ready-4-takeoff

[ready-4-takeoff]

Fire Emblem : The Road to Healing Chapter 5

Characters used by asklucinalowell: Mercutio, Marseille, Mauris

Chapter 5 

Marseille was currently sleeping in her room and for the first 2 hours, it looked like she was going to have a good night’s rest like she has had during her time at Garreg Mach, but soon, she was beginning to toss and turn in her sleep. 

“Hngh... n-no, please, don’t make me...” She said as she was beginning to have a nightmare. 

In Marseille’s dream... 

The sun was currently setting on a plain of grass as she opened and saw another person right in front of her, and that person was Mercutio, or as she previously knew him as Robin, the person that she not only loved but the same person that had sacrificed his life to eradicate the fell dragon Grima permanently. 

She also saw that she was wearing the same uniform that she had worn while she was disguised as the hero king Marth and was also holding the sword Falchion... while pointing it at Robin. and immediately realized what this was all about. 

“My life is yours... it always has been.” Robin said with a small smile on his face 

“D-don’t look at me like that!” Marseille cried “I love you! ...Do you have any idea how hard this is for me?” 

“It’s alright...” Robin replied “I would give my life for Chrom. ...And for you.” 

“Robin...” was all Marseille could reply as tears began to emerge from her eyes 

“Just... promise me that you’ll find someone else who cares for you.” Robin said “Promise to me that you’ll won’t be alone. All that I've ever wanted to see in my life was for you to be happy Lucina.” 

“N-no... ah gods, no...” Marseille stammered 

“Trust me...” Robin said as he walked towards Marseille. “If you do this, All of Ylisse will be safe thanks to you. You'll not only be labeled as a hero, but you’ll also be able to have a peaceful life with the ones that you loved and vowed to protect.” 

“I can’t!” Marseille cried, “What will happen to you?!?” 

“Don’t worry about me” Robin reassured to Marseille, “I promise that one day, I will find a way to return to you and your family. And, if I don’t, then I can assure you that I was able to cherish every moment with you during the time that I was with you and the shepherds.” 

“P-promise?” Marseille stammered 

“I promise.” Robin replied, “Now, do what you must.” 

"I... I must...” Marseille again stammered as she lowered Falchion. 

The two just stood there for a moment before... 

“Robin...” Marseille said and dashed towards Robin shouting, “I LOVE YOU!!!” 

All Robin could do was close his eyes as he braced for Marseille to plunge Falchion into his chest, and ultimately into his Heart. 

As Marseille ran towards Robin, she closed her eyes and shouted “FORGIVE ME!” But before Falchion could pierce Robin’s chest... 

Back in reality. 

“NO!” Marseille shouted as she jolted up from her bed panting heavily as she began to regain her bearings. She decided to get out of her bed and look at herself in the mirror and saw that she was wearing her nightgown fortunate that she was able to wake up from the dream that she was having. 

“Haa... gods... it was only just a dream...” Marseille breathed in relief. 

But while Marseille was looking in the mirror, she began to shed tears from her eyes as she realized what that dream, or more specifically... that Nightmare was all about. 

“Oh Robin... I miss you so much. But why did you have to leave me?” She said as she began to cry. 

What hit her so hard emotionally was that she had lost the one person that had meant so much to her. and what made it worse was that she now had no one meaningful for her to lean on whenever she felt sad. Sure, the friends she had made during her time at Gerrag Mach gave her something to smile but these friends won’t replace the people that she had loved back in Ylisstol. 

In reality, those people weren't Her's to begin with as she went back in time to help end the fell dragon’s presence in ylisse, but with her mission done, she no longer had any reason to stay as those people back home weren't her real family, they belonged to that girl. 

As Marseille made her way back to her bed. She fell onto the mattress and cried her way back to sleep. Unfortunately for her she would not be able to go back to sleep for the rest of the night as her sleep would be plagued with nightmares of her tormented past. 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

Unfortunately for Marseille, that night where she had her first nightmare would be the beginning of a depressing length of time for her at the Monastery as the nightmares that she would have every night would seem to worsen. The duration of each nightmare that she would have would be longer and were more frequent with each one dragging her back to the real world as a screaming wreck. What made it worse was that these nightmares that Marseille had would not only affect her during the night, but also it affected her during the day as well, as she began see and hear things throughout her day which distracted her from her activities and studies despite her best efforts to stay focused. But these delusions also continued to bring her further into grief-fueled madness. Instead of escaping her tormented past, this pain which entrenched into her heart seemed to worsen each passing day and what made it worse, it began to make her delirious. On top of it she began to distance herself from students at the Monastery as she felt that the effects that she was facing from the nightmares she had were only going to make her a distraction to others around her.  

Fortunately, some of the students that saw her before she got too far from them, were able to notice her change in behavior and tried their best to help her. One of those instances was of course the leader of the Black Eagles, Edelgard Von Hresvelg as shortly after breakfast, she noticed Marseille sitting alone on a bench feeling down. 

“Um... Marseille?” Edelgard began. 

“Huh?” Marseille nodded up at Edelgard snapping out of her downcast mood. “Oh... hello Edelgard...” she replied. 

“It’s good to see you Marseille” Edelgard said, “You feeling alright?” 

“Hm? Oh, not really, I just am feeling mentally ill.” Marseille said telling the truth. 

“I see...” Edelgard said feeling sorry for her friend. “Well, Mercedes and I need help to finish a task with weeding and I was wondering, would you like to help us?” 

“Oh... sure that would be nice. I'll come and help...” Marseille replied with a fake smile. 

“Great!” Edelgard said happily, “I’ll see you there. Oh, and by the way, just take your time when you are ready to work with us ok?” she added as well. 

“Alright...” Marseille said back. 

1 hour later... 

By the time Marseille found the duo of Edelgard and Mercedes, one hour had already past which for Marseille, was unusual for her to be late to a part of her daily schedule by that length of time. 

“Marseille!” Mercedes said sounding surprised, “Where were you, all this time? We were worried about you!” 

“Oh...” Marseille said sounding sad, “I was just thinking about... well... nothing really. Let’s just get to work and get this over with alright?” 

“Um... ok...” Mercedes said sounding concerned as the trio began to work on weeding in the garden. 

30 minutes later... 

As the trio were working on their project, Edelgard noticed that Marseille was working at an Extremely slow and lackluster pace, which for was definitely an unexpected sight from Marseille. She could tell that Marseille looked troubled and decided to ask her what was wrong with her. 

“Um... Marseille?” Edelgard began, “Do you think you will be able to work in your present condition? Because I'm worried about you given how you slowly you have been working today...” 

“Huh?” Marseille replied “Oh of course I can work, but even so... there is no guarantee that I could be a potential roadblock from accomplishing the task that we were given today...” 

“Hm... indeed...” Edelgard said sounding worried “Let’s just get through with this as best as we can alright?” 

“Ok...” Marseille said “But that only leaves me feeling even worse because I can’t bear to be useless to either one of you... because the thought of that leaves me feeling week and helpless...” she added while beginning to shed tears from her eyes. 

Mercedes looked at Marseille and couldn’t help but feel sorry for her friend and asked, “Are you feeling alright Marseille? Because if not, maybe you should rest a bit and let me and Edelgard do the work for you...” 

Marseille then looked at Mercedes and proceeded to say, “I appreciate your thoughts, but it won't matter because all you could consider me is nothing but a burden... as I *sniff* merely only exist just so you could toil me at your command...” 

“Don’t say stuff like that!” Mercedes said sounding shocked, “throughout the time you have been here at the Monastery, you have always been working hard and what I've noticed is that you have been making more mishaps from all the hard work that you have been doing! This time it is my turn to pull us through.” She added with a smile. 

“Unfortunately, Mercedes, you are Incorrect...” Marseille responded, “As long as *sniff* as I am to be working with you, it will always be my turn.... and it will be my turn the next as well. All that you will be good for is to just wait until these tasks that we do are finished.” she ended while shedding more tears from her eyes. 

“Oh no, that just won’t do!” Mercedes replied “It will be much better if we work together.” 

“Fine...” Marseille groaned in disappointment. 

As the trio got back to work, Edelgard noticed up on the balcony, she saw Mercutio, the professor of the Golden deer walking by and then looked back at Marseille and thought “I wonder if he could the reason why Marseille is feeling so down recently? I’m going to have to get to the bottom of this.” 

“Edelgard?” Mercedes asked which snapped Edelgard out of her thoughts. 

“Oh right!” She replied as she got back to work with Mercedes and Marseille. 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

Another instance in which it troubled a student at the Monastery was of course Ashe, Marseille’s best friend, as he was doing a little better on his studies than Marseille given that she was still struggling to get control of her life. But every time he saw her, he could not help but feel sorry for her as he could see that Marseille was struggling but he could do little to help her. 

He was currently sitting on a bench feeling troubled for Marseille when he heard a familiar voice. 

“Ashe...”  

“Huh?” Ashe said as he looked for that voice and saw it belonged to Mauris. “Oh, it's you Mauris, how are you doing?” 

“I could say we are on the same boat if you are talking about what we are feeling at the moment, Troubled.” Mauris replied. 

“You too?” Ashe questioned. 

“Yes, and it all relates to one person...” Mauris answered. 

“Does it have to do with Marseille?” Ashe said. 

“Yes, she seems troubled. To a level that even I could not have predicted.” Mauris replied sounding concerned. 

“How so?” Ashe asked. 

“Well...” Mauris began while sitting next to Ashe, “I have seen other students trying to have a conversation with her, but all she does is just ignore them. Why she is doing this, I just can’t seem to have an answer for... but all I know is, she is refusing to let go of her past. Surprisingly, even I can’t seem to have a chat with her...” 

“Really?” Ashe said sounding surprised. 

“Yes...” Mauris replied while nodding and frowning at the same time. 

“Well...” Ashe said “What kind of breaks my heart whenever I see her, I try to talk with her to see what is wrong with her just like what you did... But what makes it worse unlike you is whenever she sees me... All she does is tell me to stay away from me.” 

“Why is that?” Mauris asked. 

“Well... she thinks that I closely resemble Mercutio, the person that broke her heart a few days ago.” Ashe replied. “And I have a feeling that my level for concern for her has taken a turn for the worse given what happened the last time I saw her...” 

“What do you mean?” Mauris said. 

“Well...” Ashe said. “Take a look at what she did to me...” He said as he showed Mauris patches of dirt on his uniform. 

“She did that to you?!?” Mauris replied with a shocked expression in his face. 

“Yes...” Ashe said “She shoved me to the ground...” 

“Oh, my goodness...” Mauris replied sounding extremely concerned. “This is turning out to be far worse than I expected...” 

“Yes indeed...” Ashe responded sounding just as concerned as Mauris. He then asked. “But what can we do? Given that there is so little that we can do to help her in this situation...” 

“Well...” Mauris replied, “The only thing that I could do is to erase her memories of her past, but I highly doubt that this would help her in any way as it could make the situation even worse as I would literally regret making this decision.” 

“Well, could we try and... maybe try and make her let go of her past, like not...” Ashe began but was promptly interrupted by Mauris. 

“Ashe... Like I said, trying to make her forget the past isn’t going to help in this situation.” Mauris replied “Given the fact that she has had so many friends and family in her past, making her forget about all of those memories is going to make her hole of sadness that much bigger probably to a point where it could never heal.” 

“Oh... right, completely forgot about that” Ashe said feeling dumbfound because of his idea. He then had to go to his next class and said, “It was nice talking to you, I hope we can find a solution to help out Marseille...” 

“I’m sure we will” Mauris replied. He then replied “But until, I'll see you soon.” 

“Same here” Ashe said. As he left toward his class, he looked up to the sky and said to himself in a concerned tone, “I just hope that she doesn't do something where the situation that she is already in gets even worse..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unfortunately for Ashe, Marseille’s situation would indeed worsen, even to the point where some of the students like Ashe would be harmed in some way. An example of this occurred a few days later with Sylvain and Ferdinand a few days later, who saw Marseille down like previous times and asked if she was alright. But unlike others who just backed off at the first warning that Marseille said to stay away, they continued to attempt to talk to her, and this led to her shoving the two onto the ground and then just running off, which completely caught the two-off guard. Surprisingly, the two did not get angry at her, instead they too were concerned for her, especially Sylvain given that he was in the same house at her. 

After that incident and the ones that followed where students continued to try and talk with Marseille which led to more students being pushed to the ground from Marseille, they began to stay away from Marseille and soon, she had no one left to talk to except for the friends that she met the first time she arrived, and at times, she even refused to talk to them. 

But none of the incidents could even come close as extreme to the altercation that would happen between Marseille and Mercutio, as on the day before the houses of Gerrag Mach were to go out on their mission to the holy Mausoleum, the two would meet again and unfortunately, things wern't going to be pretty between the two... 

It did start out fine enough though as Mercutio was currently sitting with Hilda having tea together. 

“I really like it when we have moments like these together when we are alone!” Hilda said happily. 

“I’m glad to hear that.” Mercutio said with a nod. “But your constant motives in following me all the time can be a bit of a concern to me as I can’t seem to get anything done.” 

“Oh!” Hilda gasped. “I’m so sorry if I'm becoming a distraction to you!” 

“It’s alright Hilda.” Mercutio replied “But I would appreciate it if you could limit the number of times that you follow me, Ok?” 

“Alright!” Hilda said in agreement “Now then, shall we talk about...” Hilda began but then saw Marseille walking. 

“Oh look! There’s Marseille” Hilda pointed at her. “Boy... she looks down...” she then had an idea, “I know! You should go talk to her!” she said happily. 

“Um Hilda...” Mercutio said concerned, “I’m not sure if that would be a good idea given that...” 

“Oh, come on silly!” Hilda reaffirmed Mercutio “I’m sure she would want to talk with you!” 

“Are you sure?” Mercutio questioned Hilda. 

“I’m sure!” Hilda replied. 

“Alright...” Mercutio said as he slowly made his way over to Marseille while trying his best to avoid being seen. When he got close enough, he began to greet her. “Um... Hello, Marseille, is it?” 

Marseille turned around, and when she saw Mercutio, she jolted backwards away from him. “N-no... s-stay away f-from me...” Was all she could stutter as she held her hands forward to keep distance from Mercutio. 

Mercutio was confused at what she meant but he decided to come closer to her. “What are you talking about? I just wanted to talk with you... see what is wrong with-” 

“Please s-stay away from me!” Marseille said as she began to panic. 

Mercutio then remembered about their talk back in his room and remembered that he was the one that told her that he was no longer the person she loved even though he resembled that person. He had to apologize quickly before it got out of hand. “Marseille, I just wanted to say that I am-” 

But Mercutio got too close to Marseille and that was a big mistake on his part because something inside Marseille's mind snapped and what happened next caught both Hilda and Mercutio by surprise. As quickly as Mercutio was to apologize, Marseille was even faster to land a right-handed punch on Mercutio’s face which sent him tumbling to the ground. What was even more shocking was what she said to him. 

“F**k you Mercutio!” She shouted in his face in a tone that was both angry and also heartbroken at the same time, “You were the one who made me into what I am, A Broken-Hearted student you F**king B***h!" Before Mercutio could react, Marseille shouted, "I don’t ever want to see you ever again because I F**KING HATE YOU A**HOLE!” She then stormed off in sadness and ran from both Mercutio and Hilda.

After witnessing what just happened Mercutio expected Hilda to get upset with Marseille for what she just did to her professor, but instead she was truly worried for her friend as this was just not what Marseille was used to doing, considering that she was not just of the hardest working students at the Monastery, but she was also kindest students as well. 

“Um... Mercutio?” Hilda said as she helped him up. “First off, are you okay? and second, what in the goddess did we just witness? 

All Mercutio could do was shake his head in sadness. He felt horrible not form what he just witnessed, but also for his actions to Marseille. “This is all my fault...” he said. 

“Why is that?” Hilda questioned. 

“I should have never been so harsh to her by just ignoring her while she was here...” Mercutio replied, “Then none of this would have ever happened, she could have succeeded as a brilliant student, and she would have been so happy even without me, but now... seeing her like this, it's just...” That was all he could say as he got up and started to walk away from Hilda. 

“Where are you going?” Hilda questioned. 

“I’m going to do something that I should have done a long time ago.” Mercutio said in a concerned tone. “Something that I should have done when she first got here...” 

Hilda didn’t realize at first what he meant at first, but it made sense now. “I don't know you are up to professor, but I hope it's something that can stop this...” Hilda said to herself as she watched him go inside the monastery. 

[ready-4-takeoff]

Fire Emblem : The Road to Healing Chapter 4

Characters used by asklucinalowell: Mercutio, Marseille, Mauris

Chapter 4 

The Next Morning... 

It was just after 11 and Marseille was currently using a bow and trying to hit a bullseye at one of the archery targets at the ground. The weather outside was again sunny but there were signs that it could potentially rain in the near future so she was trying to take advantage of any day that had great weather to improve her skills with weapons that she wanted to use before going into a potential battle. She wasn’t having much luck so far as most of the arrows that she shot kept missing the target. 

“Ugh... why is this so difficult?” Marseille thought. “Some of the students during my early days here were kind enough to show me how to properly wield a bow... but even so... I can’t seem to hit the target easily.” 

Fortunately for Marseille, her good friend Ashe was currently out for a morning stroll and happened to notice her. He decided to see what was up as Marseille kept firing blanks at the target. 

“Hi Marseille.” he said. 

This startled Marseille and accidentally fired the arrow from her bow which hit one of the outer rings of the target. 

“Oh!” She yelped as she turned around then said, “Oh it’s only you Ashe. You scared me there for a second.” 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.” Ashe apologized. 

“It’s alright” Marseille said, “I’m not really good at wielding a bow anyway...” 

“Don’t say that!” Ashe exclaimed “I’m sure that with lots of practice, you will be able to wield a bow and use it to fire on your targets with ease.” This gave Ashe an idea. “Say, do you want me to show you something about bows?” 

“Sure.” Marseille said, “But what is it that you could show me?” 

“Well.” Ashe said as he walked over to stand next to Marseille, “The first thing that you are doing wrong is that you are wobbling too much even though you are in the position that most archers are.” 

Marseille nodded at this. 

“So, here is what I do, and you can follow me if you want.” Ashe said, “I tend to close my eyes, and take position. Then when I am ready to fire, I keep one eye open to help improve my accuracy in trying to hit my target and stay as still as possible.” He proceeds to go into a standing archer pose and takes aim with Marseille following suit. He then keeps one eye as he pulls the bow string and arrow back while staying focused. And then he releases the bow string and watches as the arrow hits a bullseye. “Now you try it.” 

Marseille tries what Ashe told her by following what Ashe told her and copying Ashe’s position and fires the arrow and it also manages to hit a bullseye. 

“Hey! I Did it!” Marseille exclaimed happily. 

“You see? I knew you could do it.” Ashe said putting a hand on Marseille’s shoulder. 

Marseille smiled at this before asking, “Say, isn’t Byleth coming back today?” 

“Huh?” Ashe said and then realized “Oh yes! Today is the day that he’s coming back, along with the other house leaders!”  

“That’s great to hear.” Marseille said “But when do you think they will be back?” 

“Well, Professor Hanneman told us that he’d be back sometime before our afternoon classes started.” Ashe replied, “In the meantime, do you want to keep practicing so you can get better on using bows?” 

“Yes, I could definitely use some practice with you.” Marseille replied as she and Ashe went back to practicing with their bows to improve their archery. 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

It was 30 minutes before Marseille attended her afternoon classes and she was sitting at her favorite place which was at a small pier right by a pond with fish in it and she was currently studying by reading a book on learning how to tame a horse. The class that she wanted to learn was ranked as an intermediate class and so she is taking her studies more seriously. Just as she was about to start the next subject in the book, she heard a familiar voice. 

“Marseille?” 

“Huh?” Marseille turned around and saw professor Byleth, “Oh! Hello Professor! I’m glad you are here!” she said in a relieved tone. 

“It’s good to see you Marseille.” Byleth said as he shook her hand. He then asked, “How are you doing?” 

“I’m good.” Marseille replied. 

“I see.” Byleth said while nodding. “Can we talk? Mainly because I have been away for a while and we have lots to discuss.” 

“Oh...” Marseille said, “Yes, but where do you want to talk?” 

“We can talk here if you want. Considering this is where you are most of the time and it is kind of peaceful.” Byleth answered. 

“Alright” Marseille said as she made room for Byleth to sit next to her. 

“So... What is it that you wanted to talk about?” She asked. 

“Well...” Byleth began, “Professor Hanneman and many of the students around Garreg Mach have been talking about you and your kindness to helping out others.” 

“Oh...” Marseille said, “Should I stop?” 

“Of course not!” Byleth said, “I think you should continue mainly because you have been starting to gain a reputation for being one of the kindest students here at the Monastery and...”  

“Really?” Marseille said sounding surprised. 

“Yes!” Byleth said “And also, help around the Monastery is hard to find recently and I am sure everyone here appreciates any help with the chores that they are assigned.”  

“Oh, well that’s good to hear.” Marseille replied with a sigh of relief. 

“Hanneman also told me that you were able to pass and complete your beginners' classes and all I can say is that I am proud of you for accomplishing this feat.” Byleth added. 

“Thank you.” Marseille said, “It makes me feel at ease when I hear that.” 

“Glad to hear it.” Byleth replied. Then he said “Now, I’m sure that you got my letter yesterday, right?” 

“Yes...” Marseille replied “Which makes me wonder, where were you all this time?” 

“Well...” Byleth began, “Are you aware of a place called the abyss?” 

“No.” 

“Well, I'm sure that you have already met Constance and Yuri... but they originated from the abyss which was an underground settlement that has been defended by a house called the Ashen wolves.” 

“The Ashen wolves?” 

“Yes, and for the longest time, The Ashen wolves have had a long-standing truce with the church of Serios in which neither side would interfere with each other. But just recently, attempts to raid the abyss forced me along with Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude as well as Linhardt, Dedue, and Ignatz to take action and help the Ashen wolves defend the abyss.” Byleth explained. 

“So, that’s why you were gone all of yesterday...” Marseille replied. 

“Yes, and I'm sorry if I made you worried.” Byleth apologized, “But back to my story, so we entered the abyss and were defending it when the Liaison of the church, Aelfric arrived and told us that the mercenaries that were attempting to raid the abyss were looking for an item called the ‘Chalice of Beginnings’ 

“The Chalice of Beginnings?” Marseille questioned. 

“Yes” Byleth replied, “And this chalice was that main component to a ritual called the ‘Rite of Rising.’” 

“The Rite of Rising?” Marseille asked confused, “What are you talking about?” 

“Well...” Byleth explained “In the past, under the order of Serios, The Rite of Rising was an attempt to resurrect the goddess of the land Sothis by the four apostles, but unfortunately, it failed due to there being not enough blood poured into the chalice.” 

“I see...” Marseille said while nodding. 

“Anyway” Byleth said as he began to resume his story, “So the Ashen wolves decided to look for the chalice on their own and succeeded but in the process, Aelfric was captured and held ransom for the chalice. So, me and the Ashen Wolves headed out to rescue Aelfric, but it turned out we would be backstabbed...” 

“Why would you say that?” Marseille asked in a concerned tone. 

“Well...” Byleth said, “It turned out that Aelfric was the mastermind behind the attacks and as a result, he not only kidnapped the Ashen Wolves but he also took the chalice.” 

Marseille gasped. “I don’t get it, why would he do such a thing?” 

“Well, apparently, before Aelfric kidnapped them, the Ashen wolves told me that they were actually descendants of the four Apostles, and he planned to sacrifice them to revive someone named Sitri.” Byleth explained. 

“I don’t want to be rude but... who is this Sitri?” Marseille asked. 

“Well...” Byleth said as he looked down, “Sitri... she used to be my mother...” 

Marseille again gasped “Your mother?!?” 

“Yes...” Byleth answered. “Surprised?” 

“Yes indeed...” Marseille replied but then asked, “I don’t understand... Why would he want to revive your mother?” 

“Well,” Byleth began, “Rhea told me that he was close to my parents, but especially Sitri as all he wanted was to see her happy, but after her death, it would have a painful impact on him and thus, he vowed to do whatever it took to bring her back. But when she also told me that he would use the Ashen Wolves as sacrifices, I wasted no time in attempting to rescue them, fortunately I was able to succeed but despite this, Aelfric continued with the ritual and it ultimately turned him into an Umbral beast which forced us into battle with him. It was a tough battle, but we ultimately succeeded and retrieved Sitri’s body. Afterwards, Rhea would help disband the Ashen wolves and they were free to return to the surface world and promised to help me and each other if needed. And... I think that is all I have to tell you.” 

“I see... but there is one more question that I am curious about...” Marseille said, “What happened to your mother?” 

“Oh?” Byleth asked “Well... Rhea told us to keep Sitri’s body in a secret chamber forbidden to all except for Lady Rhea until we could give her the burial that she needs. But...” Byleth continued as tears began to form in his eyes. “Although Rhea said that there is a glimmer of a miracle... I think she has already passed on from this world...” 

“I see... well, thanks for telling me this as it was quite the story that you told me.” Marseille told Byleth in appreciation. She then decided to give her professor a hug while adding, “And also... I’m so sorry about your mother... but I think that even though there is a chance that she could be in a better place, I'm sure she wants you to do the best that you can.” 

“Thanks, Marseille.” Byleth said as he let go from her hug and began to stand up “It’s nice that there are people like you that seem to care about others when they are feeling down like I am.” 

“You’re welcome.” Marseille replied. She stood up along with Byleth and said, “Well, I best get to class and thankfully you’re back so that probably means you will be teaching again. But I was wondering, do you want me to walk back to the classroom with you?” 

“Sure.” Byleth replied as they walked back to the classroom together. 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

Later... 

Marseille had just finished her classes for the afternoon and with Byleth back, she along with her classmates were able to learn more from his teachings. Currently, she was out walking and at the same time thinking about the things she had learned from class. As she was doing those things at the same time, she accidently bumped into Caspar near the knights’ hall. 

“Hello?” 

“Oh!” Caspar said as he turned to face Marseille “Hi there Marseille!” He said cheerfully. 

“Hello to you too Caspar.” Marseille replied “What are you up to?” 

“Oh, well I was just reading this letter from my father.” Caspar explained “Do you know him?” 

“No, never heard of him...” Marseille told him. 

“Well, all I can tell you is that he is kind of a big deal to the empire.” Caspar replied with a chuckle. “Basically, all he writes in his letters is how my training is going and how many monsters I have killed, and stuff like that.” 

“Well, it seems that you just can’t catch a break...” Marseille said sadly. 

“It’s not a problem for me. My routine is to usually go to classes and during my intermissions between class, all I usually do is train with different weapons.” Caspar replied. He then said “Since you are here, can I ask you something?” 

“What is it?” Marseille asked. 

“Well, are you aware of the fighting tournaments here at the monastery?” Caspar asked. 

“No, I am not aware of this...” Marseille said. 

“Well,” Caspar said as he began to explain “Tournaments are held here at the monastery to test what the students have learned in their daily training. And the best thing is, anyone can get involved!” 

“Really?” Marseille said. 

“Yes! Isn’t that cool?” Caspar said happily. But then had an idea and grabbed her hand and said, “Oh, I know! You and I should sign up for one Marseille!” 

“Wha?” Marseille yelped as she was dragged off by Caspar.  ______________________________________________________________________________ 

Caspar and Marseille entered the training grounds and went straight towards the tournament organizer and Caspar asked him if he and Marseille were able to participate in a tournament. The organizer said that only one student could participate in a tournament at a time. So, Marseille told Caspar that he could go first so that she could get a feel of what a tournament is like and Caspar agreed to this and went to the sparring court. She watched as Caspar faced off against 5 Myrmidons and was able to handle all of them with ease. Marseille felt like she could be able to improve her sword skills if she was able to participate and so she decided to enroll in the tournament. She faced a similar set of Myrmidons and she was able to beat them with little difficulty. 

Afterwards, Marseille found Caspar at the same place where she first saw him and said, “I had a lot of fun participating in this tournament. Thanks for showing me.” 

“I’m really glad you enjoyed it!” Caspar replied happily. “So, you know how these tournaments work right? They are one on one fights, one after another. And every month, there are different tournaments here. And, I can’t wait!” 

“Same here. I think this will be a good way for me to improve my weapon skills each month.” Marseille replied. “Well, I best be on my way for class, so I'll see you later.” she said as she began to leave. 

“You too.” Caspar said as he went back into the knight's hall. 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

Later... 

It was late at night and Marseille finished up with her last classes for the night and she was currently heading back to her room, but before that, she decided to head to the library for some late-night studies on the topics that she learned in her classes through the day. Once she was done with that, she could finally go back to her room and get a well-earned night’s rest. As she got back to her room, she remembered what Byleth had told her about being the kindest student around the monastery and throughout the day she had decided to ask students around the grounds to see if was true about her growing reputation. Fortunately for her, just about every student had agreed with her question and they said that they enjoy having her as a student here. Once she got into bed, all Marseille could do was smile as she drifted to sleep hoping that every day after today was a similar one which included putting in a lot of effort to succeed in her classes as well as helping others when it is needed. 

However, little did Marseille know that this would be the last night she would have a peaceful sleep for a long time... 

[ready-4-takeoff]

Fire Emblem : The Road to Healing Chapter 3

Characters used by asklucinalowell: Mercutio, Marseille, Mauris

Chapter 3 

It was about 30 minutes past 1 and the trio of Marseille, Mercedes and Annette looked around the fountain and saw that all of their hard work paid off as just about all of the weeds were about removed. 

“Well, we did it!” Annette said happily. 

“Yes Annie!” Replied Mercedes in an equally happy tone. “And we wanted to say thank you Marseille, because if it wasn’t for you, then we wouldn’t have been able to get this project done.” 

“You’re welcome” Marseille replied, “It has been a pleasure to work with you.” 

Annette heard the bells of Garreg Mach ring and realized that Marseille would be late if they kept her waiting. “Oh, Marseille, sorry to keep you waiting but I think you should get to class!” She said to Marseille. 

“Oh Right! Thanks, Annette, for reminding me.” Marseille replied as she began to leave for class. 

“You’re welcome.” Annette replied but before Marseille left, she asked, “Marseille, should we tell Professor Hanneman while he is our professor or should we wait until Byleth returns?” 

“Well, I think Byleth is expected to return tomorrow morning so I think you should wait until he returns.” Marseille told Annette. 

“Alright, Thanks!” Annette said. 

“No problem.” Marseille replied as she left for class. 

______________________________________________________________

 It was just after three in the afternoon and Marseille finished up her classes for the afternoon which included learning a little bit about the history of Fodlan and some of the major events that took place like the foundation of the Adrestian Empire, and the War of Heroes and for Marseille, it was a lot to take in. Marseille was out training with one of the dummies periodically switching weapons between a training sword and training lance as she was trying to get into form with both weapons after passing her beginners classes. While she was making good progress, she was interrupted by fellow Blue Lions student Felix. 

“Hello, Marseille.” Felix greeted Marseille. 

“Felix? What brings you here?” Marseille asked as she stopped her training. 

“Well, I was just going out to improve my sword wielding posture and speed with that training dummy that you are currently using, but I can see that you are busy with it.” Felix said. 

“Actually, I was just about finished with my training for now, so you can use it if you want.” Marseille replied. 

“Oh, well thanks, but because you are here, that just gave me an idea.” Felix said. 

“Oh?” Marseille said, “And what would that be?” 

 “Well...” Felix began, “Professor Hanneman told me that you had just completed your beginner’s classes and with the weapons that you were using, you seem like a capable sparring partner...” 

“So, you want to spar with me?” Marseille said. 

“If you want to put it that way, then sure, I'm up for a quick spar with you, but only if you want me embarrass you again in swordplay.” Felix said in a sarcastic tone with a smirk on his face as he drew his sword. 

“You’re on!” Marseille said as she drew her sword out and charged at Felix as the two began to spar. 

______________________________________________________________

Inside the Main Library of Garreg Mach... 

Annette was sitting at an empty table studying for an exam with a book related to one of the major topics that she recently learned while he was in class today. While she was busy jotting down notes from the book into her notebook, Ashe came into the library and walked towards her. 

“Oh! Ashe, are you here to study too?” Annette said. 

“I am!” Ashe replied, “It’s quiet here, Easier to concentrate.” 

“It really is.” Annette answered. She then asked, “Hey, would you like to study together? We can help each other out if we get stuck.” 

“Oh, yes!” Ashe replied happily as he sat down to get started, “We’ll get a lot more done working together.” 

A few minutes later... 

Annette and Ashe were making good progress in their studies on the topics that were going to be on their exam in a few days. However... 

“Uh... Hmm...” 

“What’s the matter Ashe?” Annette said. 

“This question’s got me stumped.” Ashe said. 

“What’s the question?” Annette asked. 

“The question is,” Ashe began, “A ballista inside a castle is ready to fire at enemies outside. What angle should be used for the shot?” He thought for a few seconds, “Well, assume the ballista is the same as those in Garreg Mach. Ignore the effects of wind. But this is merely for defensive strategy, isn’t it? Why is it so complicated? Don’t you just aim and fire?  

“Hmm... it may help to focus on maximizing target accuracy to reduce your miss rate.” Annette replied. “This math is important stuff to think about and could potentially be useful on the battlefield one day. But to start answering your question, let’s sort out the setup. Let’s see... using these ballista specifications... if the ballista quarrels follow this trajectory, they’ll hit the enemy lines, right?” 

Ashe perked up at that thought and replied, “Oh, that makes a lot of sense! Because the enemy line will be here! 

“Yes, that’s it!” Annette said cheerfully, “Ok, now try using that same technique and apply it to this other problem.” 

“Alright, let’s see...” Ashe began and realized, “Oh! If the walls are this high, and the enemy lines are that distance... Ah, I see!” 

“You see?” Annette said, “I knew you would get it.” 

“Wow” Ashe said “I never thought math of all things could be useful in a potential siege... But this is also tough, mainly because numbers are not my strong suit... But I guess this is the kind of thing that you need to know if you want to command a squad.” 

“That is mainly a reason why we have tacticians do calculation for us, or prepare them before going into battle.” Annette explained to Ashe. “About a century ago, the empire’s mathematicians played a huge role in the battle of the wall of Fodlan.” 

Ashe was amazed by this, “I had no idea! Hey, you really know what you are doing, Annette!” 

“You think so?” 

“Definitely!” Ashe replied “You have done a lot of studying, and I really admire that.” 

“I suppose I have!” Annette said. “Studying is a true necessity if you want to have the advantage over your enemies. But necessity aside, it’s nice of you to say that.” 

“Thanks.” Ashe said, “We can continue our studies at a later time, I have to get to class.” 

“Alright.” Annette said but before Ashe left, she asked, “Ashe, could you do me a favor?” 

“What might that be?” Ashe said. 

“When you get the chance, could you give this to Marseille?” Annette said as she handed Ashe a small box. 

“Sure.” Ashe replied as he took the box. “But, what’s inside?” 

“It’s a gift, as to say thanks to Marseille because she volunteered to help me and Mercedes on weeding earlier on today.” 

“She helped you?” 

“Yes!” Annette said with a smile, “Isn’t she a wonderful partner to work alongside with?” 

“She sure is” Ashe replied with a chuckle, “I’m think she will make a lot of friends in the future if she continues to do things like this.” 

“I am sure she will.” Annette replied. 

“Well, I best be on my way.” Ashe said as he left. 

“I’ll see you later then.” Annette said as she watched Ashe leave the library. 

At the training ground 

Marseille and Felix had just finished up their sparing encounter against each other and both of them were seemingly exhausted given the fact that they were both panting simultaneously and were sitting by a tree. 

“Whew...” Felix began while panting, “You... put up... quite... an effort against... me.” 

“Same here...” Marseille replied in an exhausted tone, “Seems neither one of us could find that finishing blow first...” 

“I agree...” Felix said “Do you think we should call this encounter... a draw?” 

“Well...” Marseille started, “Given the fact that we were so evenly matched in this bout, I guess there is no other choice but to agree with what you had to say...” 

“Then it’s a tie.” Felix said as he came up with that conclusion. 

“Well, I best get going to my night classes.” Marseille said as she began to leave but turned back and said “But remember this Felix, one of these days, I am going to win against you in a spar.” 

“I would really like to see you try. But to be honest, I think you will come up just short.” Felix said as he gave Marseille a wink and watched her leave. 

______________________________________________________________

It was late at night and Marseille was just about ready to retire for the night. Everyone else had gone to bed but she had stayed up later than most others to get some additional studying in for her evening classes which she had finished long ago. She finally got enough studying in and was heading toward her room when she spotted someone sitting on a patch of grass near a tree and a running stream and decided to see who it is. 

“Hello?” 

“Oh! Hi there Marseille.” said Ashe. 

“Ashe!” Marseille said. “I wasn’t certain that I would still be the only one up at this hour. What are you doing?” 

“Oh... well, I’m just sitting out here looking up at the stars.” Ashe replied. “But you’re welcome to sit next to me if you want...” 

“That would sound nice...” Marseille said as she sat next to Ashe to watch the stars. 

As Marseille watched, she noticed Ashe with a small frown on his face and said, “Ashe, is something wrong?” 

Ashe sighed and said, “Yeah... it's just... that during nights like these, I have trouble sleeping.” 

“Oh... well, I’m sorry to hear that.” Marseille replied. She continued to sit like that for a moment until she asked, “I don’t want to put more pressure on you but... could you tell me what’s bothering you? 

“Well... I really can’t...” Ashe started to talk before he was interrupted by Marseille 

“It’s alright... whatever you say... it will stay here between the two of us, I won’t tell anyone else.” 

“You promise?” Ashe asked. 

“I promise” Marseille replied. 

“Alright... here goes...” Ashe began. 

“I used to work at a restaurant with my parents and two siblings when I was young and I had a lot of fun helping them out. That is... until my parents passed away to an unknown disease which left me to do most if not all of the work just for money. It wasn’t enough and thus, I had no choice but to turn into a thief which for me it was wrong, but I had to support my siblings in any way I could.” 

“But one day, while I was stealing valuables for my siblings, I happened to steal a book called “Loog and the Maiden of the Wind” and I was so distracted by it, I was discovered by the owner of the mansion by a noble named Lonato.” 

“I never got to ask you... but why has this Lonato been bothering you so much?” Lucina asked Ashe. 

“Because...” Ashe began again, “He was like a father to me... he decided to adopt me and my siblings when he heard about the situation that my family was in, which made it all that more painful... because during our last outing... I had to face him in battle, which was one of the hardest things that I ever had to do in my life and ultimately... I... I had to finish him off when he was beaten. That's why I am so down.” 

“Oh... I am so sorry to hear that.” Marseille said. 

“I know... and every, I feel like when I do something wrong, I feel like I am disappointing Lonato because I want to be like him.” Ashe said while feeling down. 

“I can understand that must be so hard on you.” Marseille said while putting a hand on Ashe’s shoulder. “But that is what can make you stronger.” 

“What do you mean?” Ashe questioned Marseille. 

“Well...” Marseille began as she looked up to the stars, “No matter how heavy Lonato’s loss is for you... I am sure he will want you to do the best that you can. Sure... I miss the ones that I love and it may drag me down... but I am sure they want me to have success and I am sure Lonato would want you to do the same.” 

“You know...” Ashe said as he began to stand up, “You are absolutely right! Sure, I might not be like him in the end, but I could definitely see that he would want me to succeed. Thanks to you, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders! 

“I’m glad to help.” Marseille replied happily. “I best be going now, because I have to get some sleep for tomorrow. And I hope that you have a good sleep as well.” 

“Wait! Before you go, I have something to give to you.” Ashe said as he took out a box. 

“What’s this?” Marseille said as she took the box from Ashe. 

“Open It.” Ashe said 

Marseille opened the box and saw that it contained a delicious baked treat. “Oh wow!” Marseille exclaimed as she sniffed the treat “This smells so sweet! But... who made it?” 

“It was made by Mercedes and Annette.” Ashe said, “They made it as a way to say thank you for helping them out. And speaking of helping out, I... I have something to give to you as well as a way to say thank you.” Ashe added as he handed Marseille a scarf that have the colors of all three houses of Garreg Mach. 

“Oh Ashe! Thank you!” Marseille exclaimed as she wore it around her neck. “This looks wonderful.” 

“I’m glad you like it.” Ashe said with a smile. “Oh, it appears that there is a candle on the treat, do you want me to light it up?”  

“Sure” Marseille said. 

“Alright.” Ashe said as he got a small match and struck it causing a little fire to glow at the tip and he carefully lit the candle with it before blowing out the match. He then said “You want to know something cool?” 

“What do you mean?” Marseille asked? 

“Well, when I was young” Ashe said, “Lonato and my siblings told me that on special occasions, if you make a wish, and you close your eyes and blow out the candle on a sweet treat like this, then that wish may potentially come true.” 

“Really?” Marseille said. 

“Yes! Try it!” Ashe said smiling. 

“Alright” Marseille said as she closed her eyes and blew out the candle. 

“What did you wish for?” Ashe said. 

“Well... I kinda made two wishes..." Marseille answered.

"Really?" Ashe replied "And what might those wishes be?"

"Well for the first," Marseille began, "I wished that... I could be friends with everyone here at Garreg Mach and unite everyone so that we all can work together and make this place so much more enjoyable to be in.” 

“That sounds wonderful!” Ashe said, “I really hope that wish comes true.” 

“I hope so too” Marseille said smiling.

“And what will be your second wish?” Ashe asked. 

“Well... that is a secret.” Marseille said 

“Oh, okay.” Ashe said nodding. “Well, I best catch some ZZs for the night, I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“You too.” Marseille said as she went back to her room to get a good night’s rest. 

[ready-4-takeoff]

Fire Emblem : The Road to Healing Chapter 2

Characters Used by asklucinalowell: Mercutio, Marseille, Mauris

Chapter 2

The Next Morning…

The sun from the Fodlan sky was shining through the window into Marseille’s room, and some of the rays from the sun hit Marseille’s face which caused her to squirm in her sleep and after a few seconds, she woke up to the blinding light and as she began to sit up, she shielded her eyes from the sun. Despite yesterday’s events, she slept better than she had hoped she would.

Afterwards, Marseille began to get dressed by putting her white undershirt on first and then putting on her school uniform. When she was done, she then finished freshening up by tying her hair, and then she proceeded to exit her room for the day but as she closed the door to her room, she heard a familiar voice.

“Good morning Lucina.”

“Oh!” Marseille gasped, “It’s you Brady. You surprised me there for a second. But it’s good to see you.”

“Same here” responded Mauris. “So, are you ready to go for the day?”

“Yes” Marseille answered and the two left their rooms to go for the day.

The two made their way to have breakfast with their classmates from their house, after having their first meal for today, Marseille and Mauris decided to sit outside by themselves. They also had a little time before they went to their Morning classes, so they talked about what has been going on since they arrived at Garreg Mach monastery.

Just before they were about to split up for the day, Mauris noticed Marseille feeling a little down so he decided to talk to her to see if he could help her out.

“Um, Lucina?”

“Yes Brady?”

“You seem to be upset about something…” Mauris began “Are you feeling alright?”

“Huh? Oh… I’m fine, it’s just that I am feeling down about what happened yesterday…” Marseille replied.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he questioned her.

“I guess it is ok if I told you considering no one else is around us.” Marseille answering Mauris’s question.

“Alright, then tell me what happened.” Mauris replied.

“Ok…” Marseille began, “The reason why I am upset is that I decided to talk to Rob- I mean Professor Mercutio to see if he could remember his past and…”

“Yes?”

“Well…” Marseille said as she began to form tears from her eyes. “He sadly said that I was nothing more than a stranger to him, which probably means he no longer remembers me.”

“Oh… well, I am so sorry to hear that.” Mauris said feeling bad for her, “If you don’t mind, I probably could…”

“Brady…” Marseille interrupted while wiping her tears, “We’ve already went over this, and I know you want me to be happy but just in case a miracle happens, it would be best not to…”

“That isn’t what I meant Lucina…” Mauris intervening.

“Huh?”

“What I wanted to say is I could go tell Professor Byleth why you are upset and maybe he could help so you won’t be as upset as you are.”

“I really appreciate what you are trying to do to help me feel better Brady, but I’m alright for now.” Marseille said.

“Ok, well I guess we should get going to our classes then, so I’ll see you later then…” Mauris said as he left.

“Same here” Marseille said.

It was just a few minutes into the afternoon and Marseille had just finished her classes for the morning, and for her, she felt a feeling of accomplishment because she was able to pass the exams in her beginners’ classes meaning she is now able to wield higher classes of swords as well as lances and bows. While she wanted to tell her professor about her achievement, she could not find Professor Byleth. So, she decided to go and see if Byleth was in his office.

As she was about to knock on his door, she heard a voice down the hall, “Marseille?”

“Huh?” Marseille “Oh! Hello there Annette. What brings you here?”

“I was also looking for our professor to see what chores that me and Mercedes were planning on doing today.” Annette explained to Marseille.

“Oh, I see.”

“But while I was searching for Byleth, Seteth gave me this to you.” Annette finished as she handed Marseille an envelope.

Marseille took the envelope and opened it up and inside it was a letter from Byleth and she decided to read it.

A few minutes later…

“So what did you think?” Annette said as Marseille handed the letter back to her.

“Well…” Marseille said as she began, “That explains why Hanneman is going to be our temporary professor for a while, but then again, I could understand for an event that is extremely important like that it’s for the greater good to make the journey. But I think it is best we put that topic aside for now.”

“I agree” Annette said as she nodded her head up and down. “So, what do you say we go out and do these chores that we were given out to do? And you are welcome to join us if you want.”

“Yes” Marseille agreed as she walked with Annette. “That sounds like a good idea.”

The two made their way to a garden with a fountain in the center of it and the garden appeared to be littered with weeds all around the area with some entangling and dragging flowers down. It looked like it was going to be a long and tedious task to get all the weeds out in one day, but thankfully for them, they were about to get some additional help to get the job done easier.

“Annette? Are you there?” Marseille and Annette heard a voice behind them.

“Mercie!” Annette said as she ran over to hug her best friend.

“Annie! It’s so good to see you!” Mercedes said as the two friends embraced each other.

“Same here!” Said Annette in a cheerful voice.

“So, what have you been up to?” Mercedes asked.

“Well,” Annette began “Me and Marseille were just waiting for you here in the garden to get started here with taking out all of these weeds and while you were coming, the two of us had a short chat.”

“What did you talk about?”

“We talked about the gardening mishaps that you and Annette share and how maybe I could teach you two to tend to a flower garden properly. And we also talked about how nice this place is going to be once this is done.” Marseille responded catching Mercedes by surprise.

“Oh! Hello there Marseille.” Mercedes said when she saw her. “What are you doing here?”

“I was out here with Annette and based on the situation here, I was wondering if the two of you needed some help…” Marseille explained.

“Oh, that sounds lovely! Thanks Marseille, we would really appreciate it if you helped us out.” Mercedes said as she began to walk towards the first area of the garden to work.

“Then I am glad I was able to come here with you.” Marseille said with a smile as she followed Mercedes and Annette.

Just as the three were about to sit down to get started on working on the garden. Mercedes raised her hand in the air.

“Before we begin” Mercedes began, “I just wanted to say that I am so glad that I am able to work alongside the two of you. It is going to be so much fun!”

“I am sure it will be” Marseille replied then paused and realized something important, “But if we just continue talking to each other, then how are we supposed to get our chore done?” She asked.

“Marseille has a great point Mercie. Having fun and getting in a good chat is fine and all, but when we are doing these chores, the results are what counts!” Said Annette agreeing with what Marseille told to the group.

“Yeah, but I know that silly, I can have fun without holding us back!” Mercedes replying.

“Heh…” Marseille said with a smile, “You made a very good point there.”

45 minutes later

Marseille, Mercedes and Annette were all making great work on their chore in the garden and because of it, more than half of the weeds in the garden were removed. But there was still a lot of work to go, and the temperature was starting to warm up quicker than the trio had expected.

“Argh! There are so many weeds to pluck from the ground!” Annette complained as she plucked another weed off the ground “Is it possible to finish all of this in a single day?”

“Well,” Marseille began as she grabbed a handful, “If you look at the progress that we have already made by working together, then I am sure we will be able to finish this up with ease.”

“You’re right Marseille.” Annette replied, “Let’s do our best to finish this up!”

While the trio were working on getting their job on the garden done, they were unaware that they were being watched from afar by a figure. And that figure is none other than the professor of the golden deer Mercutio. He looked at the working trio with a frown on his face and gave out a deep sigh.

“Something the matter?”

Mercutio turned around and looked into the eyes of Hilda and simply said, “Oh, it’s only you Hilda… well I just feel kind of upset about myself.”

“It’s about Marseille, isn’t it?” Hilda replied

Mercutio looked away and then said, “Yes, it is about her. I mean, when you look at her right now, it looks like she is having a good time and all, but deep inside her, she isn’t happy, and it is mainly because of me.” He paused and gave a sigh and then continued, “I just wish there was something that I could do to set things right for her…”

“I know what you mean.” Hilda said looking down, “Well, I just happened to accidentally run into her last night.”

“You did?”

“Yes Mercutio, I did see her, and we decided to have a chat about what happened yesterday, and I could tell, she was upset about the previous day.”

“Huh… I guess Marseille told you about our talk yesterday.” Mercutio said nodding his head “Well, did you do anything about it?”

“Well… there wasn’t much I could do but I did my best to try and calm her down, and it seemed to work if only for a brief moment.” Hilda replied

“I see…” Mercutio said with a sigh. “But even with friends like you around, I’m still not sure if she could recover from something like this…”

“Look, how about this.” Hilda said as an idea popped in her head, “It’s the beginning of the month and that will give her a lot of time to try and find her happiness. However, if things don’t get better for Marseille and she still is depressed from what happened between the two of you by the end of this month, then you could get involved. Okay?”

“That sounds fine to me…” Mercutio said agreeing with the idea although he was looking away.

“Great!” Hilda said happily. “Well, I guess I’ll see you later in class alright? And after that, you and I could have tea together!” she finished while giving Mercutio a wink while walking away.

“Yes, I’ll see you too.” Mercutio replied. Once Hilda left, he went back to looking at the working trio which included Marseille who was laughing alongside with Annette and Mercedes. After a few moments, he left to go teach his class.

“Marseille, when I get the chance, I’ll do my best to make it up to you…” Was all he thought as he left.

[ready-4-takeoff]

Fire Emblem : The Road to Healing Chapter 1

Characters used by asklucinalowell: Mercutio, Marseille, Mauris

Hey everyone! It has been a while since I added to this story, but I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as I had put a lot of thought into this chapter.

Chapter 1

It was late at night and Ashe and Marseille were sitting by the pond talking about the events that happened today which included Marseille’s heartbreaking talk with Mercutio all while Marseille was trying to calm down. After a while, Ashe noticed Marseille beginning to doze off a little.

“Hey Marseille, you seem to be tired… do you want me to take you back to your room?” Ashe asked Marseille.

“Huh?” Marseille said with a yawn. “Oh, I’m fine, I can get back to…”

Just as she was about to finish up her sentence, she heard a voice she did not anticipate.

“Marseille? Marseille? Where are you at?”

The two recognized the voice as the person drew closer and the figure revealed to be…

“Hilda?” Ashe spoke out in surprise.

“Ashe! I did not expect to see you here at this time of day.” Hilda said in surprise. “What are you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be out on lookout duty?” Hilda questioned Ashe.

“Oh… well I had a feeling that you would say that, well, rather than doing my job for once, I have more important matters to attend to…” He said as he pointed towards Marseille to show what he meant.

Hilda was happy to see Marseille and said, “Marseille! Am I glad to see you, because given the fact that you seemed to be upset at something, it started to make me concerned.” She then turned back to Ashe and said, “How exactly did you find Marseille here?”

“Well,” Ashe began, “I was heading out towards the lookout tower for my nightly duties and the quickest path that I take usually goes past the church and while I was going past the church, I noticed someone was there and as I got closer, I realized it was Marseille and she just broke down in front of me in sadness that I never seen from her before.”

“I see” Hilda responded to Ashe’s question and then turned back towards Marseille, “Marseille? Could you tell me what is going on with you that has got you so upset?”

Marseille looked at Hilda in sadness and said, “I really don’t want to talk about it with you…”

“Wha?” Hilda said in confusion, “Marseille, if you don’t talk about it now, then I won’t understand what is going on with you later on…”

“Hilda, I know you want me to explain to you about what is making me upset, but I think it is for the best if I don’t explain it to you because you would be upset as well just like me…”

“Hey, Marseille?” Hilda began “I just want to let you know that everything is going to be alright. Whatever you have to say to me, I am not going to be upset with you mainly because I just want to help you out on what is going on so that you won’t be upset later…”

Marseille Paused for a moment, then she gave out a defeated sigh and said, “Alright, I guess I’ll tell you what happened today… But you better not tell anyone this Alright?”

Hilda reacted with a smile, “I promise! I won’t tell anyone what you said to me.”

“Alright…” Marseille said as she began, “Well, today I was doing what all the students at the Monastery were doing which for me was a normal day, involving going to my classes and attending lectures and everything was going well until I decided to talk to Mercutio. Fortunately, he said he was not busy, and he also wanted to talk about something important and the thing he wanted to talk about was this…”

She showed Hilda a ring that had a crest that looked like the one Marseille bore. “A ring?” Hilda said in confusion as she looked at the ring. “I don’t understand, why would Mercutio want to talk about a ring?”

“Well…” Marseille said trying to explain “I was hoping that by telling Mercutio the story of this ring, he would be able to reclaim some of his memories about his past. But…” she paused as tears began to form from her eyes “All he said to me was that I was merely a stranger to him and that the one that I was hoping to see again was no longer here…” She finished as she began to cry.

Just seeing Marseille cry like this made Hilda feel extremely bad for her. But she still did not understand what Marseille meant so she asked her, “Um Marseille? I know you are depressed and all, but what exactly did you mean...?”

Before Hilda could finish her question, Ashe quickly intervene by stating, “Hilda, the reason why she is upset is because I recently spoke with Mauris, who is a good friend to Marseille, and he told me that although he was responsible for the destruction of Marseille’s home, he also said that she loved him more than anything else in this world…”

Hilda was surprised by this. “Wow! I did not realize that Mercutio used to be in love with someone else before I even met him! But this confuses me, why would Marseille decide to fall in love with the man who destroyed her home? I mean, wouldn’t she want the chance to avenge her home now that he is here at the monastery?”

“I was thinking the same thing as well…” Ashe said in agreement with Hilda. “But I think we should stop talking about Mercutio because Marseille is already heartbroken by what has happened today and expanding this topic it is only going to make the current situation even worse…”

“I see…” Hilda nodded, she then looked at Marseille who was now breaking down in tears then looked back at Ashe and said, “Is there anything that I could do to help her feel better?”

“Well…” Ashe began, “I think Marseille might need some time to be left alone to calm down after what happened today, but maybe you could say something that could calm her down…”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Hilda said to Ashe as she began to walk towards Marseille who was still crying and gave her a comforting hug. Marseille was surprised by this but hugged her back but still in tears. “Shh… easy there Marseille…” She said in a soothing voice. This seemed to work because Marseille seemed to calm down just a little. “Look, I know you are upset about what happened today and I understand your emotional pain, but could I say something that may help you later on here at the monastery?”

“Y-Yes.” Was all Marseille could say while sniffing in between her cries.

“Glad to hear it.” Hilda said with a smile as she began, “Now, given the situation that you are facing, I can tell that you just want to give up. But you know what I do whenever I feel depressed? I try and keep my smile and find anything that I could improve on so the next time I face a situation that I already had a hard time dealing with, it will go more smoothly. I also know that I have people that are important to me that have my back and are there to support me. Do you think you could do that for me?”

“I…” Marseille began but looked back as she felt a hand on her shoulder and saw that it was Ashe’s and noticed that Ashe had a small smile. She then returned to look at Hilda and said, “I guess I’ll try.” She said although her voice had a little bit of doubt in it.

“Thanks! I am so glad you are willing to try.” Hilda said as she hugged Marseille again. When Hilda let go, she realized how late it was and decided to head back to the house of the Golden Deer. “Well, I best be going back to my house for the night. It was nice talking to you and hopefully you’ll feel better by tomorrow morning…” And with that, Hilda left Marseille and Ashe alone.

Afterwards, Marseille, although still upset, seemed to calm down a little. She looked at Ashe and said, “Ashe, I think I am going to retire for the night.”

“Oh?” Ashe said “Well alright, but do you need help going back to your room?”

“I think I can get back to my room, but thanks for asking Ashe.” Marseille said.

“Okay, well I hope you have a good night’s sleep.” Ashe said as he left to go to his room.

“You too.” Marseille said as she went to her room as well.

When Marseille got back to her room, she sat on her bed and as she took her uniform off leaving her in her nightgown, she thought about the events that happened today and about what Hilda said and knew that although she was greatly affected by her talk with Mercutio, she had to forget about the events of today and move on with her life even though it will be very difficult for her to shake it off of her mind.

“Hopefully Tomorrow will be better…” were Marseille’s last thoughts as sleep took over her mind although she would not have a good nights sleep.

[ready-4-takeoff]

Fire Emblem : The Road to Healing Prologue

Characters used by asklucinalowell: Mercutio, Marseille, Mauris

(This story may or may not Interact with the Academy arc and if it does then I am sorry...)

Also, This is my first attempt at creating a fanfic so some of the settings that take place may be out of place.

Prologue

Marseille could not bear the pain and sadness that she was currently facing, she had finally gotten the chance to talk to Mercutio to see if she could help him remember anything about his past and hopefully he could remember her, but unfortunately Mercutio still thought of her as a stranger and even stated that he was no longer the Robin that she once knew and even called her Marseille, he had tried to convince her that they could start over together again but Marseille darted out of his room in sadness having to accept the fact that the Robin that she had loved is all but gone. She decided that the only way to help her in this situation was to try and get to the church and pray to Naga for guidance but, on her way there, she accidentally bumped into Hilda.

“Marseille, you seem to be completely upset about something, what seems to be the problem?” Hilda asked with a hint of concern on her face.

She did not answer to Hilda, instead she just ran off with tears in her eyes.

“Huh, I don’t understand why she is so upset? She did not answer or even look at me…” She thought to herself sadly. "Maybe I should talk to her later on today to see what is wrong with her...”

 It was later in the evening and Ashe was scheduled to do his sky watch for the night but his route to the post usually passed by the church but tonight when he passed by, he saw something, more like someone who was praying to statue of the goddess. So, he decided to investigate but quietly not to disturb who was praying, but as he got closer, he was surprised to see who was there.

“Marseille?”

Immediately, she turned around to see who it was and when she saw Ashe, she teared up and just ran towards him and when she got there, she hugged him as hard as she could and started crying into his shoulder.

“Whoa easy Marseille… everything is going to be alright.” Ashe said in a soothing voice to her, and after a few moments, she calmed down afterwards he asked, “What’s going on? I have never seen you this upset since you first came to Gareg Mach…”

“Ashe…” Marseille started with a sob “I- It’s Mercutio, I had the chance to talk with him earlier on in the day to see if he could remember me… A-And all he did was break my h-heart!” She sobbed as she began to cry back into his shoulder.

“Wait, What?!?” Ashe said in surprise “He does not even remember you? But I thought that he was given a second chance to live, but how is it…”

Marseille interrupted Ashe and said while crying, “I don’t know how, but all I know is he is not the one that I remembered and loved anymore!”

“Shh… look, I get it.” Ashe said in a calm tone. “I spoke with Maruis yesterday and he told me all about Mercutio, I know that when I get the chance to see him, I might get upset considering that he told me that he destroyed your home. But I also can understand that he meant so much to you in the past. Say, why don’t we go for a nice walk and get some fresh air and we can talk about what is going on?

“O-Okay…” Marseille said with a sob and the two went out of the church together.

[ready-4-takeoff]

Welcome to my fanfic Vault

This is the place where I usually let my Imagination go and create fanfics for you to read and Enjoy!

Current projects:

Fire Emblem : The Road to Healing - Fanfic that follows Marseille as she tries to heal her heart as well as to find her happiness. (Based on asklucinalowell’s Academy arc)