Hello everyone! I'm back with another chapter! Man this one took forever to get done. School, Games, Fire Emblem Heroes are all taking time away from writing this. Am I doing a good job on this? I'm not really too sure anymore at this point, but I'm confident that people like it. Well enough rambling... Enjoy.
Chapter 8 – Elise
~ Corrin's Room: 8:00 PM ~
Time here in the Northern Fortress seemed to pass by slowly for Corrin late tonight. He was looking at some pictures Elise had drawn for him a few years back, and he couldn't help but shed a tear because of how long he'd been waiting to see his little sister again. She visited him the most out of all of them – nearly every week in fact. However, the last two years she stopped visiting him because she had been practicing her healing skills to help the army stay alive due to her Father's command.
'It's been at least two years since her last visit. I wonder how much Elise has matured since I last saw her. I hope nothing had happened to her…' he thought as he wiped his tear.
He set the drawings back on his drawer and walked over to the roaring fireplace. Just as he was about to warm himself near the fire he heard a knock on his door. Gunter stepped inside with his usual stoic face with Flora at his side.
"Lord Corrin, please follow me downstairs," said Gunter.
"What's wrong? Has something happened?" asked Corrin while walking toward the old knight.
"No. Nothing bad I assure you. Please this way," as he extended his left hand out the door gesturing him to leave his room.
"Alright." He walked outside where Flora was waiting. He didn't see Felicia anywhere, so he assumed she was busy with something. They began following Gunter through the dimly lit hallways while maintaining small talk with each other.
"Hello milord. How are you feeling?" she asked. "Your eyes look a little watery."
Corrin stared at her for a moment before looking at the ground rubbing his eyes with his hands. He sniffed before he answered her question. "To be honest, I was just thinking about all the time I spent with my little sister Elise. She used to pay me visits every single week up until two years ago. I never realized how much I missed seeing her until I looked at all the drawings she gave me whenever she came to play or talk with me. Her last gift to me was the flower band she made with Camilla's help."
Flora blinked her eyes while processing what Corrin said. She wondered if his siblings were extremely attached to him. Considering that he was in a far-away place separated from his family she felt the same when she and her sister were going to be his retainers. The only difference is that Felicia was dragged along with her. Corrin on the other hand was never to be allowed outside with his family. Never to have the feeling of being able to go anywhere his brothers or sisters wanted him to go. There was so much he wanted to do, so much he wanted to see. She could empathize how he was feeling slightly.
She grabbed Corrin's hand which made him look up at her feeling sad and confused at her gesture. "I know the feeling Corrin. Well… being separated by family I mean. Still, didn't you say that they were going to be here soon?" she asked. Corrin felt his sorrow diminishing as she spoke the truth. They were going to be here sometime this week.
"I know. I just can't help but remember what we used to do in the past."
"It happens Corrin. Whether we want to remember or not. You will see them again soon. I'm looking forward to meeting them as well as Felicia. Though she was afraid of your eldest brother based on your description of him."
Corrin laughed at the thought of Felicia fearing Xander. Sure, he's had an intimidating face that left people were afraid to approach him at times, but deep down he cared for the entire country of Nohr. The only problem he had was relaxing; knowing when to rest. Training and studying to be the future Crown Prince of Nohr put a major weight on his shoulders, but Corrin believed his brother could tolerate the stress of it all.
"Yeah… she'll get used him after a few visits. What I'm more worried about is Camilla. She has this… overbearing protection over me." He let go of Flora's hand and scratched the back of his head. He felt a small drop of sweat appear from his forehead just thinking about it. "I know she loves me dearly, and I'm grateful for it, but there are times when I try to be mature around her, and… she just calls me 'cute' and does something that causes me to fluster horribly. It's really embarrassing whenever Leo and Xander are around when she does that kind of stuff to me." He explained while his cheeks were blushing.
Flora laughed at the young prince's over-doting sister troubles. She found it sweet and humorous that he has siblings that truly care for him no matter what they do to make him more awkward than he already was. 'Now that I notice it. I used to do that with Felicia as well. How quickly time has passed since we were so little…' she thought. "Oh don't worry Lord Corrin! I'm sure it's how she shows that she loves you as her little brother. She does that to the rest of your siblings, doesn't she?"
He looked up as he remained in wonder. "Maybe to Leo and Elise, but not Xander," He looked at her again. "She does it to me the most because… well you know. A-Anyway I hope she tries to be nice to you and Felicia."
"I'll make sure that she approves of us looking after you. You have my word on that."
"Alright. Let's go now shall we?" Feeling confident that Flora reassured him of his trouble they both went downstairs where Gunter had been waiting for them.
~ First Floor: 8:20 PM ~
As they neared closer to the first floor, Corrin began to hear someone giggling in the distance. He couldn't be sure of who it was. Flora looked at her master with a grin on her face.
'No. They're not supposed to be here yet… Unless…' Corrin thought.
When they arrived at the main entrance of the fortress, He saw Felicia having a small conversation with… Corrin's eyes widened as he spotted his little sister, Elise, clutching her Heal staff tightly staring at Felicia. She seemed very happy from what he could tell on her face. She giggled again from the story that Felicia was telling her, and titled her head to the right when she heard footsteps approaching from the staircase. She gasped in excitement as she saw who she'd been wanting to see for two years.
"BIG BROTHER!" she yelled excitedly as she made a mad dash for him while knocking Felicia down in the process.
'It looks like her childish nature hasn't changed a bit…' he thought putting a small grin on his face. He spread his arms out to give her a hug; however, he realized that was a bad idea. Elise leaped in the air and tackled Corrin to the ground giving him the greatest bear hug she could despite her size. Corrin grunted through the pain on his back, but perished the thought as his heart was cherishing this moment with his littlest sibling. He wanted to cry once more.
Elise giggled at what she did and looked up at Corrin's face feeling excited to play with him like they used to. "Hi Corrin! I'm so happy to see you again! Did you miss me? Did you?" she asked eagerly.
Corrin laughed and patted Elise on the head with his left hand while holding her with his right arm. "Of course I missed you Elise. I was wondering why you weren't visiting me these past two years. How have you been?"
"Just great! Everyone's going to be here tomorrow to visit you. I came here early with some of the soldiers who dropping off supplies to the fortress." She explained with a smile.
Corrin raised a brow, "Does Xander know that you're here?"
"Mm-hmm! He was against it at first, but Camilla insisted that she let me come early. So here I am."
"Well if everyone gets here safely, then that's all that matters. I see that you met one of my new maids," he looked past Elise's head to find Flora helping Felicia back on her feet. She felt dazed for a moment, but shook the confusion off and rubbed her forehead. "Was she nice to you?" he asked.
"She's very nice. A little awkward, but I can tell she has a good heart in her. When did she become your maid? I never seen her before when I came to visit you all those years ago."
"Well… she and her sister became my retainers last year to be exact. I don't know if it was out of their own free will which worries me a little for their safety. But I gave them my word that I wouldn't treat them like servants. They're my friends, and I want them to be comfortable living here with me like Jakob and Gunter." He mused while staring at his little sister.
"I wish you could meet my retainers… They are the best two people I could ever ask for! I don't know what I'd do without them."
"Well I hope to meet them someday. Come on let's go."
They both got up and walked over to the twins as they chatted with each other. Felicia looked to her left and spotted Corrin holding Elise's hand.
"Ah. Hello Corrin." She bowed her head while giving him a smile. "I- I met your little sister. She's full of energy isn't she?" she questioned while looking at Elise.
Elise looked at Felicia then giggled as she spoke in her mind, "Well… I may be a bit immature at times, but I love having fun with my siblings. Especially Corrin. He spends the most of his time with me while the rest of my siblings are doing something important for Father. Besides he's the best brother in the whole world! I love him so much." she finished while hugging him and nuzzling his chest with her head.
"Awwwwww!" Flora and Felicia said while their hearts were being melted by the cuteness overload. If there was some type of tome that could take pictures this would be the perfect time to do it. Corrin couldn't help but blush at the statement. Elise truly loved Corrin to the point of hero worship. In fact, she did this many times during her visits. Now he knew why he was considered the favorite in the family…
'I might want to take note of that before Xander, Leo, and Camilla show up,' he thought while holding the long hair pig-tailed princess. "Well now that you're with us, why don't we get you something to eat? I'm sure that you quite hungry from your trip here."
"Yeah! What are we going to have?" she asked.
Corrin looked at his maids and they both nodded their heads signaling they would make something special for Elise. "It's going to be a surprise. Let's go to my room for now and play for a while all right?"
"Okay! I'll race you upstairs!" Corrin watched his sister run up the steps quickly managing not trip along the way.
"Give me a minute. I'll be right there in a little bit." He turned to his maids who watched the little princess disappear up the second floor. "Well that's my little sister Elise for ya. She didn't give you that much trouble did she Felicia?"
"N- Not at all milord. She's a little hyperactive than what I originally thought."
"It's good thing there's only one of her… If there were more I'm pretty sure I would drown in sibling love…" he stated while scratching his head.
"Isn't that your big sister's job?" asked Flora in a teasing manner.
Corrin sighed as he closed his eyes "… I don't even know anymore to be honest."
"BIG BROTHER! C'mon Hurry Up!" shouted Elise while waving her hand.
"Okay. I'm on my way!" he shouted. He looked back at his maids once more. "Uh, I'll see you both later. You guys feel free to join us later when you're done making Elise her meal." With that he jogged up the stairs after Elise where her laughter was roaming throughout the hallways.
I hope I got Elise's character down within this chapter. It was a little hard trying to come up with something new to write I'm not going to lie.
Anyway, I'm not sure if I will be uploading something in the next couple of months because you know... school.
I just wanted to upload this chapter just to make sure that people have something to read with Corrin, Felicia, and Flora in it.
Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this. Until next time...
-MattTheCat aka KingKoupon