My arm still stings like a burning wound. Suffice it to say, there is a reason itchiness is part of the holy trinity of pain alongside shock and infection. They always appear at the same time, but at least I had the luck to not get the worst one of the cursed trio. If that were to happen I would be writing a posthumous memoir right now and complaining about Plegia society, while I reflected that I was nothing my entire life. But such is the way of the writers.
But in a sense, the wound is going to be the lesser of my problem. Who cares about the meaningless and curable arrow in my flesh compared to the power and might of a nation bringing thousands of people of a massive army capable of shifting the tides of history or the Vessel changing the entire landscape of the world, challenging Naga's monopoly in religious matters, What a terrible time to be alive and see and what a great time to be a scholar to study it.
In other words, who cares about this mess of a foreigner? I will never make a splash or anything and will only be forgotten by the world as a mere footnote. But there isn't a better alternative to being forgotten. After all, to be forgotten is to have no need to carry burdens or be judged, just detached energy from the rest of the world.
These rambles come out of my mind while I eat my stew. Thankfully, it seems that my existence has become only a past memory for the entire nobility, as they can't pester me about how much of a vermin I was to Tharja and her gracious figure on dark magic circles. After all, how can a worm affect the system when he is outside of it?
Before I can finish my meal and do whatever I want on this free day of mine, the crowd gathers. Did something happen? Did Gangrel reappear? Did someone die out of nowhere? Are we getting out of here now? If it's the last one, I can only curse myself, getting a single day of rest is pushing my luck way too much.
I don't consider myself a crowds man. Yes, I try to mimic their clothes and remain silent, but crowds serve more to make the day hotter than necessary and only allow me to smell others' sweat. All in all, not the most pleasant of sensations, but life always goes back to having no pleasure at all. Such is my situation right now.
Reflet stands alongside the bodyguards, whose smells of perfume almost make everyone in their general vicinity vomit, Reflet's characteristic grin irradiates the crowds, making a few bows to her, and prayers to be wasted away into the air. Perhaps, for some, a day to be blessed. The vessel itself, no. Grima itself has come to bless this dull day.
Well, that isn't that far from the truth for some people. But I can only see Reflet in front of me, just with more of military regalia, but still the same person. On the other side of the spectrum, they cower in fear or refuse to bow to her, the false Grima cursing their day with her heretical existence.
Funny that the most polarizing figure of our generation is the same one that pouts whenever I'm joking about her. But then again, everyone close to the dictator can see the person behind the curtains, and not only the veneer of glory they hide into.
As she walks into the crowd, her eyes don't gaze at anyone. They keep staring straight ahead without looking anyone in the eyes, as to her only what they can do matters: more manpower for the army leading her straight to her objective. Mere chess pieces for her game, the same one where the odds are stacked in her favor, but even the greatest of plans may fail.
Still, something feels very wrong in my mind. For all the power she possesses, why go to war? Doesn't she already have the power to literally change reality and make tremors? Why go so far with a war that may delay her plan? Does she want to destroy Ylisse that much? Or is there something else?
For all I know, it could be either option, as understanding her thought process is an ability that I have yet to cultivate. I'm only a boy and I can't control when I speak to her. Especially when she is a high-profile figure. But I can't keep this going on forever and ever. This needs to end, before something even worse takes place. Do I even have the power to change what cannot be changed?
Anyways, Reflet stops then signals everyone to stop talking by closing her fist. Her aura, or whatever the name is, spreads through the air like an explosion, coldness splattering through my interiors and my brain shouting at me to run away as energy prickles my legs and my breath heightens Sweat tasting more like ice than salt pours on my face.
Her stare is an abyss in the red river, an endless omen of finality, where our decision doesn't matter, for the powers of nature rule out every single human phenomenon or law. Just mere stepping stones to the ultimate goal.
"The plans have already been made, my followers. I'm ready to face off against everyone that dares to destroy us and to make the Ylisseans pay for what they have done. I'm your commander and you are my army, ready to stop and exterminate them at any moment. Any failures and setbacks are impossible as they have been taken into account of the bigger picture. Every single possibility has been accounted for."
"It doesn't matter what the halidom throws at me, they will drop dead before they are capable of even scratching us. For I'm Grima, the Vessel. And I will bring this new reality to everyone who follows the path no matter what."
"This is an inevitability, one that not even the power of Naga or the Fire Emblem could do. For one thousand years I have been waiting to strike back. To you, my humble followers, I promise paradise. But anyone who dares go against me, don't worry. You will help either way, I don't kill for fun and whatever your objectives may be, they are mine as well. The enemy is the same, and whatever he has planned against us will be nothing compared to my might. To rebirth, To death. To the broken sun. To the created moon. Agrima."
The speech chills even the sun. Making him shut up to her. No hint of irony or despair. Only a puppeteer controlling her puppets, a general making a move with her army, already knowing the end. Who gives a damn about her power, when even the mind can never hope to resist against her.
That is Grima, the so-called cycle breaker. The being who may be Reflet. And what can I hope to do? What can I, a simple foreigner, hope to do to stop her madness? In the end, I know who is the most foolish person in the region.
Then Reflet's and my eyes meet. But the abyss doesn't exist anymore, any glimpse long gone, as if it never existed in the first place. Without a single care about her image, she throws a smile. Finally a friend among these strangers, her mind probably says. But that is overstating my relationship with her. I'm just one person, I'm nothing, I can't change the world on my own and maybe she is better off without me. But I think I can sway Reflet, I don't need to make Grima my enemy.
And before long, she goes away and leaves the crowd alone yet again. Little discussions strike the air again, but their anger and happiness go straight to my ears. Meaningless, pure sound that does not belong to me, as my mind has only one thing that matters: I have wasted my chances. Here she was and I could talk to her, right? You have failed yet again, Gabriel. You always keep failing like that because you don't know anything, just like mother said.
I don't explode. I walk away from the crowd and go merrily to my tent. What another pathetic moment, I could do everything and yet I did nothing. How many wonders does the procrastinating mind do? Only failures, only roads that lead to nowhere. How naive I was for thinking that I could change and speak. What a naive mind to think my objectives are possible when I only fail at them more and more.
I only face the strands of grass while returning to my tent. Another moment, another day wasted. I shouldn't expect any difference, but then again... the mind isn't the most logical of beings.
"You two get lost now," a familiar voice orders with no hint of remorse. I lift my head, some guards in front while a white headed figure stands in front of my tent.
"But those orders come directly from Validar," the guards reply monotonically.
"You idiots believe that he has power over me?" the voice spats with venom, something so off about it and yet all too familiar… Hold up a moment
"Get away."
And not long after that, the guards complied and left her, although their arms contorted and expanded like a blob. Ok, there is something very wrong with them. But besides that, doesn't she have way more important things to do?
The vessel turns around and changes her frown to a smile in a blink of a second, waving her hand at me. She radiates the same energy as a puppy, overly excited for encountering me for the first time in a while.
"I was waiting for you, Gab."
This situation is weird. What the hell was up with the guards? And, why is she here?
"What?" I reply dryly, trying to make sense of the events. Meanwhile, Reflet grins smugly, as if she had me cornered.
"Did my speech leave you speechless?" She tries to comfort, getting way too sure of herself. Everything goes into my palms.
"No, but…" She frowns. "Weren't you preoccupied with your plans?" I ask, confused about the whole situation
"Did you even listen to it? C'mon Gab, I didn't think you were deaf." She smirks while giving a light jab to my arm.
"I see. I didn't know that up until now. Thank you for enlightening me about my newfound deafness." I reply, deadpan as a rock. She pouts and rolls her eyes.
"Ugh! You and your jokes. Do you think that can overcome me, the tactician?"
Yes, I do.
"Oh well, I don't think I can. But for all that power, it's funny that you can't control your bodyguards, chessmaster."
Reflet caws at the sentence, and for a few seconds tries to come up with a phrase to end all other phrases.
''You don't have a single clue how much I have been doing for my plans to defeat the enemy." Well, for all your planning, it is more on the simple side than laconic. Thank you for giving me ample opportunity, I very much appreciate it.
"Well, you also don't have any idea on how to out snark me, Vaso."
Her mind bugs out a bit when she listens to the so-fearing and so awe-inspiring word vaso. Her eyebrows furrow and Reflet asks, confused, "What did you say?"
"Vaso. Va-so. V. A. S. O" I punctuate, while I get my voice to a higher pitch.
"And what does that mean in your weird language?" She frowns, of course sensing this a mere joke. Technically.
"Isso significa que você é um vaso para um dragão pra lá de maluco." Yes, the word doesn't make a whole lot of sense and makes a lot of sense at the same time, but then again why use poetic words when a metaphor can do just as well?
"I will one day learn your entire language, and you will pay."
Do you prefer cash or by credit card?
"With pleasure. but it's hot out here and I don't think you came off to speak with me for no reason at all."
Reflet strikes with her smugness as if she had been waiting for this all along.' "Sure." And we enter my little tent.
"I didn't know you were living with only this." She points towards the worn out tapestry on the floor, the only thing in an otherwise empty space
"I know. I didn't even know that was possible until I had to live like this," I reply without a single emotion. Reflet cringes.
"Sit anywhere you feel like and feel free to speak about anything. But I will have the first question."
She pouts a little, before complying by sitting. We stare at each other for a while, the air awkward.
But nonetheless I begin. "So, why did you come here? I thought that you didn't care."
She sighs. "Sorry, I had too much work to do. It was fun though. Making tactics is very fun. But dealing with the worms not so much." She spat at the word 'worm'.
"I see, so it was only to apologize? Well, who am I to deny it?"
"No, it isn't only that," she continues. "I have missed our conversations. And besides, you are forgetting something, aren't you?"
What? What am I forgetting?
"I am? I don't know what you are talking about."
She jabs at me and laughs. It was something important, wasn't it?
"You know it. Don't try to hide away from me Gab."
...ok, I will be honest.
"Seriously, I don't remember."
She explodes into hysterical laughter, but realization soon comes to her face and her laugh begins to die down, only leaving a gaping mouth in confusion.
"How can you not remember?"
"Like, I don't remember. Sorry, but it has been two awful weeks for me."
She becomes pensive. "That explains why you seem to be walking so sickly and why your eyes look so tired."
Well… you are being way too kind or have been way too blind to not see that I wasn't fine for a long time. But this is life.
"Well, that has been part of me for a long while, Reflet. I don't think it will be coming off very soon."
"What a shame. I would one day be glad to see them being less purple than our banner"
So do I. But getting to that point will be impossible. After all, the only cure is getting home or getting healthier. And with either option, my chances are zero to none.
"Still, let's forget that for now. How about we talk about something else?" she becomes pensive with the sentence, once I finish uttering the sentence.
"What else do you propose, "funny" man?"
"Well, do you think that this war is necessary, Reflet? Do you really think that? After all, is it really necessary to go to war against other people with that kind of power?"
Her smile drops and no reaction comes from Reflet.
"Gabriel… that is complicated." Her words falter. "Ylisseans must pay for what they have done to me. Almost everyone has to pay for that." Emptiness comes to her face, stating it as a fact and nothing else
"Is killing them all necessary? Can't you just let it off?"
"You don't understand. You just don't understand yet. I don't think without reason"
"So why allow a war to happen? Don't you want to get out and see the world?"
"Yes, I... want that." She trails off as if she has some doubts about it. Trying to make sense of her own paradoxical desire, or so I think.
"So why make this war happen? Is it necessary?"
"Gabriel, I have a plan. A massive plan related to it. Don't worry." She tries to grin ear to ear.
"Ok. If that is what you want, who am I to try to stop it?"
She grits her teeth at the end and gets up from the floor and goes to the exit, only giving me a small glare.
"Gab, sorry for making this conversation last so little. Don't worry, I will be back soon. Goodbye." She waves and tries to smile. Nothing comes out of it. Well, it seems that was deadset. And yet, this could be a chance. Maybe if I try a little bit harder, I can throw her off of her mentality. Please, this is my only hope. Work, work next time.
But before any of my rambles can continue on and on, a somewhat familiar face comes without a single hint of education, not pronouncing his own entrance nor allowing me to have my precious time of registering Reflet's talk.
"Why did you come here after two weeks? Hasn't our so-called "partnership" ended?" I spat. Why does the bastard want to speak with me?
"No, it hasn't ended, you useless idiot. After all, your mission was a complete disaster. Instead of receiving news of a commotion about someone dying, I received the report that someone was running away, accused of being amongst the living.
You could receive martyrdom, be remembered as a savior of Plegia, but no. Instead, now we are fighting a war that was entirely avoidable! Don't you have any shame? I promised you everything and yet, you threw it already if that didn't matter in the slightest."
The spy spurs and coughs away his speech, throwing his arms around in rage. I stand there, only staring at him, gritting my teeth so as to not scream against him.
"Could you kindly get out of my tent?"
"Get out of your tent? Oh, stupid foreigner, you don't have any idea why I came here. Don't think that you will not pay for your insolence and for betraying us in such a delicate moment like this one. Don't be so arrogant as to think that you could have the rewards without the cost." The smug bastard remains in front of me, refusing to sit down and looking down at me.
"I miss the part where this is my problem. I became a part of your scheme because you had the information and I was your agent. But I didn't ever intend to become a martyr in a war that doesn't concern me.
I didn't ever intend to become a tool for your master's bid for power, as I don't care about the machinations and what they intend to do once they get in power. I was once intended to fulfill the dream of another person, but not my own. Don't you dare to think that you could ever have the same sway as her,"
I say calm as a rock, trying not to explode in his face. But before long the man explodes in o as his expression becomes maniacal, like a man ready to kill.
"Do not joke with me. We couldn't care less about your past or whatever your idiotic memories might be. You betrayed us in the end. You didn't honor your part of the contract. Don't you think that you don't have a role to fulfill? you shall go until the bitter end stranger! or else!"
Threatening me again? Stop playing the same game twice, especially when I already have a person who was way better at it daily than you could ever be even with a thousand years of training. In other words, get the fuck out from here!
"Or else what? You'll spread rumors? You'll try to defame my name? You truly don't have any idea of how little this means. After all, you are only a spy. And my name is tarnished beyond all measure in this world. I couldn't care less what you intend to do with it. And besides, do people really care about Gabriel the foreigner, besides the nobles? And even then, isn't the war way more important than any of my worth? Get out now."
"So be it. But before you decry your life and make yourself even more useless, I can forgive you and never pester you again if you agree to do one more mission. This one will be done with or without your help. You will eliminate that curse called the "Vessel"." He says smugly.
Is the guy goddamn insane? Oh wait, of course, do I even need to tell what his objectives are?
"How about no? I'm not interested in your plans or what you intended to do against her. Instead of getting out of my tent, you are making my head have more migraines than usual." I sigh, how can this person be so stubborn?
"Really? You are just going to throw this opportunity away for nothing? Because you don't care anymore? You are truly pathetic. But you remember the deal, don't you? After all, your little mind can't comprehend that. I could offer you the sun and you wouldn't move a single bit. You will not get away from this unscathed."
"Oh well. Call me any names, spread useless rumors, destroy this tent. But I will not partake in your tasks. Death isn't particularly high on the list of things that I want. Would you get out of my tent? You are more annoying than Henry has ever been to me. Cacete!"
I started calm without a single hint of aggression or of my wish to sew his mouths shut forever. But before long, his speech and his remark grated upon my head resembling the same kind of speech of hers and I screamed upon the last word, I don't need more migraines than necessary.
"I will get out of here as you wish. But don't come complaining with me. Whatever you do, things will catch up to you. And you will need to pay your debt somehow. A warning before you take your eventual fall," he says while getting out of the tent without looking at my face once. A mere fragment of dust than nothing in particular.
Anyways, I should be sleeping since the sun seems to be setting. I check outside if there is someone standing out there, ready to kill me. Thankfully, all I can see is the local vegetation. But as a precaution, I will sleep with the dagger ready and the tome open. Any risk and I could say goodbye to any chances of getting home or trying to desgrimafy Grima.
Once again the sun rays infect my eyes and wake me up for another nauseating day inside the camp. My head once again punches me as the migraine flares up once again. I guess the conversation with that man was the one responsible. But then again, daily migraine is my usual plate, rather than an exclusive recipe of the restaurant.
My stomach rumbles once again, almost begging me for something to eat. Didn't I have some kind of dinner yesterday? Yesterday, I… had breakfast, then talked with Reflet and that spy who grated me and then I slept, right? Wasn't the morning where I talked with Reflet and such? But then again, I spoke with the spy and then went to sleep. So it must be night? Didn't I meet with her in the morning? Why am I trying to make sense of something that I have lost?
Leaving the thoughts behind, I go marching towards the camp and fulfill the so-called daily routine. The only thing, perhaps, somewhat capable of distinguishing between these hours or actions I have been making in the day. Otherwise, void days without a single happening. Let's finish the task already.
Once I arrive there, I see a small commotion but ignore it for the time being. Despite not being close enough to catch rumors, violence and events from daily living, I doubt confusion isn't part of daily life. After all, if it wasn't cities wouldn't be a place so chaotic to live in.
I grab the food and eat it, stopping my stomach from complaining for the day. Let's go back to the tent. When I returned, the small commotion had become a way bigger one, with a whole crowd circling a tent in the orthodox area of the camp. Even with the crowd, the bigger details from it were visible with lush saffron and white geometric patterns painting the cloth with this air of luxury.
Despite this, a strong smell of iron comes out of it, not so different from my room when I had to clean off the blood with a blanket. I may not be an expert on the relationship between people in tents in the middle of the war, but why are people begin to murder each other right now? Has the situation become so hot that now we are ready to kill each other instead of trying to murder Ylisseans?
This doesn't sound good. Instead of getting curious like a detective, I turn around and start walking away from this bloody happening. Maybe paranoia is getting the better of me, but when murders are on the line, I would rather be one thousand kilometers away from it. Someone shouts in my direction to stop me before I can go my merry way.
"Hey you. Stop moving!" I point towards myself. "Yes, you. Don't run away. After all, you were the last person the guy talked to" he says, furious.
"What are you talking about?" I reply with my legs ready to run. Cold sweat pre-announces the worst, as the person gets closer to me.
"Don't try to get away. You are getting to the tent and testifying for the murder." He screams. Who is this guy!? My guts begin to explode in me, my heart palpitating into infinity. I hold into my fist while the energy prickles me and the only thing remaining is to flee or vomit.
"Murder of who?" My voice trembles and gags. Don't tell me the spy is already dead? Horror and relief come at me. Yes, the bastard will stop getting in my head with headaches, but why had to be after came to speak with me?
"Nevermind, but I'm innocent. I didn't even know he died." I try to offer some resemblance of calmness, someone who was at the same time lost.
"Tell me before his corpse!" His hand grabs me and almost breaks my bone, the pain latching onto me while I fight against the desire of gouging his eyes out, gritting my teeth to surpass the pain. He throws my fragile body to the ground and I see what is happening with my own eyes.
Whatever the corpse is, it's not human or trying to resemble a human. The contortions at impossible angles, where bits of arms and legs meet up in a 0 degrees angle and other parts like the fingers seem stuck on the ball in the uppermost part of the body.
The torso wide open, the organs black as the night, while mixed up into a casserole where only black and purple exists, a gooey mixture where its paintings the innards, is this even his organs? While bits of the spine appear amidst the chaos reigning down into these bodies, some in the casserole, others stuck on his hands, others on his mouth.
The blood only stayed in the ground because in the corpse there isn't anything resembling even a red wine, the red only appearing on the numerous pools surrounding him and the tainted cloth of the tent.
Meanwhile, the clothing in his body were all ripped in haste, serving only scraps spread out in every corner of it, besides his own body The only thing even remotely remaining is that teeth stuck inside the cavity of the ball, gorging the dark liquids always rising, outpouring from him like a small font of water.
But beyond that, the disfiguration was something out of fantasy novels. Impossible, a painful demise that only the very unlucky few could have the damnation to taste. My throat gags and burns, the feeling to spit out the bitterness coming out of me, the taste infects my mind .
Damn that reflux! I run away from the scene and I throw up.
"Damn, that isn't him!" They scream and leave me alone. The crowd goes back to circling the tent. Leaving me alone with the remnants of my breakfast, but the hunger not coming back.
But not long away from the tent, a white-headed figure comes out with a brimming smile. Something that could look like Beatriz in Paradise. So pure and so kind. She stares directly at me and before long, the smile turns smug, as if she feels satisfied for something she had done. An immutable pride in her job while she winks at me. And not before my reaction comes into horror upon the realization, That beautiful smile, the snark smile of hers collapses into a frown.
So that was this chapter XIX. About the Vaso thing, well, it means Vase and not vessel, but I decide to keep it just for comedic purposes, after all, a vase and a vessel aren't that much different. Hope this chapter was better than the last one or the grammar seems better than usual. Special thanks to Cavik for beta reading the fic and thanks to everyone who reads this mess and quite like it.
I also participate in a discord alongside other wonderful people, if you want to chat or anything really, feel free to enter: discord . gg / 9XG3U7a
Crowbars357: Don't worry that doesn't happen, because the timelines are different! So don't expect the events of awakening to happen in the same way or some happen at all. After all, this Reflet/Robin is quite different and the situation where Plegia, therefore Ylisse, is in is quite different in the details, although it could be said it follow the same big picture from the original game
2010si: Glad you liked the chapter. Well, Gabriel is going to be stuck as a dark mage for the foreseeable future, since that is what he has been trained for by Henry. Don't expect thief or warrior Gabriel anytime soon. As for pegasus knight, perhaps? I didn't give much of a though to be honest with you, but maybe? We will see that in action in the future, so you will get the answers there. You're welcome and indeed Tharja MVP.
Black Kraken: I see, hope you liked it