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Here is a super secret conversation after Merric's leave. Intermission between parts! Featuring my newest artwork of Merric and Lance! Hope you like it!

Merric and Lance
29 July, 2016

Music featured: Great Canyon

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue/Red

Copyright © Nintendo

This is my favorite tune from the game(s)

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l a n c e ' s s t o r y

Ike leads me back to camp and older Lance is waiting for us. His grin widens as we approach him, lifts Ragnell up onto his shoulder and waves at us with his other hand before swiftly moving it to rest on his hip, "Hi Pa, Ma. So Merric did leave," The look in his eye tells me he was hoping Merric would have been with us.

Ike nods once, slowly, with a bit of sadness in his eye, "Yeah, he insisted that he must leave,"

Lance reaches up and places his hand on his chin from his hip in thought while looking slightly up at the sky, "Yeah, I knew he was going to leave, but I did not know why. He does not tell me much of anything. That is why I was mostly silent when he was telling you everything before. A lot of it I had no idea about at all,"

"I see. So you did not even know a lot of it," I keep my gaze on my son as he gently smiles at me and slides his eyes back down to mine from the sky. He is so calm and somewhat joyful. He must be this way as to keep himself in good spirit. I look at him hopefully, "Well, Lance, I am hoping that you will tell me as much as you know about Merric. You might be surprised to know we do not know much either,"

Lance chuckles slightly and a splash of joy fills his purple eyes as he looks back into mine, "Nah, that is actually not very surprising at all. Merric is... a quiet one. Most of the time, he would stare out in the distance with his mile-long stare and be quiet for long periods of time. The pressure and the magic must have been getting to him. So I would leave him alone and patiently wait for him nearby, keeping a good distance away from him to give him space,"

I do not doubt that at all. I actually would be surprised if he did not stare out a lot. That was how we found him at the cliff when he was waiting for us.

"But, he is more quiet now, sadly. He has been through a lot more than me. I actually did not see most of the stuff he said. He came rushing to me in a panic with dread all over his face. Ylisse Castle was covered in this purple magic and that was all I saw before we fled. He was on the verge of tears when he spoke to me, telling me the minimum. Things like everyone was killed, we must flee and survive alone for a while. I did not take the news well, you know, but I had to keep us in good spirit or we would be goners. He is the only reason I am still alive, both of us actually. I bet if he did not grab me and run, whatever happened to everyone else would have happened to us too. It seemed like Ylisse had lost the war then and Merric could not stop what was happening. So the things he said makes what happened make more sense to me now. So, he handed me Ragnell and led me away to a secluded place where he must learn a spell. Now I know what spell and now I understand more,"

Wow, so Ylisse was completely taken over then. He did mention that everyone was killed before his eyes. I cannot imagine dealing with that... my poor baby...

Ike is watching his son closely. Lance moves his eyes from his father's to mine, with a slight bit of worry filling his eyes, "To be honest with you, I slightly fear my brother," his eyes slide back over to his father's, "I don't know how you do it, Pa. Guess it might be because dealing with Ma is easier than Merric,"

That also makes sense. I could tell he was afraid of him before. I would not doubt that Merric would scare him more than me. He is probably rougher than I, since I have motherly ways of doing things that his brother would not have.

Ike glances at me then back at his son. Lance's eyes fill will dread as he studies us, sliding his eyes back and forth, "The look Merric gave me before he gained back control when he first learned Mire, was pure evil. He came back quickly, but that experience was not pleasant,"

Ike softly grunts, "The first experience that terrified you as a child, Lance, was the day Merric was learning how to control Falchion with his magic. He slipped up and lost control one time. Falchion was thrown towards you accidentally and your mother had to shield you," Ike explains with his low and deep voice.

Lance studies his father like he is trying to recall the day, "R—Really? I think... I remember that day... partially. That must have been the first time I started fearing the magic you and Merric have, Ma," he says while sliding his gaze back over to me.

Little Merric grasps my hand and looks up apprehensively at Lance from behind me. Lance's eyes slide down to his and his smile widens, "Don't worry big bro! Huh, that is strange to say to a child! Anyway, you won't have to learn that terrible spell. I am not mad at you, don't look at me like that!" Lance kneels down and waits patiently for little Merric to smile weakly and approach him slowly. Lance somehow gets little Merric to giggle and he approaches him to give him a hug.

"You are the best big bro anyone could ask for! Don't forget!" Lance says happily as Merric smiles up at him before wandering back over to me.

Lance stands back up, drops his hand from his chin and puts another smile on his face, "But, anyway, once he learned the spell, he said it is time. He explained that we won't be coming back even if we succeed. When we get there, he says, we should keep our identities hidden with his spell and just stop the Dark Lord from getting Ma. That is basically all I knew during the entire mission, until now,"

Ike nods slowly, "I see,"

So even Lance did not know what really was going on. He only knew we were gone and that Merric has to learn some spell.

Lance continues, with a look of deep thought on his face, "Merric says that it is probably best that he should leave so he does not harm anyone. But I know he is still around. He has never abandoned me. He is probably listening now. Maybe," he glances all around us like he is attempting to look for him. He must be joking around. He must know Merric won't be visible right now even if he is nearby listening.

That is my boy. He has always been silly. A small smile appears on my face as Lance turns back to us and chuckles.

That is good to know. I knew deep inside Merric did not wish to leave. He just does not want to hurt any of us. Maybe later we can find a way for him to come back.

Ike and I give him a smile, "I am sure he never will abandon you without some kind of reason that is out of his ability," I reply, "So why did he ask to spar with me then? Did he tell you?"

Lance gives a weak smile in return and continues, turning his gaze down a little, "Yeah, I figured out why, because he did not tell me. He only told me where he would be, which was on the cliff,"

He lifts his gaze back up to mine, chuckling again, "But, you know Merric, Ma. He just wanted to spend time with you and show you how strong he is even though you would not know it was him at the time. But now you do,"

My smile widens. Yeah, he was very skilled. But that also was because he was cursed with more power. He probably was holding back and he still was afraid he might harm me. He said so himself before he left.

"But after that, soon after, you started to get more suspicious which are things that we did not anticipate at the time that might happen. So we decided to change what we were doing because we were interacting with you too much. But it was already too late. You became angry with us and confronted me about it that day. I remember it, Ma,"

Lance pauses. I do remember that day as well. I was quite angry and upset. Ike could hardly keep me calm. He was trying his best. I recall the look he gave me as well. He was worried.

"I am sorry you had to deal with that, Lance,"

He chuckles and his smile widens, "It's alright, Ma! I now understand why and what you were thinking! Such a good mother. You were worrying about us, Merric and myself. We were acting very strange, I do agree, but it was what we had to do,"

Sadly, now that I understand, they were correct and I was the one wrong.

"I knew I had to tell Merric and we decided to lay low after that. So we did. But it still was not enough because you started suspecting us for already knowing what was going to happen. Something else we no longer could do anything about. Luckily, at that time, the event was near and we could finally do it and leave. But we wound up putting the King in danger doing it,"

A wave of sadness fills Lance's eyes as he recalls the event, "Merric had no idea how to stop the spell. Trust me, he was beating himself up because he did not know. The only thing he knew to do was to move you out of the way. So it hits the King instead. Now we know we can't just leave without an explanation. So here we are... Here is our explanation and Merric had to leave after we gave it,"

I raise my hand up to my mouth, "Oh, I see. Now everything makes sense. You went through a world of problems because of my duties and ignorance. I hate so much that we had to place Chrom in danger for this, but he seems to accept it only because the reason is to save Ylisse. I thank you for doing this. I am sure saving Ylisse will be worth it, since Merric said he did it for that reason and so his younger self and yours will still have us. I cannot imagine how that must feel,"

Lance's mouth falls open a bit, and his smile drops from his lips, "Well, we had to do it Ma. Since we found a way, it became our duty. It is what we must do, so we did. None of it was your fault. We will stop the Dark lord this time. I will be helping you. Trust me, I know Ylisse is safe now,"

His smile appears back on his face, "I will find Merric and speak to him. Maybe I can get him to come back if he like, suppresses his magic and uses Falchion only. Maybe then he will be safe around us,"

A large grin appears on my lips and I clap my hands together in front of me, "Really? I would like that. Thank you for telling us all of that, Lance,"

Ike smiles too while placing his fist on his hip, "I am sure he is strong enough to handle that. He should come spend time with us. It's what he wants, right? Even though you both are from the future, we still consider you our sons. Don't worry about such things,"

Lance's face brightens up and his large smile stretches across his face, "Awh, really? Thanks Pa, Ma! You are the best parents any son could ask for!"

Little Lance peeks around Ike's legs, smiles and approaches older Lance. He smiles large as he watches his younger self approach him with his same big smile. Little Lance stands in front of him, smiles and looks up at him happily. He studies him and looks him over. Older Lance seems to be enjoying how entertaining he is to himself. Little Lance's eyes widen and his mouth falls open partially, "Wow! Look how strong you are!"

Older Lance chuckles and opens his mouth in delight. He lowers his hand and pokes his younger self's nose, "Ah! You mean look how strong you are!"

Little Lance's face brightens, "Wow! I am going to get that strong?"

Lance chuckles, "Yeah, of course little man! I am you, remember!"

Little Lance giggles, "Did Papa teach you?"

"Yes, he did!" Lance smiles up at his father before looking back down at his younger self. He takes Ragnell in his left hand, spins it around once and tosses it towards the ground with the point pointing down. Ragnell's point buries itself into the dirt and it stands there all by itself, slightly leaning to one side. Then Lance crosses his arms over his chest and gives little Lance a huge grin. Little Lance's eyes widen even further and his mouth opens wide. His eyes fill with excitement and joy.

Ike chuckles as he watches his son amuse himself. Lance looks up and chuckles with his father as little Lance happily turns and leaps into his father's embrace.

That's my Lance. My little jokester. Watching him with his older self gives me a large grin that has been hiding for quite a long time.

So I really love Lance. He is similar to Oscar and Boyd! I love silly! <33

Lance tells you his story. Tell me what you think!

Enjoy the extras! Even more stuff about Merric exclusively from Lance!