Fire Emblem Fan Fiction ❯ Fire Emblem Tellius Saga: Book 3 ❯ CHAPTER 84: AWAKENING ( Chapter 18 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

“Hey! Anyone! Can you hear me? Somebody, please! Answer me! Is anyone here?” Ike’s voice echoed off the statues, and Soren realized he must be running among them, looking for survivors. He ran even faster, intent on meeting Ike halfway.

His eyes stung with tears of relief, but he wouldn’t be satisfied until he saw Ike’s face. He tried to call out in reply, but his throat felt constricted, choking the reply he wanted to give.

“I-Ike!” he finally managed to call.

“Soren?” The voice grew louder, and finally he saw Ike swerving among the statues.

When they finally met, Soren threw his arms around his waist, and Ike bent to hug his shoulders. He was clearly relieved too, and Soren didn’t care if he seemed sensitive or vulnerable. He was just glad Ike was still warm and breathing, and an embrace confirmed what he was seeing with his own eyes.

When they separated, Ike eyed him from head to toe. “You look awful,” he finally said, “What happened?”

Soren just shook his head and tried to control his voice and tear ducts so he could speak clearly. “At least I’m not a statue,” was all he could say.

“What about everyone else?” Ike took a step away and peered into the falling now. The flakes were bigger now, and some were starting to collect on the statues’ heads, backs, shoulders, and snouts. 

“Alive,” Soren answered, hoping it wasn’t a lie. “The ones I could see, anyway…”

Ike started walking, and Soren walked with him even though his legs felt like lead. Before long, they encountered a group of survivors, and the mercenaries broke into a run when they saw Ike.

In addition to the Greil Mercenaries, it appeared Sigrun and Tanith were the only survivors from the Holy Guard and Lucia, Kieran, Astrid, Makalov, Marcia, Danved, and Calill the only survivors of the Crimean Royal Knights.

Tauroneo and Zihark were here too, walking beside their enemies as if friends again. Brom had his arm around the orange-armored knight who must have been his daughter, Meg. Now that her helmet was off, Soren could see the family resemblance.

He also spotted Pelleas far in the back, walking arm-in-arm with a woman shrouded in a black veil. Ena and Kurthnaga were walking beside them, and in front of the dragons walked a bare-chested laguz with a wolf’s tail, who must have been Volug in his human form. He was accompanied by the Daein soldiers Soren had determined to be members of Micaiah’s entourage: a blond-haired archer, a brown-haired swordsman, a bearded axman, a woman leading her horse by the reins, and the black-haired girl Ilyana had once called Laura. Apparently they’d all survived the battle after all.

While the mercenaries hugged and shoved their commander in relief, the Daeins held back timidly. A small unit of laguz joined them from the north. Skrimir was in the lead, with Ranulf at his side. Behind them were Kyza, Lyre, Lethe, and Mordecai.

“What happened?” asked Skrimir, obviously shaken. “What was that light? What happened to my soldiers?” Everyone was asking the same questions.

“The medallion…” Ike tried to explain, “Micaiah did something. I think- I think she sang the galdr of release.” Before he could answer the barrage of questions that inevitably followed such a statement, Sanaki, Elincia, Mist, and the rest of the people who’d been in the ruins finally appeared behind him.

To Soren’s surprise, King Naesala of Kilvas was among them, although he’d certainly not been there before today’s battle. Micaiah, Sothe, Nailah, and Rafiel had also joined the group, which solved the mystery of where they’d gone after leaving the battlefield.

Tibarn was here too, helping hold Reyson on his feet, while Janaff and Ulki flew overhead. But a moment later, they landed on either side of their king. Leanne was leaning on Naesala’s arm, and they walked apart from the rest of the bird laguz. Another, older raven hobbled near Naesala with a cane in hand.

“As far as I can see and Ulki can hear,” Janaff reported, “it seems we’re the only ones left.” His voice was slightly stilted, as if he didn’t quite know what he was saying.

Soren glanced around again and counted only sixty or so survivors, including the meek-looking merchants who’d followed Sanaki and the others out of the ruins. Their eyes were wide as they looked around at the frozen battlefield. Soren didn’t understand why only the people here had been spared, but apparently Tibarn had an explanation:

“Strange,” he said, “I guess only the strongest of us didn’t wind up as statues.” But Soren wasn’t sure that explanation fit. After all, Reyson was leaning against his side, barely able to stand on his own two feet. Could he really be considered one of the strongest?

“Seems like anyone who was in the building with us was safe too,” Ike said, glancing meaningfully at the frightened merchants. “But everyone else was petrified…”

Suddenly Micaiah pushed her way to the middle of the group and slowly rotated while running her eyes over everyone. Despite the circumstances, she was actually smiling. “Wow!” she said, “There are quite a few more of you flesh creatures left than I imagined. That’s good. Maybe that means we’ll stand a chance against her.”

Sothe was right behind her, trying to grab her hand, cup her face, feel her forehead, and generally get her to stop moving. But she merely swatted his hands away and kept walking around, assessing the survivors. “Micaiah? Are you feeling alright?” he asked worriedly.

Micaiah finally looked at him, and her mouth turned into a pout. “I’m not Micaiah!” she said. “How many times do I have to tell you that?”

Ike stepped forward, raising his palms as if to appease the mentally deranged woman. “If you’re not Micaiah, then who are you?”

“I’m Yune,” she replied brightly, holding out a hand (which Ike didn’t take). “Pleased to meet you!”

“Yune?” Sothe repeated in abject confusion. “What did you do to Micaiah!”

“Micaiah is here with me now,” she replied, smiling gently and placing both of her hands on Sothe’s shoulders. “She knows that you’ll never save the petrified ones without me, so she let me use her body to talk to you.”

Soren wasn’t sure whether Micaiah had lost her mind, was playing some sort of trick, or was truly not herself. But he did notice that her eyes looked strange. The irises were red, which was not unusual (Soren himself had red eyes), but they also seemed to be glowing slightly, which couldn’t be normal.

“Alright,” Tibarn said, gingerly pushing Reyson onto Ulki and stepping forward. “Let me ask you this, Yune. If you don’t have a body of your own, what the hell are you?”

Micaiah closed her eyes for a moment, but when she opened them, she turned to face Tibarn. “…I’ve been asleep inside the medallion for a long, long time. Longer than any of you can imagine. But the galdr woke me up.”

Her admission sent a shiver ricocheting through Soren’s body, and he took an involuntary step backward. Ike, however, stepped forward. “Lehran’s Medallion?” he demanded. “You were the dark god sealed inside?”

“Hmmm.” Micaiah tapped a finger against her chin and glanced upward as if thinking hard. “’Dark god’, ‘dark god’… Nope, I’m pretty sure I’m not one of those!” she decided brightly. “I am neither holy nor base, neither angel nor devil. I am…” She seemed to think hard again. “Freedom. Chaos. Transformation. Future. Mystery. I am Yune.” She raised and dropped her shoulders as if that explanation should be adequate, but everyone was still staring her, baffled.

“I don’t care what you’re called,” Ike shot back, his anger clearly outweighing his confusion. “Was it you who turned everyone to stone?”

“No, that wasn’t me.” Micaiah (or rather, Yune) shook her head. “I haven’t done much of anything. I just woke up, so I don’t have that kind of power yet. That was Ashera’s doing. It was her judgement upon this world.”

“Nonsense!” Sanaki cried. She stomped forward and raised a reprimanding finger at the taller woman (or perhaps, goddess). “Holy Ashera would never harm us! She protects us at all times and guides us toward the right path.”

Yune reached out and lowered Sanaki’s finger, causing the young empress’s fists to bunch at her sides instead. “You’ve got it all wrong, little meatling,” Yune explained softly. “Ashera is neither kind nor loving to the beings of this world. Neither is she holy nor base, angel nor devil. She is…” Yune cocked her head to the side. “Restriction. Order. Stability. Past. Certainty. Restraint. She is Ashera.”

“I don’t understand…” Ike growled, rubbing his temples. Soren wished he wouldn’t stand so close to whatever was in Micaiah’s body. Dark god or goddess of freedom, she was still the force of chaos that had imbued the medallion and caused Greil to lose his mind. Soren might’ve been afraid touching her would have the same effect as touching the medallion if Sothe hadn’t already done it. He looked fine, but Soren still wasn’t comfortable with Ike getting too close; there was no telling what Yune could do. “Why would the goddess Ashera try to destroy us?” Ike continued, “If anyone’s going to kill us all, shouldn’t it be you, the dark god who was sealed inside the medallion?”

Yune threw her hands to her hips and glared at him. “You called me a dark god again! How would you like it if I called you a dark bag of organs?” She twisted away from him in a huff. “I don’t want to talk to you anymore!”

Ike was nearly dumbstruck. “…What?”

“Instead… I’ll talk to…” Yune milled around until she spotted Mist and her face lit up. “You!” She skipped over and grabbed her arm. “You’re the one I’ll talk to!”

Mist blushed. “Me?”

Yune gave one big, certain nod. “Ashera has always hated me, but I like her. You’ve got some of her in you. So, I’ll talk to you.” She moved her hands so she was cupping Mist’s in her own and swinging them back and forth like a couple little girls.

Mist let her do what she wanted. “Oh, okay… So…you’re Yune?”

“That’s right. I’m Yune,” she replied in Micaiah’s voice. “Ashera is order. I am chaos. We’re sisters, but opposite in all things. We’re linked to one another, though.” She added, a little sadly. “When I sleep, Ashera sleeps. When I wake, Ashera wakes.”

“Oh, then you’re…a-a goddess?” Stepping back as far as their clasped hands would allow, Mist tried to kneel. “Please forgive my insolence! I’ve been talking down to you like you’re a little kid.”

Yune laughed, pulling her up and swinging her around. “No, no, it’s fine!” she giggled, and it really did seem like the spirit of a little girl had overtaken Micaiah’s body. “Talk to me however you like. You don’t have to stand on ceremony with me.”

“Well…alright, if you insist…” Mist offered a timid smile. “So, you were sealed inside the medallion, but now you’re inside Micaiah?”

“That’s right,” Yune agreed.

“…And the goddess Ashera was the one who turned all the beorc and laguz into stone.” Looking past Yune, Mist ran her eyes over the stone people interspersed with the living. “Oh!” she exclaimed, as if suddenly having an idea. “Are you here to tell us how to save them? Wait, I get it! You were the one who spoke to me! You said, ‘Wake me with the galdr of release, not with the spirit of war.’”

“Yes, I did!” Yune affirmed proudly. “I’m so glad you understood. You’re so very clever! Of course, I was hoping, by sending you that message, I would stop all of this from happening.” Finally releasing her hands, she gestured at the nearest stone figure.

“What do you mean?” Mist asked.

“We’re running out of time, so I’ll explain quickly.”  Yune glanced at the ground and brought her hands together as if in thought. When she was ready, she lifted her head and launched into her explanation: “Long, long ago, your ancestors made a promise to Ashera. They promised they would start no wars among all the nations for at least one thousand years. If this promise was broken, then Ashera would destroy the world and try again with a new one.” She turned her head as she spoke, addressing all of the survivors, and perhaps especially the kings and queens closest to her. “Despite the promise, you bone-cages kept fighting each other. Eventually war and conflict spread throughout the world. When Ashera woke up, she cast down her judgement upon those who failed to keep that promise.”

Silence followed her words, and the laguz and beorc rulers looked thoroughly chastised. Ike was the first one to break the silence. “I still don’t understand,” he said, “Why would it make a difference whether you were woken up by the galdr or by the spirit of chaos? How were you planning to stop Ashera from passing down her judgement?”

Although his question was asked in earnest, Yune just glared at him and then turned away. “I’m not talking to you!” she reminded pertly.

“Oh, by all that’s-” Ike threw his hands into the air. “Would you stop acting like a child?”

Mist shot Ike a sharp, warning look, and then stepped forward. “Please forgive my brother, Yune,” she said gently, reaching out to touch Micaiah’s back. “We want to save the people who were turned to stone. We need you to tell us how. It did matter that we woke you with the galdr of release, right?”

Yune dropped her arms and turned back to Mist, apparently placated. “First of all, you should understand that because of our link, waking me is the same as waking Ashera,” she began. “Now, if Ashera had been awakened by the spirit of chaos, none of us would be standing here right now. By the terms of the promise, she was just supposed to destroy the world. No hesitation, no discussion. But if she was awakened by the galdr of release, she was supposed to consult with me first. She wasn’t supposed to pass down her judgment until she heard from me.” Yune grew suddenly upset again and ground her heel into the dirt. “But Ashera went ahead and turned everyone into stone without asking me! That’s so unfair! I’ll show her, though. I’ll turn them all back somehow!” Once again, silence followed her words. Everyone was waiting to hear what she would say next. “The problem is,” she finally admitted, dropping her shoulders, “I can’t do this by myself. I need you. Will you help me?”

“Of course we’ll help!” Mist promised immediately. “It’s strange, but I trust you, Yune.” She then turned to Ike. “And we all want to save the people who got turned to stone, right?”

“Yes,” Ike gave in, letting his anger finally fade. “We’ll do whatever it takes.”

“That’s right!” Skrimir stepped forward. “We will allow nothing to stand in our way! We will fight!”

Soren wondered if Skrimir still didn’t understand that fighting was what had landed them in this predicament to begin with, but he didn’t point this out. He was still overwhelmed by this entire conversation, and his tired mind was struggling to keep up.

“It’s all so confusing…” Elincia said with a shake of her head. “But we must do everything in our power to save the people.”

Sanaki was the next to agree, although she was clearly reluctant to do so. “…To be honest, I’ve spent my life teaching that the Goddess Ashera watches over and protects us. This is all a little hard to accept.”

“You don’t have to believe me,” Yune returned, rolling her eyes and adding airily: “You could just let her destroy the world…”

“No, I will do whatever it takes to save the people who were turned to stone,” Sanaki rushed to say. “I will join the others in helping you.”

Sothe placed himself in front of Yune again, where he stared deep into her eyes as if searching for something (or someone). “So what you’re saying is that we all have to play nice and work together? Just forget about all that’s happened?”

Yune frowned at him, but it was Ike who answered. He clapped a hand on Sothe’s shoulder from behind. “Sothe, open your eyes and look around,” he commanded, “There aren’t that many people left to fix this mess. If you don’t help, we can’t do it.” He dropped his hand and added in a lighter tone: “Besides, I would think saving the world is something we could all actually agree on.”

Sothe hung his head. “You’re right, Commander. All of this is the result of our war… I guess there’s not much reason for flag-waving on either side. First thing we have to do is unpetrify everyone. And well… I, uh…” He looked suddenly embarrassed. “I’m actually kind of relieved. At least I don’t have to worry about fighting you anymore.”

Ike offered Sothe a comforting grin. “I wasn’t looking forward to that matchup, either”

“It’s settled, then!” Yune clapped her hands together. “How should we begin? …I know! Let’s divide the army into three teams! Since I’m pretty sure that Ashera’s going to notice what we’re up to…”

“Dividing us up is smart,” Ike agreed. “It reduces the risk of everyone getting killed at once.” Soren agreed too, although he didn’t yet know where they were going, what they were doing, or who or what was going to try to kill them.

“We’ll have to hurry,” Yune continued, “I can feel Ashera’s power building.”

“It’s all over if we get turned to stone too,” Ike noted. “Alright everyone, it’s up to us!” He made the announcement while raising his fist and moving his gaze over the survivors. In response, they cheered as if they were all his mercenaries.

This seemed to impress Yune, who was no longer looking at Ike like he was the town bully. “What’s your name?” she asked reluctantly.

“I’m Ike.”

“Alright, Ike. You won’t call me a dark god ever again, will you?” She reached out a tentative hand.

“Not if you don’t like it,” Ike promised, taking her hand and shaking it. “Can I call you Yune?” Soren was relieved that nothing happened when their hands touched; Ike still seemed to be in his right mind.

“I would like that.” Yune beamed, her previous distaste for him vanishing. “I guess I forgive you, then. Oh, I know! As a sign of my forgiveness, I’ll make sure that you can get to your destination safely.” She suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him down to one knee. Ike let her guide him, but Soren stepped forward, wondering if he should put a stop to whatever Yune was about to do. “I can’t do it for everyone because it’s a bit exhausting for me, but…” She adjusted his shoulders until she seemed satisfied, then she took his right hand in her left and held out her own right hand touch his forehead. “Hold still and close your eyes.”

Ike obeyed. “Uh, I’m ready.”

Soren took another step forward and clamped a hand over his mouth to stop himself from crying out. He didn’t know what this crazy goddess was going to do to Ike, but this was the same crazy goddess who’d used Greil’s body to slaughter an entire town. Had Ike forgotten that fact? How could he accept any gift from such a person? But Soren didn’t have the strength to stop her even if he tried, and if Ike was consenting to it, there was nothing he could do.

Ghostly blue flames started swirling around Micaiah’s body while Yune closed her eyes. They stretched up out of her and then fell on Ike, seeping into his skin, where they disappeared. Yune opened her eyes and stepped back, looking tired but satisfied. “How do you feel?”

Ike opened his eyes, and for just a fraction of a second, they were the wrong color blue. But then they returned to their usual state, and Soren wasn’t sure if it’d been his imagination. “…Stronger,” Ike answered, opening and closing his fist. “Like I can take on anyone.”

Soren didn’t think Ike looked any different, but when he stood up, the movement of his joints looked looser and he seemed more refreshed. The shadows of tiredness under his eyes were gone, and his cuts or bruises from the battle had suddenly healed.

“Wow, you’re very confident for a being that can die!” Yune laughed.

Mist and some others laughed awkwardly as if this were a joke, but the uncomfortable chuckling petered out just as quickly as it started.

“Let’s see…” Yune said next, glancing around. She walked over to a fallen lance and picked it up. “This’ll do,” she decided and then shooed everyone out of the way so she could draw three large circles in the dirt. “You will go with this team, Ike,” she declared, drawing a single tally mark in the central circle.

“I’m going with you,” Sothe suddenly spoke up. “I’m not leaving your—Micaiah’s—side.”

Yune closed her eyes a moment. “…Fine,” she finally said, when she opened them. “Micaiah says that’s what she wants too.” She drew two tally marks in the circle on her left.

“Let me talk to her!” Sothe begged.

“Not right now,” Yune returned, gesturing for him to back off. “You’ll have plenty of time to talk on the road, alright?” Then she pointed at Tibarn and said, “You’re with this team over here.” She drew a tally in the final circle without waiting for a reply.

“Damn it,” Sothe muttered and stalked a short distance away, where he crossed his arms and stared at Yune in frustration.

Meanwhile, the goddess continued arbitrarily adding people to the circles. But then she seemed to confuse herself, not remembering which person corresponded with which marks. “Wait, have I placed you yet?” she asked, pointing at Rolf. “All of your skin-sacks look the same to me…”

“Shouldn’t we balance everyone’s strengths so each team is well-rounded?” Ike offered.

Yune bobbed her head. “Balance sounds good,” she agreed. She turned to Lucia suddenly. “What are your characteristics?”

Lucia blushed and offered: “I wield a sword?”

“She’s a good leader,” Ike offered instead.

“She is also excellent at gathering intelligence and organizing missions,” Elincia added proudly.

Yune cocked her head as if to say this meant nothing to her.

“Hey, what about-” Ike suddenly jerked his head side to side as if looking for someone, and he grinned when his eyes met Soren’s. “Uh, Soren, do you want to take over and help Yune make the groups?”

Personally, he’d been hoping this task would end soon so he could finally go rest and possibly get healed a bit more. The remnants of Pelleas’s defensive magic were still searing aches all over his body. But if Ike needed him for this, he would do it. “Very well,” he agreed, limping forward. After standing for the duration of Yune’s introduction, his legs protested even the slightest movement.

Yune flopped her head in the opposite direction when he approached. “What are you?” she asked blatantly, although not unkindly.

Soren ignored her question. “I’m a tactician, and right now you have all of our ranged units in a single team. That’s a stupid idea.”

Yune frowned. “You’re mean.”

Soren was too tired to argue. He was even too tired to think about the fact that he was helping a dark god. He just wanted to finish this task so he could sleep. He started from scratch, assigning each team a name based on its leader: Micaiah would lead the Silver Army, Ike the Greil Army, and Tibarn the Hawk Army. To each team, he assigned a member of the merchant caravan to help drive the wagons and manage supplies. He also assigned each team one of the herons so they could all benefit from their strengthening galdr.

In the end, Soren assigned himself to Ike’s team (naturally), along with the rest of the original Greil Mercenaries since they were already a well-rounded group that knew how to work together. As additional members, he assigned Ena, Kurthnaga, Nailah, Rafiel, Volug, Jill, Haar, and Heather. Counting Aimee (whom Soren had taken for their merchant escort) that only brought their group to twenty members. The other two supposed ‘armies’ were about the same size, but Soren didn’t have much to work with so these would have to suffice.

While they worked together, Yune finally revealed what she actually had in mind for the three teams. “You’ll take three different routes to the Tower of Guidance,” she said, as if that should have been obvious. “That’s where Ashera is!”

“And, uh, what are we supposed to do when we get there?” Ike asked as if not following.

“Fight her of course!” Yune replied brightly.

Soren could hardly believe it was that simple. Then again, fighting a goddess was probably not going to be ‘simple’ at all. “I’ll start planning routes,” he said, staggering when blinking to long caused his balance to sway.

“You’ve done enough.” Ike frowned. “And you look dead on your feet. I’ll plan the routes.” Raising a hand, he lifted one finger. “Our team’ll go around the Grann Desert to the west.” He lifted another finger. “Micaiah, Skrimir, and Sanaki can go straight through the Grann.” He lifted a third and final finger. “Tibarn and Elincia can go around to the east. Sound good?”

Soren just shrugged, because it was a sufficient starting place.

“That’s it then!” Ike decided. “In that case, we resupply tonight and start out tomorrow!”

“Yay!” Yune agreed excitedly.

“Good plan…” Soren replied, and now that he didn’t have another objective to face or problem to solve, his mind suddenly dipped away from him. His head throbbed, his bones ached, and he no longer had the energy to remain standing. His vision blinked out like a doused candle, and he found himself falling. But he never felt himself hit the ground—losing consciousness before that happened.