They had arrived at inn yesterday afternoon and with it now being halfway through the day, Alice was finally coming around. Her eyes opened slowly to see Asbel sitting in a chair next to her bed and watched him jump to his feet. "You're awake!" He exclaimed, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Alice are you okay?" He called out to the others who were in a connecting room.
Once everyone was in Alice's room, she forced herself to sit up and immediately had Cheria tell her to take it easy and lay back down. "N-No, Cheria… I'll be okay." She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and looked around. "Where are we? What happened to Richard..?" She added with a slight feeling of regret.
"We're in Yu Liberte's inn." Malik answered, "Your brother flew off after completely drained the valkines." Alice flinched as Malik called Richard her brother and he sat down on the bed next to her. "I heard what Richard said about you calling him your brother. Don't think about it too much, alright?" He put his arm around her shoulder, "You're brother isn't himself."
It was almost as if Alice was ignoring the Captain because all she was focusing on was the strange presence next to Pascal. He stepped forward and Alice realized it was Asbel's younger brother, Hubert. "Princess Alice," He began, giving a short bow before remembering her request to be treated normally. "I understand you are young but the people of Strahta strongly demand for you to address them about the situation caused by the king."
Alice nodded, "I guess that would help put them at ease for me to speak to them…" She figured she could at least try to tell people that Richard wasn't in his right mind. "Don't mind my rudeness, Hubert but… Why are you here?"
Hubert adjusted his glasses as he stood in front of Alice, "Orders from President Paradine to accompany Asbel and all of you to Fendel. We figured that's where King Richard is headed as he has already drained Strahta and Windor's valkines cryas." He snapped his fingers above Alice's head, "Look up here." As Alice looked up, he pushed his glasses up his nose as he pushed Alice's eyelids apart, looking into her eyes. "I've never seen something like this!" He exclaimed.
"Even Windor has been drained…?" She couldn't believe that Richard would drain Gloandi. Alice figured that Barona would be in an enormous amount of chaos without the use of the valkines cryas. It was definitely something that troubled her mind.
His brother stepped forward, peering around Hubert's shoulder. "What do you mean?" He strained to see whatever Hubert was seeing but found nothing. "All you're doing is making her eye dry." He replied.
"No, look closely." He gestured to the iris of Alice's eye where a strange green and blue swirl filtered through her light brown eyes. "I'm pretty sure that isn't a normality of her eye color." He mentioned. Hubert moved his hand from Alice's eye after allowing everyone else to get a look. "So this is what Eleth Poisoning looks like…"
Pascal shook her head, "No, it's not Eleth Poisoning, little bro!" She exclaimed as she crossed her arms. "It's just overexposure to eleth. It shouldn't be too harmful but it still isn't great if she already has an Eleth Heating Disorder." Pascal sighed.
Curious, Sophie stepped forward to also get a look at Alice and notice she was looking a little paler than usual. "Cheria, look. She looks like a ghost." Sophie pointed out. "Pascal, will Alice be okay even though she has so much eleth?" Pascal gave her a quick nod.
Hubert placed his hands on his hips, "I don't mean to rush you, Alice but would you mind addressing the public right away? We need to get to Fendel as fast as possible to prevent King Richard from absorbing that valkines as well." He offered his hand to help up the young girl and she graciously took it and steadied herself.
"Alright," Alice began, "I'll address them."
President Paradine stood in front of a podium at the front of his home and began to explain the situation on a very shallow level of detail. He quickly shifted the topic to Alice and introduced her as she approached the podium on the raised platform. President Paradine took his place behind her on a chair as the much younger girl adjusted the microphone to her height.
Alice took a deep breath, she had never addressed the public without her brother or father but she needed to be strong. She cleared her throat and began. "P-People of Strahta," Her voice was a bit shaky as she gripped the sides of the podium out of nervousness and faintness. "I realize that the sudden appearance of my older brother; King Richard and my presence in Strahta is an unlikely coincidence."
"But please," Alice continued, "My brother is not in his right mind! I've known my brother and this is something he would never do. Ask anyone from Windor and they will tell you that he has always been kind as a prince and this is likely the stress of coming into power during a quarrel with two other nations! I give you my word that I am by no means part of my brother's actions here in Strahta and what he's doing surprises me just as much it does you."
The president made sure Alice was finished and opened the gathering for any questions they might have for the princess. One stood and inquired about why Alice had chosen to leave Windor now as it was a known fact she hardly ever let Barona never mind Windor. She tried to think of the right answer, "It's true I've never been outside of Windor or at least I don't remember leaving my country but this is only due to certain circumstances that are classified information of the royal family of Windor." She answered.
"Listen to you talk!" A man spoke up, startling Alice. "How can you say that anything that relates to this is classified information?! Obviously those circumstances have something to do with the King's actions here and we demand you tell us what said circumstances were!" The crowd agreed in a chorus of cheers and Alice found herself in a corner.
"I-I…" Alice stuttered. She couldn't think of how to address the person but looked back at President Paradine who gave a gesture for her to assert herself. Alice tightened her grip on the podium and stood straight although it pained her to do so. "Whether it concerns you or not, secrets of the Royal Family of Windor are to remain just that; secrets!" She yelled. "The information being concealed is very sensitive and cannot be trusted to the common public of another country!"
Just then an older man spoke up, "Why should we take your word that you have nothing to do with this anyway!?" He shouted. "I've been to Windor and I've spoken with citizens of Barona! Everyone I've talked to has told me time and time again that you and the King of Windor have always been close and never turned against one another so why should we believe you?!"
Alice seemed more angered than nervous now and Captain Malik took notice that what the older fellow had said hit home with her. "Do you really want to know why you should trust me?!" She roared, "My own brother attacked me back at the valkines cryas!" Suddenly the crowd fell silent. "My brother absorbed the eleth in Duplemar and attacked me when I tried to stop him! So do you still want to question me about whether or not I am a trusted ally of Strahta?"
Malik crossed his arms and seemed impressed with Alice assertion. "I've never heard her so enraged." He commented, "Actually, I don't think she's ever been angry." He added. Asbel seemed to agree, noticing that it was indeed the first time anyone had seen her so worked up about something to the point of yelling.
Out of the silence, one woman dared to speak her question to the angered princess. "So, Princess Alice…" She began. The crowd had definitely lost their thunderous personality now that they knew what the situation was. "You say we can trust you and I'm willing to believe you but what do you plan to do about the situation? Do you plan on stopping His Majesty King Richard?"
"My brother has drained both Strahta and Windor's valkines cryas." Alice answered calmly but she looked like she was on the verge of crying. "So this is our reason to believe he would head out to Fendel next to target their valkines cryas. I plan to pursue my older brother and stop him without hurting him. Harming my brother is of course unavoidable but I refuse to believe that the only way to fixing this problem is the death of my brother. Any more questions?"
When the crowd was silent, Alice stepped down shakily from the platform and fell forward as her feet touched the last step. Luckily, Malik was there to catch her and make sure she was okay. "You did a great job, Princess." He praised, "That would have made you father proud if he had been here to see it. Are you alright?"
Alice nodded and smiled up at the Captain once she was steadied. Meanwhile, President Paradine wrapped up the gathering and the crowd began to disperse while soldiers disassembled the platform and podium. Cheria nudged Alice as she noticed a little girl and an older woman approached them. "Excuse me, your highness?"
The princess turned to her and smiled, "Oh, how may I help you?"
"I think what you're doing is very brave of you." The woman began, "You see, I used to live in Windor but came here to live with my grandchildren and I knew you when you were very young. Anyone could tell you were close to your brother and I know that bound would never change. I hope you find a way to return your brother to himself and become an important part of Windor's history; you are incredibly brave."
She kindly thanked her and saw the young girl looking up at her with wide, admiring eyes. Alice reached back and tugged the ribbon out of her hair, letting the wisps of long blonde hair fall over her shoulders. "Here," She handed the ribbon to the young girl, "I'm not going to need to tie my hair up where I'm going and it would look so pretty on you."
The grandmother placed a hand on the young girl's back and prompted her to use her manners. The little girl immediately bowed, "Thank you, Princess Alice!" She exclaimed before running off to play with other children. The grandmother bowed to Alice as well before slowly moving towards a bench to sit down.
"Wow," Hubert muttered to himself under his breath. "Despite circumstances the princess can be so kind to those of a country that had stationed itself in her own territory…" He sighed then spoke up to the others. "We should get moving; time is precious to us." Alice nodded and looked off towards the gate parallel to the one that lead to the valkines.
So this time I mean it; no updates on this aprticular story for awhile. But I do have a new fanfiction appearing soon in the Tales of Vesperia crossover section! Please go to my profile page to find an advertisement for World of Hurt, a new original fanfiction! Thank you, everyone for the views!