The Ylissean army pours down from the mountains to my direction like massive waves against the beach. The blue haired figure stands front and center, although other leaders appears beside him, all with one objective in mind: reclaiming the city.
Will I even be able to survive this peril?
I don't know. What I know is this: I must survive to speak with Reflet, even if it means we must lose this battle and return our boots into Plegian territory. In reality, this will be more of a moment of relief. If Plegia loses, it will make up for enough time to convince and make Reflet to stop her way before it is too late.
"Wait!" Reflet barks at us while her eyes focu on the wave. With her sword in guard, her legs' muscles tense like those of a runner, ready to attack. I stay in my position, picking up my tome, but leaving the dagger in the backpack. Compared to me, Henry does react, frowning and leaving his canines bare. Denied of his bloodshed, the wolf can only grunt in protest. Looking at him, I take a few steps away, increasing the distance between us.
I notice my trembling arm, the clashing of my teeth and the air freezing around me. Are Chrom and the Shepherd bringing the entire fury of his army towards this one spot. Images conjure out of my head: swords slashing my throat, an arrow piercing my eyes and a lance piercing my heart. I shrug my head but it is all in vain, the image remains all the same. I need to survive this somehow.
The blue pointed dot comes closer to our position. Isn't the army responsible for dealing with this? We can't ever be so sure, what if they fail? Um, dois, três. The mist emerges surrounding me as I use it to shape the orb. I notice a glare.
Breaking away from her original position, Reflet gazes against me the moment the mist spreads from the confines, almost as if sound had been made. Her deep red eyes make me shiver even more than before, turning the air gelid. I slowly let the mist sizzle out of her sight, making Reflet go back to position and leaving my throat hard to swallow.
Then for a brief second, a flash passes before my eyes. I turn to my left and I see a pool of blood where a mage stood before, with little strands coming out of the pool and going behind my back. I rotate my head and see a pegasus knight standing among us.
On the tip of her lance there is now the pierced neck of the person, whose blood spilled from the injury. The body still twitched, but in a fell swoop, the corpse fell from the lance, unmoving like a statue. How did that happen?
I walk backwards as the pegasus knight flies to the skies. I turn my head only to see a red missile coming in my direction.
The seconds turn into a crawl, my hand slowly catching up to the position in my head. The thing becomes clear to see as it approaches my direction, the tip of the lance shining.
I'm going to die.
Energy invades my muscles, making them explode in a flurry of action. I jump and curve myself almost into a ball, the arm in front of me while retracting my legs. The pegasus reaches against the ground, the lance passes a few millimeters from my leg, only leaving a bare slash against the fabric of my pants.
I fall to the ground, the grass scratches my body and the impact sends pain to my arms and back. Unfurling from the ball, I notice the assailant's pegasus standing on the ground, her head turned to me.
We exchange stares in confusion, the redhead with her lips shut and her eyebrows furrowed. We maintain the glance for a few seconds while the group of dark mages surrounds her. Underneath it all, is she perhaps feeling fear? Anger? Hate? Or only is she just a pegasus knight trying to do her duty, which led to us having to fight each other?
Sadly, with no time for sympathy for the other side, I lift myself from the ground while she goes up into the skies again. I take a glance at my surroundings. Some bodies collapsed on the ground, but not many. Just a few drops compared to what the previous battle was. I turn my sight to Reflet again, her eyebrow furrow, but don't twitch. She readies her blade but remains steady. What the hell is she planning to do?
I look away from her and up to the skies again. The pegasus knights are like vultures, going in circles above us. One of them goes back into a swoop and catches a dark mage. Um, dois, três. The mist forms in a few seconds, transforming into orbs. Another falls down and catches the other dark mage on my side.
I turn to the side and cast the spell, but it is in vain. The rider lifts the pegasus away from the shot, which only scratches part of her armor and leaves me open to other attacks. May I not be picked up.
I hear a brief whiff behind my back and jump to the right, and in a flash, an X passes through where I once was. I look at my back and Henry gruff with his teeth wide open, kicking the ground once the X hits the walls. Dammit, of course, I needed Henry of all the people in the world.
Bodies fall from the attack. Once again a flash comes from the top of the sky. The red rocket comes again in my direction. I jump once again, leaving myself to the whims of the milliseconds. The animal scratches my feet when it meets me. One second later and I would have dropped dead.
Fallen once again, our eyes meet again while I walk away from the beast. My tome is on the ground on my side. The woman raises her lance and strikes the ground, just a few millimeters away from my crotch. I grab the lance's stick and wrestle against the woman, putting my arms, but she returns to control once again. The wooden material raspes the palms of my hands, making me drop.
The wings of the pegasus wave, the air blinding for a few seconds, making me fall to the ground once again. Damm it, where are fucking Henry and Reflet when I needed them! I look at the top of the sky. The others raise up while a wave of projectiles pours from us, they dodge as if this is a mere game, the pegasi way too fast for a projectile to hit. Does their entire training consist of this?
But Icarus flew way too close to the sun. To avoid even more of the attacks, the pegasi go higher up into the air until they commit a mistake. Arrows fly from the walls of the city in waves and hit them, the animals whining in pain from the attack. Riders fall alongside their companions to their demise, the crunching sound audible for me.
The red-haired lady looks at it with her mouth and eyes wide open, stopping in mid air. She is way lower than the wall, the arrowheads don't have a chance to hit her. Noticing the breach,I pick up my tome. Um, dois, tres. She stares back at me and before I can produce the mist, the rider flies away out of my aim and towards the field where the enemy army stands. I sigh, this will be a long day ahead.
I look at my surroundings, dark mages bodies litter the ground alongside the aforementioned riders and their pegasi. The soil and grass are soaked in the red liquid, but I refocus my attention on what is in front of the castle: the armies clashing against each other and Reflet overseeing the conflict before her own eyes. I come up to her.
"Do you have a plan for what is coming?" I ask while pointing towards the battlefield in front of us. A few minutes pass, the Vessel doesn't speak a word, her eyes fixed on the bloodshed, leaving me alone in my thoughts.
What comes next? Where is Tharja?
I frown at those thoughts. Why Tharja but not everyone else besides her? I look once again at Reflet, waiting for her answer, as if I had become a dog to her.
Reflet doesn't look back at me, she turns her body backward from the battlefield and walks towards the gates alongside her bodyguards and confusion comes to me. I gaze back at the battlefield. The Plegian army flees in all directions. What happened!?
"We underestimated them. Retreat to the fortress," she barks, the dark mages dropping their stances and fleeing towards the gates. Then she turns her head, stressed. "Follow me!" she says. I oblige.
I look back while I run. The enemy figures become more visible, their armors, and worst of all, the other Shepherds beyond Chrom. I mustn't fail. We crowd in the gates, Reflet passes through the flock and taps the metal structure with her sword, the metallic sound resonating and notifying the guards, making it slowly open while the sounds of arrows piercing against the air vibrate in the air.
I look back once again, gauging the time when the Shepherds come to the tunnel. The narrow nature of the structure blocks much of my vision, although one thing stays front and center: the blue-haired man walking across the field with his sword, the arrows serving as little more than a distraction, each second he and his group coming closer towards the funnel.
Looking at the front, the gates open.
"Enter!" Reflet commands, and so the rush begins. From the claustrophobia, the pile of people fighting against each other. Stuck amidst, I put my hand above and try to push out of my way people, all to come closer to my destination. I'm elbowed in the face, but I continue with the air being robbed away from me. Dammit, I pull the person in front of me, struggling to get out before the Shepherds come and kill me.
I look behind my back and Chrom and company are a few dozen meters away from me. C'mon, I can't die in this hellish place. I bolt into action, shoving my entire shoulder into the back of a person and pushing against the ground, reforging the push. "What the hell are you doing!?" the man screams. I keep moving while screaming back at him, "Sobrevivendo!"
The push continues until the moment the man falls into the ground, making me fall into the hard cold ground. I look and there is Reflet watching me, alleviated. Did I make it? I look back and see the gate dropping, blocking the Shepherds coming over, only a few centimeters from my position
I gaze at Chrom, his hand grabbing the bars, with his teeth bare and gruffing along the way. "You are going to pay!"
He stops, turns his back to us and walks away. Some dark mages try to shoot, releasing orbs against him, with little success.
Reflet gruffs for a moment. "You are idiots, stop attacking." She points her sword toward the palace. "We are going back to the palace."
Henry cackles like a hyena, Grima glares at him;
"But aren't we getting away from the guts? Wouldn't this be useless? Should we really retreat?"
Reflet walks towards him and slaps his cheek, the man falling down to the ground. "Orders are orders. Didn't your father teach you as much?"
Henry gazes back at her, showing his teeth against her, only for Reflet to glare back at him. He turns his head around. "Sure. We are going back to the castle then." Bitterness comes out with his voice, almost scoffing at her. He gets up and comes next to me and whispers into my ears, "Huh, it seems that even the Vessel denies something so basic."
I whisper back at him, "I think you should just listen to her, even if only for the time being."
He stares back at me growling, only to go back and contort his smile again. "Yes."
Reflet runs dashes in the laid-down streets while pointing with her sword at the castle. Her bodyguards remain with the inhuman pacing, almost jumping beyond their ways. I trudge alongside the surviving dark mages. Sweat invades my brow while I turn my head behind me. Upon the fortress, the archers either fall to the ground or escape to the stairs, some still fighting until their bitter end, while the Ylisseans try to secure the area.
In the process, the blue-haired prince breaks off from the main group, alongside a grey-haired man and a few others. Swinging his sword, he kills the few who fight him, while the grey-haired man uses his bow to fire against the others fleeing or coming toward him. I shrug and refocus on getting back, the Shepherd's invasion has come!
In a matter of minutes, we reach the palace and the gates are stuck open as if they are waiting for us to come. The group stops running, but I continue the pace, my objective on Reflet. Ignoring the stares of the guards and others along their way, I reach the Vessel, touching her shoulder while she gazes at the corridor's dark void. She turns her head emotionless.
"Do you have any idea where we should go next?" I scream at her, while the sounds of boots come closer to our position. Looking back in the distance, an entire squad is coming in our direction, the dots moving at a swift pace. How fucking fast are those Shepherds!?
"We are going inside. If we can bottleneck them, they will not be able to eliminate any of us. And we will have ample opportunity to counter their offensive," She says indifferently. A sound plan, however…
"Are you sure this is going to work?"
"Are you questioning me now?"
I shut up, and a round of arrows comes from the sky, some of them hitting the walls and some the soldiers on the enemy side, when I look back. I run towards the inside of the palace's dark corridors. There is no time to figure out if they belong to the Plegians or the Ylisseans. What is important is survival.
Inside the chaotic pace, my mind rambles at the worst of times. Did Validar and Gangrel think they could invade and get away before they could face Chrom's army? It's doubtful, but then again, Gangrel is the mad king for a reason. I shrug. Stop rambling, it will not serve you anything, bastard!
We arrive at the hall with no soul in sight. Did Gangrel's genius decide to just put the entire force at the front but none at the garrison!? I look at the others and Reflet and then back to the abyss coming out from the corridor.
I stutter, "Do…do you have a plan?"
Before she can answer, cracking noises of boots come out from the corridors. In how many seconds are they going to come?
The time has come.
I run toward the stairs and go into the high ground, having the vision of the entire bottom of the place, the corridors, and everything standing in the way. Henry positions himself at the bottom of the stairs alongside Reflet, her bodyguards go in front of her, serving as shields. Neither Henry nor Reflet look at each other, but instead in front of them and the wave coming to our position, death knocking on the door.
The ground trembles in anger, almost shaking as soldiers pour out from the entrance. I ready Flux and let it overwhelm. I cover my entire body in the mist, making pellets-sized orbs and aiming at the invasion. The bodyguards slash them before they can approach the stairs as others replace them, flowing like an avalanche getting out from a hole.
The wave continues nonstop, but little by little, the movements of the creatures become more sluggish, the swords slash slower, their bodies shaking more, allowing for breaches in their position, swords perforate and slash them. If they are dead…
The other dark mages and I release the spells. The amount of energy coming more like a gauntlet, turning the little area between the bodyguards and the corridors into a meat grinder, the Ylisseans coming and falling into the ground and piling up as the pellets hit them. We keep releasing wave after wave, stopping not even for a second. My arms tremble with the stress and my barrage of attacks then for a moment, my arms strain and stop the energy and exhaustion process of my mind, my arm twitching and contorting in pain, saliva coming out of my mouth. The onslaught goes on and on.
No ending in sight even when the area becomes darker than wine, a little barrier between us and the enemy. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to keep up with it, until, for a brief moment, the wave stops and nothing comes out of the hole.
Seconds pass without much happening. I stay almost still, breathing some air while sweat drops from my brow. Looking at the bottom, the bodyguards go toward the empty corridors, checking if there is any sign of anyone coming out
Once they come towards the hole, a sword passes through them like a knife through butter, their body falling and a black goo pouring out of their wounds. With them dead, the blue-haired man comes out from the hole alongside the grey-haired archer, one of his hands pointing in multiple directions, people from the Shepherds spreading to the areas they are assigned.
Reflet doesn't waste a single moment. She leaps in the air toward the grey-haired man, her blade aiming at his neck. Before the sword can make it, however, the prince dashes in his direction and uses Falchion to stop Reflet.
Sparks come out from the contact between the blades, Reflet using the time to put her feet on the ground. I see the prince frown for the first time and whisper out the word "Grima" Their first battle has finally come.
But before I pay more attention to it, the archer takes a step back and readies his bow, his target: me. Immediately, my muscles strain, seconds turn into a crawl, I fall on the ground, using my arm and legs to dampen the impact. I see the arrow pass above me, hitting the ground a few centimeters away from me. How many close calls am I going to have?
I gaze at my surroundings, a fireball hits one of the dark mages, burning him and, in the process, he panics and grabs the one next to him, spreading and turning into a human torch. Before they come toward me, I roll to the other side, allowing him to grab the parapet and fall down.
I raise myself; what is hell happening?! I go back to the parapet and look at the bottom. Henry's opponent, a swordsman, dodges the X of ruin as if it is second nature to him, while at the same time approaching Henry. But whenever he goes into range, the crowman goes backward, returning to a stalemate.
Meanwhile, the battle between Reflet and Chrom continues like there is no tomorrow, swinging swords at each other, but with no one at a clear advantage, with Reflet dodging the prince's slow attacks while he blocks her quick slashes.
Wait, what am I doing? Wasn't there-
I turn my head towards the archer, his bow stretching and aiming at my head. I put my hand in front of my face and arrows fly, piercing my right hand, and in the process, pining me to the ground, the tip almost touching my eyes.
PUTA QUE PARIU!
I scream like a wild animal, trashing my pierced hand. I push the stone ground, dammit dammit! The air itches my hand while I slug away from the sight of the man, slithering further away from the parapet and further into the confines of the walls, leaving my tome on the ground while a small trail of blood follows me. I look at my left hand, the pierced one. Should I remove the thing or not? I don't know, please don't destroy my nerves, I need them.
I crawl towards my tome while lifting my hand, not allowing the painful arrow to move and inflict any more damage. Reaching in there, I touch the book, putting my hand underneath it and lifting, but the weight drags my hand down into place. I notice the archer is readying another shot. I grit my teeth, with one hand stuck with the book and the other with an arrow, I roll to my left while putting the right hand above the ground at all times.
The arrow passes through my right. The time is now! Using both of my legs and elbows, I get up. Um, dois, três! The mist surges from the pierced hand, a small pellet forming, while he picks up another arrow . I briefly aim at his chest, launching it before he can properly put the arrow in place.
It pierces his lower abdomen. The man clutches his stomach, dropping the bow, giving me time to breathe even if only for a few seconds. I glance at what is happening at the bottom. Reflet catching up to the prince, Falchion gets close to his neck. Who will win?
Before I can gaze at the duel between the two any further, a red-headed woman with glasses launches a fireball. I dodge it, but it touches my cape, burning the fabric. I start to tremble to try to extinguish the fire. It continues, the attempt futile. I drop the tome and pick up part of the cape. Using the tip of the arrow, I rip the burning part and stop it.
She continues the onslaught, launching fireballs left and right. The heat increases in my back as a little flame pops from behind. I continue to dodge the attacks, the adrenaline serving as my only support amidst the assault. I need just one breach, just a tiny one. Little by little, the interval between fireballs increases, her arm twitches while her aim gets more sluggish. The margin between me and the fireball increases at an exponential rate, until it stops.
Finally, I slam into the ground, reading Flux while the pause happens. Um, dois, três. A pellet forms in my right hand, although it twitches against the parapet, the stress getting over me. Noticing my sight on her, she runs. I launch it, in a vain attempt to stop her, but it isn't enough. It only hits the ground, disappearing while she escapes into the corridors, leaving a few us still on the bloody battlefield. I notice the grey-haired man running away.
I take the time to produce the pellet again. I'm so sorry, but I can't have my chances lowered right now. Before he can go back alongside the mage, I aim at his leg, hitting him in the knees. He stumbles while screaming, getting close to the corridor but falling along the way.
The prince takes a glance at the man, drawing his focus away from Reflet and to his hurt ally. Reflet takes the opportunity and kicks Chrom in his chest, making him fall backward, but not enough to make him fall to the ground. Reflet slashes at him, but Falchion strikes the sword, both of them clanging, returning to the previous status quo, even if the tides have turned.
The shepherds are closer to the door. The archer is crawling in it, his bow left among the bodies. From the left side, comes out the tortured woman with a red-haired man. Their movement is slow, leaving ample time to hit. I leave them as it is, she doesn't deserve this fate.
In the end, there are only two swordsmen still left on the field. The one Henry is fighting notices the archer screaming and pointing toward the corridor. He growls but leaves anyway. The prince is the only one still in the area.
The swords keep clashing, but with Henry free, he returns his attention to the duel between the Vessel and Naga's chosen one. When he sees the X of Ruin forming and aiming at him, he pushes Reflet, making her fall, and runs towards his group, who disappear in the darkness.
"If you weren't in the way, I could have seen that idiot's guts," Henry screams at Reflet.
She gets up towards him and slaps him in the face. "If it weren't for your bad aim, we could have killed the Ylissean in a matter of seconds," she coldly states.
They glare at each other. Meanwhile, I fall to the ground and breathe in pain, crying for a bit. Esse droga de batalha acabou! Where the hell was Tharja amidst this confusion? I look around and see her, panting. How the heck did I not notice her?
Reflet come to me, indifferent. "Look at the damage, it was so close. Had it been just a few more seconds, I could have ended that vermin's life there and then." I don't reply, trying to breathe while sweat comes down from my brow. "Why aren't you replying?" She until she sees the arrows in my hands.
"Oh…" She frowns and picks me up in a bride-style carry. I don't pay much attention, just focusing on not allowing the arrow to hurt more than it already does.
"Your hands are going to recover, just don't use them often," the white mage advises while I look at the bloody bandage gluing into my hands. I shouldn't expect more, but I can't help but be a little bit pissed off. My hands wince from the damage, the pain obvious when I touch them. I hope they're going to recover, we are in the land of vulneraries after all.
It somehow kept me alive even after all that Goetia has done to my right arm, I look into its still clinging bandages. This is only to get worse, isn't it? I pull my sleeves back down, hiding the infirmity. Reflet goes back to watching me in consternation. I look around me. So few bodies aren't there? So few bodies and the massacre happened…
I should stop complaining, this world has already accepted this as the default.
By the way, this could be a perfect opportunity to talk with her.
"Hey, could you leave us alone for the time being?"
He nods and gets away from us, leaving me alone with Reflet.
"Hey Reflet, how…"
Validar comes in, putting his hand on her shoulder while glaring back at my face, his shadow covering me. I maintain a poker face, staring at him empty while Reflet looks away from me.
"The Vessel has many duties to attend to," he states while walking away with her, only turning his head to smirk at me.
Huh, that bastard! If there were more time and I was in less pain, I could have spoken with her! Dammit, another opportunity down in the drain. I will be paying severely for this.
So this is the first chapter of this, hope it's better than the last one but that we will see. Referring back to the fic, while I wasn't publishing I was working on finishing Arc II and I have finished! It still needs a lot of editing before it can be shown but I have the chapters on my hands right now.
That also means that once I finish the editing I will be focusing on writing the final arc of the fic. In other words, Detachment is closer to it's ending and I hope I can pull it off still this year. Not that I don't like Detachment is that it allows me to focus on some other stuff to write besides the fic, but just because of that doesn't mean I will do a bad job. Detachment is my baby and as such I will try my best to write good chapters for it beyond anything else.
With that out of the way, I want to thank Cavik for beta reading this fic. Also thanks for the people reading the fic, since this isn't a fire emblem experience per say and I didn't expect that I would even go to 200 follows, so another thanks as well; Review are appreciated.
Lastly, here is a link for a server where I participate in: discord. gg / 9XG3U7a
2010si : I laughed a bit with your comment since Gabriel isn't exactly fond of the whole idea of world domination, but oh well.
I mean It's very fair, but they are fanaticals therefore to them only Grima and nothing else.
Yes, it has.
You're welcome!