Disclaimer
Though I earnestly wish I did, I currently possess no ownership rights to any of the Fire Emblem games or their characters. The key word there, friends, is 'currently'.
Pairings
Yes, I defy the seemingly-expected Ike/Soren (um…ewww) or Eirika/Tana (uu) expectations for the Fire Emblem fanfics. Nor am I doing a Eirika/Seth fanfiction, or Ephraim/Eirika (ewwwwww) or Ephraim/Lyon (ugh). And Amelia is NOT in this story. She's actually one of my least favorite characters (I didn't even bother to get her my second time round) but let's not gripe about that. The featured pairing is…
Eirika/Lyon (you see so little of it! And it is the implied pairing in the game)
Perhaps minor implied Joshua/Natasha or Ephraim/Tana (based on their supports)
Review Updates
I always love reviews, folks! The more the merrier – and the more inclined I am to continue writing! An author needs some motivation, ya know? The only thing is I ask please; limit the flames. I do want constructive criticism, but not the typical 'omg I hate ur writing it sucks!' flame. Those are just pointless. And please don't complain about the pairing; I do not in any case write yaoi or yuri, hence my avoidance of the male/male or female/female pairings, and I do tend to stick with canon pairings.
Summary
The war is over, the Demon-King bound, yet not all is well. A mourning princess, besieged by haunting memories of the last day of the war, flees for sanctuary. A prince falls mysteriously ill…and what was is not always what will be.Eirika/Lyon
Prologue:
They Returned
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Quote of the Chapter: They had returned, but they had not healed.
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They returned.
Changed; solemn, quiet, with death in their eyes. The silent processions that led down the streets of Raustin were shrouded in black and mourning, their horses adorned not with gold and green but with the rust of blood, and the dark of death. The people looked to their princess for laughter and warmth, but even she was silent, her eyes fixed on the two figures that rode ahead, their twin turquoise heads bowed in grief. And so the peoples' eyes eventually found their way up to the two who rode in front, riding upon slender white horses.
His hair was a dark turquoise, more green than blue, and hung around his ears jaggedly; in bad need of a trim, some would say. His eyes stared challengingly out at the crowd, as if they still replayed battles won and lost in their depths. His seat on his stallion was good, and several horse-experts in the crowd nodded to themselves. A long spear was balanced in his stirrup, its shaft leaning back against the cloak-covered shoulder to the left, flashing in the sun's light as he rode by. Every now and then, the lord – for he surely must be one – glanced to his left, and the woman who rode in silence.
Like his, her hair was a dark turquoise, though more to the blue side than his, and dangled down near her waist – untidy and rough, though it had once been smooth and shining. Her eyes, so near the hue of her hair, were dull and faded as they stared down at her mare's dark mane in silence. Hands covered in thin leather gloves gripped the reins tightly as if a fear of falling was strong in her, though she rode with the graceful seat of one born to the saddle. At her hip a sword rode, long and slender – more to the style of a rapier than the heavier objects others of their entourage wore. A long cloak had been pulled around her, obscuring her garb from view, but the watchers whispered that it was as beautifully woven as their own Priestess-Princess's, for this was a High Lady of Renais! No, some whispered, she was the Twin Princess of Renais herself – and that beside her was her warrior brother! Yet the silent woman looked neither left nor right at these mutters, and her eyes were still filled with death.
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"Smile, sister, the people are watching." Eirika raised her head to meet the gentle eyes of her twin beside her. Shaking her head slowly, Renais's princess raised a hand to tuck back a strand of turquoise hair behind her ear.
"Then let the people watch. A great tragedy has occurred in their lands. They deserve to know." Ephraim had no reply to make in response to her words, and could only look back at the silent watchers.
"They need reassurance now, sister, to know that all will be well now that Ly– now that the Demon King is destroyed." Her head whipped around at his words, a spark rekindled in them now as they burned fiercely into his own.
"This is not Lyon's fault, brother, and you well know it! He was possessed by the Demon King!" a touch of passion had entered her words, and Eirika's voice rose as she spoke until it could be heard by those close by, causing a look of worry to pause through the eyes of the Paladin and Great Knight who rode behind them.
"He was, but to all others not in this group –" Ephraim paused to indicate the mass behind them, "it was Lyon, Prince of Grado, who invaded and destroyed."
"No. Not him. Vigarde, certainly, but never Lyon," Eirika responded firmly, her hands tightening around the reins. "We all knew him, brother, no one will ever suspect Lyon as the final host of the Demon King. Never. He was a kind and gentle man, even…to the end. They will remember him as such." Her voice broke near the end, and the turquoise haired princess turned her head back fiercely to face forward, though not before her twin caught sight of wetness gathering at the corners of her eyes. Ephraim reached to brush them back…and then stopped. Eirika would not respond well to his attempts at sympathy, and in truth he knew that they all had to get over the frightening betrayal from Lyon…the truth…and the ultimate sacrifice that he made, on their own. Eirika would recover with the rest of them, and be the better for it.
Perhaps if he had known the damage that evaluation would cause, Ephraim would have reached out to his sister then, but he did not. If he had, there would be no story to tell.
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Within weeks of the war's ending, the remnants of the army that had faced the Demon King split and fractured as members returned to their homes respectively. Innes and Tana returned to be crowned king and queen of Frelia, Joshua to Jehanna's Hall, and L'Arachel to remain in Raustin. It was time, at last, for Eirika and Ephraim to return home to Renais…and to the wounds that awaited them there. The long healing that it would take to restore the lands.
At first both worked at it whole-heartedly, putting their everything into it, but soon it became apparent that Princess Eirika was often distracted, and found gazing off into the air, only coming back to earth at the urging of others, to which she would reply distantly.
"I was daydreaming."
At first many considered it a passing phase, but as time crept on the distance between Eirika and the land increased, and she spent much of her time alone…in a secluded tower, locked within the top room. The few who had passed by its base, or come up the long flight of stairs to summon forth the princess, swore that they could hear the faint sounds of weeping. And when Eirika opened the door now, her eyes were red, and nary a smile was seen on her face. The 'Mourning Princess', her people called her now, and loved her not a jolt the less. Something terrible had happened in the end of the war to bring about the disappearance of Prince Lyon of Grado (the details were not fully known) and it was well known that the prince and princess had been fond friends of Grado's heir. Still, the constant state of agony that their princess remained in worried many…not least of all, her twin brother, who felt that Eirika – along with the other members of the army – should have gotten over Lyon's death by this point. It was then that the busy prince finally ascended the long flight of stairs to seek his sister out – he had long been kept busy by the work of restoring the lands. There he spoke to her and it seemed that her grief was lifted. She returned to the public, a smile always on her face, and a kind word always for those who were in want of help. As Ephraim ranged far and wide, helping the people restore order, Eirika remained in the capitol, and was a wise and kind ruler of her people. Yet there were some who said that the smile on their princess's face was too large, seen too often, and too unmoving to be real. The 'Mourning Princess' did not leave her titles, and there were still many old crones that looked upon her with pity.
"The lass is not done with her grieving yet," they admonished, "it should have been a crime, whoever told her to put her tears away and be done with it. If you've a pain, tis best to feel it out. Not bottle it away the way she has. Mark my words, those things always explode with time." But the explosion didn't come, and eventually people stopped listening to the crones. But their words had reached the ears of Prince Ephraim, and he saw too many truths in them to be disregarded lightly…
They had returned, but they had not healed.
Well, here goes my first crack at actually writing a fanfic about a game that I HAVE played, as opposed to my fanfics on FFVIII and Kingdom Hearts…which I haven't played. Irony says that those will be better than this, but I'm guessing that's not going to be true. Although the majority won't be happy with this pairing…judged on the amount of Eirika/Seth or Eirika/Other that I've seen out there.
Well, try not to flame me too much for this. Read and enjoy.
Anyway, enough of the drama. Remember…review!
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If you were a button, what would you do?
Would you live in a corner and cry boo, boo?
Stand up for yourself – be a button, a man!
And hit that button, you, I know you can!
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Words fail to describe the horror that I have written. Spare me.