FE on the Forums: Scarlet Crown [IC]

[ElfCollaborator]


"So the legends go, the von Wilhelm family was....apparently, descended from dragons; one of our real old ancestors supposedly took a dragon for a wife. Dragon blood apparently runs through my family's veins, and so we took a dragon as our crest. It's all hearsay and rumour, of course; I, for one, don't believe a whit of those rumours."

[rokubiraijuu]

As the door to the cell slides open, the girl shifts away from them, watching with fearful, furious eyes darting between both, taking in what Rhian says with uncertainty. It seems to take her a moment to understand what she means. "The General is...?" The tension in her posture doesn't ease, but she seems to be less hostile for the moment. "If you are not with him, then who are you— wait, be careful!" As Rhian stoops down to unlock her manacles, she draws away in a sharp motion. "Don't touch me; you'll die. That toad cut most of my primaries, but it's still not safe." On a closer look, there are clearly long patches on her limbs where the arrangement of feathers is choppy and dotted with blood, suggesting that longer ones may have been there before. She looks at the vulnerary as it's offered to it and warily takes it, but doesn't seem to know how to use it, examining the pouch with curiosity before looking back to them.

 

"What is... going on? The General— who...?"

[Powder Miner]

The dungeon... it was the worst thing she had seen in her life. She had been involved in terribly, gory battles, and had watched an execution (including of a girl who couldn't possibly have done anything wrong) and the latter especially had haunted her... but the malice and fear that pervaded every stinking inch of this terrible place, that suffused the air so thickly it could almost be tasted, the combination of mad cruelty and sociopathic neglect that could see the corpses of torture victims rotting into bones on the cold stone on which they'd been killed or left to die.

 

Ceridwen leaned against the wall for a few moments as Rhian approached the prisoner, holding her stomach for a few moments, trying to avoid releasing the overwhelming, instinctual wave of nausea that consumed her as much at the horror of it as at the disgust of the filth and decay. And Ceridwen failed -- vomiting on the floor, before holding her mouth for moments more. Of course, this dungeon being the way it was, it's hardly as if she made it too much filthier. 

 

Eventually, Ceridwen managed to advance towards the cell, her expression downcast and still shocked, Yn Ddiddorol following her closely and nuzzling the side of her head with his in an unsuccessful attempt to cheer her up, though she absently reached out to stroke his head. The dragon would, at least, provide visual evidence for Ceridwen's following words:

"...we're the Allied Guard. It's... a group they made to represent the alliance between Caliss and the Dragon Knights, but... Oppenheimer attacked the Dragon Knights, so we moved in to take over his castle. We killed him and most of his soldiers in the process. ...I don't think I'm sad about that, not this time."

[Chevaleresse]

"It's a vulnerary. There's a medicinal powder inside, either swallow it or put it on a wound." She tried to ignore Ceridwen vomiting behind her; if she paid it too much mind, Rhian would be joining her. Unfortunately, the next step still required that she turn around. "Give me that for a sec." She reached out and took the newly acquired halberd for a second, hefting it in a grip that seemed at least vaguely familiar. She turned back to face the laguz and aimed it for a moment. "Hold still." She struck at the place where the chains were mounted to the wall, aiming to break the girl free from her bindings.

[rokubiraijuu]

Allied Guard, Caliss, Dragon Knights — none of these words prompt much more than perplexed looks as she continues to study the two of them. "I don't understand what all that is, but if you killed the General... then..." She looks back at the vulnerary when Rhian gives her the instructions on it, and, after a bit of effort, manages to get it open. With a trembling hand, she tips its contents back into her mouth, then swallows slowly, grimacing at the taste. For a moment, she looks down at the filthy stone, as though thinking deeply about something, but her head snaps up against when Rhian takes the halberd and stands up. She instinctively cringes backwards with a panicked, twittering sound, shutting her eyes... then slowly cracking them open again as the weight chaining her wrists and ankles goes slack.

 

With disbelief, she examines herself, turning her arms over and examining the places where the steel had cut into her, rubbing away the roots of feathers to reveal ugly, chafed skin beneath. "I'm..." Before finishing her thought, she looks back up to them, still apprehensive. "You are human. What do you plan to do with me?"

[Chevaleresse]

"Get you patched up and fed, hopefully." Poor thing had been down here for who knew how long, not to mention whatever that bastard had put her through before that point. "After that. . . I don't know. I'm just a soldier. Maybe we'll catch up with the rest of the laguz." She eyed the bird woman for a moment. "Is there any way to deal with that poison? Not everyone outside is walking around in a steel can and I don't want anyone to keel over dead because you tripped or some shit."

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

"I don't believe it either, I mean your clearly not a dragon. You can't even breathe fire, you have to use magic to do it. That'll do for the scratching, thanks." Naomi nodded and stretched her arms out to the skies temporarily relieved of her itch. "Why did you hide your face if you're just a human? It's not like anyone's going to hurt you for being who you are."

[ElfCollaborator]


"I like that helmet."

[krim]

Fallon marveled at the library as he entered. He had never seen one this extravagant, not even before the incident. Peering at each shelf he walked past, he was surprised that everything seemed untouched. Millich didn't seem like the type to care about research or preservation...though maybe he just never came here. That was probably for the better. Suddenly he heard movement from further in and realized he was not alone.

 

He jerked his head toward the sound and found what he guessed was the librarian, though the man didn't seem very happy about his presence. Looking down at his robes that were still a bit worse for wear from the battle, he realized how he must look "No need to be afraid," he said with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "The fighting is over now, though we wouldn't have let it reach this place anyways." Before pausing to wonder about that for a second - what the regular people thought about their sudden occupation - he continued. "I'm just a scholar interested in the castle." 

 

 

 

 

 

[rokubiraijuu]

Emerging a little more from behind the desk, just up to his shoulders and enough for him to be identified as a chiseled looking older man balancing glasses on a broad nose, the man squints further. Despite the fact that he doesn't look quite old enough to be graying, his thinning hairline and its color beg to differ. "Just a scholar passing by? Looking like that?" An arm comes up to jab an accusing finger at Fallon's blood-spattered and ruffled robes.

 

A couple more heads peek around the bottom of the desk now, these only children, staring at Fallon with a mixture of uncertainty and curiosity. 

 

"You, you expect us to believe that with all the insanity going on out there? I know the General wanted to wage this crazy battle, fine. But then suddenly there's enemies in our castle and what are we supposed to think? How- How am I supposed to- What in the world are you here for? Money? We don't have any."

 

"Caim, please, calm down. You're not going to benefit anyone by shouting at him-"

 

"I'm not shouting!"

 

Beside him, a woman stands up, dressed in robes that identify her as a healer of some sort, though she also has an axe hanging by her side in one hand. "If he is here to rob or kill us, then? What are you accomplishing? If he's not..." She turns to Fallon, and by now several more people have begun to slowly emerge from behind the desk: a collection of men, women, and children of various ages, though the children are the most numerous. "If you're not, well, it's a little strange for someone storming our castle not half an hour ago to walk into the library claiming to be a harmless scholar."

[Powder Miner]

Ceridwen slowly and sadly shrugged at the feathered, tortured girl's question.

"We... didn't really know what to expect down here. We were looking for someone else, actually. We can get you healed, but I don't think we really have any plans for you after that. We could let you free, if that's what you want. Are... you the only one alive in here? There were those others up in the castle, Hati and, erh, whatever his name was, but I-- I don't see anyone else alive in here..."

 

Ceridwen let out a breath and had to take a few more moments to be able to speak again -- it was important she asked what she needed to ask, but in the face of all of this evil and death, it was hard to force the breath out of her lungs just to speak.

"And for who we were looking for... have you seen a human prisoner who would have recently been brought in? Some sort of important status, not from the immediate area...?"

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

Naomi let the silence hang for a few moments, glaring at Michi. "You aren't very talkative are you? Well that's alright. Thanks for the scratch either way. Oh and you should really quit the meat, if you are just a human you have no excuse to eat meat. You can survive on veggies, and that's what you should be doing." 

[krim]

He took a deep breath, letting the accusations roll over him. He never was much good at this kind of thing, and the distracting voices coupled with his appearance certainly didn't help. "I'm not here for money. And quite frankly if I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have announced my presence or come alone. You would have been dead a half hour ago when the castle fell." he said, totally deadpan, though his expression did soften a bit when he saw the children. Of course the soldiers would have families here....and we probably just orphaned them. Ugh. Seeing them is always the hardest part.

 

"Believe it or not, I don't actually enjoy battle. It gets to me, as I'm sure it does most. Is it so wrong to want to study instead? " he waited a moment to make sure they were still listening. The man behind the desk looked like he was going to faint.

 

"As for storming your castle, the Allied Guard had their reasons, and they certainly weren't to harm innocents. I'd be willing to take a few of you to the commander if you don't believe me." To tell the truth, the mission wasn't confidential and would probably get out soon regardless. He just didn't want the children in the room when describing the things Millich had done. The rest of the guard had probably found even more evidence of his cruelty by now.

 

[rokubiraijuu]

The girl looks levelly at Rhian first before shaking her head. "But I will be careful. The General... he already cut the most dangerous feathers." She self-consciously extends her arms a little ways away from her skinny body to show the patchy, torn plumage. "Those kill with one touch." She hugs her arms back around herself to protect against the cold, furrowing her brow as she thinks about something apparently deeply. "You are both humans.... but you don't want to take me captive?"

 

We could let you free, if that's what you want.

 

"Free..." She tries this word on her tongue, slowly and with awe. The very thought appears to fill her with emotion, as her existing plumage suddenly flattens fully against her skin, making her look even thinner than she already was. Her mouth moves as though to say something else, and then tears begin to drip down her stunned face. She sags back against the grimy wall, gasping soft, hiccuping breaths for a few seconds before swallowing. When she suddenly realizes what's happening, she utters a quiet twitter before lifting her hands to wipe at her eyes, wincing slightly at the discomfort. "I'm sorry... I- I never thought... I never..."

 

It takes her another little while, but finally she manages to compose herself again. Gingerly, she pushes herself to her feet, though it takes her a couple tries. It's clear from her unsteady legs that she hasn't stood up in quite some time, and it's another several seconds before she can let go of the wall and take a shaky step. Reaching down, she picks up something that had been hidden behind her: it's a slender bow, though the way she holds it suggests that it is more of a comfort item and she doesn't know how to use it much. "I'll- I'll tell you whatever I can, if you're telling the truth."

 

"A human prisoner...? The General doesn't have many of those." She thinks hard, trying to fit anyone to the vague description Ceridwen provides. "I don't really understand what you mean by 'important status'. There- There was one human I know that the General didn't just kill. He looked... old? I don't know how humans age. Older than most. Younger than Master Greyson, but not a fledgling. His hair was red and coarse... like yours," she says, glancing to Rhian. "And he had a kind of... fatherly look to him. I remember that because it reminded me of Master Greyson. Is that who you are looking for? If not, I can't think of any others."

 

-----

 

At Fallon's justification, the woman gives Caim a look as if to say 'as I said', which only makes him scowl deeper. They, along with the rest of the small crowd who are still quiet, mostly looking to Caim and the woman for judgment, listen to the rest of what Fallon has to say.

 

At the end, the man simply sinks into the chair behind the desk with a slump, looking rather shell-shocked and muttering something to himself. Only snippets are audible: "... General's... known this pointless war... going to do...?"

 

The woman looks at him for a little bit, as if to make sure he's going to be okay, before returning her attention to Fallon with a grave sigh. "The Allied Guard. Hm." She thinks about this long and hard for a few seconds. "... I understand. We should have seen something like this coming as soon as Milich started his rampage on the Knights. What a goddamn shame, though..."

 

"Where's daddy!?" One of the children, who had apparently been holding in her distress through sheer fear, suddenly bursts into tears. Immediately, the woman and several of the older children rush to quiet and calm her down. After a brief fuss, the toddler is passed off into the arms of a maid who looks to be her mother, and the woman turns back to Fallon, coming out from behind the desk and hefting her axe onto her shoulder with another sigh.

 

"Sorry about that. And sorry to demand so many questions, but, when you say the castle's been taken, The General's dead, then? What about the rest of his men? ... What I'm saying is, how bad is it out there?"

[krim]

Fallon looked back and forth between the people and felt a pang of sadness for the child. He had no way of knowing which her father was, or whether he was alive. "The general is dead. I killed him myself. And out there...." he thought for a moment "We let the laguz in the outer courtyard escape first. Millich had done something to them and the old steward. They didn't seem to want to be here, but were trapped for a long time."  he said, remembering the fox's words. "The human soldiers fled once they heard of Millich's death. There was a passageway we took that let us avoid half of them during the battle, but the other half..." he trailed off. "I'm sorry."

[Powder Miner]

Ceridwen had to hold herself back from reaching over to stroke the poor girl's face in an attempt to comfort her, both because she'd react poorly and because, well, it would possibly kill her. The sheer misery and cruelty of her situation weighed heavily on Ceridwen -- the burns of magic that spoke of pointless, sadistic torture, the bloody and spotty nature of her plumage that spoke of the brutal exploitation that she had clearly gone through for her poison, the way she hugged herself, and the way she began to cry, just at the mere mention of potential freedom... it was nearly too much for Ceridwen herself. Back in the Stronghold she had never imagined this sort of thing to be possible, and yet here she now was staring its victim in the face.

"I'm... I'm so, so sorry this happened to you. Oppenheimer was... an unspeakably cruel man. We won't do the things he did."

 

But at the girl's next words, Ceridwen's countenance changed from one drooped with sorrow to a floundering of increasing panic. The young Dragon Knight gasped for breath, her mouth moving without any words coming out for a few moments, shock widening her eyes and a sparkle of fear playing clearly in them.

 

No, she'd worried about this but she'd thought that he was too clever--

 

Not him, not here, no, no--

 

Ceridwen's eyes flicked to Rhian's hair for a moment, she had never noticed the similarity--

 

Please, maybe it isn't him, maybe it's someone else--

 

Maybe, maybe she had to see--

 

Sucking in a couple more gasps of air, Ceridwen finally spoke:

"I-- yes-- maybe-- that... it could be..."

[Chevaleresse]

Rhian's fists clenched hard enough that the creak of the leather in her gauntlets was audible. A wing commander with a fatherly look, getting on in age, with hair that looked like hers. She forced herself back for a moment, trying to focus on the girl in front of her. There was a weird toxic birdperson that needed her help, needed out of this godawful dungeon. She took a deep breath, exhaling through her teeth. It might not be him, and whoever it was might not even be here. 

"Where is he?" Rhian said, the sudden note of hostility in her voice seemingly surprising even her. She took another short breath in an attempt to calm herself. "You can tell us more on the way out," she continued, trying to force the anger out of her voice. "You don't need to be in this place for a minute longer." Almost thankfully, the unsteadiness of the girl as she stood struck Rhian. "Will you be able to walk?" 

 

It wasn't him. It couldn't be him. If it was. . . Rhian wasn't sure if she could control herself.

[Swordstar]

Kerr hadn't done well this battle. A few good strikes, but overall, he had failed his companions. He looked around, the broken castle bringing back a few too many memories for his liking. This wasn't anything like where he was raised appearance wise but at the same time, the atmosphere was too familiar. A grab for power, an absolute belief that they were right... Mom, Dad, you would have liked this man I think...

 

He shuddered, shaking his head to get rid of that thought. Picking up his spear again, he walked over to Johanna, giving her a salute.

 

"Ma'am. Is there anything you need me to do? I know that we still have prisoners unaccounted for, but Cerdiwen and Rhian seem to have that taken care of. I don't like to be useless, and I'm feeling a bit like that right now after that battle."

[rustytengo]

Kris narrowed her eyes at Argos clearing not buying his excuse. "Riiiight, and your usual training normally causes you to nearly kill the one who has be by your side....errr on your back for all this time." She said moving into room  over to Argos rather quickly. "If that's the case I should take both of them away from you so you can't harm either of them." she said crouching down to look Argos in the eyes. "So how about you tell me whats actually going on. Cause if you don't they will tell me and then i might take them." she said giving Argos a look that she thought was suppose to reassuring.  

[ElfCollaborator]

Michi lifts an eyebrow.


"I've never understood why you have such disdain for humans. Well, I lie; I understand why someone might hate humanity. But you seem.....convinced animals are better company than humans."

[Aurorix]

"I-I told you its just training! No more no less! I have to train constantly if I want to be the greatest!" The boy said with a more forceful tone.  "Besides, weapons can't talk! They can't speak because they're just metal or wood! Even if they could speak I'd not want to hear a single word! Since whatever they'd have to say I already know! So if you're gonna take them, then just do it and I'll leave! Everything would probably be better that way too. I'll make my way back to Goya and just run the shop with Ma like she always wanted me to!" Argos seemed to be on the verge of tears, holding them back no matter the cost to save what little pride and dignity he has left.

[Pyon Pyon Kyuu!~]

Naomi shrugged. "Well they are. Animals have always been more loyal, and so are animal people. Animals don't kill by choice, they have to do it to survive. Hati and the other fox people here they fought to defend themselves. If humans hadn't hurt them first, they would have never picked up weapons. Humans however? They always are the first ones to attack. They are always the first ones to hurt, the first ones to start everything. Sometimes they'll hold off, and try and use you instead. I haven't met a human yet who hasn't attacked or betrayed me, even Fallon tried to run away and leave me behind. Now I really wish I could have gone with Hati... Why did she have to leave."    

[rokubiraijuu]

The woman seems somewhat impressed by Fallon's assertion of killing Milich himself, eyebrows lifting slightly into her hairline. "A passageway...?" Then they furrow again in bewilderment, but she decides not to think on it too long, apparently easily accepting that there are things about this castle that have become long-forgotten secrets. She shakes her head with sober understanding. "It's the battlefield; it's to be expected." Still, she sounds grim about it, and there's a dour pause afterwards before she looks back up at him. 

 

"Those laguz you mentioned... I can't say I'm surprised they took an opportunity to get out of here. The General had Greyson killed this morning, though; that's probably the old steward you're talking about. I doubt they knew about that." She lets out another sigh; this is a lot to take in. "Right, well with Milich dead, they've got no reason to stick around anymore... Runes help them if they're going to try and make a life for themselves out there."

 

Dropping the axe now to let it rest against her leg, she crosses her arms and nods. "You've answered all my questions. So what did you come in here wanting to know, Mr. Scholar?"

 

-----

 

The girl looks perplexed at Ceridwen's sudden change in demeanor, but guesses from it that this was in fact who they'd been looking for. Then Rhian's sharp demand catches her off guard and she visibly starts, plumage puffing out in alarm. It takes several seconds before she calms down just a little, though a touch of nervousness remains in her eyes as she glances between them again, a little apprehensive now of saying the wrong thing.

 

"I... I think so," she replies in a quiet twitter to Rhian's question, taking another few unsure steps towards the cell doorway. Once in the corridor, she pauses and looks around, seemingly just taking in the idea of finally being out of there, of being able to walk on her own, of the open path that was now her future.

 

"If I remember, he was only in these dungeons for a little bit. After that, he was brought up and put into a room to stay. It was a lot nicer than even the ones we stayed in, so maybe he did have some 'important status'. I don't know why the General kept him alive. The others said that he wanted to make some kind of show out of him, make him fight us and let his soldiers cast 'bets', but I don't know what those are. I was... I was put down here after that, so I don't know what happened to him, or if he's still here."

 

-----

 

Having just finished getting the man-eating spores sorted out and put somewhere they wouldn't at least be an immediate threat, and wrapping up a conversation with Verden, Johanna has pulled up a chair to a small table off to the side of the throne room, looking even more tired than she was. She's found some parchment and writing implements and has set about drafting a report to the Captain when Kerr approaches.

 

"Oh, I'm glad you asked." She thinks for a moment, running through a list of things in her head.

 

"I'd like you to go check on Rhian and Ceridwen. I don't think they would have trouble, but... the situation with the captive Commander is one where I would be much more confident if someone else was with them. They should be searching the dungeons."

[Powder Miner]

Gladiatorial combat? No, please, no, not if it was Gareth, please... he was capable of fighting, he was a Mid-Wing Commander, but he was getting up there in age, and if it was him who had been captured, who knew what injuries had, what— what had been done to him, Oppenheimer had killed his own steward, he couldn’t be trusted to not do horrible things to anyone...

 

Ceridwen gasped for breath, her wave of increasing panic nearly overwhelming her.

 

“Where— where could we find this room?”

[krim]

Relieved that the interrogation was over, Fallon let out a deep breath he didn't realize he was holding. It reminded him of old briefings, though those were held in a different light to him now. "One of the laguz told me that this castle held more secrets than just the passageway. It seemed like Grayson knew a lot about it, though obviously I can't ask him. I think...Millich may have been looking for something when he took him captive. And didn't find it." he said, expression going hard at the memory of the spores. "Besides that, anything on magic would interest me personally."