asked Karna, to which he was met with a huff, "well, silver lining, you did pass to become a Priest just last night, correct?"
"And that you can still use your [Dark Magic] freely," Karna pointed out.
"For my sake, I hope that my efforts of branching out works out," answered the pile of clothes, "... provided if the fieldwork is kept away from Faerghus."
Everyone noticed that Byron's mood was dependent on the surrounding temperature. He's much more agreeable during spring and summer, but around autumn and winter, his nasty sides become more prevalent. If the claims of him and Constance being related is true, one wonders if the latter has a similar disposition.
"Well, if we're lucky, maybe we won't have anything to do this month," Cyrus pointed out, "I mean, who would be dumb enough to try anything that brash during winter?"
Suddenly, a runner has approached them. "Greetings, I bring a request from Lady Catherine," spoke the messenger.
"What is it?" asked Byron, curling up his knees to his chest.
"There is an insurrection happening Rhodos Coast in Faerghus," said the messenger, "the initial reports of the estimated number of enemy combatants have been debunked and now are in request of 'specialized assistance."
Byron belts out a frustrated groan. "Seriously?!"
"Hey, I'm the messenger," said the runner, "I got nothing to do with this!"
"So we're killing a bunch of bastards 'dat de Knights of Seiros didn't account for," smirked Sorcha, "... welp, I ain't passin' up a good scrap."
"I can use a change in scenery," said Selene, "perhaps I may be able to see Dagda all the way from the sands."
"Never seen beaches during a snow day before," Cyrus remarked, "and hey, killing some fools is a fun bonus."
"I will partake," nodded Topaz, "on one condition: Cyrus, let me ride with you. I am likely to sink under the snow all the way to my waist given my height."
Vidar then walks up towards Byron with a pleading look akin to a child who wants its parent to buys a certain thing of interest for him. "... Like good... old times..." he grunted, "only now... we fight... together..."
Defeated, Byron lets out a sigh before standing up. "Fine, but don't expect me to actually fight in the thick of it. Healing only, got it?!"
"There you have it," said Karna, "now, with that said, will you prepare our ride to Rhodos Coast?" he requested, "we need to prepare for our incursion."
"Meet me at the front gates," said the run as he took off just as the Dustbin went to their part of the stables and retrieved their supplies.
"Who's dumb enough to start a war during winter of all times?!" Cyrus snapped as he packed his [Bowgun] and [Gradivus] along with a sack of river stones onto Darius' saddle, "it's like they have no idea how a war is supposed to be held!"
"Given that the incursion is coming from Faerghus, it's a given," grumbled Byron as he took a few practice swings with his [Mace] before stashing it around his waist, "they aren't known for their smarts."
"They... strong, through," grunted Vidar as he banged his [Baigujing] gauntlets together before stashing them around his waist and reaching for his [Devil Axe], "... they... no... different... from me."
"A whole army of ye?" Sorcha chuckled as she wrapped her spare [Claymore]'s blade with a roll of bandages before grabbing her [Ne Zha], "now dat's a sight to behold."
"If one were mentally ill," Selene rolled her eyes as she grabbed a full quiver of arrows along with her [Crossbow] to check if its firing mechanism worked by performing a a dry fire.
"I find it admirable," remarked Topaz as she twirled her [Zulfiqar] in her hands before she took the sheathed [Wo Dao] and strung it across her back, "they're willing to die for what they deem as just. They know that their lives are small, so they chose to delegate that smallness into something greater than themselves."
"Regardless, it doesn't change the fact that they're going to have to die," Karna pointed out as he packed his class's supplies of [Concoctions] and [Pure Waters] along with his recently-pilfered [Scythe of Sariel]. "Winter warfare isn't fun, but the same holds true for the enemy. Nothing changed except for the fact that it'll be harder to walk around. All of you, keep that in mind, okay?"
"Duly noted," Byron grumbled as he stuffed hay between his appropriated layers of clothing, "I'm speaking from personal experience, but if things go south, either we're too dead to make that matter or we'll have plenty of bodies to ration off of for a few months."
"Oh come on, Byron," smirked Sorcha as she the rest of the Dustbin headed towards the front gate where their wagon was waiting for them, "we've been through much worse. I mean, what's a little cold and a few more goons?"
"We deal with more shit then we normally do on a normal Tuesday," snorted Karna. "How bad this can be?"
At Rhodos Coast...
"... And I spoke too soon."
Standing before them, an utter carnage ensued between two differing factions.
On one end were a coalition of men and women of cloth all bearing the crest of Seiros, only reversed, identifying them as the Western Church whose leader was executed several months prior, leaving only the remnants to fend for themselves. Their armed forces consisted of Bishops, Warlocks, Pegasus Knights, and a few elite Gremory sorceresses within their ranks, supplemented by a few loose bands of local Mercenaries and Cavaliers paid off in gold.
The other side were a band of dark-skinned, white-haired men and women, ousting them as Duscurian insurrectionists, whose persecution inevitably led to all of them taking up arms against the fractured Faerghus monarchy and organizing themselves into a formidable fighting force. Their forces consisted of Warriors, Heroes, Grapplers, Paladins, Snipers, and leading the charge was an elderly War Master and a young Falcon Knight.
The two sides fought each other like frenzied demons, giving no quarter to their respective oppositions. The Western Church spellcasters raining unholy barrages of [Fire], [Thunder] and [Wind] upon the Duscurians, setting them ablaze, charring them black or ripping them apart. In turn, the Duscurian Snipers and Warriors let loose their arrow and [Tomahawks] towards the sect acolytes, pinning them with dozens of arrows or splitting their heads open like overripe pumpkins. Against arms, limbs were hacked off, bodies were gutted and pierced, throats spewed geysers of blood, bones were crushed over and underfoot, and with each kill, another dead body strewn itself amidst the snowy beach, dying the pristine white snow a rich, sanguine red.
No one was spared. Not the young, not the old, neither Western Church, Duscurian or even the Knights of Seiros. Away from the epicenter of violence, the Dustbin and what's left of the Church's knights stand, watching the scene out of Hell both in utter awe and horror.
"So," Karna smacked his lips as everyone around himself continued to watch, utterly gobsmacked at the clusterfuck unfolding before them, "... kindly explain what just happened."
"The Duscurians took us from our rear," said Shamir, "majority of our forces were at the front keeping up the pressure against the Western Church. They took advantage of the the disarray and we were forced into retreat."
"So now those two are fighting against each other," Catherine pointed out, "after butchering most our guys that is."
"And you didn't tell us in the message because?" said Byron, disinterested in the carnage.
"Look, we were in a rush, so forgive me if my penmanship wasn't the greatest!" Catherine snapped, "try writing a distress letter while covering a retreat!"
"Still, why are the Duscurians attacking the Western Church?" asked Topaz, "given the two sides' mutual distain towards Fodlan's central authorities like the Church and the current monarchy, I assumed that the whole-'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'-notion would be valid."
"Eh, Duscurians will go after anyone who aren't them," growled Catherine, "and the Western Church turds already deem the Duscurians as heathens. I'm down if they both take each other out, honestly."
However, Karna wasn't convinced at that notion. Rather than simply accept the possibility of avoiding a rough day fighting two whole factions, there was the matter of there being a bigger context behind this conflict that he felt it was missing.
Why would the Duscurians bother coming all the way to the coast all from Kleiman during winter? he thought, normally, they would hole up for winter after stocking up but rather, it looks as if they're risking it all for something... but for what?
He then turned to Shamir. "Hey, got a question," asked the Professor, "of all the times to attack the Western Church remnants, why around now rather than sooner or later?"
"We had to organize our forces and ensure that they didn't slip away," replied the Sniper, "if we were to engage a surprise attack, this was our only available time."
"Sorry, then I need to ask a different question," he corrected, "why do you think the Western Church situated themselves in Rhodos Coast of all places?"
"Apparently, it's a religious site," Catherine answered, "according to the Church, it's where Saint Cichol and Saint Cethleann were buried at after the War of Heroes had ended."
"Anything else about this place?" Karna pressed the issue, "aside from religious context, what else is this place used for?"
"I recall merchant fleets from Albinea occasionally stopping here as a port," answered Shamir, "usually, around spring or summer, the waters around here would be filled to the brim with ships."
That last line struck Karna's thoughts like a bolt of lightning. "Selene!"
"Yeh?" she answered.
"I need your eyes!" he requested, "glean out towards the waters and see if you find anything!"
The Brigidian girl then activated her hyperopia by taking off her eyeglasses as she then looked out towards the sea.
"What are you doing?" asked Catherine, "there's nothing but water out there!"
"Not really," she replied, spotting a faint image of a few boats just beyond the horizon. "I see a boat anchored off the coast. They might be usin' dat to make a run for it."
"Where exactly?" Catherine remarked, "definitely not Dagda, given that there's an Empire embassy stationed there!"
"That just leaves one place," said Karna, "Albinea."
Everyone then looks at the Professor as if he grew another head.
"Why that place specifically?!" Catherine pointed out, "in the middle of winter of all times?!"
"Given that your side has already made it clear that all Western Church folk are to be put to the sword, I figured for once in their lives, they chose the smart way out," snarked Karna.
"Okay, but what does that have to do with the Duscurians?" asked Shamir, "even I didn't see them coming."
"I wouldn't put it past Viscount Kleiman to start an ethnic cleansing campaign now of all times!" Byron growled, "he can easily write off their deaths as 'starvation' for all I cared!"
"And when they saw the boats during their exodus..." Cyrus remarked.
"... It led to them making a final gambit for their lives," grinned Topaz, admiring their resolve to either fight for their survival or all of them die trying, "now both sides are trying to get out of Fodlan, and there can only be enough room for one side to escape to Albinea."
"That or build one themselves," Karna started, "but I don't think that either the Western Church or the Duscurians have the manpower nor the finance to commission a small armada of boats to fit all of them."
"Okay, but how did the Western Church get their hands on one?" Catherine asked.
"Easy," Sorcha answered, "killed 'de entire crew and stole it 'demselves. I would've dun the same if I were in 'der boots."
"Okay, then that leaves us with the following," Karna stated, "we need to end this conflict before the Viscount's forces show up and start and international incident with his involvement."
"Got any plans?" asked Catherine.
"We'll have to split up," he replied, "Vidar, Cyrus, Sorcha, Catherine and her goons, you guys get in the clusterfuck and try not to die. Whatever you do, make sure they stay on the battlefield long enough and if any of them give the field the slip, cut em down, Western Church or Duscurian."
"That's the best you can come up with?!" Catherine barked out.
"Sorry, but one of us has to be bait," Karna answered, "Selene, Shamir and her archers, you guys provide support fire and look out for the Viscount or his forces coming our way. Don't let them spot you and if you do, let us know personally."
"I'll act as the runner, you're lookout," Shamir told Selene, "I have stronger legs."
"No arguments," she shrugged, "but dat just leaves de Professor, Topaz and Byron!"
"We only need three anyway," he reassured, "we're going to cut them off from their own escape route after we split off from the fire team upon reaching the other side. Until we're both in the clear, we're going to fight our way through the inland lines."
Catherine lets out a sigh, realizing that just sending the Dustbin in the way they are now would be both unreliable and irresponsible. "Fine, I got three Swordmasters with [Silver Swords] up and ready to fight. Four of them are too injured to keep going."
"Two of my Snipers are too injured to even shoot," said Shamir, "four are able enough to keep fighting."
"Alright, the sick and injured go back to the Church," Karna told the runner by the carriage, "come back for us the morning after, alright?"
"You guys alright with this?" said the runner as he helped up the injured to the carriage, "I mean, I can always request for more."
"It'll be too late by then and more will die if we send any more into the crucible," Karna answered, "also, Catherine's here. She fights like a hundred men."
The runner sighs as he snapped the bridles, riding away towards the direction of the Central Church with the wounded.
"Alright, that just leaves the rest of us," said Karna as he raised his [Scythe of Sariel], "Byron? The opening barrage, please."
"If you insist," he growled as an orb of [Dark Magic] formed between his hands while Karna gathered the latent mana around the area to ready his own [Dark Magic] spell. "[Miasma Δ]!"
"[Hades Ω]!"
The two [Dark Magic] spells exploded at the center of the conflict taking place, sending both sides into disarray and allowing the group to begin their operations.
"So who do we kill first?!" Cyrus remarked as he rode through the enemy forces, trampling both Western Church and Duscurian alike under Darius's hooves while slashing the rest apart with his [Gradivus] lance swung with his invigorated strength.
"It doesn't matter!" Catherine answered as she ran a Western Church Warlock's stomach with her serrated [Thunderbrand] sword before decapitating a Duscurian Warrior behind her, "they're all enemies of the Church! Kill everyone that gets in the way!"
"For once, I agree!" cackled Sorcha as she swung her [Claymore] through everyone caught into her swing arc, cleaving through horses and sellswords alike, "COME 'ERE, YE LITTLE SHITES! TIME TO DIE!"
Vidar lets out an affirmative roar as he leapt towards one of the Western Church Pegasus Knight caught flying low before throwing her off of her own ride and piledriving the panicked steed into the crowd of Warriors and Bishops below, scattering spires of ice with his [Baigujing] gauntlets upon impact.
As the rest of the Church Swordmasters began to engage their collective foes, Karna and Shamir's group made their way around further inland, the stair and brick path being occupied with Snipers of Duscurian origin and Warlocks led by Gremory sorceresses of Western Church forces, both of whom were too busy fighting among themselves to pivot their attention towards the motley crew.
"We'll cover fire," Shamir stated as she and her fellow Snipers took cover as they nocked their [Silver Bows] with their arrows, "try not to get hit."
"With me eyes, I'll make sure of it!" Selene reassured as she cranked back her loaded [Crossbow], "now go!"
As Karna, Byron and Topaz took off running through the crowds of spellcasters and other bowmen as arrows were shot from the cover behind them. As soon as the cover fire began, the enemy forces took notice of the three strangers running across the brick road and began firing their spells and arrows at them with each other.
Karna and Topaz wasted no time cutting down whatever nearest opposition that got in their way. The former swung his wicked [Scythe of Sariel] across several Warlocks and Bishops in tandem with his [Dark Magic] blasting back Duscurian Snipers and Grapplers. The latter got on top of one of the Pegasus Knights that was about to take off towards the beachhead before beheading her and the winged horse mid-flight, sending all three of them careening towards the earth. Undeterred, Topaz then jumps off of the dead mount before she threw her [Zulfiqar] at an unorthodox angle, the thrown blade spinning across the air first through a Duscurian Sniper no older than thirteen before indiscriminately slicing through several Warlocks, Bishops, Snipers and Grapplers alike. During her descent, Topaz draws her [Wo Dao] from her back and plants the entire blade atop of the unaware Gremory's head, the latter crumpling from the weight of the impact while the little Hassashin herself rolled safely back down before taking off running with her hands behind her back after pulling the sword out of the woman's skull in one clean motion.
"She killed Mother Superior!" the Western Church Warlock pointed towards the sprinting Topaz, "KILL HER!"
All of the spellcasters then aimed their spells towards the little Hassashin, much to the detriment of them, for as the Grapplers and the Snipers attacked their exposed backs, resulting their efforts to stymie Topaz's advance all for naught, leaving her little to worry as she cleaved her way through, Western Church and Duscurian alike.
"Show off," grumbled Byron as he bashed in a Warlock's face with his [Mace] before stuffing his mouth with an active [Miasma Δ] spell and shoving him into a crowd of fighting Western Church remnants and Duscurian insurrectionists alike, the spell detonating, with the resulting blast deafening them long enough for Byron to belt out a [Banshee Θ] to the crowd, the force of the roar sending them all flying off of the cliff and splattered across the snowy sands below. A few stray arrows strike Byron, but due to the amount of clothes that he's currently wearing, not a single one penetrated so much as the outer layer of his skin.
Karna then wastes no time ripping them apart with his scythe and blasting the Pegasus Knight behind him with his [Swarm Z] spell. Ignoring the panicking rider as it was then made quick work by Shamir's squadron of Snipers, the three then converge towards the last three remaining Gremory sorceresses guarding the path leading to the Western Church's exit stratagem.
"Apostles of the heretic!" one crowed.
"To have come to defile these sacred lands..." the second growled.
"... The sentence is DEATH-"
Before the third can say anything more, an arrow struck into her throat, causing her to choke on her own blood mid-casting before falling dead.
"SISTER MARIA!" the first Gremory cried out. The two remaining Gremory sorceresses looked towards where their Saints were buried, and finds a hand poking out of the cover, giving them a thumbs-up before switching to flipping the bird.
In retaliation, the two Gremory sorceresses cast [Bolting] and [Meteor] onto where Shamir's group was at, forcing them to retreat, losing two of their Snipers who failed to get away on time.
"Wow, Byron was right," Selene smirked as they ran, proud of her long-distance shot, "those guys talk too much."
Realizing that their killer was out of range, the two sisters of the Western Church remnants turned their ire towards Karna and his group, blasting [Bolganone] and [Thoron] at them.
"AVENGE SISTER MARIA, SISTER ROSE!" shrieked the Gremory as she popped random patches of earth before her with eruptions of fresh magma.
"CLEANSE THOSE FILTH FROM THE GODDESS'S LANDS, SISTER SHENNA!" the other Gremory cried in fury as she sprayed her stream of electricity towards the Professor specifically, splitting him up from the rest of them.
"Women," grumbled Karna as he then opted for a direct engagement with the crazed harlot. First he drags his [Scythe of Sariel] across the brick road before swinging upwards to kick up a smokescreen of dirt and rubble to cover his tracks.
The Gremory kept firing her [Thoron] into the dust cloud, only to hit nothing as Karna suddenly appeared from the corner of the unsuspecting Gremory's eye, forcing her to evade the swing of his scythe via localized teleportation before switching to [Thunder] for close engagement.
Karna then casts [Flux H] to disorient the trajectory of the lightning bolts shot at him, clearing the way for his second charge towards the Gremory, this time, enhancing the blade of his weapon with [Miasma Δ] before clashing it against the sorceress's [Ward] barrier spell.
"You... heathen!" she cursed as she was pressed under his scythe, "may the Goddess... sentence you all... to DAMNATION!"
"Tell her to shove up where her stars don't shine," Karna's [Scythe of Sariel] enhanced with his [Miasma Δ] spell then shatters the Gremory's [Ward], gashing her across the chest down to her navel before a spurt of blood sprayed out of her wound. With her approaching death, Karna quickly then switches his enhancement from [Miasma Δ] to [Flux H] to make the last blow heavier.
With the scythe's blade now buried through Rose's chest and into the earth beneath her, the second Sister had now fallen. "... I should probably help," mused Karna as he then tried to pull his scythe out of where it was buried into.
Back at the sands below, the mosh pit of blood and death still persisted, with Catherine's group struggling to keep the stragglers from sneaking out of the engagement while trying not to get gored by the bloodlust-high Duscurian insurgents in-between.
"COME BACK HERE, YOU COWARDS!" Catherine screamed as she slashed across a fleeing Warlock's back with her [Thunderbrand], "FACE YOUR PUNISHMENTS LIKE MEN WITH BALLS!"
"ALL OF YOU! COVER OUR RETREATS!" the Warlock ordered the swords for hire under their employment, "WE'RE THE ONES PAYING YOU LOT!"
"FIGHTING DUSCURIANS WASN'T PART OF OUR CONTRACT, YOU SOD!" barked the Mercenary as he pointed his [Steel Sword] to his employer's subordinate, "WE QUIT-"
Both were then impaled through the same [Spear] that the Falcon Knight of Duscurian origin had thrown.
"BROTHERS AND SISTERS!" she bellowed as he raised her [Silver Lance] into the air, rallying her men to her, "DO YOU WISH TO LIVE FOREVER?! THEN FOLLOW ME AND KILL EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT YOU!"
The Duscurian Warriors and Paladins roared with reignited morale as they began rampaging through the disorganized ranks of the Western Church, threatening to trample Catherine's group underfoot.
"DAMMIT!" Sorcha then kicked a Bishop across his face before elbow-dropping his neck with her [Ne Zha], "WE'RE GONNA BE MULCHED IF WE STAY!"
Vidar was then finishing biting off a Pegasus Knight's throat to notice the stampede heading their way. "... TOO MANY!" he screeched, feeling his chest about to explode from the collective vigor and rage emanating from the Duscurian horde that he's resonating with.
"THESE GUYS AREN'T GIVING US ANY BREATHING ROOM!" said Catherine as she threw her [Thunderbrand] into a Warlock's face and through his head, tensing her hand to return itself to her hand with an electromagnetic pull.
Cyrus then only sees one way out of this potential quagmire. "Then let's let's fight alongside them," he suggested as he pulled his [Gradivus] out of a dead pegasus.
"ARE YOU INSANE?!" protested a Church Swordmaster, "THEY'RE OUR ENEMY!"
"Correction," he countered, "the Western Church is OUR enemy," the Battuian pointed out, "better off fighting one enemy at a time then two at once, right?"
The Knight of Seiros groans in frustration. "Fine, but you're taking full responsibility."
"UUKHAI!" roared Cyrus as he led the charge towards the fleeing Western Church separatists and their swords for hire, cutting them down as the fled fruitlessly.
Sorcha unleashed her [Samadhi Fire] with her [Ne Zha] gauntlets, cooking the retreating forces that were caught in the inferno into charcoal.
Vidar then switches out to his [Devil Axe] and began hacking through the rank and file of the sellswords, with each blow inflicting him physical pain, but with each shock, Vidar's own rage grew to feed his perpetual wrath that spared no one whom he deemed as his enemies.
Cyrus synchronized with Darius's hoofbeats and the two stampeded through the lines of Warlocks and Bishops alike, sweeping them across the snowy sands like dust caught in a broom's bristles and firing his stone-loaded [Bowgun] towards the Pegasus Knights, knocking them out of the sky and leaving them to be cut down by Catherine and her goons.
The Duscurian insurgents spared none of the Western Church members or their affiliates, all of them dying brutal deaths, consisting of spilled organs, split-open heads, ripped throats and gouged eyes.
Quickly, all of the Western Church separatists and their swords for hire that tried to run were slain down to a man.
"Now that, felt good," Cyrus licked the blood off of the blade of his [Gradivus] lance.
"Enjoy it while you can," Catherine grumbled as she saw the Duscurians point their arms towards them all, "... cause you led us to our deaths."
The Duscurian insurgents has now surrounded them completely. Out of the crowd, an elderly but no less formidable War Master and a young Falcon Knight came out of the crowd to directly face Catherine's group.
"Why would you help us?" asked the Falcon Knight as she pointed her [Silver Lance] towards them.
"Don't you dare assume that we'd be tricked that easily!" barked the War Master as he gripped his [Brave Axe], "all of you Fodlaners are the same!"
"To be fair, none of us saw you all coming," Cyrus pointed out, dropping his weapon as a goodwill, "that said, we don't exactly benefit from killing you all, so take that as you will."
"Then why did you kill our men?" asked the War Master.
"I dunno, why did you kill my men and women?" Catherine growled, "our prioritizes are not you guys!"
"Yeh, kill or be killed," Sorcha pointed out, "not like any of us are good listeners, dat's for sure."
"SILENCE!" shouted the Falcon Knight, "YOU ALL LIE-"
"WE SPEAK... THE TRUTH!" groaned Vidar, "... we... not enemies. We... no reason... to fight..."
The elderly War Master then notices something about the bandaged boy. "... That voice," he shuddered in familiarity as he lowered his weapon slightly, "... boy, what is your name?"
The bandaged boy grunted for a few moments as he scrambled his hands across his bandaged face, also recognizing the elder's voice when spoken softly. "... Vi... Vidar," he croaked, vague images coming back into his mind, ones that came beyond the pyre, "... I am... Vidar..."
Both the Falcon Knight and the War Master looked as if they've swallowed a lemon upon hearing that name. "EVERYONE! LOWER YOUR ARMS!"
The Duscurians then do so before they knelt before the bandaged Warrior boy.
"Whoa whoa whoa," Catherine looked in surprise like everyone else, "what the actual hell is going on?!"
"Dunno," Cyrus answered as he saw the bandaged boy be genuflected, "... but I get the feeling that we're about to have new friends."
Above the cliffside, the last Gremory made her final stand as she unleashed [Meteor] and [Bolganone] in seamless fashion, keeping the support fire team's collective heads down while keeping Karna's division at an arm's length.
"I WILL NOT FALL HERE!" the Gremory shrieked while coordinating her spells in moderation, "NOT UNTIL I SEND YOU ALL TO THE DEEPEST DEPTHS OF HELL MYSELF!"
"Drama queen much?" Karna rolled his eyes, more annoyed than intimidated by her, if anything.
"Welcome to Faerghus," sighed Byron as he and Topaz ran out of the way from another [Bolganone], "literally everyone here is on the verge of having rage issues."
"I commend her resolve if anything," Topaz looked around to see where her [Zulfiqar] had flown off to while keeping her [Wo Dao] drawn, "... but I agree, this is too much, even for me."
Behind the three, Shamir and Selene tried to get in range to shoot their bows, only for their position to be compromised by another incoming [Meteor].
"For someone in de middle of hysterics, damn tart has an itchy magic finger," sighed the Brigidian as she checked her [Crossbow].
"Thankfully, I think that was her last [Meteor]," Shamir remarked as she looked at her last two Snipers's smoldering corpses laid across her, "even the most seasoned of spellcasters can only use so much of the same spell lest they tire out."
"One problem," Selene then pointed towards Karna's group, who are now surrounded by a ring of lava and are now dancing on what little solid ground left for their lives as the Gremory began chucking [Fire] at them. "... Yeah, she got em pinned right at the spot where we're both out of range and in range of her spells."
"Then go around," the Sniper ordered. With that, Selene followed her as they entered the thicket. As the two traversed the overlooking forest, the noticed that some trees around them now sported massive gashes across their trunks.
"What could've caused all of this?" asked Shamir, to which Selene resisted answering, knowing that Selene's throwing arm has now gotten exponentially stronger.
But from the corner of her eye, Selene's eyes spot something and she tackles the Sniper down from behind. "Saw somethin'." she pointed out.
"Who?" asked Shamir.
"Scouts, footmen," answered the Brigidian, "wearin' blue."
"Then we're running out of time," said the Sniper, the two now crawling on their bellies as fast as possible.
At the area surrounded by molten earth, Karna and the other two continue their dance amidst the flames tossed by the Gremory.
"AH! GODAMMIT!" Byron ripped off his coat layers as it caught on fire. "WHAT IS YOUR DAMAGE, WOMAN?!"
"Now you know my pain," Karna deadpanned as he batted back another [Fire] spell with his [Scythe of Sariel], "although we're wasting too much time dealing with just one woman."
"I got a plan," said the Hassashin, "throw me, and then both of you, duck your heads."
"So when do we throw you-" Topaz then instantly jumps into Karna's arms before Byron can finish his sentence.
"NOW!"
Karna then throws the tiny terror across the molten earth and towards the crazed Gremory.
"I AM YOUR DEATH, HEATHEN!" screeched the sorceress as she threw her [Fire] towards the Hassashin, only for her to slice through the orb of flames with her [Wo Dao] mid-air.
"Think you got it backwards, sister," snarked Topaz as she swung down her blade, only for it to be met with a [Ward] barrier from the Gremory. Undeterred, she simply opts to bounce off of the shield and jump over the sorceress's head, pressing her back against her's, and then stabbing her sword through the Gremory's back, the blade bursting out of her chest.
But just as the she could utter her curses towards the little demon, she suddenly finds her head disconnected from her very neck. Behind the falling head, a monstrous arm had caught [Zulfiqar] after its long journey across the entire coastline.
"Show-off," grumbled Byron as he and Karna floated across the lava with the latter's [Flux H] spell.
"To be fair, fighting a magic user with magic is an exercise in futility," Karna explained, "spellcasters has to develop some tolerance to their own crafts lest they embarrass themselves, no?"
Byron scoffs as Shamir and Selene come out of the bushes. "The Vicount and his forces are coming," Shamir stated, "we're running out of time."
"Then let's hurry."
Karna, Shamir, Byron, Topaz and Selene all head towards where the boats were at, spotting the last of the Western Church separatists loading up crates into rowboats pointed towards the ship anchored off the coast.
"Opening barrage?" asked Karna.
"You needn't ask," he smirked as he readied his next spell, his own sadistic nature superseding his cranky attitude from earlier (and warmed up thanks to the heat from the surrounding lava and being nearly set on fire.
Both then jumped down from atop of the cliff, using the blasts of their own magic to cushion their fall.
"[Hades Ω]!"
"[Banshee Θ]!"
Both screams of the damned and the living blasted throughout the whole beachhead, sending everyone caught in the combined blast flying into the air before landing back into broken piles of bones and meat vaguely resembling human bodies.
"Damn, hell on the throat..." gagged Byron as he brushed the snow and sand off of his pants, "... never gets easier."
Before Karna can say anything, he immediately parries an incoming blow with his own [Scythe of Sariel]. "Feisty ones, aren't ya?"
Standing in opposition of them was a War Monk wielding what can best be described as a magical axe-head attached to a chain whose length seems to fluctuate from a couple inches over a feet to over several meters akin to a grappling hook. Around him were a regiment of Warlocks and Bishops, ready to assist their leader at a moment's notice.
"Hmph, and I thought Mother Superior's Sisters would've been more than enough," spoke the War Monk.
"Father Molay," spoke the Bishop, "we aren't guaranteed a safe passage as long as those heathens breath down our backs."
"Then it's obvious what we do," said the female Warlock, "leave no survivors."
Shamir, Selene and Topaz all make it down to the beachhead and joined up with Karna and Byron.
"You all should've ran while you still had the chance." Karna and Father Molay's forces begin their engagement.
At the other side of the beach, Catherine, Sorcha and Cyrus all witnessed the Duscurians bowing before Vidar, much to his confusion.
"Don't mean to interrupt a heartwarming moment..." said Cyrus, "but don't you guys have to, you know, get the hell off of this continent?"
The elderly War Master raises head. "R-right, sorry," he stated, "we'll explain everything later! Come on! To the boats!"
Everyone then makes their way towards the other side of the cliff, hearing blasts of magic as they got closer towards the other side. As they ran across the corpse-laiden brick road, awkward looks were exchanged between them and the insurrectionists.
"Uh... sorry about our guys killing your boys," apologized Cyrus.
"Forget it, we knew the risks," sighed the Falcon Knight, "better die fighting then living under oppression."
"By the way, never got your name," he said, "I'm Cyrus. What about you?"
"Hávi," she answered, "old man's name is Hárr. He and I are the last of the Duscurian chieftain lineage. That is, until we found little Víðarr with you folk."
"Víðarr?" Cyrus cocked his head, "that's his real name?"
"The name 'Vidar' is how Fodlan pronounces it," said Hávi, "just put the two and two together and figured that was the case. Although I thank the gods that he survived the blaze ten years ago."
"Right, the so-called 'Tragedy of Duscur'..." he nervously chuckled, knowing that if he accidentally blurts out that the one who saved Vidar/Víðarr was the one who accidentally instigated said massacre, then their alliance would turn bloody in a heartbeat, "... why did they call it a tragedy when you're the ones who were spitroasted like livestock?"
"You just answered your own question," Hávi pointed out as she rode ahead with her Paladins, leaving Cyrus to follow after her.
Meanwhile, the infantry behind the riders conversed on their own as they proceeded towards the other coast.
"Ye know, for an old fart, ye fight like a man in his prime," Sorcha remarked.
"Says the little firecracker," smirked Hárr, "no Faerghus dastard will ever best me in a fight!"
"Hey, Faerghusian right here," Catherine pointed out.
"Don't lie, lass," the old man smirked, "I smell Duscurian blood on ye. That skin is a dead giveaway."
The Knight of Seiros sighed. "... Yeah, my mother was a Duscurian," she grimaced, "married into the House of Charon 30 years ago before all of my kinsmen were implicated in killing King Lambert and were thrown to the wolves. Would've had my head chopped off if it weren't for the Archbishop giving me a plea deal... at the cost of me having to throw Christoph under the wagon myself."
"... He... innocent..." Vidar grunted, vaguely remembering the circumstances behind Lord Lonato's insurrection, "... heard... him... didn't do it..."
"I know," Catherine sighed regretfully, "I... faltered for a moment, and put myself over my own damn friend. I'm proud of where I am now. I'm just not proud of how I got here."
"Oi, 'look out for de number one," Sorcha shrugged, "ideals ain't shite when yer too dead to practice and preach em."
"You can join us in our voyage towards our new home if you like," said Hárr, "leave your past behind, start over from scratch."
Catherine shook her head. "No, I ain't going to run from my past," she stated, "I got too many lives I snuffed out that I need to take responsibility for and I pledged my life to the Archbishop herself. I won't call you cowards, because I know you all no longer have a choice in the matter."
"Your call," the elderly man then turned towards Vidar, "what about you? You wish to come with us as soon as this is all over-"
A loud explosion from below cuts off his sentence as everyone then quickly make their way down towards the second beachhead, where another battle took place.
"PEGASUS KNIGHTS, BOEGY TOWARDS 9 O'CLOCK!" Cyrus bellowed out as he tapped Darius's sides, "PREPARE TO ENGAGE!"
"We'll talk later," Hárr stated as he and the others went down the beachhead currently swarming with blasts of spells and flying Pegasus Knights all over the snowy sands.
"High-ho," smirked Sorcha as she then brought her [Ne Zha] gauntlets together, "[Samadhi Fire]!"
A stream of hellish blaze shot from her gauntlets, only for it to be countered by a group of Warlocks casting a collaboration spell, [Group Ice], causing the opposing elements to cancel each other out and smoke the whole beachhead with a thick layer of steam.
"WAY TO GO, SORCHA!" Catherine cursed as she blocked an incoming attack from a Pegasus Knight from behind.
"HEY! IT'S NOT ME FAULT THEY'RE STEALIN' BYRON'S SHITE!" Sorcha barked back as she snapped an unaware Bishop's neck from behind.
"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP AND START KILLING THE BAD GUYS?!" Cyrus cried out as he rode throughout the thick fog, sweeping away the chaff by twirling his [Gradivus], "... she has a point though. Hard to see during a fog of war-"
Cyrus then quickly blocks the incoming attack from ahead with his lance, the force of the impact knocking him off of his steed before he was then set upon by three Pegasus Knights all at once.
But before he can get skewered in three different directions, their rides were shot by arrows coming from behind him, causing the the winged horses to fly off-course before violently crashing and allow Cyrus to throw his lance towards the remaining Pegasus Knight. She first dodges the thrown weapon, only for Cyrus to pull out his [Bowgun] and slingshot a rock into the rider's nose, the stone shattering both the face and itself upon contact, leaving only the flying horse to be kicked aside by Darius's upward buck.
"Thanks," he then got back up onto his horse's back, "alright, let's kill some fools."
The fog begins to clear up as the coastal winds set in, revealing everyone's positions after they've groped around blindly for a few moments. Cyrus first sees Karna and Topaz back to back before they've noticed each other and broke off.
"Room for one more?" said Topaz as she hopped onto Cyrus's lap.
"Don't fall off!" Cyrus then snapped the bridles as he took off into the thick battlefield. As he saw throughout the beachhead, the Duscurians were fending off the Pegasus Knights with nothing more than close-quarters combat and unrivaled guts. "So, who's in charge of this outfit?"
"That War Monk over there!" said Topaz as she slashed her [Wo Dao] towards the Warlock's neck. "Careful! His chain axe hits harder than it looks!"
Hávi then rides up to where Cyrus was at as soon as she knocked off an enemy Pegasus Knight off of her mount. "Hold on, did you say a 'chain axe'?!"
"Why? Is it important?" asked Cyrus as he shot his [Bowgun] at a Bishop's eye, blinding him and allowing Vidar to pounce onto him and bite off his throat.
"It's [Perun]!" she answered while dodging a blast from a Warlock before throwing her [Spear], staking his head through it, "it's a Duscurian artifact that is imbued with the spirits of our ancestors! HOW DARE HE DESECRATE OUR LEGACY!" She then flies up head, only for her to be repelled by a group of Bishops casting a volley of [Aura] spells at her.
"Topaz!" upon hearing him, the little terror then threw her [Zulfiqar] towards the War Monk, only for him to throw his own axe at the spinning blade, parrying off of each other before each weapon returned to their owners. "WHAT?! I THOUGHT THAT THING CAN CUT THROUGH ANYTHING!"
"Damned shamanism," growled the Hassashin, "he already figured it out it works."
"Indeed," boasted Father Molay as specters floated around him in tandem with the chains of his [Perun] acting as his defensive barrier. "If the Church declares me and my followers heretics, then why bother placating the ones that killed our congregation's previous Father?"
"OUR CULTURE IS NOT YOURS TO EXPLOIT!" roared Hárr as he then lifted up and entire dead pegasus before chucking it towards the War Monk, only for it to be intercepted by a Warlock's [Cutting Gale] spell, ripping it apart into giblets.
"Neither is our exit strategy yours to hijack, you savage," growled Father Molay as he then threw his [Perun] at the old War Master, only for Vidar to catch the axehead between his teeth before grabbing the chain linking to it. But before he can strangle the bandaged boy, he was then forced to evade an arrow shot from Selene's [Crossbow] as he then recalled [Perun] to guard him.
"What do you know?" Karna smirked as he headbutted a Warlock to the snow, "that thing's got a weakness."
"Then let's exploit it," Byron agreed as he pulled his [Mace] out of a Bishop's eye socket.
"WE'LL TAKE CARE OF THE BOSS!" Sorcha cried out as she delivered a roundhouse kick across a Warlock's lower jaw, "THE DUSCURIANS AND THE KNIGHTS OF SEIROS! GIT 'DESE BASTARDS OFF OF OUR BACKS!"
"We leave [Perun] in your hands," Hávi spoke before she rallied her troops, "ALL OF YOU, SEPARATE THE SPELLCASTERS AND FLIERS FROM THE WAR MONK!"
"HURRY!" Selene shouted as she fired her [Crossbow] at an incoming Pegasus Knight before running towards where Karna is at, "DE VISCOUNT IS COMIN'!"
"THEN SLAUGHTER THEM ALL!" roared Hárr as he and his Warriors stampeded into the crowd of Warlocks and Bishops.
With Father Molay now isolated and surrounded by the Dustbin from all sides, he grimaced. "Don't you think I'll go quietly!"
"Then die screaming," Topaz then shot off from Darius's back before drawing her [Wo Dao] and clashing its blade against [Perun]'s chains. Molay then lengthens the chain to flank the little Hassashin with the axe-blade, only for Selene to parry it with a shot from her [Crossbow] before Sorcha grabbed her [Claymore] by its blade and swung its handle and pommel towards the disoriented blade.
"I WILL NOT BE DETERRED!" roared Molay as he casted [Seraphim] to the McCarthy sisters, "THE GODDESS WATCHES OVER ME! MY ACTIONS ARE JUST!"
"You're a loon, you wannabe-Archbishop," Cyrus then shoots another stone from his [Bowgun], only for it to be blocked by his [Perun]-enhanced [Ward] spell, but from behind, Karna blasts his [Swarm Z] at the War Monk to blind him before he swung his [Scythe of Sariel] towards him, only for Father Molay to dodge and blast a point-blank [Seraphim] at him.
"Fools, running towards their death-" Father Molay was then interrupted by Vidar punching him with his [Baigujing] gauntlets, the icy blow leaving behind as heavy frost patches that reached his ribs. Enraged, he then grabs the chains of [Perun] and begins swinging it over his head like a lasso, unleashing a storm of damned spirits that knocked everyone back. "JOIN THEM!" he ordered as then then threw his axe blade towards Vidar, only for Byron to cast [Freeze] at the incoming blade, stopping it in its tracks.
"... By... ron..." grunted Vidar as he saw his friend grow colder for his sake.
"Fool," Molay taunted, "I've heard of you and your specialty. [Ice Magic] is a terrible burden during winter, isn't it? No matter, you'll suffer no more-"
"SHUT UP!" Byron growled, "all talk and no soul behind your words... just what drove you to this state? Power? Influence? Or genuine madness?!"
"You know nothing, boy," Molay retorted, "the Archbishop's sin is to claim herself as the child of the Goddess herself! Lies! Heresy! SHE ONLY EXISTS TO FEED HER OWN EGO!"
Byron then bore his teeth, his fury reaching his breaking point from hearing the hollow man's lifeless words thrown at him. "No," he glared, "your sin is that you don't SHUT UP!"
Tapping into his [Faith Magic], Byron then casts [Silence] onto the War Monk, shutting him up and preventing him from casting his spells.
"People like you... who are high on their own sense of 'justice'..." growled Byron, "... MAKES ME WANT TO VOMIT!"
Molay then throws his [Perun] at Byron, only for him to teleport away from his strike and Vidar catching the ax blade between his teeth again. The War Monk lets out a feral shriek as he begun wildly swinging his chain-axe across the snowy sands, the blade end dragging itself across the earth while the Dustbin dodged the incoming and undisciplined assault.
"Geez, Byron didn't have to go that deep," Cyrus smirked as Darius jumped over the chain.
"Now a grown man is cryin' like a spoiled baby," Sorcha sighed in disappointment.
"Men in power are adverse to humility," said Topaz as she parried the incoming axe-blade with her [Zulfiqar].
"I think know why Byron hates Faerghus," Selene smacked her lips in indifference.
"Byron... stronger... than man..." Vidar grumbled as he bobbed and weaved through the swing arc of [Perun] with Karna next to him.
"Then let's put him down like the weakling he is," the Professor then swings his scythe at the deflected axe blade back towards Father Molay, only for him to block his own blade with the chains of his weapon.
However, as the Father gloated with a dry cackle, Byron bursts out of the frigid waters behind him, grabs the chains around the Father before constricting his neck with it, and as the heretical War Monk began to flail and struggle for his life, Byron then grabs onto [Perun]'s blade attached to the end of its chain before slitting open his throat with it. As the geyser of blood sprayed out of his punctured throat, Father Molay fell dead at the same time as the last of his own congregation was slain at the hands of the Duscurians.
"What a day," Karna fell onto his butt in exhaustion. "Someone get Byron. He's freezing right now."
As soon as the battle had ended, the Duscurians gathered before where Vidar stood along with his Dustbin and the two Knights of Seiros.
"... I don't know what to say," said Hárr, "but... you helped us."
"Don't blame us," Catherine stated before pointing to Karna, "blame him for being a fight magnet."
"Ha ha," he dryly laughed. "Shouldn't you lot be out of here now?"
The Duscurians began boarding the rowboats left behind by the now-slain Western Church separatists.
"Hey... uh," Byron mumbled as he was wrapped in whatever cloth he could find on the dead Warlocks, "... aren't you guys forgetting something?"
Hávi then looks at [Perun] in Byron's hands. "Keep it," she smiled.
"You sure?" he shuddered.
The Falcon Knight rubbed his head. "I saw how my younger cousin was looking at you," she teased, "take care of him in my place, you hear?"
"... How... how did you know-"
"Fire, the fact that he's alive and following you?" she smirked, "I connected the dots myself."
"... I see," he shuddered from his cold body.
"There's a saying among our people," spoke Hávi as she got on her horned pegasus, "'never forgive a grudge, nor forget to return a favor.' May we meet again, for my people shall wait for you to speak the truth from your very lips."
As she flew away, a certain weight in his chest was relieved. ... She knows, he thought with a newfound sense of dread yet relief. ... I'll make it to Albinea no matter what. So that I can clear this fog that I have caused for myself.
As soon as the ship began to sail towards west and disappear into the sunset, several hooves trotted down from atop the cliff before riding down to the beachhead where the Dustbin and the Knights of Seiros were at. Leading the group of Cavaliers was the Viscount himself, riding ahead to meet the motley crew lying around the corpse-strewn coast.
"Where are the Duscurians?!" barked the Viscount.
"We took care of them," Karna stated plainly, "they won't bother you anymore."
He looks around to see bodies of both the Western Church separatists and Duscurians alike laid across the bloody battlefield. "What the hell happened here?"
"Tell it to my boss," Karna deadpanned, "in person. So unless you want your men to continue your wild goose chase into the dead of winter, I suggest you all forget everything that you just saw, go home, and warm yourselves up by the fire with a cuppa tea."
Viscount Kleiman lets out a low growl before riding away with the rest of his troops.
"You sure letting them all go was a good idea?" asked Catherine.
"Don't give them any more reason to take others down with them," answered Karna, "and besides, we technically got rid of all Duscurians from Kleiman's territory, so if they have any complaints, they're going to have to take it up to the Church."
"That and well, we can just scrub the Duscurian's involvement out of our official report," Shamir pointed out, "our mission was to technically deal with the Western Church, which we did."
"Like how ye think," Sorcha winked, "ye got a heart in 'der, doncha?"
"Personally, I find it distasteful to kick a man while he's down, let alone an endangered culture and its people," she replied. "They suffered enough."
Catherine lets out a sigh as she sat down. "Well, night's coming in, and the buildings aren't gonna occupy themselves. Come on."
Everyone then began to settle in for the night ahead in the abandoned compound of the Western Church. The Dustbin took liberties of finding the left behind equipment and claiming it as their own. Tonight's meal consisted of soup made of the left behind foodstuff that the Western Church was supposed to load onto their escape boat.
"Hey Byron," spoke Karna, "didn't you just use [Warp] back there?"
"... Yeah, I think I did," he nodded while gorging on his soup to warm his body up, "getting better with my own [Faith Magic]... but I'm nowhere near where I want to be."
"Hey, got dropped into the middle of a clusterfuck and I didn't have time to improve on my own [Dark Magic] either," Karna remarked in disappointment. "Still, I think I know how my first improvement will go..." he recalled the moment where her used [Flux H] on his own weapon to make its blows heavier. ... Yes, heavier. I have to think "heavy".
Vidar then looks out towards the stars with a bowl of soup in his hand. He now remembers how his life was like before his face was taken from him by the flames.
"... A future..." he mumbled, "a future... where I... can have... a face..."
To Be Continued...
Support Conversations:
- Cyrus and Topaz (B)
Topaz: Fodlan baffles me.
Cyrus: Old news, what of it?
Topaz: No, I don't mean that Fodlan is derivative or lacking a soul, but rather, I'm noticing something about the cultural patterns of this continent compared to ours.
Cyrus: What? The fact that all of Fodlan worships one deity figure while everyone else are quashed aside?
Topaz: Religion doesn't work like that. Faith is dynamic and ever changing, just like wind and death. It comes and goes to whoever it pleases.
Cyrus: I mean, Shangri-La worships the structure of government itself as a god and the people running it are replaceable in their eyes.
Topaz: Everything here feels... irregular. Almost as if there's an invisible hand guiding everything, from how people behave to what standards are given to guide them... it's like how one would make a farm.
Cyrus: To be fair, that's how my people view civilizations in general. Better to be takers then the taken from.
Topaz: Hmph, funny. My people do the same, but only because we prefer not to leave any evidence of our existence.
Cyrus: And yet, you're all afraid of dying forgotten.
Topaz: No. To die is to be remembered. Immortalized by the path we chosen to take. To live facing death without fear of the inevitable. But even then, my people faltered.
Cyrus: Is it a bad thing to live rather than die anticlimactically?
Topaz: I guess in your eyes, I am a contrarian.
Cyrus: Eh, humans are complicated. We're too indecisive on what we're going to do now than for the future. Maybe that's why my people keep our goals small: protect the current generation, ensure the next generation grows and prospers, and kill everything that threatens our collective survival. As long as one keeps consistent with those rules, they should be fine. I think.
Topaz: Not so sure yourself?
Cyrus: Like you're the one to talk.
- Cyrus and Sorcha (B)
Sorcha: ... Bloody 'ell mate. Just how much do you have left in ye?
Cyrus: Right back... at you... not bad.
Sorcha: Oh please, I killed more bandits than you just did.
Cyrus: THAT LAST ONE DIDN'T COUNT AND YOU KNOW IT!
Sorcha: Because I fed 'im to his own doggo?
Cyrus: "Weapons only," you said. Cheater.
Sorcha: Well yer horsey killed more bandits 'den ye did with yer spear!
Cyrus: Dairus is a part of me, so he counts!
Sorcha: Says de loser.
Cyrus: Shut up!
*two growl at each other before mutually relenting*
Sorcha: ... Fughettaboutit. Dis ain't fun anymore.
Cyrus: Yeah. Why did we try and prove which one of use are better when we're already better than the others?
Sorcha: I dunno. Just wanna know how strong you were. Bit of dick move on me part.
Cyrus: So... we killed these bandits for nothing?
Sorcha: Eh, no one's complaining.
Cyrus: Fodlan's weird how it treats its dead. I mean, who cares who they are? Put em in the same hole for all I care!
Sorcha: So will anyone care about us if we die?
Cyrus: Let's worry about that after we're dead, alright?
- Vidar and Selene (B)
Vidar: ... You smell like... blood.
Selene: Yeh... just make sure that it ain't comin' from ye.
Vidar: ... Fear... and rage... why?
Selene: ... Ye really wanna know?
Vidar: It is... on my... head.
Selene: ... Truth is, I was supposed to die when dey discovered me eyes aren't normal. "There are no such thing as weak Brigidians." And I was about to be snuffed out until me da vetoed it. I lived me whole life under Sorcha's shadow because by me people, I was "weak."
Vidar: ... You... not weak... you... strongest... person... I know...
Selene: ... Dat's sweet an' all, but every time I hear that I was supposed to die... I dunno what to think. Vidar, am I a mistake?
Vidar: ... Byron... told me... people... don't choose... how they... born... living... is hard... no matter what... you are... born as...
Selene: ... Ye tell me. I'm no different from ye. I'm just a ball of rage waiting to explode like ye. Because I hate me own people. I hate dat I'm weak to them when I am strong in me own way. I hate the whole world... aside from ye guys and me sis.
Vidar: ... Hate... is confusing... I don't know... who I should hate... Do I hate... the one who started the flames? Or do I... hate... the ones... who call us... not human?
Selene: I dunno. I just hate everything. I just don't show it to others because I love me sis too much to burden her even more.
Vidar: ... Tame... hatred... into power. Like we... have been... mastering.
Selene: ... Guess nowhere to go but anywhere, huh?
Vidar: ... You... not alone... if we die... we die... together.
Selene: Ye comin' onto me?
Vidar: ... We... friends... and family... don't abandon... each other...
Selene: ... Heh, yer right. Guess I got ye guys too with me sis.
Vidar: ... Want to... raid pantry?
Selene: I'll be yer eyes.
Author's Notes: And I have returned, for those of you who read this fic.
So the focus of this arc is mostly the Dustbin taking on sidequests during the month of Ethereal Moon, also serving as their training arc.
To be fair, aside from a CERTAIN someone's death, the chapter wasn't anything special. So just to get myself from getting bored to tears, I opted to make this a "quest of the week" format before we move onto THAT part of the month in Three Houses.
Call backs are present throughout this chapter, and while this chapter wasn't the cleanest I've written (I blame Nubatama for making my life hell in ZERO), it fits in with the aforementioned formula.
Oh, and the Duscurians are present too, with Vidar's lineage as the insurgent leaders' long lost relatives being made too, making Vidar a Noble by Duscurian standards with Dedue being a Commoner (more on that in a bit, it would be weird if Vidar just blurted out that out of nowhere). The game never specifies where they go hiding after Dedue's "War for the Weak" paralogue, and given that Albinea is pretty much Fodlan's version of Iceland and the fact that I named my Duscurian characters after Nordic names, it seemed fitting for them to head to the least-inhabited area in Fodlan's map.
Anyhoo, next sidequest will be Marianne's, with more revelations about the Dustbin in a bit. Catch you all on the flip side.
References:
- The whole layout of this Chapter's war is a composite scene of Three Houses's chapters "War for the Weak", "An Ocean View", and "Rival Bands" Paralouge Chapter from Awakening.
- The three out of four Gremory sorceresses on the Western Chruch's side, Sister Maria, Rose and Shenna are all named after Karl Fritz I'd daughters/the Walls of Paradis Island from Attack on Titan.
- The War Monk leading the Western Church Remnants, Father Molay, is named after the Last Grandmaster of the Crusaders who was burned at the stake, Jacques de Molay.
- Father Molay's (and later Byron's) weapon, [Perun], is named after an axehead amulet of Slavic (and possible Nordic) origin. Functionally, it works like Chidori Yoshino's chain-axe from Persona 3, with semi-magical properties of Kratos's Leviathan Axe from God of War (2019).
- Father Molay's death is based off how Raul Menendez from Call of Duty: Black Ops II kills people with his sister Josefina's heart necklace (by the man's own admission, the edge is REALLY sharp) and Jabba the Hutt's death from Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi.
- The names of the leaders of the Duscurian Insurgency, Hárr and Hávi, are named after one of MANY of Odin's aliases, meaning "High" and "High One" respectively (and the former name sounds similar to a certain, eyepatched Wyvern Rider in the Tellius Duology).