Archive of Our Own ^beta

The Altean army has finally arrived at Thabes, a once living civilization destroyed by the Manaketes. The only creatures that habited that place, were Gharnef and his loyal followers, who awaited the arrival of the Altean Prince. As Marth seeks to retake the Falchion and save his sister, Princess Elice.

Merric shivered in fear as they arrived at the castle, he hasn’t been this nervous during the previous battles. But there was something different about this one in particular that he couldn’t keep his composure, it was Princess Elice. He hasn’t seen her since the war began, and the possibility of something horrible happening to her terrified him.

“Are you alright, Merric?” A familiar voice asked in concern. It was Linde, who has been assisting Merric throughout the course of the war.

“Yeah, don’t worry about me.” Merric said with a not so confident tone. “We must concentrate.”

But Merric couldn’t concentrate. That’s until Marth approached him. “Merric, this is it. We have arrived at Thabes Fortress.”

They stared at the castle in front of them.

“Indeed, it seems we have.” Merric responded.

“Hey, are you sure you can handle Starlight?” Marth asked. “I entrusted you with it because I know you’ll use it correctly, but if you feel like I’m pressuring you, I’ll ask someone else to use it.

“Don’t worry, I can handle it. Me and Linde will face off against Gharnef and put an end to this war once and for all.”

“Yes… Meanwhile, the Altean Knights will fight Gharnef's followers and I’ll look for Elice.”

“Yes… We can win this.” Merric said as he prepared Starlight.

Marth could tell that Merric was really worried about Elice, so he reassured him that she was going to be okay. “We’ll save her, Merric. And once this is all over, all of us will be reunited again. Just like when we were young.”

The Altean army was finally ready to enter the fortress, their mission was to defeat Gharnef, retrieve the Falchion and save Princess Elice. Just before the attack, Marth took the time to encourage his companions with a motivational speech. And once he finished, the war horn was heard through the empty city. “Charge!” Marth screamed as it was followed with the war cries of his army, now storming into the castle. They clashed with mages under Gharnef's command. And afterwards, the army’s formation broke. Having soldiers run around the castle in search for ether Gharnef, the Falchion or Princess Elice.

Upon seeing the Altean army suddenly split, Merric started to run up the castle. Linde, following right behind him. Guards started to come out and attack them, only for Linde to blast them away using Aura, her father’s tome. “Are you okay?” Linde asked Merric.

“Yes, let’s keep going.”

“Merric, wait!” Linde said agitated.

“Huh? What is it?” Merric asked.

“This guy that I just blasted off… his face!”

Merric got closer to the bodies and saw that one of the mages had Gharnef’s face.

“Wait… it couldn’t be him… when we fought him back on Khadein, he was immune to any magic spells we used against him. The only tome that could defeat him is Starlight. And yet, I haven’t opened it.” Merric explained.

Merric proceeded to turn the other person’s body, and it appeared that he also had Gharnef’s face.

“I knew it. He’s trying to fool us.” Merric commented.

“How do we find the real Gharnef? Linde asked.

“We have to keep going and find out.” Afterwards, they continued to get to a higher floor. Merric and Linde ran up the staircase while the knights fought on the ground floor, the Pegasus riders ascended the fortress from the outside to fight the Manaketes that were flying around.

Merric reached the top of the staircase to what it looked to be the door to the throne room, but Linde wasn’t following him. So, Merric went back down the stairs and found her sitting in the middle of the staircase.

“What’s wrong?” Merric asked. “Are you nervous about something?”

“Yes… I am nervous.” Linde responded.

“Is it Gharnef?”

“I don’t know if we can do this. He killed my father, which is enough for me to want him dead. But, all of the sudden I feel more terrified of him.” Linden told Merric. “What if I fail? He’s gonna kill you and make me feel the fear that I felt 4 years ago.”

“Linde…”

“Maybe there is no hope for-“

“Linde!” Merric interrupted. She stayed silent so she could hear what Merric had to say.

“I am terrified too. Terrified to hear that he took Princess Elice’s life. That is the one thing that I hope to not hear. Because, she is the most special person in my life.” Merric began. “But, I have no doubt that Gharnef is going to use that against me. Because that is his gimmick, using our weaknesses to win the battle. You can bet that he going to use your father’s death to diminish your confidence, he may even create an illusion of your father for better effect.”

As Merric said those words, Linde began to calm down.

“So, you have to promise me one thing…” Merric began. “You’re going to focus on the battle, just the battle and nothing but the battle so we can stop Gharnef from creating more tragedies in the world. Promise me that!”

And so, Linde had her full attention on their objective. “I- I promise.”

They stood up from the staircase and began to walk up to the throne room. “Merric…” Linde called him.

“Yes?”

“You have to promise that too. That if Gharnef uses Princess Elice against you, you won’t fall for it.”

“I promise.” Merric swore.

Merric and Linde pushed the door and entered the throne room only to find that nobody was there. Still, they remained alert to any tricks Gharnef wanted to pull on them.

“Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha” an echo was heard in the background. Merric looked to his surroundings, and didn’t see anyone.

“I was expecting the little prince to be the one to face me.” The voice in the background continued. “But I guess he coward out, leaving his two mages to die by my hands.”

“Show yourself!” Merric demanded.

“Oh, but I am everywhere.”

Linde spotted Gharnef come out of a pillar ready to unleash Imhullu on them.

“Aura!” Linde casted the spell to defend them before Gharnef could do anything. But as the Aura beams hit Gharnef, he vanished into thin air.

“Nice try, but it seems that you missed the real target.” The voice mocked them.

“It was a fake.” Merric alerted.

But before they could cover themselves, the real Gharnef unleashed his tome.

“Imhullu!” Gharnef casted his enchantment on them. Luckily, they got out of the way and avoided being blasted by his tome.

“We meet again, daughter of Miloah.” Gharnef said to Linde. “And to think that it was you who the Hero Prince sent to destroy me is very poetic.”

Linde looked at Gharnef in full disbelief that she was seeing his face again.

“And you must be Merric, the greatest student to ever walk on the sands of Khadein, right?” Gharnef was referring to Merric.

“You remember me?” Merric asked.

“How could I forget about the mage who kept protecting the prince from my army of followers.” Gharnef referred to the battle of Khadein. “I had to know your identity. So I broke my little prisoner until she told me all about you.”

Merric immediately knew he was talking about Elice, even though Gharnef never confirmed her name. Which naturally made Merric very upset. However, he maintained his cool because he knew that Gharnef wanted to exploit his weak point.

“Does it matter if you know who I am? Because we both know that one of us will not make it out of here alive.” Merric said.

“Make that two. Because you fail to realize that Imhullu is invincible. No matter if you’re attacks hit me or not, I remain intact. So, I dare you to try and kill me, your enchantments will all be in vain.”

Merric and Linde both knew the truth, they had in their possession Starlight. The only tome that could defeat Imhullu.

“What’s the matter?” Gharnef asked. “Don’t you want to avenge your loved ones?”

“We came here for the Falchion.” Linde said.

“You want this?” Gharnef showed the Falchion under his robe. “Then draw!”

Merric and Gharnef started into each other’s eyes, both Starlight and Imhullu ready to be cast. And waited for a sign so they could draw their tomes. And then a drop of water hit the ground.

“Imhullu!”

“Starlight!”

They both fired a beam from their respective tomes at the same time. Causing them to clash with one another.

To Gharnef’s surprise, the tome Merric used was actually outdoing the intensity Imhullu was causing. If he didn’t do something fast then Merric would win this clash. However, Starlight’s beam vaporized Imhullu’s beam before Gharnef could do anything about it. And before he knew it, he took damage from Merric’s tome. Sending him to fall on his back.

“Wh… Impossible!” Gharnef told himself. “Imhullu is an invincible tome! How could I have possibly taken damage from him?”

Merric shot another Starlight beam at Gharnef, but this time he dodged the attack.

“This is Starlight.” Merric began. “The legendary tome that shares the power of the Fire Emblem, and it’s the tome that penetrates any magical defense.” Merric took one step forward.

“Your reign of terror is over, Gharnef!” Linde said.

But Gharnef had a backup plan, in case it all went sideways. “It’s unfortunate to learn that Imhullu’s power isn’t enough to beat that legendary tome of yours. But, there’s more to battle than just force… It’s also a battle of wits!” Gharnef said as he stepped aside to reveal Elice down on her knees.

Upon seeing her, Merric flinched.

“M… Merric?” Elice said. But before she could say anything else, Gharnef yanked her head to the floor.

Merric’s feelings got the better of him as he lost his temper. “Damn you!” He said.

“Wait… Merric! That’s not the real Elice!” Linde warned him. But it was too late as Merric ran towards Gharnef who let go of Elice’s head to reveal that she was in fact not the real Elice, but an impostor.

Merric realized too late, as Gharnef slammed Imhullu into the ground causing an explosion near him.

Merric was sent flying backwards to land on his back. Luckily, the damage didn’t burn his face. But the sound caused by the explosion made him deaf for a few seconds. When he got his hearing back, he could hear Linde calling for him to answer. “Merric, come on! Are you okay?!” Linde asked.

“Yes… Yes, what happened?” Merric asked.

“Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha” Gharnef laughed but he was nowhere to be seen. “Pathetic, to think that you’d ever fall for that.” Gharnef’s laughed continued but it echoed a lot.

Merric and Linde turned to their surroundings and saw multiple Gharnefs around them. “You lack the experience of a real battle.” All the Gharnefs said at the same time.

Merric fired a beam to one of them, but it wasn’t the real Gharnef. Some of the Gharnefs fired spells towards them, but Linde defended them. Merric couldn’t find the real Gharnef no matter how many times he fired Starlight towards them. The Gharnefs closed in on them and when they got close enough, one of them grabbed Linde’s arm and separated her from Merric’s side. Merric quickly blasted a beam towards the Gharnef that was taking her away, but now he was defenseless against another Gharnef that blasted him into the ground. “Merric!” Lined screamed as she was being pinned down by a different Gharnef.

Merric tried to defend himself using Starlight, but one Gharnef kicked the tome of of his hand. And then, the real Gharnef put one foot on Merric’s chest.

“One misstep. That is all it takes for a battle to be no longer in your favor.” Gharnef said. “And it seems that you just took a critical one, that is going to cost you your life.” Gharnef began to prepare to strike his finishing blow on Merric.

“However, as impressive as you’ve been by demonstrating Imhullu’s weakness, you are not the human I’m eager to finish off…” Merric was confused for a moment when Gharnef said that. Gharnef continued “The person I want to finish off… is you… Marth.” Gharnef looked towards the entrance door where Marth was hiding behind, waiting for his opportunity to strike.

(“Marth is here?”) Merric though to himself. (“He should be looking for Elice, not try to save me.”)

“You just couldn’t leave your mages behind, could you?” Gharnef told him.

(“What do I do now?”) Marth thought.

After a long pause, Gharnef offered him a deal. “I’ll make you a deal, prince. Come out of the door. Let me kill you, and I’ll let your friends go. Even your sister could be free, you just have to accept your fate.”

Marth took a moment of silence and then he spoke. “That’s not gonna happen. Once I step out, you’ll kill us all.”

“And what makes you think I’ll do that?”

“Because you lie. That is all you know how to do.” As Marth was speaking, Linde extended her arm to try grab Aura, that was a few inches away from her.

“How could I lie, Imhullu is the truth!” Gharnef exclaimed.

“Yet you keep lying, and deceiving people to win battles.” Marth answered back. “But you know what… we can play your game against you.” As Marth said those words, Linde managed to reach Imhullu and free herself shooting a beam towards the fake Gharnef.

The real Gharnef turned around and both shot a beam towards each other’s direction.

“Imhullu!”

“Aura!”

They fired at the same time, which gave Marth enough time to sprint at Gharnef, tackling him to the ground freeing Merric along the way.

But the fake Gharnefs didn’t let Merric get near Starlight as they grabbed on to him. Linde then turned her head and saw a Gharnef running her way, forcing her to focus on him. Which freed the real Gharnef from Marth’s grip.

Before Marth could stab him with his sword, Gharnef grabbed his neck and began chocking him. “Now I have you! I should have killed you long ago, to prevent all the trouble you’ve caused. But now I have the chance!” Gharnef told Marth as he was chocking him. “Prepare to to die, Marth of Altea!” But before Gharnef could do anything, Marth spit fire on Gharnef’s face.

It was such an unexpected move, that Gharnef let go from his grip. “Wait… What?!” Gharnef said while confused.

Marth was kneeling on the ground having his hair down. “Heh… I told you that I was going to use your tricks against you.” He said. “Because as you said… It only takes one misstep for a battle to be no longer in your favor… And it seems that you just took a critical one!” Marth raised his hand to comb his hair, which revealed that he wasn’t actually Marth… he was Xane all along.

“Xane?!” Merric and Linde said at the same time.

Xane continued to breathe fire towards Gharnef forcing him to cover himself with his robe. (“He was an impostor this whole time?!”) Gharnef though to himself. (“Where the hell is Marth?!”)

Meanwhile, Marth was riding with Caeda on her pegasus from the outside of the forest looking for Elice.

“Get to the top. Elice must be held at the top of that tower.” Marth told Caeda. As they were ascending the castle, a couple of mages spotted them and began to cast fire magic towards their way.

“They’re firing at us! Marth, hold on!” Caeda warned and dodged the mages’ attacks. However, the place where they needed to land was also guarded by other mages who began to fire at them.

“Caeda, get me close enough to where I can drop down and finish off those mages.” Marth demanded.

“It’s to high up, Marth. You could break your legs.” Caeda replied.

“I have a plan, just get me close enough to the top.”

Caeda, proceeded to maneuver around the attacks the mages were sending their way. But before they could get close enough to the roof, a fire spell hit one of the wings of Caeda’s pegasus. Making them loose a little bit of balance. “Jump now, Marth!” Caeda ordered as Marth impulsed himself from the pegasus’ back.

Marth landed on the roof slashing a mage in half. Then, he ran towards the other one who threw an attack his way only for Marth to parry it with the Fire Emblem. Sending the attack back to the mage.

After those mages were dealt with, Caeda landed her pegasus on the rooftop. “Come on, we have to find my sister.” Marth and Caeda took off to look for Elice on the prison cells located at the top of the tower.

Merric managed to pick Starlight from the ground despite multiple Gharnefs holding him down. Which Merric used to blast the fake Gharnef from his back. Once freed, he ran to help Xane against the real Gharnef, who was protecting himself with his robe.

Eventually, Xane ceased breathing fire to catch his breath. So, Gharnef took that opportunity to fire Imhullu towards his direction. Merric managed to protect Xane using Starlight, and before he could counter attack, Gharnef multiplied himself once again to confuse them.

Merric and Xane covered each other’s back, one with Starlight and the other breathing fire. They continued to fight the Gharnef clones who approached them, not letting them get near.

But when one Gharnef got near and Xane was about to torch him, revealed to be holding Linde putting her in front of Xane. Upon realization, Xane tried to hold back making him choke on his fire. Giving the real Gharnef enough room to stab Xane in the stomach with a knife.

“Xane!” Linde screamed, causing Merric to turn around.

Gharnef laughed on his face and said… “I stand by what I said.”

Merric blasted Starlight, but it was useless. As Gharnef was no longer behind him.

Merric and Linde bent down to help Xane, and before they knew, they were surrounded by many more copies of Gharnef. “Your efforts to kill me have not paid off and you fail to realize that challenging me… is useless!” Every Gharnef said at the same time.

Those words got to Linde, who’s reason to join the war was purely to avenge her father. She got so close and it seemed like it was all for nothing. (“Father.. forgive me… I have failed you.”) Linde thought to herself.

Suddenly, she started to hear a voice echo inside her head. “Linde…”

(“Huh?”) Linde thought to herself.

“My daughter…” the voice came from her tome, Aura. “It’s me.”

(“F-Father?!”) Linde thought to herself.

“I’ve been here with you this whole time. As my spirit resides in this very tome…” Linde was still in disbelief to hear her father’s voice. “You did not fail me, because there’s nothing that needs to be repaid. My memory is preserved because you exist, and my death is meaningless because eventually everyone meets their end. Avenging me will not bring me back to life, death is part of the natural flow of things… And I accept that.”

Linde continued to listen to her father’s voice. “It’s your life the one you should be focusing on. So, fight for it! Show Gharnef that your will to live surpasses his desire to end you. That you’re not fighting for me, but rather that you’re fighting for you and your friends.” Miloah’s voice began to fade away. “I’m very proud of you, Linde.”

After hearing her father’s encouraging words, Linde cleared her mind and focused on the present. “I know where you are.” Linde said as she identified who was the real Gharnef. “8 o’clock, Merric!”

Without hesitation, Merric fired Starlight on the direction Linde indicated him. He successfully blasted the real Gharnef against the wall. “You can’t fool me anymore, Gharnef.” Linde said.

In response, Gharnef fired Imhullu once again, causing Merric to do the same with Starlight making both spells clash against each other. Linde joined in with Aura to weaken Gharnef’s spell. In a matter of seconds, Starlight’s beam vaporized Imhullu’s, Gharnef was struck by Merric’s beam.

“You think that this is the end of me?!” Gharnef said while taking damage. “I refuse to die on the hands of the young! Which is why I’m taking you down… with me!”

(“With him?! What does he mean?”) Merric thought.

Before they could do anything, Gharnef dropped an open tome to fall on the floor. It was an explosive tome that Xane was carrying on his bag. The tome caused an explosion the moment it hit the floor, sending Merric, Linde and Gharnef flying and injuring the three of them really bad.

After the explosion, everyone was lying on the ground. Nobody was moving a muscle, not even Gharnef who caused the explosion, they all seemed to be defeated. It’s almost as if they died from the explosion.

Merric couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t see anything and couldn’t move any part of his body. (“I can’t move…”) he thought to himself. (“I only see the light… Does this mean… Is this where I die?”) He tried to move again, but he couldn’t. His suspicions were about to come true as he was on the verge of death.

Merric began thinking about all the people that helped him come this far and what he would have said to them if they were present. (“Master Wendell… I tried my best… until the end. And I want you to know… you’re the greatest teacher I ever had.”)

(“Prince Marth… Thank you… for being there when I needed you… I hope that you can put an end to this war… And that you live a peaceful life with Princess Caeda.”)

(“And Princess Elice… You are the most kind and caring person I’ve ever meet… I wish I got the opportunity… to tell you how I feel… I… I love you Elice… with all my heart.”)

Merric took one deep breath before he exhaled the name of the love of his life. “Elice…”

Elice was sitting on the corner of her cell who cried herself to sleep prior to the current battle. When she heard a voice calling her name.

“Elice?!” It was Caeda, who was looking for her near the area.

Once Elice took notice, she answered back. “Caeda!” Her voice was weak, but it was loud enough for Caeda to hear.

“Elice!”

“Caeda!”

They kept calling their names until Caeda finally found Elice.

“Elice! Thank goodness… You are alive!” Caeda said from the outside of the cell.

“Caeda!…” Elice couldn’t complete a full sentence before beginning to cry.

“I’m gonna get you out of here, Elice.” Caeda used her spear to hit the lock open, and managed to force it open using her Wing Spear as a plank.

When she opened the cell, Elice got out and Caeda embraced her tightly as she sobbed.

“Caeda… I… I…”

“Shh… I’m here, Elice… I’m here.” Caeda also couldn’t contain a tear on this beautiful moment. They haven’t seen each other in a long time, as Caeda and Elice were childhood best friends who didn’t get a chance to meet since the war started.

“I’m sorry you had to go through a lot.” Caeda said. Elice didn’t respond as she was still crying, but she knew it wasn’t Caeda’s fault.

They separated from their embrace, and Caeda tried to look for any injuries on Elice’s body. “Are you okay? How badly did they hurt you?”

Before Elice could give an answer, Marth finally caught up with them. “Elice!” Marth said upon seeing his sister.

Marth hugged Elice and teared up in disbelief of knowing that his sister was finally safe. “I’ve missed you so much… I finally… you’re finally safe.” Marth said.

“My little brother… I… I can’t believe this is real.” Elice responded. Soon after, Caeda joined them in their hug.

“We can all be together again…” Elice said. “All of us.”

Merric still struggled to move, but he knew he was alive. He had to be, but what exactly kept him from dying? There were a lot of things Merric had in his life that encouraged him to keep living. But there was one thing he wanted to do before he died, one thing he needed in order to rest peacefully. He wanted to see Elice’s face one more time.

When the war began, Merric was studying in the School of Magic of Khadein. He was far away from his home in Altea, which meant he couldn’t do anything to help Marth and Elice, nor he could say goodbye if anything happened to them. Fortunately, he found Marth and was able to know he was safe.

Now, he wanted to be sure that Elice was safe. The only way he would know of her, is to keep living.

(“I have to live… I need to live… I want to see Princess Elice again.”) Merric thought. (“Come on, Merric. Wake up!”)

Eventually, Merric regained his hearing, his sight, and slowly but surely he was moving. Merric proceeded to move his body so he could lay on his front side.

Merric saw Gharnef waking up the same way he did. They exchanged looks, and stared at their respective tomes that were a few feet away from them.

Without hesitation, Merric and Gharnef crawled for their lives as whoever got to their tome first, would blast the other one from existence. Unfortunately, Gharnef was closer to Imhullu than Merric being close to Starlight.

But before Gharnef’s hand could reach his tome, he was slowed down. Linde used Aura on Gharnef to prevent him from using Imhullu before Merric could use Starlight.

Merric caught up as they both grabbed their tomes at the same time, but now Gharnef was at a disadvantage thanks to Linde.

“You… little… brats!” Gharnef yelled as he struggled to move.

Merric opened Starlight and began to cast it’s spell.

“Starlight!”

Merric blasted a beam that directly hit Gharnef with a lot of intensity.

While blasting Starlight, Merric stood up so he could properly finish Gharnef off with all of what he had. Deadly stars began to shine around Gharnef, they were burning him enough to kill him.

As the light from an upcoming explosion came out from Gharnef’s body, Merric said to him one final thing. “Take this!… And choke on it!”

Merric’s spell culminated in one final explosion that obliterated Gharnef. All that was the Dark Pontifex ceased from existence, the only thing that remained intact was the Falchion.

(“It’s over.”) Merric was relieved to have survived. Linde avenged her father, but it didn’t matter to her anymore.

Despite his best efforts to hide it, Linde began to tear up. “Wh… Why am I feeling like this?” She asked a question that Merric also couldn’t understand, they were both hurt and tired.

Merric sat down on the floor and proceeded to lay on his back out of feeling exhausted. “M… Merric?! What happened?!” Linde asked concerned.

“I just want to go home… I am tired… and I don’t have the strength to stand up.” Merric replied.

“No, Merric… Don’t leave!”

“Don’t worry… I’m not hurt… I’m just exhausted.”

Linde showed some relief to hear that, she also heard someone come up the stairs.

“Linde… What happened here?” Gordin asked.

“Help me get them out of here.” Linde responded.

Merric woke up 8 hours later, finding himself inside the infirmary tent. He felt dizzy and didn’t have enough strength to lean forward a little. Instead, he moved his head to the sides and saw to his left the hands of a woman squeezing water out of a blood stained towel. Her hands looked bruised up and damaged. They were really thin, to the point where a strong grip could easily break them. Yet, those hands were the ones nursing Merric.

“You are awake…” the woman nursing him said.

That voice sounded extremely familiar to Merric, who tried to look at her face despite the pain he felt. “Don’t move too much. You are still recovering from your injuries.” The woman told him. Merric managed to look on her direction, and couldn’t believe what he was seeing was real.

“Princess Elice?!” Merric said with a weak voice.

“I’m happy to see you again, Merric.” Elice responded.

Merric tried to sit straight, but the pain prevented him from doing so. Elice placed her hand on Merric’s chest to indicate him that he shouldn’t move.

“Relax, Merric. I am here to heal you from your injuries. You don’t need to sit up.”

“But… what about you?” Merric asked. “You’ve been locked up for years… you should be the one resting, not me.”

“I’m fine.” Elice confirmed.

“Princess, I am serious… you should-“

“Me too…” she interrupted. “My bruises are healed, Merric.”

Merric stopped talking, not wanting to interrupt her. “I still have not recovered mentally, I’m afraid… afraid of all of this being a dream. And I still haven’t fully processed the fact that I am free to walk outdoors… But, despite that… I wanted… to see you, Merric.” Elice said while letting a tear exit her left eye. “Because I want to believe that this is real… So, can you tell me… assure me that this is not a dream… that you can also see me the same way I see you?”

Merric never doubted that what he was seeing was real life, he was able to see the flaws in what he considered a perfect woman. Rather than the flawless shape Merric envisioned Elice in his dreams. To Merric, Elice was still perfect. But even he could acknowledge how dirty her skin seemed from living inside those prison cells.

“I am confident, Princess Elice. That what we are seeing, is real.” Merric assured, causing Elice to feel relief hearing his answer.

They looked at each other’s eyes sweetly, seeing how much they’ve grown during all the years they were separated from one another.

“Elice…”

“Merric…”

Before they could say anything else, they were interrupted by someone laying on a bed nearby. “Wow.”

They both came back their senses and faced the man looking at them. It was Xane, who survived being stabbed by Gharnef earlier. “So that’s why she’s giving you better treatment than what I received.” Xane commented.

“Xane?! You’re alive!” Merric said.

“Of course I’m alive, despite being penetrated by Gharnef’s massive-”

“Xane! Stop being so disgusting!” Linde, who just entered the tent interrupted.

“What? I was about to say knife.”

Upon realizing both of them were okay, Merric felt relieved.

“Merric, how are you feeling?” Linde asked.

“I’m okay, though I can’t move my body without feeling pain.” Merric responded.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“What about the Falchion?” Merric remembered not picking it up after killing Gharnef.

“I gave it to Prince Marth. Don’t worry.” Linde assured.

“For the record, she’s taking about the real Prince Marth.” Xane joked. “Not the handsome one.”

“That’s it, I’m taking you out of here.” Linde frustratingly said. And proceeded to drag him out of the tent.

“Wait! Wait!” It was a joke!” Xane said as his voice faded away from the infirmary tent.

Merric couldn’t contain a little chuckle after Xane got dragged away.

Elice opened Merric’s shirt without him noticing. And when he noticed what she was doing, he began to blush. “E…Elice?!” Merric said nervously.

“Oh, sorry for the sudden intrusion, Merric. I’m going to heal all of your wounds.” Elice clarified as she exposed his chest.

Merric’s body seemed burned up from the two explosions Gharnef created. He didn’t have any live threatening injuries, but he still needed special care.

Elice was speechless after seeing all the damage Merric took during battle. To the point where she could feel guilty for all the pain he went through.

“I know this looks bad, but I’m feeling better.” Merric began. “I did this to myself, because I wanted to help the Altean army come out victorious. And I want things to go back to how they were before. So please, don’t blame yourself for what happened to me. I knew what I was getting into and how I was going to end up.”

Elice still didn’t say anything after seeing his injuries.

“Elice, please say something. I… I don’t want you to think this could have been avoided and blame yourself.” Merric said.

Elice looked into his eyes. “You have grown so much…” she said. “A far cry from the little boy I once knew… who I would heal from a minor injury… who I would protect from any doubtful thoughts he had about himself… and who I would encourage to live his life.”

Elice got closer to Merric’s head. “Now… that little boy who I once looked out for… is looking after me.” Merric and Elice touched foreheads. “And I couldn’t be happier… Merric.” She comforted him.

The next day, Merric was almost fully healed, Marth suggested for him to be absent during the battle of Dohlr due to his injuries, but Merric refused. He was more determined than ever to see this war through and make it out alive.

The next battle would decide who comes out on top and who will rule Archanea.

Linde was determined to overcome anything that came in her way, Marth and Caeda looked at the sunrise on the horizon, ready to put an end to the war one and for all and Merric and Elice also looked at the horizon with them.

Merric reached Elice’s hand for him to hold, and Elice gladly reached for his. Both determined now more than ever, to survive together.