Disclaimer: Fire Emblem and Kid Icarus do not belong to us. They belong to Nintendo.
Chapter 4: Giocoso Capriccio
"Have you seen the Commander anywhere?"
The senior pegasus knights turn towards Cordelia. Cordelia quashes the urge to fidget under their gaze. One of them cups her chin, thinking.
"The Commander? Most likely she's with Her Grace," she says. Her sister knight raises an eyebrow at Cordelia.
"What do you want with Commander Philia, little miss genius?"
"I was hoping to speak to her about something," Cordelia says, trying to keep her tone and face even.
"Something? Or someone?" the knight asks.
"If you must know," Cordelia sighs, "I was hoping to have a word with the Commander about Pip."
"Your brat?"
"I hardly see how he's mine," Cordelia frowns.
"You were the one who brought him to Ylisstol."
"You seem...upset at him. Has he done something?" Cordelia resists the urge to tack on an 'else' to the end of her sentence.
"Just yesterday's little security breach," the first knight clarifies while the second groans.
"Kid made us look like a buncha jokers, slipping by like that."
"That may be so, but in doing so he did assist the Shepherds," Cordelia points out.
"I suppose," the second knight gives Cordelia a look, "So that's what you want to talk to the Commander about."
"Was I so obvious?" Cordelia sighs.
"Kinda," the first knight says, while the second gives a loud laugh.
"It's kinda cute how much you care about the brat, little miss genius."
"I-It's only courtesy," Cordelia argues.
"In any case, you can relax. Her Grace has asked the Commander herself to be lenient."
"Ah, I see," despite the ways her seniors were grinning at her, Cordelia feels calmer. Though the act had been incredibly reckless, it could not be denied that Pip had saved the Shepherds.
"Wonder where that brat is anyway?" the second knight asked.
"Dammit, let go of me!"
"What..." Cordelia blinks at the scene in front of her, unsure of what to even do. Sumia, who'd been watching the scene with something of a cross between worry and the expression one gets when watching kittens stumble around, whirls around at Sumia's voice and nearly falls to the ground.
"Easy there!" Cordelia lunges to catch her. As soon as she is as stable on her feet as can be expected, Sumia laughs nervously.
"Sorry about that..."
"I'm just glad I was there to catch you. You really need to get better boots," Cordelia chides.
"I-I know..."
"Watch it!"
The two turn once more towards the pegasi stables. Where Pip struggled, at the mercy of the pegasi.
"I said let go!"
Pip tries in vain to free his tunic from the mouth of one of the pegasi. The pegasi, with just as much determination, refuses to let go. In a contest of wills between pegasus and angel, it appears the pegasus won. The other pegasi peek out of their stables, all staring at Pip.
"What exactly is going on?" Cordelia asks, eyes wide.
"I-I'm not sure," Sumia admits, "I came by the stables to see how the pegasi were doing, when-"
"Hey!" Sumia startles as Pip yells at them, "Are the two of you going to just stand there and gawk or are you going to help me?!"
It takes effort to separate Pip from the pegasi. Careful assurances and the promise of treats from Sumia, and a firm hand from Cordelia, and they manage to get Pip free. His tunic is a mess, bite marks and drool covering part of it, and small downy feathers litter his clothes and hair.
"Dumb horses!" Pip seethes. The pegasi continue staring at him, even as he storms away from the stables.
"I-I'm sure they didn't mean anything by that," Sumia frets, following him.
"Easy for you to say!" Pip seethes.
"Best for you to get your clothes to the laundry," Cordelia says.
"The laundry?"
Cordelia and Pip stare at each other for a moment.
"Yes," Cordelia says slowly, "The laundry."
"Why?" Pip asks, confused.
"To get your clothes cleaned?" Cordelia's confusion only grows with Pip's.
"Why would I do that when I could just take a bath?"
There is a long moment of silence.
"Look," Pip crosses his arms, "It's simple. Clean yourself and your clothes at the same time. It's economical."
"Er..." Sumia begins.
"Alright," Pip raises an eyebrow at Cordelia's tone and expression, "You will dump those clothes in the laundry, or at the very least clean them properly. I can give you soap to get those stains out..." Cordelia narrows her eyes at Pip's hair, "And then we can do something about your hair."
"What about my hair?"
"It's an absolute bird's nest-"
"Was that a dig at me just now?" Pip demands.
"It's in sore need of a trim," Cordelia barrels on, "and did you even comb your hair today?"
"I've never combed my hair in my life, and I'm not starting now."
"Pip-" Cordelia begins in low tones.
"What? Stop harping on me! You're wasting your breath anyway."
" Pip-"
" I said quit it!" Pip snaps.
"You need to take care of your appearance!"
" I don't need to do anything," Pip smirks at Cordelia's expression, "You can't make me do anything."
There is another moment of silence.
Sumia startles as Cordelia rushes at Pip. She sees the young angel's eyes widen before he whirls around and runs away. Cordelia runs after him, hot on his heels.
"Oh dear..." Sumia says faintly, as they two disappear further into the castle courtyard.
"You're garbage at running!" Dark Pit yells back at the crazy knight.
She must've chased him for a full five minutes, and had almost caught him once. But then she had stumbled, and the distance had only grown from there. Now, as Dark Pit catches his breath, he watches the knight gasp, her hands on her knees.
"Like, seriously!" he heckles, "I bet there are turtles who are better runners than – oh, sh -"
With a burst of desperate speed that is almost impressive, Cordelia nearly tackles him to the ground. It's only a quick burst from the Power of Flight that allows him to avoid her, clearing a wall to put even more distance between them.
Just like before, when he'd tailed those idiots on their Underworld good beatdown mission, spreading his wings caused his injured wing to spasm in pain, and he knew he couldn't hold it for long. So, perhaps with a little less grace than usual, just moments after he uses it he falls back to the earth and lands.
He nearly gets stabbed through with a spear.
"Watch it!" Dark Pit yelps.
" You watch it, punk!" says the other redheaded knight. The one from yesterday, with short hair and a rough expression. She whirls the spear, laying it on her shoulder, as she scowls at him.
"If I hadn't seen ya, you'd have been a kebab," the knight chides.
"Hmm, I could go for a kebab right now..." the knight next to her says. He's dressed in green as opposed to her red, with messy brown hair and a wistful, far off expression.
"Want to grab some for lunch?" the red knight grins back at the other knight.
"Could we?"
"Why not?"
"You almost stab a guy and you're thinking about food?" Dark Pit can't help but ask.
"Oh, sorry..." the green knight says. The red knight on the other hand-
"What? We've worked up quite a sweat! Besides, I didn't stab you, did I?"
"Guess not," Dark Pit smirks, "Though you couldn't stab me if you tried, human."
"Oh boy," the green knight says.
"Got a pretty big mouth there punk," the red knight twirls her wooden spear, "Care to prove your mettle?"
"You? Wanna fight me?"
"Chicken?" the red knight asks with a fierce grin.
"You're on!" Dark Pit bares his own teeth.
"Hah! Least ya got spunk, kid. Stahl!"
"Right," the green knight, whose name must be Stahl, tosses a wooden sword at Dark Pit. He catches the weapon and swings it, frowning.
"Having second thoughts?" the red knight asks, crossing her arms, "I suppose swords are disadvantaged against spears..."
"What are you talking about?" Dark Pit asks, looking away from his 'weapon'.
"Weapon Tactics 101 kid," the red knight raised an eyebrow, "Spears got longer reach against swords, axes can render spears into matchsticks, and swords are more handy than axes. Or something like that. Don't you know about tactics?"
"I just shoot things till they're dead."
"With that weird rainbow magic yesterday, yeah?" Despite her words the red knight is smiling, "More power to ya kid. If I could do that I'd be blasting Risen left and right."
"I don't think humans can use that sort of thing," Dark Pit wonders why. It's clear that some humans can use magic, and for all that his weapons were divine in make there weren't any gods powering them at the moment.
Maybe humans could use angelic weapons, and Palutena was just lying.
"That's a shame," the red knight looks legitimately bummed out, "Still, this here is a friendly spar, so no blasting me into dust. Else Frederick will tan both out hides."
"So what, we just beat the stuffing out of each other with these things?"
"Yup! Friendly like! Having second thoughts?" the red knight grins.
"Nope!" he grins back, "Bring it on!"
"Best seven outta nine!" Dark Pit pants.
The knight – Sully's is her name, he's learned – gives him a tired grin.
"Hah! Look at ya. Panting like a dog. And ya still wanna go. A few more rounds?"
"I'm not. The only one. Gasping for air!" he shoots back.
"Haha, fair!"
"Maybe you guys should take a break," Stahl suggests.
"And admit defeat?" Dark Pit shakes his head, "Not a chance!"
"Oh, you'll admit defeat soon enough," Sully promises.
Dark Pit grins. It had taken time to get used to the mortal weapon, but there's something exhilarating about the challenge of fighting with a blade that can't shoot, can't cut through armor like a hot knife through hot butter. It helps that Sully is strong, for a human. Real strong. She could probably take on a small underworld squad alone, and that's no mean feat. Several of her blows that he'd been too slow to dodge still ached, and he bets they might bruise. At least he's given as good as he's taken.
"At least call a timeout..." Stahl sighs.
"Always the voice of reason," despite her grumbling Sully doesn't seem mad, "I suppose that can be arranged. What da ya think, kid?"
"Sure, why not? You need all the help you can get."
"Punk," Sully grins.
Stahl throws her a flask, and Sully pours water over her face.
"What were you running away from earlier, anyway?" she asks, shaking her head.
"Who says I was running?" Dark Pit asks, scowling at the very idea.
"It looked like you were running," Stahl says.
"Maybe I was running away," Dark Pit allows, crossing his arms, "Not really your business. If I was."
"Must have been something scary ," Sully laughs, making "woo" sounds and wagging her fingers.
"As if," Dark Pit scoffs, "Nothing scares me."
A shadow falls over them, and Dark Pit looks up.
Cordelia is atop a pegasus, her red hair glowing like fire as the sun halos her head. Dark Pit can feel the wind from the flaps of her pegasus, and if she wasn't a human her glare could've melted steel.
"Pip," she says, voice firm.
"Right, I'm beating you next time," Dark Pit tells Sully quickly, tossing the sword at Stahl.
"There's no escape," Cordelia warns.
Dark Pit considers trying to fly past her, but with his wing injured there's now way he could fly long enough to accelerate fast enough. So, Dark Pit whirls around-
-And comes face to face from that tall, stuck up knight from yesterday. The one with the severe expression and brown hair.
"Young man," the knight says. He's smiling, and Dark Pit can't tell if it reaches his eyes with the way they're closed.
"Move," Dark Pit orders.
"We'd rather not do this the hard way, young man."
"Yeah? Don't care."
The knight's smile slips, his eyes opening to stare down at him. And Dark Pit can feel Cordelia hovering behind him. Both paths to escape, cut off, and Sully and Stahl are just watching. Stahl with trepidation, Sully with an amused grin, and he really can't blame her. If Pit-stain had been in this situation, Dark Pit would've laughed till he was blue in the face.
"One last chance young man," the knight warns.
Dark Pit grins, despite the situation. If these humans think he's just going to go along with them, they have another thing coming.
"That's my line," he says, and lunges.
There's a mosaic of Naga running across the wall of the bathhouse.
At least, Robin assumes its Naga. The mosaic shows a woman wrapped in loose, white cloth. She has long, rich green hair, and the symbol of Naga hovers behind her in soft blue stone. Golden green scales line parts of the woman, and what can be seen of her half lidded eyes are startlingly emerald. Several smaller dragons surround her, fawning, and Robin thinks she can recognize depictions of the ancient dragon tribes in each one. The squat brown one an earth dragon, the sharp blue one an ice, and the rich red one a fire. But the designs don't look right, too exaggerated-
Robin feels a sharp pang echo across her head, and looks away from the mosaic. She's lucky that she could recognize the figures it represents in the first place. Still, these headaches were vexing. All through the day she'd been plagued with familiarity tainted with a sense of not right. Things that seemed not quite right – not in the sense of danger, but in a far more mundane annoyance. As if someone had stolen into her room and adjusted all of her furniture a few centimeters askew. The way the castle gardens were laid, the hilt of a sword, the binding of a book-
And the bathhouse. Ylisstol had public baths, and the castle itself had a separate smaller house for the staff. And this was familiar. As was the bathhouse itself. Except it hadn't been. Oh, it had the dressing rooms, and the cold, hot, and warm baths – two of each, each in separate buildings for men and women. All of that seemed right. But the layout was. Wrong. The scents – olives and oranges filled the air – wrong. Even the immersion pool of the warm bath was not right. A large pool, warm water piped in via copper pipes, and the walls and floor decorated with beautiful designs fitting the castle bathhouse. Yet Robin could swear that the water should've been moving like a flowing river, that the ceiling of the room should've been a dome with windows to let sunlight in, rather than open to the sky.
Despite it being late in the morning, with lunch only a couple of hours away, there are a few people using the bathhouse, and the moment Robin steps into the warm baths she feels several eyes snap towards her. She clutches the towel closer to her and hurriedly steps into the water farthest from the other patrons, trying to ignore their sharp gazes. She's a guest of the Exalt. She has the right to be here.
"Hey, fancy seeing you here!"
Robin blinks, looking up from water in time to see Sully.
"Mind if I…? Sully asks, and Robin shakes her head.
"No, I do not mind."
In fact, having Sully here is reassuring . The chances of anyone trying to start something with Sully near her is near low.
'Very low ,' Robin thinks.
"What, I got something on my face?" Sully grumbles, "Thought for sure I washed properly."
"No, no, you're fine!" Robin insists, quickly looking away.
"Hmm. What are you doing here during this time of day anyway?" Sully asks.
"I..." Robin hesitates before deciding to go with the truth, "I was hoping to avoid crowds."
"Ah," Thankfully Sully doesn't press.
"In any case," Robin continues, "It felt. Right."
A bath in the morning and one in the evening. Once again, Robin doesn't know why, but at this point she's decided to go with what feels right. Wrestling with why it felt right was a job for later.
"Well, can't fault ya," Sully shrugs.
"What about you, if I may ask?"
"Me? Though I'd work on my skills a bit before lunch," Sully pops a crick in her neck with a wince, "Hell of spar. That angel kid's got moves."
"You mean Pip?" Robin asks, surprised.
"Yeah, him," Sully grins, "He's a scrawny little thing, but he hits like a horse."
"Considering what he did to the Risen yesterday, I hope both of you were pulling your punches."
"Relax, we were using wooden weapons," Sully waves a hand, "Besides, kid's resilient. He almost managed to escape Frederick even after he got him pinned."
"...Dare I ask why Frederick was pinning Pip?" Robin asks, hesitant.
The grin Sully gives her doesn't fill with any confidence.
Stahl waves nervously as several of the patrons who had otherwise been enjoying the hot baths quickly leave, grumbling and shooting them a few glares.
"What's their problem?"
'You ,' Stahl thinks, and tries to hide a wince. It isn't particularly the boy's fault, but the fact remains that with his black wings Pip theoretically cuts an imposing figure. It'd probably be more imposing if the wings didn't belong to a boy who was five foot three at most.
Soon all the other patrons have left, only leaving Stahl and Pip. Pip turns to take in the hot bath chambers, and Stahl sees his eyes shine.
"You guys shoulda told me you had hot springs," Pip says, voice gruff in an attempt to remain aloof.
"It's not an actual hot spring-" Stahl begins to point out.
"Practically the same thing!" Pit waves off.
Pip matches through the now empty, dim, sweltering room, and plunges into the hot pool with a sigh. Stahl follows sedately, wooden sandals clacking against the hot floor, and gingerly steps into the bath. Pip looks like he's in paradise, and Stahl can't blame him. A hot bath after a long day of training? The only way to make things better was a big dinner afterwards.
Still, Pip seems moments away from falling asleep, and it's the most relaxed Stahl has seen him. Not that Stahl had seen much of the castle's enigmatic visitor. But what little he had seen had mostly been filled with lots of scowls and furrowed brows. Now he's completely at peace, almost liquid in how relaxed he is. Stahl's honestly concerned that Pip might at any moment slip under the water.
The two sit there for a while, till Stahl is starting to feel too hot. As he stands up, Pip seemingly surfaces from the dreamlike state he was in before.
"Leaving already?" Pip asks.
"It's not good to stay in hot water for too long," Stahl says, "You shouldn't stay for too much longer."
"I'll be fine," Pip scoffs, waving a hand.
"Hmm. Well, if you say so. I'll be out in the warm baths."
"Knock yourself out."
Despite his flippant words, minutes after Stahl steps into the warm pool outside the hot bath chambers, Pip follows. The warm baths are empty too, and while the time before lunch is quiet hours for the baths, Stahl knows it's because of Pip. If Pip notices, he doesn't show it.
"Pretty big pool," Pip notes as he descends into the warm pool. Stahl can't help but stare at the tree like scar branching across his chest, and quickly looks away when Pip looks at him. "Where do you guys get all this water anyway?"
"Ylisstol was built next to a large lake," Stahl explains, "The capital gets most of its water from there. And outside Ylisstol, the Halidom's rivers supply most of the water."
"Huh," Pip stays, brushing his fingers through his wings. Stahl can't help but watch, and notices that as Pip washes his feathers, they slowly become less and less black.
"Did you really not take baths before?" Stahl can't help but ask. He can't imagine it. He winces when Pip shoots him a scowl.
"Oh yeah let me just find one of those naturally occurring baths," Pip sneers.
"Alright, I see your point."
"You'd be lucky to find a hotspring out in the wild," Pip grumbles, "Best you can hope for is a vaguely warm lake. Which I made due with, thank you very much."
"Sorry, sorry."
"Hmph," Pip mutters something under his breath before returning to the task of grooming his feathers. Stahl sighs and stands up, and Pip's gaze snaps towards him.
"Now what?"
"I, uh, am going to the cold pool?"
"... Why?"
Pip seems genuinely mystified, and Stahl does his best to explain.
"It's good for you. You're supposed to take a hot bath, a warm bath, and then a cold one to close the pores."
"...That's weird," Pip says at last, "You humans are weird."
"It's not that weird," Stahl protests.
"No, it's weird," Pip says with an air of finality, "Why would you ever use cold water when you could use hot?"
Stahl sighs and decides he has better things to do than argue.
"Have fun freezing your butt off!"
"I'm telling you, you should've taken the cold bath too."
"Sully," Robin says wearily, "The evening air is already a bit too chilly for my liking, and it is not even winter. I am not going to take a cold bath."
"Wimp," Sully crosses her arms, as if to show off the short sleeved shirt she's wearing. Robin glowers at her before wrapping her hood tighter around her.
"Sully!"
Robin looks up to see Stahl waving at them. And next to him is Pip, and Robin can't help but stare. He's dressed in an ill-fitting suit, too big for him and not at all designed with his wings in mind, and judging by his scowl as he messes about with one of the sleeve buttons, he's well aware. His hair is still damp, laurel crown askew, and Robin resists the urge to try and comb it into something neat. And his wings – in the morning light, they appear less black and more a deep blue, like the colour of the night just before the sun completely sets.
"Hah!" Sully runs up the two and grins at Pip, "Ya look like a kid trying to play grownup!"
"Gonna kick your ass tomorrow," Pip retorts. The threat only causes Sully's grin to turn sharper.
"Good luck with that, pipsqueak!"
"What happened?" Robin asks. Pip breaks his staredown with Sully, and to Robin's surprise blushes a little.
"None of your business," he snaps, looking away.
"Frederick happened to him," Sully says gleefully.
"Oh piss off!" Pip snaps.
"Win a few rounds and maybe I'll listen to you, pipsqueak."
"The heck are you talking about? I was the one winning!"
"In your dreams!"
As Sully and Pip argue, Robin turns to Stahl who gives her a sheepish grin.
"Dare I ask what happened?"
"Not sure myself," Stahl admits, "All I know is that Frederick and a pegasus knight tried to wrangle the kid, and after they...I guess won? Frederick ordered me to take him to the bathhouse."
"It was hilarious!" Sully turns to look at her while Pip glowers at her, "That pegasus knight kept shouting at him to be careful and crud while Frederick was wrestling surly here to the ground."
"Hey!"
"I...see?" Robin says, not at all comprehending.
"Something about laundry?" Stahl offers.
"Listen!" Pip snaps towards them, "It's more economical to take a bath while clothed! It's just logic!"
Silence descends.
"I think I'm beginning to understand," Robin says.
"Oh piss off!"
"Hah! Tackling someone to the ground just cause they skipped laundry day. That's Frederick all right," Sully says.
"You mean he's like that all the time?"
"Well..." Stahl begins.
"That was him playing nice kid," Sully says.
"In what world is charging someone like a Clubberskull being nice ?"
"A what?" Stahl asks.
"Clubberskull? Big underworld skull, bound by magic, in unleashed turns anyone around it into a smear?" Pip raises an eyebrow.
"Can't say I've ever heard of such a creature," Robin says faintly.
"Huh, really? The underworld's been active for a while now. Still, you're lucky. Clubberskulls are the worst ."
"They don't sound that bad," Sully scoffs.
"Remember what I said about smears? Anyway, see ya guys," Pip turns around and begins to jog away.
"Where are you going?" Robin calls after him.
Pip turns back towards her and smirks.
"Where else? I'm going to get some payback!"
"Oh, I badly want to see this," Sully mutters wickedly.
"Can we get lunch first?" Stahl asks.
"Fine fine, quite whining. I guess I worked up an appetite too. Hey, Robin?"
"Yes?"
"If the kid tries to get the jump on Frederick while we're out, I want ya to tell me every last detail. Got that?"
"I suppose?"
"Great! See ya later! C'mon ya damn wimp!"
Robin watches the two go, Sully lightly berating Stahl while he listens with a sheepish smile. Then, with nothing better to do, she tries to see if she can't find Pip. As much as she'd rather avoid Frederick, she should probably make sure that Pip didn't get into a fight with him.
Or, failing that, observe the fight for Sully's sake.
"Where the heck is he? And why is this castle so big!?"
Dark Pit wouldn't say he was lost, per say. And he wasn't! He could still see the castle and everything. Of course, getting there on foot could possibly pose an issue, given the trees, hedges, and walls in the way. Once again he felt his "grounding" keenly. Of course, if he could fly in the first place he wouldn't be here…
Dark Pit stares up, watching fluffy white clouds lazily move across the blue sky. The urge to fly straight up till he could dive into the clouds, feel their cold mists, burned in his wings and ached in his chest. How could humans stand being stuck in the mud, when infinity hung above their heads every waking moment?
"Oh!"
Dark Pit whirled around, only to see the healer girl from yesterday. The one who looked like Emmeryn. Liz or something. She's not dressed in that weird skirt from yesterday though, or that apron looking thing. She's just wearing a sunny yellow dress, and buttons on her hair.
"What are you doing here?" he asks, crossing his arms.
"I could ask you the same thing," Liz rolls her eyes and crosses her own arms.
"None of your business."
Liz stares at him for a moment, and suddenly a sparkle lights in her eyes that he doesn't like the look of.
"You're lost ," she began, voice soft but growing gleeful, "Aren't you?"
"Nope," Dark Pit denies.
"You totally are!"
"I know exactly where I am!" he snaps.
"Prove it!"
"Hmph!" Dark Pit looks around.
"Well?"
"I don't need to tell you anything."
"I knew it!" Liz crowed, "You're totally lost!"
"Why are you even here?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
Dark Pit considers telling her to shove off. But she looks genuinely curious, and hey, maybe she can help him find his target.
"I'm looking for that knight. Fred-something."
"Frederick? Why?"
Dark Pit grins, making it as evil as he can.
" Revenge ," he says, drawing out the word.
Liz blinks at him.
"...What, is it cause of the suit you're wearing?"
"No!...Yes."
"Knew it," Liz snorts, "I was wondering why you were dressed like a butler who fell out of a tree."
"It's not my fault your knight's a maniac!" Dark Pit snaps, "And dumb! These clothes don't even have wing holes!"
"Hmm, that is a problem," Liz says. Dark Pit squints at her, but she looks nothing but genuine.
"Anyway, he's going to pay for messing with me," he says.
"How are you going to get him back?"
"As if I'd tell you," Dark Pit scoffs, "You'd probably just warn him."
"No way!" Liz sounds legitimately offended.
"...You sure you won't?" he eventually asks.
She places a hand over her chest.
"Princess's honour," she says solemnly.
Right, she was a princess. At least that meant she probably knew her way around this place.
"Right," Dark Pit says, "I'm going to find him."
"Uh-huh."
"And then I'm going to beat him up."
"...That's it?"
"What do you mean, "that's it"?" Dark Pit scowls, "What more do you want?"
Liz shakes her head, tutting.
"That won't do at all! It's way too simple! Revenge needs to be drawn out! Besides, he'd probably trounce you."
"As if," Dark Pit scoffs, putting away the memories of the earlier fight.
" Right... Anyway, it's clear you need some help. Good thing I'm here to lend a hand!"
"You," Dark Pit begins, "Want to help me?"
"Of course!"
" Why?" he asks, confused. Wasn't this dude her knight or something?
"Two words. Bear meat," Liz scrunches her face and shakes herself, "Besides, I can't resist a good prank! So, whaddya say?" she asks.
"...What do you have in mind?" he asks slowly.
Liz grins, and he has to admit it's a pretty evil one.
"First step! Follow me!"
Even with the afternoon sun shining down on them, the air was chilly near the shores of Ylisstol's lake.
Still, Lissa enjoyed it. She had fond memories of walking along the lake. Emmeryn holding her hand when she was younger, and then her and Chrom exploring the shore and surrounding forests when she was just a bit older.
Now it was just her. Chrom had his duties as commander of the Shepherds, and bearer of the Falchion. And Emm had long ago stopped having the time to take leisurely walks.
'Enough of that !' she scolds herself, 'This isn't the time to get all mopey !'
She spins around to make sure Pip was following her, and caught him staring out at the lake.
"...What'cha looking at?" she asks after a moment.
Pip glances at her, and she's struck again by how red his eyes are. Redder than even Phila's. Certainly an intimidating colour – if it weren't for the fact that Pip immediately looks away, scoffing and trying hard to pretend that he hadn't been admiring nature or something.
'Boys ,' she rolls her eyes.
"It's big," he says at last.
Lissa blinks and looks out towards the lake. In truth, it was big. Very big. So big that it's northern end spilled past the horizon, and its eastern and western shores were just green smudges, barely in sight. She guesses she's gotten used to the sight.
"I guess it is," Lissa admits and looks at him, "Is it the biggest you've ever seen?"
Surely he'd probably have seen a lot while flying around. If Lissa had wings, she'd have explored the entire world.
Pip is silent for a moment, but it's a 'considering' silent rather than an 'ignoring' one. Which is good cause if he'd ignored her she'd have thrown a rock at him or something.
"Probably?" he says at last, "Definitely in the top ten."
"Neat!" Lissa trails off for a moment, "...Y'know, when I imagine the ocean, I picture this."
"They're not at all the same thing," Pip scoffs, "What, have you never seen the ocean before?"
"Nope," she says. She takes some satisfaction in seeing Pip blink before looking away. It's a surprise though, when he speaks up a moment later.
"...It's bluer," he says gruffly.
"Hmm?"
"It's bluer," he's staring out at the lake again, but his mind is clearly elsewhere, "Not all the time, though. Some days it's as grey as steel. Some days it's as green as moss. The air tastes like salt, and..."
"And?" Lissa prompts.
"And it's big. Bigger than you can imagine. It's like...the sky."
"Hmm. I'd love to see it some day," she says, earnest. Then she claps her hands as loud as she can.
Pip snaps out of his reverie and looks at her.
"We're not here to gawk though, we're here for revenge !"
"You never did say why we came all the way out here," despite his words, Pip is giving her his undivided attention.
"All in good time," Lissa sing songs, "First, we have to find some fallen trees!"
"...Okay?"
Despite the occasional looks he gives her, Pip follows her as she walks down towards the lake shore and starts following it. They don't find what she's looking for until they come across a grove of trees that's nearly growing in the lake with how damp it is. It's perfect, and it doesn't take long for her to find what she's looking for.
"Is there any reason you're sticking your hand into a hole in a rotten tree?" Pip asks.
"Aha!"
Pip jerks back as she whirls around and presents her prize.
"...A toad?" he asks, confused.
"A frog," Lissa corrects, "At least, I think."
"What's the difference?"
"No clue! I think toads have more warts."
The frog in her hands croaks loudly, clearly a little displeased with being dragged out of his hole. The way Pip is scrutinizing it probably doesn't help matters.
"Okay, I'll bite," he says, "What are we going to do with a frog?"
"Not just a frog," she says sweetly.
Pip stares at her for a moment, before his mouth curls in a wicked smile as he catches onto her plan. She feels a similar grin on her face. All the while the frog in her hand croaks, unaware of its role in their master plan.
"Welcome home."
Phila pauses as she enters her apartment. Evening light filters through the window, revealing her husband sitting on the floor, his armor abandoned and familiar black clothes in his lap. Frederick looks up from his work and nods at her.
"I've grabbed some food from the mess for you," he says, "In case you missed dinner."
The word "again" isn't uttered, Frederick having long ago stopped trying to passive aggressively remind her to eat. She nods and he goes back to his task. Phila grabs the warm bowl of okra stew from the tray on the table, and takes a seat.
She watches Frederick for a moment, as he mends a tear with care, and he looks up at her.
"I'm afraid it was rather my fault," he explains.
"You let the boy train with the Shepherds?" she asks. Pip, as her knights are now calling him, certainly seemed like the sort of person who would climb up the walls and get into as much trouble as possible rather than take bed rest after an injury.
That she and Frederick were of a similar nature was besides the point.
"Not quite," Frederick sighs, "Tell me, did you know that he's not done a day of laundry in his life?"
Phila raises an eyebrow, putting down the bowl.
"I did not," she admits, and begins to understand what might've happened.
"One of your knights was the one to inform me," Frederick says, "Cordelia."
"She's taken a shine to him," Phila says, "It's...cute, in a way. She's rather doting for an only child."
"A bit like you then?" Frederick says, smiling.
"A bit like you," she retorts.
"...You've met my sisters," Frederick begins with a frown.
"I meant the worrying," Phila says, "I swear she'll go grey early with the way she worries."
Frederick politely ignores the irony of her saying this, and she returns the favour.
She's tried to get her youngest knight to ease up a bit. It's good to be cautious, and to look over your comrades. But you had to look over yourself to do that. Frederick had his knitting, and she had her novels. Little things that were meant for them and them alone, time to unwind. As far as she could tell, Cordelia didn't have anything like that.
"I'm sure she'll learn," Frederick assures her, "She's friends with Sumia, is she not?"
Now there was someone Phila had wished she'd managed to poach before Frederick had. Certainly, she wasn't the best fighter. But that girl had a way with animals that Phila had never seen before. A way with people too, when it came down to it.
"They'd be good for each other," Phila muses, "Cordelia could teach Sumia the finer points of fighting. And she could certainly learn how to relax a bit from Sumia."
"Perhaps we can hold a joint training session between the Knights and the Shepherds?" Frederick suggests with a smile.
Translation: 'You aren't getting Sumia.'
"So my knight got you involved, and that somehow led to an altercation?" she asks.
"She came to me for help after the young man ran away. Of course, as soon as I learned the situation I could hardly ignore it. As for an altercation..." Frederick sighs and then winces, and Phila steps down from her seat to sit next to him. Gingerly she touches his cheek, causing another wince.
"I'm afraid the young man just wouldn't see reason," Frederick gripes, "So I had to subdue him."
"The mighty Frederick, laid low by a child?" she asks, lips quivering into a small smile.
"He hits hard, I'll give him that. Even unarmed it was quite the struggle."
And both of them already knew what he was like armed.
"You could've given this to the seneschal," Phila points out.
"I could," Frederick admits, "But, seeing as how I was the one who damaged it..."
"You're soft," Phila says.
"And anyways," Frederick continues, "The material is unlike anything I've encountered before."
He passes her something that looks like a sleeveless shirt. More than sleeveless really, and she'd consider the outfit strange if she didn't know that it had been made with wings in mind. The material, however, is alien. Elastic and smooth, unlike any cloth she's ever encountered before.
"I've asked the castle tailor to take measurements," Frederick says as she returns the strange garment, "So the young man will have a change of clothes even after I'm done mending this tunic."
"Soft," Phila repeats, her voice fond.
"Perhaps I am," Frederick admits, smiling.
It is at this moment that the door explodes inwards. Phila is at her feet in an instant, dagger in hand – only to recognize red eyes and black wings.
"So this is where you've been!" Pip crows, pointing at Frederick. Phila stares, recognizing one of Frederick's old suits. The young man had taken off the jacket, and clumsily rolled up his sleeves. The white shirt underneath is speckled with dirt and grass stains.
"Young man-" Frederick begins.
"No getting away this time!" Pip gloats, "Now its pay-"
He notices her and does a double take.
"The heck are you doing here?" Pip asks.
Phila raises an eyebrow, sheathing her dagger.
"Young man, I live here."
Pip stares at her, before glancing at Frederick. He glances back at her, and she waits patiently.
"O...kay?" he says, "Well, that just makes things easier. I got a bone to pick with you too. Where's my staff?"
She recalls the strange staff that she'd confiscated from the young man several days ago. The one that, despite what the castle mages had tried, remained inert.
"It's currently in the bedroom," she says, "Did you want it back?"
"Er...You're just. Going to give it back?" Pip asks.
"It's certainly of no use for me, young man." And by now, while she's still not certain of his motives, she admits that Emmeryn's first instincts about Pip were correct. That he is a young boy, rather than an otherworldly enemy. Certainly not trouble. At least, no more than a regular young man.
In any case, the young man has other weapons at his disposal. Depriving him of his staff meant nothing. And he certainly wouldn't surrender his other weapons.
"Well, yeah," Pip flounders, "It's not like you humans can use it anyway."
Phila files that information away for later and nods.
"Shall I go grab it for you?"
"Er..." Pip hesitates, "Well, I don't need it right now. Give it to me tomorrow."
Phila raises an eyebrow at the sudden change of heart, and Pip turns towards Frederick.
"The heck are you doing with my clothes?" Pip demands.
"Mending them, young man," Frederick says.
"Oh," once more Pip rallies, pointing a finger at Frederick, "Well, it wouldn't have needed to be mended if you hadn't tackled me earlier!"
"On the contrary young man, I noticed several large holes and tears in it. Certainly not my doing," Frederick folds some of the clothes in his lap and stands up, pushing them into Pip's arms.
"You should take better care of your clothes," Frederick chides, "Especially if it's the only pair you own."
Pip blinks at the clothes in his arms, and then looks up at Frederick.
"Uh..." It's clear that this wasn't how he'd envisioned this confrontation to go, and he looks away, "…Thanks," Pip says gruffly.
"You are most welcome," Frederick's smile turns stern again, "The rest I will return to you tomorrow, once they are mended. And I expect you to regularly launder these. And to take regular bathes. You should take care of your appearance while a guest of the castl-"
"Okay, thanks retracted," Pip whirls around, "Bye!"
The door slams shut and Frederick sighs.
"That boy..."
"I'm sure he appreciates what you've done," Phila says.
"Hmm. In any case, it is done," Frederick turns towards her, "How was your day?"
"The same old," she says, "I'll tell you as soon as you freshen up."
"Don't take too long," Frederick says, "The food will get cold otherwise."
"Very well."
Frederick goes back to mending tears in the remaining robes. Phila makes her way towards the bedroom, opening it. And she blinks.
"..."
"Is something wrong?" Frederick asks, noting her sudden pause.
"...Hmm," Phila turns towards him, "It appears we have unexpected visitors."
"What do you-?"
Frederick startles, ripping out several careful stitches as a frog hops past Phila's foot, croaking. Frederick glares at it, then at the accidental frogging, before sighing.
"Lissa," he says, sounding years older.
"Lissa," Phila agrees, watching dozens of frogs bounce around their bedroom. The origin seems to have been a sack under the bed, tied just tight enough to prevent any amphibians from immediately escaping without about half an hour's struggle.
"Aww, that's no fun," the muffled voice of the princess complained from the hall.
There was a moment of silence, only punctuated by croaking.
"Oops," Lissa said.
"Maybe they didn't hear you," comes Pip's muffled voice.
Phila watches Frederick massage his temples before standing to his full height.
"Young man. Princess, " he says, voice loud and stern.
"Oh, cra-"
"Right, time to go!"
Frederick opens the door just as the princess and the angel hightail it down the hall. She watches as Frederick considers giving chase, before his shoulders slump and he sighs. She closes the door and turns back towards her, and they stare at each other.
"Gather the frogs while you come up with an appropriate punishment?" she suggests.
"Gather the frogs while I come up with an appropriate punishment," he confirms.
Parts of this chapter are brought to you by the author looking into the history of bathing after realizing that a lot of fantasy either doesn't cover the topic or for some reason decides that 15th century England was the norm everywhere.
Sully is a joy to write. As is Lissa.
Frederick and Phila are in a platonic marriage, and there is a reason for this that will be explained later.
Thanks for reading. Tune in for the next chapter!