My Obligation
Chapter 28: Resolutions and Perspective

It was easy to get lost in the dark. Downright convenient if one was looking to avoid another. But occasionally, that which lurked and waited in worlds with everlasting night was the very same as the avoided party. And avoiding someone was akin to running from him… or her… or it as sometimes the case could be. Somehow with Fate's blessing, those run from always had the distinct privilege of crossing paths again with the cowardly individual doing the attempted escaped.

That was where Eirika found herself.

She was aware of how crippling fear could be. It could render a man to inaction or overreaction. It could topple kingdoms and villages alike. It could bring about war and consequently the grand number of casualties that came with it. Fear was undoubtedly powerful and for as strong as Renais' princess was, she wasn't immune. She'd only thought herself to be and underestimating fear turned out to be a rather poor choice.

Some fears were a little simpler in theory. Artur's fear of spiders was a good example. Forde's fear of misplaced brushes, though Eirika supposed that was more an irritation than a fear. Others were a little more solidified. Seth's concern that something would befall her, for one. Less a possibility in the present and much more a reality. It had likely torn him asunder be it in the living world or the afterlife. She'd wanted to say she had no knowledge on how that felt, but her own sensations were far too on par for her to ignore.

Before the darkness had been the voice—albeit minutely distorted—of a man she'd almost convinced herself she'd forgotten. Of course he'd never truly gone away and neither had any irrational fretting regarding him. Eirika had chosen to approach the situation as she had quite a few others: to lock up what she did not care for. That somehow the idea was if she refused to acknowledge it, then it simply didn't exist. Foolish and juvenile, she knew, but she was also under the stern belief that if she dwelled upon the things that displeased her, she could never grow as a person. The idea of progress as an individual outweighed the ever consistent obsession with a history of fears, guilt, and concerns.

But again, that was before the darkness had fallen, and it had easily supported the theory that one could not run forever. The past was bound to be brought up and trying to deny it seemed to be more than worthy of Fate's consequential punishment. Was that truly what Eirika likened it to? Karmic retribution, perhaps, or distantly L'Arachel's idea of Divine Providence. She'd always been under the impression that the former, however, was more forgiving and less likely to deal out 'just desserts.'

No amount of her excessive thought could help her pick one theory over another. If life's questions were so easy to answer, there would have been a severe lack of enigma to the idea of births, deaths, and everything that sat between beginnings and ends. The rule was to make the most of the time she'd been given and begrudgingly Eirika had to admit that she didn't believe she'd met her quota to do such a thing.

I cannot stop here. I must proceed. I will surrender to no man, no woman, and no creature from my past.

If it had been a test, she must have cleared it—and brilliantly, at that.

The world was not all light, per se, but it became significantly less dark. An arm lifted first, feeling heavier than she remembered it being and as she turned onto her right side, she realised beneath her was a bed. A soft one. Good quality, satin sheets, and most befitting of nobility. And for many moments after the discovery, she wondered if she'd simply had the longest dream in Magvel's history. When her blue eyes gradually focused, it was with disappointment that the room was certainly not hers in Renais.

In fact, she didn't recognise it in the least.

"Oh… You're awake."

It was a welcoming voice, admittedly. As she began to move, she was greeted by a pair of hands that coerced her to relax. A noticeable weight sat at the edge of the bed beside her and another set of hands joined one of hers by where the equally soft pillow supported her head.

Leonardo's… mistresses? Concubines? She couldn't think of the word for them. No term that immediately came to her mind, at any rate.

She knew the names, however, and scarcely knew the faces. They were all older than her, she was certain, and she'd remembered they were married to men whom Leonardo had forced into labour. He was dead, though, and that meant they were all free. Perhaps that explained the overly nice setting. It must have been their way of thanks. Yet there was a knot in her stomach that told her otherwise.

"Lien." It was the first name that came to mind.

The youngest looking of the trio nodded to her, as if to simply let her know which woman was which. "Your Highness." Her head inclined respectfully.

Once more Eirika attempted to sit up, and after a few attempts, the woman at her side relented and instead coaxed one of the other two to prop her pillow up, so she might sit more comfortably. When she was far more situated, she looked between the three—two at her bedside, and the one sitting on the edge of her comforter—and attempted to gather up her thoughts in a more organised fashion. But she was unsure of how to even begin, something that was beyond frustrating for her to face. Her head tipped and she eyed her hands before taking note of the dress she'd been placed into. Like the bed and the room in its entirety, it was fitting for her station. Fitting and undeniably suspicious.

She finally settled for what she thought was the simplest question, and the most important. "Where am I?"

What happened? Is Leonardo truly dead? Was that man from before just a dream? Why…?

"Port Kiris," said the older looking woman on Lien's left. "Simply no longer in a cell. Undoubtedly this is more pleasing." She motioned to herself, "I am Vosp, if you've not yet recalled."

Eirika's eyebrows furrowed and she tapped at her chin with a wistful sigh. Port Kiris was entirely the opposite of any royal kingdom. At least when it was being overrun by barbaric pirates. "I saw him die." When the three looked to her expectantly, she chose to clarify. "Leonardo. Your former master."

Lien nodded. "That is the story. You have freed our families, Princess Eirika. For that, we owe you a great amount of gratitude. It will be nice to see my husband again."

I wasn't the one who killed him, Eirika thought. Perhaps the rest of it was a dream and I really did, though.

"You look troubled," Rau observed with some concern filling her features. "I imagine that is because you know better. Our families are freed, but Leonardo's own master reigns and is the leading authority of Port Kiris."

It wasn't what she wanted to hear, but it was obvious. And slightly a relief to know she had not hallucinated anything she was a witness to. Although she couldn't confess to wanting the alternative: facing that greatest fear of hers. She looked aside with a nod and kept silence as a close ally for a few moments longer.

"All of Magvel is aware of who he is. And of the horrors he brought with him." Vosp frowned and she leaned over to tuck Eirika's hair behind her right ear. "Yet if it were not for him, you wouldn't be so currently comfortable."

And try as she might, Eirika couldn't fight a shudder that moved up along her spine. She didn't even want to know what 'comfortable' entailed as undeniably her mind thought the worst of the situation. "No matter how luxurious I may be sitting, I do not feel that the man in question is worthy of my gratitude." While she knew better than to ask, she desperately wanted to play the fool. "Have… you seen him?" The princess motioned between the three, fighting the urge to cringe.

They all nodded, but Lien's was first and the most direct. "Yes. Not the sort of man I'd care to be affiliated with. He looked hardly any different from you or me, but something wasn't right. Kept referring to himself as the Moonstone, he did. And he had an instant shining toward you, too."

Of course he did, thought Eirika as her stomach turned. Leonardo relied on necromancy to bring him from the Everlasting. Yet he looks human—not the way Monica did. It's not possible that he's entranced the entirety of Port Kiris. I refuse to believe that.

So much of her wanted to twist up as she considered her situation as a whole. One problem was out of the way, but what was left over was… Eirika couldn't face him alone. She assumed she hardly had the emotional strength to do so and while her sword arm had improved, she doubted she could take him on in a spar. Not one where she'd potentially lose her life. She had to live for Renais. Her people needed her. Her brother needed her. Seth needed her. No matter how much she wanted to turn tail and flee, she knew she was in no physical condition to do so. She ached from head to toe, and still lacked an explanation for it.

Her frown, prominent and enough to make her feel aged, remained even as she spoke up again, "General Valter. I know him well. More closely than I wish to." Her tone softened and she forced her expression to harden as she continued. "Yet there is an undeniable history between us. I must… put an end to him. A definite and swift end. Lest he acquire a power I'm unable to topple."

Vosp shook her head, "You're hardly in a state to do so, Your Majesty." She exchanged glances with the other two, who seemed to nod in agreement. Then she looked back to the teal-haired princess and tried to give her most reassuring smile. "You should rest for now. Then when you feel you're ready to face him, you may do so. Provided he does not come to see you before then. I doubt he'll be staying away for long. You slept a good deal of time and he'd had no desire to wake you from it."

I was only sleeping. Eirika tilted her head at Vosp curiously. I thought I had died, or that I was between the living and the dead. Why did I sleep for so long…?

She wanted to protest. She wanted to claim she had the strength of one hundred soldiers behind her. She wanted to say she could easily channel the grand Silver Knight and that staying at his side during the war had not been for naught. In spite of all of that, the reality of the situation sat with her and she knew very well that Vosp was right. Facing Valter in hopes of bringing him down at the current point in time was nothing short of suicide. But it seemed even if she had the wisdom not to place her sword against his lance, she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Not with how weak she felt.

"I understand," she conceded reluctantly. "I doubt I could even hold my rapier at this moment. I am not sure diplomacy will work on the man. Not… if he is anything the way I remember."

And those were the kinds of memories that Eirika didn't want to conjure up. But whether she desired it or not, she really found no other alternative. For thinking of the past inevitably caused it to arise. In order to form some plan of progress, she would have to consider all of the possibilities. Valter would fall, but in order to make him do so, she would have to remember everything that passed between them, and all of the nightmares that came with their history.

-x-x-x-

It was completely by coincidence that his eyes had found her. But it was also bound to happen eventually. Seth had told him pointedly that he was to remain in Grado, lest something should befall him on the field. And Laeron had begrudgingly conceded to the order. The entire situation had been most difficult, though. The moment Seth had gone down, it made him think of his father. Like many, he had not believed the Silver Knight would pull through and even worse, no one had been able to give a 'yay' or 'nay' over Eirika's condition. The ill upon ill made it all the more sour to swallow. At least he had known that with Seth's departure there began the step in the right direction.

He had found Tana. And he'd followed her far behind, not wanting to capture her attention. He'd seen her before with Ephraim, who'd claimed he was Eirika's twin brother, which Laeron had no trouble seeing. They did look a lot alike. So much so, in fact, that he almost saw no difference between them. In hindsight, however, Ephraim's face was so much harder and Laeron had very little difficulty in understanding that Eirika was certainly the more compassionate sibling.

The twins aside, he knew of the three Pegasus knights, the blonde-haired priestess, the cavalier who looked too young to be a member of Seth's order of knights, and an equally younger looking girl who seemed far more in control of her defences. Most of them looked like adolescents, a trait Laeron seemed to think was the explanation as to why they were all left behind. The youth had no place in the middle of skirmishes, after all, and he had no desire to quickly catch up to his death. He would see his parents one day, but not anytime in the present or the near future.

He followed Frelia's princess to the room where Seth had been stationed during his recovery and when she stopped, he did the same. Ducking out of sight, his back pressed up against the wall and only when he heard her footsteps again did he cautiously peek from his hiding spot. Flattening himself to the best of his ability, he was quiet and patient, shifting and inching until he could get within earshot. For certainly any conversation she had could quite possibly benefit him. Adults disliked giving answers to children in fear of disappointing them. And if they didn't truly, Laeron thought so when he considered how merciful and heartfelt Eirika had portrayed herself to be.

"Are you still cleaning in here?" Tana asked, unaware of the stalking child only feet behind her. Her tone was incredulous and perhaps too much like her brother, she had no desire to hide it from her companion.

Natasha turned, eyed the Pegasus knight and gave a rather soft smile. "Oh, no. Not at all. I was simply feeling a little nostalgic. Quite a lot has happened here. I'm sure you feel the same way."

Initially Tana didn't know what to say to that. Jehanna's queen was right, though. Memories indeed—the kind she didn't want to think about. Ultimately, that was impossible and any attempt to do so was would inevitably wind up fruitless. If she didn't think about it at the time, she would later on. And when Seth returned, with or without her best friend, she would have no other choice than to confront him. He had to be reminded of what his actions had done to Eirika's reputation, even as secretive as they had been about it.

"Princess Tana?" asked the priestess, patient and yet concerned.

I should talk about what's going on, but I promised Eirika I wouldn't. I should disrespect her like that. I shouldn't betray her like that, but I feel like holding onto this is far more harmful to me.

She shook her head slowly to Natasha. "I apologise. I was thinking. About everything that has happened and what will happen. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm worried."

Natasha's expression softened as she offered a slight curve in her mouth after a moment's hesitance—as if she knew she was missing something. "I wonder if there's anything I can do to help carry these concerns, so you do not claim them all for yourself." She moved from where she stood and to the bed Seth had recently graced before she sat. And there she was wistful. "As much as we may believe we're to do things without aid, we must remember that none of us are invincible beings."

"My brother certainly seems to think otherwise. At least of himself." Tana frowned with thought at the very concept. "I think many people dislike him for that mindset. Even I find him frustratingly stubborn at times. But I am only his sister and he frequently finds me to be a nuisance in return, I'm sure. Occasionally, anyway."

The blonde-haired woman lost none of her compassion, "You are both very unique. That much is certain." When Tana moved to join her, Natasha rested a hand upon the princess' shoulder. "Your brother does not throw himself into danger without thought. I doubt many of us truly worry over him too much. If anything, I would say pride outweighs fretting on every level that Prince Innes touches."

Said princess looked flattered and after a moment of consideration, she nodded. "Yes. He's impressive. In spite of that, I don't believe Eirika has ever been much swept off of her feet by him." Unable to disguise her disappointment, her expression darkened slightly. "I can't imagine what she sees when she looks at him, or if she is so blinded that she has refused to let herself look."

It didn't take a lot of guesses to determine the little stabs Tana was making. Natasha didn't reply immediately, wasn't originally sure she even should, and she had the suspicion that her hesitance was more than a little obvious. Finally, she tried to think of the most diplomatic way to respond and spoke as lightly as she could. "The heart is akin to that of the ocean. It holds many secrets and is as enigmatic as the creatures that live in it. And at the same time, it is foolish and open-minded, large and can be too easily filled. What may seem obvious to you is your perception and oft, a biased one."

When Tana began to protest, Natasha reached over and gently nudged her with a brighter smile. "Brothers and sisters have a bond and a perception that no other can compete with. It is natural you would think highly of Prince Innes. And you wish the best for him." Then her expression faded into something a little more serious and she looked to the door, catching the slightest glimpse of Laeron, who was not nearly as stealthy as he would have thought himself to be.

"Oh, the boy…" She motioned with her free hand, "Come in. You've no need to stand out there. You are welcome here."

In even the midst of Tana's surprise, Laeron tentatively took a few steps in. But when Natasha opened her arms for him, not at all ignorant of how things must have affected him, he was quick to rush over to her and bury his face in her robes of white. As a child, things were so much simpler. A mere embrace could solve all of the problems in the world. And it was a shame that adults couldn't simply find resolutions without using the ends of blades and polearms.