things left ambiguous: robin's gender, eirika's husband and what kingdom she rules over.

i'm so sorry for writing this. i was just really inspired by "a flair for the dramatic" which is an album by piece the veil. on the cover, there is a bride who looks sad, as if she was left at the altar (though open the booklet and you will realize that that is far from the case), and the first song on the album is entitled "chemical kids and mechanical brides".

so i picked the first thing i could see in a wedding dress and wrote about it.

clearly, i don't own anything except the writing, and with that note i give you

mechanical bride

(but i can't be your chemical kid)

Chrom picks up the card containing the restless spirit of Queen Eirika, the Queen of Lore. Though a smile is painted on her lips, Chrom feels like she is sad, with her dainty, red lips and wise, blue eyes. She looks graceful and elegant, really, with her poise and royalty shining through in the small portrait of her.

(It's a good portrait. Can you really blame Chrom for admiring it?)

But her wedding dress, though obviously made for a queen, and the way it drapes around her just seems... sad. She looks like she has just been left at the altar, her so called husband-to-be leaving her there, standing her up, leaving her heartbroken and sad. That kind of story is morbid and depressing, and Chrom knows it's not true, for Eirika was married to a husband, and her true love, at that.

Robin takes the card from Chrom's hand, the tactician's eyes scanning it, and smiling at the portrait of the beautiful queen. Robin speaks to Eirika, too, and Chrom can feel himself frowning at the sight of his tactician talking to the queen. Chrom would like to as well, after all, he was raised on stories of not just the Hero King, but also the Queen of Lore.

So why can Robin only talk to her?

It's not fair.

Chrom can't talk to Eirika in her card form, as the only one who can is Robin. Eirika comes to fight with them, though, and everyone can talk to her then. But once the battle is over, she dissipates back into the card where she came from. It's amazing magic, really, but all Chrom wants to do is talk to her, the amazing Queen of Lore.

But he can't.

And as each day passes, he wishes more and more that he could.

When Chrom finally gets the chance to talk to her on a rather calm day of battle, he swears all of his dreams are coming true.

What is it about this silly, magical, spiritual version of Eirika that enchants him?

(He's not sure, really.)

He looks to her, unsure of what to say. "Hello," he says, and yes, that's a good start, but when she looks at him with her naturally red, placid lips formed in a frown, he fears she will not respond.

"Hello, Lord Chrom," she replies, with a small, dainty smile, her eyes darting up to him and back to the ground.

Something about her is sad and forlorn, just as Chrom had feared when he was admiring her card. Maybe this Eirika was abandoned at the altar? Either way, Chrom rubs the back of his neck and sighs, slowly and deeply.

"Is something the matter?" she asks, training her eyes towards the field to see if any enemies come this way.

"Ah, no, well, not really, but you just seemed rather upset so-"

Eirika looks at him, her glance sad but obviously thankful. "Please do not worry about me. I assure you that I am fine, and I can get over what is ailing me," but her eyes do not say so. Or, at least they don't to Chrom, but he's never really been good at this sort of thing.

"But wouldn't it be better to talk about it?"

Eirika mirrors Chrom's earlier sigh, except it sounds more drained and pathetic, piercing the air with sadness and a clear lack of any kind of happy emotion, leaving an awkward chill over them.

"I suppose," she begins, staring at him, "You see, I do miss my home... I miss my time period, would be a better way to put it, I suppose."

Just then, Chrom looks into her sad, blue eyes that stare at him mechanically, as if he is a ticking clock and she is waiting for each small second to pass just to get to the next minute, and he wants to kiss her badly.

He grabs her arm, tilts her head towards him, and her eyes widen, but she begins to blink them, slowly closing them as if knowing what he is about to do. Even so, there is a calm amongst her, and she leans in, too.

For a brief, fleeting moment of time that feels like heaven coming over them to Chrom, their lips touch, and Eirika sighs into their small kiss, trying to deepen it, her lips ghosting over his. It's kind of strange, but it's not, really. And just as she goes to deepen it -

The battle is over, and Eirika disappears, leaving him with nothing but the ghastly feeling of her lips upon his.

Chrom realizes too late that she is a bride that will forever wander, and he cannot be the groom that finds and rescues her.

(but then again, she never needed any rescuing anyway.)

end