Sands of Time: Difference between revisions

[[Hector]] arrives in [[Ostia]], [[Eliwood]], [[Lyn]], and [[Athos]] in tow. After a soldier greets him, Hector asks if [[Uther|his brother]] is in the castle. The soldier responds that Marquess Ostia departed for a conference in [[Etruria]] and will return in half a month's time. Hector notes that the timing of Uther's trip is suspicious and asks [[Oswin]] if he knew his brother was planning on taking this trip. Oswin momentarily hesitates before confirming that the trip has been planned for quite some time.

[[File:Cg fe07 25.png|thumb|right|[[Athos]] recounts his and [[Nergal]]'s studies in [[Arcadia (location)|Arcadia]].]]

Once they are inside the castle, Hector asks Athos to explain how they should precede considering [[Nergal]]'s apparent invulnerability as well as how the two came to know each other. Athos explains that he met Nergal 500 years ago in the [[Nabata Desert]]. Nergal, at the time, was in search of the true nature of the world and was equal to Athos in power and knowledge, making them fast friends. One day, the two happened across a village hidden in the depths of the wasteland of [[Missur]] where [[dragon]]s lived in harmony with humans. That village was known as [[Arcadia (location)|Arcadia]]. Athos explains that the dragons that lived in the village refused to fight humans in [[The Scouring]] and merely want to live in peace, hidden from the outside world. Nergal and Athos decided to erect a magical barrier to make the village more difficult to find and began to live in Arcadia at the invitation of the village's residents. Centuries passed as the two studied the dragon's language and their large wealth of texts in their libraries. Athos eventually wanted to spread the knowledge of the dragons and the paradise of Arcadia to the whole of [[Elibe]]; Nergal, however, began to pursue a darker path. Nergal learned the method of stealing a living being's quintessence and transforming it into power and then began to experiment on living creatures and eventually, humans. Athos and the villagers felt they had no option other than to band together to put an end to Nergal's horrible actions and succeeded in defeating him and banishing him from Arcadia. Nergal took his defeat in stride and fled to [[Bern]], where he slowly built his power to avoid drawing the attention of Athos and built his army of [[morph]]s. Athos is suddenly interrupted by a soldier announcing that the castle is under attack by an enemy that seemingly appeared within the castle walls from nowhere. The group quickly concludes that the forces were sent by Nergal and take to defending the throne. Before the battle, Hector announces that they merely need to prevent the enemy from seizing the throne until reinforcements arrive.

Once the group takes to the battlefield, the lead morph in Nergal's force, [[Denning]], begins to monotonously repeat a message Nergal entrusted to him: "This is a message from Lord Nergal: 'I await you on the [[Dread Isle]].'" Near the throne, Lyn reminds Eliwood to not overexert himself out of concern for his well being, though Eliwood coldly responds that he is fine and faces the enemy without hesitation. [[Nils]], striken with grief over the death of [[Ninian]], absent-mindedly wanders onto the battlefield before a soldier stops him. Nils is clearly in no condition to join the fight, prompting the soldier to take him to a safe room, far from the action.

The group manages to fend off the invaders long enough for reinforcements arrive, enabling the group to repel Nergal's forces. With the enemy having been successfully routed, Athos continues his story. Once Athos discovered how much more powerful Nergal had become since his banishment, he assumed his next target would be the dragons of Arcadia; however, Nergal's ambitions proved to be grander than he initially thought. Nergal went to the [[Dragon's Gate (location)|Dragon's Gate]] and managed to entice [[Ninian]] and [[Nils]] to pass through the gate. He planned to use the siblings to call even more dragons through the gate to drain their quintessence, the damage the dragons may wrought on Elibe being an afterthought to him. Athos tells the group that the legendary weapons are their last hope and informs them that he will go to [[Bramimond]] to seek his help in obtaining as many of them as possible before Nergal's plan can come to fruition. This prompts Eliwood, Hector, and Lyn to declare that they will go to [[Dread Isle]] ahead of Athos so as to suppress Nergal's army of morphs and prevent him from ravaging [[Lycia]] any further.

Before Athos leaves, he ensures that Eliwood and {{h|Hector|Just Eliwood in his tale}} still have [[Durandal]] and [[Armads]]. They confirm that they still have the weapons, though they have been unable to bring themselves to use them considering that they seemingly have a will of their own; however, they promise that when the time comes, they will wield the weapons without hesitation.

Later that night, Hector approaches [[Oswin]], who is standing alone in the throne room. Oswin suggests the lord get some rest; however, Hector, aware that Oswin is hiding something from him, refuses and commands him to reveal whatever it is that he is hiding. Oswin remains silent even when Hector threatens to kill him for keeping the secret, leading Hector to conclude that the only possible thing his own subordinates would conceal from him for so long is the status of his brother's health. Hector manages to surmise that his brother is dead based on his assumption that Oswin would have already told him if Uther was merely recovering his strength elsewhere. Oswin cannot manage a proper response, which Hector takes as confirmation of his conclusion. Hector leaves the throne room alone.

Meanwhile, Nergal returns to the Dragon's Gate with Ninian's quintessence and her [[dragonstone]] in his possession. He infuses the dragonstone with the girl's quintessence, creating a tool which enables him to call dragons from the gate whenever he pleases; however, Nergal decides that he must wait and gather more quintessence from Eliwood's advancing forces and recover from Athos's attack before calling the dragons as if he is too weak to maintain control over them, everything he has done will be for naught.