Fire Emblem: Legend of Heroes

Vex's Dark tome level comes from her Anima tome level because she uses Shadowgift.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNjIo-w4XEA

During the festival, Darik looks around at a few of the booths and decides to buy himself a new outfit. "This looks like it'll work." He quickly changes before walking back out in his new clothes. His upper body is cloaked in black robes with a silver, royal design. The colors of Umbra. He wears a simple, black shirt underneath, which can be seen as the top section of the robe simply drapes over him and splits in the middle, allowing his arms to move easily as they do not restrict him. His black hair is now kept out of his face with help from a silver mage circlet, allowing his red eyes to be seen clearly. At Darik's waist, the second half of the robes connect, again working in a similar fashion to the top piece where it splits in the middle and allows Darik's legs to move freely without restriction. He wears simple, black pants underneath. He wears nothing on his hands or his feet, leaving them bare. "I wonder what ways this new power will let me mess with people..."

Darik changed to the Sorcerer class!

Darik's Skill, Defense, and Resistance increase by 2! Darik's Health and Magic increase by 4!

Meanwhile, Gerand gets a change in appearance as well, preparing for the battles ahead. Keeping his short, brown hair neatly combed and his face is still serious with green eyes walks out, wearing his new uniform. A long sleeved, black dress shirt with black gloves that have the royal crest on the back of the hand is paired with a black and silver vest. The black is the base while a silver design is on the front with the royal crest in silver on the back of the vest. Long, black coattails come off the back of vest as well. Gerand wears black pants with silver lines coming up on the sides of them. His new shoes are black with small, silver markings along the sides. "Whatever it takes to protect Lady Elay."

Gerand changed to the Steward class!

Gerand's Defense and Resistance increase by 1! Gerand's Health, Strength, Magic, Skill, Speed, and Luck increase by 2!

Carthis takes a chance to get some new clothes to reflect her new performing skills. "This is perfect!" She changes into her clothes and walks out in them. Her hair is now worn with two braids made from either side of her head that come around to the back and go together similar to a small crown made from her hair. The rest flows freely behind her in waves. Her outfit is made up of a white colored, sleeveless top that only covers her chest and an almost swimsuit-like bottom. At her waist, various white ribbons streaming out from all sides make almost what seems like a strange form of dress in strands. She wears golden rings on her ankles and wrists that each have two white ribbons flowing out from them complete with a golden necklace that has multiple white ribbons flowing from the back, making another strange illusion that looks similar to a cape that could come apart and form back together. Her hands and feet are left bare. "I wonder if Claire would like these new clothes..."

Carthis changed to the Professional Performer class!

Carthis' Health and Strength increase by 1! Carthis' Skill and Speed increase by 3! Carthis' Luck increases by 6!

Canzar then finally takes a look at her new equipment she bought, inspecting it. "Hm. Yes. This will do nicely. Learning how to ride horseback will give us a new tactical advantage. Now to see if this armor will fit..." She quickly changes into her new armor before riding around on her horse a bit and getting used to it. She now wears a long, dark blue cloak that trails behind her as she rides with the hood worn up. Her long, blue hair can still be seen coming out from the hood at the front. Dark blue armor shoulder pads can be seen on her cloak and she wears dark blue light armor underneath her cloak. She has black pants with dark blue armor padding on the knees and matching metal boots. Her horse is black and wears the same dark blue armor. She takes out her axe and swings it around a bit, satisfied. "I'll use this new power to fight on."

Canzar changed to the Reaper class!

Canzar's Skill and Resistance increase by 1! Canzar's Health, Speed, and Defense increase by 2! Canzar's Strength and Magic increase by 3!

Canzar lost the ability to use Anima.

Canzar gained the ability to use Dark and Axes!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp3sRVYgl6M

Meanwhile, Faron also takes a change of clothing in preparation for the upcoming battle. He wears white robes with the top containing golden lines moving from the shoulders down the arms. There's also a golden line that move down the front, splitting into a diamond at the middle and continuing down afterward. The back of the robes is marked with the holy emblem of Lux. At his waist, the front of the robe is open and the back flows behind him. He wears white pants along with white shoes. In a similar fashion to the top of the robe, a golden line moves down each leg and splits into a diamond at the knee before continuing downward. Golden diamonds can be seen on either side of his shoes. Faron's blond hair is left as it was before with no change. "I'll continue to fight on with this new power."

Faron changed to the Light Sage class!

Faron's Skill, Speed, and Resistance increase by 2! Faron's Magic and Luck increase by 4!

Faron learned how to use staves!

Luna changes as well into her new outfit. Her blond hair is let down and free. She now wears a white cape with the golden symbol of Lux on it. Her white short contains a golden design on it with long sleeves. She wears metal gauntlets on her hands along with metal boots. Her pants are the similar design of white and gold as her shirt. Her horse is now white with golden armor on it. "I hope this will help me protect my friends..."

Luna changed to the Valkyrie class!

Luna's Skill and Defense increase by 1! Luna's Resistance increases by 2! Luna's Speed and Luck increase by 3! Luna's Magic increases by 4!

Luna learned how to use Light!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3TigEBbzy4

As the festivities proceed, Arc steps back and looks out over the bridge at the sky in the distance. She's silent and watches the night as someone walks up from behind her. Vex takes a seat next to her and looks over out at the sky. "Not feeling well?"

"...Something like that."

"What's the matter?"

"Just remembering old days. Simpler times. You know, my brothers and sisters and I used to play on this bridge, pretending to defend it from invaders." She laughs a little to herself. "I never thought I'd be one of those invaders, you know. I thought life would always be as peaceful as it was. I never thought I'd fight against my family. Or..." She looks down a bit. "...Or have to kill them." Arc takes a moment, breathing kind of funny. "Quila...Aria...I remember that we used to explore around the town together. Heh...One time Aria and I got in trouble with one of the town guards, causing trouble. Father was so mad. But Quila took the fall for us just like she always did. She was the best big sister..."

"...I'm so sorry things turned out this way."

"...It was horrible. The look of hate both of them had when they saw me. Like...L-Like I was a real enemy to them. They hated me...so much. All the way to the end..."

"Arc...that...well..."

"It's alright. I don't need to be comforted. I know the path I chose was the hardest one. I knew I'd be facing off against my family and my friends. It's just...still hard sometimes. I wish I could forget those happy memories I had with them. Maybe then it would be easier..."

Vex sighs. "For a strong knight that never falters, you sure do have a heart of gold." She then places on hand on Arc's chin, guiding her face to look over at her. "Yes, you definitely have those eyes. Strong yet thoughtful. We have a lot in common, you know. I've had to face...similar ordeals. Fighting against those I cared for...It is terrible. But it's not your fault. And it isn't theirs either. Don't hate them and don't forget them. You have to remember the good memories you have of them in your heart. They aren't gone. They live on in your memories. And I don't believe that they hated you either. It just happened that...the situation was...well, bad. I'm not lying to you. Things are hard. And they will get harder. But you need to keep your chin up, little knight. Keep fighting for what you believe in and keep your family in your heart even though they may pass on."

"...Maybe you're right. Thank you, Vex. I will do my best to keep moving forward. I won't let anyone's death be in vain. I'm seeing this through to the end."

Vex smiles. "Good." She then hops back to her feet. "Well? Are you coming? It's not every day there's a festival. We should enjoy it while it's here."

Arc smiles a bit and follows after. "A festival might be nice..."

Arc and Vex achieve support rank C!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBotVzrnLfk

As Lupis walks down the bridge with his trusty partner, Kain, at his side, he notices Jess darting from booth to booth excitedly, trying all of the different foods and playing games and doing EVERYTHING! As she's in the middle of running from one booth to another, she charges immediately into Lupis, falling over backwards. "Oof!"

"Oh. Are you alright?" He reaches down and helps her up with one hand.

Jess quickly hops up and dusts herself off with her tail. "Yup! Sorry about that! I just get so excited about festivals!"

"I can tell. Have you seen Shizuka around anywhere? I was hoping to spend some time with her and..."

"Nope! Haven't seen her anywhere." Jess then seems to have an idea. "Hey! How about you explore around the festival with me? I'm sure we'll find your friieeeennnddd. AND I get to play with a big Mr. Dragon!" Jess darts over to Kain and scratches his chin, causing him to give off a slight, dragon-y purr.

"Well, I guess that's fine."

"Yay! Let's go! Let's go! There's so much I want to do here!"

Jess grabs Lupis' hand and starts pulling him around to different stalls. "Is there a reason you're so excited by festivals?"

"Well, I guess sorta. I really love them because they sorta remind me of home. We had a lot of festivals in the Kitsune village. But uh...I don't see them as much anymore because well...you know."

"Hm...?"

"Oh. You weren't there. My village was destroyed by a bunch of Opulentians. It...W-Well it was..."

What the-!? She's going to start crying! Gah, I've gotta stop this somehow.

"Sorry to hear that, Jess. But let's try to focus on the festival for now, right? We're going to have fun together! I'll even let you ride Kain."

She sniffles a bit. "Huh...? Really? That would be fun."

"Yeah, of course. Come on. Hop on behind me and I'll give you a ride. Make sure you hold on tightly. Oh, and let me know if you see Shizuka anywhere."

"Yay!" The two fly off together around the bridge, soaring throughout the area.

Lupis and Jess reach support level C!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBotVzrnLfk

"Alright, Beorc, this is an excellent time for you to learn about our culture." Argentum and Faron walk along the bridge, past various booths and stalls.

"Fascinating. We never got to interact with the Laguz back home since they were considered second class citizens, but you have so many fascinating things. These various animal pastries are especially cute."

"That's because you grew up in filthy Beorc land." Argentum says this with a smile and a happy tone of voice. "Those pastries are of laguz, by the way, you uncultured swine." He says this in the same tone.

"It's even more fascinating that you can insult people with that much hate in such a happy tone of voice. I was beginning to think you enjoyed my company."

"Nope. Not at all."

"Well, that's too bad. I hope this doesn't get in the way of your teaching, however."

"Of course not! Unlike filthy Beorc, I can set aside my differences momentarily long enough to teach an uncultured race. Now then...where should we start?"

"Let's start with the Kitsune. You are the Kitsune prince, after all. I'm sure you know a lot about them."

"That much is true. Alright." He nods. "Follow me. I can show you the many wonders of Kitsune culture. I wonder how you would look in a kimono..."

"A...what?"

"Come, Beorc! You shall be my experimental plaything!"

Argentum begins pushing Faron over toward a stall selling clothing. "I'm beginning to have doubts about this..."

Faron and Argentum achieve support rank B!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBotVzrnLfk

Bunbun walks along the bridge, stopping as he comes across a crowd of dancing people. Carthis seems to be performing a song while others play instruments behind her. He notices Kress and Elay dancing together. Although, it's more like Elay is dancing with Kress while Kress awkwardly moves along with her. He can't help but laugh a little at the sight. Elay then turns to Kress. "Whew, I'm tired. Stay here, I'll be back after I get something to drink." She then runs off as Bunbun walks over to Kress.

"You seem like you're having fun with Elay."

Kress looks over at Bunbun in surprise. "I am NOT!" She then looks around, realizing she shouted. "I mean...I am not. I'm simply humoring her."

"Then what's with the big smile on your face?"

"Smile? What smile?" Kress starts hiding her face behind one of her hands.

Bunbun reaches up and moves her hand out of the way before smiling and pointing to her face. "That one."

"Okay, fine. FINE. Maybe I am having fun. You've discovered my secret. What are you going to use it for, blackmail?"

Bunbun laughs. "Blackmail? Nah. It's okay if you like spending time with a Beorc. We're fighting to put an end to that gap between us and all, remember? It might even inspire some of our other soldiers to get along."

"Hm...? You're not going to use this to gain some kind of advantage?"

"Why would I? We're friends, you know. We have to treat each other with respect."

"Friends...?"

"Yup."

Elay then comes running back. "Alright! Ready to dance some more, Kress?" She looks over at Bunbun. "Oh, hey! You're that Taguel I see everywhere. Thanks for your help and all that."

"No problem! As a Taguel warrior, I'm honored to be around. Anyway..." He looks over at Kress. "You two have fun. I'll see you around." He then continues to walk along the bridge, leaving Kress and Elay.

Kress seems thoughtful for a moment. "Hm...Perhaps a Taguel's strength doesn't come from training, but rather from somewhere else..."

"Huh? You say something?"

"No, it was nothing. You wanted to dance more?"

Elay and Kress continue to dance on through the night.

Kress and Bunbun achieve support rank B!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBotVzrnLfk

Canzar walks along the bridge, inspecting the goods being sold at each booth and buying some while simply noting some of them. It seems she's gathering materials for something. As she does this, Kaiz suddenly appears by her side, looking at one of the booths before tapping her on the shoulder. "Hey, delivery."

"Whoa, Kaiz. I didn't see you there." She sighs a bit, relaxing a little. "You...already have that honey I requested?"

"Yup. Got you an entire jar." He plonks the jar down into her open hand. The other one is busy carrying a bag of various objects. "What's in the bag?"

"Other materials I need for this experiment."

"Huh. Well, you promised me payment. I didn't fight those bees off for nothing. Had to go diving into a river and everything."

Canzar thinks for a bit. "Ah, yes, I did promise to pay you didn't I? Well, I still need some other ingredients, sadly."

"Hey, that wasn't part of the deal."

"Yeah, but you're forgetting I'm the one with the gold."

"Rgh...And it WAS a lot of gold too. What is it you even want to make that would cost that much gold?"

Canzar is silent and looks Kaiz in the face. "What could I possibly want? What I want is priceless. You could put no amount of gold on it. What I want...Is an Elixer."

"Huh? You mean that legendary stuff that revives someone from the dead? They say only the gods can make that stuff."

"That's what they say. But I believe I can put it together. I can make an Elixer."

"...I see. That's...interesting. Playing with the forces of life and death?"

"Yes, in a way. There's a mistake I made that I need to fix..." Canzar looks down a moment.

"Hm...Yeah. I get that feeling." He watches her for a bit before continuing. "So what else do I have to get you?"

"Oh, right. Well, I've managed to get most of what I need. The only thing that's missing is a rare plant. I need you to get me a Sunrise Cherry Blossom."

"...Aren't those all wiped out?"

"Go find it. Or do you not want your reward?"

"Yeesh, what a slave driver. You don't play around, do you? Alright, alright. I'll go get your flower."

"Perfect. Now then, help me do some shopping here."

"What? I didn't agree to this!"

"Don't argue with me or you don't get the gold."

Kaiz groans. "She's good..."

Kaiz and Canzar achieve support rank B!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifUhiW7U6iw

As Bunbun walks down through the festival, he suddenly hears a familiar charging sound. "BUNBUNNNNNNNN!" As he turns, he sees Kit and she tackles him to the ground. Oddly enough, she doesn't seem to be in cat form this time.

"Oof! Hey, Kit. What's up?"

"Hi! I wanted to see you!"

"Oh, are we going to play some more today?"

"Hmm...no." Kit hops up off of Bunbun.

"No?" Bunbun gets up to his feet.

"I wanted to talk to you today."

"Alright, I'm all ears."

Kit picks up Bunbun's ears and begins to play with them a bit before she talks. "Well, the other day you asked me why I always want to play. Well I kinda lied to you and said it was to make everyone happy. But actually...I guess it's to help me keep my mind off of things."

"Keep your mind off of things?"

"Yeah. It's just that...well, you know. Things are kinda gloomy. We're in a war and all. If I'm not keeping myself busy by playing all the time, sometimes I think too much and get sad about everything that's happening."

"Oh, I get it. It's okay to be sad sometimes, Kit. You don't always have to be happy."

"But I don't like being sad. It's...sad!"

Bunbun smiles a bit. "Yeah, it is. But you know, things only get worse if you don't let your feelings out sometimes."

"...Oh. They do, huh?"

"Yup. They do."

"..." Kit is silent for a bit.

"...Are you going to be alright?"

Kit continues to stay silent a moment before tackling Bunbun to the ground again and hugging him. "NO." She then bursts into tears and unintelligible speech. Bunbun tries to comfort her by patting her on the back and returning the hug. "It's the worst ever! My home is gone and my friends are gone and we fight people all the time and everything is bad! I just miss things being the way they were!"

"It's alright, Kit. Just let it all out." Kit buries her face in his chest and continues to cry and shout things. After a while, she eventually stops and seems a bit calmer. "...Feeling better now?"

"...Maybe a little." Kit nods. "I guess you were right. It is kinda nice to have someone to tell about all this stuff."

"Of course! That's why I'm here."

Kit then stands up again, helping Bunbun up this time. "I do feel better now. You were right. I shouldn't hide my feelings all the time."

"I'll always be here if you need someone to talk to." Bunbun then looks over at the festival. "Buuut for now, there's a fun festival going on. We should take the time to enjoy it."

Kit nods. "You're right! Let's go then! I wanna play at all the booths and win all the prizes! I bet I can beat you at them!"

"Whaaat? Nah, I'll win instead."

"Huh!? No way! Do you have some sort of secret technique...?"

The two continue along together, talking and enjoying the night.

Kit and Bunbun achieve support rank A!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcwwrOUFa50

Everyone watches silently together for a moment before, finally, the fireworks begin to go off. They light up the sky and many people cheer excitedly to see them. Elay stands on the bridge, leaning forward slightly with Kress at her side as she watches them. She smiles and watches them happily.

It's strange. Even though I know what's coming...Even though I know that this is only the calm before the storm...I'm not afraid. I'm not scared like I was before. I think...It's because of my friends. I know that since I have them here, I can trust them. Since I'm not alone, things feel a lot less frightening. I don't look forward to tomorrow. But I'm not scared of it either.

Kress glances over at Elay before looking back up at the sky.

Hm...Maybe Beorc aren't so bad after all. Bunbun might be right. Learning to accept them as our allies and our friends may be the way to bridging this gap between us. But...That doesn't mean I'm going to stand aside and let Opulentus do whatever they want. Once we take it, I'm going to do everything I can to change things for the better. I want to see a difference in this world. Elay was right. If I want something changed, I'll do it myself. No more holding back.

The group continues to watch the fireworks throughout the night. However, somewhere else in Opulentus, Ryner lays in his bed at the inn, deep in thought. He's unable to sleep once again, haunted by his own thoughts and memories. He sighs and turns over.

Did I make the right decision...? I remember what the Elder Dragon said. He told us not to give in to revenge and hate. But is avoiding this war entirely the right choice? When one side wins, I know the other will suffer. I can't help but feel things would be different if I intervened. But there's nothing I can do about that now.
Once you make a choice, you can't change it.

Ryner looks over at the Truestone sitting by his bed.

I wonder if my father had to face the same struggle...I need to take down that demon. I will protect this world. Somehow. I can't fail...

Kress sits with the others. "Alright, what's our strategy for taking on the wall?"

Elay then continues to explain. "So here's the plan. We're going to split into two groups. One main force that's going to take on the wall headfirst and a secondary force that's going to sneak their way inside. Once inside, the stealth group will have to unlock and open the gate, giving us all a pathway to enter through. Then we can take them down from the inside out."

Kress nods. "Very well then. It seems our main force should be larger than our stealth team. Which of us is going to lead which and which units are we going to use?"

Select A Leader
A. Elay
B. Kress

Select Ten Units (Not Including Leader) (These Units Will Not Participate In The Next Chapter)
Gerand - Lv 1 Steward
Shizuka - Lv 9 Thief
Darik - Lv 1 Sorcerer
Kit - Lv 10 Cat
Garu - Lv 11 Bird
Faron - Lv 1 Light Sage
Luna - Lv 1 Valkyrie
Carthis - Lv 1 Pro Performer
Lupis - Lv 13 Wyvern Rider
Arc - Lv 11 Cavalier
Claire - Lv 5 Cleric
Vex - Lv 13 Witch
Kaiz - Lv 1 Sniper
Garren - Lv 9 Knight
Seraphim - Lv 1 Halberdier
Bunbun - Lv 2 Fighter
Jess - Lv 12 Kitsune
Uragiru - Lv 1 Trickster
Argentum - Lv 1 Ninetails
Canzar - Lv 1 Reaper
Leo - Lv 1 Nemean Lion
Mistral - Lv 1 Hraesvelgr

www.youtube.com/watch?v=diEQtm9ULG4

Kress and her allies manage to sneak their way into the wall with instructions from Arc on an entrance point that's not as heavily guarded. As they make their way inside, Kress checks the map Arc gave them. "Alright, from here we just need to get up to the top floor and activate the mechanism to open the gates."

Shizuka quickly darts forward, taking a quick look around the corner and noticing a few patrolling guards. She then returns to Kress, whispering to her. "They have guards up ahead. It's up to you how we progress, but if they catch us, they're likely to call in reinforcements. We can try to take them out, but we'll have to do it quickly in one strike."

Uragiru then speaks. "Shizuka and I should be able to move across quickly without difficulty thanks to our training, but the rest of you may need to take your time to cross so you don't alert the guards."

Allies
Kress: 33/33 HP
Shizuka: 20/20 HP
Carthis: 23/23 HP
Claire: 28/28 HP
Kit: 25/25 HP
Garu: 23/23 HP
Bunbun: 33/33 HP
Jess: 22/22 HP
Uragiru: 25/25 HP
Argentum: 22/22 HP
Mistral: 31/31 HP

Enemies
Soldier: 25/25 HP - Patrolling
Soldier: 25/25 HP - Patrolling

Shizuka and Uragiru carefully maneuver their way past the guards, unseen. As they make it past, they motion for Kress and Argentum to make their move. Kress charges forward before leaping at the soldier with her fangs ready. "You fall here...!" She takes him out with a single, well placed chomp.

Critical Hit! Soldier receives 78 damage 0/25 HP

Argentum then quickly follows, running in from behind and scratching through the enemy with his claws.

Soldier receives 30 damage 0/25 HP

With both enemy guards taken out, Kress gives the signal for the others to move. They continue onwards, up to the next floor and Shizuka takes a minute to scout out the area. "Alright, same situation. Only difference is that they've got two Fighters keeping guard here."

Uragiru nods. "Let's be careful with our next move. These enemies are likely stronger than the last."

Allies
Kress: 33/33 HP
Shizuka: 20/20 HP
Carthis: 23/23 HP
Claire: 28/28 HP
Kit: 25/25 HP
Garu: 23/23 HP
Bunbun: 33/33 HP
Jess: 22/22 HP
Uragiru: 25/25 HP
Argentum: 22/22 HP
Mistral: 31/31 HP

Enemies
Fighter: 30/30 HP - Patrolling
Fighter: 30/30 HP - Patrolling

Shizuka and Uragiru quickly dart across while the fighters aren't looking, watching their movements carefully. Then once it's clear, Uragiru makes a motion for Kress and Argentum to strike. Kress sneaks up behind one of them before leaping at them and silencing them before they can call for help with a single movement. Argentum then runs in and slashes one of the fighters from behind, taking him down easily.

Critical Hit! Fighter receives 78 damage 0/30 HP

Fighter receives 30 damage 0/30 HP

Kress reaches level 2! Kress' Strength, Skill, Speed, and Defense increase by 1!

Argentum reaches level 2! Argentum's Skill, Speed, Luck, and Defense increase by 1!

The group then quickly progresses through to the next floor, taking the stairs. Shizuka runs off to scout and then returns. "Alright, there's three Knights here this time. I'm not sure how you want to handle this. There's more of them, but they might be easier to sneak around."

Allies
Kress: 33/33 HP
Shizuka: 20/20 HP
Carthis: 23/23 HP
Claire: 28/28 HP
Kit: 25/25 HP
Garu: 23/23 HP
Bunbun: 33/33 HP
Jess: 22/22 HP
Uragiru: 25/25 HP
Argentum: 22/22 HP
Mistral: 31/31 HP

Enemies
Knight: 32/32 HP - Patrolling
Knight: 32/32 HP - Patrolling