"Lovely Alice, could you ever so kindly use your brilliant tactic skills to put me in a group with perhaps, a few lovely ladies?" Sain asked me.

I rolled my eyes. "Remember the last time I paired you up with a girl? You came back with a black eye," I said. Snickers and giggles went across the group and Sain turned a light pink.

"I told you that was because of the enemy…"

"My other sources say otherwise. Now c'mon guys get a move on," I said and wipe the sweat on my forehead with the back of my hand. The group turned around and started to walk away from me. Moments later Merlinus walked out of his tent.

"Whew, it's hot in there!" the blue haired merchant exclaimed. I threw him my canteen.

"Drink up," I said. He looked at me gratefully and drank the water. He gave it back to me and I was disappointed to find all the water gone. I stood there, squinting from the sun beating down on me and waited for the group to return. We both waited for what felt like an eternity. I wobbled a bit and regained my balance.

"Do you think they're done fighting yet? I want to leave this place," Merlinus said.

"They better be done soon. I hate the heat…cold places are much better."

The blue haired merchant nodded in agreement. "Oh there's Lord Hector!" he said, pointing to him. I put my hand over my eyes and squinted but all I saw was a blue blob. The two blue blobs were talking but it sounded distant. One of the blue blobs looked at me, saying something but I couldn't hear it. I felt the sand come up to my face and the world went black.

I saw a black ceiling above of me and I rubbed my eyes, wondering what happened. I sat up suddenly, remembering that I had fainted. I looked around the room, frowning. Where am I? I heard noisy armor clanging and turned to look at the blue headed lord.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked. His voice was a bit gentler than his usual loud and booming voice. It sounded like he actually cared.

I snorted. "Of course I am. So…where are we?"

"We were brought here by a guy named Pent and Hawkeye. Gosh the Hawkeye guy is huge…anyways; we talked to an old man…his name's Athos. He's the Living Legend and he's a thousand years old."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah of course that's possible."

"You should take a look at him. Maybe you'll believe me then."

I stood up. "I guess I will then." Hector led me to another room where all of my fellow comrades were, chatting.

"Ah, there he is!" Hector said and led me across the room. I saw an old man that had a long grey beard and long grey hair. His eyes were grey and crinkled. He wore a dark blue robe and he smiled at us.

"Is this the girl you were talking about?" the senior asked.

Hector nodded. "This is our tactician Alice. Alice, this is Athos."

I smiled at him and bowed slightly. "It is nice to meet you, Lord Athos."

He chuckled. "It's nice to meet you as well, child. I've heard of your amazing tactic skills from your friends."

I shrugged. "I'm not that good."

Athos shook his head. "You are talented Alice! You have brought this army this far and you still have far to go! You are an amazing tactician and should be proud with what you have done so far."

I smiled. "Thank you," I said and turned to Hector. "Where are we heading off to next?"

"Bern."

I widened my eyes. That was very, very far away from here. "Well I guess we better get moving then," I turned back to Athos. "It was nice meeting you, the Living Legend."

He chuckled. "I will see you soon, child. Hawkeye, Pent, and Louise with accompany you on your journey," he said and gestured toward the three.

Louise had blonde hair, wore pink armor, a pink skirt and had on white boots. She also had a pink cape on. I assumed that Hawkeye was the huge guy that Hector was talking about. I always thought that Hector was big, but that man was like a tower. He had a blonde ponytail, had tattoos on his face, shirtless, and carried an axe with him. The other man, which I assumed was Pent, wore white pants, a black tunic that split at his waist, and had a purple cape on.

I smiled and nodded to the three. They smiled or nodded back. I waved goodbye to Athos and we continued on our journey.

I laughed as we descended on our flight. I never expected that riding on a Pegasus would be so much fun!

"Good job Huey," Florina said when we landed and petted her Pegasus lovingly.

"Ow!" a deep rough voice said. I frowned and got off the Pegasus as did Florina. I looked around but didn't see anyone.

"Hey you bloody animal! Get off of me!" the voice said again.

"O-oh! L-lord Hector! I-I am…sorry I didn't…" Florina said. "Huey come here," she said and got him off of the blue haired lord. It was then that I realized that we had landed on Hector. He grunted as he stood up and brushed the dirt off of his armor. I burst out into laughter.

"Hey! It's not that funny!" Hector boomed. I continued to laugh and clutched onto my stomach. "Oh shut up!" he said, his voice irritated. I put my forefinger up, implying him to give me a moment. I finally stopped laughing and stood up straight, wiping the tears away from my face. "You little rascal!" he barked.

I looked over at Florina who was looking at me and Hector, not sure what to make of it. "Is Huey okay?" I asked her.

"Yes he's fine…well I better get going. Again, I'm…s-sorry L-Lord Hector," she said and quickly shuffled away with her Pegasus following.

"Oh so you asked the flying horse if it's okay and don't ask the crushed man if he's okay?"

"The poor animal fell on you! That's torture enough!"

"You little…c'mere!" he said and ran toward me. I laughed and ran off and looked back to the slow Ostian Lord trying to chase me.

I was hiding in Florina, Fiora, and Lyn's tent. Lyn allowed me to hide in there, slightly amused by my situation. I had no idea what Hector was planning to do as payback but I am going to avoid him as much as possible now. Fiora walked in and was obviously surprised to see me sitting in her tent.

"Um Alice can I help you?" the Pegasus knight asked me.

"Well I got in a bit of a situation…Lyn said I could stay. Don't worry; I'll go back to my own tent when it's time to sleep."

"Well I was actually planning to retire to my bed right now. It's getting pretty late."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't notice. I'll see you tomorrow then," I said and climbed out of her tent. Fiora was right; most people were going into their tents for a night's rest. I quickly scanned the area before running into my own tent.

"Whoa, what's the rush?" Wil asked as I got into the tent. I started to get my blanket but it felt cold and wet. I frowned and I unrolled it to find it dripping wet. I gasped.

"That little son of a bitch…" I muttered.

"What happened?" Rebecca questioned me as she crawled her way over to me.

"My blanket's all wet!" I said and sighed.

"Oh really? I wonder why…hey Rath did you see anything?" Rebecca asked and turned to look at the nomad. He shook his head.

"Whatever I'm going to go hang it up," I said and walked out of the tent. I hung it on the clothesline and walked back into the tent. When I rummaged through my bag, I noticed that my map was gone. Oh, you're dead now pal. You never play with a tactician's map, never.

"Hey Alice!" Serra said as she plopped down next to me. Most people in the camp don't like Serra very much because of her annoying and loud behavior. But she's a nice girl once you get to know her, even though sometimes you want to throw a brick at her to shut up. "Erky still doesn't admit that he loves me!" she said, sighing. "He must be scared to be turned down because of my outwitting charm and beauty."

"Oh he'll come along! Okay let's do this: ignore him for an entire day and see what he does," I said, grinning.

"You're so smart Alice! Of course probably not as smart as me, but close…"

"Thanks…so anyways, Hector annoys me so much!" I exclaimed.

Serra smirked. "Explain."

"He's just so annoying, rude, obnoxious…"

"Careless, ruthless, and he hasn't admitted his feelings to me yet either! As his fiancé he should be telling me that he loves me all the time!"

"In my opinion, men that are kind and devoted are much more appealing than oafs like Hector. Men like…Eliwood are much more appealing!" I said, giggling a bit.

Serra laughed along with me. "That's so true!" we continued our conversation onto Erk.

If he wanted to play hard, then he's going to get it. I snuck into his tent and was relieved that neither Eliwood nor the idiot himself was there. I rummaged through his bag and pulled out my map. I continued to look through his bag, for anything I could do to it. A grin crept across my face when I found his extra set of clothes. That jerk's going to get it. When you play with Alice, hell's breaking loose.

"Hey I found you! You got my clothes wet didn't you?" a familiar voice barked at me from behind me. I laughed and ran off but a big firm hand caught my wrist. He twirled me around to face him. "I got you now! You'll pay for wetting my clothes and laughing at me!" he said, smirking slightly.

"Well actually we're even now…" I said, smiling. "You got my blanket wet and took my map. I got your clothes wet and laughed at you…so we're even."

"Oh no we're not. You were saying stuff about me."

My mouth dropped open but I immediately regained my composure. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
He smirked. "I'm sure you do. I heard from a friend who overheard you and Serra talking…so Eliwood is the appealing man hm?"

"Well men like him. Kind, devoted, caring…unlike you who's annoying, rude, loud…"

"Hey!" he barked. He smirked. "You're dead." His big hands lifted me off of the ground and my eyes widened in surprise. His hands were rough but had a surprisingly soft touch and he threw me onto his back like a sack of potatoes. I gasped and he started to laugh his booming laugh.

"Put me down you jerk!" I said and started to pound his armored back, but it was useless. I smirked as I rethought of a way to hurt him. I punched the back of his head, hard.

"Ow! Cut that out!" he said loudly as I continued to hit the poor guy's head.

"Put me down!" I said and gave up hitting the oaf. I smiled as I placed my hands on his back and I started to push my legs forward. He tightened his grip but my legs kept on going forward. I landed on my feet and I grinned in accomplishment. I turned to face Hector whose mouth was hanging open.

"Well I got to run!" I said and grinned as I started to take off.

"Oh no you're not!" he boomed. He tackled me to the ground. I laughed as I tried to escape from me but he held me down. We paused for a moment and stopped laughing. His hands were on either side of my face and his face was above mine. His dark blue eyes were on my hazel brown ones, questioning. I realized how I could make this scene romantic but I didn't. I chickened out. I tried to stand up and Hector realized what I was trying to do and he stood up. I stood up as well, lightly brushing the dirt off of my clothes.

"Um…so are we even now?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Fine!" he huffed, looking down at the ground.

"Race you back to camp!" I said, dashing off.

"Hey no fair!" he shouted from behind.

I sighed and put my hands on my face. I shouldn't have chickened out. I should've taken that moment to kiss him. I should've. I can't believe that I didn't. I'm a big fat coward. I took my hands off of my face and sighed as I looked up at the sky. I chuckled quietly to myself. I'm in love with an annoying, obnoxious, loud, and reckless man. He's also loyal, kind and caring every now and then. He's a good guy. I heard footsteps approaching and I turned to see the redheaded lord.

"Hello Alice," Eliwood said as he sat down next to me.

"Hi Eliwood," I said.

He smiled. "Don't be mad at me…but I was the one that told Hector about you and Serra's conversation."

I glared at him. "Hey! He was so mad at me for that!"

The lord chuckled. "He seemed to be pretty amused and annoyed about that. Anyways, you think that I'm an appealing man?"

"Well people like you…oh don't think that I have a crush on you or anything!"

"I don't think that…but do you think that…other ladies find me appealing as well?"

I smirked. "You mean like…Ninian?"
The lord turned as red as his hair. "Er…perhaps!"

"Don't worry about that, I'm one hundred percent positive that she finds you appealing!"

"Okay…thanks. Anyways, about Hector…do you care about him?"

I stared at him for a moment before bursting out into laughter. Once I stopped laughing I turned to face Eliwood again. I grinned. "That's a secret."

"No more like this," the thief said, adjusting my hand.

"Is that right?" I asked.

He nodded. "Perfect! Now throw it!" I threw it and heard Matthew gasp a bit. "You threw it badly!" he hissed. I noticed the dagger heading straight for the back of Hector's head.

"Hector duck!" I shouted. He immediately ducked before even bothering to look what was coming his way. My dagger hit a tree. I turned to face Matthew and say that it was his fault for not teaching me how to throw it properly. But he was gone. When I find him he is so dead…

"Are you trying to kill me?" Hector shouted at me. I smiled wryly at him and walked over to get my dagger. I pulled it out of the tree, ignoring Hector's shouts.

I turned and faced him. I put my hands on my hips. "Well it's not my fault you're head is so big!"

"My head is not big!"

"I don't get why a head as big as yours as such a small brain in it," I grinned.

His mouth hung open but no words came out. I smirked. He had no comeback. "You little brat!" he said and lumbered toward me. I laughed and ran off.

I walked past Sain and Hector talking. It was rare for them to talk and I got suspicious the moment they're whispering was cut off when I past by. I twirled around to face them.

"Hey guys," I said and narrowed my eyes in suspicion.

"Ah lovely Alice! Have you come to see your knight in shining armor? Well I am right here, my love!" Sain exclaimed.

I ignored him and glared at the two. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, my love! Lord Hector and I are just having a friendly conversation! A conversation that you and I should have more often lovely Alice…"

"No thanks," I said curtly and walked away.

"Hey Alice!" his usual booming voice said my behind me. I turned to face the Ostian Lord.

"Hi Hector," I responded.

I noticed him hesitate for a moment. One of his hands were behind his back and he took it out, a red rose in it. I stared at it for a moment. "Here," he said and handed it to me. I took it.

"Is it poisonous or something? Or perhaps it's a bomb?" I asked.

"No! I just saw it on the meadows and I…just wanted to give it to you."

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion but brought the rose up to my nose and took a long sniff out of it. I smiled at him. "Thanks Hector."

His face turned a light shade of red. "Er…no problem!" he said and lumbered away.

I approached the green knight and crossed my arms over my chest once I reached him. He looked up at me and a grin flashed across his face.

"Lovely Alice, what may I do for my fair maiden?"

"What's going on with you and Hector? You guys are planning something!" I said.

Sain chuckled. "I'm only helping milord by giving him a few pieces of advice."

"What kind of advice?"

He smirked. "You'll find out."

"Okay Hector, seriously, can you stop with being all nice? You're acting so strange!" I said, slightly annoyed by his behavior for the past few days.

His face flushed. I wasn't sure if it was because of anger or embarrassment. "I thought you liked the kind, devoted, and caring kind?" he asked, half-mockingly.

I stared at him for a moment and then chuckled lightly. "You were trying to be appealing?"

He turned a deep shade of red. "Er…well…I…"

I laughed. "You were! Aw well no worry for that! Strangely enough, I am in love with you."

He stared at me, his mouth hanging open. "So you mean that I didn't have to do all those nice things?"

I chuckled. "Nope."

"Damn that Sain…" he muttered. "Well," he said, grinning at me. "It's nice to know that you feel the same way toward me," he said and grinned. "I love you too."

I laughed and jabbed his armored chest. "You are one annoying lord."

"And you are one little rascal of a tactician," he said, grinning. I smiled and took his big hand. By the time we were back to the camp, we were back to our legendary fights.