The annual Halloween festival in Askr was about to start, and various Heroes from across the many worlds were coming together once again to celebrate the fall harvest. Kagero, an honourable ninja of Hoshido and retainer to Prince Ryoma, was in the woods as the sun began to set, making her way towards the fairgrounds to deliver Nohrian bottled juice. She was clad in a… most unusual outfit to celebrate the occasion.
"If this is the price to pay for unity…" She sighed and looked down at the black and white fabric of the traditional Nohrian maid outfit on her body. As a token gesture to symbolize the end of tensions between Nohr and Hoshido after the great war, Kagero was asked to dress up as what her closest Nohrian counterpart would be, and so she was given a maid outfit. Feeling the breeze between her legs (thanks to the oh-so-practical thigh windows,) she turned beet red and thought to herself, No, this is too much a price; even for unity. She heaved an even deeper sigh and continued on her way.
As she drew near the fairgrounds, a chill ran down her spine: someone had to be following her. She tuned out her thoughts and listened closely to her surroundings, careful not to betray her unwitting appearance. The snap of a branch here, the crumpling of leaves there… Yes, someone was not far behind her. She slowly rested a hand on one of the bottles she was carrying; fine grape juice in tall green glass. Bringing it up as if to read the label on it, she quickly smashed it against a tree and whirled around, makeshift weapon in hand, to see—
"Whoa whoa whoa! Easy there, Miss Kagero!"
Niles of Nohr, retainer to Prince Leo, known for his saucy tongue. He was dressed as an imp, fitting for his personality. He raised his hands up open-palmed, a sign of surrender; his grin, however, said I win. "It's just little-old me, ninja—excuse me, maid of Hoshido. No need for you to get your panties in a knot." Niles' grin widened a bit. "Although, if you want to get physical with me, I would welcome the exercise… It's too long since I last saw your face glistening with sweat." And with that, he laughed.
Kagero glared daggers at him, unamused. "Niles. What business do you have here?"
"Business? No business, Miss Kagero. Tonight's not a night for business, you know. After all, there's a festival going on. No, I'm coming here to party; let loose." He winked at her with his one eye. "You know, give in to temptation." He looked at the jagged remains of the bottle Kagero clutched, still aimed at him. "…Even if you intend to ruin all of the drinks before the night's come out."
Niles strolled past her, and when he was some distance away he called to her. "You know, you oughta loosen up a bit, Miss Kagero. If you try to keep the free spirit within you bottled up all the time, it just might find a way to… force itself out." And with that, he left for the festival. When he was gone, Kagero shook her head slightly and dropped the broken bottleneck to the ground, then continued on her way.
It was twilight. Day was beginning to give way to night, and so the festival had started. Many tents and stalls were erected on the fairgrounds, replete with food and entertainment for partygoers. Kagero watched the crowd from the shadows, noting the merriment that many were having: Sigurd, Eldigan, and Quan were at a stall, carving pumpkins with crude representations of their holy weapons; Niles and Orochi (dressed as a devil) were near the refreshments, making conversation over candied apples and laughing every so often; Marth, dressed as a ghost, walked with Caeda, who was wearing makeup and broken armour to look like a zombie.
She eyed this all without participation; her duty had been to secure and furnish beverages from Nohr for the festival, and now that it had been discharged, she was content to simply look on—
"Ah, Kagero! There you are!"
She turned slightly, hand grabbing for a dagger that wasn't at her side. Still, there was no threat: Ryoma, her liege, approached with Queen Elincia of Crimea, both wrapped in yukatas. Kagero bowed to Ryoma and Elincia, only saying "My lord."
"Now this is my other retainer, Queen Elincia. Kagero here is known for her stealth, but don't let that fool you: she's quite possibly my equal in close combat." He smiled proudly at Kagero as he said this. "I shudder to think of the world in which I would have to cross blades with her," he said, the faintest of grimaces darkening his face. Kagero remembered it too well, the fight they had in Nestra before Corrin reached the Bottomless Canyon in the war. She still felt guilt for disarming Ryoma then. But that was a time long gone; now all that mattered was this festival.
Elincia sensed the darkness in the air and intervened. "I'm Elincia of Crimea. You really don't need to call me 'Queen,' at least not while we're here in Askr. It's just a formality for the other nobles, really." She extended a hand to Kagero. Kagero looked at it for a few seconds before the gesture registered, and she took it in her own, shaking hands with Elincia. "Now why don't you join us, Kagero? Enjoy yourself! This should be a night to remember!" Elincia gave her a warm smile.
Kagero looked back at the festival and felt a pit in her stomach. "Really, Queen Elincia, while I do appreciate the offer, I must politely decline. My duty was to provide beverages; now that it has been done, I must ensure that the festivities do not become soured by belligerent actors. I assure you that it brings me great enjoyment to—"
Ryoma slapped her on the shoulder. "Now Kagero, is this really how you intend to spend the night? Or do I need to give you new orders?"
"My liege?"
Ryoma sighed and chuckled to himself. "Really, it's always like this… Tell you what. Kagero, I order you to participate in this festival. I want you to make memories of this night that you can look back on in a fond light."
"…Very well, my lord. I accept this mission." Kagero took a breath and stood tall. "What shall I do first?"
Ryoma laughed and turned to Elincia. "See, she's always so serious!" Elincia smiled, and Ryoma looked back at Kagero. "Why don't you start with getting a drink? Give some of that grape juice you brought a try; I've heard it's really delicious."
Kagero nodded. "I will see it done." She vanished into the darkness and Elincia let out a gasp.
"Can all ninjas do that?" she asked with awe in her voice.
"It's a great skill they work years to hone. I expect nothing less from my retainers." Ryoma rose his eyebrows. "Ah, that reminds me! You must introduce me to Geoffrey and Lucia. I would love to meet the advisors you speak so highly of." And with that, Ryoma and Elincia returned to the festival.
Orochi and Niles had to move quickly: Ryoma wouldn't keep Kagero occupied for long. The two carefully removed various small containers from the folds of their costumes, giggling like mad.
"You get me, Orochi. Oh, how amusing this will be!" Niles glanced around looking to see if anyone else paid them any mind, but quickly saw that everyone else nearby was wrapped up in the various entertainment stalls at the moment, and got back to work.
Orochi beamed widely. "What would a party be without some real drinks, Niles?"
The two laughed and emptied as much of the spirits they had into as many of the drinks, both opened and unopened, as possible. Fruit punch, lemonade, grape juice; all were spiked. They hurried and replaced as many corks they could when Orochi caught sight of Kagero leaving Ryoma and Elincia.
"Quick, quick! Let's go!" Orochi said in a low voice, and the two grabbed their (now empty) containers of alcohol, merging into the crowd of the festival.
Kagero lazily meandered around the festival, a nearly-empty bottle of grape juice in her hand. It tasted much different from what she had expected, but since it didn't seem poisonous she simply wrote it off as a unique Nohrian culinary flair. So, she went through the bottle as she walked from stall to stall, trying her hand at the various games and sampling many unique foods and drinks she'd never had before.
After a few hours, Kagero realized she felt funny, but didn't really care. She was having a blast trying to win the small prizes, and felt happier than she had in a long time. Night had fallen and the moon shone faintly in the cloudy sky. Kagero was thinking about trying to leave when she spotted a glimpse of brilliant purple hair in the crowd.
Orochi! she thought to herself, and so she walked towards the purple among the other tones.
...or rather, had she been fully sober, she would have walked. Instead, she stumbled, fighting not to fall down as she cut a wide arc through the crowd, and finally reached Sonya, mage of Valentia. Of course, in her inebriated state, Sonya (dressed as a witch) couldn't have been anyone other than her childhood friend.
"Orochi!" The name came out a little louder than she had intended, but it didn't matter. How many times had her friend tried to catch her off guard while at Castle Shirasagi? Surely she would appreciate that Kagero was finally loosening up.
Sonya, Genny, and Saber turned around, surprised at the sudden shout not ten feet away from them, and saw Kagero grinning stupidly, swaying as she walked.
"How-How-How… are your fortunes c-coming along?" Kagero hiccupped after slurring these words together, and spread her arms wide. "C'mere and gimme a—"
Unable to fully control her motor skills, Kagero tripped over herself (really, she was lucky to get both of her arms up as she walked) and fell on Sonya, letting go of the bottle as the two tumbled to the ground.
"Hey, get off me!" Sonya let out a cry after Kagero toppled on top of her.
"Oh my, you're so warm!" Kagero said with her arms wrapped around Sonya, who was trying to get off the ground. "You know, Orochi, really…" Kagero trailed off, trying to think of what she wanted to say. "You know, you're a great friend. I really appre-appreci—I'm really glad! I'm really glad I know you." She looked into Sonya's eyes briefly and then tightened her hug. "Even-even if I don't always say it… I'm glad you're my friend."
And by now Sonya could smell the alcohol on Kagero's breath. She sighed and struggled to her feet. "Come on Kagero, let's get up. Come on!" She rose up and grabbed Kagero's hand, bringing her up as well, and wrapped Kagero's arm over her shoulder. "Let's find you a place to sit down, okay?" Kagero nodded, the dumb grin still on her face.
"Whatever you say, Orochi!"
Leaving Saber and Genny in the crowd, Sonya guided Kagero to the nearest bench. While doing this, Sonya caught sight of a trio of men running alongside the crowd. One of them had blue hair and was being chased by a man with blonde hair in a red outfit, and a man with brown hair in a black outfit. The blue-haired man had no shirt on, and was carrying three sloppily-carved pumpkins as he evaded the other two.
"Give it back, Sigurd! That pumpkin belongs to Agustria!" Eldigan shouted.
"Sigurd! That's for Ethlyn and Leif, damn it!" Quan's complaint echoed after Eldigan's.
Sigurd merely laughed and cut a sharp left, plowing through the crowd. Eldigan and Quan looked at each other, shaking their heads before continuing their chase. Seeing several more festival-goers moving around in drunken stupors, Sonya grumbled to herself about "finding out who spiked the punch", and led Kagero to an empty park bench. Once Kagero was seated, Sonya was off.
Kagero slowly slid onto her side, protesting quietly; "No, Orochi, don't leave me here. The party's just started…" She felt her eyelids get heavy, and passed out on the bench.
Kagero's eyes took their time opening, the sun's rays beating down on her and birds chirping in the trees. Her head felt like someone had driven a sledge into it, and her body ached from sleeping on the stiff bench. She struggled to sit up, holding her head in her hands as she rose.
"Ugh, my back…" She couldn't help but let out a groan. "What time is it?"
A chipper voice answered: "About time that you woke up, you slugabed!" And a laugh.
This noise caused Kagero to wince in pain and turn away, groaning more. Something would have to be done about this headache.
"Orochi, is that you?" Kagero finally let out, still facing away.
"Mm-hm! I've been waiting here since dawn. That really was some party last night, wasn't it?" Orochi beamed and patted her friend on the shoulder. Kagero flinched, feeling like someone had laid a palette of bricks on her while she slept.
"The festival last night… I…" Kagero struggled to recall what had happened, but it was all a haze. "I can't remember it." She looked down at her scuffed and dirty maid dress, straining to remember. "Were you there?"
Orochi laughed, renewing the throbbing in Kagero's head. "Oh, was I! It was so hilarious, seeing you stumble from stall to stall with that bottle! Really, I'll remember this for the rest of my life!" And Orochi laughed again.
"...Bottle? Stumble?" Kagero tried to take stock of her surroundings: the bench was at the edge of a clearing. Not far away from it were the various stalls set up for the festival. And in the clearing, she could see a few other people passed out like she had been, empty bottles scattered about. "Orochi, I have the feeling you may be able to better explain what happened than my memory can recall."
Orochi looked guiltily at her feet, a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "Someone may have decided that the fruit drinks needed extra flavor, and someone may have decided to give them that extra flavor." She chuckled before continuing. "And someone may have finally decided to have a drink after that was done."
Kagero thought hard. "So… you spiked the drinks?" Orochi nodded happily and Kagero let out a sigh. "Oh, what will I ever do about you..."
"Well, it wasn't just me. Niles helped too." Orochi looked pleased as punch. "Anyway, I'm sorry I didn't tell you we were gonna do that. I should've given you a heads-up. I didn't know you were such a lightweight!" And with that, Orochi poked Kagero's side.
"Neither did I. And I accept your apology. Just… Just don't do anything like that again, all right?"
"Pinky-swear!"
The two embraced, and eventually got up from the park bench once Kagero's headache had calmed a bit. They took care to step over a shirtless man with a pumpkin smashed over his head, and left the fairgrounds to return to their world.