Thirteen Years in One Hundred Steps: Theme 59 – No Way Out

Jeigan had managed to scout out Marth and Aliana at their tree, and after severely rebuking Aliana for her close proximity to the prince, had beckoned the two to follow him.

Dolua had finally made their way to the castle, and any prisoners they could take, they took, especially magic users like sages and priests. At this point, those in the castle were in danger, specifically Princess Ellis and Queen Eleanor.

Marth had gone absolutely silent upon hearing this news. His tears and crying had subsided long before Jeigan had ever found him with Aliana. He felt somewhat bad about not defending her, but she had made a small smirk in response to his apologizing expression.

Now supporting his bruised arm, Marth sprinted along next to Aliana, behind Jeigan. A word still did not escape his lips.

Jeigan led the two around to the concealed northern entrance. Mark was there, bandages wound around his head. He rushed to meet them, worry plastered on his features. “Thank goodness you two are well!” he exclaimed, setting a hand on each of their shoulders. “I wasn’t sure if she got to you in time, Marth…”

“We’re fine,” Marth quietly voiced. “Thanks for your concern, Mark.”

“It is only natural for me to do,” Mark replied. He glanced over the pair’s wounds, approaching Aliana with a small stave in his hand. “Healing the two of you is also a natural thing for me to do. Hold still.”

“Get Marth first,” Aliana quickly stated, backing away. “He’s in a worse condition than I am.”

Mark obliged, holding the stave in parallel with Marth’s injuries. A white glow emanated from the soothing sapphire gem of the stave, shining upon the bruised and bloodied skin. The sage did not quit this healing process despite the many times Marth winced as deep cuts were cauterized and scars were erased.

Aliana was pulled to the side with Jeigan, engaged in a conversation with him. “What do you mean I can’t go with him?” she spluttered. “Marth needs my help! I can’t just leave him to himself!”

“The fewer people stay with him, the safer he shall be,” Jeigan explained to the thunderstruck girl. “Ellis has already agreed to transport him as far away from this place as possible. As for you, though –“

“Jeigan, you have no idea. I made a promise with him.”

“You’ll need to break that promise, then,” Jeigan gravely stated. “Either that or there is no possible escape for him.”

Aliana’s jaw seemed to firmly set, her scarlet eyes burning with contempt. Mark had approached her with his stave, healing her cuts and removing the splinters that stuck fast within her skin. He had an idea what the conversation was about, but he dared to not say anything. He was glad he had asked Marth to wait near the northern gate.

Jeigan only turned away from Aliana’s hateful glare. “Your duty is to protect Altea and her citizens in our absence. As of now, Marth exiled from this kingdom. Mark already knows.”

Mark cringed under Aliana’s venomous look, but the truth could not be avoided. Jeigan had saved his life when he had been surrounded by Doluan enemies, and had told him what had happened to Marth’s rank.

“We must make haste to Princess Ellis. No doubt the Doluan army will stand in our way.” Jeigan handed his foster daughter a flyssa, a longer sword than her shortsword – perhaps a little too long – that she could still wield as somewhat easily with one hand. “The brother sword to the one you already possess. Use them with care.”

Aliana said nothing, snatching herself away from Mark’s healing touch. Not even a word of thanks escaped her lips. She merely kicked a nearby stone away, her features cold with resentment. She slipped the sword into the other empty loop on her belt, clenching its handle to stop herself from cursing.

~~+++===+++===+++~~

Mark had already broken the news to Marth, who now seemed a bit beyond dead. His eyes had lost all of the childhood luster from years ago, and were now cloudy with no emotion. Whatever went through the prince’s mind was beyond Mark’s knowledge, but the aura he saw nearly terrified the sage. Marth was gone. At least, the boy Mark knew from childhood had disappeared from existence.

There seemed to be no way to restore him. No way to call him back. No way out of this mess.

~~+++===+++===+++~~

With Mark and Aliana in the lead, the foursome tore through the courtyards, making a straight beeline for the castle. They were able to get by with just the sage’s concussive waves of magic, but of course, such easy tidings did not last for long.

Aliana was the first to catch the sight of numerous Doluan soldiers within the corridors of the castle, and without a word, silently drew her swords and picked up her pace. Marth ran alongside his friend from childhood, rapier drawn and ready to fight. Together, but wordlessly, they cooperated to drive through enemy after enemy, making a path for the rest of the group to pass through. A violent shudder crawled up Aliana’s spine at the shock of what she had just done.

Marth only flicked the blood off his rapier before solemnly gazing at a shocked and dazed Aliana. He knew she had the same idea as his: there was no possibility to get around this carnage; it was either fight, run (and thus abandon the kingdom), or die. No way out. Killing was not easy. Marth had learned this already. Now it was Aliana’s turn.

He did not spare any more time, however, when he noticed Mark and Jeigan catch up. Throwing no more than a beckoning glance back, he pulled Aliana to her feet and shot ahead with her, plowing through more enemies. Lances, being one of the sole weapons that could reach them, grazed the two numerous times, leaving them with a number of injuries. The two were eventually separated, however, squeezed into tight situations where defending theirselves was all they could do.

Aliana was having trouble with a halberdier that barred her way. She managed to block and parry some of the thrusts, but with the new sword, she was weighed down a bit – her movement was slow enough that the enemy’s lance slashed her arms enough times that she almost could not stay up. She barely forced a backflip away from a lance thrust that was meant to end her, and was about to try and attack again when a furious Elfire spell reduced the enemy to ashes. Before she could turn to rebuke Mark, though, she felt his trembling hand on her shoulder.

“Whatever you do,” Mark’s tremulous voice told her, “don’t put this all on your shoulders. We’re in this together, or else we can’t get out together. Besides that,” Mark went on, his voice dropping to a whisper so Marth could not hear, “I’m terrified for you…Seeing you so willingly killing people like this…I feel like I’m losing you.”

At this, Aliana turned her eyes to Mark as she started running again. “You’re not going to lose me,” she bluntly stated, “at least…not yet.”

~~+++===+++===+++~~

Ellis had been in quite the tight situation when Mark, Aliana, Marth, and Jeigan had finally reached her chambers. Doluan soldiers had been trying to break down the door, which was virtually impossible because of the barricade she had put up, and had finally brought axes to try their luck one more time. Ellis was trapped with no way of escape.

Before Marth could act, though, Mark and Aliana had already taken off for the mob, leaving the prince behind in the dust. He never felt as detached from them as he did now.

Mark followed closely behind Aliana, covering her with his own offensive and supporting magic, often casting healing spells in Aliana’s direction. He occasionally blew away or incinerated foes with Elwind or Elfire respectively, sometimes throwing in a quick Nosferatu spell, refreshing himself while drowning his opponents in blinding light.

Aliana rushed through the enemy, trying her best to get to Ellis’s door and defend it until the ambush was held off. A chill wind rushed by where her swords cut through, leaving bloody trails along the walls and agonized soldiers crying for an end to their miseries. Killing was still too much for her, though it almost seemed like she was dancing through the foe, the wind upon her blades the song to which she moved.

Once Mark and Aliana posted theirselves at the door, Marth and Jeigan followed, the former shooting a venomous glance at his friends before commanding Mark to break down the door and the barricade inside.

Aliana did not say a word, her focus concentrating upon her surroundings.

Mark’s fire spells burned cleanly through. As he looked on at Marth and Jeigan climbing through the debris to Ellis, he sighed in defeat. “You were working with him before, so why do you insist on distancing us from him? You know we have to stay together…and by doing what you’re doing, we’re falling down a hole in which there’s no way out. You’re pushing him into a hole of his own, and if you do that…”

“I don’t want him to remember us.” Her red eyes were placid, and seemed to reveal nothing, but her voice quavered from what sounded like fear or sadness. “I don’t want him to remember us…”

She would say no more once she saw a flash of blue hair through the debris.

~~+++===+++===+++~~

Marth was in the lead now, as he knew his way about the castle better than most of his group. Ellis and Jeigan followed behind him with Mark and Aliana bringing up the rear.

He hated her at this point. Here he was, struggling to stay in Altea, but she would provide no support or cooperation, unless something endangered his life. Well…If she were to cooperate with anyone, actually, it was with Mark. Why him? Why did she exclude Marth from her troubles?

He could hear footsteps behind the group, numerous footsteps that rang louder in his ears than any other sound he heard. Nothing mattered at this point. Just the fact that he had to get away and reach a safer area of Altea before Dolua got to them.

Pressing ever deeper into the castle, the corridors began dimming as the torchlight on the sconces began to dwindle. Just before there was total darkness, Marth veered to his left, leading his group down that small little escape route. It was not long before that passage opened up to a separate door.

Jeigan opened this door, urging the other four in before sauntering himself, locking it with a plank across the door.

Marth, however, let up a silent curse of dismay: what could have been an escape out of Altea was naught. The steps going up the tower had all been destroyed, closing off any and all access to the ramparts that could have possibly led the five to safety.

Gauging this situation, Ellis backed up against the wall with her hands behind her as she fiddled with a stave she had hidden within her sleeve, clenching its handle when the sounds of forced entry reverberated around the closed-off tower.

The other four backed up a little, Marth and Jeigan drawing their swords in preparation for the upcoming fight. To them, it was either fight the way out or die trying.

Ellis pulled the other two over at this point, her voice falling to a volume low enough that Marth and Jeigan could not hear her. “Marth must be saved,” she urgently told Mark and Aliana. “As long as he remains alive, Altea has hope.”

“We’ll help get him safely out, Princess Ellis,” Aliana quickly responded. “Whatever we can do, we will.”

Mark hesitated. He hated how she immediately resolved these sorts of situations with a sudden and vague remark. But perhaps, Mark thought, it was safer to keep things vague. He nodded after a moment, albeit a bit reluctantly.

Ellis was actually taken aback by the remark – she had not even asked that question, and she had already gotten her answer. She paused, her silence only broken by the continuous pounding and splintering of wood on the other side of the door. “Do you realize the magnitude of your decision, you two?” she finally asked. “What you are deciding to do…This decision you made…Do you know how much it will cost you?”

Both Aliana and Mark did not say a word. Then, “We don’t,” came Aliana’s clear and curt answer. “Just tell us what we have to do. Marth can’t command anyone at this point, and you’re superior in class to Master Jeigan, Princess.”

Ellis could not help but inwardly smile. She really did not want to have to ask the two to betray Marth like this…

…But there really was no other way…

She made her resolve, leaning into the pair’s ears, whispering to the two the commands she wanted them to carry out. Both Mark and Aliana could have been devastated by the commands, but nothing really mattered at this point. Betraying him was painful; pushing him into a magical circle to ensure his escape was painful because they would not be there with him. No other choice was available though.

Mark sensed Marth tense up, and immediately turned to the splintering door. An axe blade was finally poking through. The sage’s green eyes looked to Marth. Something had died within the young prince, now replaced with an uncanny silence that seemed too much for him. Maturity? Determination? Hatred? Resolve? Mark had no idea.

But he did catch Aliana’s eye, and with a nod, took up a position next to her in front of Marth and Jeigan. He could sense Marth’s contemptuous glare settling on him, but at this point, Mark could care less. Silently chanting to himself, he managed to generate an orb of fire within and around his right hand and a crackling sphere of lightning in his left.

He glanced at Aliana again. Her focus was on the axe blade that regularly broke through the widening splinter. Marth was pushed far back into her mind, almost as if she cared no more for him.

Ellis took the stave from behind her back, chanting quietly as a white glow emanated from the green orb of the staff. A pentacle shined beneath her brother’s and advisor’s feet.

Marth noticed this pentacle, however, and took a step forward to exit the magical circle. Actually, that was not his main focus. He saw a gap between Aliana and Mark. It was a gap meant for him, Marth. Together, with his friends, he could stop this. Only a mere step, and he could fill in the space between them. Either he fought next to them, or he died with them. That was how he wanted it to be.

Aliana and Mark would not allow it, though. They were not about to give up Marth’s chance to escape, to get out of this inescapable dilemma. The former quickly sheathed the sword in her right hand, joining it with Mark’s discharged left hand. A cracked “Don’t move” escaped their lips before their joined hands smashed into Marth’s gut, knocking his wind out as well as back into the pentacle.

His blue eyes looked incredulously at the two. Why were they abandoning him?

The door was almost split open. The Doluans would be in at any moment.

Marth’s eyes went to his sister.

Ellis could see the utter confusion and pure terror in her younger brother’s eyes. She hoped she would not have to see her brother like this ever again. Her expression held no salvation or help for Marth, though. “Live long, Marth,” she murmured, crouching low to him. Taking her headband off – the Altean diadem, the symbol of royalty – she slipped it into her brother’s hair, kissing him gently on his forehead. “Live long…”

“Ellis…Sister…Wait…I…”

Ellis would hear her brother no more. Looking to Jeigan, she merely uttered, “Watch over him, please…” before backing away, finishing her chant just as the Doluans began fighting through the splintered door.

The pentacle glowed at a high intensity, enveloping Marth and Jeigan in sheer brilliance before they disappeared.

Marth’s last glimpse of his friends was too bleary with tears, but even when he quietly uttered their names, hoping for some acknowledgement or reassurance, he received nothing. His hand reached to get out of this light, but there was no way out. He was too weak from sadness and deep exhaustion within his heart.