Couldn’t resist throwing on a last-minute epilogue based on the game epilogue. Might edit it tomorrow.
Next project, besides finishing the Ceniro painting I started last week (and a bunch of other paintings that it’s HIGH TIME to start) – A Thousand Tiny Battles, or Why Lyn Fell For Such a Dork. : D
Epilogue: Rising Star
“Eliwood! Thanks for coming!” Hector boomed across the inner garden of Castle Ostia.
“It’s truly been a while, hasn’t it?” Eliwood said, smiling at his old friend. “More than ten years since we managed to meet in person. Not since Lyn and Ceniro’s wedding, I think?”
“Well, you know how it is,” Hector said, flexing his broad shoulders. “Things start piling up, and before you know it, we’ve both grown older, haven’t we?”
“Indeed. But I remember our adventures together as if they were yesterday.”
“Same here. Though I think I’m actually glad not to be fighting battles like that anymore.”
Eliwood laughed. “You? You really are getting old, aren’t you?”
“Hey, you have as much crow’s feet as I do!” Hector’s brow wrinkled in concern. “How’s Ninian?”
Eliwood made a slight, almost imperceptible grimace. “Still ill. She spends most of her time in the garden with Isadora these days, getting as much fresh air as she can. It’s been six months… I wish I knew what else to do for her…”
“I’m sorry,” Hector said. “I hope it passes soon.”
“And Freya?”
“Doing quite well; still trying to return to active duty, even though her daughter and I keep telling her we need her more than the knights do. Oh! Speaking of which, is that your son over there?”
“Yes, it is! I’ve wanted to introduce you in person for ages, but… you know how it is.” Eliwood quirked and eyebrow and Hector smirked. “Roy! Come here, please!”
“Yes, Father?” The red-headed five-year old trotted up, fixing his wide blue eyes on the two men.
“Say hello to Lord Hector, Roy!”
“Ye-yes, sir! A pleasure to meet you, Lord Hector. My name is Roy.” He bowed prettily.
Hector’s face creased in a wide, genuine smile. “Roy, is it? Nice to meet you, lad. Well, I guess that means I should introduce my daughter, then! Lilina?” He turned and looked behind him, and there, peeking out from behind one of the pillars of the garden was a lock of blue hair and a large blue eye. “What? Are you being shy again? You don’t have to be nervous. This is your father’s old friend and his son.”
Lilina scampered from behind the pillar to behind her father’s leg, still peering around him nervously at Eliwood and Roy.
Eliwood knelt down and made his voice very gentle. “Hello, Lilina. This is Roy. He’s the same age as you.”
Lilina took a cautious step forward. “N-nice to meet you.”
Roy took a step forward himself, completely fearless to meet someone his own age. “Lilina? Let’s be friends. We can-”
Hector looked around. “Yes? Who’s there?”
“Oswin said we’d find you here,” said a familiar voice, and all four people in the garden brightened up.
“Uncle Ken!” Roy chirped.
“Aunt Lyn!” Lilina cried.
Eliwood looked at Hector. “So they’ve been adopted by your family, too?”
“Why not?” Hector said. “Speak of the devil. Ceniro, Lyn, well met!”
“And to you, Hector,” Ceniro said. “Eliwood! I was not expecting to see you here.”
“Nor I, you,” Eliwood said, smiling. “What a happy coincidence. Lyndis, you look as lovely as ever.”
“Thank you,” Lyn said smiling, but her smile turned to a frown as she looked at Hector. “Hector,” she said, “what is that thing on your face?”
Hector tugged self-consciously at his blue beard. “What’s wrong with my beard?”
Eliwood winced. “Well, you really ought to have a mustache to go with it. It doesn’t look complete. What does Freya think of it?”
“She thinks it’s fine…”
“You look like a weirdo,” Lyn said bluntly. “Ah! Hello, Lilina! Hello, Roy! So you’ve finally met. How have you two been?”
“I’ve been good!” Roy said, smiling brightly. “Is Mark with you? He can play with us!”
“Yes, he’s right here,” Ceniro said, looking around. “Or, he was… Mark!”
A slightly larger boy with green hair, perhaps seven years old, jumped out of hiding, colliding with Ceniro’s leg. “Mwahaha! I got you, Dad!”
Ceniro snorted. “Yes, you got me. Look, Roy and Lilina are here.”
“Hi, Roy, hi, Lilina!”
“Let’s play over there!” Roy said, pointing to a different corner of the garden.
“All right!” Mark said, running ahead. Roy took Lilina’s hand and ran after him.
“Don’t be too rough!” Ceniro called after his son.
“They’re all cute children,” Eliwood said, and nudged Hector in the ribs. “Good thing yours took after her mother.”
Hector recoiled, acting affronted. “What? She looks just like me, doesn’t she?”
Eliwood smirked. “You’re a sarcastic one, Marquess Ostia!”
“Come on, now you’re the one putting on airs, Marquess Pherae!”
They all laughed. “I take it back,” Eliwood said. “The only thing older about you is your appearance! Don’t tell me you still behave like that after all this time!”
Hector rolled his eyes. “Only when I have good friends around. Or when I can annoy my wife.”
“Which means… constantly, right?” Lyn teased.
Ceniro sighed contentedly. “Ah, to meet up again and continue the banter as if it never stopped. I miss when we all went about together. In a way.”
“In a way?” Hector asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Well… it was pretty stressful, too, as you recall.”
“Yeah… people disappearing, people dying, fire dragons, madmen, the end of the world…” Hector grimaced. “I see your point. Still, we had the best companions anyone could ask for. I miss them still. Did I ever thank you for taking Armads off my hands?”
“Multiple times,” Lyn said, smiling. “Don’t worry about it.”
“So how’s work?” Eliwood asked.
“Not bad,” Ceniro said. “It’s been pretty quiet recently. We’re probably going to relocate to Ilia soon and see what good we can do there.”
“That Bernese lout still behaving himself?”
“Yes, Milton’s fine. Not going to pretend we like each other, but we’ve figured out how to get our skills to work together without yelling at each other, much, and that’s the important thing. But did we tell you, we found Rovenna?”
“Who’s Rovenna?” Hector asked.
“His cousin. Wyvern rider. Excellent fighter. She disappeared after I defeated him, and it turned out she’d been wandering in survival mode for some years before we located her and asked her to join. No sign of Vellith, Rigel’s brother – I think he went back to Khafti. Someone told us that he disappeared in a sandstorm in Nabata, but Rigel doesn’t believe it.”
“Still searching for Legendary Weapons, hm?” Eliwood said.
“Could be.”
“Renee and Rigel still doing all right?” Hector asked. “I remember they got married here a while back.”
“Yes, they’re doing fine, and talking about adopting.”
“Best of luck to them.”
“I’ll let them know. Hmm, we’ve had a monk join our group, an Etrurian named Trinn, which is fantastic – we really needed someone with his skills. Guy’s joined us, you remember him, right? And Yens’ oldest son, Julian, has joined us. It’s so strange to think our friends already have grown-up children… He’s already twenty-two.”
“Just wait a few years more,” Eliwood said, and chuckled. “Before my mother passed on, she warned me to keep an eye on Roy when he’s young. She said I grew up in the blink of an eye to her, and the same is going to happen to me and my son…”
For a few moments, the adults were silent, contemplative, while the sounds of fountains and leaves and the distant laughter of children filled the air.
“Oh!” Hector cried, holding up a hand. “By the way, you’ll never guess who’s been spotted canoodling with whom…”
“Oooh, gossiping, now, are we?” Lyn cried, leaning forward with a wide smile. “Who is it?”
“The head of the Ostian Espionage Division and the Chief Cleric.” Hector smirked.
“No way,” Ceniro exclaimed.
“What!?” Lyn cried. “I’m so happy for them!”
Eliwood just laughed.
“It’s about time, too,” Hector said. “I never thought they had any real interest in each other while we were all going about together, but… apparently they’ve grown some interest now.”
“Well, Matthew and Serra have quite a bit in common,” Eliwood said. “For instance, putting up with Marquess Ostia.”
Hector facepalmed. “Thanks, Eliwood. Just… thanks.”
“All teasing aside, that’s good to hear,” Lyn said. “I thought he’d never open up to anyone again.”
“She’s mellowed out a lot,” Hector said. “And matured, too. I wasn’t expecting them to get together, but… it’s not exactly a surprise now that it’s happened.”
“Indeed,” Eliwood said. “Well, if we’re moving on to shocking news, I heard the king of Bern died quite suddenly.”
“Ah, I heard about that, too,” Hector said. “According to my sources, he was killed in an assassination attempt on Prince Zephiel.”
“Zephiel? I hope he’s all right,” Ceniro said anxiously.
“It’s a strange tale,” Hector said, frowning. “At first, I’d heard that the prince was killed. Then new information came three days later saying that it was the king who had died.”
“So he’s all right, right?”
Hector shook his head. “I don’t know. We’ll have to wait for official word. They can’t hide a change in leadership for long.”
Eliwood looked around, shivered, although the day was warm. “Do you remember Archsage Athos’s prediction? Do you think something is happening in Bern?”
“I don’t know,” Hector said. “It seems early to assume so, and yet… I don’t feel comfortable about it. I should be happy that Desmond is gone, and yet…”
Ceniro and Lyn looked back and forth to either of them. “Well, if you ever need us, send word,” Ceniro said.
Hector made a face. “But you’re going to Ilia! How am I supposed to send word to you quickly there?”
“Don’t be dramatic, Hector,” Lyn said. “It’s only Ilia. We’ll keep our ears open.”
“Do you mind if I run this information by my political analysts?” Ceniro said. “By which I mean Renee and Milton.”
“Sure, but it can’t go any farther than that for now,” Hector said.
“Got it.”
Lilina came running back to them, red-cheeked from running. Her eyes were sparkling with laughter. “Father! Can I show Mark and Roy my new pony?”
“Yes, go ahead,” Hector said, smiling at his daughter.
“Okay!” she cried, and went running off again to the boys, who were hitting each other with sticks. Ceniro and Lyn sighed.
“Mark’s going to hurt Roy if he keeps that up…”
“His form is terrible!” Lyn said. “I’ll have to make him do all those drills again tomorrow.”
“Roy’s a bit younger, but I think he’ll be able to hold his own,” Eliwood said, watching the children again critically himself. “He studies hard, then?”
“He hangs off Lyn’s every word,” Ceniro said, smiling.
“Makes two of you,” Hector said, and Ceniro blushed. “Anyway, for the sake of our children’s futures, I’ll stop anything wicked from Bern. I’ll even sacrifice my life to make it so.” And a grim look crossed his face.
“Lord Athos did say Lycia would bring hope,” Eliwood said. “But Hector, if something does happen, I suspect it’s not up to us anymore. We’ll do what we can, but soon it will be time for our children to face the challenges of this world. Remember what we said long ago?”
“What, that my son was totally going to beat up your son to get revenge for you winning all our sparring matches?”
Eliwood looked mildly affronted. “You won almost half of them. And Lilina doesn’t look particularly interested in hitting things with sticks. No, that we have to prepare them to fight. Just in case we’re too old to protect them completely.”
“Mm,” Hector said. “Just in case.”
“Someday, no one will have to fight,” Ceniro said.
Hector snorted. “You keep believing that, my friend.”
Ceniro smiled. “I will. But in the meantime… Mark is determined to become the next Saint of Swords.”
“Good luck to him,” Hector muttered. “Who’s currently holding the title? Isn’t it Guy?”
“Yes, which only encourages him. It’s good for him, good to have a goal.”
“You think he’ll inherit the group?”
“I don’t know. Seems a bit early to be thinking about that. Anyway, Hector, call us before you do any of this life-sacrificing business. I’d not like to leave my friends in the lurch.”
“Sure,” Hector drawled. “I’ll try to continuously predict the future two months ahead of time, give my messengers time to track you down at the ends of the earth.”
“So dramatic,” sighed Lyn. “All right, so what else have you been up to?”