Epilogue Part 3

The past couple of weeks were filled with the Greil Mercenaries getting acquainted with the newest members and allies. During that time, not much was entirely revealed in terms of the later events that the rest of the group from Elibe had to go through (Nergal, specifically).

Out of consideration of the Black Fang, they made vague explanations of their origins as a... mercenary company that went through a violent usurpation by certain unsavory factors... Regardless, the aftermath was gruesome and the former members needed a career change that involved Ike using his connections to Anna to help provide work for them. Legault, Lloyd, and Linus went ahead with Anna and Jake to the capital of Melior with the rest of the underlings while receiving some requests and recommendations from Greil.

Nino and Jaffar stayed behind with the rest of the scholarly magic users to be better acquainted with the rest of the company before their departure. The latter postponed working with Jan and Igor which was met with relief and dismay by the former assassins (Linus having given Jaffar the stink-eye when remaining with Nino). Unfortunately, the former Angel of Death was... odd to the rest of the company as he accompanied Nino most of the time and was very (very) good with a dagger. One unlucky excursion was it all took for Greil, Titania, and Shinon to obtain a hint at the man's former profession when bandits lurked around and attempted to spy on the company... Or rather, those who wanted payback...

"Hehehe... look at em', ripe for the taking..." A man cackled quietly with three other cohorts behind the trees. "This will be payback for taking down our men..."

Many of their fellow bandits were dispatched quickly the other day when attempting to attack Caldea and Port Talma. At any rate, they had enough men to kidnap the helpless families and friends of the mercenaries. It took many close calls, but they finally found the opportunity to take hostages.

They spied on the four people: Mist, Nino, Rolf, and Nils as they happily gathered wildflowers. Nino and Mist made flower crowns for one another while the former was preparing another one for Jaffar. Nils and Rolf assisted them by giving them flowers with a smile. However, Nils's expression soon soured and narrowed his eyes for a moment.

Rolf quickly caught the boy's expression and became worried. "Is something wrong, Nils?"

While Nils remained alerted, a red-haired man whose hair was tied in a ponytail was situated in the branches of a tree located on the opposite side where the bandits were hiding with his bow in hand. The foliage provided good cover for the sniper as he was ready to pelt the ruffians. He was confident that Rolf and the others would run to safety while he, along with Titania and his commander, Greil, were to flank the enemies. They have long spotted the bandits attempting to capture the young ones innocently playing in the fields. Likely to take revenge for their failed heist.

"Just try, headstrong fools..." Shinon quietly muttered as his eyes were trained on the leader of the group of bandits. "Now the Commander and Captain can... Huh!?"

At the same time that Shinon uttered a sound of surprise, Nils's expression that remained alert returned to a smile. Luckily, the girls were preoccupied with making flower accessories. He turned to Rolf with an apologetic expression.

"Sorry," Nils apologized to the young boy. "I forgot to do something. But the others seemed to have dealt with it already..."

Rolf raised an eyebrow before shrugging to himself. They happily went about picking flowers while Nils took a glance without fully turning his head at the forest where the bandits were located.

The bandit leader smirked and readied his axe behind the tree. He believed the four children were blissfully unaware of what was to come. The rest of the mercenaries were supposed to be preoccupied with other duties. It was time to strike.

"Now we can nab them... I'll get the green-haired..." As the bandit trailed off to turn to face his men, his eyes widened in horror at the scene before him. "What the mmfff!"

The bandit found his fellow ruffians lying on the ground dead with blood pooling from the front of their throats. He found himself panicking and filled with fear as his mouth was then covered by an unknown individual. The location where his heart was had been stabbed through by an exotic dagger held by his assailant. The man responsible was staring at the bandit leader with no emotion except a tinge of fury within his amber eyes. He had a dark cloak and vest that exposed his midriff and tattoo on his left deltoid. His cloak did not cover his spiky red hair and face but that did not stop him from being menacing to his victim. The bandit's eyes rolled back as his fatal wound claimed his life and no further words to be spoken other than an expression of terror. Jaffar flicked away the blood from his dagger as he faced the opposite direction while taking a glance back where to Shinon was located.

Greil and Titania revealed themselves seeing the aftermath with an alarmed expression. Shinon who hid on the opposite side of the sea of trees knew that the mysterious man... no, assassin, knew all their positions yet took the initiative to ambush the bandits in their stead. They were careful not to be discovered by the rest of the company and non-combatants. They didn't notice him... even with Greil and Shinon's keen senses.

Titania snapped out of her stupor to raise her objection to the man's actions. They needed one of the bandits to confess the whereabouts of their hideout.

"We needed to..." Titania attempted to voice her concern until Jaffar shook his head, cutting off her complaint.

"I've already taken out the rest of the men at their fort located East from here..." Jaffar announced as he sheathed his dagger. He then dragged some of the bandits by the back collar of their shirts and bodies facing upward to avoid spilling more of their blood onto the ground. "If you need anything, just ask..."

They then silently watched the emotionless man drag the bodies to dispose of the evidence. Shinon shivered and grimaced having witnessed the entire scene of the man mercilessly killing four bandits without hesitation. Moreover, the way he did so was like a professional which made the trio all the more surprised.

"Former mercenaries, my arse..." Shinon grumbled to himself. "Where in the Goddess's name did the whelp find a cutthroat like him?"

Greil and Titania stared in the direction where Jaffar had gone. Everyone who witnessed his feat came to an accurate conclusion...

"They're no mercenaries... but with such skills, there's no way they should be unknown to the rest of Tellius..." Greil pointed out with a wary gaze.

Unbeknownst to the senior members and the unaware young adolescents, Nils smiled with reassurance knowing that the ill intent that threatened him and the others was extinguished.

"How did Ike get involved with assassins...? And a league of them at that..." Greil muttered with a sense of astonishment in his tone as he sat in his office.

Based on the clues of the group that went to Melior and Jaffar's killing skills, they were an organization of assassins. Greil could tell half-truths were given to him when it came to the explanation of the Reed family's origins and their associates. It was also likely the two brothers, Lloyd and Linus Reed, were no less in terms of skill as Jaffar (and maybe Legault). However, what made Greil and Titania dumbfounded was Nino's relationship with the stoic killer...

"You're not fibbing about this... are you, Mist?" Titania asked the teenager who shook her head.

Greil also held a raised eyebrow as his second-in-command as they were stupefied by what Mist relayed to her father and Titania. They even blinked repeatedly at what Mist revealed to the pair.

"No, I was surprised too!" Mist replied with her tone matching her statement. "Nino is engaged to Jaffar, despite her brother Linus being somewhat apprehensive about it..."

He had every right to be somewhat against the engagement. After all, it was his little sister who was the same age as Mist marrying a man older than her. Lloyd reluctantly agreed to the relationship, much to his chagrin.

While they had no right to comment on the matter, they were still dumbfounded by the fact that an innocent girl like Nino was going to marry an assassin like Jaffar. Such a contrast in personality made one wonder how they were a couple like Ike and Lyn.

"What was also surprising is that he's only about a year older than Ike and Lyn! The same age as Boyd (17)," Mist added with a tone of astonishment in her voice. The revelation once again left the pair stumped by the young man being the same age as the young fighter. He was that young and held that much prowess and skill as a killer?

Nevertheless, they couldn't help but think that such an individual might be deceiving this wonderful girl or hold illicit intentions towards her. Then again, she was well-protected with brothers like Lloyd and Linus (who were still suspected of being former assassins) at her side. Moreover... Why were all the young people being so precocious by swearing themselves to one another...?

"Nino says he's very sweet and responsive if you try to reach out to him," Mist spoke while pondering on how to approach Jaffar. "Oh, I know! Maybe we can ask him to come eat with us at dinner! He usually eats by himself outside of Nino eating beside him..."

Greil and Titania looked at one another with concern as Mist innocently thought of ways to reach out to the enigmatic assassin. Not even Greil's acquaintances would bother to eat at a feast without charging him...

At any rate, Greil made note of the man's skills comparable to the "Fireman" (possibly even better). He was extremely nimble and possessed no flaws in his killing technique. But one fatal flaw was present just like any other person, Jaffar considered young Nino the most important person in his life. He could tell based on the past couple of weeks how he gave a fond and affectionate gaze to the girl. The "Fireman" rarely reveals anything about himself or his motives unless you pay him a hundred thousand gold. So Jaffar possessed an exploitable weakness as an assassin compared to Greil's acquaintance.

In straight combat, Greil can probably prevail against each individual provided they don't perform any underhanded tactics or tricks. Even then, both of them would be hard-pressed against a man like Greil's caliber but it was possible to slay him given his current state...

In any event, the skills demonstrated by the new members left everyone from Tellius astonished. This made the senior members of the company go through training drills to make sure they didn't lag behind their newest additions.

Greil sat within his study mulling over the recent events. The spars he held with his future daughter-in-law and the boy named Guy illustrated their sword skill technique. The latter needed polish along with his son but they all proved remarkable individuals capable of holding their own against most nations' elites.

"Where is this Elibe...?" He muttered with a curious tone.

The name implied based on the context of other countries like Etruria, Lycia, and so on suggested to Greil that this was another continent or a land beyond just the Desert of Death that sailors have not been able to reach. That brought more questions if there were still other lands after the flood which the rest of Tellius remains oblivious.

The magic users also carried tomes not native to the continent. Priscilla, Sophia, Lucius, and Nino have used another language to chant outside of the Old Tongue. Lucius in particular was an acolyte for another religion that had some saint named Elimine as a religious figure and "God" as their deity. The ones called "Sacaen", one of which included his future daughter-in-law worshipped nature and considered the sky and earth as deities. This was no simple matter of differences between culture, language, and unknown places...

"Where were you, Ike...?"

Soren sat at his desk mulling over recent events. He admitted that he hasn't had the time to properly speak with Ike at the right opportunity since his return. His mind flickers to the time right before the newest members came into the company...

"I'm sorry, Soren... I really am..." Ike told the young mage before him.

Soren stood stunned right after he witnessed Ike become much stronger than he originally was as an apprentice. He had been contributing to the company very well as a new combatant. But now Ike approached him to apologize. It was better late than never...

"... What do you mean, Ike?" Soren asked his best friend. Ike then looked into Soren's red eyes with remorse.

"I'm sorry for forgetting you when we met back in Gallia..." Ike admitted to the young wind mage, causing the latter to flinch. "After what happened in that village, my memories went blank of many things that happened before that. Including my meeting with you."

So that was the reason... Soren shook his head. He could never blame Ike for what happened.

"I-Ike... really... it's fine..." Soren replied in a shaky tone. "I don't blame you for what happened. After that scene that happened in the village... I assume that your mother..."

Soren did not finish his sentence, having some inkling to understand what happened to Ike's mother, Elena. This was probably one of those cases that involved traumatic events that caused a person to forget what happened. But it seems as though Ike had recovered from his condition.

"Truth is... I'm glad that I forgot that incident..." Ike admitted to Soren but his face turned to one of guilt soon after. "I don't know if I would have been able to function having witnessed everything... but after my amnesia, I was able to not burden Mist and my father after my mother's death. But in doing so, I forgot you... That's why I'm sorry."

Soren sighed and gave a slight smile to Ike. The one who helped a wretch like him all those years ago... No wonder he hasn't been able to interact with him normally since his return. He reminisced about the day he met Ike for the first time...

"That day you found me in the forest... and the day after when the village was littered with corpses... I only wished to find you, the one who held his hand to me... That's why..." Soren began to trail off as he closed his eyes.

The boy who lived a life of abuse and neglect found only solace in a single friend who reached out to him. Gave him food and was willing to speak to him when he was nothing more than a child wearing rags and covered in dirt.

Another feeling began to reach Soren. Shame. During Ike's absence, he read ancient books that were not in high circulation and arguably banned due to Crimea being the only known Laguz-friendly nation. Yet they understood the taboo associated with the union between Beorc and Laguz. An existence meant to be condemned by both races. And the proof... the mark on his forehead...

"I don't ever regret meeting you, Soren," Ike voiced out his honest thoughts. He held out his hand to the young mage with a welcoming smile. "Let's pick up where we left off, OK?"

Soren took a moment to consider before he took Ike's hand and shook it.

"Right..."

Soren smiled back at his best friend as he accepted the gesture with guilt in his heart. A feeling that would begin to intensify upon Ike's reunion with those he led in this place called Elibe...

Soren doubted himself if he even had the right to be considered a friend to Ike. After seeing the tremendous performance of their newest members, he felt insecure... He was just up and ready to put in his resignation until Ike's future bride interacted with him. He stared at the basket of food that was given to him moments ago (AN: Interlude: Pride).

"I'm disappointed in you for thinking like that..."

His eye twitched upon being reminded of such a thing. He was afraid of disappointing his friend due to his mixed heritage. But Ike's fiance reassured him. To stand proud alongside his fellow mercenaries and to live. He was told that she was the granddaughter of a marquess and that she holds a mixed heritage. She attempted to be empathetic to him, an attempt he appreciated, nonetheless.

However, he cupped his chin in thought. What did she mean that some of their friends were dragons...?

Soren came out of his study and went to the mess hall. It was empty and everyone else was likely out for their duties, playing, or training. All except for one at a table...

"Um... Hello..."

The girl who greeted Soren was the most reserved and shy out of the rest of the group that came to Crimea (more than the pegasus knight, Florina). Her violet hair was excessively long, the longest hair he had ever seen from a person. She was a shaman, those who indulged in the dark arts as the newest members explained. Canas and Sophia possessed dark tomes or elder magic tomes as they called them in Elibe. The former was talented and well-versed in the ancient language to be able to decipher Tellius tomes in a short time upon being introduced to them in Elibe. He also held an affinity to utilize the forbidden (in Tellius) element that is often associated with the dark god of legend (the young mage named Erk also possessed the restricted Water tomes associated with the creation goddess)...

Moreover, he felt a sense of familiarity upon seeing the girl for the first time.

"I... sense draconic blood within you..." Soren raised an eyebrow at Sophia's statement. "I too... am of human and dragon origin... However, I cannot transform... but I possess the ability to predict the future except for something very powerful... and know who holds dragon blood..."

Soren frowned at the reveal of her origins. Was she a Branded? Did Elibe have a community of them? Based on the context given by Lyn, she was unlikely to be dragon Laguz or something along those lines. He was puzzled by who exactly had human and dragon blood but was still a dragon.

He shook away such thoughts and stared at the girl before him. He knew branded like himself held mysterious powers, but in her case, she possessed foresight and could know who was dragonkin. The former was immensely useful on the battlefield, capable of turning the tides of battle should anyone know the weather or other factors. Whatever was very powerful was likely to be rare.

For Sophia, she decided to share her origins with the young man before her. She will not reveal Nils's origins as of yet despite holding similar predictive powers and senses as her. But she decided to take a chance to introduce herself to the mage.

"Is that what my mother or father was? Not like that matters... I won't thank them for bringing me into this world..." Soren admitted to the young shaman who looked concerned. He then shook his head and stared at the young woman with a sense of sternness. "I would advise you with a fair warning since you come from Elibe... Don't reveal your origins to humans, especially to Shinon (especially him). Sub-humans or Laguz as they're classified, can potentially sense who we are... Best to avoid them whenever you can. Don't count on the Goldoans to give you hospitality..."

It was then that Sophia became worried. She was aware of avoiding revealing her origins to most people as her powers or the people of Arcadia could be exploited. But his reaction to her was more of a concern rather than inquiring more about her origins. Also, he uttered a racial slur before her. She studied a bit from Anna before arriving at Tellius. To think he would disparage the race that he was kin to...

"Why...?" Sophia asked with a worried face. "Why do you hold anger towards the Laguz...? Even the dragon blood that flows in me... it is what makes me who I am... So why...?"

Soren inhaled and sighed the next moment. He then turned to the violet-haired shaman with a patient expression.

"You and your people do not originate from Goldoa or the rest of Tellius... right?" Soren queried to Sophia, who shook her head. "And how is your community...?"

Sophia remained silent for a moment before coming to a decision. She would answer truthfully to the dragonkin before her.

"Our home is a sanctuary for dragons... but not many are there... Humans and dragons live in peace... Many people have dragon blood in them... Not all of the ones who hold human and dragon blood can become dragon..." Sophia explained to Soren who was patiently listening. "Our... kind are rather distinct... from the Goldoan dragon Laguz or Laguz in general... And we avoid revealing our people and the dragons to the rest of Elibe..."

So that was the distinction. Soren nodded in understanding. Perhaps an evolutionary trait that allowed some with Beorc and Laguz heritage to still transform like Laguz? Based on the people from a foreign land, it was unlikely but possible. Also, sanctuary? Was there still conflict between humanity and dragon Laguz in their homeland? He knew dragons were the mightiest of all Laguz races. Every nation can be afraid of Goldoa's power as the most powerful kingdom but Sophia also hinted that it was likely a small community of dragons that cannot fight back against the rest of humanity in Elibe.

But now it was time for him to answer her truthfully. He held doubts against this girl but her presence and potential importance to Ike made him assume whatever Ike witnessed in Elibe was the truth.

"A wise choice to isolate yourselves from those who would attempt to exploit the power of the dragons or seek to execute them. You may be a foreigner to our values... but being among those of a Branded or mixed blood is an affront to the Goddess Ashera... An abomination... They curse the Laguz parent by depriving them of their animal transformation... I assume your dragons don't face the same punishment...? Do you perhaps possess the same mark of stigma as I...? You and the others know nothing of the Goddess Ashera in your land, do you?" Soren also pointed to his brand to which Sophia shook her head silently to every question with a worried expression. "Intriguing... Maybe it's because they don't follow the Goddess's teachings... Or does her providence not reach your land, perhaps? Or is it Ashera's way of cursing those who have sinned by union within her domain?"

If this Elibe was another land continent left untouched by Ashera's influence, Soren supposed that may be the case. It was likely just her home in this Elibe that held no prejudice between humans and dragons. The other people from Elibe were too distinct based on culture, place, and values to be part of the same community as Sophia.

Soren's musings left Sophia speechless but patient to learn more about his perspective. She could tell the pain of his existence burdening him with enormous suffering. All she could give was a sad look at Soren.

Soren snorted and gave a slightly amused smile that did not reach his eyes. He didn't care for pity from this person. But he might as well prepare her with knowledge and personal experience.

"No matter, all that remains is apathy and fear towards people like me... Sub-humans scowl and look the other way as if you were nothing... humans hit you with rocks and sticks... You live with nothing but rags and an empty stomach upon being alone with no one to care for you," Sophia covered her mouth in shock in response to Soren's experience. But he continued with a grave expression: "People like I, we look human enough to evade their eyes. Our brand emerges upon first generation but may become present in later generations if they have descendants with other humans based on the texts I've read."

"I... I..." Sophia wanted to voice her thoughts but couldn't. She looked at the young man before her with genuine concern.

To think living with the blood of dragons/Laguz and humans would lead to a life of suffering in this land. It terrified her and also made her cautious of what was to come when her presence was suspected to be akin to the Branded in this land. Based on Soren's lack of awareness towards Nils, it was just her that was likely to face the same prejudices against those who were a result of the two races of Tellius being in union.

She was grateful for the warning from the young mage but also saddened. Her look of sympathy was met with a glare from Soren.

"Don't bother giving me sympathy. It does nothing..." Soren told the shaman while sighing to himself. He then inhaled one more time to ask one more question. "But let me ask you... is Ike aware of your origins...?"

Sophia took a moment to consider his words before nodding. "Yes... he has even witnessed and met those who could transform into dragons... Those with human parents... You can even ask him..."

The young mage was stunned by Ike's experience in Elibe. Soren knew Ike still treated Sophia with kindness despite knowing her origins. Whatever she told him may have been the truth. Soren exhaled shakily while his mouth quivered.

"I-I see... So I might still be..." Soren voiced out while his voice cracked. His face turned miserable upon realizing the fatal flaw of it all. He touched his forehead which signified to him that he was still an anathema to all. "N-no... I'm still c-cursed... Damn it all..."

He scratched his forehead which held the brand to the point where he bled. He gritted his teeth in frustration from the unfairness of it all. He fell onto his knees with tears falling from his eyes. He envied the girl who possessed no accursed mark from the Goddess of this land. The only thing he could remain thankful for in his cursed life was being blessed to meet his best friend...

Sophia could not empathize with this individual. She could only give sympathy. She lived surrounded by love in Arcadia while he lived surrounded by hate. Without a word, she grabbed a vulnerary she had on herself and kneeled to treat Soren's self-imposed head wound.

Soren wanted to yell at her to get away but couldn't. He had no energy to reject her consolation. He could only quietly sob with a trembling voice while comforted by a stranger. There were no words between the two. The only Sophia could do... was to hide the scars deep in Soren's heart and wipe his tears, even just a little.

Unbeknownst to the pair, Ike, Lyn, and Canas stood outside the mercenary fort having just finished their task together. They overheard everything with a darkened expression. Ike and Canas's eyes were closed while Lyn sniffled and covered her mouth. Even though she had just spoken to Soren a while ago and attempted to encourage him, his scars were still too deep. At least no one else was present at the fort to overhear Soren's sorrow...

However, Nils was still present inside his temporary quarters with his eyes closed and lying on his bed. He could still hear everything within the mess hall. His face held no emotions other than an expression of patience and perhaps empathy.

"Cursed, you say...?" Nils whispered out. He revealed his red eyes with a sad gaze. "I suppose we aren't that much different in that regard..."

"This is all wrong..." Yune voiced out with a sullen expression and trembling voice. "How did history get so distorted? Was it at a particular place and time? I don't understand. I've been asleep for too long…"

Athos patiently stroked his beard while staring at the goddess counterpart before him. Through his assistance, Yune remained lucid and more aware of her surroundings which was just limited to where the Greil Mercenaries were situated. But she also overheard and witnessed the pain and sorrow of the Branded in Tellius through Soren's testimony when he spoke to Lyn and Sophia. She had already heard about the stigma of Branded being terrible from Ike but to be exacerbated to this extent...

Athos had learned much from Yune in the short time they resided in the medallion. From her counterpart to her past, and everything she knew. The races of Tellius descended from a common ancestor called Zunanma. But to think she was unaware of the union between Laguz and Beorc yielded a child whose existence was to be shunned by both races until Ike mentioned it through his conversations with others... Not even her Order counterpart should be aware of the Branded.

In other words, whatever stigma associated with the Branded was solely the fault of both races. Not the Goddess, just conflict made by people out of fear and assumptions without confirmation from Ashera or Yune themselves.

It was just like Ike said, people would always fight among themselves and cause trouble regardless of reason. In the end, they were all fools. But endearing fools nonetheless...

Athos looked at the scene where Sophia quietly wiped away Soren's tears. Despite all the differences they had in their lives, they were all beings that possessed hands to connect with one another... Whether you were a dragon, Laguz, Branded, or Human/Beorc...

AN: Callback to the Interlude chapter of Soren that takes place after the Noble Lady of Caelin.