| “ | Very well. Although it pains me, I see you cannot be dissuaded. In that case, I have no choice but to drag you back to Hoshido by force!
— Ryoma
|
” |
Ryoma is the eldest son of Sumeragi and the crown prince of Hoshido. After losing his step-sibling, Corrin, he takes a key stand in increasing the xenophobia and classism of Hoshido. Reliant on the stupid peace barrier that his step-mother generated, Ryoma and the rest of Hoshido grew fat and complacent with its plenty, buying into the myths of its own superiority and refusing to share any of its bounty with the neighboring, infertile, and starving nation of Nohr.
The Hoshidans recover Corrin by accident, and Ryoma wastes no time in gaslighting his step-sibling and lying to them that they're blood-related. After the assassination of his step-mother, Nohr invades Hoshido to try and claim its resources. Ryoma, having utterly failed to prepare his nation for the inevitable war, takes to the field himself.
His fate depends on the actions of Corrin. Either his step-sibling returns to the side of Nohr and the family he was raised alongside, they succumb to the manipulations of the Hoshidans and fight alongside a nation they have no connection to, or they abandon the conflict as a whole and seek out the third party manipulating things behind the scenes. The first route leads to Ryoma's death, the second to his survival and coronation as King of Hoshido amidst a defeated Nohr, and the third sees Hoshido and Nohr make permanent peace and he is coronated as King of Hoshido.
Battle vs Lyndis, Eliwood, and Hector (Fire Emblem) alongside Xander and Corrin (by Leolab)[]
Prologue[]
Hector slings Armads over his shoulder, breathing heavily. He looks around, and sees Lyn and Eliwood stowing their own weapons, catching their breath after the long fight. “Gods, how did we survive that?” he says, putting his hand to the still-warm corpse of the Fire Dragon that had made its way through the Dragon’s Gate at Nergal’s behest.
“Us surviving? How did our ancestors win? And against hordes of the things!” Eliwood says.
“Same way we did,” Lyn says, “Strength, luck, and good tactics.” She turns to smile at Marc, the group’s tactician, with the last word.
“Ha! I thought we were done for when he got caught in a blast from that thing,” Hector barks.
“When I got caught? You took the brunt of that. I’m amazed you’re not even singed!” Marc says, absently beating out an ember that caught the hem of his cloak. His eyes are drawn towards the Dragon’s Gate, which suddenly opens. “Blast, we’re not done yet!” he yells in alarm, and the three Lords accompanying him whirl to see three men walk through the gate.
“Where have you taken us now, Little Prince?” Xander, leading his horse, asks, looking at Corrin.
“I’m… not entirely sure,” he answers, “though we seem to have company.”
Xander hurriedly mounds his horse and draws Siefgried, while Ryoma draws his Raijinto. Corrin grasps his Dragonstone tightly, and the two parties face each other. “If it comes to blows,” Marc mutters to his friends, “Lyn, take the silver-haired one. Eliwood, attack the mounted one with your rapier. Hector… I’d rather not try this, but can you hold the swordsman in red off until Lyn or Eliwood win?”
“I just stared down a dragon. You think a man will give me that much trouble?"
“Just take care. Lord Eliwood, ascertain their intentions?”
Eliwood nods and rides forth, calling to his foes. “I am Eliwood, Marquess of Pherae. Beside me are Lord Hector of Ostia and Lady Lyndis of Caelin. Who are you, and what is your relation to the dragons?”
“I am Ryoma, High Prince of Hoshido,” Ryoma answers.
“And I am Xander, Crown Prince of Nohr,” Xander continues, “As for our relation to the dragons, my younger brother can turn into one.”
“Then you are an enemy of our world,” Lyn says, gripping the Mani Katti’s hilt tightly, “Return or be thrown back.”
“But we…” Corrin starts, only for his three foes to close the distance.
Melee[]
Lyn reaches her foe first, drawing her sword to strike as Corrin channels the Dragonstone’s energy, transforming into a dragon. She swipes several times with the Mani Katti, injuring Corrin and dodging his counterblow by sliding backwards. “Lyn! He’s a dragon, use…” Marc starts to yell. He cuts off as she grabs the Sol Katti, as he was about to ask. He smiles, and then widens his eyes in alarm. “Look out!”
Corrin had whipped out the tome for Ragnorak, and Ryoma and Xander had turned to face her, using the brief time before their foes reached them to coordinate a strike. A plume of fire erupts at Lyn’s position, and moments later lightning crashes down and a beam of dark energy scythes through it. Marc sidesteps the errant blast, and looks around for Lyn. Both he and Corrin look up at a shout, and see that she avoided the blast by jumping at lightning speed and is ready to bring her blade down on her foe.
Corrin grabs and barely raises the Omega Yato in time to block the blow. Lyn rides the parry’s momentum to Corrin’s side, and brings her blade in an arc towards his side. He barely blocks the blow, his foe’s speed forcing him on the defensive. Meanwhile, Ryoma narrowly dodges Hector’s opening swipe, but takes a kick to the knee instead. Hector brings his axe up for a vertical strike, but Ryoma dodges the blow. Eliwood breaks out into a gallop and leans forward in the saddle, charging Xander. The Crown Prince swivels his torso, and the attack glances off his armor. He brings Siegfried down at Eliwood’s back as he passes, but a quick flick of the wrist parries the blow.
Eliwood wheels around for another charge, narrowly avoiding a ranged attack from Xander as he does so, while Ryoma avoids another strike from Hector. The Ostian Lord’s powerful blows flow into each other, creating the impression of a rain of steel. Ryoma finally sees an opening after a strike, and swings his Raijinto full-force towards Hector’s chest. His armor absorbs the attack, however, and he strikes with Armads. The blow knocks Raijinto out of Ryoma’s hands, and the samurai is forced to rely on his agility to dodge his foe.
“Brother!” Corrin yells, and charges at Hector, intending to cause a distraction. Lyn slightly overextends on a strike, not expecting her foe’s sudden disengagement. She takes a second to recover, and starts heading towards him. A shout from Marc, however, cuts her off.
“Lyn, help Eliwood. Hector can take them.”
Lyn looks towards the red-haired Lord and sees him struggling against his opponent; in a bid to assist, she grabs her bow and fires, turning a fatal strike of Xander’s aside. The Nohrian prince turns to the new adversary, and lets off a blast from Siegfried at her position. Lyn dodges effortlessly, and fires another arrow, this one glancing off his iron crown. Before he can press the attack, however, another charge from Eliwood forces him to parry. Watching his brother beset by two foes, Corrin wavers.
“Help the Hoshidan, Little Prince!” Xaner yells, purring the fight back in his brother, “The crown prince of Nohr won’t fall to this. Finish your foe first.”
While he was distracted, Hector had grabbed the Wolf Beil in his right hand. He then launched a combined assault against the two princes, beating away at their defenses. He struck in a staccato rhythm, moving both blades in a whirlwind about him. One strike hammered Armads into Corrin, whose knees buckled from the blow, and a brief sidestep brought Wolf Beil whirling to the other side, intercepting Ryoma’s attempt to create distance to unleash lightning from Raijinto. A backblow with Armads smashed into Corrin, sending the lord tumbling and winded from his attempted leaping strike. He allowed a blow to come from Ryoma, which skittered off his armor.
Dropping his axes for the moment, he grabbed the Hoshidan prince’s arms and threw the man to the ground, red armor rattling his death knell. In a flash, Hector snatched Armads back up and spun it overhead, generating momentum for a massive leap. Corrin could only watch in horror as the blue-clad warrior brought his axe down in an armor-shattering strike. Fortunately for them both, Xander spared a moment from his duel with Lyn and Eliwood to lash out at Hector. A ranged attack caught him at the apex of his leap, sending him flying.
As if a heavily-armored cat, Hector crashed down on his feet. He wasted no time in sending an upwards strike at a charging Corrin, who barely managed to parry the blow. The force of the impact staggered him, and Lyn seized the opportunity.
She grabbed the Sol Katti with a flourish, and took several steps fast enough to appear to multiply. Xander shot off another attack in her direction but, quicker than they eye can follow, she backflipped over the beam and landed, moving towards Corrin so quickly she appeared to have teleported. She unleashes four slashes in rapid succession and, noticing Ryoma striking her with lightning from Raijinto, dodges; she moves fast enough to seem to be at four different corners around Corrin, and she then closes in from all sides with a series of vicious, near-simultaneous slashes.
As she returns to her guard state, Corrin falls to the ground – battered, bleeding, and more than slightly dead.
“NO!” a shout of denial rings out, Xander and Ryoma having entered the first stage of grief simultaneously. Ryoma, surrounded by peace, turns towards his fallen brother and reaches out to him. Hector seizes the moment and plants Armads in his head, and the High Prince of Hoshido falls. Xander, having been weaned on war, channels his grief into fury, determined to avenge his fallen brother. A quick series of slashes rips Eliwood’s defense to shreds, and sends his rapier flying. Xander scores a deep gash into the red-haired lord’s chest, and he falls from the saddle. Xander charges at Hector, who grabs the Wolf Beil, and Lyn, who grabs the Mani Katti, while Marc bears Eliwood off the field, administering what aid he can.
Xander swipes at Hector, who blocks, and follows up with a ranged attack at Lyn. Lyn dodges and, now able to use her preferred combat style, sheathed the Mani Katti. She charges at Xander while drawing the blade, aiming the strike at his neck. Xander brings his gauntlet up, however, and the blow stops short on the plate. Xander uses Siegfried to turn another strike from Hector, while Lyn kicks off of his horse, startling it and launching her back.
Xander fends Hector off while getting his horse under control. Once he does so, he careens forward at a full gallop, firing off beams at his foes as he whirls around for a charge. His foes scatter out of his way, and he barely misses his strike. As he brings his horse in another circle, intent on forcing his foes on the defensive, Lyn charges in again to try and regain momentum. As she unsheathes her sword, however, Xander catches the strike in Siegfried’s bifurcation. He swings his arm with force, sending Lyn flying. Xander regains momentum, charging at Hector.
Lyn rights herself in midair, sheathing her sword and passing Marc as she flew. He looks up from treating Eliwood, and points towards Xander. Lyn gives him an exasperated look, only for him to shake his head and point again. As she crashes into the wall, she follows his finger more closely, and her eyes widen. She grabs the hilt of the Mani Katti, and launches herself back into the battle, too quick to see.
As Xander prepares another slash towards Hector, his horse buckles from under him. Lyn had sliced the underside of its throat and dodged out of the way, killing it. Xander throws himself clear, keeping hold of Siegfried as he crashes to the ground. Hector makes a leap with his axe, and Xander looks up at his shout to see a massive axe, backed by a mountain of muscle and steel, hanging above him. A sudden pain in his arm prevents him from lifting his sword to block, and a brief glance tells him that Lyn had shot an arrow through it. He faces death with dignity, composing himself as gravity brought Hector’s axe smashing through his head, armor, and body.
Epilogue[]
Lyn and Hector rush to Eliwood’s side, concerned about their friend. Marc sits back on his heels, and nods at them.
“He’ll live,” he says, “But no more combat. He’s got to stay in Pherae and be a diplomat.”
Hector and Lyn sigh in relief, and pick their injured friend up. “So what’s next for you?” Marc asks, looking at Lyn and Hector.
“I’ve got to rule in Osita,” Hector says, “The black sheep of the family needs to become respectable, somehow.”
“I’ll help my grandfather rule Caelin for a time,” Lyn says, “And then maybe return to Sacae and leave Caelin under Ostian rule. What about you, Marc? What new cause will you lead to victory?”
Marc shakes his head, however, saying “No more causes for me. Anyone looking for my services now would be a warmonger, not someone looking to help others. I’ll lay low – in Caelin, if Lyn permits.”
“I’d be glad to,” she says.
“My thanks. Mayhap I’ll even follow you to Sacae after you grow tired of Lycian life. If you hadn’t found me in the plains…”
“Our lives would be very different,” Eliwood says, “I’m glad she did.”
Expert's Opinion[]
Eliwood, Lyn, and Hector were more skilled in individual combat than Corrin, Xander, and Ryoma. This, combined with their teamwork, allowed them to overcome the greater variety of skills and synergy the Fates lords had.