Fire Emblem On Forums: Mortal Transgressions (IC)

[Shauntaro]

"Alright..." Shin says as he slowly gets up and heads through the door back into the base, head hung a little low.

The boy went through the door, and made his way towards the pantry. As Shin began nearing the destination-

 

CRASH.

Bits of what was a kitchen table went flying, Shin turned his head towards the noise and found a mess bigger than his laundry could ever be.             (Well..)


"W-whats.." He choked up as he caught site of Ferdiad, weapon in hand. As well as the others surrounding him. He didn't stay in shock for long, however and immediately darted back towards the backyard -- Nearly flying through the exit, Shin calls out:


"B-BALDUR! T-THERE'S-" He shouts in a panic, tripping over his own words. "TH-..SOMETHINGS WRONG!" Shin forces out, gesturing towards the doorway.

[Aurorix]

Baldur heard the loud crash echo from inside. Did Shin really screw up that badly getting a simple soap bottle? He got to his feet before the now panicked archer stumbles his way out.

 

"B-BALDUR! T-THERE'S- TH-..SOMETHINGS WRONG!"

 

"W-what?" Somethings got the man quite spooked, but what exactly? He couldn't even imagine what he was about to walk into and he quickly ran towards the door and towards where everyone had gathered to see not only Pestilence but also Ferdinand with his blade drawn and implanted right next to Lizaveta.  "Fer-... K-knight! What in the bloody hell are you doing and Phoenix what is she doing here!?" He out of all people despised her guts more than anything but even he did not wish to threaten her life. Though I suppose he doesn't have much room to speak in terms of harming teammates, on Lizaveta especially. First however, he needs at least some context but there is little time to get any of it. All he could have time to prepare for was if Knight was going to start swinging his sword again and to jump in if necessary.

[RedMageCole]

Even with Shin and Baldur's entrance making things noisy, things immediately got quiet. Kane and Ferdiad's glares continued to meet each other; Ferdiad's with fury, disappointment and even hurt, while Kane's teemed with an uncertain courage. Without another word, Ferdiad turned and left, no one able to stop him. Lucy could only continue to be afraid, especially with Baldur's exclamation.

 

"...Hopefully he will be back soon. If not... then that is his choice."

 

Kane crossed his arms, furrowing his brow and looking over to Baldur.

 

"...Pestilence— Lucy is here and willing to give us information on the Icons of Sin, as well as allow us to take her prisoner. No harm is to come to her until there is reason to. Now, if you or Snowbird or Rose if she's awake— if someone could just heal Scarlet, that'd be great."

 

Kane moves to the kitchen to finish the last little bit of breakfast preparations as Arthur just deeply sighs and lays back down. Lucy, on the other hand...

 

"..."

 

Without another word, Lucy hurried past Baldur and Shin to the back door, curling up in some nearby bushes to hide and provide a spectator for Shin's laundry.

[RedMageCole]

Later that night...

 

While Lucy was allowed to stay, Kane wasn't one hundred percent trusting of her just then— she was allowed to come as that was a preferable alternative to leaving her at home with only a few of the group. Everyone else who wished to go to Stella was allowed— Arthur among them. And with one reluctant visitor in tow...

 

"...You wish... for me to keep King Darcy as a hostage...?"
 

"Utterly outlandish! Of all the things I didn't expect you all to do— this was probably on the lowest! Could you not just take the Relic and go!?"

 

"...Our reasoning was that we had seen the corruption facing Ulux firsthand. This filth was conspiring with an abusive owner of a brothel to take advantage of impoverished women off of the streets of Ulux, giving them no other option but to be playthings for him. Would you like to deny these claims, Darcy?"

 

"I long for a painful death for all of you, soon..."

 

"There you go."

 

"...I do not have a problem with this... I think. Ulux doesn't have any allies..." Stella gave a small yawn. Albert looked ready to object, but abstained. "...The rest of the Relics... will be difficult to obtain. You might wish to take more time to prepare..."

 

"Sounds like the plan I was going for... We'll be busy until then."

[Aurorix]

After finishing helping Shin with his laundry and bringing his ragged cape into his room, Baldur went searching for Pestilence. There’s a sharp determination in his eyes as he scours the house. When locked onto the butler approached the frightened mage,  "I know you must be still on edge from this morning but there is something I must ask you in private. I doubt I’ll be able to get even a wink of sleep were I left these gnawing in my mind until tomorrow. It’ll only take a couple minutes I promise." His tone was calm yet firm as to not put her anymore on edge.

[RedMageCole]

Lucy jumped at the sudden approach, fiddling with her hands.

 

"I- um... uh..." Lucy continued to stumble over her words. She was still a bit in shock after the Ferdiad incident— even Baldur's tone of calmness wasn't able to calm her down completely.

[Swordstar]

Mim had been relaxing near Lucy, not talking, but just being a peaceful presence near her. However, she quickly sat straight up when Baldur approached the other girl. A scowl crossing her face, she crossed over to the two of them, arms crossed.

 

"You don't have to if you don't want to, Lucy. Baldur, leave her alone. She's been through a lot today, and doesn't need more harassment."

[Aurorix]

"I... I understand if you can’t right now but I-I can’t express myself enough how important this is for me to know. So... please..." Baldur wrapped his right arm across his chest, grabbing his left arm while his head drifted off to the side and leaning towards the ground.

[RedMageCole]

With Mim's interruption, Lucy was able to collect herself. It seems Mim has already become somewhat of a positive space for Lucy. In any case, she was able to see the pain on Baldur's face— it was similar to her own.

 

"N... No. It's okay, I'll listen... a-as long as Mim can come with...?" Lucy sheepishly asks.

[Aurorix]

Baldur takes note of Lucy’s reaction when Mim steps in. The girl does seem to be a calming presence for the mage. He hesitates for a moment,  "...That-That’s fine. May even be for the best anyways. Just please don’t mention anything that is asked to anyone else. It’s a very personal matter. I haven’t even told it to Kane."

[Swordstar]

Mim was surprised. She hadn't really expected Lucy to ask for her to be there or for Baldur to agree. But she couldn't exactly say no at this point. Besides, she wouldn't deny that her curiosity had been piqued.

 

"If it will make you happy, Lucy, of course. As for keeping it secret, unless I think that it would put all of us here in immediate peril, I would never reveal a secret that was not mine."

[RedMageCole]

Baldur's willingness to accommodate made Lucy look less nervous and loosen up a bit, especially with the knowledge of Kane not knowing.

 

"...Then... I'm willing to listen... a-and I'll try to answer as best as I can," Lucy responded with a new affirmation. "...I... I hope I can be of some help. I don't really know that much about the others outside of myself and my brother..."

[Aurorix]

"Very well, come with me outside then." He led the way out the back and just a little ways from the base. Enough to be out of earshot. It takes in a deep breath before asking the big one,  "Who among the Icons of Sin, if any, was involved of the poisoning of House Valdis of Perus? I can pretty much surmise Famine crafted the poison but I do not know if he was the one who planted it or if it was a third party. Would you or your brother happen to be involved in that?"

[RedMageCole]

Lucy followed, and then paused at Baldur's question. She tried her best to think, think as hard as she could. However, she shook her head.

 

"I'm sorry... I don't know. I know for certain that me or my brother wouldn't, though. My brother doesn't do poisonings, he just does, um... assassinations... but I'd know if he poisoned them."

[Aurorix]

Baldur let out a long sigh of relief. If there was anything he could relate to Ferdy with, it was having a hard time working with anyone who was involved with their respective gruesome incident.  "Ah ha ha ha... so you don’t know. I suppose I’ll just have to get more information from Famine himself then. Look at me getting all worked up over nothing..." A weight seemed lifted off the butler’s shoulders. 

"Thank you either way. I really do appreciate what you’ve told me. I know it must be tough for you to be here so if you need anything feel free to ask me. Whether it be a hot cup of tea or anything else."

[RedMageCole]

Lucy looked very relieved to see that things were okay. Especially with how difficult things had gotten before, how she was unwelcome from the very start... Looking to Mim as well as back to Baldur with his proposal, Lucy had just a brief flash of a smile before she went back to her normally mildly nervous appearance.

 

"Thank you... w-well, I mean- it's no problem, really... it might be difficult getting information out of Famine, but... hopefully things will be okay. Um... should we head back in, then...?"

[Aurorix]

Coming into this confrontation with only the worst of expectations he did not expect this. "C-cute." He did not expect to find that brief instant of a smile from Lucy to be that adorable. It took him a couple of seconds to realize Pestilence asked a question.

 

"Uhhh... y-yes we should. I don’t have anything further to ask."

[Swordstar]

Mim smiled slightly, watching the two of them. It was nice to see someone else treating her well.

 

"You go on inside Lucy, I'll be right behind you."

 

Once she was inside, Mim turned to Baldur and in a quiet voice, said,

 

"Thank you for being nice to her. I appreciate it. She's clearly struggling and I just want to help her as much as I can. She knows what her group was doing was wrong. And she managed to escape. Now we have to protect her. Her and the others like her that can't protect themselves. We both owe her brother, I know that. And you could have tried to get a lot more out of her just now. Information about her brother, her team's movements, whatever. But you held back. So thank you. And I promise that we'll get Death, one way or the other."

[Aurorix]

"Please, there is hardly anything to be thanking me for. I am simply following up on the promises I've made. That is maintaining the well being of the members of Virtuous as well as a direct order from Kane that no harm should come to her under our care. Though, I do agree it takes a great amount of courage to do what she did. Which I can respect enough to give her the benefit of the doubt for now." The topic then changed to the rest of the Icons of Sin and Baldur's face quickly turned to a grimace. Occasionally his eye would drift to focus on the scar on the apothecary's face.

 

"R-right, that night by the lake..." He locks his right arm across his chest before going into a slight bow. His eyes gaze never once leaving the ground,  "I-I'm sorry. No words or actions could make up for what I allowed to happen to you that night. Because of that, you now bear that scar on your face. It... it will be another regretful failure I shall carry with me until the end..."

[Swordstar]

Mim stared at him blankly for a few long seconds, trying to make sure she understood what he was trying to say, before letting a loud quick laugh burst out before she managed to stifle it.

 

"Ha, ah, sorry, you're serious, aren't you?"

 

She reached out, placing her fingers beneath his chin and raising it up so their eyes met.

 

"I never once blamed you for what happened. If anything, you being captured with me is the reason I'm still alive. He couldn't focus on both of us enough to actually do lasting damage. You really believe that I wouldn't have been just as foolish if you hadn't been there? I got captured because of my own unawareness, not because of you. And I got stabbed like I did because I chose to be an idiot and try to stab someone close range with an arrow. So please. Don't carry that weight on your back. You don't deserve it. We all choose to put our lives at risk by being a part of this group. That means sometimes things like this will happen. If I was going to let a little scar like this bother me, I would have never left home."

[Aurorix]

The butler felt a bit off put by the laughter. She thought this was funny? His eyes drifted away once more as to avoid looking her in the eyes,  "But... My only purpose here is to protect everyone and I failed in that purpose that night in quite the grand fashion. How could you not hold resentment for one who could not fulfill their one simple task? I am... not worth forgiving..."

[Swordstar]

"Do you really think that's the only thing you're here for? You're also here to be a member of the group. To help cook, to help support others outside of battle too. You're here to be you. Why would you be unworthy of forgiveness? Even besides the fact that there is nothing to forgive, you haven't failed. We are fighting against someone that out scales us. We learned that. No one else was prepared for him either. Why are you the only one that needs to be prepared for every possible situation?"

[Aurorix]

"Its precisely because I wasn't prepared that everything happened. If I only considered everything before letting my emotions get to me and jumping at Famine maybe things could have gone differently. If I was stronger I could have freed myself from Death's grip. If I was more adept with my staff I could get rid of your scar. When it matters most, I can't protect anyone. Let alone myself. Then the people I care for get hurt... or worse..." He clenches his teeth and his cheeks turn a shade pinker as he tries to bottle of a torrent of repressed emotions but he couldn't stop himself from continuing,  "I... I have to protect everyone from any possible danger! Even if it costs me my life! Even if I can cook or I can help in other ways its meaningless if everyone falls around me for my failures! I'm a broken tool! Nothing more than garbage that should be tossed aside for someone who could do my job better!"  

[Swordstar]

Mim frowned, getting more and more irritated as Baldur continued talking and then finally reached out and (lightly) smacked Baldur upside the head.

 

"Oh so what, now we're all helpless and need you to constantly be protecting us? Perhaps you'll change our diapers next and give us our bottles? We're a team, you idiot. Listen to yourself. You're acting like you're the only one who could possibly have seen what was going on. Am I blind? That would be a feat, a blind archer. Or perhaps you're the only one who's allowed to be strong? Or did you fail to notice that I couldn't free myself either? He's strong. Stronger than anyone else we've fought so far. The only reason we were able to hurt him at all was surprise. And if a giant lance through his chest can't kill him, which it clearly didn't, he's got something going on. And if you dare to call yourself garbage or trash in my presence again, the smack you just got there will seem like a gentle kiss. I swear to the gods, if you do... You are a valued member of this group. Not because you can protect us or because you can be used as a body shield, but because you are a part of this godsdammed family. Don't you dare go throwing away your life for me or anyone else here. If you do, I will personally find a way to bring you back to life so I can smack the living shit out of you. Do I make myself clear?"

[Aurorix]

To say Baldur was surprised to me smacked and then immediately lectured would be an understatement. His eyes widened before putting his hand on the place he was smacked. The butler visibly winced and leaned back slightly at every emphasis the tiny archer had made.  "B-but..." He stopped himself from trying to rebuttal any further.  "... Yes ma'am..." He spoke sounding a bit defeated.   .   .   .   Though he did feel a bit better... as strange as that might be.