Screenshot Dakota's War Journal (Semiblind Fire Emblem Fates RP/LP) (Send me your castles!)

[Alastor15243]

This is a lot of fun, but one of the things that annoys me from a narrative perspective is that the nature of it caused me to make a lot of world-building assumptions before learning everything about the world or, indeed, fully deciding the direction I want to go with the story. Especially since this thing sort of slowly transformed from making fun of the original story to building upon/altering it. And in the process of that transition...

...What I'm getting at is that once or twice I had certain characters imply that even the majority of Nohrians don't understand why the war's taking place and they're just doing it because Garon said so.

...Do you guys mind if I... retcon that? I've since reached the point where I fully know the direction I want to take this, and I'd rather not write around that canonical baggage if at all possible.

Edited June 18, 2016 by Alastor15243

[Clarinets]

This is a lot of fun, but one of the things that annoys me from a narrative perspective is that the nature of it caused me to make a lot of world-building assumptions before learning everything about the world or, indeed, fully deciding the direction I want to go with the story. Especially since this thing sort of slowly transformed from making fun of the original story to building upon/altering it. And in the process of that transition...

...What I'm getting at is that once or twice I had certain characters imply that even the majority of Nohrians don't understand why the war's taking place and they're just doing it because Garon said so.

...Do you guys mind if I... retcon that? I've since reached the point where I fully know the direction I want to take this, and I'd rather not write around that canonical baggage if at all possible.

Did you mention that on Conquest? If not, you could probably come up with a reason that Nohrians are more aware of the war effort due to Dakota being with Nohr rather than Hoshido.

[Alastor15243]

Did you mention that on Conquest? If not, you could probably come up with a reason that Nohrians are more aware of the war effort due to Dakota being with Nohr rather than Hoshido.

I might be able to do that, but yes, I mentioned that on conquest too, like once or twice, once during a conversation between Selena and Odin, and I kiiiiinda did it during Garon's big opera house speech when Dakota said that nobody's been able to tell her the reasoning for the war.

[blah the Prussian]

It's your story. I'd say go for it.

[Alastor15243]

...Actually, now that I've mentioned it, Selena and Odin's conversation was already an oddity, and some of the stuff I've done in the LP has already moved away from that... so...

...Screw it, I'll just run with my plan.

[Ren_Ambrose]

I stumbled across this from the Robin war journal you wrote and I have to say, it's fantastically well written. To say I liked your interpretation of Conquest more than the game is an understatement, and you handled Birthright much better than I thought the game did. You've got another reader.

[Alastor15243]

Entry 27

Dear War Journal,

Well, I'm feeling better at least. My foot's fully healed... once Elise recovered she managed to help fix my foot up further.

She's... made a lot of impressive progress in the art of healing. She's refused to touch a weapon since the Chamber of False Death exploded, and frankly I don't feel like pressuring her into picking one up. But since that means she has extra inventory space, I've resolved to make use of it by giving her some fancy new staves.

But as for Takumi... or Iago... or Fuchsia... I really hope that was just a lucky shot... how could he have done that much damage so easily? …I'll just have to resolve to take better care when next I see him. I'm certain I haven't seen the last of him.

...In other news... We've upgraded the einherjar shop to level 3, not that we have much use for it, but what else am I going to do with all of my DVP?

I took advantage of our recent windfall to buy Xander a brave sword. This serves both to give him a chance to do some serious heavy hitting, and also to reduce his ridiculous defense to possibly bait in some weaker physical enemies.

As for the outside world... with the breach of the Great Wall of Suzanoh, we're prepared to make our march on the Hoshidan capital and Castle Shirasagi. The final battle is swiftly approaching. As such, I am holding a meeting this morning with my siblings to discuss an absolutely crucial-

...Hm? Looks like you're picking up a conversation, War Journal...

(Leo is walking to Lilith's temple when Felicia runs after him)

Felicia: Leo, wait up!

Leo: Felicia, I really can't talk right now. Dakota's holding a meeting in fifteen minutes.

Felicia: ...When can you talk, Leo? You've been avoiding me for the past two days, ever since we... you... you meant what you said in there, didn't you...?

Leo: Of course I did, Felicia, I meant every word of it, but...

Felicia: ...Leo?

Leo: ...Felicia... I'm sorry... but this was a mistake.

Felicia: ...What...? A... a mistake...? Was... was I...?

Leo: No! No, you were... ...that's not the point, Felicia. I'm sorry, but we just... I can't afford to get involved in... a relationship... right now. What we did two nights ago was a terrible lapse in judgement.

Felicia: What...? But we used protect-

Leo: No, no, I'm not talking about more children, I mean... I just... I can't take any chances on a relationship right now. I can't make that kind of an investment, I... ...Look, there's too much riding on the success of this mission... I can't afford any distractions. None. If we don't succeed here, the world is doomed. I won't let that happen.

Felicia: … (sniff)

Leo: Felicia, I'm sorry, this hurts me just as much as it hurts you, but... this timeline is dead. We don't have a future together here. All that matters is putting the future on the correct course. This... this will have to wait until the next timeline. I'm sorry.

Felicia: (Fake, miserable laugh) Oh! That's so adorable! You actually think this will happen again! Wow, I thought you were the realist in the family!

Leo: Felicia, don't-

Felicia: (Starts crying) Do you know how hard it was for me to walk up to you and tell you how I felt? To walk up to you, you a prince, and me a maid who can't even do her job right... and tell you that I love you? It literally took this! It took knowing that everything I did here would be undone! It took literally having nothing to lose! This... this isn't going to happen again, Leo... not in a million years! I don't trust myself enough to say otherwise!

Leo: Felicia...

Felicia: (Wipes her eyes) No... you're right... I'm sorry. The world's going to hell and here I am worrying about my love life... You... you go talk with Lady Dakota. She needs you. Get everyone out of this mess. I... I... just give me a minute...

…

...Right, let's, uh... let's get to that meeting.

(Leo, Camilla, Xander, Elise and Azura are all standing at a table in Lilith's temple with Dakota. Lilith is floating off to the side.)

Dakota: Thank you all for coming. Since the war is coming to the final point, we're getting extremely close to the time where I'll have to go back in time again and find some way to prevent this war from happening. As I said before, this will obviously be greatly helped by your assistance and greatly hindered by your opposition. So... now that you've had time to think about it... have any of you managed to come up with a way I could convince you that I'm telling the truth about Garon immediately?

Azura: ...Well, I know I'm with Hoshido at that time... but nevertheless, if something goes wrong... I think it should be fairly simple. Just... tell me that I told you I'd trust you if you said “The silverbird must fly”.

Dakota: ...Uh...

Azura: It's not supposed to make sense to anyone but me. Just... if you have to, tell me that.

Dakota: Alright... Elise?

Elise: ...It should be easy to get me to trust you, but... as for leaving my family and going with you... I think I'd be scared to do that if nobody else was coming along.

Dakota: ...Right... Leo? Camilla? Xander?

Xander: It's quite simple, really: bring that journal back and show us that page you showed us this time.

Dakota: …

Xander: …

Dakota: ...Right. Um... anything that wouldn't take two weeks to do?

Xander: Hm?

Leo: ...Damn it. I forgot. Paradoxes.

Lilith: Yes. I can send that journal back, correct, but it can't leave a special time chamber until it's given two weeks to normalize itself as a separate entity from the past object. If not... it will just disintegrate.

Xander: That's... we don't have that kind of time. Who knows what could happen in two weeks?

Dakota: ...When you say two weeks, is that two weeks-

Lilith: Two weeks world time, yes, not West Dakota time. No waiting it out in there.

Leo: (Wincing) This... this is bad, Dakota. Without concrete, indisputable proof that Garon has been lying to us this whole time... we're not... we're not going to believe you.

Camilla: ...Well, I might... maybe... but...

Dakota: Okay, seriously, I need an explanation: why the hell were you all being so stubborn and difficult in the first timeline? Why were you so blind to what Garon was doing!?

Xander: ...What you have to understand, Dakota, is that we weren't blind to what Garon was doing. We knew a lot of it was wrong, and like you saw before with the attempted singer massacre in Cyrkensia, we always took steps to minimize it... but we also believed most of what he did was necessary for our kingdom's survival. And what's more, we... we... we hated the Hoshidans. Hated them with a burning passion. All of us did. Well... Elise didn't, but... Elise doesn't really hate anyone.

Dakota: ...Why? I mean even I didn't really hate the Hoshidans, I just thought they were disgusting savages and beneath me. I mean... what the hell did the Hoshidans ever do to you?

(Leo, Xander and Camilla all look at each other uncomfortably. Leo buries his head in his hands.)

Leo: …

Xander: Camilla... do you want to take this?

Camilla: (Sighs) ...Very well. It's not so much what they did... so much as what they didn't do. Or... rather, I suppose... what we thought they didn't do.

Dakota: ...Continue.

Camilla: Let me start off with a question: how old do you think the Woods of the Forlorn are?

Dakota: ...I have no idea. A thousand years or so? I mean in general, I'm sure the trees themselves are much younger-

Camilla: They're barely six months older than you are, Dakota.

Dakota: ...What?

Camilla: Or at least that's how long they've been the way they are now. Mother... that is to say, Anastasia... Xander and I never knew our biological mother... Anastasia used to tell me all about what those woods used to be like. They used to be beautiful, full of trees with delicious fruits, mushrooms that glowed bright blue... in fact, most of Nohr used to be like that. It wasn't always this bleak and desolate place... It was always dark, yes, but it was a beautiful kind of dark, and full of its own light. ...Then the blight happened. Nobody knows where it came from or when it really started, but we first noticed it eighteen and a half years ago. Fruit started rotting while still on the vine, animals got sick and died... frankly it was a miracle it didn't affect humans. But still, the damage was unmistakable. Land grew infertile, several species of plants and animals just started dying... and dying... and dying... many of them are lost forever now. People were terrified. Because above all else... nobody knew why this was happening. Month after month, farmers were producing less and less food.

Dakota: ...Ah yes, this is the famine I've heard about.

Camilla: Mother spent most of her time in a laboratory she made in a remote part of Nohr, trying to come up with some sort of magical solution... a cure, or an artificial food source, anything... and she managed to make one significant breakthrough fairly early on: she discovered that the blight, whatever it was, couldn't survive contact with direct sunlight.

Dakota: ...Which there's essentially none of in Nohr.

Camilla: Correct. ...But we knew about our eastern neighbor of Hoshido! ...Communications had somewhat broken down since the canyon itself just sort of... spontaneously formed... but that's a story for another day. The point was, we knew they had plenty of food, bountiful fields as far as the eye could see, and tons of sunlight! So we thought our problems were over with this breakthrough, and we started sending messenger ravens to Hoshido, asking for their assistance.

Dakota: ...Wait... you actually asked them? I thought...

Camilla: ...We never heard a reply. We waited for half a year, and none of our requests for help were ever answered. So we tried other methods, thinking something must have happened to the ravens. We tried sending wyvern riders... we never heard back from them either. Then we tried sending ships... still no answer. Meanwhile, the Nohrian city-states... they started panicking. They started fighting each other as our food sources kept dwindling, war broke out, public order broke down... It was total anarchy, and Garon had to declare a civil war and unite all of Nohr under his banner just to keep things under control.

Azura: (Claps her hands to her mouth) Oh... oh gods...

Dakota: What? Azura, what is it?

Azura: That's what Mikoto saw? Ryoma told me that in those days Mikoto kept having prophetic visions of a man named Garon leading armies and conquering city-state after city-state without end... she saw his wave of conquest getting ever closer to the bottomless canyon, that's why we were so worried that war would break out... but... but she never saw anything about a famine... we had no idea...

Dakota: Yes, well, let's not pretend Garon wasn't delighted for the excuse to start claiming more territory.

Camilla: ...Yes. But... let's get back to the narrative I grew up with. He and Mother kept saying it was just a last resort, that any day now they'd hear back from the Hoshidans, that he'd return the city-states' autonomy as soon as this time of crisis was over. ...But people kept dying, and still we had no answer.

(Camilla takes a deep breath)

Camilla: ...This went on for six years, Dakota. And as far as we could tell, they were just ignoring us. Worse still, none of the messengers, ravens, sailors, wyvern riders, even foot soldiers and ambassadors when we finally managed to build a bridge across the canyon... that took some serious doing, by the way, we had all been superstitiously terrified of that place ever since that hole opened up, but by this point we were desperate. ...But none of them ever came back. Garon became increasingly certain that this was no coincidence, that they were killing our messengers... and I... I remember being so confused and angry. I didn't understand how anyone could be so heartless as to have the power to save someone and instead choose to slowly watch them die. But... But Mother kept telling me that this was a huge misunderstanding. That the messages just hadn't gotten to them, that there was something going on we didn't understand.

Dakota: ...There was. And his name was Garon.

Camilla: ...Yes... I understand that now... I can only assume he had been intercepting those letters himself, or maybe never even sending them, just to fan the flames... but I haven't even told you the worst part. The part that really, truly sealed our incandescent rage towards all of Hoshido for twelve long years. It was year six of the blight. The continent had been united, but people were still starving. People had given up hope that Hoshido would come to save us. Mother had had enough and decided to prove once and for all that this was a huge misunderstanding, and so she had spent the last year developing the art of teleportation. She didn't even stop her research while she was pregnant with Elise! She was certain that if she could just go to Hoshido directly, speak directly with the leaders of Hoshido, that this could all be resolved. Finally, she managed to, very briefly, teleport a volunteer miles upon miles upon miles away, directly into the Hoshidan throne room, and managed to keep him there long enough to relay a quick message before being yanked back through the fabric of time and space into Mother's lab.

Dakota: ...Out of curiosity... who was that volunteer?

Camilla: (Buries her head in her hands) ...It was Iago, Dakota.

Dakota: ...Of course it was.

Camilla: Iago reported back to Mother, saying that he managed to relay a message to one of Sumeragi's chief retainers requesting a meeting in Cheve, and giving the date and time, one month from then. That... was all they could do at the time. So the whole country waited with bated breath for that meeting. Then when the day approached, Garon set off to pick up Mother at her lab and travel to Cheve. ...A week later... Garon came back. ...But Mother wasn't with him.

(Elise starts crying)

Camilla: Instead there was an unconscious six-year-old girl in on his shoulder. ...I trust I don't need to elaborate on who that was. He took her to the royal healers immediately, and then... told us what happened.

Dakota: ...What did Garon tell you?

Camilla: (Deep breath) ...He told us that King Sumeragi arrived with a group of ninja and... a foul-smelling barrel, which he dumped out into the streets in front of him and Mother. ...And that it had dozens of human heads, some of them skulls, some of them rotting, some of them fresh... and told us they were the heads of all of the messengers we had sent. Sumeragi wanted to take this opportunity to tell Garon to stop sending messengers if he cared about his own countrymen, and that his whole damned country could rot for all he cared. When Mother walked towards him and tried to make one last appeal to his compassion... the ninja attacked without a word and she was overwhelmed by a barrage of shuriken... all but one of which she deflected with her wind magic. ...But that one shuriken... it cut her deeply in the neck and she began bleeding out rapidly. At this point Garon had lost all reason and just started swinging his axe and blasting every Hoshidan he could see as he made his way towards Sumeragi and got into a mighty duel with him, lightning sword on fire axe. He was beyond reason, he just wanted revenge for his wife's murder... but the shuriken began to wear him down, and he was almost overwhelmed. That's when Sumeragi was blasted backwards by a mighty gale, and Garon turned around to see Anastasia, back on her feet, still alive... crackling with black lightning all over and rushing to his aid, and together they killed nearly all of the ninja and slew Sumeragi together. The few ninja that remained fled with their tails between their legs. But just as Anastasia and Garon caught their breath... that was when they noticed the six-year-old girl in fancy Hoshidan garb lying unconscious on the ground. She had been hit by a stray attack from someone. Anastasia, horrified, ran over to her and began healing her. Then she cast some strange dark magic on the girl... before she started coughing up blood. ...Mother was still dying, she had just cast a powerful spell on herself to hold herself together long enough to save Father... she fell to the floor against the side of a building, cradling the girl in her arms, and looked up at Garon, and then said...

(Camilla's voice cracks and she starts wiping away tears)

Camilla: “My love... I don't know what path you will choose from here on out... but however you proceed... please... promise me this one thing. This child... whatever her father's faults, it's because of us that this girl is an orphan. No child anywhere deserves that. I've... I've erased her memory to spare her this horrible trauma. So please... take this child, and raise her as your own. Never let her doubt that she belongs. Never let her doubt that she is loved. Never let her doubt that she is family. Not even for one single moment. Tell our children that, too... please...”

(Camilla wipes her eyes again)

Camilla: ...So there you go. That... that's what we were told. That's the story we grew up with. The Hoshidans killed our mother and left our entire country for dead. They didn't give half a flying shit if we all shriveled and died. ...Nobody was going to help us. Mother, the one person who might have been able to come up with a solution, was dead... We had a choice to make. We could die like animals... or we could live like animals! And we chose to live, Dakota! If they weren't going to share their bounty with us, then we would march over there and take it by force! We refused to lay down and die when survival was in our grasp! We... we...

(Camilla falls silent and begins staring down at the table in shame. Nobody speaks for a full minute.)

Dakota: ...Why did you never tell me any of this?

Xander: ...There were a few reasons... one, Garon had told us not to... second, we didn't want to sour our visits, especially since you looked forward to them so much... but the biggest reason was that if we told you too much about either Anastasia or the famine, if you asked too many questions... we'd have to lie to you about how our mother died. And... none of us were willing to do that.

(More silence)

Leo: ...So... there you have it, Dakota. That's the mindset we'll be in when you go back in time. That's what you're going to have to deal with. ...Good luck.

Dakota: … (Stands up from the table) ...Thank you. This was... enlightening. ...Out of curiosity, does anybody have a picture of her?

Leo: I have one hanging in my quarters, if you would like to see it.

Dakota: Thank you.

(Inserted is a family portrait with a 12-year-old Xander in a fancy black suit, a 10-year-old Camilla in a black dress, a 5-year-old Leo, also in a fancy black suit and looking rather uncomfortable, and an infant Elise carried in the arms of a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, purple eyes, and a beauty mark just barely above the bridge of her nose. She is wearing a thin black metal crown and a black dress similar to Camilla's.)

...So. This is Anastasia. ...She seems... nice. I can see why my siblings loved her so much. There's an unmistakable aura of warmth and kindness coming from her, unhindered by the dark forces she worked with.

...I wonder what she would have thought of me.

...Right, before we head out, I need to speak with Kaze about something.

Dakota: Kaze. Do you have a moment?

Kaze: Of course, milady. What do you need?

Dakota: I wanted to ask you about the day I was taken to Nohr. You said in the last timeline that you were there when you were a child.

Kaze: ...Well, to be precise, when I was ten years old.

Dakota: Very well. What can you tell me about the confrontation?

Kaze: Very little, I'm afraid. I remained with my sensei when the actual “peace conference” took place. I was only a child, after all, and though I had trained since the age of seven, I still wasn't ready for active duty.

Dakota: ...That's unfortunate.

Kaze: All I can tell you is about the batallion of Nohrian soldiers I saw. It was mostly bow knights with one or two generals.

Dakota: ...Did you happen to see a blonde woman with a Nohrian crown and a beauty mark right above the bridge of her nose?

Kaze: (Pauses to think) ...No, my apologies, I did not. But then, I didn't see everyone. I didn't even see Garon. Why do you ask?

Dakota: ...It's nothing. Thank you, Kaze.

...The story Camilla told me, along with Kaze's recollection... honestly it's not much to go on, I can do little more than speculate... and yet still I wonder...

How did Anastasia really die?

...I'm sure that question has occurred to the others too, at least since I exposed Garon. But then... perhaps they don't want to think about that. It's an uncomfortable question, for sure. There aren't too many possible answers, and none of them are pretty. Especially since they're all convinced there's still a sliver of humanity left in Garon.

...Maybe there is.

...After all, there was one left in me.

We're making preparations to leave for the Hoshidan capital. Leo and Kaze approached me again just before leaving to tell me that, through loyal suppliers of his, Leo has secured the necessary stockpile of dark crystal catalysts to conjure the spell of pure darkness we will be using as the dark half of the chaos surge. This is, obviously, crucial, and according to Leo, the placement of the crystals is extremely important. Kaze, for his part, supplied us with a map of Castle Shirasagi, and Leo, after asking some questions about ceiling height, wall thickness and estimated foot traffic in wartime, concluded that the best place to store the dark crystal catalysts would be in the miscellaneous items storeroom directly beneath the throne room. This means two things:

1: We must be the first ones to burst through the castle's initial defenses before the castle is overrun by Nohrian soldiers. This... may mean a time limit, possibly.

2: The only way to transport the large quantity of crystals needed without anybody noticing is through my pocket dimension convoy bag. So I'll need to lend it to Kaze before the next battle begins.

...Doesn't sound too difficult.

Let's get a move on.

The march into the capital is going smoothly. Garon and his army have accompanied us, which is... deeply uncomfortable. This is the first time since the destruction of the Chamber of False death that I've interacted with him, and it took all of my strength of will to behave as if nothing significant had changed.

...Iago and Hans informed me that they had just come from the royal Hoshidan villas where the distant relatives of the Hoshidan royal family, everyone with dragon blood in their veins, lives.

...That is to say, lived.

They just finished slaughtering them all. No big deal. Standard procedure. Gotta make sure the bloodline is wiped out completely and the royal weapons don't fall to new owners once Takumi and Ryoma are finally killed.

...Kaze tells me that's where Mikoto lived before Sumeragi fell in love with her.

...I wonder if she had any living family there.

...Damn it, I can't think about this sort of thing, it's driving me nuts! Let's just... keep moving.

We've arrived in the Hoshidan capital essentially without resistance. Odd. I would have expected the Hoshidan army to assemble as many barriers as they possibly could between the Nohrian army and their citizens. Honestly I expected the capital to be empty, wholly evacuated into the castle. But no, looks like they're making their final stand inside, because all of the townspeople are still here. And their reactions are... how to put this... ...predictable? ...Damn it all. Some small foolish part of me hoped the mask would conceal my identity, but as it's little better than a Domino mask, it does little to nothing. ...The Hoshidan citizens, obviously, hate me. Their sense of betrayal is palpable, and frankly the mask is only making them angrier. I heard several demand I take the mask off and look them in the eyes... DAMN IT! Ever since the Chamber of False Death blew up, I've spent many a sleepless night pointlessly dwelling over all the myriad ways my plan was flawed from the beginning. I know it's pointless to think about this now, but I just can't help it. I was so arrogant and I underestimated how much I was gambling with these people's lives. And now here I am, forced to... no. Enough self-pity. We're almost at the end, there will be time to grieve, regret and make amends when this nightmare is-

(Dakota is struck directly in the left temple by a rock thrown from the crowd. Dakota staggers slightly and winces in pain as she turns to spot a young Hoshidan girl through a brief break in the crowd, still returning her throwing arm to her side, the fury on her face in the process of turning into fear before the brief gap in the crowd closes. The Nohrian army stops marching. The shouting and jeering turn to deathly silence.)

Hans: Lady Dakota! Are you hurt?

Dakota: I'm fine, Hans, thank you.

Hans: Who did this to you!? Did you see?

Dakota: Not the faintest idea, I wasn't watching the peasants.

Hans: (Turns to the crowd, a wicked smirk on his face) Alright then, out with it! Who threw that rock at Lady Dakota!?

(Silence)

Hans: ...No answer, huh? Well if nobody's coming forward, guess we'll just have to kill all-

Dakota: Oh that's a marvelous idea, Hans. Buy the Hoshidan army valuable time to prepare for us while you hold up the whole march killing peasants for sport. Briliant.

Hans: ...My lady, I merely suggested-

Dakota: Or, and here's an interesting idea, you could keep your murder dick in your nonexistent pants for another fifteen minutes and save it for the actual Hoshidan army. (Turns to Garon) Shall we proceed, Father? Glory and victory await us!

Garon: ...Indeed. I tire of this. Proceed.

(The march resumes, but the shouting does not)

...Damn it. I'm unfathomably lucky that went as well as it did. I almost undermined by cover to protect a little girl I've never met.

...I wonder why she hates me so much, specifically? Maybe I killed one of her parents. Maybe both of them. Or maybe one of the Hoshidan soldiers protected her from bullies one time and I killed that one.

Or maybe she doesn't need to personally know one of my victims. Maybe she just hates me because I've done horrible things.

...As empty as these words sound, especially since they're mere thoughts recorded on paper and said to nobody... I promise I'll make it up to that girl. I'll undo whatever she hates me for.

...At least there's one bit of good news: we're tasked with breaching the front of the castle, while Iago's forces take the rear. If I remember Kaze's map properly, this should give us a head start in the rush to the pivotal storage room. However...

...It wouldn't be advisable to let this take longer than 20 rounds.

...Iago also passed along Garon's instructions to, as expected, kill the remaining royals.

...Of course. Let's see what this battle is going to look like.

...Damn it. Hinoka's guarding the gate.

…

...I'm getting a funny feeling from these dragon veins. Just like with Sakura, there's a bunch of dragon veins scattered about that all do one thing, and then it appears that Hinoka's guarding one that does... something else. Going by Sakura's case, we should be prepared to assume it's the opposite.

Kinshi knights and falcon knights are scattered about the battlefield, Hinoka's specialty, all with random skill infusions. Thankfully, I have three bow users, one of whom can replicate, and one wolfskin with Beastbane.

...And here are Hinoka's retainers again.

Setsuna should be manageable, though her speed and avoid rate mean I may have to take her out personally.

As for Azama... oh dear. He has a hexing rod again, and in much less controlled conditions this time. If we can trick him into wasting his charges on non-combat units, that might work, but again, the last time I tried that in a timed battle, we wound up cutting it extremely close. But I'll deal with that when we come to it.

...Our mission isn't getting any less urgent, War Journal.

I've checked everyone's supplies. I've passed the convoy bag to Kaze.

Begin.

Hinoka: …

Dakota: …

Hinoka: Never... not once in my darkest nightmares did I ever think this might happen. ...Dakota... please... answer me... Why are you doing this!?

Dakota: ...I have nothing to say to you.

Hinoka: ...Where are Sakura and Takumi?

Dakota: Takumi has gone missing. We have no idea where he escaped to. As for Sakura, I killed her personally.

Hinoka: …

Dakota: Surrender won't do you any good. Garon demands nothing less than absolute victory. Prepare yourself.

Hinoka: ...Dakota... I kept wanting to believe in you... Sakura kept telling me to believe in you...

(Hinoka draws her naginata, twirls it, and readies it)

Hinoka: But I'm sorry... I don't know what happened to the little sister I love... but too many good people have died trying to bring her back. ...No more. This madness ends here. If you dare approach this gate, I'm prepared to do my duty... and cut you down!

So am I, Hinoka... so am I.

First I split up my forces briefly, though I intend to keep them tight after dealing with this set of enemies over here, just in case there are any unpleasant surprises.

Then Kana and I get ready to deal with these onmyoji.

Dakota: ...Kana?

Kana: What is it, Mama?

Dakota: ...I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry I couldn't get it right this time. I'm sorry that... that this is the world you had to be born into.

Kana: ...But I'll be in the next one too, Mama, Lilith promised!

Dakota: That's not the point... I'm sorry I dragged you into this. To ask you to help me do... this...

Kana: Please don't say that, Mama, I'll never abandon you, no matter what you have to do!

Dakota: ...You deserved to be a normal boy living a normal life. And here you are, a soldier at such a young age... helping me do... this...

Kana: ...But I was never going to be a normal boy, Mama. ...I'm your son!

Dakota: …

Kana: I told you before... no matter where we go... or how scary it gets... I'll always protect you, Mama.

Dakota: ...(Sniff)...

Kana: H-huh? (Whispers) Mama, are you... are you crying!? No! You need to stop before someone sees!

Dakota: (Voice cracking) What the hell did I do to deserve such a wonderful son!?

...Enemy phase went well. Kana managed to kill two of the three onmyoji, but one survived due to an unlucky lack of special attacks (Kana has Nohrian trust and a pair-up with me, so he has Aether, Dragon Fang, Luna and Rend Heaven, any one of which would be enough to add enough damage to secure a kill, so this was pretty damned unlucky). But thankfully I made sure that he'd survive no matter what, even in the event of this happening three whole times.

...Sadly, we have a bigger problem. The dragon vein acted exactly how I feared it would. Brutally fast gales hound the ground level, while all ground units have had their base movement cut in half, and all flying units have had their base movement increased by 50%. I think it's safe to say that this qualifies as an “unpleasant surprise”. Thank goodness I gave Azura that second pair of boots, as now she has 5 movement points instead of 3. Right, how to get out of this...

...First, get the fragile and unpaired units away from the flier range and heal Kana with Dwyer.

Next, deal with these kinshi knights with Xander, who just barely makes it, and Camilla, whose newfound superspeed makes her easily reach the one over the water.

Finally, Kana switches to the back for a bit while I take care of these fliers. His magic is a bit too weak to deal with high-resistance foes reliably.

…

It seems like the winds aren't dying any time soon, and I may need to use the dragon veins to reverse the effects.

...But first... let's see if we can't take advantage of it to take out these fliers before the onmyoji get to us.

I have Xander switch to Selena to exploit Selena's flight boost after clearing out the enemies with Arthur, who's behind in his training. ...He's not happy, but he soldiers on.

Justice is at the finish line, Arthur. Justice is at the finish line.

The winds have finally died on their own. Just in case there's another instance of Hinoka summoning reinforcements just as she triggers the vein again, I have Selena and Xander poised with a large control of the map to take out any reinforcement that could danger my team. I'm also positioned near a few dragon veins so that I can reverse the effects if need be.

Just as expected, Hinoka pulled the same trick again, but I managed to deal with it.

...Right, time to experiment with these dragon veins just in case.

This has the exact opposite effect, increasing ground units' base speed and decreasing fliers' base speed by 50% each. This allows Leo, who had lagged behind to deal with those kinshi knights, to rejoin the main group with haste.

I take the opportunity of the expanded enemy attack ranges to bait Setsuna and some others out beyond the range of Azama's hexing rod.

Setsuna falls.

Elise silences Azama so we can advance in without worrying about any hexes.

And now that I've advanced in, I can take Azama out in one fell swoop.

...But unfortunately he hangs on thanks to Miracle.

This unfortunately means I have to choose between using my last rescue rod, using a charge of silence, or taking my chances with what he winds up doing.

Let's see... if the weapon triangle advantage makes him strong enough, Azama might just attack Xander, in which case there's no problem. If he chooses to hex Xander, he'll have a 44-49% chance of hitting and reducing his maximum HP to either 24 or 23. If successful, and if the onmyoji with lightning goes first, uses up the dual guard and successfully hits me with a 37% chance then he'll do 9 damage, and then the rabbit spirit onmyoji successfully hits at 42%, he'll then do 19 damage. If all of those things happen, and if Xander does not activate Sol once, he dies.

That's the choice: use my last rescue, leaving me utterly helpless the next time the shit hits the fan, use one of my 3 remaining silence charges with a 16% failure rate, or let Xander take his chances.

…

…

...I know what Xander would tell me. I shouldn't squander precious, irrecoverable resources on such a small chance of failure. That I should trust him to do his job properly.

...And damn it... what with the extenuating circumstances and the fact that, if we're being brutally, coldly honest, everyone but me is expendable in this timeline...

In this one instance...

He's right.

...But don't let me down, Xander, I swear to all the gods!

...He dodged the hexing rod.

Thank you, Xander.

Kana takes care of Azama. The battle's almost over now.

Arthur continues to make short work of the kinshi knights.

…

…

…

...Kana clears the way to the gate.

...Arthur learns his final skill.

...And we're done. With the gateway cleared, Kaze rushes into the castle to set up the dark crystal catalysts. He will regroup with us once we meet up with Iago's forces. We routed this place with plenty of time to spare, so there will probably be some wait time before we meet up with them.

Camilla: Is everything clear?

Dakota: ...Yes.

Camilla: ...Good. One... one more thing, Dakota. ...Garon will be needing a... trophy. Proof that we killed Hinoka. I trust I needn't be more specific.

Dakota: ...I see. I'll-

Camilla: No, sister.

Camilla: I'll do it.

…

(Dakota is sitting at her desk in her treehouse in West Dakota. There's a knock on the door.)

Camilla: Dakota? Are you in here?

Dakota: Come in, Camilla.

(Camilla walks in)

Dakota: Kaze says the dark crystal catalysts are in position. Everything's ready.

Camilla: That's... that's good. ...Listen... I know what you just did can't have been easy. But if you want to talk about it-

Dakota: It wasn't as hard as you're thinking it was, Camilla.

Camilla: Hm?

Dakota: I... barely got to know her at all. (Fake laughter) She... wasn't so lucky with her levels, she was getting annoying to train...

Dakota: ...So I benched her. About a third of the way through the first timeline. And after she stopped being useful... I kinda... just... forgot she existed! (Stronger fake laughter) I barely remember anything about her, Camilla! I couldn't even tell you what her favorite color was! She's dead, her head's in a cloth sack, and it barely hurt more than killing her troops!

(Dakota starts laughing hysterically, only to break down into sobs. Camilla hugs Dakota tightly while Dakota cries for several minutes)

Dakota: ...You didn't have to do that, y'know... cutting off her-

Camilla: Yes I did, Dakota. I... I know I've been guilty of coddling you... honestly, when you first told me you went back in time, realizing just how much growing up you did without me around made me realize that was probably a mistake... but every once in a while... it's still a big sister's duty to protect their younger siblings. Whether that be from harm... or heartbreak.

Dakota: …Camilla...

Camilla: ...I know I won't be able to shoulder all of your guilt... but just this once... I needed to be able to help, Dakota.

Dakota: …

(Camilla heads for the door)

Camilla: ...If you need somebody to talk to again, Dakota... I'm always here. Remember that.

Dakota: Camilla, wait. ...About what you told me this morning... about what Garon said happened in Cheve. ...I think we both know it's quite possible what Garon said Anastasia asked you to do was a lie.

Camilla: It's what she would have said, Dakota, I promise you. That's the kind of woman she was.

Dakota: ...I'm sure it is. But it doesn't matter, because I just want you to know... false promise or not... you kept it.

(Camilla stands there, staring at Dakota)

Dakota: ...I never doubted it. Not for one moment. ...Thank you.

(Camilla stands in the doorway for a moment longer, smiles, and wipes a tear from her eye before walking out and closing the door behind her)

[Alastor15243]

I stumbled across this from the Robin war journal you wrote and I have to say, it's fantastically well written. To say I liked your interpretation of Conquest more than the game is an understatement, and you handled Birthright much better than I thought the game did. You've got another reader.

Glad to hear it, hope you continue to enjoy!

Edited June 23, 2016 by Alastor15243

[Julius]

I am absolutely in love with this. Dakota is hilarious and quirky, and it's amazing how much he's grown as a character since he chose to fight for Hoshido. I can't wait to see Revelations, and Conquest has blown me away with how you made the Nohrian royals so much more interesting. Also, by making the Nohr storyline not as insane as it actually was, it feels a lot less choppy and rushed, even though I think Conquest's plot is far more gripping to me as a player than the other two. Seeing your work had made me realize... that I have a long way to go if I ever want to be this good a writer. I'm a decent enough wordsmith, but I could never work at the scale of Dakota's entries. So, thank you, I guess. It's been far too long since I've read a good story. Anyway, I'm sorry for being so long-winded, fatal flaw of mine, but I wanted you to know that this is fantastic, and you've got a loyal reader in me.

[blah the Prussian]

…

Holy shit. Nice.

Also: could you please provide a link to Robins War Journal?

[Alastor15243]

Wow, thanks for all of this heartfelt feedback, everyone! I'm frankly blown away, I only hope I can keep this sort of thing up!

As for Robin's War Journal... I left it unfinished, it was initially imagined as a prequel to this, but I eventually realized it was a bad idea to anchor too much prequel canon before actually playing Fates, even though the games are only tangentially related.

I might go back to it one day, maybe. But for those interested in what little I wrote:

http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=60338

[Alastor15243]

Alright, sorry for the delay. I'll post the part some time before 2:00 eastern time, I finished the chapter, I just need to put a little more work into the post-battle narrative.

[Alastor15243]

...And after this section being down for several hours, here's the part:

Entry 28

Dear War Journal,

Let's get the obligatory upgrades out of the way. My house and the records hall have been upgraded, though at this point it's honestly just a formality, I only did it because it was a thing to do.

This is it: we are approaching the final battle before Garon's assassination becomes possible. After this battle, the next time we step outside of West Dakota it will be to get Garon to the throne room and finally render the god king mortal.

The dark crystal catalysts are in place. The Heaven Vein is ahead of us. And Garon is ready to sit right on top of it.

All that remains in our path is whatever final force Ryoma can throw at us. I honestly don't know how long this “Kaizo-Kotomi” plans to support the Hoshidan side of this war, but I will have to assume that it will be to the bitter end. So I think we can count on this final resistance force being our toughest battle yet.

What scares me the most about our mission is that I still have no idea why exactly the purple ones want Garon to win this war so badly, and what ulterior purpose they're using him for. That lack of knowledge has given me some pause, or it would have if the failure or abandonment of our plan were remotely acceptable. Nevertheless, I must consider the fact that whatever the purple ones' ultimate goal is...

...I will be unwillingly helping them achieve part (or, gods help us, all) of it for a few minutes.

But only for a few.

I sold some rather valuable, but in our current situation useless, equipment to be able to afford some more staves, as well as an eternity seal so that I can continue gaining levels for a little while longer. Of course, it'll be time soon to crack into that 20,000 I've kept saved up, but I'm not quite ready yet.

Also after a lucky lottery win, I can now forge Arthur's Justice Beam to tier 2. He's graduated to one of my heaviest hitters, so this should be quite useful.

Now then, let's... hold on... Lemme just check on Leo for a second.

...Huh. Elise is with him. What the hell are they reading?

Dakota: Leo? Elise? What are you doing? What are those scrolls?

Elise: Hoshidan spiritualism for beginners. We're trying to learn how Hoshidan magic works!

Leo: Thanks to you giving Kaze so much time to spare, he managed to swipe some scrolls I needed from the Hoshidan royal library before it was seized by the Nohrian army.

Dakota: ...They look like the Hoshidan equivalent of children's books.

Leo: (Cringes) They might as well be. My knowledge of Hoshidan magic is woefully lacking. Even the Nohrian royal library back home contained precious little on the subject, so here I am, learning the basics.

Elise: We're on chapter five already though!

Dakota: ...That's great.

Leo: …

Dakota: …

Elise: ...

Dakota: ...So you're still trying to figure out what happened to Sakura?

Leo: Yes. I know it's a longshot. I know how advanced the magic is and that I have precious little time to learn it, but still, if there's even the slightest chance I can figure out what caused her death, there's honestly nothing save for the chaos surge that is more worth my time. And besides... I just like learning.

Dakota: Why does Nohr have so little information on Hoshidan magic?

Leo: Nohr has very little information on any Hoshidan weaponry. The secrets of Hoshidan weaponsmithing and the like were very jealously guarded even during the last time our two countries were on speaking terms. ...Which was a century ago. Before the bottomless canyon opened up and rendered travel between the two countries impossible until eighteen years ago.

Dakota: ...What? Eighteen years ago? That recently?

Leo: ...Yes. Actually... that's one of the scary things that's occurred to me recently, Dakota... the magical lightning rods that allowed safe flight over the bottomless canyon without being struck down by the canyon's cursed lightning... the steam technology that allowed boats to actually be able to cross the Hoshido-Nohr sea... and all of the other means by which we could make contact with Hoshido again to ask for help... those breakthroughs happened... within a year following the blight.

Dakota: ...But that would mean-

Leo: Yes. We assumed that Garon merely took advantage of the blight to start this war by intercepting our messages, making it look like our cries for help went ignored. But the war depended on there being messages to ignore. It's... highly likely this technology already existed beforehand in some fashion and was suppressed until this very moment. But if he merely took advantage of the blight, that would be an exceptionally odd thing to do before knowing about it, so... so it's quite possible...

Dakota: ...That the blight wasn't natural, and he had a hand in making it.

Leo: ...Exactly.

Dakota: ...I see. Well, I'll leave you two to your research. We'll be heading out in an hour or so, so be ready.

Elise: ...Got it.

...Right. We're almost there. Let's do this.

Ryoma and his forces have set themselves up right in front of the stairwell to the top floor. A few expert snipers manning ballistae have rendered besieging the castle by air impossible. If Garon is to reach the throne room, we must go through Ryoma and take out the ballisticians from the inside. Right now we are waiting on Iago and Hans, as well as Garon himself, and then we shall advance.

Kaze is keeping watch on the catalysts and will report back if anything goes wrong. So right now I just need to focus on-

Kana: Mama?

(Dakota looks around to see Kana and Velouria behind her)

Dakota: ...What is it, Kana? I'm a bit busy at the moment.

Kana: ...What's Uncle Ryoma like?

Dakota: (Deep breath) ...Sweetheart... now is really not the time to ask me that. Later. Please.

Kana: ...Sorry.

Dakota: ...It's okay, Kana, just...

(Velouria puts her hand up)

Velouria: Someone's coming, Mom.

(Iago and Hans walk into the room)

Dakota: Iago! How did your rear penetration go?

Iago: (Glares at Dakota briefly) Announcing the arrival of King Garon of Nohr!

(Garon walks in, accompanied on both sides by his elite guards. Dakota kneels, Kana and Velouria follow suit)

Dakota: Father! Good to see you are doing well!

Garon: Rise, Dakota, there's no time for this. Report. How did the battle at the front gates go?

(Dakota rises)

Dakota: Flawlessly. No casualties on our side, no survivors on the enemy's.

Garon: None?

Dakota: None. I understand you want all of the Hoshidan royal family dead, and I was happy to oblige.

Iago: And I suppose you have some proof of-

(Dakota tosses a bloodstained cloth bag towards Iago, who catches it reflexively and, upon realizing what he's holding, freaks out, screaming and falling over)

Oh there is so much more where that came from in store for you, Iago. Just you wait.

(Hans picks up the bag and looks inside)

Hans: ...Yep. That's the princess's head, alright.

Garon: (Grins wickedly) Well done, my child.

Dakota: How was the battle at the rear gate?

Garon: (His scowl quickly returns) ...Tell her, Iago.

Iago: (Getting to his feet and regaining his composure) ...I regret to report that, while the battle was successful, it came with very heavy losses. Yukimura managed to launch an ambush that claimed the lives of a great many of our soldiers. ...He also managed to escape with his life. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Garon: It matters little. The war is almost won, and we have plenty more soldiers where that came from. And besides... we won't be needing the army any further in this war.

Dakota: …

Garon: This is your final test, Dakota. You have done spectacularly so far. But now you must show me you have what it takes to kill the strongest warriors Hoshido has to offer. Succeed, and I promise you, a place on the throne will be yours. Do not fail me... my daughter.

Dakota: I will not, Father.

(Garon notices Kana and Velouria on either side of Dakota)

Garon: ...Hm... these children... who might they be?

Dakota: Ah, yes, I don't believe you've been formally introduced. These are Kana and Velouria, my stepchildren.

Velouria: ...(Flatly) Pleasure to meet you, grandfather.

Kana: (Nervous) ...Hi.

Garon: ...Your... stepchildren?

Dakota: Shortly after the attack in Cyrkensia, I discovered a fascinating race of creatures called the wolfskin, and I decided that in the name of power and science I must take one as a mate to see if hybridization is possible and our formshifting abilities could be combined. To this end I traveled to wolfskin peak and staged a competition of strength and skill to see which of them was worthiest of being my husband. A wolfskin named Keaton won by a fairly large margin. These are his two children from his previous marriage.

Garon: ...I see. I must say, I'm surprised at your willingness to... take in strays.

Dakota: (With a hint of sharpness) Everyone competed, and Keaton was the best. I don't settle for second best, Father, no matter what.

Garon: ...I see. Well, I hope the... hybridization... is successful. But enough of that. The throne room awaits. Time to see how you fare against this-

(A booming voice echoes with no visible source)

Ryoma: Citizens of Hoshido, hear me! This is your high prince speaking!

Dakota: ...The hell?

Iago: (Looking around) I-I think he's using some kind of magic, though I can't determine the source-

Garon: No matter. Let us hear what the rat has to say.

Ryoma: ...My people... the rumors you have heard are true. Nohr has reached the capital. And what is more, they have breached the walls and invaded nearly all of castle Shirasagi. Worse still... the royal villas have been raided, Takumi is unaccounted for... and Sakura and Hinoka are dead. You would have learned all of this on your own in time, and I will not spend what may be my last moments alive giving you false hope.

(Garon smirks)

Ryoma: It is entirely possible that there are only two descendants of the great Dawn Dragon left alive. And today, one of them is going to die. In the event that it turns out to be me...

(Ryoma is heard taking a deep breath)

Ryoma: ...Eighty years ago, King Mitsurugi, the man I am ashamed to call my grandfather, nearly dragged this great nation into the deepest darkest depths of hell with an imperialist regime of fear-mongering and hate that unleashed... inexcusable injustices on our neighbors. Thanks to his influence, the earth tribe is dead, and the water tribe survivors can be counted on one hand. The fire and wind tribes he failed to destroy, but not remotely without lack of trying, and it was only due to the boundless strength and courage of the former and the reincarnational immortality of the latter that they still exist in any capacity at all. My father, King Sumeragi, may the gods rest his soul, rose up against this madness and ended Mitsurugi's evil reign at great personal cost, ushering in a new... sadly short-lived... era of peace. We all know this. And I would like to think that nearly all of us have learned the terrible lessons of this dark time. But I am here to tell you another. Even if it comes to pass that I fall on this day... even if Dakota inherits the legacy of light... even if the entire Dawn Dragon bloodline is swallowed in darkness... I promise you that it will not stay that way! For my father and grandfather were living proof that evil is not in the blood, but in the heart and the mind! Just as Sumeragi rose above the hatred and bile of his father, so too one day shall a hero rise to take back the power of light for the cause of justice and return our kingdom to peace and glory! No matter how hopeless it seems, always remember that evil cannot reign forever, and the day that a hero rises to end this reign of terror is nothing short of inevitable!

(Garon starts laughing)

Ryoma: And so to my people I have this to say: Do not wait for that hero! Pave the way for them! Ready the world for them! Fight with all you have to see that hero's time come a day sooner, for that hero cannot do it without you! No hero ever has! And when the ebon-clad forces of darkness come to your door demanding submission, do not comply! Do not obey! Do not behave! And above all else, do not cower, for the tyrant that threatens our home does not deserve your fear!

(Garon stops laughing)

Ryoma: He deserves your scorn and your pity, for despite all of his protests to the contrary, no armor can change the fact that he is nothing more than a sad, pathetic, terrified old man who even as we speak is being dragged kicking and screaming into the cold and laughing dark! He will die, he will die soon, and every display of power you have seen from this man is nothing more than an insecure child's pathetic cries for attention! And when he dies, I promise you his evil will soon follow, for true evil, evil so truly selfish and egotistical, cannot survive the death of its master!

(Garon, fists shaking in blind rage, swings Bölverk at a nearby pillar, slicing it cleanly in half)

Ryoma: ...Yes, he has destroyed my beloved sister and turned her into nothing more than an extension of himself. But I swear on my honor as high prince of Hoshido that I will do everything in my power to ensure that she will not outlive him. Words cannot express my sorrow that I must do this. But that is my duty to my people. Should I fail... know that my soul and the souls of all my family will be with you. May the Dawn Dragon be with you all.

(Garon is breathing heavily and is incandescent with rage)

Dakota: …

Garon: …

Iago: …

Hans: …

Garon: Dakota.

Dakota: Yes, Father?

Garon: I have changed my mind. Leave the lion-maned lobster alive. Barely. Prove your superiority to him, but leave him alive. I want to see the hope leave his eyes as my axe bears upon him! I WANT TO SEE HIM BEG ME FOR MERCY!

Dakota: You have my word, Father.

...It's almost over, Dakota. Just a little longer. Then you can kill Garon, go back in time and...

...

...You know, no matter how many times I tell myself that... it never makes me feel any better.

...Let's just do this.

Dakota: Ryoma! Show yourself!

(Panels slide closed in front of and behind Dakota and shimmer with a magical light, then Ryoma steps out of the shadows)

Ryoma: I have no plans to hide, traitor.

Dakota: Surrender, Ryoma. We've seized your country and decimated your army. Your battalion is all that's left.

Ryoma: My battalion is all that's needed.

Dakota: Do you honestly think you can kill Garon?

Ryoma: This isn't about killing Garon, this is about killing you. Garon has done enough damage to the world on his own. I will not allow the throne of my beloved country to be inherited by his wretched little puppet!

Ryoma: Prepare yourself, Dakota! My mightiest and most trusted soldiers will descend upon your precious family and take as many as they can with them into the abyss! And as for you... prepare to face me alone! No allies! No partners! No strategy! Skill against skill alone! On my honor as high prince of Hoshido, you will not live to see the dark future you have made!

...Damn it! It's just as Ryoma said: he's sealed me off from my troops and intends to fight me in a one-on-one duel.

Thankfully I've trained extremely hard, so-

...It could be worse. I chugged some tonics just in case. Astra could be a problem, but thankfully I can neutralize critical hits thanks to my luck and Flamethrower, that forged ember tome. Between Elise and Dwyer with physics and my convoy's supply of concoctions, I should be able to stave off any number of lucky Astras.

Thanks to quixotic and Flamethrower boosting my accuracy immensely, this dragon vein probably won't be necessary, and I can defeat Ryoma without it given a few rounds. However, I still don't want to rush into battle with him, because if it's at all possible I'd like to get the three treasure chests. If we start getting overwhelmed I'll take out Ryoma to end the fight, but I'd like to remain as well-prepared as I can be for the upcoming coup.

I deploy my best soldiers, and give Basil to Kana. I also deploy the Dread Mozu with Arthur for some extra speed and to see if I can bring her up to speed after a long hiatus.

...Nothing else to it.

...Begin.

I'd prefer to replicate Laslow immediately, but Camilla needs some extra power to take out one of these masters of arms, and Azura needs to sing for Arthur, so I have to hold off on that for a round.

The east side is secured for now.

The west-dispatched division of my forces holds to see how the enemy will proceed.

...They do nothing, so I take the opportunity to replicate Laslow before proceeding with my advance.

Mozu, assisted by Inspiration, Lily's Poise, Rose's Thorns, Rally Defense, Rally Speed, Rally Skill, Rally Strength and Fancy Footwork, prepares to deal with the two master ninja down this hallway.

Meanwhile, Xander prepares to counter-one-shot these master ninja with some assistance from Dwyer's Inspiration. In the event that too many attacks miss, they'll double back and turtle up.

Thankfully everything went according to plan. As for the east side...

...There's a fairly thick group of enemies that refuse to be baited, two of them ninja who are wielding spy shuriken and are armed with Grisly Wound and Poison Strike. And that's to say nothing of whether or not they'll make use of the breakable walls.

...There's no way around it, I sent Xander to the wrong side, time to switch some of my forces.

In the meantime, Leo attempts to take out these swordmasters.

...Of course. Why am I not surprised?

...Right, Xander makes it to the east side and prepares to bait the ninja and the one enemy strong enough to damage him.

As for this side, with two spy-yumi-wielding puppets with seal defense and lunge and a bunch of swordmasters and a ninja...

...I've calculated Kana can survive, and he'll severely nerf everyone who survives with Draconic Hex. Furthermore, one of the two puppets will be in easy killing range once it lunges at Kana from his starting point.

...A slight oversight on my part means Velouria is also put in range, but thankfully she has better defense than Kana even without using her beastrune, so this shouldn't be too huge of a problem even if they pick her. It just means fewer counter-attacks, but everyone will still be nerfed, and even wounded thanks to Grisly Wound.

Here are the results.

Since the enemy on the east side doesn't seem eager to break the walls, I have Mozu take a kill and gain a new skill that's quite useful and appropriate, if only she could take any significant number of hits at the moment.

The three most troublesome enemies are dealt with.

And with that the western path is much safer.

And after luring the spy suriken ninja into a reachable spot, Xander takes them both out with Azura's help.

The western chest has a silence rod. This basically means that if any particularly dangerous staff users show up between now and when I go back in time, Elise can keep them at bay for 7 rounds.

On the eastern side, now that we have our foot in the door, I have Mozu do some more training.

As for the western side, Saizo is accompanied by a lesser version of the formation from before, with Seal Strength instead of Seal Defense and the only new danger being Life And Death.

Kana prepares to bait and hex them, and unless he's really unlucky he'll be able to kill at least the Life and Death swordmaster.

...There. Saizo will fall shortly.

Almost done.

Almost there.

This is almost over.

...This is one of the reasons I put Kaze on catalyst watching duty.

The eastern chest contained 10,000 gold.

...Kagero is dead.

...Just in time.

Time for my battle with Ryoma.

Dakota: Maybe this is what the Yato had planned all along.

Ryoma: ...You have no idea. You have no concept of what the blade you carry even is!

Ryoma: For thousands of years that statue has stood in our capital's square! It was there before the bottomless canyon! It was there before the Great Collision! No ancient writing, no story, nothing ever speaks of a time before that statue! And on it, in Ancient Hoshidan, were these words:

Ryoma: “I await the True Dragon, destined to restore that which was lost, to right that which is wrong, and to deliver us all from our darkest hour!”

Ryoma: THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE YOU!

Ryoma: ...We were all so excited to see that after all of those eons, the statue had finally chosen someone, and that it was our own beloved sister! You were supposed to fight beside us! Beside your family! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO SAVE YOUR HOME!

Ryoma: BUT YOU WENT SLINKING BACK TO THAT MONSTER YOU CALL A FATHER! YOU HELPED HIM DESTROY EVERYTHING YOUR PARENTS FOUGHT FOR ALL THEIR LIVES!

Ryoma: YOU DIDN'T EVEN STAY FOR YOUR OWN MOTHER'S FUNERAL! ANSWER ME, DAKOTA! WHY!?

Dakota: Garon must sit on the throne of Hoshido. That's all that matters.

Ryoma: ...I don't know what I was expecting to hear. I don't know how this happened, but you clearly lost your soul a long time ago. And now you even cheat during our duel!

Dakota: You sprang a trap. I was prepared for it.

Ryoma: ...Enough. No more stalling. No more games! Time for you to die! One final strike, to the death!

Dakota: Agreed. Farewell, “Brother”.

Ryoma: Do you know what the saddest part of this is? After all this... my only regret about killing you... is the knowledge that after all that you've done... some dark, twisted part of me is going to enjoy this.

Dakota: ...Begin.

Ryoma: HAAAAAAAA

Dakota: …

Sakura...

Takumi...

Hinoka...

Ryoma...

Please forgive your foolish sister.

She has a job to do.

...Right... must remember what Garon said.

...Damn it, I should have just killed him. He deserves better than this.

...But I must keep Father's total trust.

And he asked to deliver the final blow.

Ryoma: D-Damn it...

Garon: (Laughs) So, “High Prince”, where are your pretty speeches now? Where is your hope? WHERE ARE YOUR GODS!?

Ryoma: B-Burn... in all... the hells...

(Elise gallops in)

Elise: (trying desperately to look away from Ryoma) D-Dakota... Leo... The third chest... Laslow... Laslow found something...

(Elise holds up an ornate staff)

Leo: It... it can't be... (Leo takes the staff and holds it in his hands) Mother's... Mother's greatest creation... the staff that can raise the dead... Bifröst...

Ryoma: K-keep the damned thing... it doesn't even work... your mother was a fraud...

Leo: (Turns to Ryoma) ...Say that again.

Ryoma: Why do you think we stole it!? Yukimura brought it back when we took Azura! We gave it to the greatest healers alive! But it never worked! It couldn't bring back Father, it couldn't bring back Mother, it couldn't bring back Sakura, it couldn't bring back Hinoka... it couldn't bring back anyone!

Leo: That... but...

Ryoma: So keep it! I hope it crushes your hopes as much as it crushed mine!

(Leo walks away, rather shaken)

Garon: Enough of this. (Walks towards Ryoma) You should have run by now, little man. And now you will pay the price for your foolishness.

Ryoma: I will never... run... from a coward!

Garon: (Raises Bölverk) I! AM NOT! A COWARD!

(Garon swings Bölverk. Ryoma drops dead. Raijinto leaves his hands, and the lightning within it flickers and dies.)

…

(Dakota forces herself to regain composure)

Dakota: ...Congratulations, Father, on a glorious victory!

(Dakota spots Raijinto on the ground and grabs it)

Dakota: ...Father, you forgot Raijinto.

Garon: (Turns back and smiles) Keep it. It's yours now.

Dakota: ...What...?

Garon: You heard what Ryoma said. Everyone but Takumi is dead now. Once we find him, you will be the last descendant of the Dawn Dragon on the face of the earth. Your descendants will now be the rightful wielders of the weapons of light, and all of the holy weapons will belong to the kingdom of Nohr. (Smirks) Of course, that's not strictly why my grandmother went about systematically killing all of the royals in Nohr... apparently she did it to stop the entitled territorial squabbling that plagued the nation and instill central authority among the city-states... but one must admit... having all three of the Nohrian royal weapons in her bloodline... was definitely a bonus...

Dakota: Father... I am honored.

Garon: ...Of course, this means you will have to mother some real children. And if your little pet proves... unviable... I hope you will consider taking another husband.

Dakota: ...Of course, Father.

Garon: Very well. The throne awaits. Let us be off.

Dakota: I will be right behind you. I just need to assess damages to my team.

Garon: Of course.

...

It's over.

It's finally over.

Everyone I needed to kill has been killed.

...And now only one person remains.

...It's as Garon said. The throne room awaits, War Journal.

...Let's get ready.

Edited July 9, 2016 by Alastor15243

[blah the Prussian]

So I have gto ask: what was your opinion on that chapter? I thought it had some of the best atmosphere/music in the game.

[Alastor15243]

So I have gto ask: what was your opinion on that chapter? I thought it had some of the best atmosphere/music in the game.

Definitely an impressive brain teaser, I liked the challenge, though I did rage at the number of spy weapon users, but not in a ragequitting way.

As for atmosphere... Thorn In You is a fantastic song, definitely better in-game than Don't Speak Her Name thanks to the dual verions (but for actual listening I prefer Don't Speak Her Name by some substantial margin), but I only really felt any emotion from it in both versions of chapter 6, which was respectively when I was initially impressed with the storytelling and then when I was holding out hope that Conquest would be better. Maybe it's better than I felt it is, but I kind of stopped being able to care about Conquest's story a while ago due to a combination of too much lost goodwill and too much personal focus on "how am I going to spin this into Dakota's War Journal?".

[Ren_Ambrose]

I was holding out hope that Conquest would be better. Maybe it's better than I felt it is, but I kind of stopped being able to care about Conquest's story a while ago due to a combination of too much lost goodwill and too much personal focus on "how am I going to spin this into Dakota's War Journal?".

I think the general consensus on Conquest's story is that the majority of the decisions that Corrin makes go against the very nature of their character. I don't remember where I read it, but I remember someone saying that Conquest would have been much better if Hoshido was conquered near the start and you instigate a rebellion against Garon within Nohr, essentially making it a three sided war between the remnants of Hoshido, the Nohr loyalists, and Corrin's group.

[Alastor15243]

I think the general consensus on Conquest's story is that the majority of the decisions that Corrin makes go against the very nature of their character. I don't remember where I read it, but I remember someone saying that Conquest would have been much better if Hoshido was conquered near the start and you instigate a rebellion against Garon within Nohr, essentially making it a three sided war between the remnants of Hoshido, the Nohr loyalists, and Corrin's group.

Just to clarify, the "it" was this particular chapter that might have been better than I felt it was since I've become so jaded. Canon has been dead to me since chapter 15.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Alastor15243

[blah the Prussian]

I felt like the atmosphere did a much better job of telling the story than the story itself. This chapter was the only storm the castle chapter in FE history that actually felt like the enemy was making a last stand, and I have to applaud the designers for that.

[Bandit]

Just caught up with the updates, this is really good! It's amazing watching the character develop and how you work the story. Can't wait to see how this all ends.

[Ren_Ambrose]

This chapter was the only storm the castle chapter in FE history that actually felt like the enemy was making a last stand, and I have to applaud the designers for that.

I can't agree with this more. Awakening's Valm arc finale was pretty anticlimactic gameplay-wise, and Birthright... Well, I'm just gonna let Birthright speak for itself.

[sirmola]

I can't agree with this more. Awakening's Valm arc finale was pretty anticlimactic gameplay-wise, and Birthright... Well, I'm just gonna let Birthright speak for itself.

That's... Pretty cheezey. Also, thanks for letting me know that divine retribution and counter stack.

[Alastor15243]

Alright, I'm working on the next part, but just wondering, could you guys help me out with something? Two things, actually:

1: Can you battle me in my castle some? I could really use some more battle points, I'm at around 140 right now and there's this item that for plot reasons I'd like to have available at some point in Revelation that's somewhat higher on the list.

2: Just a heads' up, I'm going to be announcing a "Create-a-battle" contest at some point in the near future that will become the subject of a late-game entry in Revelation. I can't give any further details now, but if you think you're good at making really cool and tough battles... stay tuned.

[blah the Prussian]

1. Alas, my house has a huge ass wifi password that I can't be arsed to enter.

2. Sounds really interesting, will this be a mod or something?

[Alastor15243]

1. Alas, my house has a huge ass wifi password that I can't be arsed to enter.

2. Sounds really interesting, will this be a mod or something?

Oh sorry I didn't clarify, I'm talking about a "my castle" battle using a certain ruleset I'll elaborate on later. Basically I want people who think they can assemble a powerful and tricky team to be given the heads up, though I can't give enough details for them to truly be prepared yet.

[Naoshi]

1: Can you battle me in my castle some? I could really use some more battle points, I'm at around 140 right now and there's this item that for plot reasons I'd like to have available at some point in Revelation that's somewhat higher on the list.

I could visit you everyday and give you points, if you want. As for myself I'm trying to get both seals so I don't mind.

Edited July 6, 2016 by Naoshi