Together to the End
By PT Piranha

Chapter 1: The Second Chance of a Lifetime

Life in the village was a lot quieter without the others, Kliff observed.

Approximately a month ago, some knight came by, spouting grim news regarding His Majesty. The royal chancellor turned coat and bumped him off, so these resistance guys wanted Alm's grandpa to join the fight. Unsettling news, to be sure, but Kliff figured something like this would happen sooner or later. That day seven years ago, when that one knight attacked Kliff and his friends, it suggested to the then eight-year-old that things were not going smoothly in the castle. Why else would Sir Mycen get so worked up over a knight knowing about their old friend Celica?

"He said no. Sir Mycen has made it clear he has no intention of joining the Deliverance."

Sir Mycen was about as stubborn as they came, and it was no surprise that it rubbed off on Alm. When the knight refused to join the Deliverance, Alm promised to fight in his place. He belted out a most passionate speech about how prepared he was, and how Sir Mycen had trained him to be a great warrior, and all that business. Kliff was certain that Alm had rehearsed these words, waiting for a chance to use them on somebody.

Loudmouth Gray decided to go with them. Kliff always wondered when Gray would finally leave. He was as bad as Alm when it came to pining for excitement. Maybe even worse. Sure, he played the role of the concerned friend, making sure Alm knew what joining the army actually meant. But by day's end, he was strolling out the gate alongside Alm and that knight. Tobin too. Of the three of them, Kliff would probably miss Tobin the most. He was annoying, but so was everyone else. He also always let Kliff vent to him. But alas, the clarion call of gold was too much for Tobin.

"Try not to be too amazed when I show Alm up on the battlefield!"

"You know they don't pay extra for that. Right, moneybags?"

Kliff had weighed his options. He could stay in a boring village, without his friends, and staying with his self-absorbed mother, but live a risk-free life. Or he could set out with his friends, see the world and make some coin… while fighting for his life and the lives of others, every step of the way. In truth, the white-haired boy knew this was the perfect opportunity… and yet he did not take it. Perhaps it was not wanting to frighten his mother, or dreading the idea of having to answer to a military superior, or even plain and simple fear. But Kliff did not leave Ram Village on that day. The others promised to include to him in their letters to home, and Kliff told Alm he would pass the word to Sir Mycen, whenever came back (which never happened).

In his heart of hearts, Kliff had no certainty that he and his friends would ever reunite. He was alone.

"…and it's not like I don't think Alm can handle himself- he's the best- but I just wonder-" a feminine voice snapped Kliff out of his reminiscing. So maybe he wasn't entirely alone…

Faye, the fifth and final member of the group. (As much as Kliff liked Celica, she only stuck around for three years. So yeah, five members.) Kliff had been enjoying his instructional guides on magic casting, but of course Faye had decided to join him on the bench and start waxing for Alm's presence. The irritated young man rolled his eyes. She too was left behind by the others, and spent her days reminding everyone within earshot of Alm's existence. That and shadowing her doctor parents. With such devotion, the boy was surprised that she elected not to follow Alm into combat. But hey, at least it meant he had some company. Even if he didn't particularly like Faye. It wasn't so much that she annoyed Kliff- everyone annoyed Kliff- but they just had no common ground without the others to serve as a buffer.

He liked academics, and she liked Alm. He wanted to be a great mage someday, and she wanted to heal Alm's every injury. It always went back to Alm with her. Fine, Kliff wasn't one for small talk anyway. But… he would be lying to himself if he didn't acknowledge that he still appreciated the presence of at least one friend. And she was clearly in a talkative mood, with no end in sight. He might as well indulge.

Kliff sat his book down, and turned to Faye. "I'm sure Alm's doing fine, Faye," dismissal laced his words, even if it was unintentional. "And Tobin and Gray are probably arguing over some female officer."

Faye narrowed her brown eyes. "Well pardon me for being concerned about our friends' safety!"

You mean Alm's safety. Kliff winced. Bah. Can I go five seconds without having a rude thought? And great, now she thinks I was patronizing her. The boy sighed. "That's not what I meant. Look, you're always saying how strong Alm was, aren't you?"

"Y-yeah…"

"So he's probably fine. And Tobin took that bow of his with him, you know he's a good shot." He narrowed his eyes. "And Gray's too dumb to die. So stop worrying so much."

Sighing, the village girl put her head in her hands. "I just hope someone's out there, taking good care of Alm. If I knew what I know now about healing magic, I could've left too!"

This got Kliff's attention. Faye wasn't just learning medicine, but applying it to White Magic? Huh. "I didn't know you were learning magic."

Faye groaned. "That's because you always have your nose in those spell books of yours and never talk to me unless you have to."

"Oh. Was there a secret message of 'Hey Kliff, I'm learning White Magic' somewhere between your Alm rants?" Kliff knew he shouldn't have retorted, but he hated when Faye cut him to the core like that.

She was not happy with him. Faye folded her arms. "You keep making fun of me, but I care about other things besides Alm, you know!"

His tan eye twitched, and teeth grinded, accepting the call to verbal combat. "Grr… Is that right?"

"It is! And besides," Faye looked toward her feet, "you don't even care about the others, either! You just miss complaining to Tobin! You keep acting like you hate talking to him, but you're always taking the time to let him know about things you hate!"

Without Alm's calm hand, Gray's reverence for camaraderie, or Tobin's ability to defuse tension with bungling, there really weren't any forces to interfere with Kliff and Faye's opposing viewpoints.

"Hey! I like the others besides just Tobin!"

"Well I like the others besides just Alm!"

They both scoffed and went quiet. After thirty seconds of awkward silence, Faye spoke first. "I wish they'd come home. I wish Sir Mycen would come back too. We would all spar together, laugh and tell jokes, have everyone taste my cooking… That chancellor ruined everything."

"No argument there," Kliff agreed. What even happened to Sir Mycen? He just disappeared without a word right before Alm and the others left. No one's told any horror stories about finding his corpse somewhere, so it's not like he got killed in the woods. If there was even something strong enough to kill him. Kliff's musings were cut short by some sounds. "Huh? I think I hear someone."

"You do?"

An energetic voice was audible, close to the village entrance, accompanied by another man's voice. It sounded like they were arguing, until a third, very masculine voice made itself heard. "Would you two give it a rest for five minutes? Geez…"

Kliff narrowed his eyes. Outsiders. No one came to Ram Village by accident, so these people wanted something. Before Kliff could run through a mental montage of unfavorable fates for his village, a fourth voice threw him for a loop.

"It's all right, Saber. Now, we should all prepare for the journey to Zofia Castle. We'll reconvene here in an hour."

Kliff stroked his chin. Why does she sound familiar…?

"You got it, Celica!" the high-energy voice replied.

Celica?!

"Celica?!" Faye echoed Kliff's thoughts. By the time it registered in his mind, Faye had already made a beeline for the village entrance.

"Well what do you know…" The boy stood and made his way over to the village gate in time to see Faye greeting the newcomer.

As fate would have it, Celica stood before them. She had certainly grown, but was still recognizably herself. This woman had that same air of dignity of politeness that Celica did, the same long hair, and even a penchant for white clothing. An eclectic entourage had accompanied her, though they'd all dispersed in their own directions by the time Faye had arrived.

Celica gasped. "…Faye? Is that you?" She glanced further behind the girl. "And Kliff?"

"Oh gosh, Celica, it's been forever!" Faye practically threw herself into Celica's arms. Kliff smirked at the sight. "You came back! I missed you so much, Celica!"

The prodigal daughter smiled and returned Faye's embrace. "It's good to see you too, Faye. I'd hoped I would see you and the others again, but I didn't think it'd be right here at the gate," Celica giggled. "Are you well?"

"Well…" Faye broke the embrace and winced, wringing one arm behind her back. "Alm left the village."

"He did?!" Just like that, Celica's cool demeanor was gone.

Kliff rested a palm to his face. She asked about you, not Alm. Fool. Though I guess she was gonna find out anyway. Taking it upon himself to work damage control, Kliff approached the older girls. "Faye's learning how to use White Magic, and I'm learning garden variety Black Magic." He sighed. "But, yeah, Alm's gone. Gray and Tobin too. It's kind of a long story…"

Celica was quite visibly disheartened, but restored her dignity. "O-oh. I see… I was hoping to see all of you." Then her lips forced themselves into a smile. "W-well, at the very least, I'm relieved to see the two of you are alive and well." She pointed off to the distance. "Would you be able to tell me if Grandpapa is home?"

"Uhh, about that…" Kliff shook his head as Faye frowned. "Sir Mycen left too. But we don't know where he is. Alm and the others left with a resistance group a while ago. Sorry you missed him…" Kliff anxiously rubbed at the back of his neck. Man, if only they stayed here a while longer. The guys would be thrilled to see Celica again. Especially Alm. Pretty sure he had a crush on her.

"So Alm is with the Deliverance?!" Celica asked.

Kliff raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Why'd you ask that like you'd heard it before? I mean, he is, but-"

"Wait, so if you've heard of him, that must mean Alm's doing okay!" Faye cheered. Kliff thought about it.

Huh. Faye's quicker to pick up on things than I thought. Then again, it does have to do with Alm…

"I heard parts of your conversation on the way here, Celica," Faye confessed. "You're going to Zofia Castle, right? Do you think you could let me come with you? I miss Alm, and Gray and Tobin too. And I-I won't be useless! I can use White Magic like Kliff said! Please, Celica?"

"Hm? Are you sure, Faye?"

"Yes! It's so lonely without them. And now you're back, too! It was fate, we all get to see each other again! I'll just tell Ma, Pa and Nana, and I'm sure they'll understand!"

A wince formed on Kliff's face. So now even Faye's gonna leave me behind? Celica comes back into our lives long enough to whisk her away, so the whole gang can get back together without me, up at Zofia Castle? He then turned his gaze back to the bench, with his unattended tome. Or maybe… maybe I can put that book to use. Besides, Celica's got a bunch of tough guys following her around. And if the Deliverance's actions are so well-known, there's probably not that many brigands left who'd bother us. Yeah...

"Kliff?" Celica's call brought the boy back to the present. She was smiling. "Would you like to come along as well? I'd gladly welcome a familiar face." And then her smile disappeared. "But it's important that we leave quickly, regardless of your answer. There's… I have something I need to do."

I'm not making that mistake again. Kliff confidently rested a hand on his hip. "Sure, I'll tag along, I suppose. I should mention something to my mother, though. When are we leaving?"

"I'm happy to hear it," Celica told her old friend. "As soon as everyone, including the both of you, returns from their preparations, we'll head out. In truth, we only stopped here at my request. We'd stay at the inn, but I remember they can't support many guests at a time..."

"That hasn't changed at all in the last seven years!" Faye said with a giggle, prompting one from Celica as well. "Oh, but before you go…" the older girl kicked at the dirt, "do you want to take a walk around the village again? Is there time for that?"

Celica's eyes lit up. "…I would love to, Faye."

As the old friends went to begin Celica's tour, Kliff allowed himself to smile. It wouldn't be long now before he (and Faye) would be reunited with their friends. Even Celica would be there! The Mother certainly worked in mysterious ways.

Well, if Mila's so insistent that I leave the nest and show my power, who am I not to oblige?

To be continued.

Post-Script A/N:

Here's an Echoes fic. The game took me a lot longer than I expected, and I was tempted to quit on it at least once, but I pulled through. And I gotta say, it's a very solid game, and I'm glad I stuck with it.

While there are many characters that I like, my favorite was Kliff. I love the dry, bitter characters, he had me at "maybe we can all get impaled on the same lance". But also, his support with Tobin was pretty insightful. Sure Kliff isn't a social type, but that's not (entirely) for a lack of trying. Sort of reminds me of myself in a way. The dynamic between Kliff and Tobin in their A-Support was enlightening. And once I learned Kliff was the baby of the group, it kind of took on a new meaning- like Tobin was a surrogate big brother or something. And brownie points for having Greed's voice actor.

For a while, I've wanted to write a fic that sort of explored Kliff's point of view on the whole Deliverance journey. But I also wanted to depict the optional scene where Celica recruits Kliff and Faye, instead of Alm doing it. I felt like it'd be a good chance to explore the friendship between Celica and non-Alm members of the friend group, while also giving me a chance to see if I can expand Faye's character, and of course the original Kliff POV angle.

So... I suppose this will be a multi-chapter fic. It was gonna start as a oneshot, because originally I just wanted to do this scene and reserve the "Kliff reacts" plot for a Deliverance-focused fic. But as I got into it, I felt like this fic would kill more birds, without spreading myself too thin. I could pull a repeat of Whirlpool and just write "Kliff reacts to Alm's story" alongside "Kliff reacts to Celica's story"- but I don't hate myself enough to do that. (And I am well aware that I've been leaving Revelation in the dust. Someday...)

By my estimate, this'll cover all of Celica's story, from the moment of Kliff and Faye's recruitment. But it won't be as thorough as Whirlpool. It'll cut out most of the traveling and fighting, in favor of friendship moments, storyline events, and integrating the villagers into Celica's party. So I'm not sure how many chapters it will be. I'm gonna hold this fic to a looser standard than GW as well, not worry so much about a schedule or a word count. That's exactly what got me burnt out on doing Revelation.

Anyway, stick around, more Kliff + Faye + Celica coming soon.

(And let's get this out of the way: don't expect any ships between any combination of the three friends. It's not happening.)