Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia - Twilight of the Gods

Chapter Five: The Mother's Guidance

The ropes lay now in a tangled heap on the moldy, stone floor, away from the girl they once held. Unsurprisingly, Alm thought, she had collapsed from the events prior; as soon as Lukas and Alm started to free her from the ropes, she fell limp in their arms. Lukas requested Alm to stay with her for the time being, while he and the rest would explore the cave. Alm did as requested, and as the group rounded the tunnel bend, Alm lay the girl down on his own bedroll that he had packed, and sat himself next to the girl, closing his eyes. He wasn't particularly deep in thought – he realized quickly that he didn't have the energy for that right now. His body quickly began reassessing itself after their scuffle, and aches flooded the muscles holding Alm up. It wasn't an unbearable pain, but it certainly wasn't comfortable Alm rationalized.

Time did not stop for Alm however – despite his pain, its flow would perpetuate, and this became apparent to Alm when, after opening his eyes, he saw the woman starting to open her own.

"Where... where am I...?"

The woman murmured, her discomfort breaking through in her otherwise soft, silken voice. She had started now to pick herself up off the ground, sitting up and feeling around her. She looked now at Alm, her eyes still seemingly growing accustomed to their current environment. Alm quickly warped his face from shock to glee, realizing the former might make her uncomfortable.

"Oh, good morning!" Alm greeted her.

"Good... good morning," the lady responded. "Pardon me but... where am I?"

"Oh, right – it would make sense that you might not remember what just happened – it must have been quite the shock to your system."

The lady looked at Alm , inquisitive yet concerned. As suddenly as Alm had changed his face however, she changed hers, into a disgusted remembrance.

"Wait – those thieves that brought me here! I was being held!"

She looked at Alm again, and all Alm could feel comfortable doing is letting her memory fill the gaps – the last thing he wanted was for her to misinterpret his reason for being there to be one more malicious than the reality.

"You... you are one of the people who fought the thieves, aren't you?"

"That's me, yep." Alm spoke finally, a sort of pride filling his words – though he didn't want to make this seem too obvious. "What's your name?" Alm finally enquired.

"My name is Silque. I hail from a priory on the island of Novis... and what might your name be?

"I'm Alm. It's a pleasure to meet you, Silque."

"Likewise, sir Alm. And thank you for saving me... I can't bear to imagine what have happened if you hadn't come to my aid."

Realizing now that he had almost forgotten about the others, Alm went on to explain to Silque, "Oh right, well, it wasn't just me actually. Hang on, I'll get the rest." Just as Alm spun around and prepared himself to chase down his friends, he saw the goofy grin of Gray, who was accompanied by Tobin and the rest.

"Oh hey, looks like the sleeping saint decided to wake up!" Gray remarked, a certain zest imbuing his words.

"Oh, looks like they're already here," Alm chuckled, his eyes having travelled back to Silque; the slightest hint of concern seemed to creep upon her, and so Alm took it upon himself to introduce his friends to Silque, so as to save her the trouble and discomfort.

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you all," Silque affirmed politely.

"So uhh, Silque," Gray began, "what drives a lady of the cloth like you so far from home?" Alm could tell by Gray's speech, softer and deeper than usual, that he was ready to shoot his shot with Silque. On the other end however, Silque look shocked, an expression that took over her very quickly. "Oh, hey, was it something I-"