Prologue: Winds of the Past
((Author’s note: For this chapter and here on out, I don’t on Fire Emblem. Secondly, this prologue is only to inform you where in the game the characters are when this story takes place. It’s dull, but it helps. The next chapter is much, much longer… just don’t always expect them to be that long. Review the first chapter, not this lame (albeit necessary) prologue. x.x This story compiles three games together; Fuuin no Tsurugi, Rekka no Ken, and Seimen no Kouseki. There are guest cameos that appear later, but it is all in due time. This chapter is currently being rewritten, and will be edited in when I conclude writing chapter 10. Enjoy, and feel free to comment!))
The continent of Elibe is a majestic land, with the expanse of the continent littered with peaks that reached into the sky, plains that expanded farther than the eye could see, small kingdoms that dwarved the villages they ruled, and small islands, littered about the sea. The Lycian League is a but a portion of the land, but nonetheless was the home of several small kingdoms that shared a peace forged in grudgingly held promises, leaders fearful of foreign invasions, and, in Ostia and Pherae’s case, honor and pride in their lands. Bern’s wyvern riders seem to have been taking action, preparing for an impending war, all while Sacae and Ilia had vowed to defend their lands against the dragon riders that strayed so dangerously close to invading their borders, like leopards awaiting the perfect moment to strike at unsuspecting prey. And yet, in the end, both great lands were felled beneath the iron grip of the man known to all of Elibe as King Zephiel.
The month was currently that of the Archer, in the eighteenth year since Caelin’s abdication of its lands to Ostia. The former to-be marquess of Caelin, the noble lady Lyndis, had passed away but ten years ago; a few years after her grandfather’s untimely death. She and her husband, Rath, had lived in the vast plains of Sacae, raising their daughter Sue with loving care. Their little girl thrived in the nomadic atmosphere, much like her mother had before her, and quickly became accustomed to using the bow and eventually going on hunts with them once she reached the age of six. However, a tribal skirmish between the Djote tribe and the Kutolah left the former lady of Caelin incapacitated, as an arrow had struck her where her neck met her shoulders. The wound quickly bled out, and she died, suffering from her fatal arrow. Sue’s father, Rath, had also fallen, but that was from Bern’s wyvern riders and not from a traitorous tribe. Left alone and without parental guidance at the age of fourteen, she was left with her fellow tribesman, Sin, to protect her as she ventured across the land. Now sixteen years of age, she had already met the firey-haired lord of Pherae, as well as his friend, the mage and Lady of Ostia.
Roy, son of Marquess Eliwood of Pherae, was a young man at this point. At sixteen, he had already lost his mother… however, her death was far more peaceful than Lady Lyndis’s. His mother, oddly enough, had died from old age… even though she appeared to be no older than perhaps thirty years old. Though Eliwood remembered what Nils had told his sister before he left through Dragon’s Gate for the last time - that she would only live for perhaps fifteen years, given her incredible lack of strength and quintessence while in Elibe - he still had a very hard time with grasping his dragon wife’s death. It was true that her weak quintessence had held out longer than even her brother had expected, but he still could not forget the weak smile that had taken the last of her strength before she had breathed her last. Roy did not truly understand why she had died so soon, or why her strength had degenerated so much over the past decade and a half. Rather, he made do with standing vigil by his father, who still ailed from a sickness unknown. Some guess that he carried the same sickness that had ailed and felled the late Lord Uther, while others claim it to be the same type of poison that had been administered to the former Marquess Caelin.
The young girl who had recently come to power in Ostia still mourned for her father, Lord Hector, who had been rescued by Roy… only to die in his arms. Lilina had not had a chance to move on, and used the grief and fury in her heart to swear vengeance on him… it was she, more than anyone else, who wished for Zephiel to fall by Lycian hands. Her mother had been away at the time, returning north to Ilia to donate more funds to their treasury. However, having seen the crimson-stained snow of the mountains and witnessing the carnage of the wyverns who had slain her people and fellow Pegasus Knights, she had abandoned all former shyness and returned to battle, Killer Lance raised. Dame Florina never returned, having taken almost an entire brigade of wyvern riders with her before falling into the snow, pierced through by a wyvern lord’s lance. Her pegasus, however, had returned to Ostia, carrying the note Florina had attached to its neck before sending it off back to her home. It was only then that Castle Ostia learned of their lady’s death, and heard of the thirty year old pegasus knight falling in combat while defending her country of birth.
A myrmidon who had lived in the eastern reaches of Sacae, however, still kept her parents. Both Bartre and Karla still lived, sparring one another at random intervals while keeping their daughter as honed-in on combat as they were. The young girl adopted the style of her mother, leaving her father to constantly mumble ‘what if’s’ about what would have happened if she had decided to swing an axe. Becoming their equal at the age of fifteen, she still could never convince her uncle, who was once feared as the Sword Demon, to fight with her… for he, Karel, was now the Saint of Swords; and thus, he had sworn never to kill with his blade again, let alone lift his weapon against his kin.
One set of twins had been separated for a while, only to be reunited in Roy’s army: Lugh and Rei, sons of the prestiged and infamous Angel of Death and his young wife, the magician Nino, had been left in the care of a bishop named Lucius during a young age. Lugh and Rei had been left alone since then, as their father had run off to lead those who were after his head away from his wife and twin sons… and, caring for nothing more than her husband’s safety, their mother entrusted their sons to an old friend while she scoured the lands for the skilled and infamous assassin. They never returned, even though some say they have never reunited, either. They had stayed with Chad while they were still in the orphanage… it seemed that only Lucius recognized the boy and his sandy-blonde hair as the ******* child of the charismatic Ostian thief, who had never truly recovered from the death of his true love. His heart had been forever cleaved, with his child now being the only evidence of his existence.
Various accounts of children and their parents linked them together, but all remained the same… generations that had belonged to Hector’s Horde, past and present, old and new, dead or alive, pledged their hearts to the Lycian League, and vowed to remain astride the late Marquess’s ideals through the ages, and for all time.
~~
The land of Magvel, home of the five stones of power, once took pride in their unity as a nation; five countries, nestled within one giant continent that still retained a network of peace and tranquility between them. Renais, Grado, Rausten, Frelia, Jehanna, and Carcino; lands lead in different forms of government, culture, and combat all managed to share one common goal- the protection of the Sacred Stones, which had lain dormant in this land for centuries. And yet, by one single successful spell led the continent into a perpetual cyclone of chaos, leaving many nations wondering what and why had sparked the sudden change of course and demeanor of the Grado Empire.
The formerly peaceful king had passed on, leaving the frail and soft-spoken Lyon to rule in his place. Unfortunately, the prince had neither the nerve nor the strength of mind to control such a vast system on his own, and thus began the conjuring of the spell that would change the face of Magvel forever… the spell that revived his king, his father, and allowed the Demon King that resided in the Sacred Stone of Grado. It was then that the hostile spirit that was the incarnation of the evil spirit began the harsh takeover of his body… the frail necromancer’s form quickly became the host of the demon that had once terrorized the nations of Magvel, and sought to lay waste to the stones that kept his power in check.
It also seemed that more spell casting was going on behind the scenes than many others barely noticed, despite the plume of dark clouds that had spread over the skies of Grado…
Though the twins of Renais have discovered the culprits and have figured out the majority of the mystery that surrounds their childhood friend’s recent actions, they have yet to keep the destruction of the stones from occurring. As such, two have been vanquished, while they seek to save the others. Ephraim has gone off in search of a hero that had plotted and executed the efficient murder of Jehanna’s queen, while Eirika, Ephraim’s twin sister, has gone off to destroy the wyvern knight that had inflicted such a grave scar on her knight, the loyal Silver Lance, Seth.
Even though they knew of the Demon King’s scheme, they could do nothing to stop it until the safety of the remaining stones was confirmed. Thus, they barely even knew the whole of Lyon’s newly acquired power… or the motives evil inside of him that continued to experiment with spells of the past, written in the same book that had the spell for his own resurrection.
Parting ways, neither of the twins have any idea of what fate has had in store for them… and the rest of the planet.
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Ch. 1: New Beginnings
(Author’s Note: Hope you don’t mind the odd pairing first featured here. Creepy to read, creepier to write. x.x It’s quite plot-essential, though, so don’t mind it. And look, I know that the time portrayal of Fuuin no Tsurugi is off, and that some of the characters are not actually present during the event I’m going to describe. I know the inaccuracies. I’ve played the game. I’m well aware of this. :P Now, without further ado….)
“No… no… get away from me…” The princess of Renais’s frightened but demanding voice echoed through the small stone fortress that stood amidst the endless ocean of sand, backing slowly away from the mythical Moonstone of Grado… also known as Valter, one of the strongest and most feared riders of the Grado skies. A fearsome Wyvern Knight, Valter was renowned from countries around as one of Grado’s most barbaric generals… a man with an appetite for blood that was seemingly insatiable, combined with a demeanor that could only be described as borderline insanity. He was no fool, however… he had wanted to acquire his ‘ripe little peach’, and his quick thinking and effective tactics had led to this new scenario; him, standing before the shaking princess that was his prime target. He could sense the fear, coursing off of her like a river as a thin sheen of sweat glistened on her forehead from both the heat of the desert as well as the heat of his gaze.
She was helpless; helpless to stop the country that had already destroyed two of the continent’s Stones, helpless to defend her army… and, most of all, she was helpless to defend herself. In her mind, only one thought rang true as he approached her…
If only he was here… if only… Lord Brother, where are you?
In Valter’s eyes, it had been all too easy… the Pegasus knights that had accompanied Eirika’s brigade were focused mainly on the shamans that had been placed near the entrance of the desert, and the blinding sandstorms had left little to no visibility for the rest of the army. The two cavaliers, Kyle and Forde, had a hard time trying to maneuver their horses through the burning winds and sand, while Innes had also stayed behind with Colm and Neimi to attack the Wyvern Knights that had so brutally assaulted their northern ranks. They had been occupied for quite some time, considering the thick hides of the winged dragons and their skilled riders. The shamans were fierce, as well, ruthlessly casting spell upon spell towards the pegasi that danced gracefully through the skies. Though the said winged horses of myth were less susceptible to magic than most other members of their army, they were still nevertheless taking small burns from the dark magic. Over time, these became lesions and burns that spread over their delicate hides, leaving them with debilitating injuries and unsightly scars that would remain for the remainder of their lives.
Numbers were on the Moonstone’s side in this fight, and he knew it; and he was more than going to take advantage of the lordling’s lack of knowledge concerning the number and placement of his troops.
The only thing that had truly stood in his way was that accursed Paladin, Seth of Renais. The Silver Knight was not a man to be trifled with, considering he had been the only man that had taken a hit from Valter’s spear… and lived with only a scar and pain. Everyone else had died almost instantly from the Wyvern Knight’s fearsome strength and skill, and yet the knight lived on. It was this thorn that was hardest to remove from his side… and yet, all it took was one Ranger to turn the tables on the famed knight of Renais. Once they had hit the border between the sandstorms and the stable ground that horses could freely trod upon, a mounted bowman had swept through, snatching the princess from before Seth before he even emerged from the veil of sand. Once he had discovered that she had been captured, it was a simple matter of threatening her with death that had pacified the paladin’s killing urges. A nicely positioned Fighter was all the enemy forces had needed to bludgeon the famous knight in the back of his scarlet head, rendering the man unconscious… his attention was too focused on the safety of his Princess.
It was a costly mistake, with Grado’s forces now holding Renais’s female twin under their control. As if to mock him, his unconscious form was thrown by Grado’s armies just outside of the area, where the sand had begun… if he wanted to find his princess, however long it took him to regain consciousness, he would have to fight his way once more through the endless seas of sand before finding what they planned to be the corpse of the princess, hanging from a lance. It all depended on what Valter wanted… and whether or not he wished the girl dead. It was ironic, in a way, that they were thus able to use Seth’s unconsciousness to hold Eirika’s actions under control. Her previously wild thrashes to get away from her captors subsided, and all she could do was to look back with longing; even tears were denied her as the salty drops were instantly seared from the corners of her eyes by the bitter desert winds.
Now, taking her inside Valter’s fort, her fate was in the general’s hands. Smiling, his gaunt face frightened her even more so than his lance had when he had brandished it before her. Her iron sword was of no use against the mighty weapon, and had been deflected with ease by the larger staff. She had struck at him with an overhead blow, making him block her attack halfheartedly before, with a sharp twist of his spear, her only weapon flew from her hands. Now, she was completely defenseless, leaving her to back away from the mad knight while searching desperately for a weapon. And now, she was left to back away from his slow but steady approach, letting a sharp gasp escape her lips as she felt her back hit the surprisingly cold, ungiving stone wall. His strides were longer than hers, and he approached her much more quickly than his slow pace had let on.
“There’s nowhere to run, my peach. Nowhere to hide, no one to save you… do you know that I am disobeying my orders by keeping you alive right now, my pure little blossom?” Sneering at her while watching her eyes widen in fear, he moved in, letting his spear drop to the ground as he rushed forward, grasping her wrists with his hands. His grip was almost bone crushing, and left her biting back the urge to screech in pain as he forcefully lifted them over her head. She wouldn’t give him the pleasure of knowing he hurt her, and couldn’t let him know how afraid she was of him. However, her body language all but told him the pain he was causing her, and he reveled in the feeling of utmost control as he grasped her both of her raised wrists in his left hand, leaving his right hand free to stroke down her jawline, starting at her cheek. Unwittingly, she flinched from the contact. She would rather have spit in disgust, but the shock at feeling his gloved hand running down her face was simply too much for her to think of defying him for a moment.
A moment was all he needed. Pulling her chin forward, it was all a matter of moving his own face forward before crushing her lips with his. She didn’t hide the shrill squeak of surprise that rose from her throat this time, and even let the tone of disgust clearly leak through in her outburst. Whatever curses she wished to say were muffled and rendered inaudible by his lips, and her attempts at speaking were only an invitation for him to plunder her mouth with his tongue. She wanted to gag on the bitter taste that his mouth carried, and could not even bite his invading tongue, for he kept a firm grip on her jaw that prevented her from doing so. She gasped at the feeling of his teeth as they bit down sharply on her lower lip, opening a small cut… from that miniscule injury, he mockingly licked away the tiny ruby drops that had gathered at the surface before licking his lips. Once he had released her mouth from his in favor of respiration, she screamed in disgust, trying in vain to throw her head to the side. She didn’t want to see the… thing… that had dared defiled her in such a way. What scared her was that she thought… no, knew… that this was not all that he could do to her.
“I was supposed to slay you… and feel the Renais princess’s blood running down my hands; the same way I felt the blood of your knight. But… to ruin such a beauty…” He murmured, letting his lips glide across hers again. She turned her head to the side, but only after the first two seconds of initial contact. It was as if her actions were delayed, or in slow motion… only then, after gathering her bearings a bit, did she speak, loathing the way he now let his hand move gently across the smooth skin of her cheek. He didn’t tell her that he positively endeared her struggles, since they were so futile, and refused to tell her how beautiful she looked, masked in fear while her hair so brightly contrasted the flush of red that covered her face from the heat and lack of oxygen. Valter didn’t even bother to move, even though he knew that his wavy hair was probably aggravating the skin that covered her delicate neck.
“You… monster…” She gasped, for she too had not had an opportunity to breathe when he had kissed her. Though she would have liked to have added a nice string of curses to her two words, her lungs would scarcely allow her to breathe, let alone speak. It was as if that one act had sapped all the energy from her body, for even her legs had not the energy to lash out to take advantage of what looked like the only moment of vulnerability that this barbarian had shown thus far. The moment of susceptibility came, but quickly passed as the small, lustful grin returned to his face.
“I wonder… what your brother would think of this; a general of the Grado army, degrading the body of his twin… leaving her completely unsuitable for marriage. The barbarian of Grado, removing the very part of the lotus that makes it holy… yes, you are my little cherry, finally ready to be picked... I have many plans for you, my flawless flower…” He smiled, purring these words into her ear as he nibbled on her earlobe before kissing her neck, making a shiver course through her body… whether it was a physical response to his closeness or to his words, she could not tell. All she knew was that her life… her body… and her future were all at risk. She could feel Valter’s free hand moving to run up and down her body as he pleased, and, with her hands held tightly above her head and her back against the wall, she could do nothing but squirm futilely in an attempt to escape his advances. All this seemed to do was encourage the defilation of her body, and she was forced again into another kiss, with the wyvern knight massaging his lips against hers as she felt his hand struggling to remove one of the clasps that held her armor in place. She could smell his sweat, feel his armor as it pressed uncomfortably against her thin body, and could feel her mind and flesh almost go numb… as if her own body was in denial of the current events.
She did not want to see his shameless attentions to her, and did not want to believe that it was truly her that was now at Valter’s mercy. Tears leaked from her eyes as she squeezed them shut, praying to the heavens for redemption.
Please, oh please… if there truly are gods above, let them save me from this fate! Save me from this… monster! He destroyed my home… do not let him destroy me!
Almost as if the gods heard her plea, the entire planet was engulfed in a sharp quake, leaving both her and her captor on the floor as they struggled to make sense of what had just happened… and what kept happening. For reasons that they could not understand, virtually everyone who inhabited Magvel saw a black dot in the sky continue to grow larger and larger as their wayward world began to drift towards the sphere in space known as Elibe. And, even though they couldn’t see what was happening in the sky from their vantage point, both Eirika and Valter knew that this… petty dispute of theirs… could wait until later.
~
Meanwhile, midday in the stone fortress that was known to the world as the home of Marquess Pherae, a small army had gathered within the walls of the castle. Strangely enough, the said army that had been led by Roy was almost completely silent… save for their leader. The atmosphere was heavy with tension and despair… so much so, some of the members had to leave the castle, for fear that they might buckle emotionally from the overpowering negative energies. In the Marquess’s room, there stood several people… the Marquess himself, who lay on his large bed, his son, who stood vigil by his bedside, Lilina, who had stayed a bit farther off from the pair, and a small group of others, standing just outside the door.
A small mamkute, the pink haired Fa, tried her hardest to figure out why the air felt so odd, but could not come up with an answer. When she tried to ask her friend Sue, however, she was quieted with a shake of her head. The little dragon knew from experience not to pry when she did this, but what could she do? Pouting from indecision, she decided to listen to Sue and keep quiet. She knew nothing of death, and only a little of sickness, so it was natural for this scenario not to make any sense to her. How could she understand what she had never seen before?
One in the room wished he never knew… never known pain, never known sorrow, and wished he had never seen death. But he had… and that amplified the pain that he felt, watching his father on his deathbed. He wished, deep inside, that he could be oblivious to the pain, to ignore it as if it never existed… that way, his heart would not be torn apart as it did now. He felt his spirit beginning to break, for his father was his lighthouse, showing him the way through his trials and tribulations throughout the years. Now, if he were to be without his beacon, he would be left in his own world of darkness. If only he could turn back time, if only he could have been at home, helping his father through the illness…
If only, if only, if only. The words rang cruelly through his mind, leaving him to shake off his thoughts, turning his attention to the one who really mattered.
“Father! Please, answer me.” A redheaded boy begged his ill father, shaking him gently as he still lay on his bed. Lord Eliwood scarcely had the strength to open his eyes anymore, let alone speak in coherent sentences to his caring son. The kindhearted Marquess did not want to do this to his son… it was almost like witnessing his own father, the late Lord Elbert, breathing his last and dying in his arms after his quintessence had been drained by Nergal. He had been crushed, unable to move on for some time until love had taken grief’s place in his heart. However… he did not want his son to go through the same pain, the same heartfelt burden, that he had experienced himself in the past.
“...R…Roy.” Marquess Pherae’s brow furrowed as he hissed from a pain that struck his lungs when he tried to speak, leaving him to speak only that one word to his son. He regretted not telling the boy why his mother had died so early on, and more than that, regretted not telling Roy his mother’s true race. He was just like Fa, a naive little Mamkute, sent off to live in the hostile world of men. And yet, he had people that accepted him… a sign that perhaps Arcadia’s vision was not too farfetched, after all. His thoughts were immediately halted when a barrage of savage coughs wracked his body, leaving his mind in a red haze of pain as he felt the blood speckle against the palm he had used to block the spread of his disease.
“Lord Eliwood!” Lilina shrieked, looking mortified by the sight of her friend’s father’s faltering condition. She had not seen her father when he died, and yet here Roy was, about to see the death of his father, when he had already witnessed the departure of hers. Her father died in combat, while his fought a losing war against disease… an unfit end, for a former warrior that fought for the safety of Elibe. The world was cruel, she knew… she would have preferred to hear of Lord Eliwood’s sickness, rather than having to see the sorrowful sight herself.
Disheartened, Lilina caught a slight movement from the corner of her eye as both Sin and Sue bowed their heads in mournful respect, with the girl leading out the young mamkute who had never before seen the prospect of death. She was too young to learn now… to be disheartened so…if she even understood it. Klein’s eyes were lowered grievously, and for once Clarine was absolutely silent. Their parents had fought alongside Lord Eliwood in the past… the Mage General and the Lady of Violets had indeed been close friends and valuable allies with him since that horrible Second Scouring. Now, it was as if they were seeing the death of their own parents… what with how much they knew the kindhearted lord over the years.
“Father, you can’t die! Don’t leave me… like mother did.” Having lost his composure by now, Roy now let the tears of his fury and sorrow drift uninhibited down his face, even as he buried his face in his father’s chest. He took his father’s weak form into his arms, allowing himself to at least embrace his father one last time. His mother had left them so suddenly… and here, his father was suffering the same symptoms his mother had, just before she died.
“…” With one last sigh escaping his lips as Roy clutched his hand, Lord Eliwood breathed his last. Laying his father back on the bed, honor did not stop him from crying out, weeping bitterly before his father’s corpse. Still holding his hand and pressing his forehead against the back of it as he cried, he clenched his eyes sharply shut in a futile attempt to block out the outside world that had been so cruel to his father’s life. Only a sharp gasp from Lilina and a strange darkness that covered the room in a veil knocked him from his daze.
It was midday, and yet something blocked out the sun… the moon was not the cause of it, as was evident by the moon, straying right beside the large shadow that had interfered with the sun’s warm rays. Whatever it was, it was truly gargantuan… and, Roy noticed after wiping his eyes dry…
It was quickly getting larger… or closer. Looking down at his father, he smiled for a moment before, moving his hands up to his head, he removed the circlet of Pherae that he always wore, placing it atop his father’s body.
If what I think is happening actually is… then I will be with you soon, father. Very soon.
~~
Driven by forces unknown, Magvel continued its plummet towards Elibe, barreling at blinding speeds towards the other planet while occupants of its own were experiencing violent earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and untold amounts of panic and despair. Elibe, however, remained stationary, as if awaiting its collision with Magvel. As the worlds began to brush with one another, Elibe’s oceans seemed to seethe and boil beneath the friction that the invading atmosphere caused, and the entire world seemed ready to combust beneath the heat and sheer force of the contact…
And yet, something odd occurred… a soothing curtain of blue light instantly covered Elibe’s countries, protecting them as Magvel continued barreling into the sea. The world was not much smaller than Elibe, but still managed to completely disintegrate the core of the planet. Though tsunamis, tornadoes, earthquakes, and eruptions rattled Elibe, the mysterious force rendered them almost invulnerable from the damage of nature. Displacing the very foundations of Elibe, Magvel came to almost a screeching halt, forging a new core for the world while facing its continents side by side with the continent of the other world.
The green light that had surrounded Magvel’s countries then dissipated… but the blue light that had covered Elibe did not. Gathering all together in one spot above Bern, a shining blue beacon stood there for but a moment before promptly exploding, showering the world in another surge of light. Forging its way into the ground, into castles, and into the sky, the strange energies had accomplished what no mortal thought possible…
~~
Deep within the unending plains of Sacae, a small child was running through the sea of grass, stopping only to read a small marker that broke apart the monotony of the plains… the marble headstone read, “Here lies the Lady Lyndis; the Kindhearted Soul of Caelin and Free Spirit of Sacae”. Staring at it for a moment, the child showed no regard, committing the taboo crime of stepping upon the headstone before turning to run away. To do so was a desecration of the grave, and her elders had taught the child that a spirit would take vengeance on such a foolish soul; however, she never listened. However, something stopped the child in her tracks… more precisely, a hand clasped around her ankle that had emerged from the earth.
The woman, for the first time since her death, actually felt something. Yes, she could feel something… a warmth, and a flash of light, awakening her senses as she felt something once again building up around her. Flesh returned to her, the same muscles and flawless skin she had taken for granted in the past returned in full gusto as she realized for the first time that she could not breathe, nor could she see. Realizing she was underground for reasons she could not understand, she began her trip upward, tearing at the soil in an attempt to reach the surface. Grabbing the first thing she felt… the child’s leg… Lyn used this to pull herself up, even as the flesh that covered her fingers returned. Frozen in terror, the girl could only stare as a beautiful woman who could be no older than eighteen, rising from the grave of a thirty year old woman. The clothes she had been buried in were still donned upon her body, which scared the child even more.
Not many people wore burial garb unless they were dead, after all. Letting out a shriek of absolute terror, the poor little girl tore away from Lyn’s grasp, almost making her fall back into the hole she had used to get out of the earth. As Lyn reached her hand out, about to tell the girl to stop and to please help her out, she paused. She had never worn such ornamental gloves in her life, and they had on them black material… the color of death. Looking down, she could not understand why she was clothed in black, nor could she remember where she had been, just before she had found herself in the earth. Furrowing her brow and remembering her daughter, she wondered vaguely if it had been another one of Sue’s pranks… though this went far into the ranges of tribal expulsion for the desecration of the grave rituals. Looking beside her, she was shocked to find her husband, doing the exact thing she had and pulling himself from the earth.
If it was Sue’s doing, it was going to take all the might of Father Sky and Mother Earth to prevent Lyndis from strangling her. Rath, turning to look at her, promptly fell back into his grave with a cry of utmost shock. Lyn, looking inquisitively at him, wondered why he suddenly looked so much younger… as if they had returned to the days of the Second Scouring. Perhaps the earth was better for her skin than most people made it out to be, she noted, looking down at her trimmer figure.
Rath, however, was not so laid back. He knew his wife was dead, and yet there she was, sitting before him in burial garb while still eighteen. She hadn’t so much as batted a lash in awkwardness towards her counterpart, nor did she hint about the spirits sending her back to deliver some sort of message. No, there was definitely something wrong with him. Hoisting himself up again, he looked upon her with wide eyes, reaching out hesitantly to touch her as if it was his first time again… he wanted to know if it was a hallucination, or if she really was there before him. And if she was… why?
Lyn giggled at his odd expression, but inwardly wondered why he looked so shocked. Their daughter was a trickster at times, her being six and all. Even though she could not tell why her husband looked so much younger than she remembered… not that she minded… she could not explain why he so inquisitively touched her cheek, nor could she figure out why he was so overjoyed that he had done so. She was quickly taken into his embrace, and she could not figure out why tears of joy were running down his cheeks. Worried now, she decided to ask…
“Rath? What’s wrong? Where’s Sue? It’s her seventh birthday tomorrow, isn’t it?” She asked, looking down at him as he visibly flinched, moving back from her. He couldn’t believe she was doing this to him… returning to a younger age, yet still remembering his daughter… was she such a woman, that she only remembered up until the day she died?
“Lyn… you… why are you here?” He asked, looking downward for a small while. He truly wondered whether or not she was a nymph in disguise or not, considering the woman’s insistence on hurting his every hope as time went on. If it truly was her… how would he tell her? Tell her of her death, her daughter’s older age…
“Rath? What are you talking about?” She asked. Rath looked up at her, meeting her eyes, and held her hands in preparation for what he was to tell her…
“… you don’t remember, do you…”
“What is it? What don’t I remember? Answer me, Rath!” By this time, she knew something was amiss…. A hunch proven correct as he held her close, whispering the dreaded words into her ear…
“Lyn… you died… four years ago.”
((End of chapter 1. What do you think? Read and Review! :P))
This post has been edited by Kuraikitsune: 14 April 2006 - 10:54 AM