"Wow! Why do there have to be so many archers? Oh well...As long as I've been paid, I can't complain. This is my chance to show you what Farina of the Great Wing can do!! But listen, Montago...This goes beyond hazard pay!"
After the coma-like sleep she's been in for the last day, Farina's feeling chipper again. Glad to have her back!
Castle Ostia is under heavy assault from Nergal. Villain Teleportation of an entire army? Really? He could ambush and defeat nearly any foe in their very stronghold, as proven by the swift demise of so many guardsmen...and he's been wasting time gathering quintessence and summoning dragons. Why bother?
This is a message from Lord Nerg- THWOCK
Oh. Right. We're not "any foe".
Nino, Legault, Jaffar, Eliwood, Serra, Oswin, Merlinus: The best defense here is a good offense. Nonetheless, Hector insists on guards for the throne room. Royals and their symbolic chairs, heh....As it turns out, they have little to do, and spend the time conversing amongst themselves. The Black Fang survivors discuss the future and what it holds, with their old lives gone. Oswin seems locked in an internal struggle and stands apart from the rest.
Bartre, Ostians: Bartre secures the eastern stairwells, relying chiefly on the cursed Devil Axe we acquired in Badon. We're now low enough on weaponry to chance its use. Three Ostian survivors of the initial massacre assist him. Arrows glance off their thick armor, but a few poisoned barbs penetrate just enough to deliver their payload.
Farina: Mindful of Farina's words about archers, I task her south and west of the main battle to rescue treasure, not that Nergal's morphs seem the plundering type. She halts briefly to lend Hector some support against heavy armor.
Lyn, Matthew: Lyn, even now seeking to expand her repertoire, draws the heavy claymore from Dragon's Gate against myrmidons and a swordmaster, clearing Matthew's path to the castle vaults. She joins up with Hector, piercing armor with the power of the silver blade or steel bow, and before long the two of them clear away the remainder of Nergal's "messengers".
Hector: Charging to the rescue of Guy with ancient Tomahawk and Wolf Beil in hand, he teaches Nergal's fell knights to dread the might of Ostia once more. Briefly caught in deadlock against superior numbers, Lyn's arrival from the east tips the balance.
Noticing the massive sword she wields, he resumes an earlier conversation:
"Lyn."
"..."
"Say, Lyn... You remember when we first met?"
"I do, I remember it well. It was when Caelin Castle was taken by Lord Laus. My grandfather had been taken prisoner. And you and Eliwood came to the rescue. Then, together, we fought the armies of Laus."
"Lyn. Why are we together now?"
"Well..."
"Because we’re friends, right? Say if you were much stronger than I was... Would that make me useless to you?"
"No... Of course not."
"Fighting isn’t everything on this journey, you know. If fighting was everything, what use would we have of Merlinus?"
"Well, I suppose..."
"You are strong. I can vouch for that. Just, I was stronger."
"Hah!"
"W-What!?"
"You’re too much— Saying that kind of things with a straight face."
"You gotta problem with my face? I’ve just gotta be me, you know..."
"Yes, I know. ...Thanks. I didn’t think you cared so much about how I felt. Or is Hector gentler at heart than Hector looks? You’ve certainly done much for my courage today."
"Hmph... I’m not this way to just anyone, you know..."
"What?"
"A-Ah! The enemy! Let’s go, Lyn! Don’t lag behind!"
"What! W-Wait up!"
Guy, Karel: In a room to the south with Pent and Louise, they spring into action, to no avail. As Guy crosses the threshold, a sorcerous web entangles the young Sacaen, and he falls into unnatural slumber. Karel attempts to push past, but is resisted by an invisible force. Knights closing in, Guy's doom seems certain.
But as lances thrust at him, Guy dodges, continually, literally in his sleep. Karel's intense training saves his life. Every breath of wind, every footfall...he parries instinctively, senses honed by hours of rigorous exercises. It's still only a matter of time, but then Hector arrives. By the time Guy regains conscious movement, only a few enemies remain.
Pent, Louise: What unfortunate timing. They were just about to share tea with those fascinating Sacaens. Louise sighs and peers through an arrowslit in the formerly impregnable walls of Castle Ostia. No shortage of enemies in those narrow corridors, but which were most important?
For all they knew, the other companions might have fallen like so many of the guards. Best to protect herself and her husband, then. Taking a longshot, she nails a druid to the north preparing to silence Lord Pent's magic. Nodding gratefully, he himself silences another, but not before the dark wizard snares Guy in a trap.
THWOCK. THWOCK. Opposing archers and shamans target her, but are no match. To the south, however...knights break through the Ostian line, staining the walls with their blood. In an incandescent blaze, Pent melts their armor like wax as they close in. This room is no longer safe, door ajar from a thief who retreats too slowly.
VS Denning: Stone chips spray like shrapnel across Louise's face as the pair flee, narrowly missing an eye. Her flinch causes the next arrow, better-aimed, to miss as well...that is, miss a vital organ. She stumbles back painfully, the image of an ornately-garbed figure with dead, golden eyes in her mind.
This maze of corridors will serve well. Nergal's morphs are lethal, but have no spark of human creativity...and no teamwork. Pent's Physic stave is a wondrous artifact, although Louise's shoulder still aches.
Denning watches the arrowslits and corners carefully. His targets will emerge again, and he will be ready. Had he sufficient intellect for arrogance, he would wonder why his master set him to deliver a message to those he could slay easily from afar, one by one.
Behind the wall, an intense blue flame bubbles away centuries-old fortifications, leaving a skin of brittle stone less than a millimeter thick. No way to see through, but Pent's magic will solve that problem again. Through the scrying glass, Louise takes aim.
The first shot, deflected by shattering stone, is slightly off-target. Adjusting her aim with eye-blurring speed, she looses the second shot from the Brave Bow.
Everything dead on 7th turn Ostian phase. Yep, one of them (with Bartre) got the last kill. I rewarded him by way of some poison-healing from Pent's Physic, although he was too far away to be Restored.
MVP: Louise. I figured it was time she got a moment in the spotlight. She racked up some impressive kills. After Denning (with normal + critical Brave Bow strikes), she also finished the druid Pent silenced at the beginning, but that wouldn't have been an interesting place to end.
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