Morgan= Maura, means "dark"
Maura didn't quite know what she was expecting from the capital of Nohr. Windmire? It's strange, the capital streets are empty, I don't see a shop anywhere, but there are so many people. I wasn't expecting something like Plegia's capital, the entire thing built under Grima's skull, but this is unnatural. And the weather is terrible, like a never ending storm cloud stretches across the country. An approaching pair in hoods caught Maura's attention, and she nudged the mage to her side, dressed in a similar hood. Laslow and Selena never pulled down the hoods protecting them from the elements. Luckily, the innkeeper at the town we stayed at was kind enough to give the three of them the cloaks, they're cheap but they work well enough.
"It seems Lady Luck has been kind to us" Laslow smirked as Selena began to pull something from her cloak.
"I'm sure you don't mean the weather, what's the news?" Maura made sure to keep a careful eye on the crowd, she had already seen a few people get pickpocketed by skilled thieves. Selena managed to pull a crumpled flyer from her pocket and handed it to Maura.
"Laslow managed to get a Cleric to tell us that there's a competition for a space as royal retainers, all we have to do is show our stuff." Selena ran her finger over the flyer to show Maura the details, her eyes quickly absorbed all the information she could from the flyer, trying to ignore the fact Laslow had most likely managed to get the information with his flirting.
"So I guess we follow the crowd and get signed up? It's as good a plan as any." Maura shrugged.
"Close, love. All the people here have already signed up, but I managed to get directions from a Knight, he seemed pretty glad to help. We need to go this way, follow me." Laslow waved for the group to follow him through a small alleyway before another open street, before ending up at a small stand with a line only a few people long. Other late entries I suppose, but just who exactly is running this stand?
When it was time for them to reach the front of the line, the were met by a teenage woman with long purple hair, who looked as if she absolutely dreaded her station. She handed the four of them a few papers, which Maura quickly ran over with a critical eye. These are waivers, in case we get injured, or killed? What kind of competition is this? Maura signed hers with her new name and took the second of papers. The actual admission form. Was the waiver there to scare away competitors? It would make sense to have only the most reliable to protect and serve the royal family. She signed out her name once again, but other categories were a lot more difficult. Home Village? Not applicable. Family Medical History? Do I put "late sister had anemia"?
She eventually managed to fill out enough of the form for it to be acceptable and handed it back to the woman, who looked over it with a skeptical eye, but said nothing and merely pointed them toward the arena once again. On the way Selena and Maura merely gave idle chatter about not knowing what to put, out of fear of blowing their cover. Once they had made it to the arena, the girls both stood quiet as they waited for the main event to start.
Two hours later, a fanfare of trumpets began to blow, signaling the entrance of the royalty. Maura was shocked to see the same woman from earlier walk out with two men, apparently her brothers. Once the trumpets were silenced, the oldest began to speak atop a makeshift stage, his magic-enhanced voice echoing off of the arena walls.
"As I am sure you are all aware, I am Prince Xander, Crown Prince of Nohr. The royal family is pleased to see so many skilled warriors here, ready to prove their worth. This tournament is designed to show your skills, if you leave an impression on us, even if you lose, you are still in consideration for the position of one of our retainers. We will take a maximum of five retainers, after extensive interviewing. However, that is neither here nor now, and I will allow my brother, Prince Leo, to explain to you all the rules of this competition." Prince Xander boomed, before stepping off the pedestal, allowing a small young boy to take the stand. How old is he? He can't be any older than seven! Despite his young age the young prince managed to speak calmly, but Maura could tell he was having terrible stage fright.
"The rules for the tournament are simple, everyone will randomly face an opponent of a class with a similar range, any archers will face other archers or mages, while a mage can expect to face any kind of opponent. All combatants will wield the same weapon, as we will issue an iron weapon of your choice before you enter the arena to face your opponent. The only exception to this rule is the fact that mages will be able to use three different tomes in order to better show off their skill. However, if a mage is incapable of supplying their own tome, we will supply them with a Thunder tome and only that, no exceptions." Prince Leo stepped off of the small podium to be quickly silently praised by the purple haired woman. Maura was paying so much attention to the two of them, she barely noticed Prince Xander had taken the stage once again.
"Now then, all competitors should separate into groups based on class, where we will then begin the process of pairing everyone up for round one of the tournament." Xander stepped off the platform and competitors began to flood the arena's sand floor, grouping up, then waiting in gigantic circles for the rest of their class to join the circle. Maura and Odin gave the others silent nods before heading into their group, preferring to stay on the outside. Once the chaos began to subside, Odin spoke up in his dramatic tone.
"As warriors of the magical element, we are privileged the honor of choice. Might I wonder what dark powers you shall employ?" Maura shook her head at her friend's theatrics, making him repeat himself without his theatrics. "Er, what spells are you thinking of using?"
"Obviously the spells I have on me, Thunder and Nosferatu, I'm guessing you'll be using Fire, Mjölnir, and getting one of the Thunder tomes" Maura pointed to the yellow and purple tomes in her coat pocket before pointing to the tomes strapped on Odin's leg.
"Um, will it be a good idea for me to use Mjölnir? What if I get disqualified?" Odin questioned, but Maura shrugged it off.
"If anything, the fact you'll be using a unique spell will make you look better. You made that spell yourself, and if anyone actually questions it, say you're using the tournament as a chance to test it." Maura adjusted her coat, anxious for the tournament to begin.
"I didn't even think about that, you really are the smartest person I know, you know that right?" Odin laughed before bouncing in place to stay warmed up.
Around half an hour later, the Maura and Odin received a final parchment for them to list the weapons they would be using from Prince Leo, who seemed to be rather anxious in the large crowd of warriors.
"Thank you. I have two questions about the weapon rules however." Muara spoke up, while Odin merely wrote down his list of spells.
"There really shouldn't be any questions, but go ahead." Prince Leo stopped in front of the two of them, handing a white haired man with an eyepatch the rest of the papers to hand out. So he already has one retainer? Or maybe just some hired help for the tournament. Definitely doesn't look the part of a royal retainer.
"My friend has a custom spell, we worked on making it together, is he allowed to use it? And the rules didn't quite explain what I should do if I'm capable of using both swords and magic." Maura remembered the coat she was wearing had a sheath for a sword, sewn along the inside. Where Father got this, I'll never know, but the pockets for tomes and a built-in sheath practically defined his fighting style.
Maura's question clearly caught Leo's attention, "Well, you can choose whichever you feel more confident in. I'll admit I didn't think of someone wielding both, even though it's rather common in our army, but you'll have to provide your own horse. And as for the custom spell, it's fine as long as he makes sure to designate it as such on the form I handed the two of you." Leo began to walk away, cursing himself for not considering multiple weapon users.
Maura attempted to hide her flinch, He thinks I'm a Dark Knight! "Actually, I don't need a mount."
Leo halted and quickly turned, giving Maura a deadly look. "That's a weird fighting style, where are you from? Definitely not anywhere in Nohr."
"My friends and I are travelers, as for my fighting style, I'm not quite sure how I learned it myself. While traveling, I eventually ended up learning how to pair magic and swordplay together in a fight." Maura decided to give a couple of half-lies instead of trying to create some lie that would get the four of them in huge trouble. I've always mixed the two of them, even before I lost my memory, I just got really good when traveling with the Shepherds.
"None in are party are aware of which point Maura learned to combine steel and the dark arts, her mother taught the two of us the secrets of the arcane, while Lalsow's father gave us all the rush of the harmonious sound behind steel ringing, but I wished to focus on the magical properties that flowed through my veins when we left the charred remains we once declared home. Maura likely doesn't remember such fond memories as she suffers from the most perplexing of conditions, amnesia. She merely remembers drops in the river of time that was our youth. When we spoke with a healer about her suffering they claimed the villain that robbed her of memories was the trauma of watching our hometown destroyed." Odin suddenly popped up behind Maura, startling the tactician, giving his own mixture of half-lies, albeit with his own dramatic spin. Thank the gods Odin caught on to what I was doing, and if he didn't Prince Leo likely didn't understand a word he said.
"Very well then, thank you for asking before you pulled one in a duel, but out of fairness for the tournament, please choose between magic and swordplay. " Leo shook Maura and Odin's hands before walking away.
"That was close, I probably shouldn't have asked." Maura shuddered, fearing what could have happened.
"It's fine, not the first time we've had to get ourselves out of trouble. Remember that one time we nearly hit Father with a runaway cart?" Odin laughed.
"No, not at all." Maura gave Odin a perplexed look, until he gave her a small wink. That sly devil! He made that up on purpose in case someone was listening! And chose Henry because no one would know who he's referring to!
"That's too bad, his pet bird was angry with Laslow for a month." Odin laughed, and Maura giggled along.
"Now THAT I remember, it hated Laslow. I never really knew why." Maura laughed at the thought of Henry's crow attacking their friend. The two of them them began to fill out the final paperwork that Prince Leo had handed them, placing the spells they wished to use alongside "other" talents. Maura decided to place swordplay and tactics, while Odin also placed swordplay, but held no other talent he could place.
After around five minutes the warriors from all over began to fill back into the stands and Maura and Odin went to search for their friends, only for Maura to have to drag Laslow from a female cavalier with light blue hair that faded into dyed pink pigtails.
"Thanks, if you didn't do that I might have stabbed him, and I don't think that would look good for me." The cavalier spoke a little too bubbly for her Maura's comfort and Laslow began squirming in order to get away from the psychopath. "I'm Peri, nice ta meetcha!" She held out one of her hands to shake, which Odin grabbed without hesitation introducing himself and the others. He isn't even phased? Well, he is related to Henry, this shouldn't surprise me.
"I am Odin Dark, my friend here is Maura, and you've already met Laslow." Peri glared at Laslow with such vehemence that he flinched and began trying to squirm out Maura's iron grip again.
"Speaking of Laslow, where's Selena?" Maura began to look around for their redhaired friend, without loosening her grip on Laslow.
"We got separated and I lost her in the crowd." Laslow tried to massage life into the arm that Maura was holding, only for her to let go of the arm to whack him on the head.
"And your immediate reaction was to flirt with the nearest woman!" Maura scolded, only for Laslow to look to Odin for help, but the Dark Mage ignored him to continue his conversation with Peri.
While Maura scolded Laslow, a familiar voice piped up, disgust clear in her voice. "Good thing you two found him before I did, or else I would have smacked this idiot like a training dummy." Selena walked up to the group of fighters shooting Laslow a glare that would be a lethal weapon if looks could kill. Before she could go on her own tangent scolding Laslow, Prince Xander's booming voice filled the arena.
"I apologize for the wait, but we're ready for the first round. Will Daniela and Nichol enter the arena with their weapons ready." Maura didn't pay attention for a while until Selena was finally called to face another Mercenary named Zhara, but the fight wasn't even interesting as Selena knocked the swordsman into the sand extremely quickly. Maura waited until it was her turn to fight, she didn't even hear her opponent's name, but a second's glance gave her all the information she needed. Another Maid? I can clearly see more of those stupid knives in her boots, so I can expect that she'll try to throw those at me but she will run out and use the last few to try to rush me, that will be my opening. The maid took the first opportunity tossing one of her daggers which Maura blasted out of the air with a quick Thunder, then sidestepped the next two, thrown in tandem. Three, I counted eight earlier, so three or four left, then she goes for melee. The Maid tried the same technique again, which Maura avoided similarly, blasting another Thunder at the sand in front of the Maid as well as safe measure. The Maid, however simply ran through the dust cloud right, knives drawn. Maura watched the Maid approach unblinking, waiting for the perfect timing. Now! Maura pulled out her second tome and charged it in one motion catching and holding the Maid in front of her. The Nosferatu began to drain the Maid's energy, before Maura tossed her to the side, slamming her into the brick wall behind her, knocking the Maid unconscious. "Just as planned."
When she returned to the audience she barely reunited with her friends, minus Peri, who apparently was taking care of her horse for her upcoming round, before she began to be hounded with questions from other mages. "How did you do that?!"
Maura merely stifled a laugh and replied calmly. "Blood and thunder." Her friends began to laugh as all the mages surrounding them looked as if Maura had grown a second head. After she refused to answer any other questions, the various mages began to scatter, leaving Maura with the others, watching a multitude of fights in silence.
Maura eventually went back down to the arena, once again allowing her enemy to get the first attack, a Mercenary, he dashed in front of Maura to slash her, which she quickly sidestepped. Selena and Laslow are so much better than this guy, easy win. Maura grabbed the Mercenary's sword arm, and charged a Thunder spell right next to his face. "Amatuer." The spell was never fired, as the Mercenary dropped his blade and raised his other hand in surrender. Letting the man go, Maura gave him a small smile. "Sorry, I guess I went a bit overboard, but this is a tournament to prove my skills, so I didn't want to hold back." The Mercenary went pale and ran from Maura, who merely shrugged and returned to her friends, Laslow giving her a pat on the back, while Selena showed her a piece of paper.
"They finally were able to make these. they show the tournament brackets. If we keep winning, you'll be facing Odin in the semi-final, and you'll be facing Peri right before that, while Laslow and I fight each other in our semi-final."
"Finally some interesting fights, everything up until now hasn't even been a warm up."
"Love, just so you know, your last fight has been the fastest out of all of them, and you don't even have a single hair out of place." Laslow reached up to touch Maura's black hair, before she smacked his hand away.
"Then I don't want you messing it up." Maura joked, while Selena sighed at Laslow's antics.
The other rounds went without anything interesting happening, most of Maura's opponents were inexperienced warriors who made it that far due to dumb luck. Before long the quarterfinals rolled around and Maura found herself facing Peri and her lance.
"I'll admit I'm glad to finally face someone skilled." Maura gave Peri a friendly smile.
"Yeah, so far all these fights have been so boring, I'm not even allowed to gore my opponents." Peri didn't notice Maura shiver at her words. "Oh well, this should be fun, let's get to it!"
Peri charged, her lance dropped low. Muara instinctively rolled and blasted the ground where she once was, hoping to startle Peri's steed, to little avail. I think that horse is as bloodthirsty as she is! Peri continued to charge toward Maura, as Maura continued to dodge each attack, but was tiring quickly. I can't back away, the horse will easily catch me, so I need some other plan, I can't get a good shot on Peri without slowing down that horse, perhaps darker magic is the answer.
"It's time to even the odds!" Maura charged her Nosferatu tome and Peri's horse reared up in fear of the dark magic, which Maura took advantage of, blasting the rider with a Thunder spell, causing her to fall off of the scared horse, to which she began to laugh.
"I knew this match was gonna be fun! I'm not even angry that I lost, but next time I'm gonna win." Peri pushed herself to her feet and began to brush off the sand covering her back.
"I'll be ready for it." Maura put out her hand for a shake, only for Peri to grab her hand and pull her into a hug.
"Good luck! Maybe we'll both be chosen so we can work together." Peri said when she let Maura out of her bear hug,
"That would be the best-case scenario." Maura laughed "Want to watch the rest of the tournament with us?"
"Of course! I'd love to!" Peri began to drag Maura back to the near empty spectator's area.
"I just realised, next will be Selena and Laslow's fight!" Maura said when they got back to their seats.
"I hope that Selena wins, who are you rooting for?" Peri put her hands on the railing in anticipation.
"Well, I mean, I want both of them to prove themselves to the royals, and they're my friends so I don't think I should be choosing sides. But then again, I want Selena to punish Laslow for his flirting, and I also want to face Laslow myself so I can punish him for flirting myself." Maura thought out loud, making Odin laugh.
"Then for Laslow's sake, I hope Selena wins." He shot Maura a smile. Don't discredit yourself, Odin. "Either way, the battle's starting."
Maura looked out into the arena to see her two friends walking forward, pulling out their swords and holding them together, the flat side of the blades crossing into an X shape, before dashing back to begin the match, Laslow took initiative, always been impatient in a fight, when he slashed at Selena she blocked the attack with her sword, parrying Laslow's blade before slashing at him, only find that Laslow had already spun away, literally dancing around Selena. Selena was able to block all of Laslow's attacks, but incapable of returning the favor, as every time she did, Laslow was already somewhere else. Their match lasted for a grueling five minutes before Selena began to tire and Laslow was able to knock her blade out of her hand, earning him the victory. Maura and Odin both began to head down to the arena.
"So, let's make this interesting." Odin finally said when the two of them were in the middle of the arena.
"How so?" Maura raised her eyebrow at Odin's sudden request.
"Simply we both use only the Thunder tome, that way there's only our skills at question." Odin shrugged as though he thought she would refuse.
"Sounds great! Ten paces?" Maura laughed, pressing her back against Odin's, feeling him tense up at her sudden touch.
"May the best mage win." Odin let out a short breath that apparently was caught in his lungs.
"Let's do it." Maura tried to sound serious, but couldn't help but find the circumstances amusing. One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
On the tenth step, Maura immediately rolled to her side, narrowly avoided a magic blast that would have hit her square in the back. She quickly opened her Thunder tome, returning a blast of her own, which Odin countered with his own spell, creating a large plume of smoke. Maura used the opportunity to send another blast, directed slightly to the left, predicting Odin's movements. The blast merely hit the brick wall behind Odin as the man had dodged the spell at the last second, but Maura could see that his arm was slightly singed. Odin gave her no respite, launching his own Thunder spell at Maura, which she avoided barely, and chose to focus her energy below the sand. Let's see if I can make a little trap for Odin. Maura began to launch spells at Odin, aiming for his left arm so he would move to the right, in the direction of the sand trap, ready to blow. Casting spells while keeping the trap built up is difficult, I'll have a migraine after this. After about six purposely missed Thunder spells, Odin was right on top of Maura's bubbling sand trap, and she smirked, letting out a little laugh. "Sorry, Odin. I win."
Before he could question Maura, the sand below Odin's feet exploded, launching him into the air where he landed on his back hard, holding up his hands up in defeat. Maura jogged over to help the mage get up. "Ow. This pain I feel is nothing to how I shamed myself by underestimating the Dark Mind." Maura would have smacked him if she hadn't just literally blown him up. STOP CALLING ME THAT! "Not even in my mind could I have thought of you creating a trap in fair arena." Odin winced as Maura helped him up.
"To be fair, it was a very last minute idea, and if I would have needed to hold it any longer I wouldn't have been able to. At that point I think you would have won." Maura tried to make her friend feel better, but he only slumped further down.
"Please, knowing you, you would have used the explosion as a distraction and take me out that way." Odin spoke quietly, without his dramatic flair. Gods, he's really upset! I need to make him feel better, if I can.
"Odin, look at me." When Odin lazily raised his head, Maura continued, "Remind me again everything you've done since you learned magic, and if you can't then I'll remind you." Odin only gave her unsettling silence. "Fine. If you're gonna be like that. Since you learned magic, you have gotten to the damn semifinals in a tournament filled with gifted fighters, created a new powerful spell, and you know what?!"
"What?" Odin's voice was quiet,as if he didn't want to hear anymore. Maura could tell he was holding back tears, even if they refused to show.
"I've never done any of that, especially not when I first learned magic." Maura tried to keep her voice gentle, but she kept a stern undertone.
"What?" Odin's voice perked up a bit, genuine curiosity filling it.
"I've never made my own spell, the only reason I know how is from watching Mother. And sure as hell I've never been in a tournament like this before, I might have beat you, but it was a very close match. Odin, you're better than me, with a sword and with magic. Now get out of this slump, after all, a royal retainer must look strong, especially Odin Dark." As Maura spoke, she could clearly see Odin's mood continue to improve until he had his usual grin back.
With Odin back to his usual self, he rushed to the spectator's area, leaving Maura with a quick "Give them all a great show." and a large smile of her own. Feeling refreshed, Maura took a drink of water that someone provided while she waited for Laslow to enter the Arena for the final battle. The grey haired mercenary, entered the arena and gave Maura a wave as he walked up.
"That was some trick, don't think it'll work twice." Laslow smiled.
"Never thought it would, even if you were dumb enough to fall for it." Maura held out her hand for Laslow to shake, which he grasped firmly.
"Just so you know, love, I have no intention on going easy on you." At this remark Maura shot him a cold glare.
"Good. I would have smacked you if you did." Maura let go of Laslow's hand, crossing her arms in a pout.
"That was something, cheering up Odin like that. I don't suppose you could do that the next time I get turned down?" Laslow joked, wiggling his eyebrows a little. Flirting with me, now? It never has worked.
"Sorry, you know seeing you get turned down is too fun for me." Maura gave him a playful shove before turning him around and forcing to go to his side of the arena.
As much as I care for Laslow, this is serious, so I won't be holding back either. He'll likely avoid any spells I throw at him, while rushing to close the distance. My best bet would be to keep him slow with Thunder spells, then trap him in Nosferatu, but he'll likely still be standing after that, so there it's all up to skill.
Maura and Laslow both gave their signals that they were ready to start and waited for the official go-ahead. The moment that the match started, Laslow began to sprint, clearing a third of the arena in the amount of the time it to Maura to charge and fire a Thunder spell. He narrowly avoided the spell, losing a bit of speed, and reached the halfway point when Maura fired the next. Laslow swung his body away from the spell just in time, spinning as he did, allowing him to right himself and keep moving. He pulled his sword arm, preparing to slash, when Maura swapped tomes, and cast the spell, trapping him in the draining spell. When he broke away from the spell, Maura was rejuvenated, preparing another Thunder spell. Laslow closed the final distance as Maura launched the spell, blocking it with the ornate shield always strapped to his shoulder. As Laslow raised his sword, Maura prepared herself for a downward slash, only for her feet to give away as Laslow swept his legs below her. Sword pointed at her neck, Maura laughed, raising her hands in surrender, only for Laslow to grab them and pull her up.
"You finally managed to sweep me off of my feet." Maura gave Laslow a small punch, only for him to flush red.
"Not quite how I imagined, darling." Laslow tried to cover his rising blush, to no avail.
"Either way, I think we gave them a great show, like Odin said." Maura looked up to the still crowded spectators, giving them all a small wave. When she looked back over to Laslow, she could have mistaken his skin color for that of a tomato. The fact his blush was continually growing darker only made her laugh even more. "Come on, let's go find the others." Maura began to drag Laslow off as he gave no resistance.
When Maura had finally dragged Laslow to where the others were, who wisely decided to meet up in the stables, hiding from the increased attention they were receiving as the champion's friends, his face was still bright red. Whether due to the crowd or the fact I just dragged him away from the arena, I don't think I'll ever know. Both seem equally likely, maybe because the crowd saw me drag him away, that sounds like a good middle ground.
"Teehee, you can still see all the blood rushing to his face! I wonder what would happen if I cut his cheek. You think all the blood will rush out?" Peri's giggling voice caused Laslow's face to immediately pale to that of a ghost. "Aw. It's all gone now."
"I don't think all the blood rushing to and fro his face like that is healthy." Maura absentmindedly said. But it is kinda fun to see him embarrassed and terrified.
"Such a spectacle! Two legendary heroes facing off in noble combat! Such a fierce battle of power to rival the gods! The Dark Mind against Laslow of the Cerulean Sky! A battle to be spoken of for ages!" Odin put his arms over the shoulders of his friends.
"I told you not to call me that." Maura punched Odin's chest, causing him to fall back some, only to come right back into his former position.
"He'll never listen, your only option is to offer a different name that he would be happy with. By the way I think 'Azure' sounds better, 'Laslow of the Azure Sky'." Laslow spoke with a large grin on his face.
"Laslow of the Azure Sky? Certainly better than 'Cerulean', but I think we could still make it better." Odin began to think, as Selena groaned.
"Someone stop him before he grabs a thesaurus. Either way, I think you two really did show your skills, but don't let it go to your head. We still have to do interviews, remember? Or were you too daft to pay attention to that part, Laslow?" Selena shot Laslow a playful glare, working with her so long, you learn the difference between playful and 'tellmewhereYarne'shidingorsohelpme'.
"Good. So I don't have to tell you. Lady Camilla and the others wish to speak with each of you." A girl with light blue hair, not unlike Peri's, but cut short, spoke dryly. More hired help? She doesn't exactly fit the image of a royal retainer either.
"Very well, lead the way, Miss…?" Laslow allowed himself to trail off, hoping the girl would answer his unsaid question, to no avail as the woman just turned around, not even waving for the group to follow. "Very well then, I suppose this isn't my first encounter with the silent treatment. Peri, do you still have to take care of your horse?"
"Nope! C'mon let's go!" Peri dashed off, slowing only when she walked right next to the mysterious woman, Odin and Selena right behind her.
"Literally no slowing her down, it seems. Well we wouldn't want to be left behind, now would we?" Maura grabbed Laslow's wrist and began to pull him along, chasing after Peri and their friends.
When the group finally had reached their destination, a large door, made of dark wood, the girl open the door holding her hand back, a silent command to stay put, and closed it behind her. A few minutes later, the purple haired woman, Princess Camilla, shooed out another mage, only to turn to the others with a smile on her face. "Oh good you're all here, I hope you do well, the other people in the top eight were absolutely dreadful, and I rather not send out my darling Beruka to hunt down anyone else." Else? So Beruka must be the girl who brought us here. "I think Xander wanted to say something to all of you, just give me a moment to fetch him." The door closed again before anyone could say anything else, only to open again moments later, Prince Xander, some kind of divine sword strapped to waist, stepped out and cleared his breath.
"I'm glad you're all here, we were especially pleased by all of your skills in combat, especially those of our champion." Maura looked over at Laslow's face as it began to take a pinkish hue once again from the crown prince's words. As the blush deepened, Maura could hear a slight chuckle from the crown prince and a slight gasp of delight along with "It's back!" from Peri. "Regardless, your skills in battle mean nothing if we cannot trust you to be worthy retainers, loyal and willing to act in our stead, and that's what these interviews will allow us to decide. I see no reason to keep you waiting, we'll be doing these interviews separately. Let's begin." Prince Xander gestured for Laslow to follow him into the door. Only a moment later, Beruka left the room, causing a few raised eyebrows.
"Shouldn't you still be in there?" Selena asked the question running through everyone's head.
"The interviews are completely confidential. I'm to be on standby outside." Beruka's voice was completely monotone.
"So we just wait out here?" Selena slumped against the wall.
"Correct." Beruka took out a knife and leaned on the door, preventing anyone from peeking or listening in on the interview.
"Rhetorical question." Selena snapped at the retainer.
"Very well, then." Beruka didn't react to Selena's change in tone.
Any further attempts at conversation with Beruka fell flat, leaving everyone sitting in uncomfortable silence until the door began to move behind Beruka, causing her to get up for Laslow to get through. Through the slightly ajar door, Maura could hear Princess Camilla turn her attention to Laslow's struggle, "Beruka, darling, please don't lean on the door. It makes it rather difficult for people to leave."
"Yes, Lady Camilla." Beruka shifted to the wall alongside the door. Able to get in and out, but prevent anyone from listening in.
"Er, Maura, you're next. It's going in the order of the tournament." Laslow's face was blushed again, and Maura couldn't tell if it was before or after the door incident. I was hoping to see if his blush would tell if he got the position. Curses.
"Okay, wish me luck." Maura waved to her friends as she walked through the door, face to face with Princess Camilla, Prince Leo, and Prince Xander. She closed the door behind her and took a seat.
"Maura, is it? You certainly have a colorful group of friends, could you tell us your thoughts on them, from a tactician's perspective." Xander spoke up once Maura was seated. Using my work as a tactician to see how perceptive I am, in case of spies or thieves?
"Well, I can't speak much for Peri as I just met her, but she's a very skilled Cavalier. She's definitely seems like the kind that would be able to hold well on the battlefield, especially if there is someone who would be able to restore her energies after a skirmish. From facing her I could tell she has the opportunity to become a fine Dark Mage, she gave off a sort of aura the exuded dark magic, even if she didn't know it." It was clear that Prince Leo was scribbling notes over what Maura said. "The others I can speak for very well as I've worked with them for as long as I can remember. Laslow, as you saw, is extremely fast, even with his weapons slowing him down, if he were trained correctly he would make an excellent Assassin, he's also able to encourage those around him with his dancing. He and I have also tried our hand at archery in the past, but we're both rather rusty. He also doesn't exactly take praise very well, and doesn't enjoy being the center of attention, as I'm sure you saw Prince Xander, he's rather shy.." More scribbling from Leo before he poked his head up, willing Maura to continue. "Odin, as he told Prince Leo earlier, trained in the sword with the rest of us." At this point Leo spoke up for the first time.
"I wanted to ask about that actually. Why exactly did he choose the path of a Dark Mage rather than the sword? From what I salvaged from him, he wasn't terrible with a blade" Leo chose his words rather carefully, attempting to avoid upsetting Maura.
"You get used to his theatrics, and actually it's the exact opposite. Odin was the best out of all of us with swords, his own fighting style too, but his father was an extremely skilled mage and he was 'enthralled by the dark powers dwelling within him', basically he would be an even better mage than swordsman."
"And Selena, was it?" Camilla spoke up, holding her chin with the back of her hands, looking at Maura's face like a cat watching it's prey.
"Selena is skilled with a blade, and she's tried her hand at using axes before. You'll never see anyone else as competitive or determined as her." Maura paused to arrange her thoughts.
"That's not quite as much as the others." Camilla's voice held a hint of disappointment.
"Well, there's only a few more things. She can have a bit of a inferiority complex, but why isn't my place to tell."
"Shame, I do love a bit of gossip." Camilla let out a slight laugh.
"One last thing, and you didn't hear it from me." Maura put on a mischievous smirk, which clearly caught Camilla's attention, a similar smirk crossing her face. Selena's going to hate me for this, but it puts her in a good light.
"Oh? Now we're talking, give me all the juicy details." If Camilla leaned any further on the table separating them, there would be a risk of the table breaking.
"Behave yourself, Camilla" Xander shot Camilla a glare, which she merely returned with a small chuckle.
"Sorry, Xander, darling, but I must entertain myself in these dreary meetings." Camilla's response caused the crown prince to rub his temples.
"Selena is excellent with animals, especially Pegasi." Maura decided to speak up before a fight broke out.
"Pegasi?" This caught Xander's attention, his eyes raising slightly. "Pegasi are quite rare in Nohr, where did you come across one?"
"My friends and I have traveled for most of our lives, in our homeland Pegasi were quite common, as well as many of the lands we traveled through." Maura gave a quick half-lie, true they travelled, but with the Shepherds, and Pegasi were common even in Valm and Plegia.
"And why would you choose to become royal retainers if you are such free spirits?" Xander now began to lean on the table, ignoring the creaking sound it made as he did.
"I wouldn't call us free spirits, really. Traveling wasn't exactly our choice, our hometown was absolutely destroyed and we had nowhere to turn, so we began traveling, taking up various odd jobs as we go, payment in either money or a place to stay for a time. We often found ourselves involved in various armies, should Nohr go to war, it would be our fourth one."
"Three wars? Poor thing, you truly must have traveled quite far, I can see why you'd want to settle down." Camilla cooed, leaning back in her chair.
"Yes, I suppose I must ask, what sort of skills could you have obtained through all those travels, besides combat?" Xander pressed, trying to get the interview back under his control.
"We all are able to cook our own meals fairly well, but nothing to ride home about, just cooking what we hunted, boar, deer, bear, that sort of thing, Selena is the best at that. Odin's mother was a nurse, so he's able to perform first aid, however he can't work a staff for the life of him, so we still need a healer if one of us is injured. He's also an expert in weapon maintenance, as we can't exactly buy new ones every time ours break. I've got a keen eye so I notice things others might not, such as if a person is lying, watching for a pickpocket. I already mentioned Laslow's dancing. Nothing else really worth mentioning, mending our own clothes, laundry, basic chores like that." Maura spoke matter-of-factly, listing off various skills of little importance.
"One more thing, sweetie, your application mentioned how your sister had anemia. We would like to know if it's genetic, or something else." Camilla's voice was caring, looking at Maura as if she was diagnosed with a deadly disease.
"Her anemia was…. an accident… Mother tried to teach her more powerful dark magic, and it rebounded. After that, she refused to teach Odin and I more difficult magic, even when we were ready." Maura looked away from the royalty. Damn it, if they were at all suspicious, they would instantly realise I'm lying! I can't just tell them that Mother had used Noire as a guinea pig for her hexes when she was a kid! "My sister couldn't use magic again after that, it would cause her anemia to act up, it still would act up from time to time anyways, but it was always much worse if she tried to use magic."
Xander cleared his throat, catching Maura's attention. "I apologize, clearly that's a difficult subject for you, but with that, I think we're done here. Could you please send in the next person?" His tone was simultaneously soft and stern, oddly comforting and commanding.
"It's fine, would you like for me to send in Selena or Odin?" Maura pushed her chair back, standing up.
"Up to you, darling. It really doesn't matter to us." Camilla cooed, waving Maura off.
"I'll send in Odin then, that way if you need you can ask Selena what he meant." Maura pushed open the door, leaving the royals without time to respond. Her friends looked up from their boredom to see her. "Odin, you're up. Please do us all a favor, and try to keep the theatrics to a manageable brilliance." Her comment caused a snort to come from Selena, as she and Laslow were trying to keep straight faces.
"No force exists in this mortal realm that can contain the brilliance of Odin Dark!" Odin shouted.
"I think a coffin and six feet of earth will do a good enough job." Maura glared at her friend, slightly enjoying how he flinched. "I asked nicely, but if you won't listen then I have no choice."
"Err…. Understood" Odin passed Maura on his way to the door, where she gave him a jab to the gut to prove her point. "Ow! I got it." Once Odin entered the door Maura slumped against the wall next to Laslow and Selena.
"I swear, dealing with him is like taking care of an oversized child sometimes!" Maura pulled her knees closer toward her, causing her to slide further down the wall until she was sitting on the floor.
"But you do it flawlessly, love. One of the reasons you're a fine leader, you know how to deal with all kinds of people." Laslow tried to put his arm over Maura's shoulder, only to get jabbed in the armpit.
"Including pompous flirts, you know that complements get you nowhere." Maura scooted a bit away from Laslow, before turning to Selena. "Sorry, but I said you'd be able to translate anything that they didn't understand from Odin."
"Then it's a good thing he's supposed to be keeping himself at a minimum." Selena growled.
"How come when she threatens to kill someone, she's complimented for being a good leader, but when I do it, people look at me like I'm a monster." The group's attention was pointed to Peri, who seemed to be on the verge of tears. The group spent the rest of the time waiting for Odin outside the interview chamber attempting to calm down Peri. Maura barely noticed when Odin stepped out and sent Selena inside for her interview.
Once Peri was calmed down, Odin did a fine job comforting her, Maura tried to open up small talk with Beruka, who offered no help in assisting Peri. "So, what's your story? I figure you're Lady Camilla's retainer for a reason."
"You don't need to associate yourself with me." Beruka's monotone voice didn't hesitate.
"I feel if we're likely to work together, I should at least know where you came from." Maura similarly didn't hesitate, shrugging her shoulders.
"I was an orphan, trained to be an assassin, having killed my own mentor, one of my contracts was Lady Camilla, in exchange for her life, she hired me to be her retainer, does that suffice?" Beruka's voice and face held no emotion, as as she spoke she continued to sharpen the knife she carried. Maura decided to take the hint that the question was rhetorical, turning away from the emotionless retainer, allowing the only sound in the hallway cease once Peri left her conversation with Odin for her own interview.
Peri wasn't in the room for long, fifteen minutes at most, but when she came out she brought along Prince Xander and Princess Camilla. Xander cleared his throat to attract the attention of the various warriors, causing Laslow to wake up from the short nap he slipped into, only to bang his head on the wall. Rubbing the back of his head, Laslow stood in front of the crown prince, the others quickly following suit. When everyone was standing, Xander spoke, "Congratulations, you all have scored famously, and we've decided that you would all make fine retainers. Now onto the matter of who each of you will serve…." Xander trailed off, prompting Camilla to speak up.
"It only makes sense that our champion serves Xander, while he asked for Peri specifically to be his second retainer." So Laslow and Peri will be working together? May the gods pity Laslow, should he try flirting with her again. "Then I've grown rather fond of Selena, myself. And Xander and I believe that Leo would get along well with Odin." So that puts Selena working with Beruka, and Odin with Leo and his other retainer, maybe that other man from the tournament? Where does that put me? Is there another royal? Will I be serving the king? "Maura, we thought of pairing you with our darling little sister Kamui." Hearing this peaked Maura's interest, recognizing the name of Anankos's daughter, and if we were to take into account Laslow's remark, my "cousin", but why isn't she here? Perhaps she's too young to watch the tournament. "But I must warn you, if anything should happen to our darling Kamui…" Camilla threatened, but Maura didn't flinch.
"I promise on my life that nothing will happen to Kamui as long as I am able to protect her." Maura put her hand up, swearing loyalty to the absent royal. Maura's gesture seemed to please Camilla as her face brightened up, showing a warm smile.
"Wonderful, we'll take you to the Northern Fortress to meet her. I know we wouldn't want to keep her waiting." Camilla began to walk off, taking Maura with her, Beruka and Selena following behind.
Despite the surprise, Maura didn't really struggle, only attempting to pull her sleeve from Camilla's iron grip. The group silently walked towards a carriage that was already prepared for the princess, and climbed in. After a few minutes of riding, Maura finally broke the silence, "So, what's with the sudden need for retainers?"
Maura's question caused Camilla to huff, but she answered nonetheless, "Our relations with Hoshido have been becoming strained, we believe that war will become inevitable, however such a war would be extremely defensive, as there is a magical barrier over Hoshido that makes it impossible for us to invade." That was extremely scripted, but I probably shouldn't push farther.
"That makes sense, retainers to protect the royals, but from what I've gathered, there's two retainers per royal, so who will I be working with?" Maura decided to change the subject, and Camilla perked up slightly.
"Well, our darling Kamui has a large number of butlers and maids, but as she grows up, they'll be moved to other places. At the moment her other retainer, Gunter, is one of Nohr's finest knights, but he can be a bit stern. She's also grown rather fond of a few of her other servants, Jakob, Flora, and Felicia. I doubt she'll let anyone move them to another location, she's unbelievingly loyal like that." Camilla continued praising her younger sister, but Maura stopped paying attention, already lost in her own thoughts. A skilled, but stern knight, almost sounds like Frederick. Others i'll have to get a read on them when we arrive.
The carriage finally came to it's final stop, a large fortress of stone, standing tall and wide. Maura looked around as she stepped out of the carriage, noticing that she had somehow missed a wide wall covering the entire fortress. Shadows of tall towers covered the entire courtyard, drenching the already dark fort with crevices where no light would ever shine. The already setting sun gave the whole view a slightly red tint. Camilla stepped out of the carriage and motioned for Maura to follow through a set of doors leading into the large fortress. "Come, now. You'll have plenty of time to look around once you've met our darling Kamui." Are Beruka and Selena just going to stay put?
The princess had barely led Maura through one of the many hallways when a black blur crashed into her. "Camilla! Welcome back! Where are Leo and Xander? How long will you be staying? When do I get to meet my baby sister?" The ebony attacker revealed itself to be a young girl who wrapped herself around Camilla's knees, questions firing out of her mouth extremely quickly. While the young girl paused to catch her own breath, Camilla dropped down to her level and smothered the girl in a hug of her own.
"It's great to be back, darling, but I'm afraid I won't be staying very long this time. Leo and Xander stayed behind at the capital, and they are going to need me to help take care of Elise. She's still too small to make the journey out here, sadly. But there is someone else I want you to meet." Once the words left Camilla's mouth, the little girl turned her head towards Maura for the first time, Maura could feel the child's red eyes watching Maura closely, as if the mage would attack at any moment. "This is Maura, she will be your new retainer. Maura, as I'm sure you've guessed, this is our darling Kamui I told you about." Kamui looked over Maura once again before groaning.
"New retainer? She's gonna be boring like Gunter! Why couldn't we just have Silas be my retainer?" The young princess whined, causing a slight giggle from Camilla.
"Really, darling? From what I've heard, Maura here has traveled all over the place, I'm sure she would be happy to tell you some stories, right Maura?" Camilla's turned her head toward Maura with a small smile.
"Of course, I'd be happy to tell some stories, I look forward to working with you, Kamui." Maura bent down to speak with the young girl when a sharp new voice sounded out.
"That would be Lady Kamui." When Maura looked over to the source of the voice she was greeted by a large man, armoured head to toe. His chiseled feature were starting to sag with age, but still created an imposing figure. To say Maura was slightly intimidated was an understatement.
"E-excuse me?" Maura cursed herself as she stuttered, but kept her eyes on the tall figure.
"If you are to serve milady, you must address as such." The figure glowered, unrelenting.
"I-I'm sorry. I-it's just that any royalty I've met has never really been much for formalities." Maura's mind recalled how uncomfortable Chrom would get when Donnel referred to him with ridiculous titles.
Maura only took her eyes off of the figure when Kamui spoke up, quietly. "I don't like how formal and stuffy everyone is either." Her voice was quiet, but regardless, the aged figure still heard her.
"Lady Kamui, everyone is to speak with respect deserving of their station, regardless of how "stuffy" it is." The old man took this as an opportunity to shoot a glance at Maura.
"Now, now, Gunter. Maura here just made a simple mistake, better now than later, after all." Camilla finally spoke up, having watched the entire exchange silently. "Although I have to agree with Kamui, I've never enjoyed the stuffy nature of conversation at the capital."
Gunter finally conceded, with a small huff. "I suppose you are correct, Lady Camilla, but Maura, was it? I hope for your own sake that you learn faster than some of milady's other servants." At Gunter's remark Kamui punched his armor with as much force as the little girl could muster, if her hand hurt Kamui didn't show it.
"You mean Jakob and Felicia don't you!" The small girl's red eyes were burning with anger. She's rather outspoken, you have to give her that. However, the knight merely gave a small chuckle.
"I meant only what I said, milady. I meant no offense to those two in particular." Gunter waved his hand dismissively, but Maura could tell he was merely trying to calm the child down.
Camilla cleared her throat, catching everyone's attention, "Darlings, as much as I love to see you interact, I'm still needed back in Windmire. So why don't we get Maura settled down, then she can get to meet everyone, hmm?" Immediately Kamui perked up, and grabbed Maura's hand, trying to pull her down one of the labyrinthian corridors.
"C'mon, you can have one of the rooms close to mine!" The girl began to pull harder, knocking Maura off balance, and Kamui continued to move, dragging Maura behind her. Gunter and Camilla began to walk behind the two of them, winding through the corridors expertly. When Kamui finally stopped in front of an old wooden door, Maura's head was reeling trying to figure out what path they had taken through the fort. Kamui shoved open the heavy door and lightly nudged Maura inside the room, which was hardly furnished, a dresser and desk pushed up against the wall opposite a small bed. "Here we go! This is your new room! Just put your stuff down and-" Kamui cut off when she turned around and realised that Kamui had no bags. "Wait, why don't you have anything?"
Maura let out a small laugh, "Well, when you're traveling you have to pack really light, because you have to carry everything with you at all times."
"Yeah but what about clothes and food and stuff? You don't wear the same thing every day, do you?" Kamui plugged her nose with her hands in mock disgust.
"No, I did have a small bag with a few changes of clothes, but I left that behind at the inn I was at in the capital." When Maura spoke, Camilla felt it necessary to walk in.
"I suppose that is my fault, I was in such a hurry to come here, I forgot to ask about anything you needed. We'll have someone to pick it up from the inn and bring it here." Camilla was clearly embarrassed at the turn of events.
"No, it's fine, you really don't have to. I'll just buy some new clothes. I'm going to have to learn about the town nearby anyways." Maura waved her hand, easing the princess's concerns, but as she spoke about town, Kamui piped up again.
"We can ask Silas to show you around!" The child bounced with excitement.
"Silas, who's that?" Maura looked over to Gunter.
"A boy from town, training to be a knight. Lady Kamui has struck quite the friendship with him." Gunter explained simply, allowing Maura to sink the information in.
"Hard to imagine, really." Maura muttered to herself.
" What?" Kamui pressed closer to Maura, as if she were hearing gossip.
"In the matter of a few days, I went from just an ordinary traveler to retainer to the youngest member of Nohr royalty." Maura finished her sentence aloud, eliciting a chuckle from Camilla, who was about to speak before Kamui shouted in Maura's ear.
"I'M NOT THE YOUNGEST! Leo's just taller than me…" Kamui trailed off rather quickly. I suppose if she is part dragon, she's going to grow pretty slowly, I didn't think about that.
As Maura started sputtering apologies, Camilla's laughter grew until she finally calmed down enough to speak. "Plus there's sweet Elise, but I suppose you didn't know about her, quite the bundle of energy. But I swear, if I didn't know any better I'd say the two of you are sisters, not Kamui and I." Maura's face only grew a deep red in her own embarrassment.
"The resemblance is uncanny, now that you mention it." Gunter chuckled.
"Why do I get the feeling that we're going to get that alot…" Maura whispered to Kamui, causing her to start to giggle, despite how angry she was before.
Chapter 3!
Okay so I messed up, I finally bought some of the Awakening DLC( so I could make some references to them when I start writing supports for characters) and as I'm playing through Infinite Regalia, I see multiple enemies with the Mjolnir tome, which I thought debuted in Fates. But It's not a big deal as this is the only chapter that Mjolnir is ever really mentioned, in terms of Odin 'inventing' it. So I'm not going to go back and edit the chapters that have already been written.
As for Kamui, for this chapter, I sort of used Elise as a basis, and she's going to grow up a bit more as the next few chapters, for her personality as chapters go on, I'm going to take bits and pieces of other characters as she grows, before her character rounds out into the Kamui seen in game.
Expect a few chapters with the Northern Fortress people(plus visitors) because I have a few ideas that I really want to do, plus I didn't have anyone besides Gunter in this chapter.
Maura's backstory is going to sort of slip around from time to time, trying to keep up a lie this complicated would be difficult after all, so if I sort of stray from what's been set down, that's why, and I don't want to keep looking back through chapters to see if her false backstory lines up, because it won't.
I can't think of anything else, so comments and feedback are extremely appreciated, I hope you enjoy the next chapter!