Part 114: Harken
Support Conversations: HarkenHarken/Eliwood
Fire/Anima
C - Attack + 1, Defense + .5, Accuracy + 2.5, Avoid + 5, Critical + 2.5, Critical Evade + 2.5
B - Attack + 2, Defense + 1, Accuracy + 5, Avoid + 10, Critical + 5, Critical Evade + 5
A - Attack + 3, Defense + 1.5, Accuracy + 7.5, Avoid + 15, Critical + 7.5, Critical Evade + 7.5
C Support
: Lord Eliwood.
: Ah, Harken. How may I help you?: Please, allow me to speak frankly. Might you allow me the fighting to be left in our hands from here out?: Harken?: Lord Eliwood, you are the heart of our army. When I imagine the worst that might happen, I think is wiser for you to remain at the rear of our forces.: You worry overmuch, Harken. I will be fine. Though I am inexperienced in battle, this is true. And I apologize for giving you cause to worry. Still...: No, I did not mean to suggest that anyone doubts your prowess. Indeed, your arm in battle has improved by leaps and bounds since Pherae. I believe you are an equal to even your father, Lord Elbert, now. Yet... still, we are concerned. I ask at least that you do not take any unnecessary risks.B Support
: Lord Eliwood.: Ah, Harken.: I hate to seem imposing, but I must ask you again, please, your safety is of utmost importance. If you would just refrain from combat and leave the fighting to me...: I thank you, Harken, but still... I have my reasons why I must fight. Until I finish what I have set out to do on my journey, I cannot think of escaping, or avoiding my enemies in any way.: Lord Eliwood, please...: Should something indeed befall me, look to my mother. She will be alone. You and the people of Pherae must support her.: I...am sorry. But that I cannot promise.: Harken?: I could not protect Lord Elbert... Were I to lose Lord Eliwood as well, what right would I have ever to appear before your lady mother again? Should I lose you, I am prepared to lose myself in turn.: Harken!: You must understand, Lord Eliwood. Your life is precious to all of us. It is more valuable by far than even our own lives.: Harken...A Support
: Harken.: Lord Eliwood!: I must apologize... My selfishness has caused you much worry, I know.: No, nothing of the sort!: I thought a great deal about what you said. Harken, I am not entirely unable to understand your feelings. I know I have told you that my father’s death was not your fault. Yet, I know my words cannot change your heart. I...understand what you mean, how it would feel if you could not protect me either.: ...: But I have a goal to accomplish. I cannot look away from that. ...Nor is it something I can accomplish should I die. So, I will not. I cannot die. I will live, complete my mission, and return to my mother’s side.: Yes. That is why you must leave the fighting-: The same goes for you, too, Harken.: My lord?: You are here to protect me, yes? You must not go so far that you fall and cannot complete your mission. I need you to live to the end, to help me on my path.: Lord Eliwood...: We will live, the both of us, and return to Pherae. Anything less would risk my mother’s displeasure! And...my father’s.: My lord! I... I understand!Harken/Isadora
Fire/Dark
C - Attack + .5, Accuracy + 5, Avoid + 5, Critical + 5, Critical Evade + 2.5
B - Attack + 1, Accuracy + 10, Avoid + 10, Critical + 10, Critical Evade + 5
A - Attack + 1.5, Accuracy + 15, Avoid + 15, Critical + 15, Critical Evade + 7.5
C Support
: Harken...: Isadora...: What have you been up to, Harken, tell me! For a month, you did not return to Pherae, you sent no word... Where did you go, forgetting your duties as a knight of Pherae?: I am sorry. It was all...the fault of my recklessness. How will I be punished? : Punished? Harken, do you understand at all what you have done? Do you know what trouble your absence has caused Pherae? Have you any idea? I... I was so worried...: Isadora... Please do not cry. I cannot stand to see your beautiful face weep so. I... I have given you much reason to worry. Please...Please forgive me.: No. I cannot forgive you. Not after worrying so much. Never.: I am sorry...B Support
: Isadora! Please, wait, Isadora!: Harken...: I apologize for causing you grief. I will suffer as long as need be to make this up to you... But...tell me, now that I have returned, why do you still look so sad?: Harken... Will you truly stay here...? You...You won't leave me alone again?: Yes, of course-- I promise.: No...do not say that!: Isadora...? What is it, Isadora? : I'm scared... I don't want to remember... The day when you left Pherae with Lord Elbert, I...: ...: You might leave me again... You might disappear once more. When I think that, I am so scared!: Isadora...: Please forgive me...!A Support
: Isadora...: Harken... : You still cry... I am sorry, it is all my fault.: ...: Isadora, if you wish it... I will leave this army. It seems my very existence is a dark weight upon your heart.: No...No! You are not a weight... You are dear to me. Since you left, all I have thought of is you...: Isadora...: After you and Lord Elbert left... It was as though Pherae had died. I should have gone...I should have gone with you and Lord Elbert. How many times I thought that as I cried! Dying would be better than living without you... So much better... I thought.: Isadora...: Harken... Do you still remember-- the words you said to me before you left?: Yes, how could I forget? I promised you that I would return unharmed. And when I came back to Pherae, we would be wed.: I believed those words. I was filled with worry, but still, I believed. And...here we are. We met again.: Isadora...can you not give me one more chance? When this expedition is over, and we both return to Pherae... Let us have a grand ceremony! I will fulfill the promise I could not keep before.: You...promise?: Yes. I shall never leave you behind again. We will always be together.: Harken!Harken/Lowen
Fire/Fire
C - Attack + 1, Accuracy + 5, Avoid + 5, Critical + 5
B - Attack + 2, Accuracy + 10, Avoid + 10, Critical + 10
A - Attack + 3, Accuracy + 15, Avoid + 15, Critical + 15
C Support
: Lord Harken!: Hello... Lowen, was it?: Yes! I am Lowen! I have been training as a knight apprentice under Lord Marcus.: Ah! Look out, there. Your pack is slipping!: Eh!? Uwah! Ah! Ack! Phew... Caught it.: Why carry so much baggage onto the battlefield? Looks heavy...are you carrying armor in there?: No! These are emergency rations. You can’t fight on an empty stomach! Lord Harken, might I interest you in a bite?: Eh...no. I’m fine. Thank you. So, you too have come from Pherae as part of Lord Eliwood’s guard?: Yes, sir! I am really only a page by rank, but there was word that the knights of Pherae were weakened... Ack! I-I beg your pardon!: No worry. It is only the truth. I am sorry you had to be here to witness our impotence... Sorry.: L-Lord Harken...B Support
: Lord Harken!: Ah, you again.: Please, let me fight by your side! I would learn from the best swordsman in the Pherae knights!: ...You have nothing to learn from the likes of me.: W-What are you saying!? You are a fine knight, Lord Harken. Nay, the finest!: There you are wrong. Lowen... I can hardly be called a knight now.: T-That can’t be right!: I was unable to defend Lord Elbert... I am not worthy of my title. You are still young... No regrets, am I right? If you are to become a knight, do not follow my example.: Lord Harken... I... You are wrong. You are a knight. I know this to be true.: Lowen...?: I was born to peasants. My home was a small village, far outside Pherae... A village with little value, far from the sight of the castle. We were so poor, there was hardly any value to be gained by protecting us from bandits. All knew this, for certain. Still, he came. He came to protect us, his subjects.: ...: I will never forget that day, not as long as I live. He...was a true knight. I wanted to become a knight to become like him.: ...A Support
: L-Lord Harken! Thank you! To spend so much time training one as lowly as myself... You do me too great an honor!: No... It is I who should thank you. It is as you said, Lowen. I am a knight. I must be. Yet, in only a month after losing Lord Elbert... I had turned my eyes from duty.: ...: I spend my time blaming myself, lost in grief for my lord. I could do nothing to help Pherae, now, when she needs me most. My heart hadn’t taken one step since then... Lord Elbert would certainly chastise me.: Lord Harken...: What I must do now is protect Lord Eliwood. I must do what I am able to do. You taught me that, Lowen. I thank you.: M-My Lord!: Let us be off. We must do that which we are able, that which is our duty.: Yes!: Ah... I almost forgot, there’s one last thing... Lowen!: Sir!: You’ve progressed well on your way to become a knight. Your posture, physique--all are top notch.: T-Thank you, sir!: Therefore... I’d like you to give those ration bags over to Merlinus.: Wha--! But what am I to do when I hunger?: A knight can do without food for a while.: Whaaaaaaat!?: That’s an order, Lowen. Now, go!: Y-Yes, sir.: Hmm...Maybe he’s got farther to go than I thought. Aaa...Harken/Marcus
Fire/Ice
C - Attack + .5, Defense + .5, Accuracy + 5, AVoid + 5, Critical + 2.5, Critical Evade + 2.5
B - Attack + 1, Defense + 1, Accuracy + 10, AVoid + 10, Critical + 5, Critical Evade + 5
A - Attack + 1.5, Defense + 1.5, Accuracy + 15, AVoid + 15, Critical + 7.5, Critical Evade + 7.5
C Support
: ...Lord Marcus!
: Harken. It is good to see you are well.: I must apologize. I have not been myself...: Say no more. There is nothing anyone can do about Lord Elbert. Now, we must look to the future. We will need your sword in the battles to come. You understand, Harken?: Yes... I understand, sir. I shall defend Lord Eliwood with my life. And...I shall not make the same mistake again.: Good. Now, let’s be off, Harken!: Sir!B Support
: I was wondering if Lord Eliwood knew... If he knew where I was, and what I did before I came to serve Pherae...: He surely does not know the details. Yet, why would your past have anything to do with you now? You rode alone into the enemy camp and killed their general. Your skills in battle have done Pherae great aid.: Sir...: The house you once served is no more. The marquess that betrayed your loyalty and threw you out...is dead. You are a knight of Pherae.: Lord Eliwood is a pure man. If he knew my past... Would he still welcome me?: It is unlike you to say such foolish things, Harken. Why do you think you stand here now? For whom do you swing your sword, if not for Lord Eliwood?: I suppose...: Lord Eliwood trusts you. And, you must return that trust in kind. Understand, Harken?: Sir...!A Support
: Lord Marcus!: You seem better at ease, Harken. In fact, you seem in downright good spirits.: It is thanks to you, Lord Marcus. I am here, I am fighting for my lord. That is all I do, and it is good.: Yes.: I have seen much blood in my days... Yet Lord Elbert welcomed me as an honored knight. When I lost him, I lost myself... Yet Lord Eliwood accepted me without question. Lord Marcus, I owe Pherae a great debt. Once again, I have a lord who welcomes me to his side.: Yes. Now, let us be off, Harken! Let’s show them what two knights of Pherae can do!: Sir!Harken/Vaida