HONEY! THE MINIONS CAN EXPLODE?! — team 11, iron round
MIDORI’S SMILE WAVERED at the sudden pulsing between her eyes. she did not stumble, though the ground moved beneath her feet. her eyes closed, her grip on the heavy staff tightened, then loosened; when she attempted another grip, her fingers closed around air. midori opened her eyes and choked back a gasp. whether of amazement or fear, she could not spend time identifying the feeling when there were massive hunks of metal in front of her. like... massive massive! and there were multiple of them— four, to be exact. but the one in the back, behind some flickering veil that seemed cast around it, looked like the baddest guy there.
fists clenched, midori swallowed and whispered, “ holy sweet cakes, what is that? ” then, surprise colored her face in a faint flush. midori looked down at her hands, finally aware of the lack of weight from the staff. instead, there was a shield clipped tight by a band around her forearm. that was... all, really. despite the oddness of it all, midori couldn’t argue since she adored how the ochain shield flashed a glow of light within its gems every time she shook it!
ochain shield! heals midori for 1hp! ( midori hp = 10 / 10 )
a groan of metal sounded in front of them and midori turned towards her team, smiling bright and hopeful, “ i’ll go first! watch my back, friends. ” she was sure that, even if something went wrong, her teammates would be there to cover her mistake. so, determined and bright-eyed, midori turned back towards the beasts of metal and raised her hands. the weight of the shield made it a slight struggle but it was nothing that she couldn’t handle— nothing would compare to the travel case she carried daily!
midori! rolls d20 = 7! ‘seraphim’ critically hits, 4 damage! ( radio scout: bulwark a hp = 6 / 10 )
the incantation fell from her lips in an easy roll of enunciation. at the call, light burst from midori’s hands and enveloped in an explosion around the closest scout beast. if she looked close enough, peered through the brightness of the spell, then she would guess that there had been a flicker of feathers from the blast. angel wings, midori thought, then ignored it at the sound of the scout’s metal whirring and churning.
black ice node! rolls d3 = 1! ‘radio scout: bulwark a has been deactivated!
suddenly, there was silence. midori blinked wildly; once at the beast, twice at her hands, before whirling around to face her team. her fists flickered with a faint glow but she paid little mind to them as she shook her hands excitedly. “ did you guys see that!? i think it stopped working. ” a glance was thrown back to the other two scouts. “ we might have to do the same to those two, right? ”
If a wolf wants to kill you, it will. If a horse wants to kill you, it will. They both have teeth, limbs to strike with, and if you startled them from behind, surely they’d spin and lunge for you, right? In the end, wolves are no different from horses.
... Dwyer honestly isn’t quite sure if this makes him all the more calm, or all the more scared.
But the wolves at least, if anything, look quite calm and docile. Dwyer shuffles on in to the dog-assigned yard where they’ve all pretty much just... seen fit to lounge about, doing quite nothing in particular. Unfortunately, something in particular is what they need to be doing.
“... Hey. You. Up.”
Cautious little nudge of his staff toward the nearest dog, prodding it on the shoulder. It... gives no heed and simply yawns.
The Battle of the Eagle and Lion is coming soon! The armorers are holding a seminar on the infamous hilltop ballista, allowing students to learn what goes into its maintenance and care. You’re even allowed to make a few test shots! [Grants Bow +1]
Sakura wasn’t a big fan of battles, even when it came to competitions between the houses: as a matter of fact, that month there would be a battle between Black Eagles and Blue Lions and that only meant one thing for sure – great rivalry and a lot of competition among the students, especially the ones that couldn’t stand the possibility of losing. That said, the petite priestess usually stayed away from those kind of event, since she wasn’t really competitive and she thought she couldn’t give a proper contribution to the preparations. This time though, the two team would be using a very interesting weapon, actually something that Sakura has always looked up with admiration but also fear – the ballista.
I’m so lucky to be the one chosen for doing this preparation!, she thought to herself as she was approaching the small hill where the ballista was collocated: the hilltop ballista (that was its correct name) was a rather difficult and special weapon, generally only used by experts to attack enemy from afar, for surprise attacks, but sometimes, thanks to these special exercises, even simple students could learn the basis of using the hilltop ballista. This time around, Sakura decided to take part in the preparations, since she’s always been fascinated by her brother Takumi dealing with it and she thought it could be a great occasion to learn something new too.
Reaching the top, the petite priestess approached the big wooden machinery, a supervisor briefly explained to her the main part of the big weapon, then he moved and he left the space for her to get closer to examinate the mechanism that put into action the whole object. “Alright, so I just touch thi—!” she couldn’t finish her phrase that the large weapon moved, a mechanism snapped and the ballista released.. nothing, because luckily for her it wasn’t loaded. Yet, the load sound made by the mechanism release, definitely alarmed the other person who was actually assigned to work in pair with her.
“Shigure!!” the pink-haired girl suddenly moved from the wooden object, waving enthusiastically at the familiar figure approaching her position with a flying mount. “Sorry for scaring you!” she lastly giggled, showing off the best smile she could afford in that moment. “Are you here for the preparations too?”
When he wakes up on September 1st, he sits bolt upright in his bed as he takes in his unfamiliar surroundings... except they’re not so unfamiliar after all. Like waking from a dream, the details unfog and become clear, and Saias gasps aloud with joy to find himself in his academy dorm room once more. The fictional world from the past couple of months no longer holds him: he and everyone else has been freed, they must have been! The missions were successful, then; he read every single one of the six fanfictions’ final chapters, his anticipation and excitement mounting as team after team finished their boss battle... except those in Edge of Eden, who managed to defeat Melanthios even though two other enemies remained. He’d worried about the fates of everyone in the books upon finding this out, but it seems trouncing the fallen deific being was enough to secure their objective.
Strange that there was no sign of Rion; then again, Saias hopes he won’t see the magenta-haired youth for a very long time.
As he leaves his dorm, he finds Chrom and Shigure chatting in the hall outside (and what a delight to see the light-haired bluenette again! though he seems to have aged between his last stay and now), and he instinctively scans them for injuries. Their battles had been difficult, though Chrom had been rather lucky on his end, while Shigure had managed to hold on at the end by a thread. He’s so very proud of both of them and how well they fought despite their limited equipment and spells.
Funny, isn’t it, how the three of us survived lethal missions by the skin of our teeth with only a couple items available to us. I’d almost call it a rite of passage between the three of us. However, next time, I hope all of us have at least a small arsenal in order to take on whatever our enemies throw at us.
“... and then I must’ve been empowered by something heavenly, because I nearly felled our Melanthios with a single strike! I think the only thing that prevented me from killing him was that strange armor he was wearing, but Kris—you know, Marth’s best friend—he finished him off right after.”
“That’s impressive! I almost ended up dying, but I managed to kill our group’s Melanthios after he killed Uncle Leo... Uncle Leo!” Shigure tears up, covering his mouth with the back of his hand.
Saias steps forward. “He’ll be fine, Shigure.” The two bluenette teenagers startle and whirl around, then cry out with relief, and in two seconds he’s buried in a double-sided bear hug, very enthusiastic on Chrom’s part, hesitant but no less gentle on Shigure’s. The redhead chuckles and pulls the two close—oh, how he’s missed them so! It’s just not the same without his friends.
“You’re back... I didn’t know whether the other students that were trapped got out, but you’re really back...” Oh, Chrom. He must be taking all of this particularly hard, what with him being written into the empire only to find out he was on the evil side. Saias shushes him and murmurs that there’s nothing to forgive. Poor thing, knowing him he’ll be blaming himself for a while. Luckily, Saias doesn’t plan on leaving him to wallow in self-deprecation, and there have to be plenty of others willing to help the young Ylissean prince recover.
Shigure shifts and withdraws from the hug, and the priest-in-training takes the pause to look over this older, more mature version of his younger friend. “You said... you said Uncle Leo will be fine? But how... he’s dead.”
The redhead shakes his head with a smile. “Nope, he’s alive. If last time has taught me anything, it’s that everyone will always make it out alive at the end of the month, no matter whether they died during the mission or not.”
Sapphire and golden eyes widen. “Wait, what do you mean, ‘last time?’” Chrom asks. “Did something like this happen before?”
“First time?” Saias quirks a brow, then chuckles. “Yes, it has. Last time we were sent out throughout Fódlan on a mission to uncover more about our mysterious enemies. I was sent to the Sealed Forest... several of us died, and those who died were resurrected as shadows that were forced to fight us. The less said about it, the better.” He winces. Oh, and that reminds me: whatever happened to Theo? I still haven’t seen shell nor tail of that little spider droid since then. “In any case, when we finally won our battles, everyone got out alive, even the ones who died. I know for a fact that your uncle made it out alive with you.”
Shigure frowns. “I don’t recall hearing anything like that from our classmates—in fact, I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of that particular mission.”
“Now there’s an interesting phenomenon. When I first came here to Fódlan, I entered the academy in the Pegasus Moon of 1180.”
“Saias, you can’t have entered then.” Chrom furrows his brow in exasperation. “You were here months before me, the Pegasus Moon of 1180 would’ve been during the time you were trapped in the book.”
“Yes,” the Jugdrali mage agrees, “and no. The mission I was on took place during the Lone Moon of 1180—just like this enchanted book mission—but we returned during the Great Tree Moon of 1180. Do you see what happened?”
“Time travel,” Shigure breathes. “Or, no... time reset. That’s so strange, why is it that that happened? Was it a result of your battle with these enemies you mentioned?”
Chrom pales. “You mean to tell me that we might have to do our entire school year all over again?! But wait... you were already in higher-ranked classes than you would’ve been if you had to start the year over... so does that mean everyone remembered and were able to pick up where they left off? Oh Naga, does that mean our enemies remembered?!”
That would explain a lot, actually, such as Chrom’s mission during the Verdant Rain Moon and this latest mission into the tomes. “You know what, I wouldn’t be surprised if they did.”
“I need to see this.” Shigure heads back into his dorm room, and, after trading a bemused shrug with Chrom, Saias follows after the singer. He finds the other teen staring at the calendar on his wall...
... which shows the Great Tree Moon... of 1181.
“Oh.” Saias sways, a bit lightheaded. So time has returned to its natural course, then? “I thought... I thought it was gonna reset again. I think I even hinted at it when I talked about course direction with you, Chrom, said you had all the time in the world.”
“... People are gonna wonder why I’m a year older when I go back home,” Chrom murmurs, looking faint. “That is, if time in Fódlan doesn’t run parallel to time in Ylisse.”
“It does not. I’ve been gone for two years at home and about nine months here,” Shigure says, tone matter-of-fact. The other two Blue Lions give him a quizzical look, at which he offers a sheepish smile. “I’ve lived in a Deeprealm for most of my life; they run much faster than the rest of the world.”
“... Right. I knew that.” Chrom rubs the back of his neck. “Well, looks like we’ll have to make the most of this opportunity. It’s a new day for Fódlan, huh?”
Saias smiles. “It seems so. And if I’m not mistaken—not to break up this little reunion—we all have family and friends we need to go check on and make doubly sure they’re all right, don’t we?”
Both bluenettes nod, then Chrom, as if remembering something, turns to Shigure with his finger in the air. “Your great-uncle’s here. I met him while we were trapped in the book.”
“He is!!” The youth is out the door before the young Ylissean can say anything else, and the redhead chuckles at his friend’s quiet enthusiasm. Bragi, he missed his younger friend... it feels so good to have him back, and that he has the chance to meet Saias’s other closest friend. Speaking of which... the swords-mage turns to the older teen, gaze gentle and kind.
“Chrom... for what it’s worth, I don’t hate you at all for the role you were slipped into and the actions you took because of what you believed. I’m willing to bet your family and friends don’t hate you either, and they’ll welcome you back with open arms if you just have the courage to go to them.” The bluenette nods, eyes fixed on the ground in evident shame. Saias withholds a sigh, then thinks of something else and smirks. “And if it takes me beating that into your thick skull with a heavy tome for the next several months—”
“All right, all right, all right! I get it! No more wallowing in the depths of guilt and misery!” Chrom holds his hands out to keep the other teen away, laughing. “When did you become so violent?”
“Being trapped in a book is boring and stressful. Or, it was on my end.” Saias grins, then wraps his arm around the other boy’s shoulders. “You know you can talk to me about anything and anyone, right?”
After a bit, Chrom nods, slow but understanding. “Yeah. Thanks, Saias.”
“Of course, anytime. Come on, we have plenty of people to check on and make sure—ohmyBragi Sigyn’s gonna be pissed.”
The laugh that answers him make him beam from ear to ear. Worth it.
