To Simply Unkown: I would have replied directly it your review was signed, so I'll just put my response here.

Yes, I do pretty much have my pairings picked out, including Aly's (He's introduced in this chapter), but i won't tell the rest because that kills the fun! I'm literally at the second to last chapter of the game (#24) in Classic Mode because I'm a sucker and like to restart the map whenever someone kicks the bucket.

I know I said these would be short, but this one had a ton of characters introduced in it so it stretched on. Sorry!


Journal Entry #3

I cannot stress this first part as super important any harder. Possible-amnesiac me of the future, pay attention to what I'm about to write. Today, the day we started our march to Regna Ferox, I may have found the man I wish to spend the rest of my life with. Yes, I know this is sudden, but I'm very serious right now. VERY. He may not think of me in the same way now, but he'll come around. Eventually. I know there are probably social taboos and possible laws involving a knight marrying someone beneath his status, but I don't care if I have to study Ylissean law books all night if it means I can find a loophole of some sort! Before I go to into details about him, I should write what events led up to this. And Chrom's starting to look at me funny, so I should probably calm down. I apparently make weird faces when I'm writing about some things.

We got to the capital of Ylisse yesterday at around noon. All I can say is Ylisstol was huge! Everywhere I looked, there were big brick buildings, and banners, and flags, and people. Some were selling wares like swords or healing tonics, others just milling around and enjoying the day. A few even waved to us as we passed them by. I guess they're familiar with the Shepherds after being protected by them for a while. And on the top of a large hill was an actual castle, with arches and towers and a stone wall around it. I just sort of gaped at everything, trying to take a mental picture of it all to last forever. Sully parted with the group soon after we entered the city, with Virion trailing behind. I had no idea where they went to, but Lissa said she'd show me later. Thankfully, the area didn't seem affected by the night before's quakes and fire storms (or the zombie infestation).

And then the Exalt showed up, surrounded by Knights and strange soldiers on Pegasi (Pegasus Knight is the term, right?) wielding lances and swords. I was told that Lady Emmeryn (the Exalt) was the ruler of Ylisse and served as symbol of peace to her people- a constant reminder of the first Exalt who helped the divine dragon end the coming of the Fell Dragon long ago. (Frederick told me all of this. Maybe he's nicer than he first came off as...) No wonder everyone in the immediate area looked so happy when they saw her. She was pretty much the only person who could resist going to war with Plegia immediately. She even looked serene, with her light green hair and eyes giving her an almost calming aura. She had the same symbol Chrom had on his shoulder on her forehead. (I wonder if it hurt to get a tattoo there. Lady Emmeryn must be super devoted to her country, I guess.)

And then Lissa dropped a metaphorical lightning bolt on me by casually telling me that Lady Emmeryn was her sister. Which of course made her a princess and Chrom a prince and I really hate being out of the loop. Not cool, guys! Realizing that I had been informal with royalty, I immediately started apologizing (because going to the dungeons would be terrible, and I'm not cut out for prison anyway.) But Chrom just laughed me off and said he didn't like formalities. It does explain why Frederick hasn't turned them into Silver Lance shish kabobs after all the teasing and poking he's endured. He's kind of obligated to protect them. Anyway, we followed the Exalt back to the palace to give a report on the current situation. The inside of the palace was just as pretty as the outside. The halls were long and covered in red carpet, the walls decorated with tapestries of heroes and dragons. Lady Emmeryn was very warm with all of us, personally greeting everyone in our group. Chrom told her that the bandits were taken care of, but the borders still needed watching. The white haired, lightly armoured woman (I now know her name is Phila) standing beside Lady Emmeryn apologized for letting the bandits slip through her Pegasus Knights. She was apparently focused on guarding the Exalt, which wasn't really a bad thing. And then of course Lissa puts the spotlight on me by saying how I helped them out, with Chrom jumping in to say he was officially making me a Shepherd. I could have died of embarrassment when Emmeryn personally thanked me. And just as I was basking in admiration, Frederick had to completely ruin the moment by saying I might be a Pegian spy. (And to think I was starting to like you...) Emmeryn said that if Chrom trusted me, then so would she, but she thanked Frederick for being cautious. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him (It wouldn't have helped the situation) and thanked the Exalt instead.

Turing to more serious subjects, we found out that the zombies have spread all over Ylisse. Emmeryn and Chrom went to a council to discuss matter, and Lissa dragged me off to who knows where. We ended up going to a large, single story building nearby the castle: The Shepherds' garrison. It was filled with crates and simple furniture, with weapons and other supplies scattered around. The garrison had a main room for gatherings and a few hallways that led to the barracks, a kitchen, and bathrooms. Outside was a simple training area. A couple of people (Sumia and Vaike) were hanging around in the main area, where we entered, and a third came rushing in soon after. Maribelle was very protective of Lissa and went on about how incredibly worried she was when we were gone (not me, just Lissa).

Maribelle was a noble, right down to her clothing choice. I wondered what a "sophisticated lady" such as herself was doing in a garrison. She had her dark blonde hair tied back and she always looked like she was haughty about something. She carried around a pink parasol and was obsessed with manners.

Vaike was pretty much the polar opposite of her. He's loud, cocky, blonde, tanned, obnoxious, and doesn't wear a shirt most of the time. His weapon of choice was an axe and he talks in the third person, referring to himself as 'Teach' sometimes. He's not very smart though...He's a generally nice guy when you get to know him.

Sumia is...uh...I'll just describe her appearance first. She has light brown hair she keeps down and dark brown eyes, dressed in light but still somewhat solid pearl tinted armor. ...I don't want to sound mean, but she's a klutz. That's the only term I can accurately describe her with. She trips over quite literally nothing and breaks things all the time. This somehow gets worse whenever Chrom is nearby (which I didn't think was possible). Sumia tries hard though (sometimes too hard), and she really cares about people and animals, especially horses.

According to Maribelle, Sumia was apparently worried about Chrom during the time he was gone. Lissa teased her over it for a bit, but she denied it was anything more than concern for the captain. She's not smitten with Chrom at all. Nope. Not in the slightest.

They finally realized that I was standing around and Lissa introduced me, making me sound like the greatest thing since the shield was invented. Vaike, of course takes the opportunity to show off his belching skills. I admitted that he was pretty impressive, but Maribelle was less amused and left the room. I think she's angry with me now... Oh well, maybe she'll come around later. Chrom came back from the meeting and Sumia immediately faceplanted trying to walk across the room to him. He thinks it's because of her boots that she trips so much. Silly Chrom. He has literally no idea that she likes him. I think it's kind of cute, in an awkward sort of way (even though I'm almost as awkward as her sometimes. I'm such a hypocrite). Anyway, Chrom announced that we were going on a volunteer mission to Regna Ferox the next day to petition for their allegiance just in case things went south with Plegia. It was a northern united kingdom where many warriors lived, so they would be good to have on our side in a fight. Everyone still in the room wanted to come of course except Sumia, but Chrom managed to sway her into just following us if she didn't think she could fight yet.

Chrom also handed me a large box, saying that Emmeryn wanted to give it to me. It turned out to be full of huge books on tactics, maps and historical records. And at the very bottom was a wooden board that looked like a chess set. I'd have to look into it later. Seeing as there was limited space in the Barracks, the Shepherds were forced to pair up in each bedroom. The only open rooms for me that were designated for girls were Maribelle's and Sumia's. The other room was Sully's and another person named Miriel's. I decided to pick Sumia as a roommate, mostly because Maribelle probably wouldn't have appreciated it if I moved in with her. I think Lissa stays there too sometimes, so I didn't want to inconvenience her either. Sumia didn't seem bothered by me so I guess it was a good choice. I brought my things to my new room in Ylisstol but didn't bother unpacking them, since we were leaving anyway. After the events of last night, I went to sleep pretty quickly.

The next day, we packed up all the supplies we needed in the caravan and were standing just outside the city, about to start our march north, when he came. His name is Stahl, and he's amazing. I have no idea why I think he's so great. I just do. Maybe it's his messy brown hair that is never in any sort of order, or his dark green Cavalier armor, or maybe his deep brown eyes that somehow make me incapable of intelligent thought.

So yeah, as soon as he ran up to us, I zoned out. I think Vaike said he forgot to tell Stahl that we were leaving today. Maybe. I was too busy standing there like an idiot. And then Stahl said that he had missed breakfast trying to get here on time. Isn't he so intelligent? Not a lot of people know how important breakfast is. I could listen to him talk about food all day... And then I finally spoke up, only to ask him what his name was. Of all the things I could have said, I chose that. I could just hit myself! Chrom introduced him and then Stahl said he heard about me from Miriel. Hopefully about how awesome a Tactician I am, right? Right? A girl can dream, can't she?

So now we're all marching to Regna Ferox, me fighting against the urge to walk right next to Stahl, but then he might see what I'm writing, and I'm pretty sure I can't talk correctly around him anyway...I think Lissa wants to talk to me about something, she's waving really frantically at me. I swear if she brings up how out of it I looked this morning in front of Stahl, I will spontaneously combust out of sheer embarrassment.

Love Struck and Still Recovering

Aly


Yeah, my romance is...ridiculous, so don't take Aly too seriously here. This fanfic does have Humor as a sub genre. XD She'll mellow out. Maybe.