Disclaimer: I don't own Fire emblem.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Marisa got up just as the sun rose. It was important to her to get an early start in the day so she didn't waste a moment's time.

Kicking her legs over the bed, she undressed herself out of her nightgown and slipped into her usual outfit; her sleeveless black one piece, with a thin veil hung around around her waist. She looked at herself in the full body length mirror and tied her long lavender hair up. With her sword at her side, she reached the bedroom doors and pulled it open.

She was greeted by one the castle's guard. "Good morning, Lady Marisa. Is everything to your liking?" he said.

"Yes. Thank you."

"Ah, okay, let me know if you need anything." And the guard resumed walking the hallway.

Marisa tugged at her shirt collar upwards and walked down the massive hallways of the castle.

Another day to spend in the castle of Jehanna…

Although Marisa found herself bored ever since she arrived, she never once regretted coming here with Joshua. As part of a bet that Marisa had lost, Joshua asked her to stay with him in the castle. She saw this opportunity as new journey for her, instead of fighting against the same ruthless mercenaries she did before, she could test her skills against forces strong enough to attack the castle. As well, she saw this as a chance to get away from… Them.

Seeing Gerik and Tethys together pained her more so than any other injuries she had endured. But nevertheless, they were still her friends, and she missed them.

The last 2 weeks were spent roaming the castle's halls. She found that it was 4 stories; the first floor contained the throne room, the main ball room, the kitchen, a dining room and the garden.

Second floor a secondary ball room, not as big as the main one though, a supplies room, and several guest rooms.

Third floor was her room, which was next to Joshua's room, a study/work room which Joshua had spent most of his time in, and a library.

On the fourth floor, there wasn't much, just another supplies room, and a couple or spare rooms.

Each floor had a spiral stairwell on each end of the halls that led to the bottom.

Unsure of where to go, Marisa headed to the garden. She spent most mornings in the garden as she watched the sun rise. She sat on the very same marble bench she had sat on last night with Joshua. She liked the garden, although it wasn't very big, she liked how calming and relaxing if felt when you sit there.

Although, one thing puzzled her; the stone walls protected the garden in all directions except for in the east. The gap exposed the desert and its uneven landscape. As the sun rose, it casted a warm glow of orange onto everything.

She didn't understand why it was build like this, anything in the desert could intrude in the garden and eventually into the castle.

"Marisa." Said a groggy, yet familiar voice.

She turned and saw the King of Jehanna yawning and stretching at the entrance, then dragged his way towards Marisa where he plumped himself next to her.

"You're up early." She said as she watched Joshua try to maintain his eyes open.

Joshua let out another yawn, he didn't bother to cover his mouth and tilted his head into his hands, using his large hat to cover the blinding sun.

"I thought I should get up early to finish most of my work." Joshua mumbled into his hands.

"I thought you said everything was settled?" She found it funny to see Jehanna's hope so tired.

"Almost everything." He replied.

After a few seconds, Marisa wasn't sure if Joshua had fallen asleep beside her but had asked a question anyway.

"Joshua." He didn't budge.

"Yes?" was what she thought she heard after a while.

"Why is the garden like this?"

"Like what?" He looked up and immediately knew what she meant.

"Oh. I asked my mother the very same question when I was younger. Well, what I don't think many know is that this garden grew on its own."

Marisa quickly turned her head to look at Joshua. She was surprised that such life could grow on these barren lands that Jehanna was.

"Yeap. It's true." Joshua replied to Marisa's stare as if he read her thoughts. He continued on, "It's been here before I was born, before my mother was born. She liked sunrises. And she loved plants and flowers. She wanted to make a place where she could enjoy the sunrise surrounded by the things she loved. And so, she tore down this wall."

"Trespassers could come into the castle."

"Yeah… She didn't care about that. she had some of the strongest men guarding the place. But we never once had intruders. So that's lucky."

"That's… Interesting." She had never heard of something so risky and bold, all to enjoy a moment of happiness.

Joshua turned his head in his palms to look at Marisa, "you like the sunrise?" He asked.

"It's beautiful to watch." She said. She heard Joshua chuckled and turned her gaze at him.

"What?"

"Nothing. …It's just, you somehow remind me of my mother." She saw a soft smile appear on his face.

She took it as a compliment after all, the late Queen Ishmaire was beautiful and graceful.

"Maybe you'll follow her footsteps and become Queen of Jehanna one day." Joshua got up left Marisa alone.

Marisa watched the King as he walked away and couldn't help but notice how slyly he had said that.

But for me to be Queen…

She felt her face get hot and quickly raised her hands to her cheeks. She glanced around to see if anyone was watching and used her fingers to quickly rub her cheeks.

No... He's just kidding…

Not very long, the sun rose slightly and its orange glow turned bright. Everyone should be up by now. Marisa sat for another minute contemplating what she should do next.

I could visit the chief and Tethys.

Marisa shuddered. She thought back on the conversation she and Tethys had during the Sacred Stones War.

Tethys: After all's said and done, you truly like who and what you are, right?

We have completely different lives, but we have that in common. That and the

same man, right?

Marisa: What? What do you mean?

Tethys: You can't hide it from me. I guess I should ask, do you think you're

hiding it?

Marisa: I-I'm hiding nothing. Nothing at all!

Tethys: What an interesting reaction. Youth is so cute.

Marisa: Wh-why are you smiling? Ah...

Tethys: Don't be so embarrassed. We're going to be around each other for a

long time. We should talk.

Marisa: I've got to go!

Tethys: There's no need to run away. We may be rivals, but we're still friends.

Marisa: I'm not running away! I'm just... leaving!

She felt her heart churn when she saw Gerik and Tethys embrace each other on the battle field and when they held each others' hands on the journey home.

"Don't worry, I won't tell him. And… You're okay right?" Marisa was always victorious in her battles, but when it came to the battle of love, she lost. Although she wouldn't have considered it a battle; her, an aloof, quiet swords-woman against the sociable dancer with enchanting beauty.

It just wasn't fair.

She still treasured them both as friends, they were the only people she trusted.

"I'm going into town. If King Joshua is looking for me, tell him that."

"Yes Lady Marisa!" The guard nodded to her and off she went to travel into the desert.

The town was only a 30 minutes walk from the castle on a good day. If a sandstorm were too hit (which was frequent in the winter), it would take at least an hour, granted you didn't get lost.

Marisa had only walked for a while and had already began to feel the sweat start to form above her forehead and neck. She was used to Jehanna's blazing weather. Countless times were spent slashing her sword around in even intense weather than today's.

She got into town safely and saw the busy streets filled with shops, people looking for the best price at the market and children running around.

To get there quicker I would have to take the alley.

And so she did. Marisa avoided the busy streets as she turned left into a neighborhood. Children were running around playing the harmless game of 'tag' while mothers washed their clothes and talked amongst themselves.

As a child, Marisa didn't live in the town, but instead a small house not too far away. Rarely, her father would take her into town to buy food when they weren't training.

Marisa took a right into an alley and there she saw 2 elderly men playing chess and a crowd of older men watching. She noticed how much cooler it was in the alley as it was in the shade.

Finally she arrived at building, Gerik's mercenaries. The door was open, probably to let out the heat so she let herself in.

She saw Gerik sitting at a desk looking quite sternly at a piece of paper.

"Chief." She addressed and Gerik's head shot straight up.

"Marisa!" He exclaimed, and wide smile appeared on his face and as stood and walked over to her.

He gave her a tight hug and Marisa couldn't help but to blush a little bit. After the war had ended, Marisa resigned her position in Gerik's mercenaries so she could stay with Joshua in the castle, yet she couldn't stop calling Gerik 'chief'. She respected him too much.

"What brings you here? Already getting bored living at the castle?" Gerik let go of her, his smile still big on his rugged face.

"No. Just thought I'd come visit you and Tethys. Where is she?" Marisa looked around the small room, there wasn't much, just the desk Gerik had been sitting at and a worn out couch opposite of it.

"She's booked the whole day." Gerik groaned as he looked down.

"She usually dances at night though."

"Yeah, when you fight in the army that saved the world, word gets around quickly. I mean, even the mercenary is booked! Every last man off fighting off monsters or bandits."

Ah, so that's why this place is empty. Marisa was actually glad Tethys was gone, that would mean more alone time with Gerik. Even though he was spoken for, there's still that tiny grasp of hope that maybe... Just maybe she could win her heart in this unfair war.

"And you?" Asked Marisa.

"I'm actually heading out to do a job."

"By yourself? That's dangerous."

"Have you no faith in me, Marisa?" Gerik said jokingly holding his hand to his chest. "I mean, I did help save Margvel."

"Heh, sorry I underestimated ya. Let me come with."

"Are you sure? You resigned outta here, you don't have to come."

"I have nothing to do at the castle. You don't have to pay me. And I need something for my blade to cut."

"Yeap, you're still the same, Marisa." Gerik chuckled

The two set out on the job, only a short distance east of town. Gerik explained as they left the town that there were sightings of a few gorgons. Something she was familiar with. During the Sacred Stones War, the army faced a lot of monsters, gorgons especially. She hated them the most simply because of their ability to turn its opponent into stone.

"So, how's that King of Jehanna?" Gerik asked after a moment of silence.

"King Joshua is still Joshua," Marisa replied. Often in the castle, she would see Joshua making bets with the guards. He was still the notorious gambler she knew. Gerik and Joshua were good friends. During the war, Marisa would see them together when they weren't on the battlefield. What they talked about, she didn't know. But since the war has ended, both were too busy to visit each other. She was sure this was the case for everyone else that fought in the war.

"Haha! Well said! And I was worrying that all this King stuff was gonna make him obnoxious or something." Gerik placed his arm over his head.

Marisa turned to look at Gerik. She didn't know what it was about him that made her have feelings for him. Maybe it was his rugged tough look, or the way he ruthlessly swung his sword around during battles, or how kind he was to people around him. As hard as she tried to get rid of her feelings for him, he always did something that made her tingle inside.

"Maybe he needs to settle down, you know? Marry a woman who's smart, kind yet able to tame him, so he can finally act like a proper King. … Someone like you!" Gerik placed his right arm around Marisa, with his hand rested softly on top of her head.

"Wh- What?" Marisa didn't know what to say, she was caught completely off guard by Gerik's sudden outburst, but felt hot, not from the scorching sun, but from the blood flowing through her cheeks as she blushed.

"Yeah, you're tough and smart. I can see you two married, ruling over Jehanna. Oh, what a fierce team you guys would be," Gerik use his free arm to dramatically move it across the sky as if he were clearing the dew of the window.

He was painting her a picture as they say, and she didn't like it one bit.

"That will never happen." Marisa said calmly as she straightened herself out.

"I'm just teasin' with ya, Marisa." Gerik softly tousled Marisa hair, one of the many friendly gestures Gerik showed towards her.

"But if you guys ever got married, I'll kick his little royal ass if he ever upsets you."

Marisa glared up at him.

"Kidding! Heh heh." He let his arm fall off her shoulders.

"Chief. Aren't those the gorgons?" Marisa pointed to a big blur off to the distance. It was a few yards away, but she could distinguish that were 5 of them, and were huddled together.

"… It is. Come on, let's go." Gerik's tone became serious as he unsheathed his huge sword.

"Right behind you." She too, unsheathed her sword and followed behind Gerik as he quickly walked towards the huddled gorgons.

As they approached nearer, the gorgons took noticed of them. They turned towards their direction and hissed at them.

"I take right?" Marisa asked, getting into position. Back in her mercenary days, Marisa and Gerik always had a fighting position that worked best for them; Marisa took the enemies on the right side, Gerik took the enemies on the left side.

"Always." Gerik replied as he leaped towards the 2 gorgons on the left.

Taking this as a signal, Marisa ran towards the 2 that were to her right. Of the two, the one on the right hissed as if flailed its arms in the arm and leaned back. She knew it was about attack and quickly leaned to the left as a black ball went hurling pass her.

Marisa raised the sword over her head with both arms and cut the gorgon down in the middle. It fell to the ground and into the sands. The other gorgon, not too far away saw the demise of its friend and began to chant up a spell. As she ran, she saw a dark circle form underneath her. She quickly knew it was its spell to turn opponents to stone. She jumped in front of the gorgon just as it was finishing its spell and used both arms to slash horizontally at its torso.

The top half of the gorgon fell to the ground as it made a high pitched wailing.

"Phew…" Marisa looked over to see how Gerik was doing.

He was just finishing up with his second one as he cut off its head. Now it was time for the last one. She glanced over to the see the last one, only a few feet away from Gerik, but maybe 30m away from her.

She saw the same flailing as the last gorgon she killed and knew that it was summoning up its stone spell.

"Chief!" Marisa yelled as she ran towards Gerik, she cursed every time her feet sank deep into the sands. But it was too late. Gerik feel onto his left knee, with his sword stabbed into the sand to hold up his support.

To what felt like forever, Marisa finally reached him, kneeling before her fallen comrade.

"Chief! Chief! Are you alright?" She placed left arm around him. The muscles in his arm were tense.

"Damn… It. Don't worry-Argh-About me… G-Go killit…" Gerik could barely talk, his head was hung low as his sword was trembled in his hand. He was turning into stone.

In an instant, Marisa grabbed her sword, which she laid down next to Gerik and ran as fast as she could towards the gorgon, which was now slithering to retreat. She guessed it forgot she was there.

She was nearly gliding in the sands; she didn't want to sink into the sand to waste time. Nearly ¾ of the way, Marisa tripped over something. She hadn't been watching where she was stepping, but whatever tripped her was hard. She felt herself fall forward, and with her free arm, her right arm, she reached out to touch the ground and lift herself up. She did a messy front flip, but managed to land on her feet and found herself right behind the gorgon.

It turned around and hissed at her. Marisa raised her sword and cut it in half.

Marisa panted heavily as she watched the gorgon disintegrate into black ashes. She retraced her steps, searching for where she tripped. She saw the wide gap in the strides of her footprints but saw nothing. She would've dug little bit into the sand but remember Gerik was hit with that stone spell.

She ran quickly to Gerik, who was now nearly buried in the sands, and bend towards to him.

"Chief. Can you walk?"

Of course not, stupid.

Gerik couldn't reply, his eyes were shut.

"I'm going to carry you, okay?"

Not like he can hear me… She put one arm around him and hurled him up to his feet, then he fell over.

"Whoa!" Marisa used both arms and wrapped them around Gerik's waist. She knew she couldn't just drag him back to town, she had to carry him.

She crouched over as she plopped him onto her back and held onto his legs. He was a very big man, and she was a very small lady.

Her legs trembled underneath his weight but walked on. Every step she groaned but she was determined to get help. She could feel his body hardening against her body, and his faint heart beating slowly.

She could've stopped and taken a rest, but maybe it was the adrenaline that made her continue the brutal journey.

What would've taken 30 minutes, took a little over an hour.

When she finally reached town, she went into the nearest medic center. She nearly broke the door when she kicked it open.

"Please…" She was panting, tired from the trip. She gently placed Gerik into a chair.

"…Help him." The surprised bishop rushed over to him, with a restore staff. She wiped the sweat off her forehead. She was surprised she was sweating so much, she was drenched. The top of head was wet, and her shirt stuck on wetly against her skin.

She waited for what felt like eternity and the sun had just begun to set.

I've waited the whole day… I wonder if he's all right.

She was waiting on the front steps of the building when the bishop stepped out.

"He's okay now, he just needs some rest." He had a gentle smile on his face, which assured that everything was okay.

"Okay. Thank you." She walked back inside and saw a shirtless Gerik resting on the bed.

He was back to normal, she watched as his chest raised and fell.

"Chief." She said. No answer. She thought about leaving him to rest and visiting him tomorrow.

And with that, she left, heading back to the castle.

She quickened her pace once she got inside the castle, she didn't want to keep Joshua waiting for their little spar. She reached the garden's entrance and saw Joshua practicing with his sword, his back facing her.

"Sorry I kept you waiting." Marisa said as she took out her sword and walked over.

"Oh!" Joshua nearly jumped and quickly turned around. "There you are. I was beginning to think my little joke earlier scared you off." He was grinning.

So it was a joke.

"Er, no. I was with Gerik."

"Oh, I see… He's doing fine, I hope?" Joshua asked as he swung his sword twice to his side. "Well let's get started shall we?" He got into position without waiting for an answer from Marisa.

She sighed as she took her sword out.

It was Marisa who launched the first attack, running towards him with her sword in her left hand. She swung it to Joshua and he was quick to dodge it. And then he raised his sword to her. She dodged it as well.

This went on for some time, even some guards showed up to watch the spar. Nighttime almost came when the orange of the sunset turned dark blue. Four torches were lit up at the corners of the garden. Its warm glow reflected off the blades of the two spar partners.

Finally, Marisa saw an opening as Joshua had held his sword to his side for a brief moment. She swooped in and held the tip of her blade to his throat.

The two were exhausted from the long fight and were breathing heavily against each faces'.

"Well done." Joshua said, smirking.

Marisa didn't say anything and turned around, putting her sword back into its sheath.

"That was a good battle, did you practice or something?"

She recalled back to the day's earlier events, when she and Gerik had faced the 5 gorgons.

"A bit. Gerik and I- Oof!" Marissa had turned around to face Joshua, and in the process of doing so, she tripped over one of the stone tiles.

Joshua, seeing Marisa falling over, let go of his sword and caught her. Joshua had prepared himself too late, and was taken aback to the weight of the fall and found himself falling backwards.

Marisa landed safely on top of his chest while he moaned in pain.

Again? Marisa was rarely clumsy. Clumsiness was a sign of weakness for her and having to fall over her own feet twice in a day frustrated her.

Then, she remembered back to when she tripped in the sand. She also noticed how defensive the gorgons looked, as if they were protecting something...

"Joshua." Marissa pulled herself up against Joshua so she was at eye level with him.

"Um? Yeah?"

"Gorgons. They lay eggs don't they?"

"Yeah, they do. ..Why?"

"Earlier, me and Gerik fought off some gorgons. I think they laid some eggs in the sand."

"Oh… You know they hatch within 24 hours once they're laid right? And those things are nasty once they're hatched…"

"Yes. I have to go and destroy them."

"Nuh uh, I'm not letting you go by yourself, especially with the night out. I'm coming too."

"But you're King. You have to stay protected."

"Marisa, you're making me sound like some kind of wimp. Of course I'm going to bring along some of the guards. Now do you know the way?"

Marisa didn't want Joshua to go, what if something happened to him like what happened to Gerik earlier? She couldn't help but feel responsible for Gerik's unfortunate demise.

But Joshua was stubborn and she knew that.

After a moment of hesitation, "yes. I'll lead the way."

"Good. …Now would you like to get off of me?"

Marissa looked around, she was too caught up with her thoughts that she hadn't noticed that she was on top of him.

She got up, blushing. She walked over to pick up her sword, hiding her face from Joshua.

"Brandon! Summon of 15 men, and bring torches. As well as 5 wyven riders to scout the towns area."

She turned around to face him.

"Now, would you like to lead the way?" his hand was stretched out towards her. She nodded.

It was dangerous to travel in the desert at night. And with probably dozens of ready to hatch baby gorgons out there, it just made the desert more dangerous. Marisa knew that. And she was pretty sure Joshua did too.

"Two kilometers east of town. We should be close." Marissa said.

"Alright men! Be cautious. If you see anything that looks like a gorgon or an egg, kill it."

"Yes, King Joshua!" the 15 men shouted together.

Marisa saw how Joshua flinched when they said 'King Joshua'.

I guess he's not used to being called 'King' just yet.

Marisa heard a soft hissing sound in the darkness. She raised her left arm to shush the group.

It was quiet except for the crackling of the torches held by the guards. The fire light could only carry out so far, it's orange glow casted 5 feet around the group.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, a snake like figure flew out at her from her right. She quickly unsheathed her sword and in one fluid motion, sliced the baby gorgon in half.

It fell to the ground. Twitching, before he turned into ashes.

She could hear the group getting their weapons ready.

Now there were hisses heard everywhere. They were out there, in the darkness waiting for them.

"Well isn't this just a pain in the butt?" She heard Joshua mumble to himself. With the torch in his left hand, and his sword in the other, Joshua ran out in the darkness.

What is he doing?

Then all of the guards mimicked the King's action.

Stupid. Just stupid.

Without any options left, she did the same. Torch in her right hand, and her blade in the other.

At least 5 baby gorgons leaped at her, she quickly dodged all of them, slicing and dicing them afterwards.

She saw something shiny glimmering the fire's warm glow. It was an egg. She quickly rushed over to it and stabbed her sword into it. She heard a low grunting noise behind her and knew another gorgon was about to attack to her. She turned around, with her sword ready but found another sword in front of her, with yellow gooey liquid on it.

"Got your back." Joshua said. She looked to the right, where he was standing. He winked at her, his crimson eye shimmering against the fire's light.

"Oh, and sorry about that." She didn't know what he was talking about it, but then she felt something wet matted against her forehead. She reached up to touch it. The baby gorgon Joshua had killed exploded its blood onto her face.

Before she could say something to him, he had already resumed fighting the gorgons that were jumping towards them.

She bent down to the sand to dig up for any more eggs. She found 13, and destroyed them all, watching as they popped then turn into grey ashes.

The battle died down, and the hissing had stopped.

Marisa looked around and saw that everyone had stopped fighting, but were looking around to search any more remaining monsters.

"Scout the area, make sure none are left!" Joshua ordered.

After looking around and not finding anymore eggs or gorgons, the troop headed back to the castle.

Marisa entered her room, which was already lit with candles everywhere by the maids.

She walked towards the body length mirror and saw she was covered in the yellow goo. She undressed herself and headed towards the bathroom within her room. The huge bucket was already filled with water and was deciding whether she should wash herself first or her clothes.

There was a knock on her door.

Who could that be?

She slipped on her nightgown, not wanting to put on the sticky, dirty clothes and opened the door.

"Marisa, I- Oh…" Joshua looked surprised, she stared as his eyes as it made its way downwards. She figured he was staring as her breasts. She guessed it wasn't his fault. She was wearing her overexposing nightgown.

"What do you want?" Marisa said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Um," Joshua looked back up to make eye contact. "I just wanted to say what a good job you did tonight. Thanks to you, the townspeople are safe."

"You're welcome." Marisa felt uncomfortable standing in her skimpy nightgown in front of Joshua.

"Is that it?"

"No. You won today's match. What would you like your prize to be?"

Marisa had completely forgotten about their spar. She didn't have anything in particular in mind. She stared off to side to think of something.

"If you don't have anything, I have an offer that you might like."

She looked up at Joshua, she wondered what this offer was.

"The men that came out with us tonight were impressed with your sword skills and they would like it if you could teach and train them."

Marisa stiffened up. She liked the idea of bettering the knights of Jehanna, but she didn't like interacting with people.

"What… Would I have to do?"

"Well, we can work with whatever schedule you want. You'll just help them perfect their skills and whatnot."

"Um…"

"You don't have to take it if you don't want. It's up to you!"

Marisa felt pressured; she didn't want to keep Joshua waiting for an answer.

"Okay."

"W- Really?" He sounded surprised. Maybe too surprised.

"Yeah, let's start tomorrow. At noon."

"Okay! In the ball room?" Joshua said excitedly.

"Sure."

"Don't worry, I'll be there to, you know, to observe."

Marisa didn't say anything and closed the door.

"G'night Marisa!" Joshua called as she closed the door.

What did I get myself into?

A/N:Eh, Rather than having people turn to actual stone, I made Gerik paralyze, which is kinda like turning into stone? Iunno, but I couldn't have Marisa carry a Gerik stone on her back! Ohh, the torture. Also, monsters turning into grey ashes after they die? *shrugs* Why not?

Hope you've enjoyed this!