Princess and Knight
"Hero's of the past were all well and good in stories, but seeing one up close, let alone fighting next to one on the battlefield was… unnerving"
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It wasn't just the image. It was the silence. They did not engage in battlefield banter, or even cry out when hurt. They didn't even react to having their class changed.
"Are they truly an image come to life?" He wondered. "Or are they more?"
They can talk.
Its honestly kind of surprising to him, because they never have, but it doesn't take him long to realize why.
If he had to describe it, he would call it a barrier of sorts. He's not sure whether it comes from being dead, or being a copy (and not having much to say), but at least some of their personality is intact. He finds himself talking to one in particular.
Her name is Eirika
He finds that Eirika reminds him of Emmeryn, and yet somehow Robin too.
She wants peace, and is not afraid to fight for it. She would do anything to protect her people, and never let a friend down. She lead people with a burning intensity, and is quite skilled at strategy. She believes in peoples goodness despite being in a war.
She says he reminds her of someone too, but whenever he asks, she cant or wont answer.
"A good man." Is all she will say.
He finds himself protecting her in battle. Some- he knows- would find this action absurd.
"Why protect someone long gone?" They would say.
"Because she's a friend." He would have answered, had anyone asked.
One day he comes across a card that brings a reaction out of her.
"Seth." She calls across the battlefield, and looks devastated when he doesn't so much as blink.
He feels his heart drop to his boots, because he gets it. He finally sees who he reminds her of. A paladin. One who protects a princess and a prince. A retainer and friend. Exactly the sort of person she had once fallen in love with.
He loves his wife and daughter, but he cant help but wonder, if this could have been him, somewhere in the past.
It's painful to watch the hero's of the past on the battlefield. It always has, and now he realizes why. There's an element of grace missing. They're not in tune.
Robin has gotten them to the point where they are all comrades in arms, and whoever she puts you with is guaranteed to have your back. Someone will always be with you. And you fight together like a weapon in the hands of a master.
They don't have that. They should have that, because they were comrades in the past. Their teamwork was once legendary. But now Eirika does not cover her brother, and Seth does not follow up on Eirika's attacks when he is beside her.
They fight alone now, and its wrong.
They can fall in battle. And she does. Its painful to lose a friend, but he consoles himself with the knowledge that she can be brought back.
So they go on a recruiting fight to get her again. And it was successful. At least that's what he believes until they get back to camp and he tries to talk again. The look on her face stops him.
There's not the slightest flicker of recognition on it.
He doesn't try to be friends again. He knows better now.
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