Fire Emblem: Rise of the Red Dawn

[Solace]

Jix Moros - Dutiful Father Before Loyal Soldier

Slain during the final battle of Utsushiyo's turbulent civil war, Jix Moro's corpse had not dissipated into the light as the norm considered, superstitions of a holy entity being present built around the phenomena. When news of his death reached his home country of Fesaria, the entire nation mourned over the loss. A monumental muse was erected in the honor of Jix's Legions within the capital city, while the Partisan, his signature and unique weapon as the only one left in known existence, was returned to the kingdom where it was deemed a national treasure and held in safekeeping. He was given a proper burial by his son, Simeon Moros, and fellow rebels that survived the bloody conflict. His tombstone and burial site, located upon a hill overlooking the Palace of Utsushiyo and withstanding the test of time, stands to this day.

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Interlude
I'm sorry, but I've got to go now.
No, you have to stay here.
It's a secret.
I can't say... I don't know too much myself...
I won't be gone for long, I'll come back very soon, for sure.
I promise.

This had been a twenty-three year old Solace's side of the conversation with Simeon, who was truly nine years old but twelve physically, five weeks prior to beginning the long journey to Darba, as the illustrious woman in his dream had instructed him to go. It seemed skeptical, but there was something about her voice that captivated and convinced him otherwise. He had hated tearful farewells and departures, one of which specifically came to mind had been the one with Cella three years ago after vowing to visit now and then. That had been the first time he'd truly cried for a long time.

As Solace pressed further down the trail, he noticed the shadow of a figure that was several steps ahead of him. He could see a loose scabbard of a katana hang to the left of the figure's side, which meant that it was a swordsman. He was always open for competition, especially against other swordsmen. Perfect, by why is he just standing there? He increased the speed of his steps until he was lightly jogging, now only standing a few steps away.

"You are Solace Velox, the Zephyr?" The swordsman muffled behind an intricate mask, his appearance vaguely reminding Solace of something, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. The air around him felt tense and constricted, as if entangled in some sort of gravitational field.
"Yeah. That's me." Solace nodded, resting his left hand atop the hilt of his sword and prepared in the instance of an ambush. Assassins had came for his head many times and ambushes had become commonplace, so he was always alert and ready for such. But the swordsman only ah'd in amusement. "You know who I am?"
"You are more regionally famous than you think you are. Many know of the Branded Hero of the unsung rebellion." The masked swordsman laughed, suddenly brandishing his sword. It looked more or less like an ordinary katana, but looks were deceiving. "May I have a test of skill, to gauge your progress down the path of swordsmanship?"
"I won't go easy on you." Solace replied, taking a few steps back but nonetheless eager to accept. He never said no to a duel. "If it's a duel you want, it's a duel you'll-

Solace barely had the time to finish producing the last words of his sentence before the swordsman charged at him with full speed. Luckily he had been able to brandish his sword just as quickly, but damn, he was fast... wait a moment. Blood sprayed from several directions of his body, causing Solace to coil in pain and fall to his knees. His sword escaped his grip and landed at his side, the blade partially chipped and showered in his blood as he heard the swordsman laugh again. Around him, he saw that his blood had arced and formed some sort of symbol. Painful grunts and wheezes were the only thing that he could make. As much as Solace tried, he could not will his body to continue operating. With a mouth full of more blood, he collapsed on top of the symbol and as he fell unconscious from his wounds, he saw the silhouette of a person running towards him. But right before his eyes were closed shut, he felt as if the deeper portion of his memory was unlocked like a key to a door.

Hahaha... go easy on me, Amatsu Mikaboshi? I beg to differ, Solace.
I must commend you, though.
Practically saved your life by deflecting a good deal of my slash...
But I am sure that your darkness will be of good use nonetheless.
Goodbye, Son of None.

(I will now proceed to post Solace's updated character sheet for Part III. This post is an event that occurs just before the next part will start, but will be further explained in the Part III portion of his biography.)

[RedxXxDawn]

Iskendaar waited in the plaza. No one recognized her as the legendary heroine she was, but she knew it was probably for the better. There was no reason to arouse anyone, and she was still tired of all the attention she had been smothered with in her lifetime. The things she did back then were heroic, but they could have left her a little more space. The people were at last calm. And busy, very, very busy as they walked everywhere to and fro, but they were at peace. She seemed to care little about the peace, but liked the airships that came and went through the skies. She looked up at them and smiled a little, lips of cherry red lipstick tugging at the corners. Just how many years had she been away for the people to come this far?

She marveled in the noises produced from the flying vessels. Even the smaller ones meant to fit only one or two people. She took in the turning of iron gears, the smell of burning oil and even the steam shooting from the many little bronze pipes all over some of the many contraptions. Despite her amusement, all that showed of it was a little, humorless smile. She had turned a few heads as she walked back and forth, pacing for a bit. To her, the three hours of waiting and wandering the plaza felt like only fifteen minutes. She did not expect anyone to show up just yet, yet Zaphikel stood nearby as if she had been there the entire time.
The two just looked at each other. All the loud background hissing from steam pipes, the squeaking of oil pumps, the turning of gears and the walking, talking of people, all seemed to fall into the background. Despite their surroundings, very little else seemed to exist. Time itself seemed to come to a gradual but complete halt, and then all else with it faded away. Iskendaar would have looked into Zaphikel's eyes if she could see them, but somehow she felt that she was doing the same. Curiosity escalated into suspicion, and they watched each other carefully for movements or signs of action, feeling or thought. But all they received from one another was a blank stare and a really bad vibe.
"...Zaph." Iskendaar said suddenly, shattering the silence. To Zaphikel it sounded like she had snapped at her, but it was merely a statement. Non-quizzically, it was said. It was not a question, for there was no need to question. She knew she was the one.
The sage blinked under her hood, hesitated, then simply, slowly nodded. Iskendaar, she thought in the same tone, but did not say.

Nodding as though she understood that, Iskendaar turned her head toward one of the landing airships. "You're the first, I see," Iskendaar said nonchalantly.
Again, the sage only nodded. There, the two waited. They could not have known each other for more than five minutes, and already there was electricity between them that neither of them liked. Zaphikel saw her as a mere annoyance, like another everyday obnoxious fool she would have to deal with.
Iskendaar, however, saw trouble. There was something about the sage she did not like. She had an idea of what it could have been, but was not about to bring it up. Considering her mission, that would be stupid.
There, the two waited. Not another word was spoken between them. Other than the occasional quick, blank-faced yet hostile glances that shot back and forth between them here and there, they seemed aloof most of the time. Sometimes a man walking by would turn around, eyeing Iskendaar out of lust. But Zaphikel just rolled her eyes or ignored it every time.

[ChrisShuzen]

Wings were flapping in the air. "Lower us down Dragandal... Fly Pakienhert!" came a female voice. A women and a mixed breed Beroc sat down, the two dismounted, A slender couple got off a Wayvern that was black, upon a whistle, the Wayvern than flew off. " The girl from the dream..." Came the young Tactician, he clearly looked the most youthful, as if he had not aged in the past three years. "Shuzen... Give the command and I'll be ready..." Said the women following the Tactician. Chris nodded as he walked forward to see Zaphikel and Iskendaar. " I see you and another are here..." came Chris. Mokotaro simply glanced at the sage. Chris looked at the sage and tilted his head, as if he had seen her before, but he did not recall. But however he did remember that face. "I'm assuming you all know who I am." Chris said somewhat pompously.

[Solace]

The clanking of machinery chimed as the fumes of pollution loomed above the heads of Solace Velox and his companion, Dell Aware. As they traversed the winding pathways and corridors covered in soot and residue, the occasional wandering citizens paid no homage to them, and instead, continued to progress through their daily duties. So, this was the shithole I was born in? Seems legitimate. Although he was a bit mired by the living and working conditions of the steampunk city, the advanced technology surrounding them intrigued him. He would have never been able to imagine air transportation to be a possibility, trying to absorb everything all at once was difficult. No more than two weeks ago, he had been bested easily in a duel with another swordmaster, but there was something more to it that confused him, coupled with the fact that a lot of his memories of the past had suddenly returned, but not enough to remember who his parents were in particular... it was strange. The swordmaster must have been terrifyingly strong if he had been beaten so easily, especially if a part of his sword was broken as a result.

"Looks like we're here, there's our acquaintance." Solace elbowed Dell lightly and pointed towards the plaza where the illustrious woman who had sent him the dream message known as the heroine Iskendaar was. Around her, there seemed to have been a few more people, but he was unable to make out who they were. There must have been more people who'd been chosen, as well. As Solace and Dell approached them, he whispered, "Look sharp, Dell. Don't want to give a bad impression, eh?"

[Jedly]

Dell's mind came back to reality when Solace nudged him, it took a few seconds for his eyes to focus on Iskendaar. He was entranced in the airships, they seemed so... out of this world. "So... that's our hostess?" He whispered to Solace, "Well, no reason to keep her waiting." He looked at the surrounding buildings, it made the common home where he lived look like a six year old built it. And just the aspect of air travel was unbelievable, the smell of oil and the sound of gears turning against each other filled the air. There seemed to be more people surrounding the heroine, "Guess they were summoned here as well." He thought to himself, other civilians were a little too close for comfort. Dell's hand slowly moved to his side, where he had his dagger, just in case. He didn't trust anybody here but Solace. He stopped once he reached the group of people surrounding the heroine, at a closer look, they all seem like they could kill a person in a matter of seconds. "I'll let you do the greeting." He whispered to Solace as he nodded to the others, letting his hand subside.

[Arthanus]

Anna strolled the streets atop Wild Flower, her wide eyes darted around in awe. This was the first time the woman had been to such a large city full of people. Jason strolled behind her with a small smile on his face slightly enjoying her amazement. "Jason I never knew that cites were this big. These buildings look so cool compared to the trees of the forest!" She said while looking around acting nowhere near her age. "Do you think that lady is nearby? I wonder what she is like? To be able to talk to people in their dreams that's so cool!!!!" She then looked down on Jason who was almost laughing before realizing how much of a child she must look like. She instantly turned a bright red and faced forward. "Shut up, I don't want to hear anything about it" she quickly snapped before Jason said anything. Jason sniffed the air as he caught something. "Well that smell is familiar, I think they might be over here." He said before changing direction and making his way to where the group was assembling. Anna fallowed him, it wasn't often that Jason would take the lead, but when he did, well they actually got where they were supposed to. When they arrived Jason gave a small smile. "Well Well, familiar faces, The Half-Bread punk, The no honor strategist and the mage." He said in a sarcastic tone, "It has been quite a while since I have seen any of you, although I hear you two each made quite a name for yourselves." He said while pointing at Solace and Chris. Before he could continue Anna butted in. "Shut up you old dog, be nice if these are your old friends. Hi I'm Anna I watch over this stray and make sure he stays out of trouble. Nice to meet you all." She says while giving a half bow on her horse. Jason turns and gives her a cold look before facing the rest of the group he doesn't speak again and just gives a nod greeting them himself.

Kelthar and Reya walked together making their way to the meeting point. Kelthar looked up to see one of the flying ships. "You know... There is just something not right about that. I mean at least with a boat I can swim if I fall off... That.... Ya I can't fly...." He complains looking at the ship. He really didn't like the idea of a flying ship, but he could just see it in Reya's eyes all the trouble she would get in if she had a ship that had no constraints such as that. "No... I know that look, you are not getting a flying ship...." He stated although he knew if she really wanted one he couldn't do anything about it. He continued to fallow Reya and oppose the flying ships while they walked making their way to find the person who had contacted them in their dreams.

[ChrisShuzen]

Chris was confused about the "no Honor" part, but decided to let it not bug him, rather than retaliate, Mokotaro did it for him. "This 'No honor' strategist you speak of is not present. In fact, your in the presence of one of the most honorable people here in this world." Chris smiled as he saw Reya and Keather. "Fancy seeing my old friends here." He chuckled. "If I was a 'No honor' strategist, than why has your kingdom and others prospered from my choices? If you honestly think I killed your king, I'm not going to argue with you just because I have no memory of it." He looked dead at Jason with an eye of Judgment, almost as if he'd smite him if saw reason to. "Even if your King died, ever think of the possibility that there was inside corruption? That maybe one of your own was behind it? Or is it just easier to use a foreigner as a scapegoat?" He was being almost tauntingly. He crossed his arms before chuckling. " I think I get it now... From what I recall, the Prince blasted my memory, but not after I impaled him... The Princess had no reason to be being held hostage by his highness... Of course from the rest of your views it may look different, my memory was mostly warped, but black magic is no joke... Most of my memory is hazy, but don't believe me if you don't want to since perception is your reality rather than factual data." He said bluntly.

[RedxXxDawn]

Zaphikel wanted to believe him, but was not ready to conclude on anything just yet. He was known as a slayer of royalty who had killed the entire royal family, and then the queen of Utsushiyo. What was next? Was he going to wind up assassinating Iskendaar next? Zaphikel glanced at Iskendaar shortly, then looked at Chris again. His mention of inside corruption and the prince did ring a bell of suspicions of her own she had, but never thought very deeply on for some reason. She had always felt something about that prince. Something was not right about him. Not just the dark magics in his veins that she felt here and there, something else. She knew that the prince had been studying dark magic, and that alone was a little suspicious in itself, yet she said nothing about it all those years. Even during the rebellion. Although she did not suspect he would actually be the one who had instigated it.

As Kelthar had guessed Reya did marvel at the flying airships. She wanted one, and wanted to explore the world in one of those huge ones with her mercenary crew. She wondered how a boat could fly like that and pondered on the workings of it, and even what the air would feel and smell like being so high up. However, she would have to save it for another time. She and Kelthar had a dream to follow. A whole other adventure to pursue first.
"Ah, thar she is!" Reya said, pointing to the group and leading Kelthar there. "Ah, Chris. Yer here too?"
Iskendaar nodded upon their arrival. "Good," she said casually, "that makes everybody. As you may already know, I'm Iskendaar, the woman from your dreams. In that dream I sent to each of you, I instructed you to come here at this point and time. Glad everyone got my message, and that you all arrived on time. I don't like having to wait, you know. You see, I have a very important mission at hand and I need your help. You are the ones I have chosen for this task that must be completed. Our mission is to expunge an ancient evil that will once again rise up, and try to take over our world. Has anyone heard of the prophecy of the Red Dawn? It's written in history that a red sun will rise one day, and from there the devils will come again. The wicked beings I have slain in that war many years ago to save this world from destruction. The day of the Red Dawn will come once again, but before that happens we need to seal it back up again. The key to doing this is through the Seven Wonders of the world. The Two Suns Temple, the Undercity Pharos, Avalon Flying Islands, each of these special locations on this continent holds a special device I must activate in order to reset the seal to prevent the devils from returning and running rampant once again. Only I can reset the sealing devices, for they will recognize my presence."

Reya nodded at the mention of devils. Was that the horrid beast-thing she faced just after the slaying of the queen? Where did something like that come from, and how did it ever come to be? What she remembered was that the fiend did meet some of the descriptions of the devils in the war she read about Iskendaar and her conquests.
Zaphikel knew more than Reya did about the continent's history, however. History was one of her favorite subjects of study. From what she had read, Iskendaar had conquered the Seven Wonders all by herself, so why would she need help from this little group? And why pick us, of all people? Zaphikel pondered. There are better mages out there than me. Makes no sense.
Zaphikel had also noticed some differences in the legends written and what the real Iskendaar was telling. According to the books, Iskendaar was able to channel a special power from the Seven Wonders Sites, and with that had had slain all the devils in a single stroke. But in doing so, she had disappeared. Some say she was slain by the devils in the process, others say she was killed as a side effect of the technique she used. By why was she here now? One difference in what she had told was that the Two Suns Temple she mentioned was really known as the Two Moons Temple. Until now, Zaph had never heard anyone refer to it as that. Second, history said that all the devils were slain. Nothing was mentioned about them being sealed away. And why was Iskendaar wearing makeup? Makeup did not even exist in her time. Not that that was difficult to explain, knowing she could have simply picked some up.

"I got us a ship at dock twenty, "continued Iskendaar. "We'll be taking that to our first destination. The Deities' Table. Not too far from here, just a ways to the south." She said, leading them to the air docks. "All aboard," she said. And there it was. One of the great airships Reya had wanted to ride. It was not the biggest, but surely more than large enough for their little group. It seemed even larger and more complex in person than Reya had imagined. Reya smiled widely at the sight of the ship she knew she would be riding. She would not be commanding those aboard, for she was not in charge, but the experience was to die for. Although she was among the first to come aboard, she did contain most of her excitement. "I like 'er already!" Reya said, pacing about the wooden plank floors as if testing them out. She liked the sound of her footsteps on these new decks. Her boots reverberated without that extra echo, but the sound came across loud and clear. They felt a little too clean for her personal taste, however. The wood also lacked that wet feeling under her boots she had been used to. That was one thing she would miss, but would get used to easy.

Inside the ship was also very clean. Only the engine room smelled of oil and steam. It was a huge place with several engineers operating the devices; maintaining pressure levels by watching gauges, pulling levers and pushing buttons on control panels, even the oiled-up pistons pumping back and forth were a wonderful sight to behold. Reya loved it all, while Zaphikel looked at it in a more analytical sense. Zaph learned more and more about the workings of each individual device the more she studied their appearances.

On the top deck was a large and more elaborate vertical wheel, much like the ones used to steer a ship at sea. "Alright, here we go!" All Iskendaar had to do to start the airship was insert a key into a slot next to the base of the wheel, and turn it forward. A deep rumble came from beneath, causing the whole ship to vibrate. Iskendaar held the key there for a moment to keep the engines running. When the ship's rumbling became a smooth, steady vibration, she let go of the key. Soon, the ship took off. It came slowly out of the dock tunnel at first, but then it seemed to shoot into the sky. Reya could not help herself that time. Just as the ship was talking off, she ran to the front of the ship, hopped over the rail, and stood at the base of the bow, boot planted there confidently. A strong wind blew past her face as the ship took off, and with that she let out a loud 'Yeee-hawwww!!'

Iskendaar, however, stood there casually, steering the ship as needed. She did not have a map out, or even a compass. It seemed she knew the way by heart.

[Solace]

(I tried to be comical in the first paragraph, but I don't think it worked out too well. I am zo unfunniez DX *shot*)

Over the past three years that passed, Solace had taken on the finest of warriors all across the continent and won, solely eliminated notorious bandit groups, fought off assassins, and took care of a child all at once. Before that, he'd endured isolation and discrimination from the general public, lived the turbulent life of a thief, spent time rotting behind bars in darkness, and much later, fearlessly took down a dragon and apprehended some sort of demon in Utsushiyo.
But nothing could compare to being atop of an airship that was now suspending who knew how long from the ground. As he death-gripped to what he thought was one of the sides of the airship, it was easily said that he had a fear for heights, one of which he himself had not known until now. Maybe it had been from when he had crash-landed while on an airship as a child, but he wasn't prepared to add on to the phobia.

Practically trembling, it wasn't until a few moments later that he realized he was clinging on to a hooded person whose decoration gave them the appearance of that of a shaman. If it was someone whom he had seen before, then he must have had the worst memory yet, but he'd been able to pick out a few people who he recognized; Chris, Reya, and Kelthar. The others were all foreign to him, or at least, he thought.
"S-sorry!" Solace rashly apologized to the shaman, quickly releasing his hold and prancing across the deck to take hold of the side. Don't look down... don't look down... And just like that, he paid the price for thinking aloud. He felt bad for the people below the airship that would be splattered by the spray of vomit, like it were death from above.

[Jedly]

Dell was about to ask Solace if he was ok before he vomited off the side. He slightly shifted away from him as he heaved for a few more seconds, "I would say you just rained on somebody's parade... but I think that would be an understatement." Dell patted Solace's back lightly, "I'll um... Go get you a towel." He turned around and began to look around the deck, quickly realizing there would be nothing of his use. He made his way to the entrance below-deck and cautiously stepped down the stairs. He continued to search until he found a towel, then quickly ran back up the stares. He made his way over to Solace and handed him a towel, "Eh... it isn't a bucket, but it'll do." He nodded to him, and looked at the other passengers of the ship. He knew absolutely nothing about them, nor did he know how to approach them. Dell quickly checked if his dagger was still in check, which it was. He looked behind himself and saw how far off they were, "Holy shit, now that's a long fall... Vomit from up here is like throwing a damn rock down there." He thought to himself as his eyes widened. He quickly looked over to Solace, sighing and leaning his head back.