As it turned out, being in labor for two days with very little rest and high nerves led to exhaustion and a bit of crash. Later, Edea would recall being woken up every so often so that she could nurse, but it wasn't until well into the next morning that she awoke from sleep of her own accord, feeling not quite herself yet but still much refreshed.

Immediately, she turned her head to the right to look at the bassinet they'd left within reach of her. It was empty.

"Baby?!"

"He's here," Mahzer said, and Edea looked at her other side. Mahzer was sitting beside her, rocking the baby gently in her arms. Edea stared at his tiny form; he looked so small and peaceful there. "Ringabel just stepped out with Tiz and Agnès to drop things off at their inn and then get lunch for everyone."

"Oh…" That made sense, she supposed. The baby had been born very early in the morning, and as far as she was aware, her friends had stayed there the entire time. She had fallen asleep so quickly after giving birth she couldn't even remember them leaving. Had they? Never mind that. They were adults and could take care of themselves. There were more important questions at hand.

"How is he?"

"Very sleepy. He had a very exciting day, after all." Mahzer stood and Edea tried not to feel nervous as the baby was moved into her arms. During the times she'd been woken up to feed him, the nurses had given her instructions on how to properly hold him as well - because there was a proper way. She had to support his head, get her arm under his back and bottom, and make sure to align his ears and shoulders and hips to keep him comfortable. It was a lot to remember. She hoped she was doing it right.

However, holding him this way, with his little body crossed across her stomach seemed… easy. Almost too easy. She stroked his head with a finger, noticing not for the first time that he looked completely bald, but that his head was covered with soft downy hair almost completely invisible. It was very fair, just like Ringabel's.

The previous two days had by now, blurred together, but the minutes surrounding her son's birth were still wonderfully vivid.

He had come out screaming and fighting, nothing less than she would have expected from her offspring. The healer had laid him on her stomach, and while holding him closely in her arms, Edea had fallen in love with him immediately. He'd been so beautiful, though his limbs a bit awkward and his features squished and wrinkled from his ordeal, but still so beautiful that she'd cried. Ringabel had held them both, his own tears adding to the mess, and it was all in all, a very embarrassing few minutes until the healers had urged her to cut the cord so that the baby could be taken away to be cleaned and weighed.

He was a hefty twenty-two inches and ten pounds, which made sense to Edea, given how large her stomach had gotten during her pregnancy. Honestly, looking at him now had her marveling that he'd fit in there in the first place. For all the grief and suffering he'd brought her, the endless days of heartburn and sleepless nights of his movements, he seemed so… fragile.

He stared up at her with milky blue eyes, one tiny little hand peeking out of the blanket that he'd been swaddled in. Edea poked at it, delighting in the way he instinctively grasped her finger tightly. Strong grip! He was going to be an excellent swordfighter.

After giving birth, she had been cleaned and stitched, a concept that might have horrified her when she was younger. Hearing it last night had been the least of her worries, not when she just wanted to hold her baby to her chest. In Eternia, everyone knew that the best way to keep a newborn warm and healthy was for its' parents to hold it to their skin, even though the hospital did have heated bassinets. Edea would use them when necessary, but for now, she wanted to just hold the baby, given everything she'd gone through to get to this point.

"He looks a lot like Ringabel," Mahzer mused, pulling Edea out of her thoughts.

"He does." Now that his features weren't so squished, and his color was nice and human, more of his facial features were coming out. His eyes were blue - but then, she'd heard that many babies had blue eyes when newborn - and the shape of them were perhaps a bit more like her own, but everything else about him screamed Ringabel. The shape of his nose, his cheekbones, his hair… he looked like his father in miniature, and suddenly, Edea found herself sobbing, holding him tightly.

Mahzer patted her shoulder.

The baby was adorable, which meant Ringabel had been adorable - and she should have known that, because he was aggravatingly handsome as an adult - and looking at the tiny figure in his arms, she couldn't fathom any mother not loving him. How could Ringabel's mother have left him the way she had? She could never, ever do that to her own child. She would protect him with her life. If anything were to happen to him, she would kill everyone involved and also herself.

"You're going to make him upset if you cry too much," Mahzer finally said, and Edea leaned back against fresh, clean sheets that had been changed out after her days-long labor, scrubbing at her face so that she could look down at the baby who was nudging at his face with his hand, and making the cutest, tiniest little noises. "Look at the way he's fussing; he's probably hungry. Why don't you feed him?"

She vaguely remembered how to do that from the times she'd been woken up in the night. "Oh, right." It was just like sword forms, she decided a few moments later. Practice made perfect.

She was still in the middle of nursing her son when the door opened. "We're back!" Ringabel called, voice quiet, from the other side of the privacy curtain. "How are they doing?"

"I'm awake," Edea replied for Mahzer, and when Ringabel rounded the curtain, her heart did a flip-flop at the wide smile on his face, his eyes sweeping over her form. They lingered on the baby she held.

"So you are!" Ringabel had in his arms a couple of bags that he crossed the room to set down on the table. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better. I've had so much weight taken off my… stomach."

Agnès and Tiz were right behind him, each holding a bag as well. "Oh, Edea!" Agnès said, following Ringabel's suit to set down her burden. "You're awake."

"Good morning, Edea," Tiz chimed in.

"What did you guys get?" Edea asked, wishing that she could bounce a bit in anticipation, but trying to be mindful of the baby, who was firmly latched on. "Anything exciting?"

"Lunch for everyone." Ringabel had quickly come back to her side, leaning over the bed and kissing her cheek. His hand settled on the baby's head, stroking it gently with his thumb. "You seem to be in a good mood."

"It could be worse," Edea decided. Yes, she felt sore and still very tired, and there was still that restless sort of energy within her, a feeling she'd grown used to. It bubbled under her skin, close to bursting out with the realization that she no longer carried all that extra weight in her belly. However, she was happy. "It could be better, though. What did you get me?"

They had gotten her a full steak meal, complete with starchy potatoes and tonnes of gravy on the side. It also had a dessert, one of the biggest creme brulees that Edea had seen in her life. All of it went onto a bed tray where she could eat one-handed, with her other hand cradling the nursing baby close. Maybe she wasn't technically supposed to be eating such heavy meals just yet, but as long as she was quick, no one would know.

Her friends pulled up chairs beside her to eat as well, and between bites filled her in on what had happened in Florem. Mahzer sat to the side, listening to them as she ate a salad.

"So that's it?" Edea asked, mopping up some mashed potatoes and gravy with one of the last pieces of steak. "Olivia's going to go stay in Ancheim while Alternis looks to sweep the monster out?"

"At least once he returns to Florem to begin everything, yes."

The baby was beginning to slow down, his eyes fluttering shut. Edea glanced at him, then back at her husband. "What do you mean, 'returns to Florem'? Where is he?" Didn't he know how to tell a story? You had to include everything!

Ringabel looked a bit guilty, his eyes flicking between her and the baby. "Well… we were on route to Eternia when you went into labor. He followed us and switched airships. He's piloting Grandship to Eternia now, I imagine. He should arrive within the next two days, if the weather permits."

Edea gaped at him. How could he have left that out?! He'd come back on the airship Dark Knight?" That was why the airship had sounded so loud and low over the city! The airship Dark Knight had been built for speed, and was only large enough to fit a standard squad of soldiers and their supplies, with little extra space. She had been on it only a few times, but enough to know that it was of a size that could be brought in very close quarters if the pilot knew what he was doing.

He was very lucky that she was holding a baby in her hands, because that meant she couldn't reach over and smack his arm for being so stupid.

"He'll be able to see the baby," Agnès reminded her, patting at Edea's leg. "Ringabel said that you were worried he might not be able to for quite some time." They had every intention of leaving this world, after all, once the Earth Crystal was awoken and the Holy Pillar summoned. Edea had worried that Alternis would prefer to stay in Florem until it was all over, using the attacks as an excuse.

"And," Rinbabel supplied, emphasizing his words. "You'll get to meet that lovely young lady Eyvel. She's on Grandship with him."

"Ugh, Ringabel. Please tell me you didn't tease him or anything about her." Knowing Alternis, he would hate having to call attention to himself by going undercover, and hate even more pretending to have affection for someone. Until recently, she hadn't even known he could have such feelings.

Ringabel faltered. "She was very helpful to us in looking for Olivia, and I think you would like her." So, not answering her question at all.

"Do you think he'll actually stick around that long?" Tiz asked, looking thoughtful. "He seems like the type to moor Grandship a few hours away, sneak into the city, and run away on his airship again."

Edea laughed. "He is sort of like that!"

Mahzer was smiling at them. "He wouldn't dare run away in the Dark Knight without reporting to Braev first, especially since Braev gave an order to the second chief to keep it grounded until he checks in. We'll think of something."

"Where is Father?" Edea asked her.

"He's gone to Central Command for the day. There was a meeting that he couldn't reschedule with the leader of the Orthodoxy Crystal Guard, and he wanted to check on things. Victor's in charge in his absence, and Victoria is resting in her chamber. He'll be back tomorrow."

"I got a photo of him with the baby," Ringabel said. "We ah, we took quite a few photos last night."

Edea had been awake long enough to see her mother hold the baby, but had missed out on seeing Braev do so! She frowned. "Was it cute, at least?"

"Adorable."

Edea grumbled. "He'd better hold the baby lots. And you!" she said to Ringabel, who had been leaning over to stroke the baby's head. He straightened up now, eyes wide. "Have you been holding him?"

"Of course I have," Ringabel replied, pouting ever so slightly. "We all have. I've had my fill for now, though; I held him most of the night while you and Mother slept. Do you think he looks like me?"

The baby was very much asleep now, his eyes closed. Edea slid a finger against his lips to break the seal and hefted him up onto her shoulder very carefully, patting his back and letting him rest there. She gave Ringabel a glance over the baby's head. "I think so, maybe just a little. He's a lot cuter than you ever were."

Ringabel didn't even look offended. He only gave her a dazzling smile, his eyes bright and proud. "He is, isn't he? He's got your eyes, darling. The perfect mixture of the two of us."

Edea ducked her head down in embarrassment, or perhaps because she once again realized that she loved this big doofus, and the people around her laughed.

"Have you decided on a name for him yet?" Agnès asked. She had moved to sit on the edge of the bed, leaning over so that she could play with the baby's feet. Edea had taken him out of the swaddling so that she could pat his back, and his spindly baby limbs hung about awkwardly. They were very tempting to play with, Edea had to admit.

"Er… no," Edea confessed. There were a few reasons for that one, one being that Eternian superstition regarding baby-naming had gotten to her after the accident. Then, she and Ringabel had been busy with planning the wedding and had decided to talk about it after their vows were done. They never had.

Ringabel grimaced. "We have some ideas, but… honestly, we had been wanting to wait until a bit closer to when he was born, and then…"

"Baby Boy Lee doesn't so bad for now, right?" Edea asked, changing the subject. The nurses had attached a band around his wrist with that moniker that matched her hospital bracelet. Not that anyone who valued their life would try to kidnap the Grand Marshal's grandchild.

"Maybe we could call him Lee Lee," Ringabel suggested.

Edea turned away from him, facing her mother and Agnès instead because they weren't stupid. "We can announce it on his seventh day, can't we?" Waiting that long was a tradition, one from the days when the infant mortality rate was much higher. Most people at least announced the name before the official date, but if she waited for the gathering, it would give Edea some more time to think about what name she wanted the baby to be saddled with for the rest of his life. It had to be something good. Something strong. Something that would mark him as a future leader, yet a child who was loved dearly. It had to be…

Something that she and Ringabel almost didn't have time to talk about.

Who would have guessed that taking care of a newborn took so much time and effort?

Recovering from giving birth was a process in and of itself, but once Dr. Gale had examined her and determined that she was free to be active again, slowly but surely, Edea began to attend physical therapy to get the strength back in her legs and core. All the months of bed rest had not been kind to her, and she'd lost much more muscle tone than she would have liked. Not to mention, she worried about the fit of her armor over her midsection, despite reassurances that only time would burn off those extra inches.

Ringabel, who had personal experience with strength retraining regimes after his time in the white magic healing chamber in his own world, had been helping her in her room with as many of the exercises as he could, spotting her as she performed a myriad of stretches, and applying soothing ointment to her back and the hard-to-reach spots. Still, she made a daily trip to another wing of the healing tower where she could use specialized machines and lift weights to her heart's content.

Working out did wonders to her spirits. Where before she had felt listless, now she felt energized and eager to set out on their journey once more, even if she did have to be mindful of the clock to make sure she was able to return to her baby with enough time to nurse him. At least he had plenty of babysitters to watch him.

One of her babysitters had been Alternis Dim and the girl from Florem he'd introduced as his friend.

He arrived on the 19th, three days after she had given birth. For now, Edea was staying in the same healing tower room rather than moving to the maternity ward, though for privacy's sake they'd drawn a curtain over the front of it, making sure that she and her very adorable newborn would be hidden from anyone walking past.

Her physical therapy appointment was in half an hour, and Ringabel had already said he would accompany her, since they were introducing her to some new fitness machine. That meant they needed to find someone to watch over the baby - even in a hospital, with nurses about, neither wanted to simply leave him alone. However, Mahzer was resting in her own room after the chaos of the previous week, Agnès and Tiz had yet to return from lunch where they had wanted to check in on Airy who was staying in the inn, and Braev was in Central Command for the day. Edea had just started to wonder if they could take the baby with them and if the gym had baby-sized weights when she heard the door open.

"Hello? Is… Edea, are you still there?"

Ringabel looked up from the table he was working at. For the past hour, his head had been bowed over some project. Now that she was free to walk, Edea had tried to sidle over to see what it was, but when it was feeding time, she was still confined to sitting down so the baby could be settled. Ringabel was taking advantage of it. "Alternis! So you've arrived." He began to sweep up his work.

"You can come in!" Edea said through the curtain. "Everything's fine." By this point, she had lost all shame in nursing in front of people. If the baby needed to eat, then he needed to eat. At least she kept covered up otherwise.

Alternis came around the edge of the curtain, followed by a brunette woman that Edea didn't recognize, dressed in clothes that she did. He, however, wasn't dressed in his armor for once but was wearing a black leather jacket and pants, which meant that Edea could see the moment his eyes fell on her and his face flushed red. "E-Edea…" he started. "I-I'm glad to see you are doing well. Both of you."

Edea beamed. "Never better!"

"Hello!" the woman behind him said, waving a hand. "It's nice to finally meet you, Edea."

Edea would assume that this was the Eyvel that Ringabel had mentioned. A moment later, once he'd regained his composure, Alternis introduced her. "This is Eyvel," he explained, glancing between the two women. "A woman that we met in Florem."

"I've heard many things about you," Eyvel said.

"Ringabel has told me about you," Edea replied, nodding. He'd been a little smug in describing how Alternis and Eyvel got along, so Edea would assume most of what Ringabel had said was exaggerated, but he had insisted that she was a very nice girl. While she knew that Ringabel wasn't always the best judge of character when it came to women, if Alternis was friends with her, then surely she was a good person. "Thanks for helping them in Florem."

Ringabel finished tidying up his project, sweeping it up into a large basket and setting it high on the top of the wardrobe where Edea couldn't reach. "Did you have any problems with the Grandship?"

"Er, no. She flew just fine. She's moored about a mile from the city." Alternis was still hanging by the door, seemingly hesitant to cross the room. Eyvel nudged him in the back, urging him forward, and he stumbled closer to the bed, shooting her a glance over his shoulder. "We should be returning to Florem soon, however Braev asked me to come and see Edea before I left again."

"Good." Braev had come back to the healing tower several times to see her, and to hold his grandson. In a twisted way, Edea was a bit envious of the baby. He was receiving attention from Braev that she couldn't remember having in a very long time. Then again, babies by their very nature required a lot of attention, Ringabel had reminded her. She had received just as much when she was a girl. "Do you… want to hold him? When he's done, which I think he will be soon."

When he was done was the operative word. For some reason, the baby ate a lot. Edea had no idea where he'd gotten that from.

"I…. I'm not sure I - "

Ringabel finished for him, clapping a hand down on Alternis's shoulder. They looked like the brothers he had said they were pretending to be around Eyvel, who would continue to be kept in the dark regarding multiple words. "Of course he will! He's so excited for his nephew, just a bit nervous."

"It isn't nervousness."

Ringabel guided Alternis to sit in one of the armchairs by Edea's bed, and Eyvel pulled up a folding chair. They made small talk until the baby seemed to finish, his eyes closing as he tried to go back to sleep. Edea hoisted him up to burp him, a move that she was quite used to by now. She was also quite used to the possibility of a mess, slipping a towel over her shoulder just in case.

"We're going to be late for your appointment," Ringabel murmured, leaning over her to rub the baby's back as well. "Do you want me to ask them to reschedule it?"

"No… I want to go." She glanced down at the baby, then over at the man who was hunched over slightly in the armchair as he spoke, his elbows on his knees. "Here, let's give the baby to Alternis."

Ringabel stepped back a couple of paces. "Alternis, why don't you take the baby from Edea? He likes being held, and I think you need the practice."

Alternis's head snapped up. "What?"

Edea frowned at Ringabel's back as he moved to the other side of the bed. Her husband had been very cagey about carrying the baby. He held him just fine, would snuggle the baby against his chest or on one of his legs several times a day, just because he could, but that was different. He usually stayed still when doing so, and would let others carry the baby back and forth from him to whoever was going to hold him next. Now, however, was not the time to begin to point that out, given that they had company. "Come here, Alternis."

Alternis slowly, hesitantly stood to his feet. The side rails on the bed had long been removed, allowing him to lean over and slip his hands under the baby's head and bottom, carefully lifting him up out of Edea's arms. Both of them let out a little noise, the baby squirming at being removed from his source of warmth and food, and Alternis becoming alarmed at the movement.

"Babies are sturdier than they look," Eyvel said helpfully as Alternis awkwardly held the baby in his hands, seemingly unsure as to what to do. The baby flailed his limbs, but did not cry, "You just have to make sure you support his neck and don't drop him. I think."

"Have you held babies before?" Ringabel asked her. Alternis was adjusting his hold on the infant, supporting his weight on his arm instead, and tucking him toward his chest as though fearful he would fumble him otherwise. Edea kept one hand underneath, just in case.

"People bring in babies for the Matriarch to bless all the time," she explained. "I've held a few and I never dropped one."

"I am not going to drop him," Alternis said tersely. He eased himself back into his chair, and once he was settled, lowered the baby down onto his closed thighs, looking very stressed. He bounced his leg slightly, then stopped when the baby let out an unhappy wail. Eyvel kneeled next to him, sticking her finger into the baby's hand so he could clutch it.

Edea adjusted her top and then swung her legs over the side of the bed, sitting there for a moment. The freedom to do so was delightful. "He should be falling asleep soon," she said. "He always does, after he's fed… though he might need a diaper change in a bit as well. Do either of you know how to change one?"

"No," Eyvel and Alternis replied in unison.

"Oh. Hmm… perhaps you could call in a nurse?" Edea suggested, standing on legs that were still adjusting to being active once more. Even though she tried to stand when she wasn't nursing or sleeping, her thighs were still shaky.

"Where are you going?" Alternis asked, voice high.

"I have physical therapy," Edea replied. She gave him a sly smile. "You don't mind watching after him, do you? Ringabel's coming with me to the appointment, and we can't bring the baby to the gym."

Alternis's face went more pale than usual, before a flush peaked high in his cheeks. "You can't be serious."

"We'll be back in… about an hour," Ringabel said as way of a reply, looking up at the clock on the wall. "Closer to an hour and a half, perhaps, if they want Edea to run down to the cafeteria to get a vitamin shake after her therapy."

"I don't know the first thing about looking after a child–!" Alternis protested.

"It'll be easy." Now that she could get up and move around, she was wearing real clothes, so she didn't need to worry about changing. No, she just had to put on shoes… which she handed to Ringabel, leaning heavily against the wall as he knelt in front of her to help her slip them on feet that were still swollen from pregnancy, even if she could reach them now. "Just watch him. If he starts crying, he's either lonely or hungry or needs a diaper change, and he just ate, so… you do the math." The baby was still rather well-behaved, too young to know how to be bad, and fussed only when he needed something. Needing something to him included being cuddled by either of his parents, and by now she and Ringabel were both experts in that. They were still getting the diaper-changing down, though.

"Edea, you can't be serious," Alternis said again.

"Please?" She finally turned to him. "All you have to do is hold him for a little bit. Eyvel, you too. If Mother returns, I know she'll be happy to take him off your hands."

"I - I am not sure we have the time," he pleaded, and his leg bounced nervously once more. The baby let out a soft cry and Alternis stilled, glancing down at him. "I meant to see him and have a word with Ringabel before we left again…"

Ringabel stopped from where he was strapping the shoe onto Edea's foot. "You want to talk to me?" He raised an eyebrow.

That was unusual. Edea looked between her husband and Alternis. "Can't it wait until after my appointment? We do actually need to go. They're introducing me to a new machine, so I had to schedule for when it was free."

Alternis let out a deep, deep sigh, his shoulders drooping with defeat. "If you already had the appointment planned, then I suppose I will need to wait until you've both returned anyway. I'll watch him for now. Please hurry back." Eyvel, who still had her finger in the baby's strong grip, waved his little arm in Edea's direction.

"Bye Mommy! Bye Daddy!" she called for him.

Edea felt her throat tighten. Everyone had called her a mother since the baby's birth, but no one had called her that. "We'll be back soon."

The physical therapy unit was basically just a giant gym, similar to ones she had trained with in the past when she was in the military academy. The difference was that it was littered with all sorts of different equipment geared toward helping patients regain strength that had been lost during their treatments.

Her physical therapist led her to a private room. Previously, she had been lifting weights on a bench or riding a stationary bike, but today's exercise was going to involve a machine that stimulated walking, running, or going up inclines. It would measure the strength in her legs as she moved, and automatically adjust the resistance as she grew used to each set. Today's session would only be the first of many, to establish a baseline she could work from.

Edea hated it. Oh, she knew there were good reasons for using it, and it wasn't all that bad at the beginning, but by the end of it she was sweaty and her thighs ached like she'd just run a mile uphill, in the snow. She staggered off the machine, right into Ringabel's arms, and he led her out of the room and to a nearby exercise mat so she could wind down with stretches, and maybe a quick nap.

"Did you do this?" she asked him, laying out on her stomach with her legs spread wide to either side of her. Ringabel's hands were in hers, allowing her to pull herself and stretch out her back. "When you were recovering from your time in the White Magic chamber. Your journal was really vague."

"I get stronger when I'm in pain," Ringabel reminded her, grunting slightly at her strong grip. "I trained almost non-stop, mostly with weights or cardio. I've told you before, I wouldn't recommend it as a healthy way to regain strength, and I'm not sure they'd let you do anyway. I was unsupervised."

They sent her back with homework, a set of exercises to be performed morning and night, along with a small exercise mat to perform said exercises on. Instead of going straight back to her room, however, Edea took the scenic route to the cafeteria downstairs, intent on rewarding herself for the activity with some ice cream. It wasn't like she was trying to lose weight, after all. Ice cream would just make her stronger.

By the time they finally returned to her assigned room, she was ready for a good, long nap. Except… somehow, she'd almost - almost! - forgotten that she had a baby to tend to now. Opening the door and sweeping around the curtain, she was brought up short by the sight of Alternis holding the infant to his chest, the baby's fair head resting on his shoulder. Eyvel was sitting nearby, flipping through one of Ringabel's fashion magazines. They both looked up when she entered.

"There you are," Alternis said, sounding relieved. "You said it would only take an hour!"

Edea looked up at the clock. How long had it been…? Judging by the uncomfortable tightness in her blouse, and the way that the baby fussed, only soothed by the Alternis bouncing him slightly, it had taken just a tad bit longer than that. "Sorry," she replied. "We had to do something important after the session."

Ringabel set aside the mat, leaning it against the wall. "Did you want to take a shower, Edea?"

She wanted to take a shower, but judging by the slightly panicked look in Alternis's eyes at the suggestion, she probably needed to take the baby from him. "Later," she decided, and crossed the room to sweep the baby back up into her arms, ignoring the way that Alternis immediately rubbed at his own as though he'd lost the feeling in them. "I'll clean up later."

"He's so cute," Eyvel crooned. "Doesn't he have Ringabel's nose? And he still has that new baby smell!"

This was the only baby Edea had been around in a very, very long time. She supposed Eyvel had more exposure to that new baby smell, though Edea could admit that he smelled very nice indeed. She pressed her nose to his head, the fine hairs tickling her. "He does."

Alternis stood from the chair. Edea wondered if he had moved from it at all, or if he had been stuck in fright. "He's been changed, though we had to call in a nurse to do so," he said to her, wrinkling his nose at the memory. "Other than that… I suppose that he isn't so bad."

She remembered that in Ringabel's profile for him, it had been written that Alternis was not fond of little girls. She had assumed at the time that was referring mostly to Victoria - so who could blame him there - but now wondered if that applied to little boys as well? Did Alternis like children? Did he want any of his own?

"You said you wanted to speak to me?" Ringabel asked him, coming close to Edea so that he could rest a hand on the baby's back, something he enjoyed doing. "What is it?"

Alternis's eyebrows furrowed. "It's something best spoken in privacy," he said, glancing between the other two blondes. "I don't mind if you wish to tell Edea later, but I'd like to speak with you alone first, if I may."

That was unusual, though the way that he worked his jaw in anger as he spoke wasn't really. But why would Alternis want to willingly talk to Ringabel? "Are you going to actually talk, or is this code for punching each other in the face again?"

"Again?" Eyvel asked.

Alternis flushed. "I never used it as code! That was him." He gestured to Ringabel, who shrugged guiltily at the reminder. "I do mean to only have a conversation… so long as he doesn't throw any punches first."

"Let's go on a walk, then," Ringabel suggested, nodding toward the door. "You girls can stay in here and… I don't know, gossip. Edea, why don't you tell some embarrassing childhood stories about Alternis's?"

"I love embarrassing childhood stories!" Eyvel said, clapping her heads. Alternis looked pained, glancing between the two women.

"I would prefer you not."

Sitting down and gossiping with someone who was far removed from the ordeal of saving the world… actually seemed like a good idea. In the military academy, gossiping with the other girls had been sort of fun, a good way to relax after long days of studying and practice. Of course… any embarrassing stories about Alternis were supposed to include Ringabel as well, since they were supposed to be pretending to be twins, so… she'd have to work around that. She nodded. "Yeah, we'll do that."

"Edea!" Alternis protested.

Ringabel wound an arm around Alternis's shoulder, and though the other man jerked at the contact, he didn't try to push Ringabel's arm off his shoulder. That was progressed, Ringabel supposed, as he led Alternis out of the room and down the hallway, leaving Edea and Eyvel behind.

"I'm not sure I want others to hear what I'm going to tell you," Alternis muttered as they made their way out of the maternity ward. Ringabel wasn't really sure where they were going to go. The hallways always had people in them, and it was far too cold outside to go tramping around in the snow. Neither he nor Alternis were appropriately dressed for extended walks in Eternia's weather. Then again, had a little cold ever stopped them in the past? Ringabel found the stairs and began to walk down them.

"Goodness, I can't even begin to imagine what you want to talk about, then." Was it about the Florem monster, or something else? The message about Edea going into labour had gone out the morning after Grandship had taken off, and he couldn't imagine that much recon had been able to happen in that time. Besides, what would Alternis want to tell him that he wouldn't want to tell Edea or the others? He was Alternis, but sometimes the other man was beyond puzzling.

Alternis did not reply immediately. Instead, he chewed on his bottom lip as they made their way to the ground floor, his eyes flickering around at all the patients and healers passing them. When Ringabel began to head towards the cafeteria, he nodded his understanding.

"Less of a walk and more of some drinks, I suppose. At least we can't throw any punches here," Ringabel commented as they both got a cup of black coffee. They found a table by itself in the corner, where no one would be close enough to overhear their conversation. "Now, what's with all the secrecy?"

Alternis let out a long sigh, his eyes slipping shut for a moment. "You may wish that you could punch something," he said. "I know that I did."

Ringabel tilted his head. This didn't sound good.

Alternis continued. "Having to fly here on Grandship allowed me time to… think about what I'd learned, though I still have many questions. I warn you now, I may be unable to answer yours."

"Keep going."

"What do you remember about your mother?"

The question took Ringabel off-guard, in more than one way. His… mother? Why in blazes would Alternis even ask such a question? But it made him think. Even before his amnesia, he knew his memories of her were very weak. He couldn't remember her face, nor her voice. He supposed he remembered her hair, and only because he had thought about it long and hard in his younger days as something he'd hated about himself. Her hair was nearly the same shade as his own, a very light blonde, the same shade he'd now passed onto his son. "There isn't much," he replied slowly. "I remember very little of that time in my life. Likely as much as you do." There were probably many factors that went into it, but his days before, and even immediately after, the Grand Marshal had taken him from Florem were a painful, dark blur in his mind. He was unable to separate time out into coherent chunks of years or weeks. Only bits and pieces stood out to him now, little slivers of something particularly painful. Thinking about it now made his head begin to hurt. "Why are you asking?"

Alternis looked up at the ceiling, his hand tightening into a fist on the tabletop. "The night you left for Eternia, I received a visitor. She.. claims that she knew me - us as children."

Forget his head. Ringabel felt his stomach twist and the small amount of coffee he'd consumed threatened to come back up. "Surely you don't mean…"

"No, not - " Alternis's mouth twisted in anger. "Not the woman who gave birth to us. It was a woman who claimed that her elder sister had a baby boy years ago and that she had lost contact with them both after … well, after a couple of years."

He let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. "And?" The way that Alternis was phrasing things implied he didn't believe this woman's claims. For a moment, Ringabel wished he could have met her. He was a very good judge of character, if he could say so himself.

"There's no way to verify her claims, of course," Alternis said. "She had no pictures of her sister, no photos. They didn't exist. No belongings that could have belonged to an infant. Only her insistence that we have the same coloration - which we do, I will admit - and her word that she found out her nephew had been taken out of the city by a foreigner in silver and red armor." The Grand Marshal had worn such armor as long as Ringabel could remember.

"Do you believe her?"

The other man was quiet for a very long time. "I have no reason to. For all I know, she could be a Florem spy, intending to split my loyalty from the Grand Marshal."

"Yet, you decided to tell me…?"

"Regardless of whether her claims are true, you deserve to know of them just the same as I. I had thought of not telling you at all, but Eyvel insisted. She threatened to tell if you if I didn't."

"She knows?"

Alternis cast his eyes down, his cheeks flushing a dull pink, and he took a drink of his cooling coffee. "She was on my ship as I received this guest, you remember. I… can't say that I took it very well, and she was there to witness the aftermath."

"Ah." Yes, he imagined that Alternis would have been angry to hear from someone claiming to be his aunt, and that he would have lashed out terribly. However… the other man looked embarrassed over something, and Ringabel suddenly realized he wasn't hearing the full story. "Did you want to believe her?"

The Dark Knight looked up, eyes sharp. "I am well past the point where I would want to hear from my birth family. Regardless of whether her story is true or not, it no longer matters. I know who my true family is."

Ringabel smiled despite himself and his growing anxiety. Good! It had taken him much longer to figure that out, so long that it had been too late to let them know. Still, there was something missing here. "Then, what is that you're not telling me? I doubt that she came, introduced herself, and then left. Why didn't her sister come with her? Surely, a woman would be able to recognize her own child, grown or not." He'd only had his son for a few days, but was already imagining what he would look like in the coming years.

Alternis narrowed pale eyes at him. "Her sister is long dead."

Oh. Ringabel took a deep breath, his chest hurting at the movement. Why should he be surprised at such a notion? Many people in Florem had died in the past twenty years, for many reasons. A part of him, buried deep down inside in his feelings, had wondered if perhaps that was the reason his mother had never come for him. He had thought that part of him long-dead until now. "I see."

The floodgates were open. Alternis hunched over, blinking rapidly, his fingers going white against the table. "It was the plague, she said. Her older sister, Griselda, had been cast out of their home for having a boy child, but then their mother died from the plague. She - she called herself Gwendolyn - went to find her sister, but discovered that Griselda had died and that the boy had vanished, one of the many orphans in the plague. All she had was a description and a name, and eventually heard he'd been taken from the city… she had given up all hope until she heard my claims of being born in Florem."

So she had never had a chance, nor a choice. Ringabel swallowed.

"What was his name?"

Alternis scrunched up his nose. "Her nephew's? Oswald."

The name didn't ring a bell. "Well, at least we escaped being called 'Oswald'."

Alternis stared at him in disbelief. "Is that all you have to say? That is what you're taking away from this?"

No, that was not the only thing Ringabel focusing on, but it was one of the most important. He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "So you believe her, even if you're denying it."

"Regardless of whether or not I believe her, if I have to hear such a story, then it's only fair that you do too!" Alternis snapped.

Ringabel took a deep breath to calm himself. A part of him was still rather suspicious about the story because it seemed quite far-fetched, but another part of him felt the tiniest bits of hope that perhaps it was true after all. Perhaps he hadn't been as unwanted as he'd thought. What did that mean, though? All those years he'd spent stewing hatred in his heart…? His amnesia had softened the jagged edges of anger, and being a father had sawed them down even further, but a dull ache still flared up when he remembered his feelings of worthlessness.

Now, he didn't know what to think, or what was the right thing to feel. "Is that all?"

"For now," the other man muttered. "When we left Florem, I ordered several of my men off the ship to keep watch over the Water Vestal - who I need to return to as soon as possible, so she can seek refuge in Ancheim. I also ordered them to investigate the woman who had come to me. If she's a plant, they'll find out, especially with the Black Blossoms owing us several favours."

"Good idea." Ringabel still wasn't sure how he felt about the revelation, but as he sat there and stewed in his own thoughts, he realized that perhaps it no longer mattered. He had a family now, in the form of Edea and their child. Alternis was single, but he had been raised with the love from the Lee family. Even if they had been left behind by their mother unintentionally, which a part of him still wanted to doubt, they had still been fortunate enough to experience familial love. They had gained just as much as they had lost. "In any case…"

"In any case," Alternis continued for him," Even if her claims are true, though I don't believe we'll ever be fully sure, she has no right to call herself our aunt. You need only concern yourself with your current family. I'm only telling you her story so that we both have the same information. I suppose… It wouldn't be right to withhold it from you."

So, Alternis had been thinking the same thing. Of course, he had. "And you? Who will you concern yourself with?" Ringabel asked. It was perhaps a harsh question, a cruel reminder that Alternis was single, but he was curious.

Alternis gave him a withering look over the rim of the coffee cup as he took a sip. "Must you make me say it again? I know who my true family is."

They finished their cups of coffee in relative silence, Ringabel too busy with his thoughts to pay much attention to Alternis. He would have to think of a way to tell Edea about Alternis's visitor, wouldn't he? How would she react? When he had first arrived in Eternia, she had been too young to know the truth behind why he had come to live with them, and it wasn't until well into her teen years that she'd found out the basic truth behind his abandonment, and he still remembered how touched he'd been at her indignation on his behalf. They had never really spoken on it, except for Ringabel lamenting his lack of personal experience with good parents, but he wondered if she would want to march to Florem with fire in her eyes and a sword in her hand, just as she had all those years ago.

He was a father now. He'd held his child, marveled at how tiny his toes and fingers were, and how handsome he was. He'd imagined how wonderfully he would grow. He could not ever imagine a future in which he would willingly abandon his child to the fates. He could only hope his own mother had felt the same things. If this Gwendolyn's story was true…

"I need to leave for Florem tonight," Alternis said. Ringabel pulled himself out of his thoughts to realize that Alternis had finished his coffee. His own was still half-full. "We should return to the room so that Eyvel and I can head out."

"Of course." He threw out the rest of his cold coffee, and they made their way back up to Edea's room.

The girls had been talking about sword-fighting, apparently. It was one of Edea's favorite topics, and Eyvel personally favored the naginata, but was interested in hearing all about sword techniques. She had borrowed Edea's sword from where it was growing dusty on top of the dresser and was fawning over the workmanship when he and Alternis returned.

"If you want to learn how to use the sword, you can use the practice one that we have aboard the ship," Alternis told her, watching the woman wipe the blade down with a cloth before returning it to the scabbard. "

"Will you teach me your techniques?" Eyvel asked him.

"No," both Ringabel and Alternis replied, the latter a touch more firm. The men exchanged glances before Alternis elaborated. "My specific techniques are tied to my vocation and cannot be passed down. I can show you the basics, but that's it."

She puffed out her cheeks. Edea did too.

"Show her more than the basics, Alternis," she chided. "Kamiizumi didn't take you under his wing for nothing!"

Kamiizumi had only taken him under his wing for a short period of time, only so that Alternis wouldn't accidentally hurt himself with his sword as he learned to use it. No, any injuries he obtained in battle had to be purposefully. Alternis said nothing as he waited for Eyvel to come to his side.

"We're going back to Florem tonight?" she asked him after she had finally set down the sword and approached him. By now, Ringabel was sitting next to Edea again, perched on the very edge of the bed. The baby was asleep, his head resting against Edea's bare shoulder. Ringabel reached over, as he did often, to pat his wild fluff of hair.

"Yes," he said. "At high speeds, we should be able to return to the region by the day after tomorrow. Are you ready to leave?"

"Always."

The Dark Knight then looked at Edea and Ringabel. "We need to return to Florem soon to keep the Water Vestal safe. I will be unlikely to return to Eternia for some time."

Edea sighed. She would have liked to talk to Alternis alone, but he had held the baby, and that was what she had wanted most. At least he hadn't punched Ringabel in the face this time. "You'll send letters, won't you?"

"If I can," Alternis replied carefully.

"The healers have said it will be at least another month, perhaps more, before the baby and I are both travel-ready," Edea said. "If you're still in Florem at that time, we'll go visit you."

"Then, I look forward to the next time we meet." With another nod of his head, the Dark Knight swept out of the room, followed by his companion. The door closed firmly behind them, and Ringabel leaned back against the headboard of the bed, sighing deeply.

Edea looked up at him, scooting back so that she could fit into the crook of his shoulder. The baby's head rested against her chest. "Well? What happened? I don't see any bruises on you, so you're either hiding it under your clothes or no one got hurt."

Ringabel cocked an eyebrow at her. "Would you like to check under my clothes? Just to be sure."

She elbowed him. "If you can crack jokes, then it wasn't that bad."

Ringabel gave her a smile in return. "Nothing that I can't handle." She was still waiting expectantly, but he found himself hesitating regardless. Edea was still very emotional after giving birth, and he was well aware that she had cried at least once over how any mother could willingly abandon a child that looked so sweet. He didn't want her to cry again, and he didn't want her to be angry, even if it was just a ploy by Florem. Especially if it was a ploy by Florem. "Alternis received a visitor in Florem who thought they might be related."

Her eyebrows shot up into her hair. "You can't be serious!"

"He made a public announcement that he was born in Florem," Ringabel reminded her. She'd heard a detailed summary of what had transpired in the other country. "Supposedly, the woman heard his claims and thought it aligned with her own memory of how her nephew had been taken from Florem."

Edea snarled. "It never bothered her before. What kept her from seeking him out, if that were true?"

"Well," Ringabel said gently, rubbing the baby's back. Edea was getting agitated, and it was agitating the baby as well, his face scrunched up in unhappiness at the rising tension. "We'll never know for sure. Regardless, he and I have both decided that the family we have here and now is what's most important." He beamed at her.

Edea exhaled through her nose, lips pressed tightly together. "You're my family, Ringabel. Even if this woman's claims are true, we're your family now. We always have been."

He could have wiggled with glee, were she not still leaning against him. Instead, he wound his arms around her and the baby both, leaning his chin against her head. "You are my family now, and you make me the luckiest man in the world."

Even if there were still so many unknowns in their situation. Airy had been in the hotel room for the past few days, and though she had initially seemed annoyed after being told that Edea would need to train up to full fighting strength again, her mood overall seemed improved. She'd only complained about the Earth Crystal once. It made Ringabel uneasy. Was she planning something? And how were they going to continue onto another world with a baby in tow? They had declined to take Egil and Til with them so as to not endanger the boys, but this was an entirely different level. The more he thought about it, the more he felt an ache in his head and in his chest.

Best not to think about it, then. Instead, he kissed the top of Edea's head. "I did hear something else from Alternis, though."

"Mmm, what's that?"

"What do you think about the name 'Oswald'?"