Fire Emblem: Spellbinding Radiance.

[The Silent Orator]

Well, this is the self-insert fanfic I asked about in Advice. You'll find that I'll be updating here earlier and more frequently than on FF.net ('cause I'm too lazy to do all that logging in and stuff just for a single chapter update)...

Here we go!
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Author’s Note: Well, I really started this fic out of sheer boredom, and reluctance to do my already growing pile of homework. Yes, I am aware that I have another fic there. However, I really feel no urge to work on it now. Reading a semi-well done self-insertion fic inspired this. I had the bright idea to insert myself into a universe. I have actually done this many times back in the role-play group I had. I actually inserted myself as a character with powers. However, this time will be different. I shall appear in the universe as I appear now, with one minor change.

I have no official name for the class I am, but it is a character concept I had been juggling in my head for a while. I do not mean to overpower my character, and it is most likely later on in the story that I will find a preference, but for the beginning, I shall be a general magic user and bowman. I could not figure out which one to make myself, and I had always been fascinated with combining two things together, similar to how Mist was able to use swords, despite being a magic user.

In addition, I would like to note that this fic is not taken as seriously as my other fic, A Lifelong Promise. It is just something to do to avoid doing homework, and I do not want to put myself in as serious of a mindset as my other story. This is more of just light writing… writing for the heck of it without worry of how many words per chapter or putting it through my absolute quality standards (which are rather high at times). However, I believe I have rambled enough. I have digressed enough. Presenting to you, “Fire Emblem self-insertion fic that hopefully doesn’t look like a Marty Stu character because I’m trying my best not to make it that way”.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem. If I did, there would be more girls and Ike would not be such a glory whore in being the only beorc to hurt Ashnard. Makes me wonder if I should say that to his face when I get the chance…

Chapter One:

Meeting.

“&!@#, man… I have had it up to here with this homework,” I sigh angrily as I sit down at the computer. It was a bright Thursday morning, roughly ten o’clock. As with every Thursday and Friday this semester, I had the day off to recover from the ten A.M. to nine P.M. schedule on Wednesday and to catch up on homework. I looked at the neglected pile of Computer Programming homework, wishing it was next semester so I could work on what I really want to do. Music composition has always been a favorite thing to do, and it has always been a dream to be a composer for some big video game company one day. Square Enix or Intelligent Systems did not seem like too bad of a choice.

I pulled the USB drive out from around my neck and plugged it into my computer. I entered it to see the clutter mirror the massive clutter in the room. Files literally were thrown everywhere just as random pieces of paper and notes were strewn about the room. Completely ignoring the folder of computer programming projects, I found solace in going into the only other organized folder in the drive, labeled “Fanfiction”.

I opened up another folder labeled “A Lifelong Promise” and smirked to myself. Although only chapter three had been posted up, I already had chapter five written. However, I refuse to post the next two chapters before polishing them up. It has always been a tradition to withhold chapters until it fits my borderline obsessively impossible standards. I opened up the document labeled Chapter 4 when a meowing sound reaches my ears. I turn to see my cat had walked into the room and was standing next to my trombone case. It rubbed its head against the case, which was an unfortunate thing as the case was open. The next thing that happened was that the lid snapped shut on its tail. It let out a yelp and a hiss before tugging itself free and running out the room.

I sighed as I walked to the kitchen, stealing a quick glance at the piano as I walked by. It had been a few days since I practiced Celes’s theme, and I needed to get a move on if I wanted to get the medley down and memorized before Christmas. I walked into the kitchen, to the back door, and let the cat out when a nagging urge told me to go to the family room. As I walked in, my Wii copy of Radiant Dawn lay on the table, taunting my lack of a Wii to play it on. I smirked as I realized I had never completed my “Radiant Dawn Playthrough” as I called it. It was a playthrough of my favorite characters to max them out for transfer data to Radiant Dawn when I got my Wii.

I turned on the television set and turned on the Game Cube and waited as the game loaded. My face fell with agony and anger as the message popped up that the memory card was corrupted. My current playthrough was my seventh one! I was so close to getting Petrine for the Trial Maps. I said the first four words that came to my mind to express my feelings.

“Son of a bitch!”

Infuriated, I set my controller down on the table… the only calm thing I did. I took a deep breath, and formatted my memory card. Well, there goes five years of Melee records and four Tales of Symphonia playthroughs down the drain as well. Starting a new game, I decided to re-do the Radiant Dawn playthrough. As the intro video played, I got up to get something to eat. As soon as I got up, my cellphone rang. It was my mother… calling me to tell me to go to the store and pick up a gallon of milk and some eggs for a party she was hosting soon. Grumbling in a dark mood, I concisely replied that I would do it.

I sighed as I got my car keys, went out the door, and went out to my old car to start it up. As I drove to the store, my mind wandered to the fact I completely forgot I left the game on. I also forgot about the computer as well. Great. Now I’ll have about six messages on AIM going “Where are youuuuu?”

As I made a left turn onto the highway, a blinding light from the sun flared on my eyes. Expressing the same expression I uttered not ten minutes ago, I swerved on the road. As the sun got out of my eyes, I heard a low honking noise. In front of me was an eighteen-wheeler coming at me head-on. A painful realization came to me that I swerved into the oncoming lane. Not much ran through my blank mind as I saw the middle of my bumper crash into the front-right tire of the trailer in a horrendous crashing sound of glass and metal. Man, how troublesome. I did not even get to tell her I liked her…

Darkness. I knew it. I’m dead. Damn it! What the hell is? I can’t tell if my eyes are open or not. I can’t feel them. I can’t feel anything. I can only hear right now. I can’t even smell anything. A voice echoed out into the darkness and said, “You have been given another chance. You will be placed in another world… another universe that exists. Another world that has been created by one of the people from your home world.”

I thought to myself for a bit. How the hell can someone from my world… wait my world? Anyway… how the hell can someone from my world create a universe into existence? I wanted to ask these thoughts but I had no mouth to speak with. Thinking about no mouths, my whole body wasn’t there either! No wonder I couldn’t sense anything. Funny how I could still hear.

“I can read your thoughts you know. I’m talking directly into your spirit’s mind. In your world, certain people are born with the ability to create universes based on their thoughts. It is rare, but you are actually one of them. Whatever world you create with your mind would have existed. In fact two are in existence right now, connected to each other.”

I rolled my eyes… metaphorically speaking. That’s all I needed. Real versions of my characters running about. Although, it wouldn’t be that bad meeting some of them. I’d definitely have to avoid Kate and Celeste though.

“No, you won’t be sent there yet. I have something in mind for you. Something that you might enjoy in four years time.”

Four years? What the hell? That’s not good! Four years is a LONG time to wait.

“Yes, it is. Don’t worry. After a while, you’ll enjoy it there. You’ll actually have friends and allies and people you know you can trust. Also, I’m giving you a small present… consider it a head start in this new world.”

Before I could think another thought, I could see a light. The light slowly grew as the view around me faded into vision. I was in a forest, slightly darkened by trees around me. I could hear a slight rustle in the bushes near me. Cautiously, I walked toward the bushes. I could hear shallow and rapid breathing on the other side. Sounds like it was either a small animal or a very frightened person.

Carefully, I pushed aside the bushes and walked through to spot someone in front of me. Her green hair flowed down slightly past her shoulder blades, and her orange dress seemed a bit dirty. Her eyes widened in shock as I burst through, but seemed to relax a bit when she realized I was not a soldier. Before I could say anything though, three soldiers ran in front of the bushes she was hiding behind, from where I had just come from. I barely managed to keep myself silent, though a gasp nearly escaped from me. They looked like Daein soldiers… which means this girl must be Princess Elincia.

Great. Just absolutely great. This is the perfect thing. I am stuck in the middle of the forest, near the princess they’re hunting. I cannot fight, except maybe a little bit with a bow. I have no abilities in any other weapons. I don’t think I can use any magic. Right about now would be a good time to find out what kind of present I got. Another group of soldiers ran past us. I decided it probably would be best to keep to the introductions to later. Unfortunately, it seemed the princess was not as blessed with common sense as I was. She opened her mouth to quietly ask, “Who are you?”

Annoyed and irritated at her lack of either a brain or just common sense, I pressed my finger to my lips to signal her to be quiet. I assumed, though, that customs in this world would be the same as ours. Either that, or royalty did not bother to learn basic sign language. She whispered, “What does that mean?”

At that very moment, I was frantic. This couldn’t be possible. The very same Princess Elincia that was to become the ruler of the country did not have enough common sense to be quiet while surrounded by people who wanted to kill us. If she gets me killed, I swear, I’m haunting her ass… except for when she goes to the shower. I still have some decency intact, although I wish I could say the same for my sanity.

About a minute later, I heard a huge clashing sound, along with a slight gust of breeze whistle by me. It seemed that Elincia was learning, as she made no further attempt to start a conversation. A gust of wind seemed rather peculiar, although it could be just a regular breeze. Still, I was hopeful that it might have been Soren using his wind magic. Hopefully. I don’t think I can stand being around Elincia much longer. I never really was fond of her character in the games… no reason why she would be that much different in person.

Elincia stood up to see what was going on, when her dress rustled against some bushes. Man, first thing she needs is to get out of that stuffy, bright orange dress, and get into a t-shirt and jeans. Or at the very least, something that will not make so much sound and will not stand out like a neon fluorescent sign. Immediately, I heard voices as footsteps approached. Man, I wish I played through the intro again before I left. It would help me remember who was coming. I think it was Ike and Soren. Either way, they were coming over. I paled as I realized I didn’t have any kind of cover story for being there.

Before I could come up with a story, I saw Ike push his way through the bushes near us, followed by Soren and Titania. Man, they look a bit different in person, considering it was real life and not any kind of graphics engine or a simple drawing. Nothing seemed to do these characters justice. Ike had that look of concentration drilled on his face that just made me shiver slightly. He had that aura of determination that I could feel. However, I knew that he was a calm person when he wanted to be, and he wouldn’t hurt someone without a reason. I felt a bit safe. Soren looked somewhat the same as he did in the games. He did have that calculating look on his face, as if he was constantly thinking about something and trying to balance out a pro and con. To be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect of Soren. My friends back at home always made a joke that my personality was a weird mix of Soren and Shinon. Maybe not the best kind of personality to be having considering my situation, but it was all I had to work with.

I had to hold back laughter when I saw Titania. I had used her official art and manipulated it in Photoshop to best show what one of my characters had looked like. In person, she didn’t seem as old as she seemed in the game. Her characteristics seemed relatively feminine, considering she seemed to be that type of girl who could do a man’s job just as good as most guys could if not better… and still enjoy it. She had that simplistic beauty that just seemed to complement her tough exterior. I also found it rather interesting how she was the only one of the three wearing any kind of armor.

Ike looked at Elincia and bluntly asked, “Who are you?”

Naturally, I knew he had his policy of being as impolite as possible, but I had hoped that the game really was exaggerating a bit. Turns out, it was dead on.

Elincia, as expected, seemed rather unaccustomed to the gruff lack of respect and general rudeness by the commander, which caused my opinion of him to go back to normal. So much for holding him in high respect. Elincia replied, “I am Elincia, Princess of Crimea.”

Ike and Soren had somewhat disbelieving looks on their faces while Titania merely had a look of simple shock. Soren suspiciously inquired, “How’s that possible? There was no news of your birth at all.”

Elincia sighed and said, “My father kept my existence a secret from the kingdom.”

Ike nodded and said, “That would explain why those Daein soldiers were chasing after you.”

Titania looked at me with a sharp look in her eyes. I could tell she was trying to figure something out. I didn’t like the look of where this was going. After a minute, Titania stopped and asked me in a tone that was a little more polite than Ike’s, “Who are you?”

I bit my tongue, not knowing what to say. I decided it would be best to come up with a general cover story. A brilliant idea hit my head as I opened my mouth. I said, “I’m a simple traveler looking for the nearest town.”

Soren glared for a second before forcibly saying, “Cut the theatrics. Who are you, why are you here, and why were those soldiers after you?”

I replied in what I hoped to be a slightly scared voice, “I don’t remember. I woke up in the middle of this forest with a pounding headache and nothing in my pockets. I was looking for the nearest town when soldiers stopped me. Wrong place and wrong time I guess.”

Ike simply replied, “I see…”

Soren still glared at me, clearly not believing my story. As well as he shouldn’t. He was the paranoid tactician of the team. I was a bit surprised he did not outright say, “Bullshit!”

“Please my lord, he speaks the truth. He was not after me… he was simply hiding with me,” the princess said. Well, I guess she does have her uses after all.

I looked at Ike and said, “Please. I wish to come along with you. I promise I won’t give you any kind of trouble, commander!”

Ike gave me a puzzled look and said, “I’m not the commander. My father is.”

Inwardly, I smacked myself. How the hell could I have forgotten something like that! Damn it, if I want to make it alive in this world, I better make sure that I don’t screw anything up. I looked at him and said, “If possible, I wish to talk to him. There is something I need to discuss with him, as well.”

Titania, this time, was the one who asked in the suspicious voice, “What do you need with the commander?”

I replied, “You wouldn’t believe me even if I wanted to tell you.”

At that moment, Shinon walked into the area. Apparently the delay I was giving the three actually allowed him time to loot the bodies of the dead, as he seemed to be carrying a lot more items than an agile archer should. I groaned inwardly. There was no way in hell Shinon was going to let me go. However, before anything could be said from Shinon, Ike stated, “You can come along with us. Can you fight?”

I winced slightly at the question and said, “I know very little about any kind of weapon, though I do have a preference for bows.”

It was at that moment that I regretted that answer. I looked at Shinon to see him looking back at me, piercingly scrutinizing me with a look of disbelief and loathing. He simply pulled off one of the two bows he was carrying and tossed it to me. I held out my hand and attempted to catch it.

… well, at the very least I was graceful in my humiliating failure.

I bent over to pick up the bow when I saw a few arrows land on the ground in front of me. Well, land was an understatement. More like the arrows were shot into the ground. I looked at Shinon who simply said to me, “Show me what you can do.”

Titania stepped forward and growled in a commanding tone, “Shinon, that’s enough.”

I held the bow and picked up the arrow. It had been a few months since I last shot a bow. I don’t know if I can do it or not. I carefully nocked the arrow, keeping the point to the ground. I could see a smug smirk on Shinon’s face as I raised the bow, pointing it toward a somewhat fat tree about fifty feet away. Man, what a jackass. I wish I could shoot him right in the face. He’d deserve it for what I knew he was going to do in some time.

I pulled the bowstring, expecting it to be really hard to pull, like the composite hunting bow my mom’s friend had. Surprisingly enough, it was somewhat easy to pull. It was probably an iron bow. I’m not that skilled with a bow just yet. I probably will be if I want to live in this world. I want to call it a nightmare, but in a way, it really is not. I can’t describe how I feel about this world. It was this feeling that allowed me to feel comfortable around the very characters I had grown close to and it was this feeling that somewhat subdued the trembling my hands were going through.

I let go of the bowstring with a slight twinging sound, recoiling in pain at the basic fact I forgot the bracer. I quickly rubbed my arm where the string painfully made contact with my skin. I could hear some soft laughter coming from Shinon’s direction as I realized that he left the bracer out on purpose. I turned to him, ready to say something smart to him. Master archer or not; mercenary or not… I don’t care. He’s gonna get an earful if he doesn’t shut up. However, before I could say anything, Titania tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the tree. I looked as well, fully expecting anything but what happened. The arrow was actually lodged in the tree.

Ike walked over and took the bow from me. He examined it and said, “Good job, Shinon. You gave the new kid a steel bow.”

Shinon looked at me and mumbled, “Yeah, yeah, pure luck.”

I was about to voice my agreement at the pure luck statement when I realized that I had just made him look like a total asshole. Instead of admitting to the fact it was luck, I bit my tongue and decided to let him steam for a while. Lucky shot or not, I’ll never make a shot like that again. I’m just not good at that kind of stuff.

Ike shrugged and said, “Yeah, kid, if you’re going to come along, you better keep up.”

There I was, walking along with a few of the Greil Mercinaries. It was going to be a long, winding, boring road ahead, but I was actually here. For better or for worse, this was my new life and I plan on sticking with it until the very end.

… I just hope the very end isn’t anytime soon. I’d like to find out someday what Radiant Dawn is like.

[The Silent Orator]

(here's chapter 2... and chapter 3 is the last one I have written so far)
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Author’s Note: What started out as a pet project has quickly turned into my main project. Sorry all you fans out there for my other story, but now time for it will be shared with this story, if this story doesn’t completely take over. I FINALLY got around to playing Radiant Dawn, but that won’t be in this story. If anything, if I actually write in Radiant Dawn, it will be in a sequel story.

Also, updates WILL be sparse. With the way my college classes are going right now, I’m lucky to even get this chapter started, let alone finished and published.

Without further ado, I present to you chapter 2.



Chapter 2:
A long way from home.

So… here I am on the continent of Tellius. What lies before me, I pretty much know. I’m just assuming the story didn’t change, that is. That would suck if it did. What about character deaths? What if someone dies? What if it’s someone I befriended here? How will I feel? That is, everyone except Shinon. Ugh, that bastard. He deserves an arrow shoved where it wasn’t meant to be. Better yet, he deserves that arrow to be shot. Maybe I could aim a little lower and pierce something else painfully.

… maybe I’m a bit too sadistic to be in this world.

Before I got to this world, I had recently joined a Fire Emblem forum online. I wonder how they would react if they heard I was here, or that I met Ilyana or Leonardo. Preferably Ilyana. I wonder what James and Pandora would say about this too. Hell, what would ANYBODY I know say about this? Assuming they believed me.

Ahh, I’m rambling.

Anyway, so I’m traveling with Ike back to the headquarters. It’s a rather long trip. After walking continually for about three hours, I collapsed in exhaustion. I know it had been three hours because I actually have a watch attached to my pants belt loop… it also has a flashlight on it. Probably one of the most useful things I ever got. The group stopped temporarily as I sat down on the ground, my feet in some severe agony. Elincia gently and gracefully got off Titania’s horse and walked over. She said, “Are you okay?”

I replied, “I could be better, but I’m not complaining.”

Elincia looked and generously said, “You could ride this horse for the rest of the way back.”

Ike looked at me and said, “We’re almost there. Maybe another thirty minutes.”

Elincia said, “Yes, another thirty minutes. I can walk the rest of the way.”

I sighed and said, “I’m fine. Really, I am.”

Elincia waved away my protest with a wave of the hand that looked really complicated. Damn those nobles wasting their time learning flashy things that really served no purpose. Meanwhile, Soren stood silently, suspiciously watching me the whole time. After a few minutes, I had to give in. Elincia may be worthless, but she was stubborn as she was determined. There was no way we would be continuing until I got on that horse. Considering what was about to happen that night, I didn’t particularly want to arrive back too late, or else I would be fleeing the Daein army while my feet were still sore.

I nodded in agreement and walked to Titania’s horse. I gave a weird look at it. There didn’t really seem to be any way to get on. Damn it, I should’ve watched Elincia mount it earlier. My confusion must’ve been apparent on my face, for Titania decided to take pity and gently helped me up.

Wait, pants belt loop? Yes, I’m aware I realized this just now. Man, I must look like I’m dressed like a freak, compared to the rest of them. Wait, let me check what else do I have in my pockets.

Wallet… wallet… wallet. Damn it, I left my wallet at home. Wow, I was driving without my license. How typical of me to do something like that. Just the other day I locked my keys in the car. Man, I’ve only had my license for a month now!

Let’s see. My 14A4a trumpet mouthpiece. Why is that in my pocket again? I don’t know. I usually carry that with me for the hell of it. I guess you could call it my good luck charm. My cell phone too! Hah, fat chance I’d get reception. Well, it couldn’t hurt to try.

Reaching for my cell phone with one hand in my pocket proved difficult, as I was in sitting position with one arm around Titania. Last thing I needed was for my arm to slip too far up and accidentally being branded a pervert. Unconsciously, I looked over at Gatrie and laughed a little on the inside.

Soren looked at me suspiciously as I finally pulled out my cell phone, carefully examining it as I pulled it out. A sudden “DAMN IT!” crossed my mind as I realized that I’m in a world where there’s magic and no technology. Of course they would think I’m weird for pulling out a strange device. Ignoring Soren and holding onto Titania, making absolutely sure that my arm didn’t slide up, I flipped the top of my cell phone. For some weird reason, I had the sudden urge to say “Beam me up, Scotty!”

I looked at it, fully expecting it to have no service. Surprisingly enough, I had service on my phone. I had service? What the hell kind of joke is this? I’m not even in the same world as where I’m from, and I have service? This is officially creepy. Maybe I could send a text or call someone? No, I can’t risk it with everyone around. I’ll call later.

Soren finally looked at me and said, “What is that you’re holding?”

Titania turned her head around to see me holding my cell phone and surfing through my contacts. Pity that most of my friends didn’t even know what Fire Emblem was. I snapped the lid shut and simply replied to Soren, “An item of incalculable sentimental value that reminds me of the past.”

… of course “the past” could also be referring to a point in time that was about six hours ago. Of course I don’t say that.

Time to just enjoy the ride and the rest. I leaned forward onto Titania’s back. For metal armor, it really wasn’t that cold. In fact, it was somewhat warm. Probably from the weather. Mmm, it’s so warm. It’s a lot like the fireplace that’s no doubt running back at home. Damn it, I forgot to put wood in the fireplace. Mom’s gonna be so freakin’ pissed if I get home…

If I get home…

There’s no place like home…

… where’s those ruby slippers when I need them?

… ruby slippers…

“Hey kid, wake up.”

“Mmmph,” was the most intelligible sound I could make at that moment. I must have dozed off. We were in front of the stable. By “we”, I meant Titania and I. The others must have gone inside the headquarters. Oh dear, it’s no small wonder that I miraculously didn’t fall off the horse when I—

“You nearly fell off the horse halfway back,” Titania said as the horse slowly walked to its stall.

“Sorry…” was about the only thing I could mumble in my bleary-eyed state.

“Okay, it’s time we dismounted. I need to put her away,” Titania said.

Being the idiot I was, I said, “Why would we put Mist away?”

Titania raised a brow and said, “Mist?”

It was at that moment I realized I had made (another) critical error. Titania curiously and cautiously inquired, “How do you know about Mist?”

I decided it be best to avoid the question entirely and attempted to dismount. I pushed myself slightly backward, and found myself speeding up. Next thing I knew, I was sliding down the backside of the horse, landing squarely on my ass.

“Damn it, I’ll never get used to being here,” I uttered in response.

“Here?” Titania inquired to me.

… it was at this point that I seriously considered running straight out of the stable doors. Maybe if I headed south and went into Gallia, I could be killed mercilessly and quickly. Before I could get up and bolt to the door, Titania dismounted and said, “Hey listen, I know you have your secrets. Only reason I didn’t say anything is because you don’t seem like you want trouble.”

I somberly replied, “No ma’am.”

She sighed and said, “Don’t need to sound like that. I’m not persecuting you or anything. I’m just here as deputy commander to watch out for my troops. That involves being suspicious of anyone outside getting too involved.”

Silently, I nodded. I didn’t dare to vocally reply in case my tone of voice gave any more impressions.

Getting the hint I wouldn’t vocally reply, she said, “I’m not going to ask you to say anything right now. You sure are a hard one to figure out though. I have never seen anyone dressed in the kind of attire you are wearing. You don’t seem to be that physically fit considering the walk we did. Your manner and speech seem rather formal, compared to most of the people I have met. I won’t question you now, but if you want to finally talk about it, I would appreciate it.”

Wow… this is Titania? She’s a lot more caring than I thought. Then again, she is a bit like the mother of the group. That kickass personality to protect those that she’s caring for. It’s actually rather touching. I merely replied, “Thank you. All may be revealed in due time. I just hope it is at the right time. I just needed to talk to the commander first before anyone else.”

She smiled slightly and said, “Commander Ike? That has a funny ring to it. Greil’s the commander right now.”

I got up and mysteriously said, “You should get used to saying it. It might happen one day.”

I couldn’t explain it, but just talking to her, despite all the problems such as my ass on the floor and my left cheek pulsating gently from the impact on the ground, I felt a surge of comfort and ease. It was hard to explain, but it was almost like I could trust her with my secret. I just didn’t know what to do if she didn’t believe me. Night time was drawing ever closer, and I feared that if I told them too late, they would be upset at me, especially if someone died in that battle.

Titania led me into the headquarters, where I was promptly shocked by how it looked. It had a greater feeling of home than the game let on. It was also bigger than the game let on. When I first walked through the door, I was greeted with a living room. Two bookshelves were on the right on the right side of the room with a door labeled as “office” in between the two. On the other side of the room seemed to be a doorway into a kitchen, where a delicious smell was already wafting into the room. Damn it, Oscar, if that’s you cooking, you’re making me hungry. A hallway to the left had a few doors before turning to the right. It was probably for probably the rooms of the mercenaries.

It was at this very moment that I imagine Boyd’s room to have a boombox, posters of rock bands, and a box of questionable magazines stashed under a floorboard near the bed. Restraining that thought, lest I burst out in laughter, I followed Titania into the office. Walking into the office, I was rather surprised and a bit intimidated by how it was set up. It felt like being in the principal’s office back at high school. Thankfully, the only times I was ever sent there were because I had to do some kind of duty for the music department, and never because I was in trouble. There was a desk with a globe of water sitting on it, a solitary drop of what appeared to be oil floating in the dead center of it.

Greil looked at me with a calculating look that sent shivers down my spine. He was an intimidating man, and it didn’t help that he could probably break me faster than I could shout, “UNCLE!”

… not a very reassuring thought.

He simply motioned to one of the chairs that were on my side of the desk. I carefully sat down upon it, fully expecting Titania to jump at me and shackle me to the chair. Both of them will be cackling menacingly as they think I’m a Daein spy. Oh god, I don’t want to die!

… I don’t want this overactive imagination. Although Titania handcuffing me—ah, focus, John… focus!

Titania said, “He wished to talk to you alone, sir, so by your leave, I shall excuse myself.”

She turned to walk out of the doorway, before shutting the door behind her. Oddly enough, the sound of that door shutting made me think of the jail cell in the upper floor to this one NES game called Uninvited. Greil looked at me and inquired, “What is it you wished to talk to me about?”

I, in a very shaky voice, quietly replied, “I don’t know how to begin my story or how to tell you about it. It’s so strange, I still find myself unable to believe it.”

Greil said, “Just tell me everything and I’ll ask any questions I have to help confirm the story.”

I sighed and began. I told him everything. How I was from another world. How I had gotten into a fatal accident. The darkness telling me that I was coming to this world. The darkness telling me I was getting a present that I still don’t know about. How I ended up there.

I couldn’t tell from his face whether he believed me or not. All I could tell was he was actually listening to my story and analyzing it. That look on his face was enough to prove he was concentrating on every detail of my story. It grew easier to tell as it went along, and I felt a bit more comfortable around him. I finally ended the story with entering the office. The only bit I left out was that this was a video game from my world. I don’t think I could spring that on him just yet.

Greil sat there for a few minutes silently. He finally said, “Is there anything else you would like to add?”

I hesitated. Should I tell him about the video game part?

As I thought about it, he said, “Your story is pretty strange as it is. It wouldn’t be wise to leave anything out now.”

I sighed and replied, “There is one thing that I think you should know about. It’s more bizarre than the rest of the story combined. You see… from our world, we have these things called video games.”

I paused for a second, wondering how to word this. My thoughts were interrupted by the words, “I am not familiar with that concept.”

Thinking how to best word it, I said, “A video is simply something you watch on a screen. Here, let me show you.”

Getting a bright idea, I pull out my cell phone. I opened the top carefully. No Captain Kirk for me right now! I pointed to the main display screen and I said, “This is a screen. It can play videos… or in other words, recordings of what it can see. This particular screen cannot, but there are ones where I am from that can. It basically reenacts the scene it recorded onto the screen.”

Greil nodded. It appeared he was getting the concept. I continued, “Some companies make their own movies, using technology. Instead of recording something, they make their own “recordings”, so to speak, and they make it interactive.”

Greil said, “So, these… interactive recordings are just like games?”

I nodded and said, “Exactly. That’s what a video game is.”

Greil said, “What does this have to do with your story?”

I paused, realizing that I had missed the point entirely. I swallowed and said, “This world. All of you people. You all were part of a video game I have owned for a while.”

Greil leaned back for a second, a somewhat shocked look finally forming across his normally impassive face. He said, “So, we’re characters of fiction from where you are from.”

I nodded and said, “If time right now goes the way it did in the game, I can accurately predict the future, up to a year from now. Do not fret, for at that point, Ashnard is killed by Ike and Crimea wins the war against Daein. There is a light at the end of this tunnel.”

I knew I was giving away the future, but if I gave away something positive, I hoped he would calm down. However, Greil was smarter than I had anticipated. He said, “All wars have good and bad news. What else happens during the course of this game?”

I bit my tongue. I didn’t want to reveal his grim fate. I didn’t know how to say it. All I could say is, “I cannot say… for if it were to be avoided, this world could completely change as we know it, possibly for the worse.”

Greil nodded and said, “That is a wise choice, I would assume.”

I nodded and said, “It is no guarantee that even warning about what will happen will still have the ability to avoid it. You can sense and predict the danger, but without any way to counter it, that knowledge is useless.”

Greil said, “I understand. Can you fight?”

I replied, “Not really. I have little experience with a bow when my mother’s boyfriend tried to get me to go bow hunting for deer with him, but nothing truly spectacular.”

I smirked for a second and said, “I’ve always wanted to be a mage though.”

Greil laughed and said, “It takes practice and training to be a mage. Especially for someone of your age just starting, you’d need some kind of present from a goddess to learn it.”

I sighed and said, “You’re right. I guess it’s bows then.”

Greil nodded and got up from his chair. As he walked to the door, I said, “Sir? May I ask one more question?”

Greil turned and replied, “What is it?”

I asked, “Should I tell anyone else if they ask? Titania’s already asked about it, and I am sure many more would. Who can I trust to such a bizarre story?”

Greil said, “That is your choice and your choice alone.”

With those words he opened the door and stepped out for a second. When he came back in, he was with Titania and Shinon. He sat back down at his desk and said, “Since there are not that many missions around, I have one for you two.”

Shinon looked at me with a look of pure malice and venom. Hey asshole, look the other way. Your face looks like your ass.

Ah, whoops! Keep your mind to yourself, John. Keep it to yourself. Keep it!

Greil coughed and continued, “Shinon, you are to train him how to use a bow. Titania, you are to oversee the training in case any… disaster should befall them.”

Shinon looked like he was about to say something, but he managed to keep his mouth shut. He sighed and said, “Yes sir.”

Titania nodded and said, “Very well.”

Greil said, “You can start training whenever possible.”

Shinon replied with spite, venom, malice, and hate evidently layered in his voice, “Then early morning hours, I shall start. You two better be ready.”

I gave a small “hmph” of annoyance before I replied equally as harsh, “Believe it!”

… and at that very moment, I had the vision of thousands of anime nerds wanting to kill me.



Author’s Note: Final Fantasy 6 Terra in Black from OCReMix pwns your soul! Go check it out.

[The Silent Orator]

Author’s note: I don’t mean to put my other fic on hiatus, but I’ve got the strong urge to continue this fic. It’s probably from my overload of Radiant Dawn. I’ve been playing it ever since I finally got my Wii. I’m actually on the very last part to the last chapter, so hopefully all things go well. At least I’m finally on semester break.

Anyway, without further ado, I present chapter 3.

Chapter 3:
A Mercenary’s Life.

Nightfall was coming soon to the mercenary headquarters. I debated on warning Greil about the attack, but I remembered that I couldn’t do anything to change the world around. Too much was at stake, and if I changed something, a bigger problem could manifest itself into this world. It would be a problem that I would not know how to fix.

Well, Greil assigned me a room to stay in. Apparently, they have spare rooms in which guests and new members can stay in. Much to the curiosity of most of the members, the suspicion exuding from Soren, and the zealous hate emanating from Shinon, Greil announced that I was to be staying there for a while until “matters could be fixed”… which basically meant, I would be staying until I found a way home.

… or if something should happen to the headquarters.

Night came, and Oscar made a fine meal. It was rather surprising. I remember reading that Oscar was a fine cook, but the meal was absolutely delectable. I cannot bring to mind any occasion with food this fine being served. It must seriously be troublesome to Oscar to make food of this quality and quantity almost every meal for the mercenaries. I kept to myself during the meal, as everyone else talked to each other about their exploits and their stories. I had this sudden feeling of family, unity, and homeliness, and I became disturbed with the thought that if I could find my way home, I may not even take advantage of that opportunity.

It really was that comforting of a feeling. Sure, I may not be part of the family just yet, but the feeling of unity was so strong, it was hard to miss it and let it affect me.

Another note I would like to add is the fact that the character’s voices do not sound like the voices from the voice actors from the games. I saw one video from the English version of Radiant Dawn, and I thought I was going to die from laughter at hearing how ridiculous some of the voices sounded.

Ah, rambling thoughts again. I finished the rest of the meal in silence. Thank goodness nobody asked me any questions. It could be Greil asked them to keep their silence… or maybe it was just that they didn’t know what to ask me.

Ah, time to take the initiative and start a conversation with someone. Who should I talk to first?

Hm, the only people in the room right now are Gatrie and Shinon. I don’t know much about Gatrie to be honest and may all divine forced forbid that I talk to Shinon of my own free will. Mist is probably in the kitchen, doing the dishes. Yeah, I think I’ll talk to Mist. It’s probably best that I help with the dishes. After all, I ate with everyone else and I needed to pull my weight somehow. Also, out of the whole company, she seems closest to my age, so perhaps its best with her than with someone like Gatrie or Boyd.

I walked into the kitchen to hear a humming voice to a song that I recognized. Well, some things haven’t changed at all. It appears the song is still the same as it was in the game. I wonder why only certain things have changed and not everything. I spotted Mist by the sink, still washing the dishes. The pile of bubbled dishes that were already soaped was in the sink next to the one she was washing from.

They have soap?

For a world set in medieval times, there sure are some modern things in here. I mean, they have sinks… even if they are different from ours. Basically, it’s a wooden pedestal, with a dip carved into the top. A metal basin is placed inside this dip cut out from the top as a snug fit. They even have some form of medieval faucet coming from above the sink. It reminds me of the chores I have to do at home.

Ah, anyway, back to reality… if you can call this reality. I walked over to the sink and cautiously said, “Um, Mist?”

The humming stopped as she turned to me and smiled. Man, is she ever cheerful! She said, “Hey there!”

… quite a modern response for a medieval world, I would think. Then again, nothing really seems to bother or surprise me anymore. Coming into a video game can do that to a person.

I smiled in response and asked, “Hey, do you mind if I help out?”

She cheerfully replied, “Not at all!”

I decided I would end up rinsing and drying the dishes that Mist had finished scrubbing. Maybe I should switch with her, but she seemed to enjoy the job that she had almost finished anyway. I carefully asked, “So, Mist… how are you?”

She laughed for a second, causing me to raise my brow in uncertainty. I wonder if it was something I said. I asked, “Something happen?”

She stopped for a second before remarking, “You really are a shy person, aren’t you?”

I bit my tongue and simply replied, “Generally.”

Mist jokingly replied, “Hah! I thought so.”

Well, so much for starting small talk into a conversation. Way to murder my method of actually talking to people, Mist! You’re going to make this one long dishwashing session. Damn it!

Mist paused from her dishes for a second and said, “You don’t have to be shy around us. We’re all nice people.”

I couldn’t help but cough in a disbelieving manner. She sighed and said, “Yes, even Shinon is nice.”

Wow, that’s the second time she’s read what I was going to do. Maybe three times is a charm. I asked, “So, what do you propose I should do then?”

Mist said, “Well, you could ask me what do I like to do and what I like to eat and what are my hobbies.”

… straightforward much?

I paused for a second and asked in what I hoped was a casual tone, “So, what do you like to do in your spare time?”

Mist replied, “Well, I enjoy trying to ride a horse and on some occasions, Rhys comes around and tries to teach me how to heal with a staff.”

I thought about it for a moment. I wonder where she learned to fight with a sword, like she did in Path of Radiance. I thought about it for a second before replying, “That’s really cool. I want to learn that someday.”

Mist asked in reply, “Riding the horse or healing?”

I replied with a smile, “I prefer the healing, but I wouldn’t mind learning how to ride a horse.”

Mist replied, “It’s not that hard once you get the hang of it!”

I nodded in reply, concentrating on the task at hand. Well, the dishes were nearly done. Pity. I wanted to talk longer. Mist doesn’t seem half as annoying as she was in the game. I smiled and said, “Well, at least there’s someone my age in this company to talk to.”

Mist laughed and said, “You’re probably older than me. I’m only sixteen.”

I looked at her for a second. She didn’t seem like she was sixteen. A little too carefree and happy to be sixteen, from the sixteen-year-old girls I knew back home. I replied, “Only a year older then. I’m only seventeen.”

Mist laughed and jokingly remarked, “You’re too formal and serious to be seventeen.”

I sighed a little to myself. There was no denying that, probably. That’s what everyone back at home always said to me. Maybe I should lighten up a bit more. No reason to be paranoid of everything and everyone. That’s Soren’s job. You know, speaking of Soren, a couple of my friends often said I was a lot like Soren. Apparently I was able to predict things, figure out the best-case scenario, find good tactics, be paranoid of everyone… the whole nine yards. Now, I don’t know if that was a compliment or an insult now.

Night came. It would be the night that the attack came, if nothing had changed. I lay in my bare room awake, waiting for the shouts to come. They never did. I lay awake until I could not anymore.

I woke up, alarmed. I thought I heard something, but it must have been my imagination. The sun had just barely started to rise. I remembered what Shinon said. Damn him, I swear, that ass is probably going to shoot me in the back and say it was an accident. I got out of bed, and realized I didn’t have a change of clothes.

Er, there’s no showers here I assume, and I don’t have a change of clothes. Maybe I should have addressed that issue yesterday. Maybe I already did and don’t remember. A knock at the door knocked me out of my mental train. I blearily called out, “Who is it?”

A female voice came through the door, slightly muffled by the door itself. Soundproof. That’s good. Oh, what was she saying? Darn it. I replied with a half-awake droning, “What?”

The person repeated, “It’s Mist. I brought you some extra clothes.”

Well, issue solved. Now, where do I clean up? I replied, “Come in. And thanks for this.”

Mist came in, somehow as energetic and awake as she was during our talk last night. Does she sleep? Does she ever lose energy? I should ask her one day that’s not today. She smiled and said, “Here. It’s spare clothes that Ike grew out of. Oscar fitted them so they would fit you.”

I curiously asked, “Fit me? Oscar didn’t even take measurements.”

Mist shrugged her shoulders and said, “Oscar’s a genius like that. He just had to look at you once and he already figured it out.”

I raised my eyebrow in shock. That was kind of an interesting talent. I looked at Mist and said, “Is there any place I could clean up?”

Mist asked in reply, “You mean, take a bath of some sort?”

I replied, “Yeah.”

Mist said, “There’s a river in the woods in the back. Everyone is still asleep right now, so it’s safe to assume there’s no one down there.”

I replied with a polite “thanks” and took the clothes Mist gave me and made my way down to the river. Nothing passed without much interest. Moving on…

I made my way back to the headquarters, quite pleased with myself. I was wearing a green tunic on the top with white tights that clamped tightly in the wrong place.

… I think I shall talk with Oscar about fixing that.

Y’know, all I need now is a green cap, and I can officially say, “Hyiahh! I’m Link!” Haha, a cosplay costume for free. Now, that’s awesome. All I need now are the sword, the bow, and the boomerang… maybe a slingshot.

… shut up now, John. Stop rambling. Stop it.

Don’t mind me. I’m just being stupid. Anyway, I make my way back to headquarters to find myself in the living room. A delicious smell was wafting from the kitchen, tantalizingly beckoning me to come and eat. However, I was about to be stopped short by none other than Mister Asshole himself.

Shinon walked out of the kitchen with what seemed to be a large bowl of soup and a plate of eggs. Wait, I don’t remember seeing any chickens around here. Hm, I’ll have to investigate later. At least, Daein didn’t attack last night. That was a relief. I know they’re coming, but maybe they’re a day or two late. Perhaps I should talk to Greil and Titania about that. Speaking of Titania, I really should tell her about this. I mean, out of the company, I feel most comfortable around her, Greil, and Mist.

Speaking of Greil and Mist, I wonder where Ike is. Before I could wonder any further, though, Shinon roughly said, “Kid, outside now. It’s time to train.”

Damn it, I didn’t eat either. He has that big bowl of soup, and that plate of eggs. I wonder what he’s going to do with that ladle though. He walked outside and I followed him, much to my annoyed displeasure. “Quality Time with Shinon” is probably the worst possible thing I could think of right now… except maybe going to an all-you-can-eat with Ilyana. Man, that girl can eat. She’d probably eat the whole buffet before I would finish my third plate of food.

Well, now, we’re in the backyard of the headquarters. Mister Asshole tosses me a bow, and this time I manage to catch it. Hey, this one feels lighter than the other one. It’s an iron bow, probably. On the ground in front of me is a quiver of arrows. Quiver. My body’s quivering with hunger and annoyance. I want my damn breakfast.

Shinon said, “See that target in front of you?”

I looked at it. Holy god, that’s far away. I’d estimate it at about 25 yards. The target must not be bigger than four feet across, with the bull’s eye maybe with an inch radius. Damn you, Shinon. Speaking of Shinon, the guy pulled a small bowl out of his pocket. He said, “Every time you hit the target, I give you a ladle full of soup in this small bowl. Every time you miss the target, I will eat a ladle full of this soup. When you hit the bull’s eye, you can have this whole bowl. We’ll quit for the day when the soup runs out, either by you getting it one ladle at a time, you hitting the bull’s eye, or me eating it all.”

I fumed in anger. Man, what an infuriating situation. He continued in his droning voice, “This is your training and your breakfast. Let’s get one thing straight, kid. I don’t like you, and it seems you don’t like me. I didn’t eat yet, either. Maybe this will give you incentive. Hit the target all the time, and you can laugh at me while I go hungry. However, if you are as pathetic as I know you are, I know I’m going to have a very filling breakfast.”

What an asshole. Okay, let’s see if I remember what I learned in my archery class during gym in high school. I’m right handed, so I think I stand with my left shoulder facing the target. Yeah. Then I hold the bow with my left hand. Then I nock the arrow with my right hand, while the bow is facing the ground. Feet are shoulder-length apart. I raise the bow, and pull the string with my right hand. Hey, this string’s easier to pull than the steel bow that I had to deal with. I pull as far back as I can. Aiming for a straight line to the target, I let the arrow fly.

It was a beautiful shot and it was well on its way to the target… when suddenly it just slowed down and hit the ground about five feet in front of the target. I didn’t have time to admire the beautiful shot as the bowstring smacked me on the arm. I knew something was missing from this Link-esque outfit. I need arm guards. That bow hurts like a bitch. I look over at Shinon with a renewed anger as a smirk crossed his face.

He looked at me and said, “Oh, and no bracers. Maybe that will give you a further incentive to hit the bull’s eye. Also, since you missed the target, I get to have a scoop of your delicious breakfast. Oscar does make a good soup, wouldn’t you say? Oh, you couldn’t say, because you won’t be eating any, will you?”

Angrily, I tried again… and again… and again… and again. Each time, my left arm was getting redder and more painful. It was beginning to sting really hard. I must have done about fifty shots. Most of them were short, although one or two went over the target. I just need to find that happy medium and memorize how far I pulled that bowstring. Then came the final arrow… I looked down upon it, and looked at the target. I didn’t even care if I ate now. All that mattered was just hitting that target once.

It was almost by instinct. I pointed upward slightly, and pulled the bow an amount I had done enough times. I let go of the string and let it soar beautifully. Maybe it would be just like those stories I know about where the last shot makes it.

… my god, why can’t literary devices work when I am the one stuck in them.

The arrow just barely scraped over the top of the target. I look over at Shinon, who apparently was watching with a very bored look and an empty bowl of soup. He said, “Well, are you going to continue now? It’s done. The soup’s been gone for a while now.”

I looked at the empty bowl and the arrogant smirk on his face. Apparently, he wasn’t about to let me go for making him look bad yesterday. Before I could say anything in response, Mist walked over and said, “I found you two! You’ve been gone over an hour and a half!”

I sighed to myself. That sure as hell felt longer than an hour and a half. I’m still hungry, damn it! I saw Mist look over to the target at all the missed arrows. She gave me an inquisitive look before saying to Shinon, “The company wants you back at headquarters. Apparently, you and Gatrie have a mission to do.”

A mission? Well, this is a little different from what I’m used to in the game. What’s going on? As I head back to the headquarters, Mist beckons me over for a second. Curious, I walk over to her as Shinon heads back to headquarters. She looks over for a second to make sure where Shinon is, causing me to raise my brow. What is she up to? What’s she thinking?

After she deemed it safe to do whatever she wanted to do, she pulled out a bowl of soup that apparently she had hidden somewhere. She merely said, “Here’s a spare bowl of soup from breakfast. Hopefully Shinon wasn’t too hard on you. Here’s also a roll of bread from Rolf. Apparently, he seems to have taken pity on you after finding out Shinon’s training you.

I looked at Mist in amazement and respect. I didn’t know what to say except a meek and humble “thank you”. And “thank you” is exactly what I said…

… geez, I need to work on my people skills. C’mon, Mist! It’s not THAT funny.

After finishing the soup, I headed back to headquarters with Mist. Apparently, Shinon, Gatrie, Boyd, and Oscar were assigned a mission and wouldn’t be back until late evening. This ended up leaving the rest of the mercenaries there for the rest of the day. Well, I guess my day won’t be so bad after all!

… oh, how I’ll regret that thought later.

[The Silent Orator]

For Flamebrain's sake, I'm going to post the next couple of chapters for him; a task he seems to have forgotten.

Author’s Note: First day of the new college semester starts Tuesday, January 22, 2008. I got a meager seventeen credits. Well, actually, it’s not meager. It’s actually a lot. However, considering six of them are music courses, and music is something I’ve done all my life, I really don’t mind that much. I got concert band, choir, music lessons (jazz trombone), MIDI & Recording, History of Jazz, Music Theory, Honors English 102, and American Federal Government. So, yeah, maybe I’ll do what I did with the other fic, which I direly need to update. On my down-time between classes, I’ll pull out and plug in my laptop and just work on chapters there.

I’ve also been asked about pairings in this story. To be honest, I never really thought about it. Originally, I had a few in mind, but I did not really think much of it. The reason is being that I have plans for the end of the story, which is going to be a rather interesting plot thing that I recently came up with. It’s going to be a big gamble, but I hope people really wouldn’t mind it. As for a pairing for my character… I’ll just play on the character interactions and see how it goes. I have a personal favorite character, but I don’t want to let that get in the way of the story or put anything too out of character here.

Chapter 4:

Magic and Flight.

With the mission for some of the other mercenaries causing them to leave for the rest of the day, the only ones left at the headquarters were Mist, Ike, Greil, Titania, and Soren. I breathed a sigh of relief as I realized Shinon wouldn’t be there for the rest of the day. Mist and I got back to the headquarters, where I promptly went into the living room and looked at the books on the bookshelf.

“History of Tellius” didn’t really strike me too much. I already knew the history of the continent.

“Axes for Dummies” seemed like something someone got Boyd as a joke. Wait, they have “for dummies” books here too? I’ll have to look that up another day.

“Beginners Guide to Playing Trumpet” sounds ni—wait, what?! Someone here is playing a trumpet? That is awesome!

“The Intricate Art of Magic” sounds like a really cool book. I pull it off the shelf and flick to the first page. I wonder why everything in this world is in English. Their language, the language the books are written in, and even some swear words have been imported. Maybe it’s because the game I was playing was in English?

If only I was playing an import loaded on a freeloader.

“I. Can’t. Understand. You.”

“Nani?”

“Ugh, this is hopeless…”

Anyway, I read the book. It’s got some very interesting concepts in here.

“The intricate art of magic is something that amazes many, but is understood by few. Magic is the art of using spells to summon energy from the planet for various purposes. Some may use it for offense, while others may use it for helping those that are injured.

“The most common form of offensive magic is the ‘anima’ magic. This is comprised of magic attacks from the elements of wind, fire, and thunder. Despite being three different magic types in it, anima magic is so similar to each other in how it is used that many regard it as one category. The power of your attacks depends upon two aspects. It depends upon the spell that you cast. More advanced spells require more in-depth knowledge of the magic itself. A new person to thunder magic will find the concept of Rexbolt to be almost impossible to understand. The second aspect that your magic depends upon is the knowledge of the element that you are casting. In this respect, many choose to take one element as their specialty. The more knowledgeable you are about the element you are casting, the easier it is to cast a spell, and the more powerful it is.

“The other most common form of offensive magic is the ‘light’ magic. This is comprised of summoning the powers of holiness and light from the planet, your own energy, and the good will of the goddess Ashera. The power of these depends upon three factors. As with anima, it depends upon the spell that you cast. Also, as with anima, more advanced spells require more practice in order to understand their concepts. The other two factors are your faith in the goddess Ashera and confidence in your own powers. Light magic, unlike anima, is not derived from your knowledge. It is derived from how much faith you have in Ashera. The more faith you have, the more power she will contribute to the spell. Also, since the power is also derived from your own spare and unused spiritual energy and physical energy, the power of the spell is affected by how much confidence you have in yourself as a spellcaster. Doubt yourself even once during the spell and you’ll find its power cut in half.

“The final form of offensive magic is the ‘dark’ magic. Dark magic users are extremely rare and are few and far in between. This is comprised of summoning the powers of darkness and despair from the planet and yourself to the battlefield. Of all the magic types, this is the most difficult to master and the most powerful of all. As with anima magic, it is derived from your intelligence. Unlike anima, it is derived from all your intelligence. Dark magic draws from your well of knowledge in your mind. The more you know about everything, the more powerful the spell is. Consequently, dark magic users are very gifted and very rare, for one must be very intelligent to use it. Secondly, one must be very confident in one’s self to even wield a spell. A slight lapse of confidence could possibly cause the spell to not only fail, but also possibly backfire on the user or misfire onto an ally. The final factor is that you have to be accepted by dark magic. Unlike the other types of magic magic, dark magic cannot just be wielded by anyone. One must be accepted by the powers of darkness before it can even be cast. One who is not chosen and thus does not have a talent for dark arts cannot cast a dark spell, even if they fit the previous requirements. This also makes dark magic casters very rare.”

I continued reading the book, thoroughly immersed in the various theories behind magic, the knowledge of how to cast a spell, the mechanics behind it, and the theories of it all. I was so immersed that I did not even realize that an hour had passed with me just sitting there thoroughly engrossed in the book.

“Enjoying the book, are we?” I heard a voice inquire behind me. I jump instinctively and turn around to see Soren standing behind me. As usual, with that expression of suspicion, he gazed at me piercingly as if trying to read my soul. I replied, “It’s very fascinating.”

Soren looked at me for a few more minutes, causing me to immediately think of “Meet the Parents” and when the guy was put on a lie-detector test. Time to come back from reality to the pseudo-reality of the Fire Emblem world, John. Usually, I have to come back to reality so going away from a reality is a refreshing change of pace. Yeah, John, don’t ramble either. Soren stopped looking at me and went on his merry way. Yeah, way to brighten up the mood Mister Sunshine.

In all this excitement, I forgot that there was one other person in the headquarters. As I walked outside to take a stroll to enjoy the fresh air (living in New Jersey lets you die of asthma at the age of seventeen), I run into a familiar neon orange dress and mass of green hair. Why, it’s the princess. How nice was it that I completely forgot about her being here until now.

She turned around, hearing me approach her. She smiled and said, “How are you doing, my Lord…”

“John,” I said, finishing her sentence. I continued, “That is all. I am not a Lord. I am not nobility. Please don’t refer to me as such, your highness.”

“But, my Lord John… that’s not proper.”

I sighed at her response. I swear that if I’m to continually hear myself referred as that, I’m going to go crazy. I replied, “Princess… you’re in a mercenary headquarters and on the run from an army that is after you. You’re probably going to be tramping through woods and rivers like the rest of us. I don’t think that’s proper either. Plus, it’s not proper to give me a title that I am not. Please, princess… John is just fine.”

“Very well,” she sighed in response.

“That’s much better, your highness. Don’t feel bad,” I said encouragingly. Wow, either she’s got a fragile ego or she’s not used to being lectured. She looked at me and smiled a bit. Man, she looks so naïve. That’s saying a lot coming from me. Oh, right, she asked me a question.

“I’m doing fine, your highness,” I commented.

“Elincia…” she spoke in a quiet tone.

I looked at her, not exactly catching what she said. I know her name, but why is she saying it? I inquired, “What was it you said, your highness?”

“Elincia,” she repeated to me in a little louder and more confident tone.

Oh, I’m so stupid. We’ve never met. Of course she would tell me her name. I’m so stupid. I should’ve asked her before. Wait, didn’t she tell me before? Maybe it was that time in the bushes where she kept talking? Oh dear, I don’t remember. Playing it safe, I commented, “That’s a nice name, your highness.”

“No…” she said, “I want you to call me by that.”

… stunned silence.

What?

“Your highness, that’s not proper!” I exclaimed to hastily cover the silence.

“Then, my Lord John, we shall be speaking formally if you do not mind,” she declared.

Wow, she really has a way with things. Fine, I guess it couldn’t hurt. If I heard myself called that one more time, I was going to pull out my bow and shoot Shinon in the forehead. I couldn’t shoot the princess. She’s not expendable. Shinon is. I usually use her name when talking about her to my friends anyway. Although I have to admit that most of them bash her for being a worthless fighter and a horrible Mary Sue. Oh, I digress. Maybe I can influence her to be better and more confident? Who knows what the future has in store for me?

“Very well… Elincia… you win,” I sighed out in defeat.

She smiled at me and laughed a little bit before motioning to a bench. She sat down and motioned to the space beside her. I sat down next to her and looked at the sky. She looked up at the clouds with me before saying, “That’s better John. Now where were we?”

“I was about to ask you how you were doing,” I replied.

“Oh, I’m fine, my L—“ she paused for a second before saying, “I’m fine, John.”

I smiled back and said, “Is there anything you wished to speak to me about?”

“Nothing in particular. I just wanted to know you better. If… if we ever win Crimea back, I want to be a ruler who knows her citizens so I can make good decisions for the people.”

“A very optimistic and idealistic goal. I hope you achieve it,” I replied. For some reason, I still wasn’t comfortable with using her name. She probably feels the same way.

“Before you got dragged here, what was your life like?” Elincia inquired of me.

… damn. What could I say? This isn’t an AIM window where I can say “brb” and avoid the question until they sign off. This wasn’t a phone conversation where the other person couldn’t see my unease. This was a live person, in front of me, asking me a question I didn’t know the answer to. Oh dear, I really should start working on my background story.

“I’d… rather not talk about it,” I replied slowly. Well, at least that’ll buy me some time, although now I have to come up with some tragic past that I don’t want to remember in order to make that excuse work. Ah, I’ve come up with enough tragic pasts for my role-play characters. I can wrangle out another one for myself.

Elincia really isn’t as bad as people make her out to be. She really is a kind-hearted individual, even if is she is really ignorant of the world. It’s refreshing to see optimism like that in this world… or even from home.

Looking up and realizing I probably spent far too much time with Elincia, I said, “Well, it has been interesting and charming talking to you. Perhaps another time, when we have another chance, we can talk again.”

“I would enjoy that,” she said in reply.

“I would too…” I said, musing over my thoughts as I wandered away. As I looked back at her, Elincia merely sighed, stood up, and started to follow me back. She was walking at a slower pace, though.

Well, I’ve just made another friend in this world. So now, there are Mist and Elincia as my friends. Both of them can heal my ass if I ever get injured. For some weird reason, I just had a subconscious voice in the back of my head say “support conversations”.

I headed back toward the base, when I heard something behind me. I turned around to see the bushes rustling. Okay, I’m spooked out enough that I’m in this world, but don’t do this to me! Before I could think any further, a soldier in black armor bursts out of the bushes and rams himself into me. I let out a yelp before stumbling backward and landing on my ass. That face was twisted into a look of evil that just paralyzed me on the spot. Before I could do anything, he pulled out a sword and said, “Looks like I got here the first mercenary casualty.”

I was unable to move from fear and shock, and my voice was gone. No… am I really to die here? I don’t believe this. He sneered and said, “Some mercenary you are. You’re just a scared little kid.”

He started advancing at me with a sword and said, “Well, if you’re not going to move, I think I’ll have a little fun with you for defying us.”

… damn it… damn it… I’m frozen in the fear. He’s advancing on me with the sword. I could see him standing over me. Move! Move! I can’t move! What’s going on? I watch him plunge the sword down at me as I watched helplessly. I really am quite the timid and scared person deep down. Maybe that’s why I was always too shy to ever tell her how I felt…

A blood-curling, piercing scream emanated from my now active throat as I felt the sword plunge through my thigh, barely missing the bone. It went straight through before poking out through the other side of my thigh. This pain! It’s unreal! It IS real! I am bleeding! I’m helpless! I’m going to die! No! No! Why?

I could see his face twist into a sadistic smile as he slowly twisted the blade, sending fresh waves of unbearable pain through me. I felt my whole body convulse and spasm, effectively causing the sword to cause a great deal of damage. Shit! Piss! Fucker! Bitch! What else can I exclaim in my head to take my mind off this pain?

I heard a loud clunking sound as the guy’s face froze. He stumbled to the side as I see Elincia holding some kind of staff. She gets almost into a baseball batter’s stance before taking a swing with it at the guy’s head. A sickening crunch could be heard as the force of the impact throws his head to the side. Unluckily for him, before he could even realize he had been hit, his head crashed hard into a tree. His head twisted at an odd angle before he slumped to the ground, unmoving.

“This may hurt,” were the last words I heard before a final wave of pain coursed through me. Elincia pulled the blade out of my leg and leaned over me to begin healing. Miraculously, the pain slowly started to subside. Soon, the glowing stopped and the wound seemed gone. I stood up when a pain surged through the leg. Quickly, I put all of my weight off that leg as I winced in pain. Elincia quickly commented, “It’s not fully healed. You can’t walk on it right now. Healing it completely will take too much time.”

Great! What now, oh genius of the staff? I looked and said, “So… how do I get back?”

She stood next to me, took my arm, and put it around her neck. She replied, “I’ll support you.”

… hah, supports. I won’t point out the irony of the thought. Support level is now C. In other words, “C” me fall as she trips on that dress and I got nothing left supporting me.

As I walked, I looked at her. Her face seemed flushed red. I feel sorry for her. From being a hidden, naïve, almost spoiled princess, to being chased out of home with her family killed, and now she’s hunted and carrying a soldier on her shoulder.

Hah, soldier on her shoulder. Say that ten times fast.

Man, she’s really flushed red. All this working and running must be getting to her. Not to mention, she just killed someone. Maybe I should just hop and limp back to save her the work? We’re almost there anyway. Oh shit! I hear another rustling in the back of the bushes.

What could that be? More soldiers? Two more soldiers that I can only presume are from Daein pop out of the bushes. One was in front of us and one was behind us. Elincia used her free arm to hand me her staff. I grabbed it, and she let go of me, causing me to support myself with my arms and the staff. I quickly asked, “What are you doing?”

“Protecting you, of course,” Elincia replied. What the hell? Wasn’t Elincia supposed to be some weak girl? What’s going on here?

“Aren’t you scared?” I asked.

“Normally, I would be, but you inspired me to work harder and have courage for what I believe in,” she replied. Inside, I could hear my mind celebrating. Yes! She’s inspired! No more of the whiny Elincia.

… no more alive Elincia if we don’t get away from this soon.

She bent over slightly and started pulling up the bottom of her dress. I wonder if she’s trying to “defeat” the soldiers with a nice view. Maybe if she stripped they died of nosebleeds? Oh, wake up! Both of the Daein soldiers seem to look at her with as much confusion as I am, as she continued to pull up the many layers that the bottom of her dress provided.

… next town we stop in, we’re getting her new clothes.

As she reached the last layer, she pulled it up only part of the way. Strapped to her leg was something. She quickly pulled out to reveal a sword.

… well, I don’t remember her having a sword! What the HELL is going on? This did not happen in the game! This did NOT happen!

“What’s that?” I stupidly inquired. It’s a sword! Duh!

“It’s a blade that we’ve kept in our family. It’s powerful and light, and it’s blessed with certain properties of magic. It’s called Amiti,” Elincia replied.

Amiti… is her sword, but she doesn’t get it until later. What?

“One of our counts by the name of Bastian strapped it to my leg as the soldiers approached the palace,” she finished. Wow, I bet he enjoyed that job… that is, if Lucia didn’t give him a swift kick in his sacred sword and two magical potion containers afterward.

I nodded and said, “What are you going to do?”

“Why, clear a path for us to get to the headquarters,” she confidently said. What the hell is this personality change? Could it possibly be Multiple Personality Disorder? I know I could not have affected her this greatly. Taking the sword, she stepped forward at the soldier in between the headquarters and us. Before she could do anything, though, both soldiers fell to the ground. An all-too familiar, though a lot less loved archer stood in front of us, beckoning us to the headquarters. He ran over to Elincia and helped her over.

Oh, you do not have to worry about the gimping student! I’m just dandy, limping along only with a staff to support myself. Don’t mind the fact I’ve just been recently stabbed in the leg and can barely walk. Gregory Deegan would be so proud of me right now. I’m holding a healing staff and limping with it.

Before I could mentally complain anymore, I felt someone pick me up and throw me over his or her shoulder. I held the staff for dear life, expecting it to be a Daein soldier kidnapping me. I struggled for a second before I heard a voice say, “Stop struggling kid! I’m trying to rescue you.”

Quickly I stopped struggling. Rescue me? That sounds nice. I watched as my body was being hauled to the headquarters. Thank you mister hero for saving my life after Mister Bastard left me to hobble!

A few minutes later, I was back in the living room of the headquarters, where all the mercenaries and Elincia were assembled. I looked over to the person who put me down, seeing none other than Boyd. I quickly expressed my thanks at the rescue in a concise and succinct manner. Rhys hobbled over and continued the healing on my leg. Greil looked us and said, “Well now, it appears that Daein soldiers are surrounding us. They are asking for the princess in exchange for our freedom.”

I gasped when I heard this. The Daein attack was tonight? Oh, stupid me! That’s why Daein soldiers attacked me earlier. Way to go, John! You successfully proved you’re an idiot!

“We can’t surrender her,” I said aloud.

“And why not?” Soren inquired.

I looked at Soren, rather annoyed with his attitude. I said somewhat harshly at him, “Because, she’s our princess and the future of this country rests on her. Honestly, do you think Daein will keep their side of the bargain if we give her to them?”

Elincia spoke up and said, “My destination was to be Gallia. I’m sure that if we arrive there, we can find sanctuary from the Daein soldiers.”

After Elincia finished, Shinon commented, “No way in hell am I goin’ to that country of beasts.”

Gatrie looked around and said, “We have to help the fair maiden in distress. It’s only right that we do so.”

Titania added, “Daein started this war. To ally with them is unthinkable. If we save the princess, not only do we get a better reputation as a moralistic and powerful mercenary company, but also we help win back Crimea’s freedom. Crimea’s the homeland for many of us, and to turn our back on her in her time of need just seems rather horrible.”

Rhys nodded, finished with healing my leg. He turned to the group and added on, “The problem is not whether she is our princess or she isn’t. It’s the fact we are refusing someone who needs our assistance. Turning her down would be a horrible and unkind thing to do.”

“But it might be the only thing,” Soren replied harshly.

Greil looked and said, “Soren, what do you mean?”

Soren explained, “It may be a trap or it may not. We are surrounded by an unknown number of Daein soldiers. If we fight them, not only will we lose our lives... but also the princess will be captured regardless. As a mercenary company, we are dictated by self-interest before the interest of the country. Yes, most of us love Crimea, but we can’t love it if we are dead. If Daein wins and we fight them and survive, we put ourselves in a hard spot. If we were to assist them, as Titania’s point of view goes, we would become more reputable in that we helped Daein. If they win the war, that puts us in a favorable spot. I don’t like it any more than any of you do, but this is how it is.”

Elincia sighed and said, “I understand your point. I’m willing to give up for my country if that is what you decide.”

“Soren, explain something then,” I said in a harsh tone. I stood up, dazed for a moment by the fact the pain in my leg was gone. It was as good as new!

“Explain what?” Soren replied to an amazed person that was standing in my very spot.

I looked at Soren and nearly said “huh?” before realizing what I had just said. I sighed a little and explained my point in a clear tone.

“If there are truly an unknown number of soldiers outside waiting for us, what makes you think their numbers are enough that we couldn’t take them on? Maybe we could take them on. It’s not for certain that Daein will win this war. Besides, they attacked Crimea without declaration or provocation. They are obviously not above being dishonorable and cheap. What if we hand the princess over and then they go back on their word and they attack us. So, we defeat them because their numbers may not be that big. According to you, it’s unknown. We just handed over the princess to the lowliest bunch of thugs on this continent. Is that really what you want?” I asked him, each word being more daring and challenging than the last.

“For a new kid, you sure are trying really hard to influence us,” Shinon commented.

“I may not be a good fighter but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid and inexperienced,” I countered.

“Ike? Oscar? How do you both stand on this?” Greil inquired.

Ike and Oscar looked at each other and nodded. Ike said, “Oscar and I already agreed that we would help our princess no matter what.”

Oscar continued, “To give the princess over is tantamount to killing her.”

Ooh, “tantamount”… big word! I looked around the room. Mist and Rolf were sitting in the corner, not really contributing much. I knew what they were going to say, but out of respect for the other members, they kept silent.

Greil thought it over for a moment before saying, “I’ve come to a decision. We’re going to protect the princess and escort her to Gallia. Gather your weapons and materials and put them in here. When we finish this battle, we will gather them and destroy everything that we cannot take with us.”

All the mercenaries nodded in agreement, although the look of absolute annoyance was on Shinon’s face. As soon as Greil left, Shinon spat out, “Pah, sub-human country.”

I rushed to my room to gather my materials. Luckily these tight tights that are still clamping uncomfortably had pockets. Man, they really are tight. For some reason, the movie “Bad News Bears” came into my mind. Grape nuts, anyone?

I grabbed all of my personal artifacts from home and stuck them in my pockets. Grabbing a backpack sitting in the corner, I ran into the living room and grabbed a couple books from the shelf. “The Intricate Art of Magic”, “Magic for Dummies”, “Nils’s guide to music” were three of the few books I grabbed from the shelf. I ran through the side door that connected the armory of the headquarters to the main base. Thank you Mist for showing me this.

I ran inside and grabbed a bow and a quiver of arrows. I put the quiver on myself over the backpack, and I grabbed what looked like an iron bow. Soon after I got my materials, Boyd ran into the room to gather some weapons. After he had gotten his weapons, I ran after him, following him outside.

Greil met up with us at the front door. He said, “I’ll handle all the soldiers at the rear. Ike, you take charge and defend the front.”

As soon as Greil left, Elincia ran outside with a staff in one hand and her sword on another. Fastened around her waist was a scabbard for the sword. Rather funny to see the scabbard alongside the dress that she was wearing.

“Princess, go back inside!” Ike said to her.

She gave a look of determination and said, “I want to fight with you. At the very least, I can help by healing.”

Ike sighed and said, “Very well, Princess. Stay close to us.”

“I shall, my Lord Ike,” Elincia said.

I rolled my eyes. Here we go with the “my lord” thing again. I got my bow and nocked an arrow. I saw a glint of metal in the night in front of us. At the same time, I started to hear rapid footsteps. A few seconds later, about six or seven Daein soldiers appeared in our view, running at us with swords.

“Here they come,” Ike said to the group.

“It’s time to duel…” I muttered. Well, now, who said I couldn’t insert some humor before a battle. I looked at the soldiers running at me and let the arrow fly.

Author’s Note: I decided to end this chapter here. Although, at first, I planned to have both the fight and the conversations in this chapter, it felt like it was going too long. So, the battle will be taking place next chapter. Also, I have made a decision to add a couple extra missions/chapters that weren’t in Path of Radiance. Consider it, like, “John’s Route” for Path of Radiance. It’s a bit like how Hector’s Route had extra missions for Blazing Sword.

Also, in addition, there will be more than just the characters we know and love from Path of Radiance. I will include some original characters and maybe a few other characters that you may find interesting. Also, I may just stick in an arena or two, just for the hell of it. I don’t know when Chapter 5 will come out, but I have decided that this story will escape the purge of projects.

I had planned to drop all my projects except for the music composition project and the novels that I am writing. However, this story just stood out to me too much to be ignored. So, don’t worry everyone. I’ll still work on this story. I can’t guarantee anything on A Lifelong Promise, though. I’m having trouble writing the next few scenes in that story.

[The Silent Orator]

Author’s Note: Well, I think I may have decided on pairings. Nothing is official just yet, except for one. That’s the pairing I have for my character. I was debating not doing it, but with the plans I have for the fic, it would really make a lot more sense.

Of course, it won’t be an outright pairing. It probably would be more like Yumi and Ulrich from Code Lyoko or Keitaro and Narusegawa from Love Hina. At times like this, I wonder how I remember how to spell some of these names. Haha, I guess it just sticks in my memory if I read subtitles too much. It was like, “Whoa, we like each other, but we’re too naïve to realize the other does, and we’re too nervous to say anything about it despite the overwhelming evidence and our friends egging us on.”

Whoa, ramble much? Anyway, yeah, only one definite pair will be in the story. No, I won’t be telling you. What fun is that? I may drop subtle hints and keep you guys guessing. –cue evil laughter-

Oh dear, I also forgot… this is a fight chapter and might be a chance to reveal one of the first AU/OC character in this fic. Who was the fourth rider before Bertram? Read on and find out in one of the chapters coming up soon. Maybe it’s this one. Maybe it’s the one after that? Maybe it’s the one even after that? It depends on how I pace my writing.

Chapter 5:

Caught Red-Handed.

I watched that arrow as it flew through the air for what felt like forever. It made contact with the wrist of one of the sword-wielding shoulders. Not only did he drop his sword, but also I saw the point of the arrow sticking out through the other end of his wrist. I started to feel a bit sick as I saw the blood spray everywhere. This is not a game. This is actually a battle and people’s lives are really at stake here.

There’s no easy mode, normal mode, or hard mode here. There’s no pressing the reset button seventeen times because a character kept dying. This is life. This is reality. This is really fucking happening. I just practically took a man’s life, or at the very least made it so he couldn’t use his hand again. Earlier, a man who wouldn’t hesitate to kill me attacked.

These people are not just out, get slashed about three times with a sword, and disappear in a flash of light, or just flutter out of existence. There will be things that I’ve never seen in my life before. War does have a habit of toughening up the weak and making kids grow up too early. I feel bad for poor Rolf and Mist. They had to grow up in an environment like this.

I don’t really want to kill, but if I want to survive, that’s just what I have to do. I quickly pulled out an arrow and nocked it. I can’t explain it, but despite failing Shinon’s training horribly, I feel like I’ve actually gotten better with the bow. Having a bracer there is a definite plus as well. I let another arrow fly, this one lodging itself firmly in the bicep of another.

I saw the others charge forward as more and more enemies appeared in our line of vision. Boyd was brutally slashing and bashing his enemies with deadly precision and accuracy. Ike’s swordplay was fascinating in its own morbid, death dealing fashion. Titania must’ve seemed a bit like a dark goddess, raining down her judgment with her axe. Oscar’s persistent thrusting and slashing with his rather long lance seemed to taunt the enemies as they couldn’t get close enough to him to really get to him or his horse.

I spotted an enemy holding a spear, waiting for the right time to throw it at Titania. As I nocked the arrow, I took aim at the javelin soldier and shot at him. I knew as soon as I let go that it was not enough power in that shot. It started to curve downward. What’s this thing that entered my field of vision at the same time as I shot it?

Oh, it’s just Boyd.

Boyd?

Boyd!

Before I could shout a warning, the weakened shot I had just fired smacked itself into Boyd’s backside. He let out a surprised yelp before looking around. Luckily, there was an enemy archer nearby. Shinon looked at me and sarcastically said, “His name is Boyd. He’s one of ours.”

Twice as fast as I did, he pulled an arrow, nocked it, and shot it at the enemy archer with a twang. I could hear the whizzing sound as that silent assassin flew through the air at the enemy archer. He was struck in the head before he even realized what was going on.

Damn, I’m not about to be shown up. Boyd managed to pluck my arrow out of his backside, luckily believing that it was the enemy archer and not me who shot that arrow. As Boyd cleared up the enemies near him, Rhys made his way over. If this wasn’t a battle, I would’ve been laughing at the fact Rhys put his staff on Boyd’s backside.

That could be taken in so many wrong ways. Before I could think much of it, a javelin just landed in the ground, less than two feet in front of me. Pay attention, John! Pay attention! The rush was flowing through me. I saw that even Elincia was slashing around with Amiti, although she was more just standing near Shinon, Soren, and myself and trying to protect us should someone try to sneak up on us.

I shot arrows over and over, some of them hitting their mark, and some of them missing. It would have been an okay performance except compared to Shinon who was shooting twice as fast and hitting every mark, I felt like a total amateur who didn’t know the first thing about bows.

I could feel some kind of rush going through me. I couldn’t explain this feeling but it was like a feeling of obsession and power flowing through me. It was my obsession to survive and get home, and let no man, beast, or terror get in my way of finding a way home. I kept on shooting arrows as my heart contented to make sure I would stay alive.

I didn’t know how long I was doing this. I wasn’t even aware of how many arrows were in my quiver. All that stuck in my mind was that I was doing my best to hit and slaughter my enemies. They will not stand in my way of when I get home.

Speaking of home, I wonder how everyone is doing back at home. I wonder if my mother really minded that much if I was out of the house or not. I wonder how my friends from high school would react if they heard I was in a fatal car accident and my body couldn’t be found. Maybe my car exploded and they could use that as an excuse. They wouldn’t be worried sick about me if they all think I’m dead.

If I ever got home, what would they think of what I’m doing right now? Would they be condoning my actions of fighting for good or condemning me of being a murderer? Oh dear, what will happen if I get back home? If I’m proclaimed to be dead, I can’t exactly say, “Hey guys! I’m not really dead, but I was sucked into a video game world where I fought alongside some of my favorite video game characters.”

… I hear Cumulus House is a lovely asylum.

I don’t know how long it was but I was just about out of arrows. I saw Greil rushing from where he came to where we were. With tremendous power, he started hacking and slashing in terrifying grace and marvelous fatality. The elegant beauty of his techniques made me appreciate just how skilled he was just with the axe. I can only begin to imagine how powerful he must have been with the sword. Soon after Greil arrived, I could hear the shouts from the enemy for their retreat.

As the enemy soldiers started their retreat, Greil came back to us in a hurry. He said in a somewhat strained and tired voice, “Grab your possessions and restock your weapons and set this whole place ablaze. We’ve only just begun our war.”

I ran back inside to the armory to refill my arrows in the quiver. I also grabbed what looked to be a sturdier bow, just in case this one broke. I ran back into the other room to grab my backpack when I saw it wasn’t there. It was replaced with a bag that would be slung around my shoulder and carried at my side. Rolf was standing there, transferring the last book into it. He looked at me and said, “I figured having the backpack and the quiver would be rather annoying in battle.”

“Thanks, Rolf,” I replied to him with a grateful smile. I took the quiver off, put the bag on, and put the quiver back on. That way, the strap of the bag was under the quiver. I noticed an arrow sticking out of Rolf’s backpack. Deciding not to comment on it, I went along my merry way. Well, not exactly merry. Oh bugger.

After everyone gathered their materials, everyone took a hand in spreading the books from the library around the place and setting them on fire. Soren helped contribute with his fire magic, which I observed, was nowhere near as powerful as his wind magic.

As we trudged along, I started thinking about the game and the story, and what happens next. Petrine should be highly upset at the soldiers for retreating and go try to take care of us herself. We should be coming across a battle on a river crossing. After that, we shall fight in a castle and meet Mia.

After the time delay on the Daein attack, I have a sinking feeling that this reality is not going to play out like in the game. I have a feeling that I’m about to get as many surprises as my newfound allies are. Throughout the night we started trudging through the forest. I don’t know how long we were trudging through that forest, but after a short time, Greil called for us to camp.

“It’s a few hours until morning, and it will take us about two days before we get to Gallia’s borders,” Greil announced when we finished setting up camp.

“I need someone who wishes to scout out the area ahead of us and pick out a path that we can follow tomorrow,” he continued. I looked around at who was volunteering. A spying mission didn’t sound all that bad. I was a bit tired though from the attack.

“I can restore energy to those who volunteer,” Rhys said. He continued, “I can do at least that for now.”

“Understood,” Greil replied.

“I’ll go,” Boyd said. I looked at Boyd. He had a look of serious concentration that just had me awed.

“That’s good,” Greil replied to Boyd. He looked around and said, “Is there anyone you want to take with you, Boyd?”

“Yeah,” Boyd replied. He looked around and said, “I think it’s time we showed the new kid the ropes on what else we do around here.”

… what? Who’s the new kid? Wait…

… scouting and spying?! Me? Oh god no! Please.

“Er…” I began. Boyd cut me off, however.

“It’s time you learned all the other things we do in this company,” he said grimly.

“Yes, sir…” I replied somewhat tiredly. That whole battle took its toll on me. Rhys walked over to Boyd and started rejuvenating him with his staff. I wonder how much of a drain it was to Rhys to put energy into Boyd. Would it be like actually giving up your own spare energy to give to someone else? If so, is it the same as healing injuries? Is it really healing or is it actually an accelerated regeneration? I’ll have to ponder this on another day.

Rhys sat down after he was finished with Boyd. He sighed and said, “I can’t transfer any more energy. I regret to say my body doesn’t have enough energy to transfer to John.”

“I’ll do it,” a voice from behind me said. I quickly turned around to see Elincia with her staff.

“You don’t have to do this,” Greil said to Elincia when he realized what she was going to do.

Elincia smiled slightly before replying, “No, my lord Greil. This is what I want to do. I want to help in any way possible. This is the only way I can repay you at the moment. You’ve done so much for me and I only wanted to return the favor.”

As she held the staff over me, a voice said in a peculiar tone, “No, princess. Give me the staff and I’ll do it.”

I turned to the speaker to see Soren standing there. He still had his cold and calculating look, but he also had something else I could not recognize. His voice when he spoke was as demanding as ever, but it didn’t have the cold tone that I heard this whole time.

“My lord Soren, you shouldn’t have to push yourself,” Elincia said to him.

“I apologize for my actions earlier… allow me to repay you for what I said earlier,” Soren replied.

What? Soren is apologizing? What’s next? Elincia is going to beat Ike in a swordfight now? Maybe Ike will actually start thinking for once! Oh my goodness… maybe Shinon will donate his money to a charity!

… yeah, and maybe King Ashnard is going to open an orphanage for all branded children.

“It is okay… do not worry,” Elincia merely replied. She held her staff to me as it started to glow. I could feel myself regaining energy, as if I had slept for some time. I could feel myself slowly getting more and more energy. After about twenty seconds she stopped. I felt like I had slept for a while night. It was a weird feeling.

Man, I gotta learn how to do that, so I can help the others right back. I looked at Elincia and was about to express my thanks when she collapsed. I quickly reached out to try to catch her.

… you know, if I had worked out more, I would have been able to catch her.

Instead, she fell into my arms. Her weight, however, was too much for me. My feet slipped out from under me as I fell over backward. With my arms under her, my upward momentum from the slip pushed her on top of me.

… one collision was enough, but two was awfully painful. I landed flat on my back on the ground. Before I could recover from that, the full weight of Elincia fell on my chest, knocking whatever wind left in me right out. I could hear everyone in the camp laughing a little bit. As I slowly pushed Elincia down and sat up, I turned to the rest of them, rubbed the back of my hand, and grinned sheepishly.

With war coming upon them, I guess any kind of humor is enough to lighten the mood. Hah, it’s just like how I was in high school. The good ol’ humorous klutz inside of me hasn’t died yet. Elincia opened her eyes and looked at me. I smiled and said, “You fainted, your highness.”

“And he pathetically floundered to try to catch you,” came the snide voice of Shinon. Bastard.

Elincia looked at me before saying, “I’m sorry for fainting, my lo—“

She paused in mid-sentence as she realized what she was going to say. Before anything could be said, I could hear the joking voice of Gatrie say, “What do you say to leaving the two to some private time? I know if I were in that situation, I’d appreciate it.”

… goodness only knows what’s running through Gatrie’s mind.

“No thanks, Gatrie,” I replied to him. I added on, “I want to go with Boyd on this reconnaissance mission.”

“Well then, hurry up!” Boyd exclaimed at me in an impatient voice.

Elincia got up, her bright orange dress somewhat dirtied from the ground. I looked at her as I got up myself. Sighing, I remarked, “You know, your highness… that bright dress is going to catch the attention of the soldiers. If we ever come near a town, I think we should go in and get you a new one.”

“You think so?” Elincia asked me.

“Yeah… it’s better for hiding and such. Not to mention, some other kind of attire would really be easier to move around with,” I replied to her.

Damn it! I’m forcibly reminded of a drawing my friend Ari made with Elincia in a very skimpy two-piece bathing suit. Thank goodness it’s dark or else she might have seen the blood rush to my face. I quickly said, “Well, I’ll be back after this mission. I’d love to help you with your dress shopping.”

… or maybe not.

“I would be honored for you to help me with that,” Elincia replied.

“Hey, kid… you comin’ or do I have to shove my axe’s handle in painful places to get ya to move!” Boyd said, impatience seething through his voice. I turned to him and sensed a definite aura of annoyance just exuding from him. I smiled, waved to everyone, and ran to where Boyd was.

We traversed through the woods, careful to make as little noise as possible. We followed the path not traveled much, from what we could tell. It seemed as if no one really traveled this path, so we assumed this would be safer than the other path at the branch. As we traveled along, we saw a light in the distance. I turned to Boyd and asked, “Is that a town?”

“I don’t remember a town being there…” Boyd responded thoughtfully.

“I wonder what those lights are, then…” I mused aloud.

Cautiously, we headed closer to the light. We soon heard voices, but we weren’t able to hear what was being said. The voices were slowly fading, as if they were walking away from us. We both carefully crept closer until we saw something of a fire. Peering through the bushes, we saw an encampment. Inside the encampment were soldiers wearing black armor.

It was a Daein encampment!

We saw a female girl with somewhat long golden-blonde hair riding a horse and trotting around the camp. She was wearing what seemed to be rather light armor, probably to prevent any restriction of her movement. For some reason, she didn’t seem to be carrying any weapons on her being. Instead, the only thing she had was a bag wrapped around the horse’s neck, a bit like a carrying bag.

One of the Daein soldiers approached her and said, “General, we are still searching for the princess. We are unable to ascertain her current location, but we believe she might be heading south to Gallia.”

The girl looked at the soldier and replied, “Very well. I shall tell the armies to spread out among all known paths to Gallia. We cannot fail our majesty and allow her to escape.”

“Touching words, but failure does not bode well with his majesty,” said a rather demanding female voice. I tried turning to the voice, but I was unable to see who it was.

“General Selena of the Four Riders… your failure to capture the princess at the mercenary headquarters has displeased the king. It was only because of your… exceptional… magical abilities that he even allowed you to join us in the first place, and already you are blundering,” the voice continued.

“General Petrine, whatever do you mean?” inquired Selena.

I looked at Boyd, confused as to what to do. We could sit here and risk being discovered, but if we leave we might miss out on valuable information. Silently, we came to the agreement to stay there and see how the situation fared.

“Why, my esteemed general of magic, it is quite obvious. His majesty prefers warriors of exceptional caliber and strength. As a mage, normally he would not have given you a second thought. If it were not for the fact you had defeated three of the former Four Riders, he would not have even accepted your request to join,” Petrine said.

“I already know that, General Petrine. I fight to serve your majesty. What is your business here?” Selena inquired, her voice becoming rather agitated.

“Why, I was sent here to make sure you do not blunder again. The king was already a bit skeptical about allowing you to join. You managed to defeat General Bryce, General Tauroneo… and even myself in combat. However, as we all know, the Black Knight is in a league of his own. Your humiliating and easy defeat at his hands was to be expected. However, thanks to your previous mistake at capturing the princess, you are on a short leash. Fail again and you may be relieved of the Four Rider position, if not removed from the army entirely,” Petrine replied.

Time passed with only silence being heard by anyone, interrupted on occasion by a rustle of grass, the clinking of armor as soldiers go about their duties, or a crackle from the nearby fires. I looked at Boyd and we both reached the same conclusion. Time to head back. Before we could get up, Petrine said, “One more thing, General…”

We both paused and looked at her again. We watched her as she scanned the area. Numerous times she looked at where we were, but never lingered. Either she didn’t see us or she didn’t give any indication that she did. She laughed and said, “It appears that you have already lost your last chance.”

“What do you mean?” Selena inquired.

Petrine laughed before replying, “How is the security of your camp? Are you sure that you can handle any kind of attack?”

Selena replied, “I’m quite sure.”

Petrine sighed before replying, “I’m not so sure. Security seems to be rather lax to me.”

Selena looked at her and said, “You’re questioning my abilities?”

For a second, I could’ve sworn something was out of place. I nodded to Boyd and we both agreed. It was time to get out of here. We had all the vital information we could get without being caught.

As we walked, we heard a snap of the fingers and rustling of soldiers approaching the scene where the two generals were speaking. We chilled when we heard Petrine’s next words.

“How do you account that a spy was in the bushes, overhearing our conversation?”

We both panicked when we heard that. With our cover blown, I exclaimed to Boyd, “Let’s get outta here!”

“Don’t need to tell me twice, boy,” Boyd replied.

As we ran through the bushes, I could hear the soldiers catch up to us. Considering the fact I was the lesser physically fit of us two, it wasn’t surprising that I started lagging behind. I knew there was one thing to do. Man, not even a week with the company and I started feeling like they were family.

“Boyd…” I blurted out, huffing.

“Yeah?” he replied to me.

“She only thinks there’s one spy. We won’t be able to outrun them,” I said to him in between breaths.

“So? What’re ya tryin’ to say?” he asked back to me.

“Come rescue me later. I’ll be waiting. Just don’t keep me waiting too long,” I said with a weak laugh.

“… I understand,” Boyd replied to me.

“Tell me one thing before you give yourself up,” Boyd said quickly.

“What is it?” I replied with a question.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked.

“I’ll tell you if we get out of this,” I replied. I bit my tongue and added, “One last thing, Boyd.”

“What is it?” he asked in reply. Man, if we drag this out any longer, both of us will be caught.

“Tell Commander Greil that I’m sorry… that I couldn’t warn him and I hope he forgives me,” I finally said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he wildly asked, turning to me.

I smiled and stopped running. I waved to him as I saw him run off with a puzzled look on his face. I pulled off my bow and nocked an arrow as I heard crashing behind me. I turned around and waited for them to appear. I stepped into some cover. There’s no way I’m going without a fight. Any second now…

“Hello… poppet,” came a voice behind me. Last thing I could remember, a really hard chop came to the neck knocking me out. I’m gonna feel that when I wake up…

Author’s Note: You may be thinking as you finish this chapter, “Well, what about the next few chapters of the game?”

To that extent, I must say that they were my least favorite chapters to play and personally, I know I’m going to hate writing them. Not to mention, it would solve a few plot holes that I was worrying about. Also, with college started, my writing update times are going to be a bit more erratic. Just a heads-up.

[The Silent Orator]

Author’s note: To be honest, I didn’t like how this came out at all. Sorry for the late update everyone, but I've been really, really sick this past week or two. Also, for all you college students, you know how bad missing a class can be. Even when you're sick you don't want to miss a class (especially a Thursday American Federal Government class that's 3 credits and goes from 6:30 PM to 9:22 PM). Unfortunately, in addition to dealing with sickness, I also had to deal with missing homework and missing assignments... and choir was hell with a sore throat (so was band and the concert, but that's something else entirely).

I find that writing while sick gets you a somewhat... delusional... mindset and output. So, forgive how this chapter came out... I also wrote chapter 7 and 8, but I'll space them out. I don't want to overload everyone with sudden new chapters. I'm better now, so I was able to post the updates. Also, I'm learning trombone for the jazz band. Yeah! I'll still be a trumpeter for concert band though. I also got switched from tenor to bass in the choir (I can do both, but director feels I'm stronger on bass).

Without further ado, the long-awaited Chapter 6.

Chapter 6

Nothing in my sleeves

Oww… my head. I swear, whoever caught me didn’t have to hit me that hard.

Speaking of aches and pains, that fall I took earlier trying to catch Elincia just caught up with me. I don’t know what felt more painful at the moment. There was the severe headache that I had. Of course there was also the pain of landing flat on my back. Then again, there was that crushing feeling in my chest from the princess landing right on me. Neither particularly stood out for me, as they were all equally irritating and painful.

Man, it hurt to breathe, it hurt to move my body, and this light and noise is killing my head. Remind me never to go on a spying mission again. Boyd better come back for me or I’m going to shoot another arrow at his ass. Ugh, man, maybe if I can go to sleep, this nightmare will be over.

… where am I anyway? Well, I better get some sleep before they do whatever interrogations they plan on doing to me. Torture is not something you want to tackle when you’re already in pain and tired out.

Sleep… sleep…

“Wake up!”

Damn it, I don’t catch a break, do I? I will personally bitch-slap the next person that says to me, “Man, I bet it would be awesome to be a Fire Emblem character.”

I cracked my eyes open in the blinding headache.

“Heal him,” I heard a voice say.

Wait a second. Who are they going to heal? If they’re going to heal me, that would be great.

Yeah, my life at the current moment is going great.

I can feel my headache slowly ebbing away. My chest pains and my back pains are slowly fading away.

… you know, despite being only seventeen, I think it’s weird to say that I’m complaining about chest pains and back pains.

I opened my eyes and sat up to see a rather beautiful blonde haired girl in a white robe. Her face was full of fear rather than benevolence as I expected. It was almost as if she was afraid of healing me. She backed away slowly before looking to the cell’s door. I looked at her in what I hoped was apparent confusion before asking, “Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but why did you heal me?”

… now I see why she looked to the cell door. When it opened up, standing there was none other than Petrine. Oh dear god, oh dear god… she was pretty in a black-widow sort of way. Regardless, this wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. This was the time to try to not think at all. Whatever plan she had, I knew for a fact it wasn’t going to be pretty in the way I want it to be. The only pretty thing that her plan was going to be about was pretty painful.

“She healed you because I said so,” Petrine said. She nodded to the girl and said, “You’re dismissed now, Natasha.”

The healer known as Natasha quickly slipped out of the room. She paused for a second to give a somewhat consoling look at me as if to try to comfort me from what was going to happen soon. Petrine had a look on her face that implied that whatever was going to happen was going to be only fun for one of us. I’m willing to be that I’m not going to enjoy what’s coming up one bit. She walked into the cell and shut the door behind her. Hopefully it wasn’t locked. Not that I’d try to escape. I don’t even know where I am.

“I trust that you already know who I am,” Petrine said to me.

I looked at her and tried to remember what Soren said in the game when they first met her. I timidly replied, “General Petrine of Daein’s Four Riders. It is rumored that only your peers and your king himself rival your skill in combat. According to other rumors, you wield a fiery lance of arcane might that strikes fear into all who see it in combat.”

Well… maybe a little bit of subtle flattery can go a long way.

“Well, so you do know about me, or so these rumors you’ve heard have told you,” she said. She laughed slightly, which caused me to calm down a little bit. I hope I put her in a good mood, because I sure would hate to be skewered on the edge of that very flame lance.

“Yes, ma’am,” I choked out. Please don’t offend her… please don’t be offended, please!

“A very knowledgeable person, and yet you insist on being an archer,” she commented. I could see her look me over as she continued, “A rather scrawny, weak person who once shot one of your allies in combat. You lack power and accuracy as I heard.”

I could only gape for a second. Man, does she have to rub it in?

“I heard all about it from the soldiers whom you fought three days ago,” she continued. For some reason, I did not like where this is going.

“Such an intelligent person, yet such a weak person you are. What business do you have being a rather poor archer in such a skilled mercenary company? I wonder why,” she said aloud, more to herself than to me. It was as if she was trying to let me in on what she was thinking.

“Could they want you because they need more members, or is it for some other reason?” she asked me.

“I… don’t know,” I slowly replied.

“I’m sure you don’t,” she commented in a rather sweet voice. Somehow, that voice scared me more than her angry one did. I really need to get to the bottom of this, but I need to do this in a way that she won’t get upset at.

“What… do you want with me?” I asked in my timid voice.

“Why, what do you think I want with you?” she asked in return.

“To torture and maim me for information, keeping me near the brink of death until I divulge whatever I know about that mercenary company. Then when you are finished, you will simply kill me,” I grimly replied.

“Not in the slightest,” she replied.

… what?

“You see, I know they were probably keeping you for some valuable reason. Why should I harm you, when I could have much better use for you? Ransom, lies, extortion…” she said.

“You… don’t enjoy torturing your prisoners?” I asked. Er, I really should watch my tongue.

“Why of course I do,” she said as she pulled out a whip. She cracked it in the air, causing me to visibly shudder.

“Why, if you continue this topic, you may inspire me to think that you want this,” she said with a smile. Well, that was a rather tempting offer. I hear that a hot girl in tight black clothing whipping me is supposed to be kinky. I’m afraid I’ll have to decline the offer. Smiling back, I said back in a polite tone, “As lovely as that sounds, I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.”

“Your loss,” she said.

… am I really getting along with her? No way, there had to be a catch.

“Well, you know, there will be a small bit of torture today, but if you’re as smart as I know you are, I’m sure that you won’t have to actually worry about it at all,” she said to me. Before I could say anything, she turned to the door and said, “Natasha, you can come back in now.”

I looked to the door to see Natasha timidly opened the door and walk in. Petrine smiled at Natasha before looking at me and explaining, “See, recently, one of our generals had a stunningly embarrassing defeat yesterday in trying to capture the princess. Her forces were badly beaten in two areas. One was by what appeared to be a diversionary group and one by what seemed to be the main group. Currently, she’s been demoted from the Four Rider position. In fact, if it were not for my intervention, she would be removed from the army entirely and sent to a prison camp.

“I spoke for her sake for one reason only. I am under the impression that you would have made a better mage than an archer. Why, lo and behold, you seem to be quite the intelligent person. I would like to have you in my army.”

After her explanation, I sighed and said, “I suppose I don’t have a choice in the matter?”

“Oh, yes you do have a choice in the matter,” she replied.

“What if I were to refuse?” I asked, dreading the answer.

“General Selena will be removed from the army and imprisoned into the work camps,” Petrine said.

“Why should I care?” I asked.

“In addition, if you continue to resist me, I’ll whip this cleric here until she dies,” Petrine said.

“Why should I care? Isn’t she one of your soldiers?” I asked back.

“On the contrary, she’s a prisoner like yourself,” Petrine replied. She continued, “If she does die, consider my offer terminated. Then you can experience first hand just how much delight I have in torturing my prisoners.”

“Well then, where do I have to sign to start learning magic under General Selena,” I said. Working for Daein was nowhere near the top of my list, but neither is condemning someone to a prison for life and the responsibility for the death of an innocent cleric.

“Private Selena, you mean,” Petrine corrected.

“Hold up one second. As much as I know that I’m not in the position to bargain, I have a request,” I said.

“Make sure it’s a small one,” Petrine replied.

“Could you please release Natasha here?” I asked in as nice of a voice as I could.

“Why would you care for her?” Petrine asked me.

“Because she’s pretty,” I said. I could see her turn away in embarassment at my comment. I really had no reason for wanting her released except that it was the right thing to do. I couldn’t say that though. Imagine Petrine’s reaction if I had said that I thought it was the right thing to do. She’d probably skewer me on the edge of her lance.

“Then no, I won’t release her, but I’ll make a counter-offer,” Petrine said.

“What is it?” I asked, dreading what may be flowing through her twisted mind.

“I see great potential in you as mage, and if I can show you to see things the way I see it, I can imagine you will be a great asset to Daein. From what I could tell, the other spy ran away without even trying to help you,” she said to me.

“W-what other spy?” I stuttered.

“Don’t be stupid. I know there were two of you. You must not mean much to them if he ran away to leave you, the weaker of the two, to be captured. That obviously means you don’t have much ties to the members of the company,” Petrine said.

“I… understand. What’s your offer?” I said. Of course, her assumption was slightly wrong, but it’s probably best to not test her patience or her current good mood.

“Impatient, are we? I hope I didn’t rub off on you too much. My offer stands as this. This girl will be your personal assistant. Just as Ena is to me, she will be your right hand slave. If I see that she does not fit to your standards, I’ll have her returned to the prison,” Petrine said

“I accept,” I said. I smiled at Natasha who gave a look of fear at me. I shall try to explain everything later to her.

“Insolent whelp! Bow to your master!” Petrine shouted at Natasha, cracking her whip at Natasha, striking her on the face. Natasha quickly fell to her knees and bowed. Ugh, just how she was being treated was enough to make me sick. This was wrong, but I had no choice but to go along. Greil, Ike… everyone… forgive me. I hope that you can understand what I’m trying to do here.

“Follow me,” Petrine barked at me, walking out. I sighed softly and followed Petrine, while Natasha took the rear of the group. I didn’t really know what was coming up, but I knew it had to be better than being imprisoned and tortured. Not to mention, I saved the life of this cleric. First chance we get, I’m going to make a break for freedom with Natasha. Maybe when Selena dismisses us, and we’re walking back to camp, I can make a break for it. Gallia is south, right? Yeah. South it is.

“Commander, I have an assignment for you,” I heard Petrine say.

“Mmm… yes, general?” I heard a tired voice inquire. Looking around, I could see a wyvern but I couldn’t see the rider.

“Stop sleeping long enough to listen,” I could hear Petrine impatiently say.

Sleeping?

“I’m listening…” I heard the man say tiredly.

“This is a new recruit with great potential. He’s also a former prisoner. I want you and one of your soldiers to overlook his training and make sure he doesn’t run away when it is done,” Petrine ordered.

Damn her.

“Yes, General Petrine,” I heard the voice say. Who was that? It sounds so familiar.

“I don’t expect a failure from you, Commander Haar,” Petrine said.

Haar? Oh yeah, he was in the area with Jill and his wyvern knights when they escaped from that port in… in… uh, damn, I don’t remember the name.

“Jill, you’re my soldier,” Haar called out.

“Why commander?” I heard a voice inquire. A green wyvern floated over, quite different than Haar’s black one. They’re somewhat cool looking if it wasn’t for the fact that they’d probably trample me if I pissed one of them off.

Wait, this is Jill? Oh dear, this was NOT the circumstances I wanted to meet my favorite character under. I was figuring that it would be on the boat later on, but not like this. Well, anyway, I had no choice. Petrine started walking forward, followed by me, who was followed silently by Natasha, who was then followed by Haar and Jill. That’s a long train. Who else can we add to our merry band?

Nobody else… as we just arrived at the clearing that Selena was standing in. You know, if they continue to throw in more female characters for me to meet, I think I’m going to lose sleep quite a bit from now on. Damn you game creators for making all the female characters really good looking. Why couldn’t I have been trained under someone like… Vaida!

“YOU ARE WEAK AND PUNY!”

… nevermind.

Petrine smirked and said, “I’ll leave you five alone now. Commence your training. I expect to see some good results by the end of today’s training.”

I watched as Petrine left the area, leaving me with Natasha, Selena, Haar, and Jill. Although, I have to admit, I couldn’t see the two wyvern riders anywhere. They were probably landed on the ground and sitting around watching. In Jill’s case, she’d probably be impatiently waiting for this to end so she could go attack some laguz. Poor, deluded girl under the brainwashing of Daein’s teachings.

“Okay, sir, I hear that you are to learn magic,” I heard Selena say.

“Sir?” I asked in response.

“You’re of a higher rank than me,” she said, bitterness quite apparent in her voice.

“Don’t stand on formality with me. I really don’t like it. If anything, I should be calling you ma’am,” I said to her.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“John… and that’s what I want you to call me. If you have a problem with the familiarity, I can order you to do it,” I said. Wow, now I know how Elincia felt earlier.

“Very… well,” she said hesitantly.

“Now, Selena,” I began.

“I’m only a private,” she said.

“Now, now… as I said earlier, I don’t like all this wishy-washy formality. I want to be here on friendly, casual terms. It makes everything much easier for the both of us,” I said with a smile.

I could see that my words were having a bit of an effect on her, although with the look on her face, I didn’t know whether it was a positive effect or a negative one. She struggled for a second before saying, “Well, John… your training begins today.”

I smiled at her and politely said, “I greatly anticipate to see powerful your magical arts truly are.”

Hey, if I can make friends with members of this camp, I could convince them to help me escape. Now if I could talk to Haar. I don’t think Jill would be able to help. She’d report me in a heartbeat right now.

A few hours passed with Selena explaining in great detail about what magic was about. She mentioned that she was only going to teach me anima magic, since she wasn’t as well versed in light magic, and she couldn’t use dark magic at all. After a little question and answer session, she tossed me a red tome and said, “Here’s a beginner fire tome.”

I could hear a voice in the distance say, “Commander, commander, wake up!”

“Five more minutes,” came the sleepy reply.

“He’s making his attempt now. Let us watch!” I could hear Jill say. Well, well, they were around the whole time. I bet Selena’s explanation bored Haar to sleep. I looked at the tome and flipped to the first page. Wow, it was all written in English.

“On the first page, it will list the two kinds of spells in this book. I expect you to learn both and master one of them. The more you use a spell, the more powerful and accurate it becomes,” Selena said.

I looked at the list and saw “Fireball” and “Ember”. Looking at the page number, I quickly flipped through the book until I got to fireball. I looked at the explanation and read it over. It was rather genius all this stuff written about the spell. As I skimmed it over, I went to the incantation.

“Are you ready?” Selena asked.

“I am,” I replied.

“Commander! Wake up!” I could hear.

“Calm down and let me sleep,” a reply came.

“Then cast the chant for the spell you picked,” Selena said.

“Sacred powers over fire and heat, help me make my enemies fall. Lend me your power in combat and grant me a fireball,” I read from the text.

… nothing happened.

“Interesting,” Selena said.

“… what is?” I asked in reply.

“Look up,” Selena commented, pointing to a spot above me.

I looked up and there was a ball of fire over my head. As I noticed it, I could suddenly feel its heat on me. Great balls of fire! Haha…

“Now, point your finger to it,” Selena instructed.

I raised a finger and pointed it to the ball. As I moved my hand, the ball went in the direction I was pointing. Cool, it was like attracted to where I was pointing.

“Now point at a target and call out ‘fire’,” Selena said with a satisfied voice.

“Commander! Come on!” I could hear behind me. I laughed for a second before turning around, pointing to where I thought they were, and called out, “Fire!”

The ball of fire shot at great speed toward a tree, exploding in a dazzling show of sparks and small flames.

“What the hell are you doing?” I could hear Jill call out in anger.

“Whoops… I thought I heard bird squawking noisily over there,” I jokingly said in reply. I turned back to Selena who I could have swore was smirking with malice at the tree that I fired at. I’m really going well in Jill’s books, aren’t I? I better watch my sleep tonight and sleep with one eye open. At least I’m doing well in Selena’s eye, or so I hope so.

… of course, with all these girls I’ve seen, I don’t think I’ll be able to get a good night’s sleep with all these… good… dreams I’ll probably be having. Ah, my mind… one of the few places I can retreat to for private time and a dose of sanity.

“There’s something behind you,” Selena calmly said.

I turned around to see a flash of pink armor and red hair for a split second before I could feel a fist collide with the side of my face, knocking me down.

“Hey, that hurt!” I said to Jill, who was standing angrily in her spot, staring me down.

“If you listen hard enough, you can hear the clucking of a yellow chicken,” Jill said in an irritated tone. I don’t think I can stand her for much longer.

“Sacred powers… uh… uh… um…” I stuttered out.

“Lost your voice, have you?” Jill sneered at me. You know, I take back what I said about her being my favorite. So far, she’s the only person in this world to not show me any respect… or at least some sense of hospitality or kindness… or even treat me like a person.

“What’s wrong with you?” I said at her angrily as I got up.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked back at me angrily. “You’re the one who tried to set me on fire!”

“How can I concentrate with you squawking incessantly at your poor, tired commander?” I retaliated.

“I…” Jill started.

“Lost your voice, have you?” I said spitefully at her. I turned to Selena and said, “I think I’m ready to try the other spell.”

“We’re done with training for today,” Selena said. I sighed and nodded to her. I watched as she got on her horse and trotted away, leaving Jill and I standing in the clearing. Natasha was nearby, although she seemed too afraid to really say much of anything. Poor girl must be so shocked at what’s going on.

… my god, did my temper really upset Jill all that much? She should be lucky she didn’t go to my school, or else she would probably have been really upset right now. I can only be nice for so long before even I snap. I could see her just staring at me with some kind of expression that I couldn’t tell.

“Wounded your pride, haven’t I?” I merely remarked.

“No… whatever gave you that absurd idea,” Jill said, fighting to regain her composure. I was hesitant to do anything, because I really didn’t want to get hit in the face again. Any harder, and I think my jaw would have been dislocated or broken. Then again, Natasha could’ve fixed that. I slowly walked to her and said, “Hey… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said.”

“Why are you apologizing to me?” she said.

“Because, it was my stupid actions that started this whole thing,” I replied.

“I see…” she said, more to herself than to me.

“Well, don’t you have a job to do?” I asked.

“What?” She asked in reply.

“Aren’t you supposed to accompany me back to the camp?” I asked.

“Oh, right! Let’s go,” she said.

“What about your wyvern or your commander?” I asked.

“Let them rest. You’re right about what you said,” she said. Is this an apology?

As I started back to the camp, Jill followed by my side and Natasha followed behind me. I smirked at Jill and said, “Where’s your lance?”

“I don’t need it,” she said in reply.

“And why not?” I asked her.

“Because I can easily take you out if you try to run away,” she stated with the slightest hint of a smirk.

“… oh, thanks,” I said sarcastically. She laughed a bit before saying, “It’s true. You’re weak.”

… oh man, I swear… she’s getting on my nerves.

“You really think so?” I asked her.

“I know so,” she said, still laughing.

“What’s so funny?” I asked her, frowning.

“The fact that I could easily knock you out anytime I please,” she said.

“Is that a fact?” I asked. Man, she really knew how to piss me off.

“Of course,” she said.

Well, I guess a part of me wanted to test that theory. I quickly turned to her and tackled her.

… that didn’t go so well. She managed to remain standing while I lost my grip, and fell hard on my back. What does this world have against my back? Seriously. Before I could move, Jill jumped on me and pinned my shoulders with her hands.

“Okay, okay, I understand…” I said in a depressed voice.

“As I said… anytime I please,” she said with an arrogant smile on her face. She looked and said, “Oh, and don’t do that again. I can’t be responsible for what I may do to you next time you try to test me.”

Man, I can’t stand that arrogant attitude she’s giving me. I need to do or say something that will give me an advantage.

“You’re cute!” I said to her with a wink. She had a weird look on her face after I said that. Hah, taking advantage of her dropped guard, I managed to wriggle free of being pinned and rolled both of us over. The tables were turned when I pinned her shoulders down.

“Isn’t it a soldier’s job to never let their guard down?” I asked with a condescending tone to my voice.

“That’s not fair,” she said to me in annoyance.

“Nothing’s fair in war,” I said back to her.

“Well, in that case, you wouldn’t mind this?” she said. I was about to ask her what she was going to do when I felt it. Her shoulder slipped from my grasp and I felt a great, unimaginable pain. Ow, bitch! She hit me there! That hurts!

“Nothing’s fair in war, eh?” she said to me. The only reply she got from me was a long, painful, drawn out, “Biiiiittcchhhhhhh…”

“I’m going to guess that you won’t be doing something sneaky like that again,” Jill said to me.

“Sneaky? Like… what?” I gasped out between short breaths.

“Like lying to me to try to take advantage of the situation,” she said.

“If I… wasn’t… lying?” I said, the pain finally ebbing away quickly. I saw a glow and found Natasha was healing me.

“Don’t try to deceive me a second time,” Jill said.

“… hypothetically speaking,” I said.

“Hmm, I make you a deal,” she said to me.

“What kind of deal?” I replied curiously. Natasha straightened up as she finished healing me. I got up and looked at Jill.

“You beat me in a fair hand-to-hand battle, and I’ll answer your question without hesitation or lies,” she said.

“Fair enough, especially by your standards,” I said.

“Now move it! Back to camp,” she barked at me.

… bitch. This is not going to be fun at all for me.

[The Silent Orator]

Chapter 7:

I follow my path

Today is the third day after training with Selena. She seems quite surprised at how well I was progressing. She said it was almost like natural talent. I think it’s the little gift that the voice gave me. I bet he knew I wanted to be a mage right from the start. I wonder whom that voice is and where it is from. I wonder if it’s a he or a she.

I sat in the tent that Petrine provided for me. I still don’t know what that girl’s up to, but I know it can’t be good knowing her. Well, I don’t know her and I’m already suspicious of why she’s treating me so well. Apparently, she seems rather intrigued at my progress. I also heard that they replaced Selena with a new, mysterious paladin in the Four Riders. A lot is going on in Daein’s ranks. If it wasn’t for the fact that I knew who they really were and what they were doing, I would find myself at home in here.

Playing through the game is one thing, but actually being here is another thing. I know that it seems like a common sense thought, but just actually being here and experiencing those changes first-hand is something else. I find myself having fun at these Daein camps. The soldiers are no different than ordinary people. During our break times, I sit around and listen to them tell stories of their friends and families back home and what they’re going to do after the war.

Sometimes, when we get enough free time, they play a sport that strongly reminds me of football. The only difference is how many points you score for a touchdown and a field goal, and that you have five downs instead of four. At first, the soldiers seemed hesitant to let me play. It appears that the soldiers of the camp have affectionately given me the name “Petrine’s Prodigy” and treat me as someone above them. I bet all this hogwash “respect” is probably by Petrine’s orders. After I got it through her head that I hated standing on ceremony, it was easier to get along with the rest of the soldiers. Natasha was always around, should someone get hurt. Tackle football hurts when there are no body pads and helmets and such. It’s not the same as playing tackle football with fellow band members.

The Daein army aren’t just people that are bad guys and need to be slaughtered. They’re human like myself. They have their own dreams and aspirations and wants that they want to follow. It’s almost sad to see all that snuffed out back in that battle we had back at the headquarters. It’s almost sad to do what I do. War is a grim thing. This whole situation is horrible. I don’t want to be a part of it anymore. I’m sad for the losses these people had. I don’t want to kill unless I have to. This isn’t right what I’m doing… what anyone’s doing. I can just imagine the people back at the Daein homeland regarding the Greil Mercenaries and the Crimean army as some kind of fearsome archenemies that need to be destroyed.

This whole world has been one rough ride after another. I’ve even made a couple friends in this Daein army. But Daein isn’t my home. I just cannot abandon who I know and go to them. Then again, do I really have to swear allegiance to Crimea? I’m not from there, and the army here has been so kind to me. Oh, I don’t know! Everything here is wrong. Everything here is awkward too.

Speaking of awkward, the first night with Natasha definitely fit that catagory. I had just gotten under the covers and was getting ready to go to sleep when she sat down on the bed.

“What are you doing?” I asked Natasha as she sat down.

“I’m here to make sure I’m here for you if you ever need anything through the night,” she replied to me.

“Do you plan on staying up all night?” I asked her.

“Why not?” she asked me back.

“Because you should get some rest. You seem tired. You should go to sleep,” I said.

“But, as your servant--,” she began.

“Forget what Petrine said. You should already have figured that out about me. I hate this whole servant and master deal and the whole standing on formality crap. You’re my equal. Nothing more and nothing less,” I said to her.

Natasha nodded to me silently as she smiled slightly. I looked around the tent and saw that there weren’t any other beds. I sighed and asked, “Where do you plan on sleeping anyway?”

“I could find a blanket and find a place on the ground,” Natasha replied.

“Nonsense,” I replied nonchalantly, waving a hand. “You can sleep with me tonight in this bed. You don’t deserve to sleep on the ground.”

“But, I don’t know if that’s okay,” Natasha replied.

“I could disregard what I said earlier and order you to, but I’d rather not do that. I’m doing this because I don’t think it’s fair you have to sleep on the ground,” I merely stated.

“So, it’s okay for me to sleep with you tonight?” Natasha asked me.

“Sure thing. You don’t snore, do you?” I said jokingly.

“N-no, I don’t,” she timidly said.

“I was joking,” I quickly said. Wow, maybe I shouldn’t have been so hard on her. She started taking off her robes, causing me to quickly say, “Hey, hey, what are you doing?”

“I’m just taking my robes off. It makes it easier for us to sleep together in the same bed,” Natasha simply replied.

“What?!” I quickly exclaimed.

“It’s uncomfortable to sleep with these on,” she said. “Not to mention, we’d have more room if these bulky clothes weren’t on me.”

Oh thank goodness. I thought she was implying something else.

“Okay, okay, warn me first. I’ll go turn away. When you’re ready to go to sleep, just put the light out. Goodnight Natasha,” I said to her.

“Goodnight,” she replied. God, sleeping in the same bed with a naked girl is really going to push the limits. I hope this doesn’t happen every night. I only have so much self-control. Damn it for being a teenager.

As I thought to myself, I saw the light go out. I could hear the bed rustle as she got in. I thought for a second before quietly saying, “Natasha… I want to be seriously honest with you right now. I’m going to try to get away from here the first chance I can. I want you to come with me. Together we can escape this imprisonment.”

“Is that okay?” she asked me.

“My home isn’t with the Daein army. I admit that they aren’t as bad as I thought they’d be. The fact still stands, however, that my allegiance is with Crimea and the Greil Mercenaries,” I explained to her quietly. However, I wasn’t sure how truthful that was. Is my allegiance really with them?

“I want to help in any way I can,” she replied.

“Yeah, together we can escape from here. You’ll be able to go home when the war’s done,” I said.

“I thank you deeply for all you’ve been doing for me,” Natasha quietly said.

“It’s okay,” I replied. “I want to help.”

There was silence for a few minutes and I figured she’d fallen asleep. As I started to fall asleep myself, I heard her ask, “Did you really mean what you said back in the cell?”

“Wha?” I blearily said. Sleep was starting to overcome me.

“You said in the cell that you thought I was pretty…” she said.

“What about it?” I asked.

“Did you mean it?” she asked me.

“… yes, I did,” I said.

“Really?” she said, her voice a bit hard to figure out.

“I wouldn’t lie like this,” I replied hastily.

“You’ve done so much for me… I wish I could repay you,” she said sadly.

“C’mon, don’t be like that. You can repay me by both of us getting out of here and you getting safely home,” I said to her encouragingly.

“Can you see me?” she asked me.

I turned to her and strained my eyes to see her in the dark. I couldn’t see her at all. I replied, “No, I can’t. Why?”

… what is this touching my lips that’s so small and soft and indescribably wonderful? This is so unbelievable… her soft and wonderful kiss. It’s… amazing. I can’t believe this. This is so sudden! She broke away and said, “I know it’s not much… but I wanted to repay you for the kindness you’ve shown to me.”

“I… you don’t have to,” I mumbled.

“You’re not the only one who wants to be nice to everyone,” she replied.

“I guess you’re right…” I thoughtfully said.

“Goodnight,” she said to me.

“Goodnight,” I replied.

So, after two more nights of that, here is my fourth day of training. Well, it would have been, but we’ve been called to mobilize for battle. Apparently, we’re to stay in this castle in Gallia and ambush the Greil Mercenaries as they take the princess to see the king of Gallia. Selena was part of the force to oversee my combat abilities. I was to battle alongside her against my former friends.

So, here I sit near the castle. Selena was sitting on her horse, observing the area around us. I was sitting against a tree, picking dandelions and plucking the petals from them. Natasha, ever since that first night, seems to have gotten over her shyness… although I have to admit that there are times that I believe she could back off a bit. She seemed a bit upset she couldn’t come along on the mission, but Petrine made it clear that she couldn’t come along.

“Do you have to pluck the petals?” Selena asked me.

“It’s interesting how many various patterns the petals can make in the breeze. No two breezes are the same, so it’s safe to say that no two petal flights are the same,” I said calmly to her.

“Interesting philosophy, but we have company,” Selena said.

I jumped up and held my fire tome. At this time, I was finally able to cast both Fireball and Ember’s chants without reading them. The book I had was the second one Selena gave me. The chants were longer and more difficult, but their effects were more powerful. The only one from this book I memorized was a fire shield chant. I started chanting my fireball spell, and held up my finger. I stood there in the shade, away from the battlefield, awaiting the mercenaries. I didn’t want to fight them, but I didn’t want to cause Selena any trouble either. Over the past few days, I’ve noticed that Selena’s taken a liking to me and my constant will to learn these magic spells. I can’t say that it wasn’t my dream to learn magic. All my life, I always knew that if I was to be a game character, I wanted to be a mage. Now that I have that chance, I wasn’t about to give anything less than perfection.

“Commander John, they’ve broken through most of our forces. All that is left is General Kotaff, two more soldiers, you two, and myself. They’re making their way here as we speak!” the soldier exclaimed to me. I looked over at the castle to see Kotaff and two mages standing guard there. Oh yeah, I remember this. Imagine that those two mages are the same as the game. I lazily got up and said, “Okay, go back to those three. We’ll hold things down here. We are long-range fighters after all.”

“Yes sir!” the soldier exclaimed before going back to the castle. It was roughly fifty yards away from me. I continued to twirl the fireball in my finger, waiting for someone to appear in my line of sight. The only way they could come was through that direction. The other ways would be a dead giveaway as they were thick forests. Assuming they could even get through the trees, the rustling would give them away.

“Geaeechk!” I hear a scream from someone nearby. I quickly turned my head over to see both of the mages slaughtered by Ike, with Marcia flying back up into the air. Damn, Marcia! I forgot about her! I quickly twirled my finger with the fireball at Marcia, who dodged the fireball before chucking her javelin at me.

Quickly chanting the spell for the fire shield, I watched as the javelin bounce harmlessly off the shield into the ground. By that time, the rest of the mercenaries were coming along the bend, accompanied also by Mia and Ilyana. Selena started to chant for a spell before I held my hand out, signaling her to stop.

“Why?” she asked me.

“I don’t want to fight them… I never wanted to fight for Daein in the first place,” I said.

“You’d betray the army for these mercenaries?” Selena asked me.

“My allegiance is to Crimea and my loyalty is to the Greil mercenaries,” I said to her.

“So, all you did was use me for the magic,” she said to me angrily.

“No… I didn’t even plan on learning magic,” I said to her.

“Then why didn’t you turn it down and run away?” she asked me. I could tell that she was becoming more and more upset at me.

“Because they would’ve killed Natasha and sentenced you to a prison work camp!” I said back to her.

“Why should you care?” Selena asked me.

“Because it’s not in my nature to see other people suffer because of my actions!” I replied to her.

I saw the Greil Mercenaries take out the rest of Kotaff’s men as well as himself with no problem. I looked at Selena and said, “Tell me what’s more important. Your loyalty to Daein… a country who has rejected you… or using your incredible abilities to do what is right.”

“Doing what is right,” Selena said. “That’s why I joined the army. I wanted to protect the innocent. I wanted to serve my country, even if the king now has no ideals that coincide with mine.”

“Is serving someone who is against all you believe in really loyalty to your country and yourself?” I asked.

“Hey, look who it is! It’s John! He’s alive… and out on the battlefield?” I heard Boyd say in a confused voice.

“Step back, Boyd, he’s a traitor,” I heard Soren say.

“Wait, no!” I exclaimed. It must have fell on deaf ears, because I could see an aura start to form around Soren. Quickly, I started chanting the spell for the shield. No sooner had a funnel of wind started flying at me that a fire shield popped up.

“Interesting. So they made you a mage. Where’s your tome for the spell?” Soren asked.

“I memorized a few basic spells,” I merely replied.

“Interesting. I wonder what were to happen if your memory were to short out in a battle,” Soren commented. Before I could say anything, I could see another chanting. Quickly, I put up another fire shield as another wind spell came assaulting at it.

“Give it up. You cannot win!” Soren said.

“Soren, stop this!” Ike said.

“He’s one of them. He doesn’t deserve to live,” Soren replied.

“Soren…” Ike said.

“Look at him. He’s a Daein! He’s a commander even! Look at his attire. Do you think he’s honestly our friend? He’s probably spied on us from the beginning!” Soren said.

I could say nothing in my defense. It was draining to hold up that shield from Soren’s assault. I could feel myself tiring as I fell to my knees in exhaustion trying to hold the shield up. Soren looked fine, much to my annoyance. Quickly, I summoned up the last of my strength to put into the barrier, which kept it from flickering. I started to feel a bit better about it when a bolt of thunder flew through the air and struck the shield, shattering it.

It is a curious sensation… to be caught in a vortex and being cut up, while random small remnants of that thunderbolt jolt and shock you every once in a while. The spell faded as I fell to the ground, severely cut and mangled.

“Now, commander, it’s your time to die. Thanks for the betrayal,” Soren commented.

As I saw the wind come to me, I just felt myself give in. I was too bloody, cut up, and mangled. I couldn’t even move. It was painful just to lie there. I groaned as it came closer. Before I knew it, a fire shield of great power popped in front of me. I looked to see that Selena put up the shield. At the same time as she was supporting the shield, she held out her staff and healed me.

“Impossible. You’d have to be a master mage to do something like that!” I heard Soren exclaim. I got up and watched as Soren’s spell stopped and the shield went down.

“John, it’s you!” I heard Elincia exclaim. I saw them all running toward me. As they got closer, Selena trotted in front of me and said, “Stop. You shall not go any further.”

“Who are you?” Ike inquired.

“I am Private Selena, assigned to Commander John in defense of this fortress,” she said.

“Well, you sure did a wonderful job of that,” Boyd said nonchalantly.

“Why you little…” Selena said angrily, citing the incantation for a fireball.

“Stand down, Selena. I wish to talk to them,” I said.

“Understood, Commander…” Selena said to me.

I looked to the mercenaries and said, “There’s a few of you missing…”

Titania replied, “Shinon and Gatrie have left the group and Commander Greil is dead. Ike is now our commander.”

“Titania, do not give our enemies any more information than they need,” Soren said harshly.

“Enemy? I am no enemy of yours,” I said.

“A commander in the Daein army not an enemy?” Soren asked in a rebuking tone.

“Touché... but I'm not here totally by my will,” I countered.

“Well then, what say you join us again?” Ike asked. “We could always use a new member.”

“I’m sorry, but I have to fight for Daein a bit more,” I replied.

“Why? I don’t get it,” Ike said.

“If… I leave this army, certain innocent people are going to die,” I said.

“Casualties of war,” Soren merely remarked.

“No, Soren… they’re living beings like we are! They don’t deserve to die, and I won’t be the one responsible for their deaths,” I said.

“I’m… hungry,” came the voice of a tired-looking mage from nearby. Feigning ignorance, I said, “Who are the new people?”

“Daein scum! I got you!” I heard a voice behind me.

“Shield!” I heard Selena call out, just in time to hear a clanging sound of metal against a fire shield.

“Mia, no! He’s not an enemy,” Ike called out.

I quickly turned around to see the dark blue-haired swordswoman say, “But boss! He’s a Daein troop.”

“He’s no common troop. He’s a commander,” Selena said.

“Not helping, Selena,” I said.

“Selena of the Four Riders?” Soren asked.

“No. Private Selena, former Four Rider general,” Selena corrected in malice. I saw Ike look at Soren skeptically before he looked at me.

“Why are you with her?” Ike asked me. I looked at Ike and sighed.

"She's my instructor in magical arts," I said.

"Why is she with you now?" Titania inquired.

“Because of the embarrassing defeat you handed her during your previous battles, she has been stripped of her rank and demoted to private. In fact, if it were not for my intervention, she would have been sentenced to a prison work camp for the rest of her life,” I merely said.

“Why should the life of a Daein soldier matter to you… especially one like her?” Titania inquired.

“A person is a person. No matter who they are or what their rank is, they are still a person through and through. She fights for the Daein king because she fights for what she believes in. She’s no different from you guys. There was no way I could be condemning a person like that to a camp for the rest of her life,” I explained. Man, I’ve been explaining an awful large amount of stuff lately.

“And there’s someone else that will die if you don’t go back,” Titania said.

“Yes… that’s the basic gist of it,” I said sadly and sighed. “I want to return to the Mercenaries, but I must hold out for a bit more until her and I can escape.”

“Commander, I can help with that,” Selena finally said.

“What do you mean?” I asked her.

“When we return, during our next training session, we can attack the guards, and you can make a run for it,” she offered.

“Why would you do this?” I asked her.

“I see potential in you as a mage. As an archer, no offense, but it sounded like you were pathetic,” she said.

“Yeah, man, you shot me in the butt!” Boyd said. I rubbed the back of my head and laughed embarrassedly before saying, “You found out about that?”

“I sure did,” Boyd replied. "No offense, but I'm sure glad you don't have much strength, or else that arrow might've actually hurt more than sting."

"Oh, very funny, Boyd," I sarcastically said.

"Commander... John... I'm offering to help you escape. Follow your ideals and your dreams, like you said I should," Selena said. I turned to her and thought about it. It sure was a tempting offer, but something nagged at the back of my head.

“I appreciate the officer, Selena, but I have one for you,” I said.

“Well, first, I have to ask you something. Do you really think that what Daein is doing is right?” I inquired.

“… well… no,” Selena said.

“Then say no more, my dead soldier,” I said to her. She immediately started chanting for a fireball. Quickly, a large one of a huge proportion appeared. Compared to mine, it was like comparing a golf ball to a large beach ball. She looked at me and said, “You’re going to kill me?”

“No, they are,” I said. Seeing the panicked look on her face, I said, “No, no, not like that!”

“Stop screwing around! What’s your plan?” she asked frantically.

“I’m going back alone. I’m saying the Mercenaries killed you here,” I said to her.

“Why?” she asked, calming down. It seemed she realized what I was trying to imply.

“Because fighting with the princess of Crimea here is fighting for what you believe in. If you truly believe Daein should be stopped, then it’s your time to stand for your beliefs. Besides, you’ll get a lot more respect out of these people than those that you served in Daein,” I said.

“Wait, so what are you saying?” Titania asked me.

“I want Selena here to join you guys as a Greil Mercenary. I know this will sound hard, but it’s a favor I want to ask of you all. Take care of her until I can rejoin you guys somehow,” I said.

“Will you join us?” Ike asked.

“I… well… I… will,” Selena said.

“Good, because if you didn’t want to, I would’ve ordered you to anyway,” I said.

“I thought you hated ordering others around,” she asked me.

“I do, but I would’ve done it because it is for your own good,” I said to her.

“Thank you, Commander,” she said. I laughed for a second, getting a weird look from everyone.

“No, no, when I rejoin, you’re going to be my superior officer,” I said to her. I mockingly bowed and said, “Right, Commander Selena?”

“Don’t even joke like that,” she said to me in an annoyed voice.

“We better part ways here, before the Daein soldiers get too suspicious,” I said. I grimaced, knowing what was coming up.

“I need a few of you mercenaries to do me a favor,” I said to the group.

“What do you need?” Ike asked me. I stood my ground and grit my teeth.

“I need some of you to attack me. I need to make it look like there was a huge battle here. Selena, you were wounded in the water and knocked unconscious. A couple of sea bandits picked up your body and that’s the last I saw of you. That way they won’t wonder why your body isn’t here,” I said.

“Soren, Ilyana, Titania, Mia, Rolf… all of you, don’t be too rough,” Ike said.

I braced myself for the onslaught by the four.

… thirty minutes later, I shot a phoenix made of fire into the air. It was the distress signal I was supposed to shoot up into the air if the battle was going badly. I waited about twenty minutes before casting the spell. Damn, I’m in some serious pain right now. It took ten minutes to flip through the book and get the spell chanted correctly.

It was another ten minutes before Petrine herself rode onto the scene. She looked down at me and said, “What happened?”

“We were ambushed by the mercenaries. While the battle raged on, some bandits attacked us to attempt to loot the castle. It was a disaster! One of the mercenaries knocked Private Selena out, leaving her floating on the water. Some of those water bandits dragged her body away,” I explained.

“Hmph, it’s not like Selena was useful anyway. Maybe she’ll provide a little bit of fun and entertainment for those bandits anyway,” Petrine said with malice.

“General… about my magic tr—” I began to say when I was interrupted.

“We’ll find someone else to train you. I’m just glad Selena’s finally gone from my sights,” Petrine said. Wow, sounds like she really was cared for in this army.

“General… Petrine… I do need a way back to camp,” I said to her. I was in a pathetic state of things. Mia managed to give me quite a few skillful nicks in ways that looked like I was pretty badly banged up but still hurt the least. Titania took a gloved fist and crashed it onto my jaw, leaving a big bruise on my cheek. Soren blasted me with a wind spell, ripping my cape in places, chunks of it missing. My clothing was still singed and my hair was still standing up from the thunder spell Ilyana cast. I could’ve sworn there was an evil smirk on Rolf’s face as he shot an arrow into my own backside.

I would’ve been dead if they didn’t hold back their attacks. I can only imagine how powerful Ilyana’s thunder spell must actually be.

“Get on,” Petrine said.

“I’d… love to, but I can barely move,” I said. I don’t lie to others and this is no exception. My whole body is messed up, and even if I could move there’s no way I’m sitting down on a saddle with an arrow sticking out of my backside.

“Natasha!” Petrine barked into the trees.

I could see Natasha walk out of the trees toward me, her healing staff in her hand. After a few minutes, I was fully healed and I smiled to her while expressing my thanks.

“Get on. Let us ride back to camp,” Petrine said.

“What about Natasha?” I asked.

“She can walk back,” Petrine stated.

“… then I’m walking with her,” I said.

“A genius of magic such as yourself should not be walking around like a common soldier,” Petrine said.

“Natasha is mine and I do with her as I please. She either rides with me back to camp or I don’t ride at all,” I said.

“Then enjoy your walk back to camp,” Petrine said angrily. She kicked her horse, which galloped away.

“I’m so glad you’re okay!” Natasha exclaimed to me. Before I could do anything, she held me in a hug of joy.

… Natasha… don’t get too close to me. You’ll only get hurt in the end. I don’t want to be the one responsible if you get upset, but eventually, I will be leaving forever to return home. I just want you to get your freedom and enjoy it.

Together we walked back the path to the camp, recounting to her the story of the battle. Today may have been the day I forfeited the chance to gain my freedom, but that’s a small price to pay for a person’s life.

Author’s Note: I wrote this all in one sitting. Took two hours, but I did it! Quickest update ever, I believe. That is considering I used to only update once every few months.

[The Silent Orator]

Author's Note: Yeah, we meet a certain someone halfway into the chapter. For all you Radiant Dawn players. Yes, I have played and beat it (finally). I'm on my third playthrough on Hard Mode, and it's just as the name says. It's hard. Thank goodness, because Hard Mode of Path of Radiance was easy, IMO.

Chapter 8:

The Sword Princess

Two days passed since the battle with the Greil mercenaries. From what I heard from Petrine’s men, Elincia had barely made it to Gallia along with no casualties for the mercenaries. Although this came as a downtrodden blow to the army, this actually raised my spirits. Now to find a way to escape to Gallia with Natasha and I was home free.

My magical training was actually continued under Commander Heddwyn, although I had to start from the beginning. He was a thunder magic user, and so I started learning spells from the thunder family. They didn’t have official names, like the fire spells. They were called Thunder One, Thunder Two, etc. The numbers were the varying degrees of strength of the spell. I affectionately called the first thunder spell Thundershock, the second one Thunderbolt, and the final one Thunder. Long range was still called Bolting.

So, now I just need a Quick Attack and I can have my Pikachu cosplay now.

The third day passed, and Heddwyn had ended training early. Jill was absent today, leaving only Haar to oversee the training. From what I could tell, Haar was sleeping. I knew it was now or never. I nodded to Natasha and together we stole away from the clearing. We headed out of the camp and started to head south.

At last, we were free. Oh, oops, I shouldn’t celebrate to soon. The soldiers will definitely be looking for me now that we’re missing. We must have been running twenty or thirty minutes from the camp when I hear a great rush of flapping wings above me.

“Damn it…” I cursed under my breath.

In front of us on the path, Haar landed with his wyvern and pulled out an axe.

“Well, what do we have here?” Haar asked me.

I quickly chanted the spell for fireball and held my finger up, getting ready to attack Haar if needed.

“Hey, kid, don’t jump the gun here. I’m here to help you,” Haar said.

… what is up with Daein soldiers all trying to help me lately? Is this why they lost the war so easily?

“Why are you trying to help me?” I asked Haar.

“Why? Well, hm, would you prefer I do my job?” Haar replied.

“No, I’m just curious why a good deal of the Daein soldiers are helping me out, some of you even offering to help me escape,” I replied to Haar.

“Fair enough,” Haar said. “I don’t like Petrine. She puts me and my commander down like we aren’t even people.”

“I understand. I’ll graciously accept your help,” I said to Haar.

“Hop on board my buddy here. He’ll give you a ride to Gallia to meet with Princess Elincia,” Haar offered.

“Okay, Natasha, get on,” I said.

“Hey, hold on! My wyvern’s proud and strong, but there’s no way we can carry both of you,” Haar said.

“Well, then, take Natasha,” I said.

“Are you insane? Petrine just found out you’re gone. If she finds you, dire things may happen,” Haar said.

“I could’ve escaped with Selena a few days ago, but I didn’t because I wanted Natasha here to escape. If I wanted to escape and leave her behind, I could’ve done so already,” I said.

“What are you saying?” Haar asked.

“Either you take her to the princess, or we’ll refuse your offer and go by foot,” I said.

“You’re crazy, kid, but I’ll do it,” Haar said.

… I really hope I’m not making a mistake. I smiled at Natasha and said, “I’ll meet up with you later when I rejoin the mercenaries. Tell them who you are and what happened to me,” I said to Natasha.

“Be careful,” she said back to me.

“Of course!” I said cheerfully.

I watched as Haar flapped into the skies to go south with Natasha. I continued along my path, running as much as I could. Man, you know, your body could really ignore asthma when you’re running for your freedom and, quite possibly, your life. I couldn’t breathe easily, but it didn’t even come close to fazing me.

… of course, an arrow to the leg will. I fell to the ground as the arrow pierced my right upper leg, sending pain coursing through me. I tried desperately to get up, but I knew it was already over. If they shot me, that means I’ve been seen already.

My fears doubled when Petrine herself was riding to me. I quivered in fear as she dismounted and pointed her lance at me.

“You have a lot of nerve to run away after all I tried to give you,” she said with anger. I kept my mouth shut. Sorry people, but I’m not playing hero against Petrine. I like to live.

“You disgust me. I want you out of my sight. Guards, take him to Commander Danomill in Canteus Castle!” Petrine barked out.

“I’ll take him, General,” came a voice. It was Jill.

“Are you sure you wish to go alone?” Petrine said.

“I don’t think he’s stupid enough to try anything on me while I’m on my wyvern and we’re flying through the air,” Jill replied.

“Very well. Commander, I’m disappointed in you. Why, I was there during the battle with the Mercenaries, you know,” she said. I gave a look of shock. She was there?

“Yes, I can tell you didn’t know I was there. I was thinking that you were sly enough to try to pull something, but to actually come up with a believable story for Selena’s disappearance was ingenious. I knew you were going to try something, which is why I held Natasha back. Why, how delighted I was when I found out I was right,” she said. She clicked her tongue and said, “What potential you have. It’s a pity you’re on the wrong side…”

“Take him away,” Petrine said to Jill. She held out an envelope to Jill and said, “When you get there, give General Danomill this letter.”

“At once, General,” Jill replied. She beckoned me to follow her through the woods to her wyvern.

“I’d like to see you try something like you did last time,” Jill said. “It would sure curb my boredom and give me a reason to knock you out.”

“Jill, come on…” I said.

“That’s Miss Fizzart to you,” she said to me angrily.

“Miss… what are you saying? There’s no way you’re older than me!” I said to her.

“I’m seventeen years old and a soldier in the army. I’m old enough to try to gain glory on the battlefield and prove to my father I’m not worthless,” Jill said back to me.

“So, you’re the same age as me then,” I said.

“You? Seventeen? You’re puny and the same height as me. Most seventeen year old army members are taller than you,” Jill said.

“… is it second nature of everyone on the continent of Tellius to insult me?” I asked with a sigh.

“Get on the wyvern now,” Jill said with a smirk. I hope the wyvern trusts me. I carefully tried to get on and, unlike trying to mount Titania’s horse, I didn’t have much trouble.

“You rode a wyvern before?” Jill asked.

“No, never before. Why?” I asked back.

“You sure seem like you know what you’re doing,” Jill remarked.

“Is that a compliment, my cute little guard?” I asked jokingly.

“Didn’t I tell you to stop lying to me like that?” Jill asked threateningly.

“Yeah, yeah… okay, believe that it’s a lie,” I said to her.

“You’re really a rather peculiar individual,” she remarked as she got on behind me.

“I’m unique and sleek,” I said with a smirk.

“… and also quite a geek,” she added.

What the hell? Does that word even exist in this world? I guess it does.

“Not cool, you know…” I said.

“Then shut up and enjoy the ride to prison,” she replied.

“What’s your deal?” I asked her.

“What do you mean?” she asked as we took off.

“Are you always this friendly?” I asked in a casual voice.

“Are you ever serious?” she countered.

“Touché,” I muttered in response.

“To be honest, though, I don’t mind being around a person like you. Just not you yourself,” she said.

“What’s wrong with me?” I asked in reply.

“You’re a traitor and you took advantage of our hospitality,” she flatly said.

“My allegiance is to Crimea. I would be a traitor if I stayed with Daein,” I replied.

“Hmph,” was all Jill could reply.

“How about you, swearing allegiance to a country that attacked Crimea unprovoked. You’re a soldier. Do you think that’s honorable?” I asked her.

“No… but as a soldier, we follow our superior’s orders without hesitation,” Jill replied. “That’s what separates a good soldier like me from trash like you.”

“Sounds more like a good sheep than a good soldier,” I commented.

“You know, it’s not that hard for me to throw you off this wyvern,” Jill said threateningly.

“Sure, sure… just avoid the truth while you’re at it,” I said. “You’ll have to face up to it eventually.”

… silence. She didn’t say anything for a few minutes. I wondered what was going through her mind.

“Why are you being like this?” she finally asked.

“What do you mean?” I asked her.

“You’re a prisoner and a citizen of Crimea,” Jill said. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, but I can’t just tell the truth.

“You treated the soldiers with respect. Even when you were a commander, you wanted nothing more than to be treated like equals with the soldiers,” Jill slowly said.

“What’s the question?” I hesitantly asked her.

“You’re the enemy and you’re treating everyone with respect. You’ve even shown me respect and honesty, while I’ve shown you nothing but loathing and disrespect. You’re an enemy and a prisoner, yet you seem so at peace most of the time,” Jill said.

“Daein, Crimean… beorc or laguz… it makes no difference to me. You all are people and you all deserve the same chance to make it good or bad in my books. It’s the incessant squabbling over races and allegiances that drive us apart. It’s these superficial characteristics that drive us apart,” I said to her.

“But I am a Daein soldier…” Jill said.

“Stop that. Seriously. Daein soldier or not, you’re still nothing more than Jill Fizzart. You’re a wyvern rider, a soldier, and a seventeen-year-old girl all bundled into one package. Seriously, girl, grow a backbone. Think for yourself and observe the world in your own eyes. Stop being blinded by what the Daein teachings tell you. Why don’t you find out stuff for yourself?” I said angrily.

“I understand,” she merely replied.

The rest of the ride to the prison went along without any trouble. I dismounted in front of the castle along with her.

“I wonder how Selena and Natasha are holding up,” I said to myself.

“Selena and Natasha?” Jill inquired.

“Oh, I managed to sneak them away to the Greil Mercenaries,” I remarked.

“Oh. If I… see them… I’ll tell them you’re still alive,” Jill said. I smirked as I looked at her.

“Why would you be seeing them?” I asked with a smirk. “Don’t plan on deserting Daein, are we?”

“Dream on. I’m talking about the battlefield,” Jill replied.

“Riiight… I believe you, cutie,” I said in a taunting, joking tone. I was rewarded with a hard punch to the back of the head.

“Get inside, you jerk!” I heard her say as I held the back of my head. Ow, man, that hurts! I’m going to be feeling that for the next day or two. It was worth it too. Reminds me of a joke from a web-comic where the girl said “My ass looks like a million dollars” and the guy said “Yeah, in quarters”.

As we walked inside, I could see a few cells inside of the castle. There were only four other prisoners in here as there were in the game. Jill and I approached the commander in charge of the prison. Danomill seemed thoroughly pleased that he had a new prisoner, and Jill gave him the letter. As he opened it and read it, he said in a slightly downed tone, “It’s a pity that you’ll only be here for a day. I guess I can’t show you what I can do.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You’re only going to be here overnight. Tomorrow, you’re being transported to Daein to sit in the prisons there,” Danomill said sadly. I guess he really is upset he couldn’t torture me.

“Guards, throw him in Cell C,” he called out.

“Sir!” the guard called out. I accompanied the guard as he held a lance out. He opened a cell door, grabbed me by the arm, and threw me in. I stumbled in backward, tripped, and fell backward onto something… soft?

“…”

“…”

“…”

… silence came over me as I was unable to move. What was this soft thing I landed on?

“Could’ja get offa me?” I heard a voice with a heavy accent say. I jumped up and turned around to see a person sitting in the shadows.

“Sorry…” I said.

“…”

The only response I got from the person was silence. Did she really speak? Maybe I imagined it.

“Hey, what’s your name?” I asked, trying to make a conversation.

“…”

“Are you from the Crimean army?” I asked again.

“…”

“Can you speak at all?” I said.

“Yeah, I can speak to ya… but I dun want ta,” I heard the person say. Well, at least I know it’s a girl now. Strong country accent… it was a bit hard to catch what she was saying sometimes.

“I’m sorry, did I offend you or something?” I asked her. I think this is Nephenee, but I forget why she didn’t want to talk to people.

“Naw! Everythin’ is fine,” she replied.

“What’s your name?” I asked again.

“… Nephenee,” she replied.

“That’s a nice name,” I said to her.

“Thank ya!” she said in reply.

… not much else I could say to her. Silence just settled between us as we sat in the cell, waiting for the time to slowly wear down. It was already getting close to evening when I got here, and in the morning, I would be transferred out.

“Say, Neph… if you get broken out of here, what are you going to do?” I asked her.

“I’m gonna help win this here war and go back ta my home with ma and my brothers and sisters ta help with the harvestin’,” Nephenee said.

“Splendid!” I said in reply.

“Ain’t that the truth,” she said in a somewhat cheered voice.

“It’s a pity I’m only here overnight. I actually had fun talking to you, Neph,” I said.

“Ya didn’t even laugh at my accent,” Nephenee replied.

“… should I be?” I asked her in a puzzled voice.

“Naw! Nope! Of course not,” Nephenee hastily replied.

“I wonder if I’ll ever be free from these Daein guards,” I said with a sigh.

As night came along, I found myself unconsciously singing a song to myself.

“Who’s that whisperin’ in the trees? It’s two sailors and they’re on leave. Pipes and chains…” I sang softly to myself. Damn, singing this song reminds me of home. I miss it. I miss playing the trumpet with the band. I miss going on AIM and chatting with my friends. I miss writing my stories on the computer. I miss composing music with my program. I miss doing the role-plays with my friends. Yet, for some reason, I don’t want to go back. Not until I see this through to the end.

Well, it’s time to get some sleep. The next morning is coming and I’m going to have a rough time as I get taken deeper into the lion’s den. I hope tonight or tomorrow Ike and the Greil Mercenaries come to set us free. I miss them. Hell, I even miss Shinon, though I know if I meet him again, I’m going to take that back. For now, I just have to sleep to get some energy for tomorrow. I’m surprised my glasses lasted this long, through all the things I’ve been through. I’m sure glasses aren’t uncommon in the Fire Emblem world. After all… Canas has a monocle… doesn’t he?

“Wake up. It’s time for your transfer,” a voice pounded into my thoughts.

I cracked my eyes open. I must’ve fell asleep while thinking. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I looked to the door to see two guards with swords standing at the door. Danomill said, “Well, it looks like these two are going to accompany you to Daein.”

“Great…” I mumbled blearily. I got up out of the bed and looked at Nephenee on the other side of the cell. You know, what they say in the game is true. She does look better without the helmet and all that armor. I’ll be sure to tell her that if I run into her again.

“Hey, kid,” I heard Nephenee say.

“Yeah?” I said back.

“Good luck. Dun get in any trouble now, ya hear?” Nephenee said.

“Thanks…” I said in reply.

I accompanied the two soldiers out of the castle and into the field. We traveled along this path for what felt like forever. It was easily afternoon, bordering on evening, when we heard a rustle in the bushes near the path. It was the first thing that happened to divert the guards’ attention away from me. A rabbit hopped out of the bushes and went along its merry way. It was cute and brown, much like the ones that used to inhabit our yard before that stray cat started hanging around the yard. Not that they weren’t cute, but they really wreaked havoc on my mother’s tomato and eggplant gardens.

“Who, out of you three, are swordsmen?” I heard a voice in front of me say. She was wearing a white gi with an ornate blue sash around her waist. Well, it was almost like the gi one of my friends used to wear for her martial arts stuff, except that instead of white pants, this lady was wearing a plan white midi skirt with a slit on one side. She was wearing brown shoes, of what type I did not know.

She had black hair that just sat there. No flowing in the breeze or anything. To be expected, since there wasn’t a breeze. Anyway, there wasn’t much to say except she was quite buxom. Oh, did I say that? I meant quite beautiful.

She pulled out a sword and said, “I see two of you are. Come at me.”

My two guards looked at each other, drew their swords, and said, “You’re impeding an official Daein prisoner transfer.”

Thank god my escorts are stupid. She ran forward with speed that had me gasping in shock. I quickly turned around to see that one of the guards was already impaled through his chest. Quick as a flash, she pulled the sword out, and thrust it at the other soldier before he could react.

I could only watch in amazement before stumbling backward. She sheathed her sword and said, “You’re not a sword wielder, are you?”

“N-n-n-no, ma’am,” I replied.

“This was… too easy,” she said. As she started off, I called out, “Hey… um…”

“What do you want? Do you wish to fight?” she said as she turned to me.

“No! No! I don’t want to fight. I like to live. Thank you for helping me. What’s your name?” I blurted out quickly. Miscommunications like that could have meant my life.

“I am Karla, although many know me as the Sword Princess,” she said. “I am on a quest to battle with all people who wield the sword and to test my skill against them.”

“I thank you so much for saving me. Er, where is the nearest town?” I asked.

She pointed to a path and said, “That would be the Port of Toha. I am also traveling that direction. If you wish, I can accompany you and protect you from any other attacks that may come your way for now.”

“You would do that?” I asked.

“You seem to be the type of person to attract trouble. This would be a perfect opportunity to hone my skills with the blade,” she said.

… um, okay.

“Um, okay,” I said, my words mirroring my thoughts exactly. We traveled down the path together, occasionally running into a Daein soldier but never being recognized.

I turned to Karla and looked her over. Man, she was rather beautiful, although I dared not say that. Death was the least of my worries. She also had that air of elegance and simplicity around her. Just by looking at her, you could tell that although she was skilled, she would only fight in a fair fight.

… fair fight meaning using no tricks. She’ll still go all out against anyone foolish enough to challenge her. Damn it, though, I forgot what kind of role she had in Blazing Sword.

“We will arrive at town tomorrow,” Karla commented.

“Oh, thank goodness,” I sighed in relief.

Wait, tomorrow? Where are we going to go for the night? Are we going to walk all night? As I pondered these thoughts, I saw a small building. Karla gave a pointed look at me, implying that we were to stay there for the night. God, my feet were tired and my body was aching. I’ve been walking all day, the sun wasn’t exactly the most merciful thing on me, and there wasn’t much to drink. I was so thankful that Karla shared some of her water supply.

As we walked in, I realized that the first floor was a bar of some sort. Almost instantly, the bar silenced down upon our entrance… or should I say Karla’s entrance. Most of the people were looking at her, while I timidly trailed behind her. She sat at the bar, while the bartender gave her a familiar, friendly smile. I could hear murmurs and whispers flying around the bar, probably all asking if she really is who she is and who is stupid enough to challenge her.

“I’ll be leaving now, sir,” said a female voice. I turned to it to see a girl wearing a cloak. Her silver hair went down to her shoulders as her golden eyes shone with an unnatural feel.

“Are you sure you won’t stay until morning, Miss Micaiah?” the bartender asked.

“No, I am afraid I cannot. The person following me will most surely find me if I stay any longer,” she responded.

Well, that was a good way to break the silence. I watched the girl as she walked out of the bar into the night. I gave Karla an uneasy look as I said, “I think she may get into trouble like that.”

“Would you follow her or rest here for the night?” Karla merely asked me.

“… if I walk another mile, my feet are going to bury themselves in the ground in protest,” I replied.

“Then there’s not much we can do for her,” Karla replied.

“That’s not true. I’ll talk to her,” I said.

“…”

I ran outside to see Micaiah was still standing by the door getting ready to go back inside.

“Going back inside?” I asked her. She gave a small gasp and stepped back.

“Wait…” I said to her as I stepped forward. Suddenly, I heard an incantation being chanted. Before I realized it, I was already chanting the incantation for the fire shield. Man, my reflexes are good… if you can call that reflexes, that is. A blast of light formed and flew at me as my shield materialized. The light bounced off the shield, making a loud noise like a gong, before flying down the path.

“I don’t want to fight you!” I called to her.

“Who are you?” Micaiah asked.

“I want to help you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re avoiding someone, right? We can protect you should something come up.”

“I don’t want to be found at all.”

Wait a second. She doesn’t want to be found?

“Where are you heading?” I asked her.

“Port Toha,” she merely replied.

Port Toha. Avoiding someone. Sothe! This must be the person that he considers like his sister. Micaiah is her name then. I guess I can’t hold her up any further if I want to keep the storyline together.

“Very well,” I nodded.

Suspiciously, she looked at me. She carefully inquired, “Just like that?”

“Yeah, but be careful,” I said to her with a smile. Without another word, Micaiah started down a path that I knew I would be taking in the morning.

I walked back in and smiled. With the slightest hint of confusion for a flicker of a second, Karla pointed to the seat that seemed vacant next to her. The seat I was using before. I walked over and sat down.

“You’re something special, kid,” the bartender said with a chuckle.

“Why’s that?” I asked in reply.

“Karla here managed to knock someone out for trying to take the seat after she said she was saving it,” the bartender said. I sweatdropped and looked at her. Her impassive face was currently buried in a glass of what suspiciously looked like either rum or whiskey.

“I bet he’s glad he got away with his life…” I mumbled.

“True,” the bartender said in agreement.

“I’m going to monitor what you eat right now,” Karla said. “A good diet will help you on your travels and will help your body get enough energy for tomorrow’s trip.”

“So, where are you going?” the bartender quickly said, noticing my face was starting to twist a bit. No cake? I am not eating only vegetables. I’m a mage; not a sword master.

“Port Toha,” I merely replied.

“You’d be best to avoid that port for a couple days,” the bartender said.

“With my kind of luck, if I hang around here for a couple days, I’ll be dead,” I commented back.

“Daein is trying to move soldiers there considering news I got earlier,” the bartender said.

“What news was that?” I asked.

“Earlier today, there was a prison break. They say a mercenary company and some kind of princess broke in and freed the prisoners. I hear they’re heading toward the port,” the bartender commented.

I turned to Karla and asked somewhat excitedly, “How far until the port?”

“About a two hour walk,” she replied.

“Yeah!” I exclaimed in reply, causing both Karla and the bartender to give me weird looks.

“Oh, well, I used to be part of that mercenary company before I was captured,” I hastily explained.

“Captured? Well, spin a yarn and thread me along for an interesting story!” the bartender said excitedly.

“Well, it is a little long of a story. I mean, there’s the part I was with the mercenaries for a short time, then I was a prisoner under General Petrine, and then I became a commander in the Daein army by force, and then I tried to escape, and got captured for treason. I was being transferred to the Daein capital when Karla here saved me,” I said.

“Well, kid, we’ve got all night to tell stories,” the bartender said.

So I began my tale from hiding with the princess in the bushes. I refused to talk about what happened beforehand. I told the story of meeting the mercenaries. I told the story of meeting the commander and joining up. I told the story of my archery practice. I told the story of the princess and who she was. I told the story of the flight from the headquarters. I told the story of being spy with Boyd and putting myself up to save him. I told the story of Petrine’s “offer” to me and the consequences of my actions if I should refuse. I told the story of my magic training under Selena. I told of our first battle and Selena’s escape. I told of Natasha’s escape and my second capture. I told of my imprisonment. I told of my transfer caravan. Finally, I painted an epic picture of Karla saving me. Hey, a little bit here and there can go a long way. I’m sure Karla doesn’t mind the flattery.

It must have been two or three hours I was recounting my story. After a while, more and more of the bar started to gather together to listen. By the end, the whole bar was listening in.

“So, what are these mercenaries planning to do with the princess?” the bartender asked.

“I guess they’re going to get an army to free Crimea from Daein’s rule,” I replied. Time to do the mercenaries and the princess a little favor.

“Tell you guys what. When the princess returns with an army, you guys should join us. The princess is a kind and noble woman and I can assure you all that she’ll make a great queen,” I said enthusiastically.

“Of course,” some of them said. Others looked a bit hesitant about entering the war. Naturally they’d be. Unlike myself, they have strong ties to people in this world.

“It’s time to get some sleep,” Karla finally said.

“Can’t I have a piece of cake?” I asked.

“No.”

“But…”

“No.”

“I like…”

“No.”

“What about…”

“No.”

“Just a little…”

“No.”

“I’m not…”

“No.”

… I want cake! Chocolate cake.

“No.”

“Are you reading my thoughts?” I asked her.

“No, but the look on your face betrays it,” she merely replied.

“Your room is upstairs,” the guy said to her.

“Come,” she said to me flatly. I want cake!

As she started up the stairs, I turned to the bartender.

“Hey, can I have some…”

“No,” came the voice from the stairs. Damn!

“Fine, fine, I’m coming,” I said sadly. If this was an anime, I’d have tears welling down my face.

As I got into the room, I smiled to see two beds. One of the beds seemed a bit flat on the head though.

WHAM! I felt something soft hit me hard in the face. I got thrown backwards, fell to the floor, and grabbed my nose. Well, it’s not broken, but it hurts!

“Owww,” I said.

“Pillow fight?” Karla suggested, holding out her pillow and pointing to my bed where the pillow was sitting there.

“Okay!” I said. Well, at least I think she has a sense of humor. I ran to the bed and grabbed my pillow before a hard TWHUMP clonked me on the back of my head. Damn, for a pillow, that hurts! God, she’s strong.

We fought for a few minutes, laughing for a while. I was unable to even get one hit on her. Man, she’s not only strong, but she’s agile and graceful. Finally, I had an idea. I held the pillow back with both hands and charged her. Quickly, I threw it at her. She swung her pillow to knock it down just as I jumped into the air and tackled her. I wrapped my arms around her and clung for dear life… and for victory.

She stumbled backward and fell to the ground with me landing on top.

… oh dear god, that wasn’t brilliance. That. Was. STUPIDITYYYY!

I looked down to see her face in surprise. Suddenly, I realized the awkwardness of the situation. I quickly hopped off and coughed a little. Now that was a Love Hina moment. I wonder if I’ll get punched too.

“Why are you being so helpful and kind to me?” I finally asked Karla to break the silence.

“You remind me of someone I used to know, before he left,” Karla replied. I wonder who that person was. Maybe it was her brother. Uh, I think his name was Karel.

I climbed over to the bed and muttered “goodnight” to Karla. When I didn’t hear a response, I looked over and saw her taking her clothes off. Well, time to go to sle—

“Aiyee!” I exclaimed. “What are you doing?”

“I’m changing into something more comfortable to sleep in,” she replied.

“You could’ve warned me…” I said.

“Oh, I thought you wouldn’t mind if I changed here or not,” Karla said.

“No, I don’t mind,” I hastily responded.

… what is wrong with this girl? Does she WANT me to watch? This is as bad as the Natasha thing.

“Well, goodnight Karla,” I said as I took my glasses off and turned away.

“I’ll be sure to wake you up early tomorrow,” Karla replied.

Wow, thanks…

[The Silent Orator]

Chapter 9

Among Friends Again

“Hey, it’s Johnny T!” a voice said. I turned to see my band director sitting in his office at the high school. Being a college student, I still dropped by every once in a while to say hi to the teachers who helped me along through my high school years. I had to talk to my band director anyway to my major switch to music education.

“Hey!” I said in reply. I heard a squeal from the doorway to see a girl running toward me. I got hugged and ran into so forcefully that I stumbled backward and nearly fell to the floor.

“Hey, how come I don’t get a hug like that?” I heard my friend Alex comment.

“Because you’re not Johnny,” the girl replied. We called her Bonnie, which was a play on her last name. We used to call her Celeste, even though that was her middle name. Bonnie was a good friend of mine from the band, now a junior in high school. Here I am, a college freshman, and I’m missed.

“Don’t I feel special,” Alex sarcastically replied.

“Hey, Alex, you wouldn’t mind if I could have my mouthpiece back? I need it for a performance this week,” I said to Alex. Hey, might as well as retrieve my good ol’ trumpet mouthpiece. He was borrowing it for his concert. My good ol' 14A4a never let me down for anything.

“Is this Johnny I see?” I heard. I turned to see Carla, another band person turn around. Hah, it’s good to see the old group again. I honestly miss everyone. Being a freshman college student just isn’t the same.

“Depends. I don’t have a bag of apple seeds on my shoulder,” I said with a smirk.

BAM! Something hard hit my face. I stumbled backward.

“Are you okay?” I heard a voice, but before I could answer, a force hit me on the face.

“Five more minutes,” I could hear myself mumble in a far-off land.

“Wake up!” I heard a voice in my ear. I slowly cracked open an eye to see a pillow flying at my face. Instinctively, I put my arms in front of my face to block.

“Well, you got decent reflexes,” I heard a voice say.

“What? What’s going on? Where am I? Who are you?” I asked.

“… I’m Karla and we’re traveling to Port Toha,” Karla said.

“Wait, so this isn’t a dream, is it?” I said.

“You can be considered legally insane if you cannot distinguish reality from dreams or right from wrong,” Karla remarked.

“Oh, no, no… I’m fine. I just had a really vivid dream,” I said. It was a vivid dream of my past life… my recent past life. I miss the old crew actually. It had been a while since that conversation happened.

“Well, we’re leaving early, just as I promised,” Karla remarked.

“You couldn’t have broken that promise to me? It was a good dream…” I said wistfully. I probably won’t be having too many dreams like that. I wonder what is going on back at home.

“Get ready. We’re going for breakfast and making for the port. If we leave soon, we could get there by noon,” Karla stated.

“Okay. Can I have…”

“No.”

“You didn’t even let me finish the question,” I said with a small pout.

“You were going to ask for cake,” Karla replied in a stately kind of voice.

“Damn, you’re good,” I said with a hint of annoyance.

“You’re just predictable,” Karla replied.

“Gee, thanks. Don’t I feel special,” I said in sarcasm.

“And are you special?” Karla asked.

“…”

“Okay.”

I sighed as I watched Karla go down the stairs. Gathering my personal belongings, I walked down the stairs to the bar, where I met with the same bartender as the night before.

“Your face okay?” he asked as I walked in, rubbing my nose.

“No, I feel like an eighteen-wheeler ran it over,” I commented.

“A… what?” he asked.

“Er, never mind,” I replied hastily. “Bad analogy.”

“What’ll it be?” the bartender asked.

“Could I have some…”

“No.”

“Karla! Where’d you come from?” I asked.

“I was outside, surveying the path,” she replied.

“… and the survey says?” I said in imitation of a Family Feud host.

“Daein troops are moving their way to the Port of Toha,” Karla replied.

“Well, gee, we should be moving out soon, shouldn’t we?” I said.

“I thought you wanted five more minutes,” Karla commented with a hint of a smile.

“… you really know how to a crush a guy’s ego, don’t you?” I said.

“Five more minutes?” the bartender raised a skeptical brow, dearly not wishing to misinterpret the statement.

“Someone overslept,” Karla remarked.

“I did not! I just happen to usually not wake up before the crack of dawn,” I replied back.

The bartender could only watch our verbal exchange with a small smile. Apparently, this was something that didn’t happen all too often in his bar. After a minute of bickering, the bartender said, “Here, you can have a piece of cake free of charge for your journey.”

“Thank you very much,” I said to the bartender with a small bow. I gave a grin at Karla and held up the victory sign with my left hand.

“That cake is going to ruin your body,” Karla merely remarked.

I could feel my victory grin turn into a sheepish grin as my left hand went to the back of my head and rubbed it nervously. I gave a small, awkward laugh before saying in a pleading manner, “Just. One. Piece?”

“Fine…” she said. Booyah!

“Here you go. As I said, the piece is on me,” the bartender said.

“Are you sure?” I asked in reply.

“I’m sure,” the bartender replied.

Yippee! I feared Karla was going to have me pay for my piece. Speaking of paying, I realized I don’t have any money. As I received my piece of cake, I repeated my thank you and walked out with Karla. A couple Daein soldiers passed me by, although no one said a word to us. To them, we were simply travelers through the Crimea countryside that offered them no resistance.

Some time passed before I saw sparkling in the distance and a small town.

“Port Toha,” Karla merely said upon our sighting of the town.

“Yeah! We’re almost there,” I said in excitement.

It felt like I was walking for an eternity before we finally got to the town. We walked in without much trouble. I saw three wyverns parked out front, two green ones and a black one. Hah, parked out front. For lack of a better term, I guess. I don’t know the cultural lingo of this place.

“John? Is that you?” I heard a voice say in a somewhat surprised tone. I turned around to see Jill standing there, in all the glory of her bright pink armor that just screamed “LOOK AT ME!”

“Yeah, Jill. What’s wrong?” I asked.

“You’re… not in Daein?” she asked. I rubbed the back of my head as I felt sweat bead up.

“Oh, it doesn’t matter! I’m just glad you’re here. I’ve been wanting to thank you for what you said before,” Jill said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Instead of listening to the mindless teachings of my Daein superiors, I decided that one day, I’m going to go out and find out for myself what the world is like,” Jill said.

“That’s my cute little guard,” I said. Dejavu! I was rewarded with a hard slap to the back of the head.

“I told you to stop calling me that,” Jill said in a rather annoyed tone.

“Do not touch him,” Karla commented, her hand on her blade’s handle.

“Whoa, whoa, Karla! It’s fine. We were like this all the time… sort of…” I said. I saw someone in blue armor walking around with a mane of somewhat green-ish light blue hair. Why, if it isn’t Nephenee!

“Excuse me for a second, you two,” I said as I walked to Nephenee. I smiled before tapping her on the shoulder. She jumped for a second before she turned to me.

“Howdy! Ya got free aftah all!” Nephenee commented.

“Sure did, and it’s thanks to a couple friends of mine,” I said.

“I gat rescued from that there jail aftah you were taken,” Neph commented.

“I heard… say, who rescued you?” I asked curiously.

“Mercenaries with a princess,” Neph commented.

“Well, I’ll be!” I heard a familiar voice to my left. I turned and saw Boyd walking to me.

“Boyd! You’re alive!” I said. I looked over to Karla and Jill and waved them over.

“Of course I am. Kid, I heard that you had turned traitor to your commander job and were arrested,” Boyd said.

“Yeah…” I said with a sigh.

“Who’s this?” Karla commented.

“This is Boyd, one of the mercenaries I was with,” I said.

Boyd nodded at Karla and said, “How do you do?”

“I am in good health, thank you for asking,” Karla replied.

“Boyd, this is Karla and Jill,” I said. Jill looked at Boyd and slowly started to step away.

“What’s wrong?” Boyd asked.

“You’re one of the mercenaries!” Jill said quickly.

“Shh, we don’t want the Daein soldiers to hear we’re here,” Boyd said.

“I’ll… I’m going back. I’ll pretend I never saw you,” Jill quickly said. She turned around and started to briskly walk away.

“Jill!” I called to her but to no avail.

“Who was that?” Boyd asked.

“She’s a Daein soldier… a friend of mine that is actually starting to question the beliefs of the Daein army,” I said.

“Aren’t you quite the converter,” I heard a voice say. I turned to the voice to see the rest of the mercenaries. Titania said, “We heard about your betrayal to Daein. Some of us thought you would be taken prisoner.”

“I was, but thanks to Karla here, I am okay now,” I replied.

“A sword wielder is among your group, I see,” Karla said.

“K-Karla!” I said quickly.

“They are friends of yours?” she asked.

“Yes, they are,” I said hastily.

“Then there shall be no fight,” Karla said.

“What?” I heard Ike ask.

“I seek battle with the strongest and best of blade users so that I may test my skill,” Karla said.

“Well, after we get on our boat, we could have a little sparring match,” Ike said.

“A sub-human!” I heard someone call out. Some of the townspeople were congregating around someone with blue hair and blue eyes. It was Ranulf!

“Hey!” Ike said, running over.

“You! You were with this stinkin’ sub-human! You’re a friend of them!” I heard one of the townspeople say. Before much more could happen, I saw Daein soldiers appear on the scene. Damn those bastards.

“Everyone, battle formation!” I heard Ike call out. As I got with the group near Rolf, Ike said, “You’re with Soren. You’re a mage now.”

“Okay,” I said in reply. As I walked over, I spotted Natasha and Selena. Selena, as usual, was riding her horse. A little surprisingly, they looked like they just got there.

“John!” Natasha exclaimed as she turned to me.

“Hey there, Natasha,” I said in reply.

“Commander, it is good to see you again,” Selena said.

“Actually, commander, since I’m newer, it’s only fair you’re my commander,” I said.

“How about we’re equals?” she suggested.

“In rank only. Your magic is far superior to mine,” I said in reply.

“Fair enough,” Selena commented.

The soldiers started rushing at us. As with the battle at the headquarters, and part of the battle at Gallia, I saw the fearsomely deadly styles of each of my comrades. I could see Rhys, Natasha, and Mist all running around with their staves, trying to heal. After a while, Natasha started casting light spells around and, for some weird reason, I saw Mist swinging a sword around as well. She was nowhere near as good as Ike or Mia, but I could see that she had some kind of training. There were almost no injuries to our side, so Rhys had a little free time during the battle.

It raged on for a while when I saw a huge cat fly right by me and tear up one of the enemies in front of me. I watched in an almost horrified manner as I saw the cat use its fangs and claws to rip apart the Daein soldier. Man, that was NOT a sight for sore eyes. I saw the cat as it transformed back into a person.

“What are you staring at?” the girl asked. Must be Lethe.

“Nothing. I just never saw a laguz attack before,” I said back.

“Hey, you’re a laguz,” one of the swordsmen said as he ran to Lethe. She turned to him and transformed.

“No, no! I don’t want to fight you,” he said. Lethe transformed back and said, “Well, what do you want?”

“I want to fight with you,” the guy remarked. His hair was somewhat long and his armor was light, but he seemed to be a person of some power.

“Whatever, just don’t lag,” Lethe said.

“Thank you. My name is Zihark,” he said.

As I cast another fireball, it crashed right into an enemy approaching Lethe and Zihark.

“Less talking, more fighting,” I shouted to them.

I looked over to see Karla was busy being the most helpful of all. She was running around, almost as if she was gliding. Her sword impaled all and landed hits with such critical and deadly precision that I swore she had been doing that all her life. Actually, she probably had. I could see Mia just watch in total admiration of Karla’s skill, forgetting about her battles.

“It’s him!” I heard Ike call out. I looked over to see him. Dressed in all black armor was the Black Knight.

“A sword wielder with the Daein army,” Karla commented.

“No, don’t!” I called to her.

“I’ll be fine. Run to your ship while I hold him,” Karla said.

“It’s suicide!” I called out.

“Let’s go!” Titania called out.

I saw the rest of the mercenaries run with the exception of Selena, Karla, and myself. Karla was foolishly running to the Black Knight.

“Karla!” I called out in desperation.

“You… would dare raise your blade to me?” the Black Knight asked.

“I challenge all sword wielders who are not my ally,” Karla said.

“I accept then,” the Black Knight replied.

I could only watch in horror as the Black Knight charged at Karla with speed that would seem impossible with all that armor. He swung his sword down vertically at Karla, who held her blade up over her head to block.

The two swords met for a second, before I could I could hear a peculiar sound and Karla’s sword split into two. Alondite flew right into the ground in front of her. I saw as the Black Knight pulled out his sword from the ground. I started chanting for a spell. As he swung his sword down at Karla, who was still in shock at her broken sword, I managed to cast a shield in front of her. The sword hit the shield and it immediately shattered with the sound of broken glass.

“That’s… powerful,” I gasped out. The breaking shield seemed to knock Karla out of her reverie, as she ran after the mercenaries, taking her two pieces of her sword with her. He turned to Selena and I before saying, “Selena, former Four Rider… and a renegade mage commander. Daein is very upset with the both of you.”

“No time to gawk. We’re leaving now!” Selena called out. She grabbed me by the collar, threw me on her horse, and as soon as I put my arms around her waist, she took off like the wind. I could see the Black Knight give pursuit for a little bit, although his speed was nowhere near the horse’s speed. We galloped over to the ship where Karla was getting on and we quickly boarded. The ship soon started to set sail as Ike and Titania pulled in the boarding ramp to prevent us from being followed.

Author’s Notes: Yes, I know it’s a short chapter. It’s only a little bit over 2,500 words, I believe. I just wanted to get something written before the hectic week of school started again. I promise the next chapter won’t be as short. I also wanted stuff to re-acquaint myself with the Mercenaries. Updates may be sparse this week because of how hectic my schedule's going to be.

Well, I'm off to class... where I'll be handing in my horrible literary analysis on "Marriage is a Private Affair". For all you high school students out there, study your ass off, because college is no walk in the park. And for you students who were like me who slept almost everyday in some classes and still aced the tests... now is never too late to still learn study habits. Sure, you may not study in high school, but develop those habits anyway. I didn't, and I'm struggling badly. So, that's my sagely advice coming from a college freshman. Develop good habits in high school, do not procrastinate, and do your work. Trust me, when you get into the habit of doing things the right way, you will not regret missing out on a day or two of hanging out with friends.

That's all the advice I can really give. Oh, and I may be going to Anime Boston, so if anyone here is going there, send me a message.

Also, for those of you who don't know, my major is music education. I want to be a music composer, but I realize how potentially unsteady that career choice may be. If you want to hear some of my stuff, you can go to my MySpace musician account. My username is "noisemakerstudios". I've made more stuff since the stuff posted on the profile, but I haven't quite had the motivation to update yet.

Anyway, until next update. Ciao!

[The Silent Orator]

Chapter 10

Peace? On a ship? No way.

I stood at the rail and watched as the port slowly grew smaller and smaller. When it grew so small that I could barely see it, I walked over to where Titania was. I can’t explain it, but out of all the mercenaries, I feel the safest around her. She just had this aura of “I’m gonna kick your ass if you want to hurt me or my friends but if you’re my friend, I will protect you and I will do a spankin’ good job at it” type of feel. I just had this feeling of safety standing around her. I mean, we’re on a ship at sea in the middle of nowhere and we’re not being pursued by Daein troops, so I find it highly unlikely that we’re going to be attacked.

“How are you feeling?” I heard Titania ask me with some concern in her voice.

“I’m okay, especially now that I’m back with you guys,” I replied.

“Well, for now, you are safe,” Titania commented.

“Yeah, I get that feeling just being around you guys,” I replied back to her. It was true. The Greil Mercenaries were my home away from home. Upon thinking about my sentiment of feeling at home with the Daein troops, I suddenly felt foolish for having felt that way. True that they were people like myself and they were friendly, but they were an army of soldiers who still invaded Crimea without declaration or provocation. No matter how human they were, it was for certain that they still had to be stopped. I just hope the war can be over before too many of them are killed.

“Hey! I challenge you to a duel!” I heard an enthusiastic female voice behind me. I turned around to see Mia with her sword out and looking at Karla with a variety of emotions I could not put my finger on. Oh dear goodness Mia, do you have to pick a fight with every sword wielder you can meet?

“I do not wish to fight you,” Karla merely replied. This surprised me quite a bit as I knew she always wanted to fight someone, especially if they had a sword.

“Why not?” Mia asked. Thank you Mia for asking my question for me.

“You are an ally. It would be a pity to kill you,” Karla replied.

“I’m not a pushover like those Daein troops!” Mia vehemently exclaimed at Karla. It was clear that she wanted this fight.

“Titania, where are Mist, Natasha, or Rhys?” I quickly asked her.

“They’re all down below deck,” Titania replied.

“I’ll go run and fetch them,” I said quickly.

“I’d better go help,” Titania replied.

I looked over as Karla sighed and pulled out her sword. Not sparing another second to the sparring girls, I bounded down and started running around looking for a healer. For some reason, I had a bad feeling that Mia was about to be hurt quite badly. A minute or so later, I ran into Mist, Natasha, and Elincia. It seems they were having a conversation about something or playing a game. As soon as I ran over, all three of them looked at me before bursting out laughing.

“Something wrong or am I just that appealing to you ladies,” I said in sarcasm.

“Nothing… it’s nothing,” Mist said with a small snigger.

“Well, if one of you ladies could spare the time, we really could use a healer right about now,” I said.

“We’ll all go!” Elincia said. All three of them pulled out their staves and stood up. As I ran out, the three quickly ran and followed me. Damn, I hope Elincia doesn’t fall. She still hasn’t gotten rid of that dress. I can understand that royalty types have to wear dresses like that but still, at least she should do something to make sure she doesn’t trip on it. Or she can change out of it and save it for later. I mean, I’d hate to say that she was killed by an enemy because she tripped on her dress in battle.

As I ran up, I saw that all of the mercenaries were congregated on the deck. Each one of them had quite a profound expression on their faces. I could see Soren with a look of disgust. Oscar and Rolf stood there with faces of helplessness mingled with anticipation. Boyd was cheering, “Mia! Mia! Mia!” much to the annoyance of Ike, who was standing next to him and just watching the duel as it unfolded. Both Brom and Nephenee stood there, surveying the two fighters as they continued. Lethe was standing there cross-armed with a pout on her face. Zihark was just sitting down, polishing his sword. Either he was oblivious to what was going on (which was very unlikely) or it did not interest him. At the moment, Karla seemed to be untouched whereas Mia seem to have been nicked a couple times.

I wonder where Kieran, Volke, Ilyana, and Mordecai are. They have to be on this ship somewhere, I hope.

“Go Mia!” I heard Mist call out from behind me. I sweatdropped as I said with a tinge of annoyance, “I got you guys to heal them.”

“Oh lighten up, kid,” Boyd said as he heard my comment. Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt to watch a little longer.

After a small staring contest, Mia rushed at Karla again and swung with her sword horizontally. Karla quickly swung vertically downward at Mia’s sword. The two collided and Mia’s sword was thrown off course before being pushed to the ground. To the surprise of a few of the spectators, Karla stepped on the tip of the blade, holding it place for a few vital moments. She swung her sword horizontally at Mia, threatening to leave a deep gash on her shoulder.

Mia did the only thing she could. She dropped to the ground in a crouching-like stance, and did a sweeping move on Karla. Karla quickly jumped into the air to avoid it, freeing Mia’s blade. Quickly, Mia swung upward, her blade ready to slash Karla on the leg. Almost as if she predicted the move, Karla swung her sword down and caught Mia by surprise by smacking her hand with the flat of her blade. Mia dropped her sword in pain as Karla held the tip of the sword to Mia’s throat.

“And that’s game,” Zihark said aloud, much to my surprise. It looked like he wasn’t watching. Mist ran over to Mia with her staff and started to heal her wounds as Karla sheathed her sword.

“I must admit, I am impressed with your style and technique,” I heard Ike comment.

“My skill has been honed over many years. I am still in search of my brother, who far surpasses me both in skill and in stamina,” Karla replied to Ike.

“Is that why you wish to travel to Begnion?” Ike asked her in reply.

“I hear that he has made himself recently known in Begnion,” Karla replied.

“Well, I don’t see why you couldn’t come along with us,” Ike said.

“Thank you,” Karla replied.

“Hey, Karla. Would you come down with us? You too, Mia,” Mist said. Both girls looked at Mist.

“Nephenee, you can come too!” I heard Elincia call. What was this? A girls-only thing? All the girls of the mercenaries? No, it couldn’t be. They didn’t call Titania.

All three of the called girls walked over to the other three girls. As Mist said something softly, the other three nodded and went down below decks again. Girls, what an enigma they can be.

“Hey, are you doing anything?” I heard Titania say to me.

“No, not really. Why?” I replied to her.

“You want to go on a walk along the ship?” Titania asked, though I could hear a little part of forcefulness added to the request.

“I couldn’t deny someone as nice as you their request,” I said with a smile.

“Okay, then,” she said as she wandered away from the group. I tagged along behind her, and together we went to the front of the ship. She leaned on the rail and looked out over the sea.

“Tell me about yourself,” Titania said.

“What can I tell you about myself?” I asked.

“Who are you, where are you from. The things you told Commander Greil when you first met him,” Titania said.

“I… don’t know… if you really want to hear a story like that, especially considering what happened recently,” I said slowly.

“Try me,” Titania replied.

“Well, okay,” I said. I basically retold the story I told Greil to Titania. I told her how I was from another world, how a fatal accident befell me from my world, the darkness and the voice, and meeting everyone. I bit my tongue for a second before pulling out my cell phone and explaining to her video games like I did to Greil. I paused for a few seconds before springing on her the truth about the Fire Emblem world.

“… so… we’re characters of fiction from your world?” Titania asked.

“That’s the reaction Greil gave me, you know,” I said in reply.

“… I… don’t know what to say to this,” Titania replied.

“Well, you guys aren’t fiction or a dream. You guys are pretty real to me. I can attest to the arrow that was sticking out of my leg while trying to free imprisonment,” I said offhandedly to her.

“Maybe somehow people from your world can see into our world?” Titania asked.

“Perhaps…” I replied.

“Have you ever finished this… game of yours?” Titania asked again.

“Yes,” I replied. Somehow I knew where this was going.

“So you knew… about Commander Greil,” Titania said with a tinge of pain in her voice.

“…” I was silent as I put my head down. She seemed intent on hearing my answer as she stood there looking at me.

“It was the hardest choice of my life,” I mumbled.

“Why? Why did you do it?” Titania said with a hint of anger.

“Commander Greil understood what would be the consequences. He probably knew at his end that I knew,” I said.

“That doesn’t mean you could not have spared him!” Titania exclaimed angrily.

“I didn’t know what to do!” I said back. What was this feeling coming over me? Depression? Sadness? Pity? I could not put my finger on it.

“You could have at least tried to save him!” Titania said.

“I…” I began. What could you say knowing you were indirectly responsible for the death of someone as important as Commander Griel? What could you say knowing you were indirectly responsible for orphaning Ike and Mist? What could you say for knowing that you indirectly caused grief among the whole company, forced this responsibility on Ike, and caused Shinon and Gatrie to leave?

“I want to be alone… I need to… think,” I said as I walked away. It hit me just like that. I caused his death. If I had just been more decisive and tried to help Greil, this would not have happened. I could have prevented his death.

“You can sense and predict the danger, but without any way to counter it, that knowledge is useless,” I heard my voice echo through my head. That was one of the things I said to Commander Greil. There was a way to counter it. Make him more aware. Make him aware of Ragnell. Make him aware of Alondite. Make him aware of the blessed armor. Commander, I’m sorry…

I found myself below decks on the ship, in a deep part. I was just wandering around deep in though when I ran into a door. Painfully, I held my hand as I opened the door. It was a dark storeroom, full of supplies and such. I sat down on a crate and sighed. I was lost in my own thoughts. If there was ever a time in my life in this world that I should have self-pity thoughts, it was now. It wasn’t just Commander Greil’s death that I indirectly caused. Imagine how much grief I gave to the families of the soldiers I killed. Imagine how many goals and dreams and aspirations I had snuffed just with my arrows.

I don’t think I can ever get over this feeling of sadness. War is not petty. War is not fun. War is simply violence and murder. Mass murder. There is no difference between a serial killer and a soldier. Both kill large amounts of people.

“There you are,” I heard a voice say. I looked up at the voice. It was Ike and Titania, but it was Ike who spoke.

“I don’t feel good right now,” I said listlessly.

“We’re here to help you out,” Ike said.

“Just… say what’s on your mind,” Titania said. They both walked in and sat on the crate opposite of me.

“Well, first… Commander… Ike… I’m sorry,” I said.

“… somehow, my father knew you were going to say that,” Ike said.

“… what?” I asked.

“He said he knew you were probably going to feel sorry for his death. He said not to worry. That was one of the things he said to me during his battle in the forest,” Ike said.

“He… did?” I asked, unable to believe it.

“Yes,” Ike replied.

“I… thank you,” I said.

“Me?” Ike asked in a puzzled manner.

“Yes, thank you for telling me this. It makes me feel a whole lot better,” I said with a less depressed voice.

“There’s something else on your mind,” Titania said.

“Quite…” I said with a sigh.

“What is it?” Ike asked.

“Well, it’s this whole war,” I said.

“What of it?” Titania said.

“Well… first, let me ask… do both of you have dreams and aspirations and goals?” I asked. Both of them nodded.

“Well, then, imagine that you were killed before you achieved those dreams,” I said. They both looked at each other, probably understanding where this was going.

“I feel horrible knowing that my job is killing people. I kill not only people, but also the dreams they stand for. I feel sad and almost sick now knowing that this is the only thing I can do to save this country. I feel sad knowing that indirectly I cause grief. I was indirectly responsible for your grief… I could have prevented the commander’s death. But beyond that, every soldier I kill is another family I put into grief by the death of a loved one. I just… don’t know if I can handle killing any more people,” I said. Both Ike and Titania looked at me in silence. Neither of them really seemed to know what to say.

“It is a tough job, but dreams and goals are something to work toward. Whether you achieve them or not is a matter of skill,” I heard. I looked to the doorway to see Soren standing there.

“I couldn’t help but overhearing,” Soren said with a slightly softer, nicer voice.

“What exactly did you mean?” I asked him.

“Well, think of it this way. Supposing that every soldier in the Daein army, they kill seven of Crimean soldiers in this war. You have killed at least ten Daein soldiers. By this math, you may have caused grief to ten families, but you have spared seventy other families of their grief. To further the point I’m making, half of these soldiers are blind sheep who follow their commanders without question. Some of them are ignorant and rude in person and are the type of people who bring down this world. One can view your murders as service to this world as there could be hundreds of people who were spared grief from those ten soldiers you killed. You removed those who killed our Crimean soldiers. With those soldiers alive, this means our forces are stronger. With our forces stronger, we sustain fewer casualties and they sustain fewer casualties. With fewer casualties, less grief can come from this war.

“Tell me. Which scenario causes more deaths? Two medium sized armies going at each other where one side wins but it is a pyrrhic victory… or a medium sized army against a large army where the larger army can easily minimize casualties and force the other side to surrender instead of killing them all,” Soren said.

“… the first scenario causes more deaths,” I said, understanding the point he was trying to make.

“This is the difference between a soldier and a mass murderer. A mass murderer kills innocent people. He does snuff the dreams and hopes of those people like a soldier. But a soldier, looking at it logically and statistically, is doing good and saving the lives of his comrades through murder. If you were to judge by the ends and not the means, you’d see these killers that we call soldiers as heroes instead of murderers.

“Some people just don’t look at the benefits or the aftermath of the murder. They look at why. It is a completely foolhardy way of thinking. A death is a death and murder is murder. The results are the same regardless of whatever reasoning one may put into the murder. Whether you kill someone on purpose with malice or in self-defense; whether you kill someone by accident through your mistake or your negligence… it makes no difference. That person is dead regardless,” Soren said.

“… I understand. So, by your logic, there is no good and evil, light and dark, moral and immoral. There is only power, and those who wish to seek it. There are ones who seek power to do as they please. There is no true right or wrong. There is no absolute morality… you know, your way of thinking can almost be considered controlled anarchy,” I said.

“Anarchy has no control,” Soren remarked.

“I didn’t mean it in that way. I mean a society where there are no rules and people can do what they want. However, everyone has a somewhat similar line of beliefs that allow him or her to cooperate and get along on a fundamental level. There is no race. There is no beorc, laguz, or branded. There is simply people, and disparity and hatred come from differences in perspectives rather than physical qualities or some type of quality that the bearer cannot help,” I explained.

“Quite so,” Soren said.

“You know, you two are a lot more alike than either of you care for,” Titania commented.

“I think I’m going up. My head hurts,” Ike said before he left the room.

“You’re a bit nicer than I gave you credit for,” I commented back.

“You’re a bit brighter than I gave you credit for,” Soren remarked.

“… touché,” I said to him.

“If you two are done, can we go up now? I’m sure Mist is wandering this ship looking for you and Volke with two plates of food,” Titania commented.

“I’ll eat with you guys for a hundred gold,” I heard a voice say in the shadows.

“What the—“ I said aloud as I turned. I could see someone step out from the darkness into the light from the hallway outside the doorway.

“Volke, it doesn’t kill you to eat with everyone else,” Titania commented.

“A hundred gold,” Volke repeated.

“Why should you charge for food? Not to mention that’s more than what you charge to pick a lock,” Titania said.

“I don’t like large groups of people,” Volke said.

“I don’t want Mist wandering this ship anymore with a plate of food for you,” Titania said.

“I have my own means,” Volke said.

“Okay, when you say your own means, do you mean stealing from the cargo of the ship?” Titania asked.

“No, I steal from the stowaway that no one seems to have noticed. I myself did not notice him at first which states that he’s pretty clever and stealthy like myself… although not to my level,” Volke commented.

A stowaway? It’s probably Sothe.

“Well, fine, I’ll just tell Mist that you’re dead,” I commented.

“Very well then,” Volke said.

“Come on, John, before Mist takes a plate for you too,” Titania said. Her and I left the room with Soren as we left for the dining hall. It was going to be a rather interesting dinner. I’m sure my English 101 teacher would be upset that I used the word interesting, but for lack of a better word, I shall humble the size of my vocabulary.

“Hey, Titania, I wonder something,” I said aloud.

“What is it?” she asked in reply.

“There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. Quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. Why is that?” I mused aloud.

“Just keep wondering. My head is beginning to hurt,” Titania said aloud with a small smile.

A/N: Sorry if the philosophy hurt your head. It’s stuff like that which runs through my head all the time. Not just about murder, but about death, about life, about society, about socialization, about government, about politics… I think about a lot of topics.

Also, as with the first few chapters, this chapter is more about interaction than battles and fighting and action. I may write the next few chapters in the same fashion. I still feel I have not explored the personalities of the characters, especially the new ones, far enough.

I was too lazy to load my playlists so all that’s playing on my WMP right now is Liberi Fatali from Final Fantasy 8 and One-Winged Angel from Final Fantasy 7 on repeat. I miss the old WMP where there was a little drop-down menu and you could click the name of your playlist and it would load. Now you gotta go to “Library”, then pick the playlist, then click a song, then press ctrl a, then right-click the first song, then click “play”. Yes, that’s how lazy I can be at times.

Also, for the past three or so classes in my English 102 class, we've been studying and analyzing Edgar Allan Poe stories. First was The Black Cat. Then we looked over The Cask of Amontillado. Finally, we'll be doing The Fall of the House of Usher tomorrow. Hopefully all this Poe analysis of plot, theme, setting, characterization, style, and point of view didn't rub off into my stories.

[The Silent Orator]

Chapter 11

The Sword Princess’s Façade

Titania and I were traveling to the dining room to get ready for dinner. Two months aboard this ship was definitely going to be a lot of time that this mercenary company and I would be spending together. It would be two months that we would have to stand each other.

Thank god Shinon’s gone. I would’ve fire blasted him to hell if I had to stand him for two months.

“I’m sorry,” I heard Titania say.

“… what?” was the most intelligent response I could give her at the moment.

“I didn’t mean to get upset earlier,” Titania said.

“It’s okay. I understand where you were coming from,” I said reassuringly.

“Are you sure?” Titania asked me back.

“I’m quite sure,” I replied to her. As we walked down the hallway, we passed Selena, who appeared to be going in the opposite direction.

“Oh there you are,” Selena said to me.

“Yes, here I am,” I said in reply with a hint of a joke in my voice.

“Mist was looking for you and Volke. She embarked upon a quest to give you two your dinners. She’s wandering the ship right now with two plates of food,” Selena said.

“Damn…” I muttered to myself.

“We’ll go find her before--,” Titania began to say.

“There you are!” I heard Mist’s voice say in a direction behind me. I turned around and she came running to me with a plate and food on it. Truth be told, I wasn’t hungry.

“Yes, here I am,” I replied to her. Mist gave a small laugh before saying, “I got you a plate of food.”

“Mist… I appreciate your concern,” I started to say. I couldn’t bring myself to chastise her for wandering the ship with a plate of food for me.

“Mist! You shouldn’t be wandering the ship like this,” Titania said.

“I didn’t mean to! I just noticed that John and Volke didn’t show up for dinner, so I decided to bring them some food,” Mist said.

“Volke has his own food source, or so he claims,” Titania said with a great amount of suspicion in her voice. From what I could tell, Titania trusts Volke about as much as I like Shinon.

“I have a weird eating habit, Mist,” I said to her.

“What do you mean?” Mist asked right back.

“I have trouble eating at just three meals a day,” I said, not wanting to lie. It’s true that I don’t eat three meals a day. Usually, I’m too busy to eat so I really only get one meal a day from an Arby’s that’s near the college. Hey, I can live with only having to pay about $3 a day for food. Healthy or not, I’m alive.

“Oh…” Mist slowly said in reply.

“Just don’t worry about me, Mist,” I said to her with a comforting smile. I could see Selena smirk out of the corner of my eye. Glancing at her with a curious look, I said aloud, “I’ll be fine, Mist.”

“We all should be heading to the recreation area soon. I hear Captain Nasir has something planned for us,” Mist said aloud.

“Something… planned for us?” I asked back.

“A show of sorts,” Selena replied to me. As we started to make our way back, Selena put her hand on my shoulder and said, “Can I speak with you?”

“Er, okay,” I said as we stopped.

“Everything doing okay?” Titania asked as she saw us stop.

“Everything’s fine. We’re just going to have a little chat,” I replied. Titania nodded and, along with Mist, they left for the recreation area.

“What’s up?” I said casually to Selena.

“Listen, I just… wanted to thank you for letting me go earlier,” Selena said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I heard what happened back at the camp. They found out,” Selena said to me. I cringed a little bit when she said that. That was a time I don’t really want to remember.

“Petrine saw the whole thing…” I sighed.

“Oh. That could not have been a pleasant experience,” Selena said with a slightly sad tone.

“Hey, she just sent me off to a prison. I guess I should be thankful,” I said. For some reason, Falco just popped into my head. Darn you, VGCats and your Star Fox comic strip!

“I’m relieved that are you in good health,” she said.

“You mean you’re glad that I’m alive and mentally stable,” I said with a smirk.

“You could say that,” Selena said.

“Hey, you two. I don’t know what you’re doing with your private time… and I really don’t want to know… but if you want to catch the show, you two better hurry up!” I could hear Boyd’s voice calling. I swear, my face probably did one of two things. Turn red or turn white. Personally I like white sauce on my pasta…

“We better go,” Selena said after a slightly nervous cough.

“Gotcha,” I said in reply as we set off at a brisk walking pace through the ship.

“You know, I never figured this out, but how old are you?” Selena asked me.

“Why do you ask?” I replied to her.

“It’s hard to guess. At times you are mature, and at times, I could swear you’re just a little kid,” she said in a matter-of-fact, blunt tone.

“Oh, gee… thanks. Why don’t you give it a guess?” I asked with a mocking hurt voice.

“Hm, in all seriousness, I’d say you were nineteen or twenty,” Selena said after a moment of thought.

“Close, but seventeen,” I replied.

“I see,” she said.

“And you?” I tentatively asked. I didn’t want to sound rude, but I was curious as well.

“Twenty-eight,” Selena replied.

“You look good for twenty-eight,” I said with a smile. Hey, a small compliment can go a long way. Besides, it wasn’t that far from the truth.

“Why, um… thank you,” Selena said, unable to figure a response to my comment.

“Support level rose to B.”

… I wish I could stop thinking random thoughts like that. One of these days, I’m going to break out in laughter during the most inappropriate situation. That would be most horrible.

All of a sudden, Requiem for a Dream started playing in my head. Actually, to be more specific, it is Requiem for a Tower. Smiling at Selena and making a mocking grandiose gesture, I bowed and motioned in the direction Titania went. Selena looked at me curiously before walking in the direction I motioned. As I walked along with her, my thoughts happily changed its direction and I began humming the Pink Panther theme song. After about three minutes, Selena gave me a look that was a mixture of annoyance and fascination. Hastily, I stopped the humming for the rest of the duration of the trip.

As we walked into the room, I saw everyone seated at four tables in the room. As I sat down at one, I noticed that they seemed to be bolted to the floor. That’s quite ingenious considering that a ship rocks a lot at sea. For some weird reason, I had the strong urge to call out “Slytherin” but for my safety and sanity, I will refrain from doing so.

“Hey, someone, catch him!” I heard a voice come from the door on the other end of the room. A green haired boy ran into the room, followed by the captain of our ship, Nasir. Ike stuck out his hand and caught the boy by the collar, causing neck to catch on it and his legs go flying out from under him. Surprised, Ike let go, causing the boy to fall to the ground on his butt as he grabbed his throat and began coughing violently.

… gee, how swell. Ike has caught him. Quite the anti-climatic end.

“I told you there was a stowaway,” Volke commented from the doorway behind us.

“Volke! I got you a plate—“ Mist began.

“I already ate,” Volke replied.

“… oh,” Mist said.

‘That hurt!” the boy said to Ike.

“What are you doing on here?” Ike firmly asked.

“I’m on my way to Begnion. I wanted to get out of Port Toha before the Daein troops made it impossible for me to go,” the boy replied.

“What’s your name?” Soren asked.

“I’m… Sothe,” he replied. Hey, it’s Sothe! He’s rather short, though.

“Why are you on your way to Begnion?” Titania asked.

“I was following someone… someone who was like a sister to me. We got separated in the war,” Sothe said.

“What’s her name?” Elincia asked.

“… Micaiah,” Sothe replied. Almost instantly, Karla turned toward me and gave me a rather surprised look. I sheepishly smiled back at Karla and rubbed the back of my head. Karla looked at Sothe and asked, “Does she have silver hair and golden eyes?”

“… you met her?” Sothe asked quickly.

“Hm, you could say that,” I commented.

“What’s that supposed to mean,” Sothe asked.

“We ran into her in a tavern. As we got in, she was leaving for Port Toha. It was the night before we got to the port,” Karla said.

“How do you know she was going to the port?” Sothe asked.

“Ask him,” Karla pointed a finger at me.

“Me?” I asked tentatively and somewhat timidly.

“Yeah, you were the one who tried to convince her to stay the night,” Karla said.

“Yeah, well, I don’t exactly trust a girl going out on a path late at night with Daein troops patrolling the roads,” I replied.

“So, what happened?” Boyd asked. I turned my head to him and gave a surprised look. He looked back at me and said, “Hey, what are you looking at? I’m just as curious as Sothe here.”

“She attacked me,” I said.

“Then what?” Boyd asked.

“I shielded and told her I wasn’t a stalker. Then we got into a conversation. Something about her having to leave for Begnion as soon as possible,” I said.

“That’s it?” Sothe asked.

“Yeah,” I replied.

“Are you sure?” Sothe asked.

“I am.”

“Absolutely sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Like, how sure?”

“Pretty damn sure.”

“A hundred-percent?”

“… FOR THE LOVE OF--… yes! I am!”

I took a deep breath at that moment. It was childish to lose my temper.

“Well, he can travel with us while looking for his friend,” Ike said.

“Thank you,” Sothe replied.

Nasir turned around and walked out of the room. When he came back in, he had a cake that seemed large enough to feed the whole mercenaries.

“A little treat for distracting those Daein soldiers back at port long enough for me to get out,” Nasir casually stated.

“Oh, cake!” I exclaimed.

“No,” Karla said.

“Aw, Karla, I—“

“No.”

“Don’t do this to me again!”

“You need to eat healthy.”

“I can eat healthy tomorrow!”

“No.”

“But—“

“No.”

“It’s choco—“

“No.”

“Come on! Please?”

Not this again! Come on Karla!

“No,” she flatly replied.

“If you refuse, I won’t eat at all,” I said stubbornly, crossing my arms.

“Then you’ll die,” she said nonchalantly.

“It’ll be on your conscience,” I said tauntingly.

“You wouldn’t be the first,” she said.

“You make it sound like you wouldn’t mind having me on your mind,” I teased.

“It’s only fair. I’m sure I’m on your mind a lot,” Karla countered smoothly.

“Not if I’m dead!” I said back.

“So, I am on your mind,” Karla said even more tauntingly.

“You make it sound like you enjoy that,” I said.

“I don’t mind the attention,” Karla said.

“You’ll be losing attention from me if I’m dead,” I said in annoyance.

“Whose fault is that?” Karla asked coolly.

“… damn it,” I said.

“That’s right,” Karla said with a hint of a smile.

“You act like you wouldn’t care if I died,” I said.

“It may be on my conscience,” she replied.

“May? May?!” I blurted out.

“Well, I try to push things like that out of my mind,” she said.

“So I would be on your mind,” I said teasingly. Damn it, I need the upper hand here!

“Dead or alive, it wouldn’t change a thing,” Karla said cryptically.

“… this is actually quite entertaining,” I heard Soren remark to Ike.

“So, am I already on your mind?” I playfully asked.

“… just give it up,” Karla stated, totally ignoring my question.

“Am I?” I asked again. I could feel her cracking.

“Just have your cake!” she said in exasperation as she walked out of the room. Victory! I was always known among my friends for being able to out-stubborn anyone and everyone… even the girls. Record longest time I lasted against someone trying to outdo me was three weeks.

Although it wasn’t exactly a positive emotion, she actually finally cracked that mask of apathy and lack of emotion. I feel a pang of guilt though that her first emotional outburst was in annoyance or some sort.

“Way to go, kid. You’ve successfully proven you’re more stubborn than anyone in this company,” Boyd commented out.

“…” I glared at him for a few seconds in response before taking my plate of cake and walking out of the room. Now, where did Karla go?

I wandered the ship for what felt like an hour with my untouched cake. Finally, I found myself in front of the storeroom that I was just at. Carefully, I opened the door to see Karla sitting there. On the same crate as I was on, even.

“… what do you want?” she asked me in a sharp tone.

“Your company,” I calmly replied.

“Now you want it?” she asked.

“… what’s wrong? You’re not yourself,” I carefully asked.

“I’m afraid…” Karla said.

“Afraid of what,” I replied.

“Afraid that something bad will happen to you,” Karla replied.

“… what do you mean?” I asked her.

“You remind me of my brother Karel when we were both younger,” Karla said.

“How so?” I asked.

“Your caring personality, carefree attitude, sharp wit, quick tongue, talent… even your love for cake,” she replied.

“What happened?” I asked.

“He… was a true master of the sword. He started being more and more arrogant. Eventually, he found himself bored and started killing others. It drove him to madness. He lost control. He started lusting for power and blood. He kills all who oppose him.

“I took up the sword and trained so that one day I may beat him and return him to his senses. I’m afraid… that you’ll turn out to be the same as him,” she said.

“Karla… I’m not like that. I am not conceited. I want to my abilities and talents help other people in their time of trouble and need. At the foundation, we may be the same, but it’s what is built upon that foundation that makes us who we are,” I said. I just went through a philosophical discussion and now I’m in another one. I think my head will explode by the time I get to bed.

“Even now, I’m not sure if I’m good enough,” Karla said.

“Good enough?” I asked.

“With my blade… as a person. Even assuming I beat him, maybe I’m not good enough as a person to persuade him to return back to how he was,” she said sadly.

“You’re good enough, both as a warrior and a person. I’m sure you’ll succeed,” I said.

“So, am I really on your mind?” Karla asked.

“… do you HAVE to bring that up?” I said in reply.

“Yes. Now tell me what you think of me,” she said.

“You’re not being nice about it,” I simply said.

“The more you dodge the subject, the more I get to assume,” Karla said.

“So, if I stay silent, then you can’t assume any more,” I replied.

“You’re not being nice about it,” Karla said in almost perfect imitation of my tone of voice.

“You’re really not going to leave me alone about this, are you?” I asked her back.

“I’m persistent,” she merely replied.

“As am I,” I said.

“Are you persistent enough?” she asked me in a sort of a challenging tone.

“Are you persistent enough?” I mocked in reply.

“I guess you’re not going to tell me?” she said.

“I could… but where’s the fun in that?” I replied. I gasped as she drew her sword and pointed it in an area that scared me.

“Still think you’re persistent enough?” she asked.

“M-maybe,” I said timidly in reply. I cringed as the sword thrust forward, the tip of the blade just touching me.

“What about now?” she asked.

“Okay, okay! I give up,” I said quickly.

“Too easy,” she said.

“That’s because I don’t want to start casting spells right now,” I replied.

“Then tell me. What do you think about me?” she said in a persuasive and slightly commanding tone.

“I, um, think you’re an excellent master of the sword,” I said.

“And?” she said.

“I think that your hair is really cool,” I continued.

“… and?” she said in a slightly more annoyed tone.

“I think your eyes are a nice color,” I said.

“… and?” she said through gritted teeth in an irritated tone.

“And… I think you should move your sword if you want me to say anything more,” I said carefully, fearful of its location. She pulled the sword away and I could see a small hole made in my tights. Darn it, I really don’t want to have to bother Oscar with fixing that.

“Tell me what you really think. Tell me everything. I’m quite curious,” she said.

“Why are you so curious about me?” I asked in reply.

“Because I want to see just how much of your personality is like my brother,” she said.

“You really want the whole and honest truth?” I asked.

“That’s all I want,” she replied. I sighed and paused for a second.

“I don’t have a choice in the matter?” I asked.

“You do, but the wrong choice can cause my sword to return to how it was before, if not a little bit more forward,” she replied in a serious tone. I sighed again and paused before looking her in the eye. All or nothing… might as well as tell her the truth.

“I think you’re an awesome person who can beat your brother. I think your personality is good enough that you can convince him to come back. You may be forceful but you are caring. You’re also cute, and I think I kinda like you. To say the least, if you were closer my age I may have considered asking you out,” I blurted out.

“… come again?” Karla said in quite a surprised tone with an equally surprised expression on her face.

“… you don’t expect me to repeat what I said, do you? It’s hard enough the first time when I say things like that to anyone,” I said in an annoyed tone. The surprised expression rather quickly was replaced with her emotionless and expressionless façade that I have now grown to dislike and realize that it is not real.

“You blurted it all out. I don’t want to end up misunderstanding anything and take what you said the wrong way,” she said.

“Tell me what you thought I said then,” I said.

“… no.”

“Fine.”

“… I thought I heard you say you thought I was cute and that you probably would’ve asked me out if I was younger,” she said.

“Yep, that’s what I said,” I said.

“I see…” she said. She was silent for a second.

“Cake?” I asked her, holding out the chocolate cake. She looked at me as if I was a nut job at the totally random question.

“It’s yours,” she said slowly.

“It’s ours. I’m sharing it,” I said back to her.

“I’m not hungry…” she said.

“Everyone’s always got space for cake! It’s chocolate and it’s good! Mmm, mmm, cake!” I said in a cheering voice.

“No… really, I just need some time to think,” she replied.

“Think about what? Besides, cake can be good for you. It really helps lift your spirits when you’re down,” I said with a smile.

“… okay,” she said.

“Karla… I meant what I said. Don’t be so down on yourself,” I said encouragingly.

“You really are like how my brother was when he was younger… back when I truly cared and respected him. Now… now I don’t know what to think,” Karla said sadly.

“Follow your heart and your instincts,” I said in the same encouraging tone.

‘I’d rather not,” Karla said.

“Why not?” I asked her.

“Because following them is only going to cause me problems,” she replied.

“How so?” I asked her. I feel like an interrogator now. I feel like I’m asking too many questions.

“Because I think I may like you back,” Karla said.

… what the fu—hell? You’re kidding me, right? Here is one of the sexiest swordmasters of the entire game series telling me this. Damn it! If only I was a little bit older.

“… what?” I said in a very surprised tone. I couldn’t move. This was just a bad joke that Boyd’s playing on me.

“… you cannot honestly expect me to repeat that, can you?” Karla asked.

“… I… um… it’s too early for you to say that,” I said.

“What?” she asked in reply.

“You barely know me. We met only, like, yesterday!” I said in a frantic tone.

“Couldn’t I say the same for you?” Karla countered.

“But… no… I… eh… I can’t explain why, but I know you better than you think,” I said.

“… that sounds oddly creepy and stalker-ish,” Karla said suspiciously.

“If I told you the truth, you would never believe me. In fact, even if I told the truth, it wouldn’t explain a couple things,” I said. Like why are you here when you’re not supposed to be part of these games.

“Are you a stalker?” she asked me in a slightly threatening tone.

“No,” I said in reply. I continued, “The only person alive now to know the whole truth is Titania.”

“You really think I’m that much older than you?” she asked.

“I never was sure of your age, to be honest,” I said sheepishly.

“Same. I figured you were nineteen or twenty at first, but someone from the company said you were only seventeen,” she said.

“True. I… figured you were about twenty-five,” I said.

“Try twenty-one,” she replied to me. What? Only twenty-one?

“Wha—but… what?” I stuttered out.

“Surprised? I started my career as a master of the sword early. I’ve been known by my title for six years now,” she said calmly. Since fifteen? When I was fifteen… man… I don’t even want to think about what I was like when I was fifteen.

“Er, quite an embarrassing moment to say I thought you—“

“Don’t apologize for it. You probably aren’t the only one,” she said.

“I see,” I said, unable to think of anything else to say.

“So, am I still too old for you?” she said.

“It’s not just that, okay? I don’t want to have too many ties to anyone here on Tellius. You have to understand that when I leave here permanently, I don’t want to feel regret or guilt by making anyone really upset,” I said.

“Leave… permanently? You won’t die if I’m around you,” Karla said.

“No, not like that! I mean… I’m not from around here. My home is not on Tellius,” I said.

“Not… on Tellius?” she asked in a confused manner.

“Please, just forget about it, okay?” I said. This… has to be the hardest moment of my life. I can’t imagine how many guys would kill to be in my spot, take Karla for themselves, and probably try to get married with her and do… things… with her. Here I am, living out a very possible reality for that situation, and here I am, turning it down.

… I do hope I’m still straight when I go home. I’d hate to have the whole “rejecting girls” become my second nature.

“… let me come with you,” she said.

“You can’t. You belong here. I don’t. Okay? Don’t make this harder than it already is for me,” I said, turning away. This… really is hard. Today is not a good day. Not a good day at all.

“But—“

“Karla… why all of a sudden?” I asked.

“Because you’re a decent person and rather enjoyable to be around. It’s not just because you have the qualities my brother had, but it’s also because I respect you as a person,” she said.

“Then, Karla… you have to understand that when I leave, I’ll be gone for good. You won’t see me anymore. I won’t see you. I would feel very guilty when I return home if I knew that I disappointed or hurt anyone with my farewell,” I said back.

“I… understand,” she said.

“Karla… another day. I’ll tell you the truth about whom I am and where I’m from. Just not today. It’s not a good day. I promise you,” I said.

“Thank you,” she said in reply rather softly. She seemed rather upset… although I couldn’t blame her.

Yay! I’m reliving my senior year of high school! All I need now are two more girls that are like this! That was so fun!

That was sarcasm, by the way.

What… she’s hugging me. I gasped as I realized that she had turned to me and hugged me. She still is. I tentatively put my arm around her and hugged her back.

I must say that hugging while sitting down next to each other is harder than doing it standing up. She probably realized this too as she let go and just put her head on my shoulder.

“You wouldn’t mind if we just stayed like this, just for today?” she asked me calmly.

“No, I guess I don’t,” I replied to her. I may as well as let her indulge just this one time.

“So, do you have anyone back at your home missing you? Do you miss anyone?” she asked me.

“I miss my friends, and I’m sure they miss me,” I said to her.

“Girlfriend?” she asked in a slightly teasing voice.

“No. I… made a vow shortly after I got here that I wouldn’t really get into a relationship again… at least until I finished off my education and got a solid job,” I said.

“Would you consider being a mercenary a solid job?” she asked.

“Perhaps,” I replied.

“If you go home, will you be back to visit?” she asked.

“If I had the option of coming back here and I knew I could do it willingly…” I started.

“I see,” she replied.

We sat there for some time, just conversing. As we talked, I started to wonder to myself… do I really want to go back home? Is it really so bad here that I would forsake all people here who really truly care about me as a person and as a friend for a world that has probably already pronounced me dead?

… do I really want to go back?

Long Author’s Note: I have decided that I’m probably going to use these chapters in the story to develop the personalities of the current characters in the party. Well, I have to do something in two months and naturally that’s what I’d do. Blame my curious personality and friendly nature.

Also, sorry for the oh-so-late update. I decided I was going to do my mid-term projects early (and I’ve pretty much finished them). Combine that with major writer’s blocks, and you got a rather slow update process here.

I may start another, smaller fic sometime soon. Hopefully writing something else in a totally different style will give me some rest from this kind of writing style and help lift this writer’s block that I have.

God, I feel like a crappy writer. This chapter felt almost too Gary Stu-ish. I’m already stretching the bounds as is, in my opinion. However, this was the only way I could think of that could get a real person-to-person close conversation between me and her in order to truly flesh out her personality… at least, the personality behind the tough, emotionless act she keeps on putting out. In my honest opinion, the support conversations did not flesh out enough personality from her, so I decided to take some liberties with her. Also, the whole thing about Karel’s past is made up. I checked some support conversations and could not find out why he would be such a murdering psychopath (from what I could tell, at least).

Also, contrary to what I said earlier in the story, I have decided not to make a pairing for my character (nor will there be a harem in case any of you were thinking of that) in THIS story. Reason being that I feel this story has gone a little too far over to the Gary-Stu realm already. Throwing in a pairing of myself and someone else would just… turn this story downhill into a spiral I probably wouldn’t be able to control.

Also, in case you were wondering, there won't be scenes like this with other characters. Reason being is that the other characters don't hide behind this mask of lack of expression and emotion like Karla does. It'll be easier to type out Mist and Titania and Marcia and Nephenee and Ike and... well... maybe Soren. I don't know about him. I may have to pull another trick out of the bag to flesh out his personality as well. Maybe I just won't do him considering that in the game he's really introverted. I don't know about this one.

[The Silent Orator]

Chapter 12

The Gentle Soul

“We better start heading back,” Karla said to me. I nodded in agreement.

“It feels good to get stuff off your chest, doesn’t it?” I said to Karla somewhat casually.

“Nothing bad can come from telling the truth so long as you are a good person,” Karla replied. I nodded and we started to head out of the room and back to the others.

“Do we want to know what happened?” Boyd said in a teasing tone.

“… oh, knock it off,” I said in exasperation back to him.

“If you want to know, you’ll have to get it out of us,” Karla commented.

“Not me! I don’t like torture, you know,” I said hastily.

“Nobody really does,” Soren said in a tone that had all the implications of “DUH!”

“Okay, fine, we had a little conversation about myself and what’s possibly going to happen when I leave here,” I said.

“Leave here?” Boyd asked.

“Boyd, let it be. It’s a rather sensitive topic,” Titania said, giving me a look that said that she probably wants to have a talk with me later on.

“Either way, kid, you missed out a good show! Nasir had an open-stage night and we were dazzled by his trombone playing!” Boyd said.

“Trombone… playing?” I asked.

“Yeah. It’s a musical instrument. It’s played with a—“ Boyd began.

“I know what a trombone is! I’m a music major after all,” I said.

“A what?” Boyd asked.

“… my field of study is music. I’m learning how to teach other people music, but my real passion is making my own music,” I said.

“So, you’re a lover and not a fighter,” Boyd said jokingly.

“You’ll see how loving I can be when a fireball goes up where the sun don’t shine,” I said in a joking tone.

“Speaking of fireballs, how is your magic training going along?” Selena asked.

“Quite well, actually,” I replied with a smile.

“I see. If you wish, we can continue the training someday,” Selena said back.

“I’d love to,” I replied.

I get magic training again! It’s been a while, but the novelty still has not worn off. Every time I cast a spell, I still laugh and marvel at the fact I can do it.

When I get home, I should go straight to and write this story as a self-insert. To me, it will be like a journal… to help me remember my adventures on the world of Tellius. To the readers, they’ll just see it as a self-insertion fanfiction… one of the many out there.

… if I get home.

… if I want to go home.

“Well, it’s getting late, so I’ll be heading off to my room now,” Ike commented.

“Wait, we got the room assignments settled already?” I asked.

“Yeah, we do,” Ike replied.

“Oh, I see,” I replied.

“It’s on the wall actually, right over there,” Ike said as he pointed to a place on the wall near the door.

“Oh, okay,” I said as I went over to check it out.

Room 1: Ike, Titania, Soren, Mist

Room 2: Natasha, Ilyana, Zihark, Rhys

Room 3: Kieran, Marcia, Brom, Mia

Room 4: Princess Elincia

Room 5: Volke, Boyd, Rolf, Oscar

Room 6: John, Karla, Selena, Sothe

Room 7: Lethe, Mordecai

So, the princess gets a room to herself. Lethe and Mordecai get a room to themselves. You know, where are Lethe and Mordecai anyway? I’ve never really seen them. Well, I saw Lethe when Karla and Mia were having their little duel, but aside from that, I haven’t seen either of them. I’ve never seen Marcia either.

I get to room with Karla, Selena, and Sothe. Not that bad at all to be honest. I wonder who picked out these room settings.

“Like the arrangements?” Titania asked me as she walked up next to me.

“Sure, they’re okay,” I replied to her. “Did you do it?”

“Yes, I did,” Titania replied.

“Any particular reasoning why you put certain people with other people?” I asked.

“Perhaps…” Titania said with a smile before walking away.

“Well, I’m going to head off to bed,” I said to Karla, who seems to have snuck up behind me to look at the assignments. “And please, don’t sneak up on me like that.”

“Why not?” she asked me.

“Because if you scare me, I’ll react purely on impulse and reflex,” I said.

“That will be interesting to see,” Karla remarked.

“No, it… oh, forget it,” I said with a sigh of defeat.

“Hmm…” Karla said.

“Karla?” I said gently, trying to get her attention.

“…” she didn’t answer.

“… Karla?” I tried yet again to get her attention.

“…” she still didn’t answer.

“… uh, Karla, you’ve been staring at Mia for some time now. Hello?” I said.

… dear god, if I get a hand sliced off, I’m going on a rampage.

“Karla!” I said while poking her on the side.

“Ah!” she exclaimed, quickly pulling out her sword and swinging it. Luckily, she realized what happened before my hand was cut clean off.

“… dear god, remind me never to bug you again when you’re spaced out,” I remarked.

“… sorry,” she apologized.

“Are you going to bed?” I asked.

“It is getting a bit late. Perhaps I should turn in too,” she replied.

“So, why were you staring at Mia like that?” I asked curiously.

“What? Oh, well, she’s not too bad herself with the sword. Er, maybe someday she can be a nice rival… or something… you know what I mean?” she said slightly rushed.

“… I kinda get it. Is there a reason you had to rush and explain everything?” I asked.

“Don’t want you getting any kind of ideas,” Karla said.

“Like what?” I asked.

“… you’re a teenage boy. Whatever your mind can come up with,” Karla said. Mentally, I started whistling and twiddling my thumbs. There are so many things that could be going through my mind, but thankfully she explained herself before it went too far.

“Let’s go to bed,” I said to Karla. I could hear a coughing sound behind me. I turned around to see Boyd walking by with a devious smile on his face.

Boyd, shut up! Come on, man.

“Boyd! Did you do your practice swings today?” Titania asked Boyd in a firm, commanding tone.

“I, um, yes, I did,” Boyd quickly blurted out. Not wanting to get in the middle of a possible argument between Boyd and Titania, I quickly slunk out of the room, with Karla behind me. Only a few seconds after we snuck out of the room did we heard a large crashing thud sound on the roof. Quickly, Ike and Nasir ran out of the room and started heading up. I quickly followed them, with Karla on my tail. Whatever that sound was, it couldn’t be pretty.

As soon as I got to the deck, I heard voices.

“Do you both want to fight us? I’ll be all too glad to cut down another two Daein soldiers,” I heard Ike say.

“Do you know who you are talking to?” I heard a female voice said.

“We’re wyvern riders of Daein,” I heard a male voice say. As soon as the voice spoke, I managed to catch up with Ike. I looked up and saw Jill and another wyvern rider there.

“Commander!” Jill exclaimed when she saw me arrive.

“Jill, my lovely little guard,” I said, fully intending to piss her off. She hopped off the wyvern and started walking to me.

“No, don’t hit me!” I said as I cringed. What came was something unexpected. I felt something on my shoulder, and something wrapped around me. She was hugging me with her head on my shoulder.

“Commander, I have to thank you,” Jill said.

“I’m not your commander anymore,” I replied.

“I’m still thanking you,” Jill said, a little bit more forcefully.

“For what?” I replied. All of a sudden, I could feel a slightly uneasy dangerous feeling behind me. Oh, okay, that’s just Karla.

“For finally making me realize that I should think for myself,” she said as she let me go. Wait, Karla!

“Well, um, you’re welcome. That was… awkward, you know,” I said.

“Well, fine then!” she said in a mocking angry tone. “See if I do that again!”

“Not with you wearing that excessively bright pink armor on a battlefield. That’s just asking to be shot by a ballista, you know!” I said in a teasing tone.

“At least I’m not some kind of mage who was obsessed with those chocolate cookies,” Jill replied. I paled when she said that.

“I thought we agreed to NEVER bring that up again,” I said.

“Oh, we did? I’m so sorry! Must have slipped my mind…” Jill replied with a smirk.

“Who’s your friend?” Karla asked Jill from behind me. What’s up with everyone being behind me all the time in this world?

“This is a fellow wyvern rider of mine from my group. His name is Cormag,” Jill said.

… Cormag. Cormag. Cormag. Cormag. Why is that name familiar?

“Please to meet you all,” Cormag said in a stately voice.

“We’re here because we want to join you. We want to know the truth about this world and not just be brainwashed and blindfolded by Daein teachings… the very teachings my father gave me,” Jill said, with some true spite and malice in her voice for once.

“Well, I guess you can join,” Ike said with a slight hint of doubt in his voice.

“Daein soldiers!” I heard a voice call out from behind me. Before anyone could do anything, I saw Mia rush at Cormag with her sword out. Cormag quickly pulled out his sword, and countered the blow before hopping on his wyvern and taking to the air.

“Coward!” I heard Mia call out.

“Mia, they’re with us now!” Ike hastily said.

“They’re Daein soldiers, boss!” Mia replied.

“They’re Daein traitors right now,” I said.

“Oh!” Mia said. “Sorry!”

“It’s understandable,” Cormag said as he landed back on the ground.

My goodness, this has only been the beginning of the voyage and already we have drama going on.

“Come with me,” Ike said to the two. As he walked down, Jill and Cormag followed him down. Nasir silently followed the two down, as Mia followed him down. I followed Mia down, and Karla brought up the rear. What a wonderful train of people. Karla is the caboose of the train. We reached Nasir’s office, where Nasir, Jill, Cormag, and Ike went into. Mia, after following them for some weird reason, just went off in a random direction. Hah, in that train of people, Ike was the engine and Karla was the caboose. She’s a nice caboose.

… she’s got a nice caboose.

Damn it! Clear your thoughts. It seems like all the girls from the Fire Emblem world are either hot, beautiful, buxom, sexy, sight for sore eyes, foxy, stacked, curvy, full-bosomed, charming, pleasant, pretty, adorable, heavenly, fetching, lovable, luscious, busty, curvaceous, robust, seductive, voluptuous, inviting, kissable, cuddly, ambrosial, cute, or a combination of those descriptions.

Where’s Vaida when you need her? I need a… C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!

I have just realized how many words I have come up with to describe girls. Oh dear, I hope I’m not turning into Gatrie. I don’t hit on trees dressed in skirts or laguz… although I must admit Lethe isn’t all that bad. Oh god, help me! I’m turning into a skirt chaser and a pervert. Damn you, Intelligent Systems! Damn you for making almost all of the girls… er… attractive. Yeah, we’ll just use that word for now.

“You’ve been looking at me for some time now,” Karla said in a rather intrigued manner.

“Er, sorry. I was just thinking about a couple things,” I replied.

“Like earlier?” Karla asked me carefully.

“I… think I’ll take a small stroll around the ship before heading to bed,” I said with a sigh. I wandered up to the deck of the ship and sat near the front of it. I laid down on the deck and looked up at the sky. There are so many stars in the sky. That’s no something you’d see back at home. Normally, I only saw a few stars through the extra-polluted New Jersey sky. This was marvelous! This was incredible.

No…

This. Is. TELLIUSSS!

… I miss the Internet a bit. Hell, I even miss college. I even miss my Calculus I class, which I think I was doing badly in. I was getting a C the last time I checked. Horrible.

As much as I hated being around my home, I still miss it. You know, if I’m stuck here, I could be a fiction writer. Hah, break the copyright infringement rules. Maybe write a novelized version of my favorite animes and publish it. It’s time to bring the ideas of Death Note, Love Hina, and Onegai Teacher here. Maybe I could interest them in a little Final Fantasy 6 and Final Fantasy 7? How about some Skies of Arcadia or Tales of Symphonia? Maybe a little humor with Earthbound! Maybe I could finally get my novels published.

“Beautiful sky, isn’t it?”

I turned my head to my right, toward the voice. It was Mist.

“Yes, it is,” I said in agreement. She smiled as she sat down next to me and leaned against the railing.

“You know, we haven’t really had a decent discussion since that time we were washing dishes back at headquarters,” Mist commented. Damn, she was right.

“Well, now’s our chance,” I remarked as I looked at her with a smile. She laughed for a second, causing me to give her a look of confusion. Dear god, I just realized that she’s wearing her skirt. She’s sixteen, she’s sixteen. Turn away now.

“So, I guess you like looking at the stars?” Mist asked, luckily misinterpreting why I suddenly turned away from her to look at the sky.

“Yeah, I do. It calms me down and allows me to appreciate just how beautiful nature can be,” I said.

“You know, humans are a part of nature too,” Mist said in a cheerful tone.

“Humanity can be exquisitely beautiful as well as frightfully revolting,” I replied.

“For such a skilled person, you seem to have a somewhat bleak outlook on people,” Mist said.

“Joining this company and being a part of this war has taught me more than I knew before being involved.”

“War is a hard thing, and killing people is not easy. Yet, if you keep a positive outlook on everything, I’m sure everything would be much better with you,” Mist said in a somewhat cheerful voice.

“How do you do it, Mist?” I asked.

“How do I do what?” she asked me back.

“You’ve been with this company probably all of your life. Your father was the leader. Your brother is the current leader. You’re hired by people to kill other people. You do the dirty jobs that other people don’t want to do or cannot do. How can you still have a positive outlook on life after that?” I asked.

“Just smile. Don’t worry. Be happy. Everything will fall in place. When we do our jobs, we only take jobs that we know will benefit others. Our job may be dirty and looked down upon by others, but we still have our honor. I take pride in being part of a company that does good to help the community. Yes, we kill, but we do not kill for revenge or for malice. We kill because we help others. That’s all I ever want to do in life. I want to help others,” Mist said.

“Mist… you know… you’re really a lot more mature than I gave you credit for,” I said. Mist laughed for a second.

“Aw, you don’t have to say that. You’re embarrassing me,” Mist said.

“It’s true though. I’ll try to take your words to heart. I’ll see if I can’t have a more positive outlook on this life,” I replied.

“That’s the spirit,” she replied.

“So, you heal people now?” I asked her.

“I also learned how to fight with a sword and ride a horse,” Mist replied. Wow, if this was the game, I’d say she promoted already.

“I guess it makes you feel good when you heal the good and cut down the evil ones,” I said.

“It does. It makes me happy to know that I’m doing other people benefit by making society a better place to live in. Regardless of the methods, as long as I do what is right, I feel that I am always helping to make the world a better and safer place to live in,” Mist said.

… this statement frightened me. Here was Mist, the kind-hearted girl who was always cheerful and helpful. Here was Mist, spouting off the same kind of theory that Light from Death Note was saying. I’m not saying I disagree, but it was still hard to accept it coming from her. Maybe from Soren or Ike or even Titania, but for Mist to say it was a bit hard to come to terms with at first.

“So, how good are you with the sword?” I asked Mist.

“Brother and Mia are training me. I’m nowhere near their level, but I’m catching up. Between training with my sword, practicing my healing, and doing the chores, I really am rather busy,” Mist said.

“… Mist, let me help with the chores. You can do your sword training more and your staff training more,” I said.

“Really?” she asked me.

“Really, really!” I replied. Somehow I had a feeling that letting her train even more was about to become beneficial some day. I couldn’t explain why.

“That’s really nice of you,” Mist said.

“Hey, I really should be contributing more than I am to this company, you know,” I replied.

“Still, thank you. I really appreciate it, you know,” Mist said.

“Mist, what do you want to do when you get older?” I asked her.

“Well, I want to become a great healer and be able to help anyone out regardless of the situation. I want to become the very best there is, so that when someone needs help, I know that I’m really giving them the best care that they can get,” Mist said.

“What if you cannot help someone, even if you’re the best,” I asked.

“Then I’ll study harder and practice more until I that obstacle has been overcome. Also, if I fail, then at least I know I did my very best and that if something bad happens then I don’t feel as much regret knowing that they probably could have been cured if they went to someone else,” she said.

“So, it’s partially a motive of avoiding guilt and it’s partially a motive of trying to help other people?” I asked.

“I guess you could put it that way,” Mist said.

“You really are a decent person, Mist. I really wish you the very best of luck. I’m sure you will go far. Even without your skills, you are still a great person. You can take any bad situation and make anyone feel good by looking upon the silver lining of the storm cloud. Even if you couldn’t heal a person that was dying, I’m sure they’d find comfort in knowing that someone like you can still be positive and try to allow them to be happy and comfortable in their final hours,” I said.

“…” Mist was silent.

“Mist, I really respect your skills and your down to earth personality. I want nothing less than the very best for you,” I said.

“Th-thank you. That really means a lot to me,” Mist said.

“Now, do your best. When I get older and hurt, I expect that the best healer in the world will come and work her wonderful miracles on me,” I said in a light tone with a smile.

“Will do!” Mist said excitedly in reply.

“Mist, I have a question…” I said, my voice now serious.

“What is it?” she asked me in reply.

“You’re a healer, so you use magic, right?” I asked.

“Yes, I do. Why do you ask?” Mist asked.

“Why did you take up the sword instead of being a magic user like Soren or Ilyana?” I asked.

“… because I want to also be like my brother,” Mist said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“He’s not like other people I know. He may be rash and impulsive and sometimes he says harsh things without realizing it or says something before thinking, but he’s still a great person. He’ll help out anyone who is in need, he’ll fight to protect those he holds dear to him, and he never gives up. He has the will of steel and the heart of gold,” Mist said.

“… the heart of gold and the will of steel… and the talent to far surpass anyone that we have ever known. That’s what makes him so likable by everyone,” I said, more to myself than to Mist.

“You really seem to know a lot about my brother,” Mist said.

“Oh… that’s just the impression I get from him. I can’t explain it but whenever I’m around him, I have the feeling that he’ll protect me. He’ll protect anyone. He’ll give his talents and his devotions… his goals… even his life… just to protect anyone, especially those who are close to him,” I said.

“Yeah…” Mist said. For a while, there was silence between us as we watched the sky. We watched the star in the sky. We listened to the sounds of the sea as the waves crashed gently against the boat. We smelled the smell of salt and we felt the spray of the sea as an occasional large wave would send a mist of water into the air, gently covering us. Haha, Mist missed the mist. Okay, shutting up now. I could feel my eyes becoming heavy.

“I’m going to go to my room now. I’m beginning to fall asleep here,” I said to Mist in a tired voice.

“…” there was silence. I looked over at Mist to see she had fallen asleep. Poor girl. She may seem happy on the outside, but I just know that on the inside, it’s completely different. I don’t know how she can manage to keep those smiles and that happy demeanor up. Maybe she really does enjoy this grueling, saddening, depressing job.

I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love this job. Just… sometimes, I feel guilty for killing people. I guess, though, as she said, if I kill those who are evil, I stop them. Yet, who am I to hand down judgment on people. I’ll ponder this another day.

I poked Mist gently and said, “Mist… mist… wake up. We have to head back.”

No response.

“Mist?”

Still no response. I sighed as kneeled by her and tried to pick her up. God, being physically weak sucks. I can’t pick her up.

“Need a hand?”

I looked up and saw Natasha standing there.

“Yeah, I do. Could you help me take her to her room?” I asked her.

“I can do that,” Natasha said. Together, her and I carried Mist back to her room. I knocked softly on the door, and Ike opened it up.

“Here… she’s asleep. She fell asleep on the deck of the ship,” I softly said to Ike.

“I see. Here. I’ll take her,” Ike said. With surprising care and kindness from someone as gruff as Ike, he took her and carefully set her down on her hammock in the room. Silently, Ike looked at me and nodded. Natasha closed the door of the room and we walked down the hallway together.

Soon, we got to the room Natasha was staying in. I looked at her and said, “Goodnight, Natasha.”

“Goodnight,” she replied as she went into her room. I walked on as I heard her door close. I walked down the hallway until I got to Room 6. Hey, I remember this room! It’s bigger than the other rooms. That means a lot more space for the occupants. Thank goodness, because I’m really tired.

I opened the door to the room, and looked around. Five hammocks were in the room. Perfect.

… wait, five? I looked around the room to see Jill in there as well.

… well, go figure. We have the bigger room, so we get the extra guest. Probably Mia and Zihark’s room got Cormag, being that their room was about the same size and their room had three people from Daein in there. Well, at least, I think Ilyana is from Daein.

I passed by Karla’s hammock, and glanced over at her. I wonder if she’s still thinking about the discussion earlier. Poor girl. I haven’t felt so guilty since my senior year. I really feel bad about doing the same thing that I did that last school year.

I still wonder why those girls like me.

“It’s ‘cause you’re a guy and they’re straight,” a thought in my head said.

… random thoughts popping in my head again!

Poor Karla. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so bad on her. Damn it. That’s the problem with myself. I’m too nice at times.

… I know I’m going to regret this later when I leave. I slowly walked toward her in her sleep. I leaned over her and gently gave her a small kiss on the cheek. Now THAT is something to brag about to everyone else at home… if anyone would believe me that this happened.

“Just because… today isn’t over yet,” I whispered. “Just don’t expect it again. I meant what I said.”

Useless… talking to a sleeping person is useless. If only… if only I could just stay in this world permanently.

At least, I know I’ll be here in about four years. That’s what that voice said. Something about I’ll appreciate being here four years from now. Man, four years cannot come soon enough. I slowly drifted off into sleep… a sleep that was riddled with guilt-driven dreams…
Author’s Note: Second “filler” chapter of the fanfic. This time, I explore Mist’s personality a little bit. Yes, I did borrow heavily from Light from Death Note, but to me, she rubbed off on me as that type of person. A person who just wants to help everyone out, but yet wields a sword and kills people as a Valkyrie. In fact, in Radiant Dawn, I had her use the ranged SS sword (I won’t say what it is, in case anyone here hasn’t played it and don’t want a spoiler… I can say that it is not Vague Katti).

I always wondered how can a kind and caring person like Mist use swords to kill people… so I figured it was a bit like Light from Death Note… and I took it from there. Yeah, I know it’s not the best of interpretations, but it was the best I could come up with. I’m still debating whether to do Titania or Ike next chapter… or maybe I’ll just pick someone else. I don’t know yet.

I also realize that lately, I’ve been writing most of my chapters in either one or two sittings. This chapter actually took me an hour and a half to write in just one sitting. Hah, if I could only do this once a day. Maybe, during my break later, I can write another chapter. Maybe.

Also, this is most likely the last instance of fluff/whatever from my character for a while. It’s time to focus more on the other characters and give them some importance and stuff. Especially Jill and Cormag, the newcomers.
DELETED SCENE (scenes that I wrote but I took out for a reason or another after finishing the chapter):

“Well, now’s our chance,” I remarked as I looked at her with a smile. She laughed for a second, causing me to give her a look of confusion. Dear god, I just realized that she’s wearing her skirt. She’s sixteen, she’s sixteen. Turn away now.

“Dear goodness, that’s a good view!” I exclaimed as I turned back to the sky.

Mist looked into the sky and agreed, “Yes, it is a good view. You can see so many stars.”

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“Do you think there’s a heaven up there?” she asked me.

“I… don’t know,” I replied.

“Do you think you can see heaven from here?” Mist asked.

“From where I was laying, I think I saw a bit of heaven,” I replied.

“So, I guess you like looking at the stars?” Mist asked.

[The Silent Orator]

Author’s Note: Sorry for the late update. I’ve been sick all week last week, and I still had to practice my ass off for trombone lessons. Not to mention, Concert Band was harder this week, because I play trumpet for it in a section of trumpets… and I had a pounding headache.

Trumpet Section Major Headache. Yeah, I think most of you get the picture.

I also had an asthma attack while playing the piano for church last Sunday. I started feeling light in the head, it was getting really hard to breathe, and my vision started to blur and fade (a bit like tunnel vision, I guess). In addition to that, the pain in my wrists came back. It’s a pain that happens when I practice piano too much. It’s like a knife is being plunged through my wrist… and the rest of my arms get stiff… then numb. It’s rather scary considering I’ve devoted my life to music and piano (I’ve been playing classical piano for over ten years, although with this new pain, I really can’t do it as much anymore). I do hope it’s nothing serious.

Also, yeah, I’ve been hitting writer’s blocks lately. As some of you may or may not have noticed, there is another fic that I put up. A Naruto story in third-person. I’ve decided I also need to work on typing up descriptions of characters. Since I myself really don’t pay attention to detail, I don’t put much in the fic (the advantage and disadvantage of first-person stories). The story really challenges me to type up good descriptions while at the same time not going overboard or re-using descriptions. It’s like how this story was hard at first, because I couldn’t really write first-person too well at first.

So, if any of you are Naruto fans, feel free to check it out. It won’t be updated as much as this story, though.

Chapter 13

The Excitable Myrmidon

I woke up in the morning to see that the sun had just begun to rise. I really did get up early this time. I mean, normally, I do wake up early, but usually that’s around seven to seven-thirty. I’ve never gotten up during or before sunrise since I was in high school.

It really is a rather refreshing change, I must admit. I feel like a healthier, stronger person. The water tastes better, the air smells cleaner, the elements look more serene, the ocean sounds calmer, and the sun feels warmer. I used to be the type of person that was on the computer all the time to do my homework, write stories, compose music, design graphics, and role-play. Now, with a totally new life, I find myself barely missing it.

I’m living a life with friends I can depend upon to save my life by any means. I’m living in a world that most people can only dream of living in. I’m living with people whom most fangirls would love to f—anyway… the point is… this is my reality now. I’m happy with where I am. I’m not saying I’m happier with this life than the other one. More like, they’re both so different that it’s like comparing chocolate cake to mushroom and pepperoni pizza and asking which one tastes better.

I do miss my music though. I really miss my wonderful, eighteen gigabyte folder of musical goodness. That voice did say that some minds can create worlds. I forget though. Was the world I created in my unfinished novel project created? If so, would I ever get to see them? I wonder what it would be like to meet all the characters I’ve created and some of my friends have come to know and love.

I wonder though. Am I being oblivious to my current situation? Maybe it has not fully hit me yet, but I still feel giddy when I think about what Karla said. It’s like someone took my senior year of high school and stuck it with this world. Those girls all asking me out, having a crush on me, and admitting they do. Here I was, rejecting every single one of them for reasons even I cannot understand.

Here I am in another world, ready to make the same mistakes I made in the other world. Here I am gradually hurting someone else who is putting her faith, trust, and likes in me. I felt guilty enough when I did it before and I promised I’d never do it again, and here I am yet again doing the same exact stupid mistakes that I was doing back at home. What a fool am I to be doing this? Is this truly the path that I’m choosing? I really don’t know.

Maybe Karla was better off not meeting me. Maybe I was better off not acting like how I usually do. I should adapt a new personality for myself. I swear that it just seems like there are girls constantly being attracted to my personality. It’s saddening if you really think about it. Most guys say that I’m a “pimp” and other bullshit, but I don’t see it that way.

I really just want to stay with just one girl back in my world with a nice job and a nice house. Now, I’m in a world where at least one girl likes me. Reminds me of something a friend of mine told me about a Radiant Dawn character. His name was Leo or something along those lines. He ends up having all the girls after him.

Now, if a fanfiction writer were to do that in their story, people would regard it as a shitty story and say that the character is a Gary Stu. Yet, when it’s done in canon, he has all kinds of fangirls. That does seem to be fucked up logic, does it not? I mean, that’s the whole reasons people seem to hate self-insertion stories. Because the inserted character sometimes gets to be with the author’s favorite character.

“John?”

I fail to see the logic in that. Then again, I fail to see the logic in a lot of things back at home, but I guess that’s just how life goes. You live it and you try to love it. You realize that normality is only an illusion but if you try to deviate from it, you will only end up getting rejected by the sheep whose eyes are covered by the wool that those before them have put on their eyes.

“Are you awake?”

I do wonder… if I had the choice… do I really want to go back to that festering world that is in a decadent spiral down to very bottom of the well. Do I really want to go back to that depressingly sad world that is closely approaching the apex of ignorance and herd mentality?

“If you aren’t going to respond to us, we’re going to smack you with pillows.”

In America, most people don’t know who our Vice-President is. Most people clamor that their “rights are being violated” when they never even exercise them. Most people fight in other countries in the world for the right to speak out and the right to vote, and here are apathetic people in America who—

“Pillow Smash!”

Ow! I felt a pillow crash very hard into my face. A second later, I felt a second one crash right into my gut, knocking all the wind I had right out. I tried to breathe back in, but the pillow on my face was restricting my breathing. As I tried to flail, my limbs got caught in the netting of the hammock.

“Are you awake now?”

I gasped for air as the two pillows were pulled away to reveal Karla and Jill. Both of them gave nervous looks as I could feel myself glaring very hard at them.

“What. Was. That. FOR!?” I said in raised tone, my voice strongly layered with severe annoyance.

“You seemed to be asleep,” Jill remarked.

“So, we agreed to wake you up,” Karla added.

“And so we did,” they both said together.

“… and so you pissed me off and nearly suffocated me too,” I said.

“Death by suffocation by two pillows,” Karla remarked.

“That sounds like a death most guys would enjoy,” came a voice from the open doorway. I looked over to see Boyd. I grabbed my pillow and pegged it at him.

“Get the hell out!” I said in a very pissed off tone.

“Yikes! Must be that time of the month,” Boyd commented as he dodged the pillow and disappeared from the doorway.

“Sorry,” Jill said. I took a deep breath as I gave a small smile to them.

“… I forgive you both… if you both give me a hug a day for this whole trip,” I remarked.

“Sounds like someone’s about to suffocate from two pillows again,” I heard Boyd’s voice from the doorway. Apparently, he couldn’t help but have the last word. He’s worse than my character Flame.

“Excuse me, you two. Someone needs a straight and long lightning bolt shoved up their ass,” I said as I ran to the doorway. Boyd, sensing he was finally in danger, disappeared again. I chased him through the ship for a good two minutes, chanting the spell and desperately gasping for air in between labored breaths from my asthma. I shot the thunderbolt, which smacked into his backside. The seat of his pants was singed and I could smell something that smelled like cooked meat that was slowly burning.

“Yeowch!” Boyd exclaimed loudly as he jumped at least four feet into the air… a feat I did not think was possible for a normal human being. He put his hand on his backside and started rubbing it. My god, I feel like Rykua right now.

No sooner had he done his exclamation that Titania rounded the corner and spotted Boyd.

“Boyd? There you are. I’ve been meaning to tell you that for your training, I want you to add another fifty swings to your practice,” Titania said to Boyd.

“… yes, ma’am,” Boyd said back to her.

“What’s wrong with you?” Titania asked me as I wheezed out deep breaths in my asthma-like state. My vision started to cloud up and I didn’t have enough energy to stand up. Curse you, damn asthma. Curse you.

“Just breathing problems I’ve had most of my life,” I replied.

“Take it easy, will you?” Titania said to me.

“Will… do,” I said as my vision narrowed. Man, this is why I can’t be a fighter. I get up and start wandering around the ship aimlessly. My… inhaler’s at home, I think… all that I have left from the old world is my trumpet mouthpiece and my cell phone.

… I wonder if my Bach 1E mouthpiece is still on reserve.

“Hey! Knock first!”

… I looked up to see Mia with the bottom part of her outfit on, but topless except a bra.

“What?” I said blankly.

“What are you doing?!” she asked. Wait, topless except a bra? Oh shit!

“… oh my god! I’m sorry!” I said quickly as I closed the door. Wait, this is Room 6! I wandered back to my room! Why is Mia changing in my room? Well not my room, but what about her room? What’s going on? Oh dear god, I’m going to be branded a Gatrie for the rest of my life! I’m not a pervert! I’m not a pervert! Damn it, I’m not a pervert!

“You’re distracted, aren’t you?”

I looked up to see Mia smiling at me from the doorway.

“Quite,” I replied.

“I could tell, considering it took you almost a whole minute to grasp the situation. You just had a glazed look in your eyes, like you were spaced in another place!” Mia said in an energetic tone.

“You could say that,” I replied. Well, I was thinking a bit of home, so yeah, another place. Another place. Home? This is my home now.

“Let’s duel!” she said in a cheerful, excited voice. Before I could figure out what she was saying, she threw me a sword. I yelped out in surprise and jumped backward. The sword landed in the ground right where was I standing, its point lodged in the floor.

“What was that for?!” I asked incredulously.

“You’re distracted. A good duel will help you concentrate,” Mia said.

“I don’t know the first thing about wielding a sword. That was always my friend’s obsession,” I said frantically.

“… you do know which end is the handle, right?” Mia asked.

“I do know that much,” I said as I picked up the sword.

“You know how to swing a sword, right?” she asked. Well, I’m not that handicapped! I swung my sword.

“Then you know the basics of how to fight! En garde!” she shouted as she rushed at me.

“OH DEAR GOD!” I shouted out, quickly putting the sword up out of reflex.

“Good block! Are you sure you don’t know what you’re doing?” Mia asked in a cheerful, hopeful tone.

“I’m working on pure instinct to protect myself from a crazy lady! Don’t hurt me!” I said quickly.

“What’s going on?” I heard Ike’s voice from the doorway.

“Oh, hi boss! We’re training… if you don’t mind that is,” Mia replied as she pulled her sword away and thrust at my gut. I quickly sidestepped it and spun clockwise. When I started the spin, I held the sword in my right hand across my body on my left side. As I spun, I swung my arm in the direction of the spin to give it some extra speed. Extra speed comes from extra acceleration during that period in time. Mass times acceleration is momentum, if I remember correctly. Well, mass times velocity is—ah, who cares. I’m swinging the sword. The way I swung gives things extra momentum. This gave my sword momentum as I swung it while spinning to give it some good force. I may not be a swordfighter… but I do know science!

It’s a bit like Ike’s second attack as a Lord in Path of Radiance, I guess. He spins and swings his sword.

“Ahh!” Mia said as my sword crashed into hers with an almighty clang. Mia stumbled backward as I dropped my sword.

“Ah! My hand is vibrating! It’s tingling and vibrating!” I excitedly said.

“Well, you swung it rather hard, you know,” Mia said. I started shaking my hand violently to try to rid myself of the vibrating feeling in my hand.

“I can barely feel my hand,” I commented.

“For a mage, that was rather strong… but a rather weird move,” Mia commented.

“Blame all the science I have running through my head,” I replied.

“That was a rather interesting maneuver,” Ike commented.

“I’ve watched many swordfighters fight, and I’ve seen many styles,” I said. “Mia, toss me another sword.”

Mia smiled and said, “Yes sir!”

“At least you didn’t try to slice a limb off this time,” I commented as this time the sword landed in front of me.

“I remember one sword user held his swords like this,” I said. I held the sword in my left hand normally, but the other sword, I held upside down. Instead of the blade being extended from my arm, it ran down the length of my arm while the hilt of the sword was extending from me.

“I hack, slash, and thrust with this sword,” I said as I demonstrated with my left hand.

“I defend with this one,” I said as I held the right hand above my head.

“It can be used for attacking as well,” I said. I stepped forward slightly, threw my right arm out and thrust my right elbow out even further.

“It’s wise to have an arm guard on this arm or to just have a one-sided sword,” I remarked.

“What was the name of this sword man?” Mia asked.

“You wouldn’t know him… his name is Vyse…”

… yes, I’m aware I’m being a dork, but I decided to humor Ike and Mia for a while. I started explaining how the swords were used, what techniques were used… and I even said a fighter could throw the sword they were weaker in for a surprise attack, while dashing at the enemy to capitalize on their surprise from such an unorthodox attack.

I went on like this for some time before I ran out of stuff I could explain about Vyse’s style. What can I say? I loved Skies of Arcadia. If I didn’t end up in this world, I would’ve loved to go to that world. Mm, and Fina is always a nice bonus. Always caring and always helpful that girl was. Worlds need more people like Fina. She was kind, caring, helpful, friendly, and a loyal person. Like Mist!

“You do seem to know a lot about swords,” Ike remarked.

“I had a friend who was totally obsessed with them,” I replied.

“I’d like to meet your friend someday,” Ike said.

“I think he would love to meet you, but unfortunately, I don’t think that could ever happen,” I replied.

“Why not?” Ike asked.

“He’s a friend from where I came from,” I replied.

“What do you mean?” Ike asked.

“… I guess Titania didn’t tell you. Maybe it’s really time I told everything,” I said.

“I think I should be going now! I can train now by myself! I don’t want to intrude,” Mia said.

“No, no, it’s fi--.”

“Hey, is this a meeting in our room and we don’t know it?” Selena inquired. I turned around to see Selena, Jill, Karla, and Natasha walk into the room, closely followed by Boyd and Mist.

“No, no, it’s just a small discussion,” I replied.

“About what?” Selena asked.

“Swords! John seems a bit knowledgeable in the area! Maybe he could teach me a few things,” Mia said excitedly.

“I highly doubt it,” I replied. I sat there for a few minutes looking at our new guests when it struck me.

“Hey, wait, why are you all in the room?” I asked.

“Because it’s one of the biggest of the ship,” Boyd replied.

“Do it in the dining hall or something. There’s something important I need to tell Ike,” I said.

“Like what?” Jill asked.

“… like about myself and my home. Actually, if any of you wish to stay… that would be okay,” I said. Everyone looked at each other and Boyd said, “Oi, if it’s really important, I’ll get Oscar, Titania, and the others. That way you won’t have to repeat yourself.”

“No need to get Titania. She already knows,” I said.

“I’ll get everyone anyway,” Boyd said. I sighed as I looked around.

“If you guys don’t believe me or think I’m crazy, I won’t hold it against any of you. If any of you think I’m a weird magician who discovered a lot of tricks, I won’t hold it against any of you either. Commander Greil and Titania both had trouble coming to terms with what I’m about to tell you all,” I said. I looked as Boyd returned with the rest of the mercenaries. Even Nasir showed up.

“Guys… listen, you really don’t have to do this,” I started.

“Boyd told us you had some gravy about yourself you wanted to share. You keep to yourself way too much! Spill the beans, you meathead! We’re your friends and we’re with you like cookies and milk!” I heard a very excitable voice say. I looked over to spot a head of pink hair. Well, well, looks like I finally found you, Marcia. I should now insert maniacal mental laughter here. Cue in three… two… one. Go!

“Cookies and milk?” I heard Jill say in a rather evil, devious, and cunning tone.

“Jill, say one more word about that incident and you’ll regret it,” I said.

“So where should I began,” I mused to myself.

“Start with where you’re from, what you did there, what’s it like, and how did you get here,” said a faint, weak voice that seemed slightly muffled from food. Okay, so Ilyana’s here.

“Well, I come from a world that is different from Tellius,” I began.

“How so? No Laguz?”

“Let him speak!”

“Well, it’s hard to explain. Yes, there’s no Laguz,” I replied. Might as well as pull all the plugs.

“Well, first, I should get the shocking part of the story out of the way,” I said.

“Go right ahead,” Jill said encouragingly. Karla, however, was watching me with a focused stare, intent on making sure she caught every word.

“In my world… there are these things called video games. They are like games, but are advanced in technology. They are played on screens that show moving pictures. Like this,” I said as I pulled out my cell phone. I flipped the top and showed everyone the screen.

“Now, this particular screen cannot play moving pictures, but a lot of the ones back home can. Everyone follow so far?” I asked.

“So, these moving pictures are called videos?” Soren asked.

“Yeah,” I replied.

“And these video games are merely games played on the screen,” Soren asked again.

“Yeah,” I said. “Damn, you’re pretty smart.”

“… it’s my job as a mage to be smart,” Soren replied.

“You really figured out a good chunk of what I was trying to explain. Did everyone understand what Soren said?”

“Yeah, but what does your video game have to do with us?” Karla asked.

“Let me say something first to soften the blow and make it easier. Right before I appeared on Tellius from my world, there was a voice in my head that told me that there were people in my world who could create or sense other dimensions. In their thoughts and dreams, the can see the past, present, and futures of other worlds,” I said.

“Like a psychic!” Marcia exclaimed.

“Yeah, like a psychic… that can see into other worlds,” I said.

“So… I’ll stop the beating of the bush around for you. We’re a video game in your world,” Soren said bluntly.

“… um… er… to put it bluntly… yes, you all are characters from a video game from my world. It was released about three or four years ago. The sequel came out, which is said to start about four years from n—holy shit!”

“… what the—“

“Okay, guys, yes, you are a game from my world. It’s very likely that the game creators sensed your world using their abilities. Nobody from our world knows that these exist,” I said in a rushed tone.

“What was the sudden exclamation for?” Titania asked.

“The voice said I would appreciate being here in four years time! I’ve never played the sequel. As such, I do not know what happens. In four years, I will be as much in the dark about the future as you guys will be,” I said.

“… that implies that you know what’s going to happen now from this war,” Soren said.

“I thought I did. I beat the game, and as such… rest assured, Princess Elincia, that Crimea is going to be victorious against Daein. However, there have been a couple events and characters that are not from the game in this world,” I began.

“Like what?” Elincia asked.

“Karla, Selena, Natasha, and Cormag were never in this game. They were from another game in the series, which holds no relation to this game. I don’t know why you guys are here,” I said.

“… that’s rather interesting,” Karla said slowly.

“Not that I mind. I think it’s great that you guys are here. I just am curious as to how and why you guys are here,” I mused to myself.

“Not everything can be predicted. The future is always uncertain,” Titania said.

“… so, now you all know the truth. You now know why I’m afraid to get close to any of you. You know, a lot of you have a nice group of fans who would do anything just to meet you all,” I said.

“I… it has to be a hard burden, but we have faith in you,” Ilyana started.

“But next time, be more open with us. Geez! It’s like you don’t want to trust us,” Boyd said.

“… thanks guys… this really means a lot,” I said. Nasir looked at me pointedly as I nodded to him.

“We won’t hold it against you if you know something will happen, but cannot tell us,” Ike said.

“It’s happened once and it was a tough choice. It was a very tough choice. If you have others… I’m sorry that this had to come to you,” Titania said.

“There is one other I know about that will happen… and I really, truly regret that I cannot tell you what it is or who is involved. Just… if I wasn’t so worried that avoiding these incidents could cost Crimea the war…” I said.

“It’s okay,” Ike said. “We understand.”

“You guys… really are the best. I’m really, really glad I got to meet every one of you. I really wish… that I could stay here as long as I want, or go between the worlds,” I said.

“Don’t get all mushy on us,” Boyd commented.

“Well, I’m going back to my training!” Kieran exclaimed. Soon after, murmurs went through the crowd as others were going back to their activities. Soon, Mia, Ike, and Karla were the only ones left in the room with myself.

“I’m going to train. Coming, commander?” Karla asked.

“Yeah,” Ike replied, walking out of the room with Ike.

“Going to train with them, Mia?” I asked her.

“Not really. I’m still struggling with the things that you said just now,” Mia replied.

“You know, you’re rather cute when you’re not so excitable,” I remarked.

“Hey!” she said, starting to get worked up.

“You know, back home, we have medicine for people who are too hyper and excited. It helps calm them down,” I said.

“Medicine? Like what?” Mia asked.

“Like sleep pills,” I said in a joking voice.

“So, your world. Are there any sword masters?” Mia asked.

“Not really. Swords were used in our combat from our world, like, five hundred or so years ago. Not anymore. Our wars are fought with deadly and precise weapons called guns,” I said.

“Boooring! No swords?”

“Nope,” I replied.

“So… guns? What are they?” Mia asked.

“It’s a weapon. It’s simply a tube, and a bullet is put inside of the tu—“

“What’s a bullet?”

“Oh, a bullet is a piece of metal shaped a bit like a wedge or a cone. Yeah, more like a cone,” I said.

“And you put this inside the tube?” Mia asked.

“Yeah. A bullet is basically a hollow cone. Inside the cone is a powder called gunpowder. Gunpowder is very explosive. Even a little spark set on a barrel like the ones on this ship is enough to blow up into pieces,” I said.

“So, this gunpowder inside the bullet, which is inside the tube, gets exploded. Then what?” Mia asked.

“Well, the tube is made in such a way so that the air pressure forces the metal part of the bullet out at high speeds,” I said.

“Air pressure?” Mia asked.

“Er, you know that when things warm up they expand, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, when you ignite something from the temperature right now, to the temperature of, say, a sword that just came out of a forge with metal that is white hot, you the air expands quickly and greatly.”

“I understand that,” Mia said. “But how does that launch the bullet?”

“Well, see, the gun is made in a way so that excess air pressure does not simply escape through the back of the tube. The only way out is the front of the gun… but the bullet is in the gun and hugs the edges of the tube, so in order for the air pressure to get out, it has to push the bullet out. Since there’s so much air pressure, the bullet is shot at a very high speed. It probably travels about the speed of sound. I don’t know,” I said.

“And this cone-shaped piece of metal strikes a person at the speed of sound,” Mia said. “Sounds very dangerous and deadly.”

“It is. That’s the kind of weapon we fight our wars with,” I said.

“So, are there different types of guns, like different types of swords?” Mia asked.

“Yeah. There are guns with small bullets. They’re designed to shoot a person, go through, and so on. You can hit a whole line of people with these. Then there are guns with bigger bullets. These have more force but less penetrating power. It probably can hit only one or two people, but it has so much stopping power, it’s like someone ran into you with a horse. It just knocks you backward hard and far,” I said.

“What else?” Mia asked. She seemed thoroughly immersed in the weapons talk.

“Well, there are automatic guns. All you do is hold a button, and it fires in rapid succession a lot of bullets. All you have to do is hold the button and sweep the gun like a sword. It shoots many bullets a second, so, it’s perfect if you’re trying to hit a moving target and you don’t care for accuracy… or if you’re trying to hit a lot of people at once. I heard of a machine gun that shoots about two thousand bullets a minute, which is roughly… uh… hm… about thirty-five bullets a second. Though, I think that’s a little far-fetched of a story, it could be true,” I explained.

“There is no real skill in that kind of battle. Only luck and numbers. Well, at least you have healers to tend to the injured,” Mia said.

“Well, um, our world doesn’t have magic. That’s why we rely so much upon technology and science. Our healers are doctors that use tools to cut people open and… er, I really shouldn’t go into details,” I said.

“That’s horrible! Being cut open without a magic healer. How do you guys live? I just can’t imagine!” Mia said.

“Trust me. It’s not easy to believe,” I said.

“How do you cope? Coming from your world to ours, and knowing what’s going to happen but cannot change it for worry that it will change everything?” Mia asked.

“I just think about the end of the war. I see Crimea’s victory. I see Princess Elincia become queen. I see Ashnard killed at the hands of Ike. I see peace returning to the land. I see Elincia being a righteous queen who wishes to repair the damage between Beorc and Laguz. I try to see what will happen in the end and try my best not to focus on what happens in between. The more I focus about what happens in between, the more I think about how I was responsible for Greil’s death,” I said.

“That’s a lot to think about, especially for a kid like you,” Mia said.

“I’m not a kid! I’m seventeen… almost eighteen!” I retorted.

“I’m still older than you,” Mia said in a taunting tone.

“Not by much!” I replied.

“I’m nineteen. That’s still older than you,” she continued in her teasing voice.

“Not fair,” I protested.

“So, you know, back in your world… did you ever have a crush on any of the female characters?” Mia asked.

“What? No!” I hastily said in reply, drawing a weird look from Mia.

“So, then, which guy was it?” Mia asked.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“What guy did you like?” Mia asked again.

“… I don’t like guys,” I said.

“But you don’t like girls,” Mia said.

“… I do, but… you know, it’s a bit weird if you fall for a video game character. If I had known this was going to happen, though…” I said. Wow, lying through my ass! My favorites used to be Jill and Lucia. Lucia just had that kind of personality… and Jill was just kick-ass. Mia was pretty cute too, but I never could guess how old she really was. Mist seemed too young. God, she’s sixteen though. That changes my thoughts on her completely.

… where’s pedobear. He needs to stop bugging me and go bug that girl from LazyTown.

“What about now?” Mia asked.

“You’re not one for pulling any punches on your questions, are you?” I asked.

“No. Who do you like now?” Mia asked again.

“I like all the girls in their own way. Every single one of you are unique and special and cute in your own way. Choosing one is like putting you in a specialty sword shop with the master creations of every sword master throughout the ages, and telling you to choose,” I said.

“But that’s easy! I want one of the master creations of the legendary Altina herself!” Mia replied in an excited tone.

“… okay, time for a new analogy,” I said.

“I know what you mean, though!” Mia said with gusto. God, can she be any more energetic? I’d hate to see her after a double espresso or two, along with Mist.

“Why the interest, all of a sudden?” I asked.

“Is it Kaaaarlaaaa?” she said in-between laughs in a teasing tone.

“… Mia, you really are asking the wrong kind of questions to me right now,” I replied.

“Hah! Do you like all girls who wield a sword?” Mia said tauntingly.

“Mia… you’re nuts,” I said. She gasped.

“How did you know?” she asked. I was confused for a second before she pulled out a bag of nuts.

“Um, wrong form of the word ‘your’, but, oh well,” I sighed.

“Hazelnut?”

“Sure.”

“How about an almond?”

“Not too fond of them.”

We sat there for a few minutes, eating Mia’s nuts and just marveling at it.

“Wait, how come your nuts are the same as my nuts back in my world?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I love nuts though!” she said to me.

“I’m not too fond of them, to be honest. They do get dry. These aren’t that bad though,” I said.

“Well, they’re the kind of nuts that don’t dry your mouth if you get them at just the right time,” Mia explained.

“You know a lot about nuts,” I said.

“I’m around them constantly,” Mia said.

“How so?” I asked.

“Well, my family always had a lot of nuts in the house. I learned a lot about them growing up,” Mia said.

“Large family?” I asked.

“A sister and four brothers,” Mia said.

“And they all knew about nuts too?” I asked.

“Yeah, they all did,” she replied.

“So, you went on your journey to try to hone your skill with a sword,” I said.

“Yeah. When I was out in the world, I saw a lot of different kind of nuts that I didn’t see at home. They were in all kinds of sizes and shapes!” Mia said.

“Really? I’m only knowledgeable on a few kinds,” I admitted.

“Then one day I could teach you what I know. Maybe if I can come to your world, you can show me the kinds of nuts from your world. I’d love to learn more about nuts,” Mia said.

“Of course. Everyone has their hobby,” I replied.

“I really love hazelnuts though. I wonder what they taste like in your world,” Mia commented.

“Who knows,” I replied.

“You know, you’re a fun person to talk to!” Mia said.

“As are you… when you’re not as excitable,” I replied.

“Well, I get excited easily,” Mia said.

“I didn’t excite you that much did I?” I asked.

“Well, when you walked in while I was changing, you really startled me. I guess I was excited at the prospect of dueling you to get revenge for that,” Mia said.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” I hastily apologized.

“It’s okay. You were absorbed in your thoughts! Your raw skill with a sword really excited me,” Mia said to me kindly.

“It isn’t all about techniques, as I figured out. It’s about the science and knowing just how to wield the sword. You have to know when to thrust, when to move back, when to close in, and when to wait for the other to come,” I said, remembering a couple things from memory.

“Yeah, there’s a lot more that I really have to learn,” Mia said to me with a warm smile.

“I’ve always been great with things in theory, but putting them in practice is something else,” I admitted sadly. It was true though. It's one thing to read it in a book, but it's another thing to actually put it in practice. Now I know how Lute feels when she gets out into the world. She's all locked up with books and studies all the time and when she comes out, she realizes that things are so much different, and occasionally better, than they are in books.

Oh, many years later, I would always think about this conversation, and how wrong it sounded. We meant it in an innocent fashion, but had my mind been even slightly in the gutter… I would’ve had to excuse myself early from the conversation for my mind would’ve clouded my judgment.

“It’s getting rather close to dinnertime, wouldn’t you say?” Mia asked me.

“It is,” I said in agreement.

“You can go up. I’m not hungry,” Mia said.

“I’m not either,” I said.

“Why not?” Mia asked.

“Your nuts filled me up,” I said.

… it was at this point that it hit me just how perverted this whole conversation could have sounded to an outsider. I quickly coughed awkwardly as I looked to Mia.

“Something the matter?” Mia asked.

“I… gotta go,” I hurriedly said.

“I really enjoyed our conversation,” Mia said.

“Yeah, I did too,” I said back to her. She smiled at me and waved.

“You can come back to talk any time you want,” Mia said.

“Come back where? This is my room,” I said.

“Well, you can come in my room and we can talk about whatever you want. Anything you need to get off your chest, I’ll be there to listen and help!” Mia said proudly. Get off my chest? I’d rather get on your chest.

Oops, did I think that?

“Will do, Mia!” I said with a smile.

“Hey, now, you forgot something,” Mia said.

“What?” I asked.

“We’re friends now. You’re not even going to give me a hug?” Mia asked.

“Oh, okay,” I said. What’s up with everyone giving hugs? I’m not complaining, but it’s like everyone’s too friendly. I hope Boyd doesn’t give me a hug. Who knows what ideas he’ll get in his mind. I walked over to Mia as she stood up. I smiled at her as I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her.

… she smelled like that Irish Spring soap.

She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me tightly against her. Mia! You’re squeezing the life out of me! Mia! Mia! MIA!! OH GOD! I CAN’T BREATHE! I CAN’T BREATHE!

“You’re like a little brother to me now!” Mia said joyfully.

“…” I was silent.

“Hey, your face is changing color! Is this a spell or something? It’s turning blue! Are you cold? Here, let me pull you in closer!” Mia said. Before I could struggle, she pulled me in lower and closer, burying my face in her chest. Damn it! I can just see Boyd laughing his ass off as he would be saying, “I knew he’d die of suffocation!”

I CAN’T BREATHE! MIA! MIA! MIA! HELP! LET ME GO! PLEASE! I’M GONNA FUCKING DIE!

I could feel myself struggling, starting to panic. Let’s see… brain damage happens in two minutes? I forget how long. I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! I don’t even care if it IS from suffocation from a girl’s bust!

MIA, IF YOU LOVE ME LIKE A BRO, LET GO! LET GO! LET—

Darkness claimed my mind as I could feel myself slumping down gently while slowly losing consciousness.

Author’s Note: Anti-climatic way to end a chapter, eh? I guess Mia can get a little too overexcited at times.

A sad note I have to give all you readers. My Internet connection will be cut on Friday, February 29, 2008. I’ll still have a computer, but no Internet to use. With any luck, that should impede my updates only slightly. However, this means be relying on other people’s computers and connections, as well as the college library, to do my updates.

Between the loss of Internet, television, and house phone, I’m probably going to be spending more time in working on this story. Hopefully, I won’t be secluded without Internet for very long.

By the time I get the Internet back, though, I may already have my third job, which will cut down my time online. Also, this chapter is over 7,000 words. It is currently my longest chapter ever written. Took me two sittings. I wrote about 2,000 words in the college library yesterday, and I used all of this morning to get the rest in. As with the rest of the chapters, I was able to write it in one or two sittings. Overall, I’m very pleased with how the chapter came out.

Well, until next time. I’ll see if I can get one last chapter up before the loss of ‘net comes. I don’t know whom I will feature. I may just do Cormag as a short chapter and get him out of the way. Cormag was put into the story by request of one of my friends (the same one, in fact, who likes swords). There’s a lot more character requests, and I’m working on getting them into the story.

… I wonder if Begnion has casinos…