#three assasins suzuki

[saltysupercomputer]

So dance til' you stop, til you wanna go home

[fanfics-andstuff]

Yesterday, There Were More of Us (Old Work)

Chapter 1: Yesterday, There Were More of Us

Alexander Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia…

January 1, 2177

They were all sitting down, all of the adrenaline had drained out of them when they were sitting in their separate limos, and now they were in shock from the events that happened a few hours before.

No one saw this coming, except the a few within their ranks.

And that was the number one thing all International Elites fear the most: traitors.

Which is how all of this happened.

Now Nikolai Romanov was thinking about it, The Late Cosmo de Lafayette looked somewhere off in the distance above the reporters and paparazzi.

I guess we’ll never know , he thought.

People around the world call it The Great French Assasination for several reasons: it took place in Paris, many French International Elites were dead via assasination, a motivated personal plan was set up by Holy Queen Georgette of Britannia, thousands of French dead, acres of land and building were razed to the ground. Furthermore, many of the IE’s who had survived it and now were either safe in their country or somewhere in France suffered injuries. And the cherry on top was that Lyanna de Lafayette and Alexander Hamilton were captured by the Sheridan’s Rangers.

Tonight was supposed to be a fun night as any International Elite Reunion Gala, but instead, it was full of heartache, tears, pain, bloodshed, and serious diplomatic decisions that will change everything as they know it.

His daughter, Yelisaveta, glared vehemently at them, “I told you all,” she spat at them, “Britannia was going to do something sooner rather than later.” She threw her arms up in the air with suppressed anger, “Now look where that got us: this shithole of a mess.”

A loud exasperated sigh rang through the near silent room, “Yes, you did Lisa,” she punched the bridge of her nose to try to calm herself down, “but we couldn’t have done anything at the time, I told you that ,” she tried to reason with her but to no avail.

The figure skater glared at her, “Well I’m sorry, your Royal Majesty ,” Liska sneered, “I guess I overestimated your power, Sasha.” Before the young Tsarina of Russia could retort, a fist slammed down to an armchair. “Now isn’t the time of dwelling in the past and blaming others,” looking directly both at their daughter and ruler, “we need to make a decision on how we’re going to respond to this for the entire world is looking at us.”

“Grigor is right,” all eyes turned to the third eldest, “we either ignore this whole situation or go to war, both choices will result in bloodshed and scrutiny on both sides of the spectrum, and the entire world.” Evgeniya Brazauskienė, stated with a tone that meant business and absolutely no dilly dallying.

With that, they laid out the fate of Russia for the next few years…

~.~

Osaka, Japan…

December 12, 2164 (13 years earlier)…

Nothing could stop her from smiling, even when her cheeks started to hurt. How could she not? She had just won the Junior Grand Prix Final of Figure Skating with a total score of 219.67 points, her now personal high score.

The sound of trumpets roared through the air, mixing with all the cheerings of everyone in the room.

“ISU Figure Skating Final 2163 and 2164, Osaka, Japan, victory ceremony Junior Ladies,” Mr. Suzuki announced in English, while another, Ms. Takahashi, repeated in Japanese.

Everything was set on the ice: a red and white podium with the symbol of the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final 2164 logo, three medals on three trays carried by three girls, three flowers carried by another set of three girls, all under a gray rug.

The male announcer started, “Third and winner of the Bronze Medal, representing Russia: Yevgenia MAKARAVERA!” Zhenya skated on the ice just as they said her name, her full blue dress sashayed while the background music of River Flows in You by Lorenzo de Luca, then skated to her place on the lowest part of the podium.

“Second and winner of the Silver Medal, representing Russia: Yulia KAIDENOVSKYA!” Yulka was wearing a Bridgerton inspired dress with the music of Material Girl cover used in the show, eventually skating back to take her place as second on the podium.

“First and winner of the Gold Medal, representing Russia: Yelisaveta ROMANOVA-POTEMKINA!” The crowd cheered louder than before, some chanted her name “Lisa, Lisa!”, some waved the Russian flag higher, and some just created flat out noise. Her gold, pink, and purple dress moved along with her as the music of Syrax’s Flight by Ramin Djawadi played but was drowned out by everyone around her. The Russian bowed multiple times, quickly making her way to her place as the winner of the Junior Ladies, but not before hugging her two companions.

“The medals will be presented by our honored guest: Representative Violet Hill.” As the Canadian placed the medal on each girl before Yelisaveta, the crowd cheered respectfully, while they shook hands. As the elderly woman raised the medal, she bowed down for the gold piece to be hung around her neck. Ms. Hill was quite careful of her long hair that was wrapped in a low bun. The temperatures clashing between the cold, youthful one and the warm, wrinkly of the other.

“The flowers will be presented by ISU Representative Maratelle Romano.” This time, the Italian shook their hands before giving out the flowers, each looking identical. “Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the national anthem of the winner.”

As they sang their motherland’s anthem, the Russian flag was presented in front of them.

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, our medalists!” They all posed for the small group of photographers in front of them.

“We invite the skaters to take a victory lap around the ice.” The winner looked at her friends with a questioning look. While she was down to do it, Yelisaveta wanted to make sure that they were too.

With the biggest smiles they had, they took their time taking their lap around the rink; making sure to high-five the hands in the crowd.

One spectator gave them flower crowns with their favorite flowers: Yevgenia with daisies, Yulia with jasmines, and Yelisaveta with lilies.

After much posing for pictures, it was finally time to get off the ice and do the most painful part of it: the interviews.

Immediately after they got off the ice, they were hounded by one of the three devils also known as their coach. “Zhenya, you’re right leg was off. Yulka, you’re simply not good enough. Lisa, do better than whatever abomination of that bow was.” Ekaterina Tupincina hissed at them, “We practiced this for weeks!” Thankfully, she stopped when a cameraman came a little bit too close, but they all knew that it would be worse later. It was like a switch in her personality when she later instructed them cheerfully to prepare for the hounds.

Flashes were all around, along with the irritating screaming. How amazing , Yelisaveta thought, just after winning the Grand Prix, we get this monstrosity . Thankfully, Yevgenia shut them up by saying -more like yelling- that they will start if it was quiet. They all looked at Lisa, the de facto leader in the room. But as soon as she raised an eyebrow, the yelling resumed.

“How does it feel to win bronze/silver/gold yet again, Zhenya/Yulka/Lisa!”

“Is true that Tupincina another version of Eteri Tutberidze, but worse!”

“Are the three of you going to continue the Russian domination for figure skating!”

“Why do you think that you qualify for the Olympics in the next two years, Lisa!”

The last question struck a nerve in the said girl. How dare they try to downplay her skating? Everyone knows that she’s been undefeated so far since figure skating has been held tightly by the Russians.

Yelisaveta felt the entire room’s eyes focused solely on her as well as every camera. The weight on her shoulders was back, the judgemental eyes of the reporter who asked the question, the worried look that was surely plastered on Zhenya’s face, and  the concealed look of smugness disguised as indifference from Yulka.

Steeling her emotions for the incoming onslaught that will come later, the gold medalist answered, “Since I’ve been able to compete in competitions, I’ve been winning through all of them. This is because the judges see my skating as the best out of all of the girls, and that is shown by the point values that I received. And because of this, I may qualify for the Olympics when the time comes, but we just have to see if I’m capable for the next two years.” Humbling yourself was the best way to get out of that situation, but behind closed doors, her coach will likely reprimand her for that. As long as she doesn’t humiliate herself in public, then that’s all Yelisaveta needs.

The rest of the interviews were a whirlwind of emotions: sadness, anger, disgust, fear, envy, smugness, the list goes on. At the end of it, the three medalists only wanted to go back to their hotel to finally relax from the pressure and expectations, even for a few hours.

[four-loose-screws]

FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation - Chapter 8 Part 3

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

FE Game Script Translations - FE Novel Translations - Original FE Support Conversations - Ko-fi

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Chapter 8 - The Birth of the Second Generation

Part 3

That night, Sigurd’s army held a strategy meeting at Sailane Castle - though it was more a discussion of the details of Oifey’s plans than a proper strategy meeting.

“We need to claim a decisive victory as quickly as possible, as it’s likely that the Zaxonian Army is also marching towards us right now. They also may have Grannvalian reinforcements bolstering their numbers. At least, that’s what I would arrange if I was their tactician. Those factors will make them a tough fight for the Silessian defense unit. We’ll need to conquer Torve as soon as possible to be able to support Silesse.

“To do so, we should first, of course, leave here and intercept the Torvian Army. I predict we will clash with them in the forest around the village northeast of here. Erinys reported that she only saw mages, but they may deploy pegasus knights in the morning as well. They can fly over water, so I think they may attack the castle directly, meaning we’ll need to leave a solid defense unit here.”

Everyone agreed to his plan, and after they decided who would be in the offense unit and who would be in the defense unit, the meeting was adjourned.

The next day, after breakfast, the offense unit left the castle and marched northeast.

They reached the forest just before noon, and saw a pillar of smoke in the distance.

“They’re pillaging one of the villages! Let’s hurry, everyone!”

At Sigurd’s order, the cavalry unit galloped through the forest at full speed towards the village.

But the wind mages were hiding throughout the trees.

Horses had terrible mobility in forests, so they had to stay put and fight close range.

The enemies’ wind magic was powerful, but Claud’s healing magic covered a wide area, so they were able to fight safely.

Sigurd saw that they weren’t utilizing any effective battle formations, and ordered, “Don’t fight one-on-one! Fight in groups of two or three!”

That strategy proved effective, and they were able to pick off the mages one at a time.

When there were a only a few mages left, the pegasus knights arrived.

And leading them was Deetvar, one of the four pegasus knights.

Maios had ordered her to cause chaos among Sigurd’s army. The goal had been to utilize the pegasus’ advantage of flight, and fly above the sea to assault Sigurd’s army from the rear.

But Sigurd’s army had advanced further than they’d predicted, and when Deetvar saw how much her allies were struggling, she decided to join the fight head-on. “Everyone! Attack the enemies below us!”

At Deetvar’s orders, the pegasus knights began to divebomb Sigurd’s army.

But against Sigurd’s army, who’d infantry unit had caught up to the cavalry at this point, the pegasus knights were like pebbles falling on their heads, and Deetvar’s unit suffered total defeat. Jamke and Brigid contributed the most to their victory, as arrows were particularly lethal against pegasus knights.

The pegasus knights slowly began to drop out of the air.

Deetvar turned towards Sigurd’s archers, and charged towards them. “Die!” She screamed, but her sword just barely missed its mark. Her pegasus tried to fly upwards, but couldn’t make it in time, and took a direct hit from one of Jamke’s arrows.

“Move, everyone! Full speed towards Torve Castle!!” Sigurd yelled.

The cavalry made it through the forest, and traveled quickly down a wide town road.

The enemies they faced along the way proved to be no challenge, and they stopped when they knew they could make it to Torve Castle by afternoon the next day. However, the bridge above the Torve River was raised.

They had no chance but to camp in front of the river.

-

Dew caught up to them that night.

Dew approached Noish and asked, “What’s the matter? It’s still light out! How can ya be done fightin’ already?”

“Take a good look at the bridge. We’re stuck here.”

“Whoa, it is out! But we ain’t stuck. It’s just been raised!”

“Whatever! It’s all the same to us. We can’t get across either way.”

“Yeah, ya can!! You can operate this kinda drawbridge from both sides!”

“Are you telling me you can lower it?”

“Yeah, ‘proly!”

“Alright then, let’s go talk to Lord Sigurd.”

Sigurd listened to Dew’s explanation, then gathered the cavalry unit in front of the bridge.

“Dismount from your horses, everyone! Don’t line up! We don’t want to send any signs of battle to our enemies! Then scatter your horses, so they all point in different directions!”

Dew walked up to the bridge, looked for the lever, and found a box on one of the support posts. It was locked, but opening the lock was easy work for him. Inside, he found the lever he was looking for.

He turned around and waved his arms in the air to signal to Sigurd.

Sigurd gave him the signal to lower the bridge, then turned to face the cavalry unit. “Now, everyone! Mount your horses, and charge!”

Once they were all ready to cross, Dew yanked on the lever.

With a loud creak, the bridge started to lower.

The moment it was down, Sigurd led the charge, with the cavalier unit right behind him.

The enemy had been so careless, that they hadn’t even lowered the castle gate.

Sigurd broke through the vanguard and rushed into the castle.

Maios had only just gotten on his armor and run out to the courtyard when Sigurd attacked and killed him with one swing of his silver sword.

Later, the village elder learned of what happened and approached Sigurd to thank him.

The elder explained that Maios had increased taxes considerably to maintain and strengthen his army.

“The villagers are so happy to hear he’s gone! We’re sorry to ask for more from you, but would you consider redistributing the tax money to the people who paid it?”

“I understand what you’re asking, but we’re from a foreign country, so we don’t have the right to decide how your tax money is used. For now, return the tax rate to what it was originally. I’ll discuss the issue with Queen Rahna next time I see her. She should be able to reach a conclusion for you.”

“Thank you! We trust that Queen Rahna would never be anything like Maios was! She’s the only person the citizens of Silesse could ever trust!”

“Really? Then it’s settled. I’ll leave this town entirely in your care until Queen Rahna orders otherwise.”

“Understood. We cannot thank you enough for your service. At the very least, we’d like to have a welcome party for you tonight.”

“We are very happy to accept your offer, but we must leave early in the morning, so please make sure no one drinks too much.”

The next morning, Sigurd left a defense unit, comprised mostly of archers, to guard the village, then left Torve Castle.

ー

Maios and Dakkar had agreed to both attack at the same time.

However, Dakkar held off his attack on purpose. He knew how strong Sigurd’s army was, and decided to base his movements on the results of Sigurd’s battle with the Torvian Army.

When his reconnaissance pegasus knight informed him that Torve Castle had fallen, he knew it was time to strike.

‘If I attack Silesse Castle now, reinforcements from Sigurd’s army won’t arrive in time. Once I conquer the castle, I’ll fight together with the Grannvalian Army to destroy Sigurd’s army, then all of Silesse will be mine!’

Dakkar ordered another of the Four Angelic Knights, Pamela's, unit to deploy, and join the rear guard of the Grannvalian arch knights, who had just arrived.

Leading the arch knights was Duke Ring's son, Andorey.

The moment he'd been informed of Prince Kurt's assasination, he'd immediately begged Reptor to spare his life. Greedy and cowardly, Andorey's personality was the complete opposite of Duke Ring's.

Reptor looked at Andorey, trembling in fear that he might be treated guilty of the same crime as his father, and thought of a way to use him. 'He may not be strong, but at the very least, he'll probably do whatever I say.'

In exchange for being allowed to inherit the title of Duke of Jungby, Andorey swore his undying loyalty to Reptor.

Reptor's first order for Andorey was to go to Zackson Castle and aid Dakkar in conquering Silesse Castle.

The moment Dakkar saw Andorey's unit, he was rather impressed.

"Amazing, simply amazing… so this is the power of Jungby's arch knights."

Andorey beamed at the praise.

"So long as the Beige Ritter is mine, even the Silessian pegasus knights will fear me! Or at the very least, I have no reason to fear them." He said, feeling as though the arch knights were his very own power. The thought made him feel much better about his situation.

-

When Mahnya and received the news that the that pegasus knights from Zackson were coming, she went to Queen Rahna, and announced that she planned to leave to fight them straight away.

“So Duke Dakkar is finally showing his true colors, is he? Pamela is a force to be reckoned with. Please fight carefully.”

“Yes, she certainly should not be underestimated. But I am also one of Silesse’s Four Angelic Knights. I will fight honorably.”

“I’m sorry, Mahnya. I know how you feel… yet I…” Rahna had thought countless times about what if Lewyn and Mahnya married. She started to bring it up, but felt that it was not the time and place to do so, and kept silent about it.

“Queen Rahna, the only way of life I know is that of a knight. ...Try not to worry about that. Now… please excuse me.”

When Pamela saw Mahnya’s unit headed for hers, she gave the signal for her soldiers to lower their altitude. While it was more advantageous for pegasus knights to fight high in the skies, her plan was to bait Mahnya’s unit into the arch knights’ range.

‘What a fool! She knew full well that she would die if she came before me, yet she’s still keeping her loyalty to the queen. Well then, I’ll kill her and take her spot at the top of the Four Angelic Knights! Don’t have any hard feelings about it, Mahnya!’

Mahnya watched Pamela’s unit dive lower in the sky, and decided it was a golden opportunity. She signaled with her right hand to attack, and led her unit in descending.

She attacked a passing enemy pegasus knight along the way. One of the pegasus' wings flapped wildly, then both mount and rider plummeted towards the ground.

'She… was once one of my friends…' She thought, but only for a moment.

Mahnya's unit was still much higher in the air, so the fight was in their favor.

However, it only lasted for a moment. Andorey and the Beige Ritter arrived soon after. They aimed for Mahnya's unit, and shot arrows one after the other into the sky.

Mahnya's unit had their full attention on fighting the pegasus knights, leaving them no chance to dodge the arrows.

Andorey watched the pegasus knights fall out of the sky, and laughed in amusement. "Gah ha ha ha! Oh, how they fall! It's like catching bugs!"

Mahnya searched through the skies for Pamela.

Now that her unit's numbers were at the disadvantage, Mahnya thought to decide things one-on-one. However, when she turned to face Pamela, her pegasus' neck snapped backwards, and shook in the air. Mahnya gasped and pulled the reins, but felt herself begin to fall only a moment later.

'Dammit, was I hit from below?' 

Her life flashed before her eyes.

'Ah… Prince Lewyn… please take care… of Erinys…' 

The view of the ground beneath her got larger and larger at a terrifying speed.