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[SirAston]

"Well, we now know he had the right idea. I just... Not even I would have expected myself to be part Mamkute. I'd wonder if I have inherited the blood of Fiorae, but the Emblem did not reveal any when I held it back then."

As Dunas was contemplating and while Artair's wound finally got taken care by the healer of the ward, the Entourage hears a muffled moan of pain as the first of the three regains conciousness. It was His Majesty Himself, King Alfalm. He slowly sits up, then notices the group at the other end of the ward. For a moment there was silence and no movement from Alfalm. Then, he speaks up in a soft tone.

"Healer, once you're done, please let us be alone."

The healer nods and exits the ward after finalizing his treatment of Artair.

"I can see it in your eyes. You know the truth, or at least some of it. Whatever the dragon told you... Chances are he's right."

Alfalm glances towards the still-unconcious Orlsen, then to Dulosta who is the same. He takes his swordsheath.

"I retain the right to defend myself, but for this hour, I am no king, just an old fool named Greoger. Speak and I shall answer. I suffered enough, and so did the world."

[rustytengo]

"Okay then I'll ask the big question are you a bad guy who needs to be bonked or not?" Eiriol asked popping out of the mumbling she was doing earlier.

[SirAston]

Alfalm was taken aback by the blunt directness of Eiriol. He coughs in surprise and takes a deep breath.
"I have to say, this straightforwardness is... nice. The short answer is that I most likely deserve to be, in your terms, bonked. The long answer, well... it wouldn't change much, but at the very least you'd have context why I deserve it."
He gazes out of the nearby window.
"... Thank you for bringing the Fire Emblem back, my son."

[Chevaleresse]

"What happened to the Mamkutes? And what does Sir Jernigan have to do with them?"

[SirAston]

"Over time, they died. They got murdered."

Alfalm sighs.

"And I secretly gave rewards to those who gave me proof of especially great slaughter... That includes a young Ghal. As for Sir Jernigan, he was never involved in this conspiracy born of a curse."
"Wait. Curse?"
"There is a reason the Fire Emblem was in Wyrmpeak, and ultimatively with Ghal. It is... a long story of cowardice. Now that the Fire Emblem is back, that curse is broken. Not that it absolves me. I enabled this curse in the first place."

[Chevaleresse]

"Why the hell would you enable a curse that led to a damn genocide?"

[TricMagic]

What goes on, and why.

"I have my own question. What does my Grandmother have to do with all of this. he isn't one to be pushed along the currents. And why hide the truth of your son's heritage?"

[GreenKnight]

"Y'can't blame everything on a curse. Even if it was left by a king of demons or something similar, there's surely something that could be done." Rork pipes up and says, looking quite discontent with that answer. Even if it was something magically enforced, it feels too defeatist to merely give into a 'curse' of any sort.

[SirAston]

Alfalm looks at the former bandit.
"You are correct. Curses can be overcome. That is why they're only suggested when men are at their weakest."
He lowers his head for a moment.
"Why I enabled a curse... and why I hid the truth... Both are tied to one man. The enigma spoken in positive tones. And the man I began to despise over the years. The Chosen among Chosen. The wandering sage himself. Meshel."


[Now Playing: Tear Ring Saga - Unforgettable You]

The year 259. 29 years before the current events. A small castle, completed recently, in the heart of Dunland. It is Castle Lornen, the seat of the Hero of Light and recently-coronated regent. The young king Alfalm gazes out of a window in his private chamber, holding a cloth-covered newborn in his arms.
"What a beautiful sunset... Such peace. The past five years were full of strive and treachery, but right now, this moment... I know this was worth it."
Greoger gently scratches the chin of the newborn, who happily squeals for a second.
"I promise to you, Dunas Alfalm, I will fight for this world to remain peaceful, so you can live life to your fullest potential."

The door opens. A man looking to be in his mid-40s enters.

"Congratulations to your offspring, Hero of Light."
"Oh my! Meshel! I didn't expect you... And his birth was supposed to be a secret for now..."
"Well. Are there any secrets to me on this world?"
"Hahaha. You're right... I worry about if my people will accept a prince who was birthed by a commoner, even if he is my Firstborn... A young country can be fragile. Just like a young life."
"... Should I consult the stars for you, Hero of Light? For Dunas?"
"O-oh! A reading by the Sage himself. What an honor! You are my guest for as long as you wish, Meshel."
"You did good work for the Goddess in your crusade. This is your reward. The least I can do for you."

Dusk comes, and the stars are shining in the sky. Meshel observes them for two hours as Wymera cares for the baby, having entered the chamber through a secret entrance. Finally, Meshel returns and takes Greoger to a sideroom, for a talk under four eyes.

"Thank you once more. I really appreciate it. No matter his destiny, I will accept it."
"The stars have spoken. Thus, I quote: Dunas, having become a heroic and brave man, will tenderly embrace a dragon and call the dragon... Mother. Yes, he will call her Mother during that tender embrace. Thus, I quoted. The stars have spoken."
"..."

Greoger was without words as Meshel excuses himself, leaving as unexpected and immediately as he entered Greoger's life. Young king Alfalm sat down in his chair, and pondered about these words. He pondered thoroughly. For the next days, he continued to ponder. Endless thoughts. Then, for the first time since his crusade, he grimaced.


"... Eventually... I had the thought that this prophecy could only mean one thing. That the Mamkute Tribe would kidnap you, Dunas, and take them as their own. Meshel's prophecies are always correct. It was impossible to avert that. And... in my infinite love for you, son, I fell into infinite fear. I was weak. And at my weakest... I got approached by a Darkspawn. I tried to resist its empty temptations. But it pestered me over weeks, no matter what I did, it came back. Ultimatively... I gave in. And thought in my arrogance that, as the Hero of Light, I'd have enough knowledge of Darkspawn to resist whatever they would create."

King Alfalm looks out of the windows once more.

"I think I do not need to emphasize that I was wrong in the worst way possible. In my infinite love for my son, I let it corrupt me, and I performed..."
His voice suddenly breaks down.
"... That curse made me so hateful... It made so many of Charos blood hateful towards the Mamkute... I blamed everything and everyone. That Darkspawn. Meshel. The Mamkute. My now-wife Ulen and our children. Wymera for having birthed you. Even your birth I blamed at some point. Now that the hatred is gone... Now I know I can only blame myself. And nothing I do can ever absolve me."
He takes a deep breath as he faces the Entourage once more.
"I expect you not to pity me. I'm a monster. Treat me like one."

"... ... Meshel's prophecy meant something different..."
"Son?"
"Don't call me son!"
"..."

[Chevaleresse]

"What the hell else do you think that would have meant!? Of course he called a damned Mamkute mother, he's the som of one!" Rhian stood up and began to step threateningly toward Greoger. "How stupid do you have to be to choose that? You really thought this was the best way you could have kept your kid happy!? All this death, forcing him to act like you aren't even related, what the hell did you think would happen!?"

[SirAston]

"Wait! Are you to say that... Wymera is... a Mamkute?"

What little color there was in his face began to vanish and the King dropped onto his knees.

"I never knew. She... never said that. She never transformed during the crusade. She never did afterwards. I had a hunch, but... she denied she was one... ... If I knew, none of that... None of all that..."

Alfalm then was on all his fours, his weight leaning onto his elbows as he clenches his fists, his entire body quivering.

"End this..."

[Sora]

Maria, who had until now taken the role she was best suited for (That being one of a silent observer who oversaw this tragedy unfold), took a few steps forward to stop Rhian in her tracks.

"If you kill him now, you'll only give him what he wants. He doesn't have to reap all the sorrow and hatred he has sowed, he gets to go out the easy way while someone else has to try and repair what he caused."

The Dark mage felt a bit hypocritical saying this, then again, her actions weren't the reason for an entire genocide to unfold. They still hurt people, but that was a different story entirely.

"I'd propose that the great King of Dunland has some explaining to do. Not only to us, but to his fair citizens as well."

[SirAston]

"..."

Visibly weakened, Alfalm slowly raises up again on his feet.

"You are right, scholar. The easy way out... It would do more harm than what little good can still be salvaged."
"I know you will heavily disagree with what I'll say, you will probably even be disgusted, but..."
"... we should be allies for a greater cause."
"No, we won't!"

Dunas marches out of the ward and slams the door behind him.

"I cannot blame such a reaction. Nevertheless, those who serve my s-, who serve Sir Dunas, hear me out."
"Due to the curse of hatred I shamefully created a shadow council that oversaw the operations against the Mamkute. It is called the Eternal Dawn. Its core members, aside from me, are Duke Zornac, Marchioness Brand, an alchemist, that despicable Ghal..."
"... and Arnston. He, in truth, is Bloodless and thus should have been stayed out of this cycle of hatred, but with the curse, I drew him into Eternal Dawn... and that boy admires me so much, he became the Second-In-Command. He genuinely believes he's of Minor Charos, since he got tested with the forged Fire Emblem... It is set to give a reaction when I mentally command so. I couldn't bear to tell him he's not fit to be my heir due to his lack of blood. Without the curse, he'd... I'd probably have given him and Duchess Marigold my blessings long ago. In a better world."
"Huh, what about the princess?"
"I suspect she inherited her mother's blood of Zio, just like Falmer did."
"... Right... Falmer... Poor, innocent Falmer... I treated him the worst among all my children..."

He sits down on the bed he was resting in earlier.

"He is... a Firstborn. That I never lied about. But the Firstborn of Ulen, who is of Major Zio... And the curse... to activate it, it required the Fire Emblem to be planted within Wyrmpeak. Alongside a Firstborn to strengthen the curse... ... I think you can imagine the truth behind the so-called kidnapping... It was me. I used one of the function of an Emblem, the ability to protect one of Major Blood. It is done so by sealing that person within the Emblem... ... Falmer... is sealed within the Fire Emblem."
"I thought I would only take a few months top to isolate Wyrmpeak - not kill the Mamkute - and then retrieve the Emblem. But the curse was stronger and twisted my idea of isolation into the ultimate separation: Genocide."
"Please. Tell Dunas that Falmer is still alive... sealed... He will understand. He will damn me even more. But otherwise keep what we've talked about in secret. As long as Eternal Dawn exists, at the very least. I must do my part to destroy this organization. Afterwards, I will release the truth to the public and live the rest of my life in disgrace. I just fear that I cannot destroy Eternal Dawn alone... That is why I ask you to be my allies."

[GreenKnight]

Rork isn't quite sure what to make of this man. He was supposedly a hero of the holy war, a brave and virtuous man. Instead, the sad soul that sat in front of the group today was no more than a moron and fool, worse than even Ghal was. How that old, twitchy bastard had managed to make it onto some shadow council headed by the king of a blooded kingdom was beyond him. But he did know one thing.

If he didn't leave now, he'd take the axe to the fool king himself for the trouble he's caused so many. Even a mountain bumpkin like him knew that turning on your allies from the words of a prophecy was assinine. He turned and followed Dunas out, hurrying to catch up to the one he had actually sworn himself to.

[TricMagic]

...

"If that is your plan, I doubt you will meet that fate. My Grandmother isn't one to go quietly." A curse upon an entire country, all on the words of stars and mortals... "Your actions cannot be forgiven. But neither can the ones who went along with this. Dark powers are not for us to meddle with."

Father. Did you learn of this? Or is it just bad luck.

Artair turns to go, to follow Sir Dunas. In this... There isn't any other path to follow, blood or no.

"What is the point of Blood, of our ancestors who sealed that evil, if one cannot even trust each other?"