Fire Emblem: Dark Again
Chapter 1: Dark Again

One year has passed since the destruction of the Demon King and reconstruction of various countries has made considerable progress. Royal castles were rebuilt and redecorated to emphasize the new peace while cities and towns were reconstructed quickly enough to allow its residents back. The way of life before the crisis seeped its way back into the continent once again, and all nations were back in their peaceful coexistence.

To celebrate their first anniversary of destroying the Demon King, Ephraim and Eirika sent out messengers on pegasi to their friends. Much to their delight (and occasional chagrin), Tana, Innes, Colm and Neimi replied saying that they were on their way. The rest of the group were either too busy or unreachable, but the twins did not let that place a damper on their moods and proceeded to make plans to welcome their old friends.

- -

The twin lords decided to coordinate their cleaning spree, with Eirika taking over the castle interior and food and Ephraim handling the courtyard and castle exterior. While Ephraim only needed a few mages and some men to trim the grass and trees and re-arrange the training yard and stables, Eirika's leadership was starting to feel some strain from having to order numerous servants around.

"Okay, cooking group, report to the chefs at the dining hall to arrange dishes and prepare meals. Cleaning group, take a bunch of rags and start wiping the statues and columns within the castle. Room group, prepare the guest bedrooms for tonight and be sure to apply a blue theme in one of the rooms. Throne group, follow me and remember to take the vials with you," she ordered. As soon as she fired one of her orders, the corresponding group ran to their designated areas with their set of tools. The remaining group picked up a set of vials and rags and tagged along with Eirika, heading for the throne room.

In the midst of the numerous servants running around the castle like first-time trainees trying to get in formation, a manservant weaved his way through the unpredictable traffic, his arm cradling a covered object and his face showing a mild degree of urgency. He spotted Eirika's troupe heading away from him at a junction and picked up his pace. Upon being in arm's reach of the last servant, he deftly grabbed the unwitting servant, smashed his head with a small wand and precisely threw him into a nearby closet. Using a stone, he accurately threw it against the open closet door, shutting it. All took place in the timeframe of seconds, creating no more noise than a light thud and leaving no witnesses as the urgency of the present situation took precedence. Taking his position, the ersatz servant noticed the set of vials clinging precariously in a rack. He took out his bag and pulled out an identically looking vial labeled "Sacred Stone cleaning solution" filled with a pinkish liquid. With perfect timing, he took out the original vial and placed the other one in its place and he shoved the original bottle back into his bag. At the next intersection, he broke off from the group and disappeared into another part of the castle.

Moments after the swap, Eirika and her group arrived within the throne room. The newly-reconstructed throne room layout of Renais Castle sported an octagonal, equally-sided room with equal-height walls with a roof that was partially made out of glass. With the help of alchemists who provided the key ingredients to make said glass roof, engineers placed it so every other side of the eight-sided cone was glass while the other half was stone. At the top was Renais's Sacred Stone, signifying how it united the entire nation. The same as its original, it was created along with its other companions in different nations by numerous sages, bishops, summoners and Myrrh invited to analyze a journal Lyon left that described in detail the creation of the Dark Stone and his life in general and re-create the Sacred Stones without the corruptive elements of the Dark Stone. During the day, it created a pretty kaleidoscope that changed depending on the time of the day and the sheer amount of sunlight made everything that much brighter and colorful, and depending on the angle, gave a slight reddish tint. The lady of the castle took a moment to admire the room and the lights being bounced off the walls before she resumed walking once again. When she reached the center of the room, she turned back to her servants.

"Okay, you know the drill. Grab the ladders from behind and set them on each wall. One person climbs to the top and cleans, another climbs midway and cleans and two will hold the ladder steady and pass any cleaning solution needed. I will personally clean the Sacred Stone. Questions?" Every head shaked. "Okay, let's get to it."

As if they were soldiers themselves, they broke rank and headed for their equipment with military precision. Setting up was done in almost perfect synchronization as each man and woman headed up and cleaned certain parts of the walls. Since the Stone was placed so high, a Pegasus Knight and her pegasus was brought in so Eirika could hop on and safely clean the Sacred Stone, which she proceeded to do. Pulling out the now-replaced cleaning vial, she dabbed a generous amount on a piece of cloth and proceeded to thoroughly wipe it around, being sure to clean it numerous times. Finally, after using up the entire vial, the duo descended back onto the floor and dismounted, after which the pegasus was brought outside again. The rest finished up shortly afterwards and pulled down the cleaning set, once again with almost-perfect synchronization. For a minute the entire cleaning crew admired their handywork as the room seemed to shine even brighter than usual and the Sacred Stone appeared to be glowing. After enough admiration, Eirika once again lead the group outside, signifying the end of cleanup.

- -

"Oh my! Eirika!"

A very feminine squeal bounced off of the walls of Castle Renais's audience room as the twin consorts of kingdom walked in. One of them, a lithe blue-haired woman known both for her skills as a Pegasus Knight and her feminine charms, as well as her occasional bout of tomboyness, ran towards Eirika as her male companion kept his pace. The two ladies hugged each other very tightly at the middle, laughing and talking at an incomprehensible pace.

While both sisters were busy catching up, Innes and Ephraim stared at each other, one stoically and the other grinning nervously. After a moment, the platinum-haired archer offered his hand. "I see you have been in good health, Ephraim," he said, his expression never changing.

Nervously laughing, the Lord moved to accept his hand. "Indeed, and have you fared well?" As soon as the two members of royalty shook hands, Innes' grip tightened significantly, causing Ephraim to yelp in shock.

"Come, Ephraim! We never determined who was the better juggler!" Innes shouted. He then faced a guard standing near the door. "You there! Tell the servants to prepare six apples outside!" he ordered. Said guard stiffened and ran out to convey the order while Innes proceeded to pull Ephraim along while the young Lord tried his best to keep his balance.

It was right at this moment that the two ladies broke their embrace and Tana pounced on Ephraim. Rather, she pounced on the space that took Ephraim's place as he was dragged off by her brother. Bemused, she looked around, just to notice Ephraim's figure exiting the audience hall. "Ephraim!" she yelled, pouting.

Said Lord, with a burst of strength, resisted just long enough to stick his head through the door and yell, "Hey, Tana!" before he was pulled through for real.

"Argh!" Tana yelled in frustration, stomping repeatedly. Eirika tried to calm her from behind.

"You know it's always because of your brother that he's away, right?" she questioned in a soothing voice. It did little to cool her temper.

"Get back here!" the blue-haired Pegasus Knight yelled as she ran after the two men. Eirika simply sighed and followed after her, albeit at a slower pace.

The scene the two women eventually became witness to caused them to start laughing with abandon. Two men wearing royal robes were instead wearing royally wet robes and smelling lightly of apples. Innes frantically tried to juggle with three apples without one of them falling down onto the ground, or on him while Ephraim tossed a few, let one drop, and just stood still. The platinum-haired archer's cool finally broke when two apples fell on his head at the same time; he took the offending apples, tossed them high into the air, pulled his bow and an arrow from behind and struck both apples with said arrow, sending it far away from the palace walls.

"You!" he growled at the stationary lord. If it weren't for his wet hair and smelly attire, the glare he was emitting would've proved to be deadly. However his current condition was turning it into a mock glare, causing the two ladies to laugh even harder and Ephraim to chuckle softly. If anyone decided to turn behind, they would've noticed the guards and servants standing by doing their best, and almost failing, to keep their own laughter in check. "You dare mock me?" he continued to glare at the now-laughing Lord. Having enough, Innes picked up his last apple and threw it in Ephraim's direction, only to notice with great chagrin that Ephraim ducked because he was laughing so hard now that he practically fell down on his back. Letting out a huff, Innes turned military-style and headed away from him back towards the prepared guest room.

After Innes left, the rest of the group were finally able to stop laughing and took deep breaths to calm themselves down. While a few chuckles persisted, they all got up again.

"I don't think I can remember when I laughed so hard," Eirika commented. Tana snickered in response.

"This is finally something I'll be able to tease him with for a long time," she commented with a smirk, and then added, "And I'll be sure to pass this on to whoever he's going to marry."

Ephraim simply sighed and smiled. "Innes will never change, will he?" he asked to no one in particular. This caused a short burst of laughter, one that was immediately brought to control.

"Somehow I doubt it," his twin sister smiled, then frowned. "Eww!" she yelped, grabbing her nose. Tana mirrored her action a second later.

"Ephraim! You smell horrible! Take a shower!" Tana yelled, still grabbing her nose with one hand and repeatedly swatting a dry portion of Ephraim with the other.

Said Lord decided to smell for himself and instantly regretted doing so. He then proceeded to run off to make himself decent once again and only after he disappeared did the two women let their noses go.

It was only after he left that Tana remembered her issue with the dirty Lord. Her face scrunched into a frown again. "Eirika, why is your brother so hard to grab?" she asked, half-seriously and half-angrily.

The twin sister could only shake her head. "Maybe because he's so used to being yelled at by you that he doesn't give it a second thought anymore?" she suggested. Tana started to glare when she realized that the reason did hold some water. "You could try something more...unpredictable," Eirika suggested. The blue-haired Falconight's glare turned into a frown as her forehead creased in thought. After a minute, the crease disappeared to give way to a smirk.

"You're right, something different is in order. I'm going to have to think alone for a moment. Be sure to tell me when dinner's ready!" Tana yelled as she sprinted for her guest room.

"Somehow, I have a bad feeling about this," was all Eirika could murmur before she herself decided to head for her own room to prepare for dinner, trying to figure out in vain just what Tana could come up with.

- -

Dinner proceeded relatively normally as Tana and Eirika alternated between chatting noisily and whispering conspiratorialy, with a loud laugh in the middle and Innes glared at Ephraim, who in return went back and forth between smiling nervously at him and glancing at the two women when they were whispering and laughing all while munching on his meal.

"You have to tell me just what you plan to do tonight," Eirika whispered. Tana just glanced at her coyly.

"Sorry, but that's a secret."

"Please? You never kept secrets away from me," Eirika silently pleaded. Tana stole a peek at the two men, making sure that they weren't paying attention, and turned back to face Eirika.

"I won't tell you anything. Instead," she whispered and leaned in closer, "I will show you." Eirika looked back in confusion. "Hide yourself outside Ephraim's bedroom and see for yourself," she clarified and pulled away. "And you really should see the blue dress I brought today! We have a new seamstress who seems to know how to make EVERYTHING properly!" she then squealed. Eirika almost failed to catch her drift and smiled along with her own exaggerated grin.

"Oh, you do have to show it!" Eirika gushed along, and both of them laughed.

Innes, almost having had enough, got up, walked around the table to Ephraim's side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I do not know how you put up with her, but that's one thing I truly respect you for."

Ephraim lightly tapped Innes' hand. "You're one to talk," he replied. Both women looked at them annoyingly, humphed and proceeded to finish their meal. The meals finished, and each person took their separate ways, bidding each other good night.

In her room, Tana sifted through her belongings, finally finding a silk blue dress that exposed her arms but covered her torso and legs. With a simple design, it worked both ways as a casual dress and a nightdress, though Tana had something totally different in mind for it tonight. She put it on, wrapped a shawl around her arms and shoulders and decided to head outside to fly in order to kill some time.

After flying around Renais on a borrowed pegasus, she returned to notice that most of the lights within the castle were off. She returned the pegasus to its stable, headed into the castle and stopped by Eirika's room. Noticing that her door was unlocked, she gently walked into the room and shook the sleeping Eirika, who woke with a start. Instantaneously Tana covered Eirika's mouth while making a shushing motion, which calmed the teal-haired lady down somewhat. Without making a sound, Tana motioned Eirika to follow her and placed her shawl on Eirika's bed before walking out. Both of them stealthily made their way toward's Ephraim's bedroom, and Tana motioned Eirika to get behind one of the columns and out of her line of sight. After making sure that Eirika wouldn't be visible from her current angle, Tana took a deep breath and walked into Ephraim's room.

Eirika's curiosity budded inside her, still trying to figure out what Tana exactly had in mind. However, her thoughts broke apart when she heard a thud, followed by a very masculine yelp and numerous shouts of "Ephraim!" and "Wake up!" Hugging the wall tighter, she peeked around the corner to see a very angry Tana stomping out with Ephraim sputtering incomprehensive words and trying in vain to let himself loose.

Eirika's mind only processed one word, "What?" before she willed her legs to follow the couple from a distance.

- -

From a distance, Eirika witnessed Tana stomp into Renais's throne room, a stone's throw away from Ephraim's bedroom, dragging a still very much resistant Ephraim along. While the fiery young lady sported a face of angry determination, the young lord trailing behind her could only observe in shock and resistance. Her blue silk dress looked like numerous tidal waves crashing against each other as they moved along in coordination with her feet while Ephraim's sleepwear followed along in disarray, most unlike the Lord.

"H-hey! What's this all about?" Ephraim managed to ask while not losing his balance. Tana ignored him as she kept on dragging him. After dragging him far enough, she turned around, grabbed the same elbow she was holding onto and twirled him into the throne. Ephraim found himself hurled towards the throne, but twisted his body at the last second and ended up being sat down unceremoniously on his rear end. From a distance, Eirika winced in sympathy as Ephraim fell into the chair. He opened his mouth to retort only to realize that his voice failed him.

Ephraim was discovering firsthand the effect moonlight can have in the newly-reconstructed throne room, and especially that on a certain Pegasus Knight.

Tana was standing at arm's length away from the sitting lord with both hands on her hips and leaning over slightly. While that in itself was very much like herself, the effect of moonlight shining off of her face, exposed arms and her dress almost made it seem like she was radiating light itself. Despite her angry scowl, the clouds overhead covering the full moon cast a shadow on part of her face. Tonight's angle also bounced off the Sacred Stone, giving Tana's blue shade a slight purple hue. The oxymoronic mix of moonlight and shade, added on with what could be interpreted as the Stone's sacred light, resulted in Ephraim looking at the princess under a very different new light.

To the lord, time slowed down to a crawl, and he felt like he could see the subtle movements the clouds made, which resulted in different parts of Tana's face being lighted. For that moment, Ephraim forgot the fact that Tana was a boisterous tomboy part of the time and focused fully on the woman she was behind her facade. He suddenly noticed the smooth curves that made up her face, the swirly colored eyes, and a sight that probably only his twin sister and Tana's maidservants were ever witness to: untied blue hair flowing down like a waterfall. Ephraim noticed how each individual strand of hair flowed gently, shaking alone and yet giving the illusion that it was only one of many hundreds of thousands of strands creating such a sight, and his eyes continued to trail down, following that single strand until it reached her shoulder. He continued to trace that line, imagining where it would end when Tana bent over even further.

"Ephraim!" she yelled, bringing said Lord back to his senses. In reply, he suddenly jerked up and looked straight into Tana's face, surprise, shock and a minor amount of embarrasement all in one mixture. For him, it was probably the first time he truly looked into her eyes, and found something he thought he would never see in them: anger mixed with sadness. "Ephraim!" Tana yelled once more, this time grabbing his shoulders and shaking him against the back of the chair. Disregarding his yells of pain, she continuously banged his upper body against the chair, using her own torso to add more strength, which translated into more pain for the hero.

However, in the midst of her shaking and his shouting, both did not hear a light crack that emanated every time Ephraim's back made contact with the chair. A few more hits later, a very loud "CRASH!" was heard, the result of the back of the throne room chair being broken, followed by two bodies falling backward as Tana applied a little too much strength and ended up falling along with her momentum. Because he was so busy trying to get Tana off of him, Ephraim did not realize that he was sandwiched by the remains of his chair and Tana until it was too late. Letting out a breath as both sides made contact, he tried to get his bearings while Tana lied ontop of him, head on chest, trying to catch the breath that she lost while ramming him against the chair.

"Tana, just what is the big-" Ephraim started when she suddenly lifted her head, pinned his legs with her knees and his arms with her hands. The same eyes were looking right back at him, and once again he was driven speechless.

"Oh my," Eirika whispered to herself, suddenly blushing at the sight of the compromising pose.

"Ephraim, tell me now, damnit" she softly demanded, the words coming out through clenched teeth.

"Tell you what?" he asked, very much perplexed by her current actions.

"Tell me why you only pay attention to Innes and not me," she replied, still maintaining her pin.

"It's not me, it's always Innes who starts-" he tried to reply before she interrupted him.

"Don't it's-always-Innes-who-starts me, you," she retorted, her voice a bit louder. "Every time we visited, you were with Innes and not me. Every time it was my birthday, you ran off with Innes. Even during the war, you were busy whacking away with Innes. It's as if I don't matter to you at all!" she was shouting as she finished.

Speechless, all Ephraim could do was to stare up at her face, now on the verge of spilling hot tears. As the first stream broke through, his mouth opened in surprise. He tried to lift his hand to wipe it off but couldn't break out of her hold without kicking her off, an option he was not willing to contemplate.

"Why? Why, Ephraim?" she yelled, more tears spilling. "Every time I want to sit down with you, you run off somewhere! Every time I want you to try something, you're not around! Every time I want even one figment of your imagination, you disappear! Every time...every time..." She couldn't continue her speech as her dam finally burst and got up, not willing to face Ephraim anymore. Noticing that her plan was falling apart, Eirika twisted around and leaned herself against the wall, expecting someone to run out.

Said lord, however, in a rare moment of luck, bolted up and ran after her. Before she could exit the throne room, he grabbed one of Tana's arms and swung her around. Using the coordination he perfected during the last battle, he deftly grabbed her other arm and held her in a standing position that wouldn't allow her to run anywhere unless a third party joined the fray and knocked him from behind. Tana was feeling the effect of his grip and tried in vain to squirm away, all while crying and yelling to let go.

'Thank you, Duessel. If it weren't for you, I'd not be doing this,' Ephraim thought wryly for a moment, thanking his mentor, before returning to the business at hand.

"Tana! Tana! Listen to me! Get a grip!" Ephraim yelled. It had no obvious effect on the hysterical girl. He then gently pushed her to a wall nearby and lightly pushed her into it. Ironically, it had a sudden, eeringly quiet effect on her and she looked back at him, fear and frustration in her eyes. These were a pair of eyes Ephraim never saw, even when they were battling the Demon Lord himself. Once again, time slowed down for him as he took in her details again. Her cascade of blue hair transformed to a blue torrent screaming for a way out through various ways, and with the fully unobstructed moon shining down on her face, he noticed just how white and clear it was, with no obvious blemish or scar on it. Had it not been for her quivering lips and teary eyes, she would've probably done a better job stunning him, but the current sight in itself was doing a fine enough job blanking his mind.

Apparently it didn't blank his mind completely. Through his training, Ephraim broke himself out of his stupor once again. "You know that's not all true," he whispered.

Tana looked away, "But it is true. You're always gone. You're always playing your stupid games with Innes, or training with that lance of yours. I never see you anywhere." She was on the verge of crying again when Ephraim cupped her chin and turned her head so they could make eye contact. Tana gasped lightly, shocked by the suddenly intimate contact and blushed. Noticing just how much Ephraim could see of her under the moonlight made her blush even harder but she couldn't turn her head away.

"You're right, I'm always away from you. I may never see you in person that often," he started, but then hesitated for a moment. "But while we don't see each other often, you're always in here all the time." As soon as he said that, he used his free hand, took one of her hands and placed it on his now-rapidly beating chest.

"But...no...it can't be," Tana whispered, not believing what was going on at the moment. She let her hand sit there, feeling the rapidly beating heart release some sort of soothing force, making her relax.

From a distance, Eirika turned around again to watch the couple, only to notice another compromising pose. No matter how much she wanted to turn her head away, an invisible force kept her neck from turning around, making her watch the couple with some form of morbid fascination and excitement.

"It is true," he whispered even softer, leaning towards the prone woman. Said woman's heart now was beating immensely, much like the man's heart in front of her. "Every time I'm alone," he started as he let go of her hand on his chest and placed it slowly around her waist, "I think," The other hand followed suit, "of you."

Tana could not take in the sight in front of her. Her object of affection and occasional desire was coming steadily towards her, like how he always did in her dreams. Believing it to be too good to be true, all she could do was to close her eyes and hope for the best. As two pairs of lips were within a hairline away of each other, she quietly moaned his name.

Suddenly, from behind Ephraim, a loud crashing noise made itself known, causing all three members of royalty to jump in fright. Being the more experienced fighter, Ephraim twisted around, covered Tana with his body and scanned in front of him for anything amiss. His battle-trained eyes instantaneously noticed the discrepancy: broken windows and a slightly cracked orb. The shock from being scared out of his wits turned into the shock from realizing that the one object necessary to keeping the peace on the planet was about to break apart, and it now had the possibility to create a new mayhem.

"Holy," the Lord murmured to himself and sprinted towards the cracked Sacred Stone. Going into group leader mode, he snatched the Sacred Stone, wrapped it around his cloak and ran out again, leaving Tana leaning on the wall and not noticing a shocked Eirika. Moments later, numerous shouts rang out from outside as sleeping soldiers were roused awake and various sets of weaponry and armor were brought out. Alerts sounded as numerous pegasus knights and wyvern knights took to the skies. Too shocked at the sudden turn of events, Eirika just alternated between watching Tana and looking out the window.

Amidst the chaos, Tana simply slid down the wall, finally coming to a sitting position. Staring in front of her for a moment, she tried to process what just happened. Then suddenly, she drew her legs to herself, put her head down and cried louder than before.

"Why do my dreams plague me even in life?!" she yelled into the chaos.

Author's Notes : As I have barely any experience (if any) in the realm of writing fanfiction, I do hope this one has been read. Reviews of both positive and negative aspects are greatly welcomed, and I'm also willing to take on suggestions regarding the story of any nature. I also accept pre-readers who have quite a bit of knowledge of the Fire Emblem universe.

I'll try my best to update regulary...hopefully.