Platinum

Fire Emblem: Twin Blades

Renais:

"Kill the princes."

Cecilia wasn't sure what she was expecting him to say, but it sure wasn't actually came out of his mouth. Behind the mask, her mouth was left slightly agape.

"Are you sure about this", she replied with a hint of trepidation in her voice. Gathering up magical energy, she fired another elshade at an approaching soldier before turning back to her master. "I know what we are doing right now would be called extremism by the kindest person... but regicide is on a whole other level."

Her master shook his head in disagreement. "I know there is a visceral reaction to what i'm suggesting, but clear your heart of emotion and consider the situation logically. Banon is a fool; Janten a pariah. What future is there for Renais with them behind the throne? The people will never truly accept them; the rest of the world will see weakness. We can give them something better, and it is our duty to do so."

She ran the thought through her head to look for a logical rebuttal. She found nothing. Everything she had read or heard about the two princes made it clear that they were unqualified for ruling a kingdom. There was no historical precedent from which to draw a counter argument. Normally one would drift towards the chaos and unrest that results in a sudden upheaval in the power structure, but even that was a non factor as long as Cecil was around. It would stop any worry about the prophecy and potentially even break the hold the Virad had on the world's attention. Weighing that all against a few lives made it clear that it was naive and selfish to not act decisively. She could live with the consequences.

The two pushed through the battle together with a level of poise and synchronicity they never had shared in before. Almost on instinct, the two moved to guard each other's weak side when the other casted magic and within minutes she had killed another four soldiers. Something was off though. She expected to see at least the heir to the throne battling alongside some members of his guard, but there was no swell of elite soldiers anywhere she could see. The prince had turned and ran, abandoning his own people when they needed him most.

They were too late.

Reinforcements were beginning to trickle in from nearby and in time they would win the day. It was an inevitability and with that went their opportunity. Her master and her both had miscalculated; never assuming that they would leave in such a pivotal moment. It only cemented her belief that she was right to follow her master's plan. Such people were unfit to rule.

And now she had to wonder what to do next.

Fire Emblem: Twin Blades

Renais:

Part of her knew that what she was doing was wrong, that the people dying all around her were innocent and of no fault of their own. It didn't stop her in the slightest. Her teacher was right, fate could never place everyone in the convenient position they desired. Not everyone could be the paragon; the means offered had to be taken.

Instinct and the will to survive take over and push empathy aside as the intensity of battle increases. Cecilia had killed before... but never had she been thrown headfirst into chaos like she was the moment her and her master warped into the throne room. To try and make sense of the bloodshed was pointless, so she didn't make the attempt. There was never Cecilia moved into position with her master behind a group of her so called 'cohorts', occasionally unleashing her magic into the crowds of Renais soldiers, but for the most part she focused on guarding her flanks and keeping herself alive. It was all about buying time.

She glanced over to her master, and was taken aback. He shaped and channeled magic with the grace and poise of a conductor commanding an orchestra. He kept up an offensive pressure by mixing light and dark magic, at one point even knocking a fully clad knight into the air with a concentrated beam of light. Cecilia had never seen her master fight before, and didn't even know if he had substantial experience in combat to begin with. It was clear that she still had much to learn when compared to her master, but that didn't mean she was dead weight by any means. She had plenty of talents and tricks of her own, what better way to prove it than on the battlefield.

---

A soldier, sensing an opportunity and the slight shift in momentum, was able to break through the chaos and charge at her with spear point dead set on running her through. She spun away from his lunge, and drew upon the power of her tome to launch her counter attack. Tendrils of darkness radiated outwards along the radius of the magic circle she materialized in the air, traveling in every direction imaginable as they converged at a single point, where the soldier's heart happened to reside. In an instant, the man was stopped cold in his tracks, watching in silent horror the spectacle of his own blood erupting out of his mid-section. His spear clattered to the ground as his arms clutched at his chest in a vain attempt to stem the tide. He took two meek steps forward before collapsing to the ground. There was no healer who could help him now. Seconds later he died in a pool of his own blood, with one hand meekly grasping Cecilia's shoe. She kicked it aside and rushed to her master, sensing that her situation was on the verge of rapid deterioration.

"We need to act now if we are to do anything", Cecilia gasped out as she launched another volley of her elshade at the soldiers of Renais. "I'm sure you can also sense that this battle cannot endure forever."

Valois nodded to indicate he knew the truth in her words. "It can't endure, but maybe it can hold out long enough for us to accomplish something that we might never get the chance to do again."

"And what", Cecilia inquired. "Would that something be?"

Fire Emblem: Twin Blades

Okay then i'll work with that.

Fire Emblem: Twin Blades

Can I get a description of what elshade looks like when it is cast and what it's effects are? I didn't see anything for it on the fire emblem wikia and I don't remember that tome being in any of the games I have played.

Fire Emblem: Twin Blades

Renais:

There was an unmistakable and pervasive feeling of nervousness in the air as the people passed by and the evening marched ever closer. While many of her scholarly associates would argue that such a morose atmosphere could always be found when power was transitioned to an unproven prince, Cecilia knew for a fact that other forces were at play. Among the citizenry a Virad prophecy was almost gospel, and so many feared that today's coronation would be the start of something monumental and terrible.

Cecilia knew that these fears would indeed come to pass.

She would have a hand in whatever was about to ensue, but thankfully she would not have to bare the weight of her actions alone. Finally spotting her master's visage breaking away from the mass of people was the first time all day that she had felt at ease.

Her master embraced her before pulling back to examine her face. With a bemused tone to his voice he told his apprentice, "These last two years have been far kinder to you then they have been to me."

"And yet your vanity has held up remarkably well judging by that freshly tailored ensemble of yours", Cecilia retorted. The response got a laugh out of her mentor, though she couldn't help but see the sad truth to his words. Much like a king in times of peril, her mentor Valoise seemed to age exponentially over these past two years. His brown hair was now infiltrated by strands of gray. Though he still carried himself with poise, she noticed his gait had changed and his posture worsened; the beginnings of crow's feet could begin to be seen around the corners of his eyes. She couldn't imagine the types of deals and negotiations he had to conduct with the other members over these past two years just to protect this mission. Those thoughts were for another time however. By the way Valois’ eyes dimmed Cecilia knew he wanted to change the topic of discussion and get straight to the matter at hand.

"Were you able to accomplish the mission I gave you over these last two years?" Valois inquired. He was more direct than she was expecting with his questioning, but she could sympathize.

"It wasn't easy... but I was able to infiltrate their order like you asked." Her words appeared to assuage his fears, but he didn't know the full story. "I still have some work to do before I get the answers we are looking for but I would like to discuss this somewhere with less people around if you don't mind."

---

The two of them shared a meal before they found a stable without a soul around spare the horses who were kept there. She had no idea how to approach what she was about to say indirectly, so she opted for her master's blunt line of questioning. "Do I have permission to speak freely?"

This caught Valois off guard, and he gave her a slightly perplexed expression before replying "I wouldn't have been a teacher if I was opposed to students speaking their minds."

She sighed, wondering where to begin. "I will tell you that you were right to have us here on this day. They did have plans for the coronation; one's I am to be involved in. What we have to do is despicable... but I am not convinced it is necessarily the wrong course either. I... don't know how to reconcile this."

He place a hand upon her shoulder and gave a weak smile. "It is good that you have been able to hold onto your conscience after all you have been through Cecilia. We are not the people that history will remember, but we are the ones who nudge history along to its proper course. Sometimes that means we must do terrible things so other do not have to. Though in your case, you don't have to shoulder that burden alone."

Those words were all she needed to hear. Reaching into her cloak, she gave her teacher a small pouch. "I was hoping you would say that", she beamed. "I was able to procure some extra warp powder for you as well. No one will notice an extra member in the chaos so you should be able to avoid suspicion."

He took the pouch into his cloak, and said "While we are in a gift giving kind of mood, I have something for you as well." Valois walked to one of the stable horses and removed something from it's pack. As soon as he placed the bundle in her hands she knew what it was from the weight alone.

"My mask?", she could feel a heavy wave of emotion wash over her. It was almost as if a piece of herself had been returned.

"Been keeping it around for such an occasion; as good as when you left it in my care. Now let's hurry or we'll be late to the coronation. We can talk more along the way."

Fire Emblem: Twin Blades

Was my profile accepted yet or is there something I need to change?

Fire Emblem: Twin Blades

Rethel34 said
Sounds good to me.EDIT: Platinum, are you going to make a character who is initially a player, or are you going to be playing this temporarily enemy character?If you want to have this character in the first scene, btw, I can PM you about how she could be involved.

A temporarily enemy character that comes over to good side some time down the road is what I was thinking. It wouldn't be Fire Emblem if the Lord character couldn't convince an enemy soldier to their side in some random battle after all lol. And yeah sure I wouldn't mind being in the first scene.

Asura said
I have but one thing to say.DIBSONSUMMONER.

I was planning on going Acolyte down the line so you don't have to worry about any opposition from me.

Fire Emblem: Twin Blades

I can always start off my character as a neutral or antagonist and then have them join the party later on. That way there is only one dark mage in the party at the start. The character motivation would be there so it's not a stretch.

Outside of that i'm out of ideas.

Fire Emblem: Twin Blades

Would changing my class to sorcerer make it easier for you?

Fire Emblem: Twin Blades

In the end wouldn't it just matter where we end up? If one of us eventually promotes into an acolyte and the other a summoner then there is diversity.

But that would take a while so I can see how it's a problem initially.