Here I am, back with another chapter of Under a New Light! Once again, big thanks to everyone who has followed, favorited, and especially taken the time to leave a review!
((Meanwhile, during Roy and Idunn's time in the library together…))
"You're certain that it's alright for the two of them to be left alone together?"
"Sir Harken, I understand your concern for the young lord, but you can rest assured that Lord Roy will be safe. Lord Eliwood has assured me that his newest retainer- who I will remind you is now a colleague of ours- is to be considered trustworthy."
"But, Sir Marcus-"
"Peace, Harken. I know how you feel about such things, and I cannot blame you for being cautious regarding the safety of our lords. But you were not there yesterday. I… I honestly cannot imagine a world in which that woman would bring harm to Roy. You would understand too if you had seen the look on her face. If I did not already know that Roy was Lord Eliwood and Lady Ninian's child, I may have mistaken him for her own child, judging by how tender she was with him."
Harken said nothing at those words, but at least the blonde knight seemed placated for now. Marcus couldn't fault him for being cautious; not after the ordeal Harken had suffered a dozen years earlier. Even now, the scars remained. Years of peace and happiness with Isadora at his side, not to mention the adventure that was fatherhood- had eased the burden on Harken's mind, though time would never completely erase the torment and trauma he had suffered.
"Very well. But where are the lord and lady of the castle? Lord Eliwood will likely not be needed for official duties today until much later in the day, and I had thought he'd be spending the day with his wife and son."
Marcus grimaced, an almost pained look appearing on his face.
"I believe he sent the young lord off to spend time with his newest friend so that he could spend the afternoon with Lady Ninian."
Harken's own frown deepened. He knew the hidden meaning of the aging knight's words.
Many of the castle's residents were aware of their marchioness's poor health, but only a handful of them- Harken and Marcus among that small number, knew the truth. It was no illness that was slowly killing their beloved marchioness.
Ninian's unique physiology simply wasn't meant to live in Elibe for very long. Eliwood and Ninian had never fully explained just why that was the case, but in their explanation to the two veterans years earlier, Ninian had been very clear that her true inhuman nature simply couldn't last very long in Elibe. Neither Harken nor Marcus were particularly knowledgeable on dragonkin, and the matter had long since been dropped; just another sad fact of life. The lady of the castle would die young.
Even with that knowledge, Harken was glad that Lord Eliwood and Lady Ninian had been blessed with the years together that they'd been given. Even now, years later, he still regretted being unable to protect the former marquess. His quest for vengeance had led him down a dark path, and had he not encountered his fiancé fighting alongside the son of his former liege in that fateful battle, Harken was certain he would've ended up dead and forgotten long ago.
At least he'd been able to fulfill his duties to Lord Eliwood in that campaign; neither Harken nor Marcus had been in the vanguard with Eliwood when he and his friends had finally confronted the mad sorcerer twelve years prior, but he'd been vanquished all the same. Lord Elbert had been avenged, and his son could live in peace.
Ever since then, life at Pherae had been peaceful. Both Harken and Marcus were hardened veteran, ready for any war or battle, but this was the life they preferred. One where Marcus could continue training the next generation of knights on, and Harken could grow old alongside his wife, whom he'd married shortly after they had returned to Pherae.
"If you're still skeptical of Lord Eliwood's newest retainer, why not meet her yourself? I feel like I should remind you during that campaign Lord Eliwood, Lord Hector, and Lady Lyndis welcomed many people of more dubious origins into their service," Marcus pointed out. The blonde knight couldn't refute that.
"Still, it's probably best if you wait till tomorrow at least, I spoke to Lord Roy earlier today, and he was clearly quite eager to spend more time with his new friend. It's most likely best to wait till a time when he is not present if you'd like to speak with Miss Idunn."
"Hmph. Very well." Harken still felt a little skeptical about welcoming such a powerful magic user into the castle- not only that, but someone who seemed very close to the sole heir of Pherae.
But… he'd cast aside his doubt for now. His liege had given the senior knights his word that Idunn was welcome at the castle, and Harken had no intention of going against the wishes of his sworn lord. Furthermore, Marcus; who was one of the sharpest, most vigilant men he knew, had likewise voiced his approval of their new colleague.
Harken wouldn't let his suspicions, unfounded as they were, cloud his judgement. As it was, Idunn had done all of Pherae a great service and deserved to be welcomed with open arms. He wouldn't besmirch his lord's good intentions by going against his wishes.
The rest of the day passed by peacefully. Uneventful, some might call it, but pleasant to men like Eliwood, Harken, and Marcus, who had fought hard so that their comrades could enjoy peaceful times like this.
Elsewhere in the castle, back in the library with Roy and his newest friend, the young heir of Pherae was currently snoozing, pressed up to Idunn's side while she read from a book that she'd picked up off one of the shelves. Roy's book was next to his sleeping form; Idunn had decided to wait to hear more of that story from Roy himself rather than continuing on while he slept.
Idunn's young friend had, unknown to her, stayed up very late the previous night, later than was good for his small body, and the warm, cozy nature of the library had lulled him to sleep. Idunn didn't mind letting him rest. She found this silence, broken only by the minute sound of pages turning every now and then, to be much preferable to the silent void she'd been trapped in for so long.
The book she was reading was also quite enjoyable, and though it centered on a continent embroiled in the flames of war, the tone was decidedly more hopeful and positive than the war she'd just recently helped conclude.
Idunn much preferred these tales of heroism and courage, fictional as they may be, to what she had come to know as the bitter reality of war. Still, her thoughts flickered back to her decision earlier; namely, her desire to learn to wield her formidable power for good rather than evil.
Though she knew the story was a work of fiction, she couldn't help but find her head filled with thoughts of the future, a future in which her magical powers saved lives rather than took them. Idunn knew she had a long way to go to that end; her instructor in dark magic, an old druid named Pereth, had been one of Zephiel's few elite to know her true identity. The veteran spellcaster had been the first to explain to her that dark magicians were not viewed favorably by the rest of Elibe. Idunn's identity as a shaman; and later druid was but a ruse, though Idunn felt that it didn't matter in the end. Regardless of whether it was elder magic or dragonic magic, Idunn would learn how to master it so that she could wield it justly, to help rather than hinder.
The tactician in the novel she was currently reading was a dark magician herself, and she used her magic to aid the dashing mercenary Algimas. Perhaps it was foolish to let a fictional story inspire her, but Idunn couldn't help but be inspired by the idea of a dark mage fighting for a good cause.
Immersed in the story of the mercenary group turned knightly order, the rest of the afternoon passed by in peace and quiet. Roy was a little put out that he had slept through a good portion of his story time with his friend but was placated when Idunn assured him that there would be more time the next few days for them to spend together.
The day ended uneventfully; rather than the formal dinner Idunn had been invited to the previous night, Idunn found herself eating dinner later in the kitchen alongside several of the castle's maids. Though still not particularly used to conversation, Idunn listened politely as they talked.
One of these days she'd be comfortable with talking to her new coworkers herself, but not yet. Baby steps, Idunn told herself.
The sun rose to another uneventful day at Pherae. Life continued as normal for the citizens, though for Idunn it was another big step forward for her- namely, that she was finally coming around to her new position at the castle. A day of leisure was well and good, but Idunn had no desire to be a freeloader living off of the marquess's good graces, and, with instruction from one of the maids, found her way to the castle's infirmary.
To her surprise, she found the infirmary already occupied, though thankfully not by anyone in need of healing.
Inside, she found the blonde knight and his blue-haired wife she'd briefly met at the dinner a couple nights earlier.
"Ah, Miss Idunn! I'm glad you've arrived. I was thinking of coming to find you."
"Is there someone in need of healing?"
"No, nothing like that. I just wished to speak with you, that's all. Sir Marcus assured me that your skills as a healer would more than suffice for the position of court physician, but I wanted to hear it from you directly."
That seemed logical to Idunn. The blue-haired woman; Isadora, she reminded herself, was now a compatriot of hers, as was her husband Harken, and they obviously wanted to know how experienced she was for themselves.
"I can tend small injuries, scratches and the like, without needing a healing stave. Though in the case of more severe injuries I am proficient with all basic staves."
Both Isadora and Harken nodded at her words. This time, it was the blonde man who spoke up.
"It's good to finally have another healer at the castle. It isn't a duty fit for a noblewoman, much less my lord's own mother, and while Isadora has some training with staves, my wife is, by her own admission, far better off wielding a sword or lance."
Idunn knew the feeling well. She was far more comfortable casting elder magic than utilizing a stave, but she knew from experience that it was almost always better to have more than one skillset to rely on.
In the back of her mind, Idunn remembered something she'd heard from Roy the previous day.
"Sir Harken, Dame Isadora. Is it true that your daughter is already learning swordplay?"
Both humans looked at her, their surprise clearly visible on their faces. Harken spoke first.
"That's technically true; though in actuality I've only just started showing her the basics. I wouldn't say she's learning to wield a sword so much as I'm mostly making sure right now that she knows one end of the sword from the other. But… may I ask where you overheard such a thing? It's no secret that Isolde will follow in our footsteps as a knight of Pherae, but we haven't exactly spoken to lord Eliwood about it yet."
Oops, had she spoken out of turn?
"Ah… If I misspoke, please forgive me. Roy told me yesterday when we were in the library. I assume your daughter told him herself; it sounds like they're around the same age."
"Oh, that does sound like our Isolde. She's young; being four years older than Roy might not sound like much, but she's a very prideful girl. I'll have to remind her later not to be boastful…" Isadora sighed, though there was a small smile on her face. Idunn gathered from the limited evidence available that Harken and Isadora's daughter held a friendly rivalry with Roy rather than a more combative one.
"Still, there's no doubt that both Isolde and Roy will one day be superb sword-wielders. My husband is the greatest swordsman in all Pherae! Er, after Lord Eliwood, of course."
Harken just looked off in a different direction at his wife's praise, though there was a small, happy smile on his face. Evidently, he wasn't a man of many words. Idunn understood the feeling.
The remainder of the hour passed by peacefully, with Idunn continuing to practice her conversation skills with the knightly duo, making small talk based off the knowledge of Pherae she'd gained in speaking with Eleanora the previous day. Harken seemed satisfied with her skill with healing staves, while Isadora was glad to show Idunn where the infirmary kept its stock of magical staves.
And so passed Idunn's first actual day 'on the job.'
She didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed that it was, all things considered, a rather slow day. She settled for relieved, as while being able to prove to her new comrades that she could indeed prove through actions that she had the skill she claimed to, it was nice not having to heal any injured people in the first place. Idunn had seen enough bloodshed in her short life to have grown sick of it.
The infirmary turned out to be not one room, but an entire wing of one floor of the castle, with each room being well-lit by natural light. Idunn was pleased to find that she had a good view of the castle town sprawling out around the castle.
The castle's quartermaster- Merlinus, had also come by to confirm that she had everything a professional healer would need. The experience was different than being a battlefield medic. On top of using healing staves, Idunn knew how to apply bandages and clean wounds, but a court physician needed to know more than that. First and foremost, court healers were expected to be able to treat illnesses as well as injuries, and that was a field that Idunn had no experience in. Hopefully not for long, as learning more in that field lined up with her current goal; namely figuring out what the ailing marchioness was suffering from and curing her before it was too late.
Other than the rather grumpy former merchant, Idunn was visited by Lowen and Rebecca that afternoon as well. Both husband and wife were, like Harken and Isadora, respected knights of Pherae, though neither of them had served for as long as the former duo had. Lowen had shown her that several of the windows of the infirmary provided a good view of training ground where many of the knights of Pherae sparred and ran drills. Rebecca politely informed Idunn that no one would mind if she kept a book or two in the infirmary; as her healing services would hopefully only be needed in emergency situations and that most of the day, she would likely have time to spare and then some.
Even Lord Eliwood had stopped by as the afternoon turned to evening, just to make sure she was settling in alright! Idunn found her conversation with him to be quite enlightening. Idunn had done her best to discretely hint that she was interested in learning how to treat illnesses as well as injuries, a topic which Eliwood found no suspicion in.
"Your case is an admittedly unusual one for a court physician; most healers never receive training in anything beyond staves, and by your own admittance as well as Marcus and Roy's words it's something that serves as a secondary proficiency for you. In general, noble houses of Lycia have at least one trained healer serving their royal family, though it's rare for a marquess or marchioness to have an appointed court magician. That practice is only common in Etruria, where mages are also commonplace. It's not particularly pleasant to bring up, but to my knowledge most… erm… elder magic practitioners such as yourself would be viewed quite suspiciously by most in Lycia."
That didn't surprise Idunn. She was very much comfortable with just being a healer at Pherae, and she didn't feel comfortable with any more responsibility than that.
As Eliwood continued explaining the role of healers in the various Lycian courts to Idunn, she gleaned further information of what her role would be, and how it would differ from normal.
Despite being based in Etruria, the church of Elimine had branches in Lycia, Ilia, and Bern, and it was expected of clergy members to serve as healers in whatever town their church was located in. According to Eliwood, Ostia was where the Lycian branch of the church had its headquarters and subsequently was where the most magic users in Lycia (mostly monks, priests, and clerics) were located.
"Lady Idunn? Is something the matter? You look rather pensive." Eliwood remarked, seeing an odd, unreadable expression on his new retainer's face.
Elimine.
That name was familiar. Idunn had only the briefest flash in her mind of a beautiful but stern blonde woman wreathed in golden light, before pushing the memory aside to focus on Eliwood's words.
It was then that she realized Eliwood was looking at her with a small degree of worry on his face. Oops, it seemed as though she'd been lost in thought while he was speaking.
"Er, no. Nothing. I was just thinking about something." She finished rather lamely.
"Heh, well I suppose I may have been rambling a bit. My apologies, your original question that prompted this talk was asking about treating illnesses, wasn't it?"
"It was."
"Hmm… I could speak to my mother later; she had some training from the church in her youth as a cleric before she met my father. Other than the local apothecaries, of which there are a few in the castle town, she's the only person in the castle who is trained to heal sickness."
Idunn was somewhat surprised that Eliwood didn't say a word about his wife, considering how terribly ill Ninian seemed to be. Perhaps it was just too painful to speak of? Idunn felt her heart go out to him. She'd known the lord and lady of Pherae for only a few days and already she liked them more than any one of the sycophantic, psychotic, or avaricious lords who had sided with Zephiel.
After that conversation, Eliwood politely excused himself from the infirmary. His duties to the province kept him busy and as much as he would've enjoyed staying and talking with his new retainer, he had a province to run.
After her new lord departed, Idunn was left in solitude once more. At least now it was a peaceful, relaxing solitude, rather than the blank void she'd spent so long trapped inside. Rather than existing silently, waiting for someone to command her and give her a purpose, Idunn could give herself purpose now! And at present… well, there wasn't exactly too much to do. She had a long-term goal in mind, as well as a goal of hopefully learning more about how her own powers worked, but at this very moment in time, it was simply a quiet afternoon on a sunny Spring day.
Looking out one of the windows in the castle's infirmary, Idunn felt her lips quirk in the strange but welcome expression that was a smile. Life at Pherae was… so peaceful! Far down below her, she could see some of Pherae's knights training and running drills. Beyond their training grounds, Idunn could see a bit of the town within Pherae's walls, bustling with life as the townsfolk went about their business.
She sincerely hoped that nothing would ever disturb this peace. Of course, Idunn knew that war would come, brought by Zephiel… but that was still a long way off (in human time.)
That led to another thought popping up in the back of Idunn's mind. If she was here at Pherae, did… did that mean that Zephiel wouldn't have the 'dark priestess' at his side to summon war dragons for him? If that was true… then wouldn't it mean that Zephiel's efforts to conquer Elibe wouldn't come true? Or at the very least, a fight between Bern and the other nations wouldn't be nearly so one-sided without the might of dragons backing his forces.
Or were there two of her existing now? At this point in her original time, Idunn had still been sealed inside the Dragon Sanctuary. Was there another her still waiting there for someone to free her?
Idunn wasn't sure how the world would handle the power of two Demon Dragons existing at the same time, and she didn't want to find out what would happen if her power was forced to clash with, well… itself.
Idunn pushed the thoughts from her mind. She wasn't trying to forget about them, not at all… But there was no point in troubling herself with those worries, not when there was nothing she could about them for the time being. She was at Pherae now, and as selfish as it may have been of her, she had no desire to leave the life she'd only just started building for herself.
Furthermore, even if she'd somehow woken up in Bern and not in Pherae in this new time, it wasn't like she could undo the seal on the Dragon Sanctuary in the first place. Doing so would require the Fire Emblem, and that was likely with Zephiel right now.
Walking away from the window she'd been looking out of, Idunn plopped down in one several chairs in the infirmary. It was mostly filled with beds for patients to rest in, but there were chairs available for the not-so sick to occupy when visiting the infirmary.
Thinking back on what she'd learned from her talk with Eliwood earlier, Idunn tried to think of how studying from Eleanora would help her.
That wasn't to say that learning from her senior wouldn't benefit her, but Idunn had a sinking suspicion that learning from her by traditional means would've been a process that would take months, or even years!
And Idunn recalled from the dinner the other night, and the meeting the other day… Roy's poor mother didn't have nearly that long.
But that didn't mean Idunn was abandoning her goal of trying to save Roy's mother. She wasn't giving up before she'd even gotten started!
If she didn't have time to learn how to use human medicine or magic to treat a disease…
Well, then she just wouldn't use human magic. Because Idunn was no human, and she had powers far beyond any human mage.
Putting her head in her hands, Idunn tried to think of just what she could do with the powers she was hiding from Pherae.
There wasn't a mage alive, not a human alive who had the power that she did. Yet for all her vaunted power… what had she ever done with it? Idunn made war dragons, and…
Nothing else.
She'd never done anything more with it. She'd never exerted herself, never trained it, never tested it.
Zephiel had wanted war dragons, Jahn had wanted war dragons, and so they'd received war dragons. Dozens of them. Hundreds of them.
But… that wasn't the limit of her existence, was it? Was she nothing more than an entity that spawned destruction?
No! That couldn't be true! The war dragons came from her ability to manipulate quintessence- a power that some humans truly would think of as godlike! Dragonkin, like her, were far more magically attuned than humans were, and as the Demon Dragon that had been born from a divine dragon, her power eclipsed even that of other dragons by several orders of magnitude.
Where another dragon would've needed to manipulate the quintessence of the beings around her, Idunn's own well of life energy was so vast that she used her own quintessence as fuel to create war dragons. The empty, emotionless husks required little effort for her to create, which was exactly as the Fire Tribe a millennia ago had intended. So long as she didn't exhaust herself in one go creating too many war dragons at once, Idunn needed only to rest after creating war dragons, let her life energy replenish, and then begin the process anew.
It was no wonder the humans had been so desperate as to create the Divine Weapons. If not for them and the 8 humans wielding them, mankind would never have been able to triumph over the Fire Tribe.
What would her 'masters,' the Fire Tribe leaders of the past, and Jahn and Zephiel of the present, thought of her now?
Hmph. No matter. Idunn felt an uncharacteristic, unfamiliar rush of something unpleasant at the thought of her original masters and pushed aside the unwanted memory. She was her own person, her own being. Never again would she allow herself to be bound to blindly follow the will of another.
Even if the creators of the Demon Dragon had never intended for her to use her power to save lives, she was going to find a way to make it happen! The time for war between man and dragon was long gone, and the purpose for which her being had been twisted and malformed no longer existed. Idunn still existed in this world, and it was high time she found a new usage, a new outlet for the power that had nearly ended the world twice over.
Idunn's hands grasped the lavender fabric of her dress, the soft fabric balling up in her hands as she unconsciously grasped her dress tighter and tighter.
She didn't know how just yet… but there was a way to save the life of Roy's mother. She owed it to Roy, she owed it to Ninian, her fellow peace-desiring dragonkin!
Afterall, if Idunn could use her power to take the lives of so many, but she couldn't save the life of one single person, then what point was there in remaining at Pherae and trying to live in peace? If she failed in this task, Idunn wasn't sure what she'd do with herself. She needed to prove not just to the world and her late, long-gone creators, but to herself as well that it was possible for the Demon Dragon of old to use her powers to save lives rather than take them!
Idunn felt a rush of new resolve running through her. Letting go of her dress, Idunn stood up from her chair, looking once more out over the town around Pherae. If one were to see her, they would've been taken aback by the downright fiery look in the normally placid-looking woman's eyes. She could create life, hollow as the war dragons might have been, but that was something no one else on Elibe could even dream of doing! Her powers were unmatched, her potential was unmatched… If she truly wanted to create a new purpose for herself, it was time to act on that potential!
Idunn's all fired up now. Better watch out, world!
Let's see… below are some additional notes and thoughts from me, mostly on background info for this chapter.
Isadora referring to Harken as Pherae's greatest swordsman is a nod to his status as an exceptional unit in FE7.
Pereth (also known as Perez in some translations) is a canon FE6 character; he's one of Murdock's senior lieutenants (he's the druid boss on the gaiden chapter where you get Apocalypse.)
Isadora having training in staves (imagine it as her having an in-game staff rank of E) is a nod to the Paladin class from the Judgral era; female paladins could use staves, albeit at a lower rank than magic units. One could also consider it a nod to Isadora's (non-canon in this continuity) paired ending with Renault, in which she enters the Church of Elimine after the game ends.
Just like there was several chapters ago, there is a reference to another rom hack present. It's pretty easy to spot if any of you reading this have played any FE rom hacks before; it's not like I'm trying to make the references hard to miss.
If anyone is confused by the terminology I use for Pherae, particularly regarding the actual town/city of Pherae… Most large medieval castles had a 'castle town' (this is an actual term) that refers to a town formed within the walls of the primary settlement, closely located to the castle for easy defense. Sort of like how in canon, Ostia is the name of both the largest province within Lycia, as well as the name of the city itself. I suppose one could stretch and say that places like Ostia and Pherae and the other provinces are effectively city-states, but I prefer to think of them like this; Pherae is the name of the province, as well as the capital of this particular Lycian province, but it isn't the only village/town/settlement in the territory known as Pherae. If I remember correctly, Rebecca is a native of Pherae, hailing from one of the villages within the territory, but not from the castle itself.
The line about the Fire Emblem being with Zephiel is not a typo, this is another case of Idunn operating on faulty information. She has no idea that Desmond is still the king of Bern at this point in time.
And finally (and probably most importantly,) Idunn's powers… I'll be taking some liberties here, but (hopefully) nothing that seems out of place. There's pretty much no information provided in canon as to what the limits to Idunn's powers as the Demon Dragon are, so there's a lot of room here for me to get creative. Again, the goal is that the result/results of Idunn training herself doesn't sound out of place.