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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-YN0I1u6X0

"Is Felix being kept secure?" Assistant-Director Rene looks her weapons over as she inquires with Director Belinda, the two of them sitting on their mounts just outside Gravern Keep.

"Of course," Belinda assures her, "he and Sara are being kept in the utmost comfort by the castle's staff. We treat our guests well in Central, willing or not. And with Veiz, Cicero, Kristina, Ludwig, and even lady Anais leading the castle guard, there's no way a single mage will cause trouble."

"Of course," Rene says, as though it was silly of her to ask, before turning towards the bandit before her, "Conrad, it would really make me more comfortable if you fell back as well. If any of the four of you were to die, then all hope may as well be lost for the Empire."

"And leave my men without me?" Conrad scoffs, raising up his Double Bow. "Bad enough that my wolf brothers have to answer to Saye, I'm not going to abandon my Tarvosian brothers to hide comfortably in a castle!"

"And I suppose I won't be able to convince you otherwise..."

"Don't you worry your pretty head, Rene! Not a single man is getting past my archers! The rest of you won't need to lift a finger!"

You, Dyrus, are actually discussing this same fact as Rene in war council, just a ways from Gravern. Your mother, stern-voiced, says, "how lucky that this Conrad is going to be right on the city. I'm going to need to borrow Iote's Shield again, Winona. We need to hit Conrad hard and fast with everything else we've got if we're going to swiftly eliminate Conrad."

Yes, though your mother is trying to maintain her cold facade, it's very telling that she's made it an order that Conrad not survive this battle under any circumstances. The vicious bandit who dealt the killing blow to your sister is going to die.

>A. Talk to someone beforehand (specify)
>B. Skip to the fight

>>48167507
>B. Skip to the fight

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>>48167550
"Staying back while you and Via go to avenge Laurise..." Belle folds her arms. "It feels. Wrong, as a bodyguard."

Marduk wraps an arm around her side and gives her one of his tired grins, "hey, only one flying fighter can risk getting close to Conrad. The faster they finish this, the sooner you can protect them again."

"You guys take care, alright?" Winona pleads, "if that man killed you just like Laurise, then I don't know what I'd..."

"Don't talk like that, sis!" Nia says, smiling sadly. "After this... Laurise will be able to rest easy, see all of us do her proud."

Petting the wyvern you've still yet to ride into battle even once, Via nods. "The four of you will have plenty of opportunities to save our lives in the later legs of the battle, anyway. Isn't that right, Dyrus?"

"Oh? Uh, yeah," you say, sounding more than a little obviously lost in thoughts, "let's hurry, Via."

You and Via ride over to your mother's side, before you dismiss your wyvern, sending him far away from the arrows the lot of you are about to rush into.

Close by are Nahuel, your mother, grandfather, and a large amount of Fortune Company members and knights you don't know the names of.

"So the war ends here," Darren muses. "Hauteclere, I know you want to take your daughter alive, but if it comes to it..."

"I know, Darren," mother says, eyes shut, "I know.

"Refusing the pride of our people by not riding a horse and proudly working alongside legions of Garou, murdering a princess in cold blood," Nahuel remarks, turning the subject from Rene, "it pisses me right, right, right off that a guy so vile exists!"

>A. Say something more yourself. Maybe something cool or inspiring? (write-in)
>B. ...

>>48167902
>B. ...
I had something but then I forgot it.

>>48167902
>B. ...

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>>48168120
You have nothing to add, only sorting out your equipment. Royal Axe, Silver Axe, Hand Axe, and vulneraries.

"I'll only slow you down from here," your grandfather says, turning and heading away, "so... I'll see you all again soon."

You and mother both nod, starting forward into the human wall of archers surrounding Gravern's entrance.

"No sign of Rene, but there are some wolfskin stationed just behind the archers," Nahuel notes, looking forward, "guess Conrad's too proud to ask for help on his post..."

"It'll be his undoing," Hauteclere says, certainly, raising Iote's Shield as she takes to the skies. "After me, everyone!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPP9pYSnZV4

A volley of arrows is deftly dodged, the few that seemed to even hit your mother in midair primarily bouncing off of the magical shield in her hands.

"They took the bait, let's go go go!" Nahuel demands, him and several horse-mounted allies running forward as you, Via, and various other foot soldiers struggle to keep up.

Naturally, the two of you have your eyes on the prize, running toward the same literal bastard as your mother is currently rushing towards in midair.

"That stark blue hair, those faces... Oh, aren't we in for a treat today?!" Conrad says, rapidly aiming his double bow between you and Hauteclere as two transformed Wolfskin step in front of him, the warriors at his side switching to their Silver Axe and Hammer. "A royal reunion is about to go down here!"

"Do not be baited into rushing him," Via advises the two of you quietly as a few more mercenaries arrive at your sides to deal with the outnumbering issue, "he knows that this is an emotional situatio-oh!" She manages to duck beneath a strike from his arrows.

"A pretty thing that can make ME miss? I'll be remembering you for awhile after this too..."

>A. Attack one of the wolves!
>B. Attack one of the axe-wielders!
>C. Rush him!
>D. Just follow any advice your mother or Via dole out
>E. Write-in action!

>>48168451
>D. Just follow any advice your mother or Via dole out

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>>48168506
God, you're trembling just listening to this guy. You dunno if you can trust your instincts not to immediately charge this guy.

"You two keep this wolf off me," Hauteclere requests as she faces off against the other one.

You and Via nod as one, staring the transformed wolf-girl down and coming at her full force, Nahuel circling around and distracting Conrad from shooting any of you dead by repeatedly firing distracting shots at him.

"Grh... Would someone kill that horse-riding son of a bitch already?!" Conrad demands as two heroes square off against his human guards on more or less even terms.

Via is struck square in the chest by your opponent, only spared from having a hole in her chest by her ability to leap back. Though knocked to the ground, she is able to stagger the beaststone user with a pair of well-timed knives, freeing you up to slash across her chest with your Silver Axe. The wolf-girl reverts to her humanoid form, collapsing onto her knees as her clothes grow bloody (where do the clothes GO when wolves and dragons transform? Inside the beaststone?).

"You alright, Via?" You ask, helping her up and hurriedly waving your heal staff.

"I'll live," she answers, looking at the bleeding-out wolf. "Is that..?"

"Yeah, I think that's Saye," you say.

To your left a ways, the wolfman Hauteclere was fighting is slain in a swift strike to his head, and the warriors that were accompanying Conrad, more used to archery than axe-fighting, fall fairly easily, only for one to be shot down in an instant while the other uselessly fights against Conrad, yet to get a single hit in. Nahuel, it seems, is distracted by a pair of wolfskin assailants of his own.

>A. Now's your chance, both of you charge Conrad!
>B. Ask Via to heal the unconscious wolf-girl while you and mother keep fighting
>C. Finish Saye off, just in case. She'll PROBABLY die if you just leave her there, but even then bleeding out can't be pleasant.
>D. Write-in action

>>48168894
>B. Ask Via to heal the unconscious wolf-girl while you and mother keep fighting
Not letting best wolf die like that.

I want her to live but it might endanger us.
;_;

>>48168894
>B. Ask Via to heal the unconscious wolf-girl while you and mother keep fighting

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>>48168955
"Uh, Via, help her out, alright?" You ask. "I still remember working by her side in the valley, and..."

"Understood," Via agrees, crouching over her as you and Hauteclere hurry forward. Next time you would look in that direction, Saye is being carried off towards your current base by mercs, captured alive. Also, the wyverns and pegasi have begun riding forward!

"You have no more warriors to hide behind, Conrad," mother warns him, "this is where you die."

"Like hell I am!" Conrad says, finally setting aside his bow for a Dragon Axe. "Got some bona fide wyrmite right here! Let's see your damnable magic shield keep you safe from-"

The two of you don't even let him finish speaking, rushing him at the same time and cutting through his shoulder blades, your axes' blades meeting.

"I... You..." Somehow managing to speak, Conrad looks between you two. "Those are... Eyes of absolute killing intent. Seen it a million times, but never..."

Before he can finish whatever weird point he's making, your mother pulls her axe out, indicating that you ought to do the same. The blades' removal finishes him off, and the two of you dwell on his fate as much as a scumbag like him deserves.

"Rene and Belinda are close," Hauteclere observes, flashing a small grin. "If they'd merely stationed themselves closer, this would have been a far stronger defense... You're not hurt at all, are you?"

With only a few stragglers left among the bandit masters of archery, your fliers are able to come in safely, only sparing Conrad the most momentary of glances before everyone looks out towards the city, mother mounting her wyvern again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szFGvTu_2BQ

A fleet of Belinda's own wyvern's is drawing close, just beneath them a short-blue-haired horse-rider.

"Goddamn it, they were too damn fast!" Belinda curses, looking towards the ground. "Rene, I'm... genuinely sorry! Honestly, I am!"

>A. Say something before you meet your next wave of foes (write-in)
>B. ...

>>48169319
>B. ...

>>48169319
>B. ...

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>>48169560
"Oi!" Marduk exclaims just loudly enough to be heard, waving a single hand as he, his sisters, and Belle show up by Hauteclere's side.

"So the family of traitors appears before me!" The purple-haired woman says to her former proteges.

"This is for lying to our brother!" Nia exclaims.

"For leaving Nia for dead, and in memory of my old squadron!" Winona adds.

"What they said, and also I hate your guts," Marduk semi-enthusiastically adds.

"Marduk, I held you in such high regard... And Nia, Winona, you were like daughters to me!"

"And you treated them as well your real one," Belle speaks out, calm despite the carrying of her voice, pointing forward her silver sword, "it's been a long time, mother."

"I... Isabella? It's been so many years... Please, not you too..!"

"Don't act sad now," Belle snaps back, no sympathy for the woman who made her youth hell, "it's not becoming of you to look pathetic."

"I..." Belinda shuts her eyes. "If we must fight you... wyverns, forward. I won't hold back, but know that I never forgot you!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1Nmc84Noos

You see Sir Jovan and Nahuel trying to keep Rene distracted from firing up into the air as the fight begins, drawing her fire by acting as a more direct threat. Rene, however, is accompanied by plenty of cavaliers, so it's rather clear that they won't be enough to distract her alone...

>A. Rush her with your Royal Axe!
>B. Keep your distance with a Hand Axe
>C. Just stay back and heal
>D. Just deal with the littler guys
>E. Write-in action

>>48169707
>C. Just stay back and heal

>>48169707
>D. Just deal with the littler guys

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>>48169752
>>48169820
You and Via both get out Mend staves, only getting as close to the action of Jovan and Nahuel vs Rene and her cronies as you need to be to prevent deaths, switching to your weapons often enough to keep the smaller fries down. At the moment, she's trading failed lance blows with Jovan, Nahuel taking on the brunt of the cavaliers before you and Via step in to lighten the load.

The knight of Noba's abdomen is pierced, but he manages to escape into you and Via's staves before turning and returning to the assistant-director to strike again. The two of you throw an axe and a knife to take down a troublesome levin sword-equipped cavalier.

By now, though, Rene's taken advantage of the moment's respite from Jovan's speedy assault to down a vulnerary and return to her trusty brave bow, greeting him as he comes with a pair of arrows through the neck. "Hrk..!"

"Jovan!" You call, his horse smart enough to rush back away from the scene after Via hurriedly heals him. God, you hope it was enough and he wasn't already dead.

"You've killed one of the heirs to Prince Xerxes Gerxel," Rene says, clearly trying hard to keep that cool demeanor of hers as she points her bow towards the two of you and Nahuel next. "My sincerest condolences for your sister, prince, but... I cannot let you escape a crime like that with your life."

Nahuel remains just on the outskirts of the fight, still preoccupied with those same cavaliers. Rene is more than ready to shoot you all down in an instant.

>A. ...Hand Axe! (dice+1d20, >12 succeeds)
>B. Try to swerve past her shots and strike her up close (dice+1d20, >16 succeeds)
>C. Uh... ideas?
>D. Bail!
>E. Say something (write-in dialogue)
>F. Write-in action

Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>48169940
>A. ...Hand Axe! (dice+1d20, >12 succeeds)

>>48170022
...Well now I wish I'd voted for closing with her.

>>48170037
Not too late to change your vote, but you'd need to test your luck again...

>>48170050
Knowing my luck, I'd wind up bricking that roll then wishing I had just taken the good one instead of getting greedy.

... Isn't there a quests board?

>>48170163
Fuck you.

>>48170163
ur mum's a quests board!

>>48170182
>>48170186
It's bait, guys. I always advise against taking it.

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>>48170022
"Hyah!" You toss your Hand Axe forward right as Rene fires at you, feeling two arrows pierce your chest as your Hand Axe... Well, it looks like it'll leave a nasty scar on Rene's abdomen, even with healing.

"Augh..!" Rene scrambles to fire again, this time at Nahuel.

Up in the air, the battle of wyverns and pegasi continues brutally, Belle in particular squaring off against her reluctant mother with extreme prejudice. Her every move is swifter, stronger, angrier, and even if Belinda is slowly getting back into the swing of things and beginning to fight back, she's taken enough of a beating that all are certain that the fight is decided already.

"Gh..." You breathe deeply as Via heals the arrows out. Still stings a bit, but you can waste no time in hurrying to keep Rene at bay.

She and Nahuel are currently trading arrows, Rene trying her best to keep her mind off the axe in her belly.

"You know, when we met, I thought you were alright, alright, alright," the Tarvosian says, "but... you take things way, way, way too far!"

"Why would I not?" Rene replies, "the fate of the Empire rests in the hands of my mission."

"Reality check, Rene! Conrad is dead! Your mission has failed!"

"No," she says, "the eldest, she's... Still out there somewhere. And I know one of you knows who it is, where they might be."

"Please, Rene," you try to interrupt, "surrender, let us get that axe out of you, let me and Via heal you. I missed your vitals on purpose because we really don't want you dead!"

"And why have you been so insistent on this?" Rene asks.

>A. Write-in response
>B. Because... she's... a good person?
>C. Tell her the truth
>D. ...
>E. Make some bullshit up on the spot (suggestion required+dice+1d20, odds of success affected by believability)

>>48170287
>B. Because... she's... a good person?
>"Umm, and I owe you one?"

>>48170287
>A. Because I still believe in you.
>C. Tell her the truth
I get the feeling that saying it's just because we think she's a good person given Omar and that she thinks of a lot of the empire soldiers we've killed as having been good people will just infuriate her.

>>48170387
Switching to this.>>48170501

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>>48170501
"Because I still believe in you, no matter what you've done," you exclaim, "mom and I can't just give up on you!"

"Why not?! What makes me any different from Omar, or my father, or any other Imperial you've killed?!"

"You're my older sister, Rene! Our mothers are one and the same!"

"Oh my gods..." Rene's eyes widen as she stumbles back in response, clutching her wound in one hand and covering her mouth in another. "Then I... And..."

"None of that," you insist, cutting her off from admitting to any of the things you know it's better the world not hear, "I know that this war has brought you... Nothing but grief, some of it caused by us, but we still care about you!"

"..." Straightening out after her initial shock, Rene glares piercingly at you. "Did your mother still care when she abandoned me as an infant? And you, do you even know anything about me?"

"I..."

"You call yourselves my family, but I don't see any of you for every one of my twenty-one years of life, and by the time we meet you've already caused me immeasurable grief. What makes you think I could EVER consider you the same?"

"I... I..."

"I will have no more of this," Via says, stepping in front of you, drawing out a knife, "I wished the best of you as much as Dyrus here, but if you intend to do anything but lay down your weapons here and now, I'll-"

Via is cut off by about what you would expect, you hurrying to catch the maid in the middle of her arrow-pierced fall. Rene slumps forward, trapped in the debuffing magic of the Staff of Katri, as your mother hurries to heal you and Via of your wounds.

"Via, are you alright?!" You hold her tighter in concern. She simply nods, and you thank your lucky stars once more for your mother's staff.

On all of Rene's sides, a wyvern sibling appears, fencing her and her horse in as Hauteclere slowly rides closer. Up in the air, you can see that Belle has bested Belinda, the pair's final words too quiet to hear down here.
>continued next post

>>48170707
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziDfl6w8_QU

"Rene... Surrender, please," mother says, "what Dyrus says is true, and there's not a day that goes by that I don't regret leaving you."

"How... selfish of you. Just as selfish as abandoning me over... I don't doubt it was reputation. You regret that it came to inconvenience you after all..."

Hauteclere starts, holding out her staff to heal her daughter, "no, that's not what I-"

"While it was a horrible thing of you to do... It only makes me loathe you more that you regret it," Rene admits, her wounds vanishing but magically-induced exhaustion remaining, "my father, Cicero, Veiz, Hera, and everyone else I've known and loved... I only met them because of your selfish choice. I'm no child of yours, blood be damned." She sticks up her neck weakly. "You may as well finish me now... I can hardly lift my bow thanks to your abominable staff."

"Rene, you know I won't do that," mother says. "Someone... Bring her back to our base. As much as I hate to leave my daughter imprisoned, until she reconsiders... I can't exactly let her roam free."

A few pegasus knights are able to fly Rene away after the lot of you remove her weapons from her person. Her only movements of note during this involve the shaking of her head as her Brave Bow is removed from her person, tears beginning to shed as she's whisked away.

"...I don't think she's ever going to understand," Marduk tells your mother, "I mean, I'm not saying to do anything to her you weren't already planning on, but. She won't accept you."

>A. She might someday!
>B. Let's dwell on this later...
>C. Write-in response
>D. ...

>>48170820
>A. She might someday!

>>48170820
>A. She might someday!
>But you're doubting it a bit.

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>>48170861
"I... She might someday," you say, trying to maintain your optimistic face. You can see it in your mother's stone features, though, that she's on the very of just... Cracking.

"I-I mean, it's not impossible..!" Nia adds, hopefully as she can. Bad sign when Nia of all people has a less optimistic opinion on the outcome.

"I just hope you're not trying to replace..." Winona cuts herself off mid-sentence, looking down in shame. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty."

"No, you're... You're right," Hauteclere says, tears subtly beginning to leak from her face as her tone remains the same. "Laurise is dead, and Rene might never accept me as her mother... These are facts. But I won't give up yet. We have years ahead of us, and..."

"And, and, and," Nahuel says, "I... Sincerely hate to break up this feelings jam, but we still need to take the castle. That summoner that wiped out the Dory company, the super-assassin... They're all in the castle, and so is Veiz!"

"You're right," Marduk says, looking in its direction, "if word about all she's done gets to the Imperials, Veiz is a dead woman."

Belle flies down, looking... Well, not happy, but at peace. She speaks not of her parting words with her now-late mother, and reads the situation well enough that talking about how much better a bit of matricide made her feel is a terrible idea.

As the lot of you start towards Gravern Keep, Via whispers to you, "er... Dyrus."

"Yes, Via?" You whisper back.

"I... Now might not be the best time, or ever, but. What I was about to tell you before we found your grandfather..."

"Hm?"

Via shakes her head, continuing to whisper, "never mind, I'll tell you when the battle has ended. Do not let me put it off beyond then, though..."

>A. Okay...
>B. You'd rather not hear it
>C. Why not now?
>D. Write-in response

>>48170976
>A. Okay...
Please stop triggering death flags Via.

>>48170976
>B. You'd rather not hear it for now.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>48171067
>>48171070

>>48171070
She wasn't going to say it now either way, though.

>>48171089
That's meant as a sort of "not now, not after the battle, either. Can we just not discuss this for a little while since I'm sort of really in a bad place emotionally" response.

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>>48171070
"Er... Via, no offense, but. I can't think about stuff like that right now. I mean, Laurise, and all this, and rebuilding afterwards, and..."

"Of course," she responds, "how selfish of me to insist. I'm sorry, Dyrus."

"It's not selfish! It's just... I can't be thinking about stuff like this right now."

"So my intended message is that transparent... You're absolutely right, though. Take as much time as you need."

You nod, and the lot of you begin to fight your way through Gravern Keep.

There's monsters roaming the halls, presumably summoned up by Kristina, and eventually the paths force parties to split. You, Via, Hauteclere, and Belle end up one of the aforementioned.

As you approach the castle's dungeons in your trek through, you see a white-haired fellow, bleeding severely and sitting against the wall, propped up by a parasol.

"He... Cicero, he knows," the man says, groaning and continuing looking even paler than those who know him would call 'usual,' "Veiz thought she was discreet, but he's... always known..."

>A. Hurry downstairs
>B. Heal him and THEN hurry downstairs
>C. Knows what?!
>D. ...
>E. Write-in response

>>48171247
>B. Heal him and THEN hurry downstairs
If Cicero dies then I don't think Rene will ever like him

>>48171247
>B. Heal him and THEN hurry downstairs

>>48171302
This is Alfred, though. You're right that we need to avoid Cicero or Veiz dying at all costs, though. Might be difficult if they're currently trying to kill each other...

>>48171498
"Is he down there?!" After the man, Alfred apparently, nods, the four of you hurry downstairs, only for you to stop. "Wait, that guy's dying!"

You, Via, and your mother hurry back up the few stairs you went down, heal him, and then resume hurrying down the stairs.

As you descend, you hear a conversation.

"I... What are you going to do if I don't?" A young woman's voice, full of apprehension, asks.

"You know for a fact I couldn't bear to lay a finger on you," a growly, yet oddly soothing voice says, "but I will not let the truth evade Rene."

"I..."

Cicero holds up a finger, stopping Veiz from saying more, before turning around to stare the four of you down. "So you've made it here. Then Rene is..."

"Alive and in our custody," Hauteclere answers, "and even an assassin as great as you wouldn't be able to escape from this situation..."

Belle steps forward, brandishing her Silver Sword. "You won't get through any us."

"Cicero, our prior meetings have been so... Brief," Via muses, drawing her own knives to match Cicero's, "it would be a shame to never
properly see a fellow Peshkatz alumnus in action."

"See, Veiz? They intend for nothing more than to spill my blood from the moment they lay eyes on me," Cicero says, hiding his anxiety in a cool tone of voice, "we can escape together, you know. You, myself... I don't doubt they healed Alfred. The three of us, we can rescue the others, and put all of this nonsense-"

"Why did Alfred need healing?" An incredulous Veiz asks.

"Would... that be the same Alfred that a friend of mine spoke of?" A man in the cell asks next, quite awkwardly. "I'm, er, Lazare... By the way."

Cicero hurries to Veiz' side, handing her a pendant, before drawing his blades again. "I'm going to get you away from here, and I'll try my damnedest to get out with you if I can. Please... Make the right choice. As for the rest of you... Well, I swear we won't all be leaving this dungeon."

>A. Attack!
>B. Try to talk him down (write-in)

>>48171521
Vote time renewed, unless someone beats this post to the punch.

>>48171521
>B. Try to talk him down (Sorry, but I disagree. We're all leaving here alive. I won't let you hurt my friends, and Rene's been through too much emotional pain already - I'll do everything in my power to avoid hurting my sister further, which means making sure you, Veiz and anyone else she cares about survive. It'd really be preferable if you'd just consider surrendering, I swear that I won't allow any harm to come to either of you.)

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>>48171753
"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm going to need to disagree with you there," you say, gesturing to yourself. "I'm not going to let you hurt my friends, and Rene's had enough pain already without you adding to it by dying on her. I'm going to do everything in my power to give my big sister the life she's always deserved, and that means that no more of you are going to die here."

"'No more..?' Who have you struck down already?" Cicero asks, cool tone faltering.

"Director Belinda died in battle, but besides that... Conrad, the bandit who murdered Laurise."

"Oh dear... Gods, oh no... All of this time, and then..." That's about all it takes for Cicero's cool facade to break into the babbling, anxious dummy his friends know and love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehKCkJq--ac

"No harm will come to you if you surrender, I swear that as the prince of the Kingdom of Neir."

"...just behave," Hauteclere adds to your promise.

"I... I'll do as you wish, then... Wait, what's this about your older sister?" Cicero asks, taken off-guard again.

"Er, yes," Veiz admits, "I... found that out myself as well."

"How?! I mean, er..." Cicero clears his throat. "I, ahem... You're right. I cannot bear to go to Rene in anything short of one piece, given all that's happened. I will... comply."

"Cicero..." Veiz clings the pendant he handed her tightly in her hand. "I'll be the one to tell Rene of what I've done. Next time I see you all, I swear."

"I know you will... I know you will..."

"Er..." Lazare clears his throat. "Could someone let me out of here now?"

Kristina is about the only troublesome person left among Gravern Keep's defenders. Ludwig realizes that he's been beat easily and promptly surrenders, musing on the irony of the situation, while his mother, Anais, doesn't fight anyway. Kris, meanwhile, had to be physically restrained and knocked out as Saye did. Sara is just politely painting and chatting with her Felix in a tower.

>A. Talk to someone after (specify)
>B. Plot

>>48171949
>A. Talk to someone after (Felix)
I'm really glad that write-in worked. Cicero would've been a very troubling fight to keep everyone alive through.

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>>48171991
"Er, hey, Felix," you start, approaching him and his half-dragon elder sister (Veiz' word has been enough to keep her out of the trouble of Ludwig and Rene's other allies) as they discuss breathing techniques the young light mage has learned in his travels. "How're you- Uwoh!"

And you're being hugged by a Felix.

"Felix has been... Telling me of the Empire's history, things the Ice Authority doesn't care to keep track of." Sara explains, "and... I feel as though I've done a bad thing, supporting their revival without understanding."

"Er, water under the bridge," you say, rubbing the back of your head. "Er, breaking my back there a bit, Felix..."

"S-sorry," he says, "it's just... Dyrus, I'm sorry."

"Uh... Hey, there's not much you could've done," you say awkwardly, patting your friend's back.

"I know..." He looks at the ground. "That's just it, though. There's nothing I could've done, and yet..."

"I... Did not like Conrad very much," Sara admits, trying to break the tension, "even when we fought side-by-side briefly. I don't think anyone did, besides his bandits..." She taps her chin. "Is that why he was so fond of his company?"

"Can we... Not talk about him?" Felix asks, sniffling a bit.

"Right... Sorry," Sara nods her head slightly. "I'm... excited to meet your aunt, when our groups converge again. And that man's son will see him safe again..."

>A. Write-in dialogue
>B. Talk to someone else next (anyone from Rene's party is also available to chat, though obviously a few of them won't be terribly willing to talk to you)
>C. Skip ahead

>>48172117
Renewed again.

>>48172117
>A. "I should make sure Lazare is doing okay too, thinking about it. But first..."
>D. Give Felix a crushing hug of your own in justified retribution
>B. Talk to someone else next (Lazare)

>>48172117
>Cicero if we can
Maybe he can calm down Rene?

>>48172286
Cicero's gonna be one of the "not interested in chitchat with Dyrus" guys, most likely. You just happened to have convinced him that it'd be a better idea to NOT die than die stupidly. Doesn't mean he likes you.
Might just go with >>48172283 because he'll actually be willing to talk.

>>48172325
Then the other anon's choice I'll go with.

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>>48172283
"I really should see that Lazare is alright, now that you mention him," you say.

Felix nods. "Right..."

"But first... Payback!" With your superior strength to his own, you bear-hug your buddy back, sharing a mild amount of amusement as Sara looks on in confusion.

"...oh, no, I understand entirely," Lazare says, currently speaking to Ludwig and Anais when you approach, "word is, when my son heard that I'd been taken, he didn't hesitate to cooperate with pirates for my sake..."

"I don't suppose your sympathy translates into letting us go," Ludwig jokes, a bitter tinge to his silver tongue.

"Er... Not even if I wanted to," Lazare says, "I'm simply saying that... I understand what you two went through. You remind me of my own son."

"It's been... lovely conversation, if I do say so myself," Anais says, "and I'm hoping we'll be able to communicate more once this whole chapter of our lives is behind us."

"Er, hey, Mister Lazare!" You say, waving. "A word?"

"Er... Certainly, Dyrus," the man says, bidding Ludwig and his mother farewell to accompany you, "and it is a pleasure to meet you. I've heard so much about your heart, and I've always figured you would get along with my son..."

"Yeah, we actually met briefly before we came here. Fast friends, we were."

"That's great, actually! I just wanted to know you were doing okay. However long you spent in the dungeons after being dragged out of the islands, and all..."

He sighs. "I'm... Coping, I suppose. I'm not going to burden someone with as much on his plate as you with my troubles, though. If it becomes truly unbearable, I can unload them all on my former companions when we meet next. If anything, I'd be more worried about poor Veiz... Her heart must be racing right now."

>A. If he's sure he's fine...
>B. Burden away!
>C. Veiz knows she's made the right choice
>D. You felt like she wouldn't want to talk to you...
>E. Write-in response

>>48172443
>D. You felt like she wouldn't want to talk to you...

>>48172443
>D. You felt like she wouldn't want to talk to you...

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>>48172582
"I dunno, just... She didn't seem like she'd want to talk to me. I mean, I did sort of... Kill Director Waldrick. Like, me personally."

"Oh dear... I mean, I would certainly try, if I were you. I've heard that my son gets along quite well with Cornelius Dory's younger sister..."

"Who?" You ask.

"Oh, it's... Well, that's a long story. You see, after we escaped Fort Dalshin prison..."

After Lazare tells his story, time moves faster for a time, you eventually learn that Sir Jovan was able to recover from his wounds, and you wind up a short trip away from reuniting with General Taniel, and by extension Samson and the rest of his group! You're still keeping Rene's group with you (Hauteclere insists that they be tried/held in Neir, so you're all to escort them there to end things off...).

The Gerxel Empire has been wholly, beyond any shadow of a doubt, crushed, Laurise has been avenged, and all that's left is whoever that eldest daughter of Xerxes is. All you need to make sure of is that Rene never meets whoever that is, and you're home free for beginning to rebuild Teege at last.

>To be continued next thread
This was a... Very busy thread, if I do say so myself. And yet it was all one continuous battle and its aftermath. Funny how that works.

Thanks for playing, as always. Update twitter and ask.fm are qmgrandflocto, and I'll be around in-thread to chat for awhile.

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>>48172642
Thanks for running, Octo.
Rene, though. ;_;

>>48172659
Always a pleasure.

And you know what they say. Just when you think you've hit rock bottom, someone throws you a shovel.

>>48172642
Thanks for running.

>>48172659
It could've been a lot worse.

She could've been pregnant when that axe hit her in the abdomen.

>>48172692
Thankfully, I'd never even consider doing something like that, let alone to the main character. Same reason the protagonists' official "canon" love interests have always survived my quests. I don't go out of my way to give them plot armor, it's just way too easy a source of angst that I feel like I'd need a good reason to put their lives at risk, which tends not to arise.

I mean, Cicero could've died just back there, and every single one of Dyrus' prospective love interests have been in mortal peril IIRC, but none of them exactly are at that "official" spot.