The effects of Florina's special tea on Eliwood's Elite one cold morning.


The dining hall seemed quiet, almost dead. No one seemed awake without coffee, which had all mysteriously disappeared the night before.

Florina glanced about and sighed. Even perky Serra had her head on Erk's shoulder, slumbering lightly. That certainly wasn't right. It was time for her plan to be put into action…

She snuck into the kitchen, patting her pocket to make sure the packet was there. It was, so she made sure the coast was clear, and ran nimble-footedly in.

Thirty cups, exactly. Wallace had been left behind again; Vaida didn't appreciate tea. None for herself, none for Ninian – she didn't need it – and the others had their reasons.

Boiling six kettles of water at the same time actually wasn't that hard. Florina poured the hot water into the cups, then the tea bags, then…the secret ingredient.

She'd taken the powder from Hannah's bag. (The crone had a motley array of spells in there that could take on a powerful morph.) The label on it said fast acting, only a small amount needed – so Florina supposed two grains were enough.

Why was she doing it? She was tired of everyone pretending not to…ah…enjoy each other's company. If she had been her sister Farina, she would have just stood up on a table and shouted, "Like each other already!"…but she wasn't, and this was her quiet way of saying it.

Florina tipped the last two tiny grains into the thirtieth cup, then mused with her hand on her chin. How would she transport all of these? One at a time, she supposed. Hmm, the air smelled funny…oh, no. She'd breathed in the tea vapors.

The falcoknight sneezed daintily and fell back, closing her eyes in case she fell in love with a teapot when she opened her eyes, or something. After waiting a bit, Florina cautiously opened her eyes (it wouldn't do if someone found her ridiculously sitting on the ground like this) and surveyed about.

Good, no feelings of lust towards the ground cabinet she was looking at. But how had she gotten so low on the ground? She was sure she had feel backwards…

She tried to say something, but couldn't. All that came out was a small, quiet, pitiful…

Meow.

The chilly morning air did wonders on the young Ostian lord. Without any coffee, they were unlikely to survive any battles, even if Ninian and Nils warned them beforehand.

Hector was the only one out that day. Everyone else was asleep, in the dinner hall, or practicing (only the insane Sacaens: Guy, Rath, Karel, Lyn and Karla). Nothing really interesting was happening today, unless you counted…no, there wasn't anything. Hector sighed.

Something skittered up to him. Hector almost brought his axe down upon it, but stopped himself when he saw it was a cat. A strangely colored one, at that: slightly lavender with sea blue eyes. It was meowing almost desperately and jumping from side to side; Hector bent to pick it up. Anything was welcome on such a boring day.

When it was safely bundled in his arms, it started crying out wildly. "Huh," Hector muttered. "Maybe you want some food." He poked it. "You are a bit thin, after all."

Strolling through the dining hall to the kitchen (Sain confusing sleepy girls with declarations of love), the lord walked to the counter to get a bowl for the cat's milk. He noticed thirty cups lined up neatly in three rows, all filled with steaming tea.

The cat started to sniff, and then – quite unbelievably – it sneezed. There was a brief flash of light, and Hector was suddenly holding something that was a bit too heavy to be a cat.

Overbalancing, he fell back onto the floor. Who other than one of the pegasus knight sisters – Florina! - was lying on top of him, blushing enough to melt an ice cube.

Hector's alarmed yell of "What the - !" and Florina's loud apologies were more than enough to bring everyone in the camp to the kitchens. Thankfully, it did not, and Florina fled before Hector could…do…anything, carrying the first cup of tea for Eliwood.