8:05 PM

"Lady Lyndis, Lord Eliwood, and I have approved this fort," Erk said, pacing back and forth in his room. "We'll be staying here for the night after all. Be sure to get to sleep quickly; I want you all well-rested tomorrow. We'll need to pack up and get ready to march to Badon early in the morning."

He took a breath. "We're going to let you pick your own rooms. You'd better get to it. Oh, and I'm pretty sure that Feran has enough rooms that everyone should be able to have their own, although you can share if you really want to."

He stopped, thinking carefully about what he had just said. Eventually, he shook his head. "No, no," he said. "Lord Eliwood, Lady Lyndis, and I..." he bit his lip. "Damn! Why can't I get it?" He tried again: "Lady Lyndis, Lord Eliwood, and I have approved... Have all approved..."

A knock at his door jolted him from his thoughts. He let out a heavy sigh, and called "Come in."

Hector pushed the door open, peering at the mage quizzically. "Erk?"

"Yes, my lord?"

"What are you doing? I could hear you from outside."

"I'm repeating your speech from earlier. Or at least, I'm trying." He shook his head at the lord. "I don't think I'm getting it just right. Here, listen." He cleared his throat. "Lady Lyndis, Lord Eliwood, and Lord Hector have given this fort their approval..." he looked at the Ostian expectantly. "Well?"

Hector gave him a puzzled look. "Well what?"

"Was that right? Was I saying your words, exactly?"

Hector's brow furrowed. "Uh... I don't... know...?"

Erk let out an agitated sigh. "How can you not know? It was your own speech!"

"It wasn't even a speech!" Hector responded, indignant. "I just made it up on the spot! How the hell am I supposed to remember something like that an hour after the fact?"

Erk looked away, biting his lip. "I... I apologize, my lord. It was out of place for me to snap at you like that."

Hector sighed, shaking his head. "Erk?"

"Yes, my lord?"

"Why were you trying to repeat it word-for-word?"

"I wanted to see if I remembered it," the mage replied. "If I could reproduce it exactly after hearing it just once."

Hector shut his eyes for a moment before looking at the mage again. "And why did you want to do that?"

Erk frowned. "Isn't it obvious?"

"No," Hector said firmly, "It isn't."

Erk nodded slowly. "Well," he said tentatively, "If I could remember your speech after hearing it once, and reproduce it exactly from memory, I might be able to do the same thing with the chants involved in casting a spell."

A blank pall fell over Hector's face, but only for a moment; it withdrew as the lord began to wrap his mind around what Erk had said. "You mean..." he closed his eyes in concentration. "You'd be able to listen to an enemy mage casting a spell, memorize the chants, and then you could cast the spell yourself?"

Erk hesitated for a second. "It's not... quite that simple," he said eventually. "But it would enable me to decipher the chant quickly, meaning I could track the individual flows of magical energy throughout the spell. Then all I'd need is a tome powerful enough to direct those flows without breaking under the strain."

The blank look returned to Hector's face; Erk suppressed a smile. "So yes," he said, "I could cast the spell on my own."

"Good," Hector said, his expression returning to normal. "I'll take your word on whatever you just said. Carry on."

Erk couldn't stop the smile this time. "Thank you, my lord," he said with a slight bow.

As soon as Hector had gone, Erk set himself back to work. "Lord Eliwood, Lady Lyndis, and I have all approved this fort. We'll be saying here for the night after all." He shook his head again. "Wait... would Lord Hector say 'we have all' and then 'after all,' or would that sound too awkward? Is that what he said or..." he collapsed on his bed with a heavy sigh. "Gaah! If Nino can do this, why can't I?"

Another knock. He groaned audibly as he rose from the bed. "Come in," he called, his voice laden with weariness.

The figure that entered made him wish he hadn't given permission. "Serra?" he asked warily. "What are you doing here?"

For once, however, his cleric companion was nearly silent. She had her head down, and was peering up at him under her flowing lavender hair. "Can I come in?" she asked after a long pause.

Every part of Erk wanted to say No. "Yes," he said, without hesitation, or understanding.

She entered slowly, shutting the door softly behind her. "I'm sorry to bother you," she said, her voice unusually soft. "I just—I needed someone to talk to, and after thinking long and hard about it, I realized... Erk, you're the best friend I have in this group." She hesitated for a moment; when she spoke again, it was with a quaver in her voice. "Quite possibly, my only friend."

Oh Elimine, she's going to cry, Erk thought. But even so, part of him felt sorry for her. "What's wrong?" he asked, trying to sound sympathetic.

She sat down next to him on the bed. "It's tomorrow," she said. "I'm worried about tomorrow."

Erk smirked. "You and everyone else," he said. Seeing her face upon hearing this instantly made him wish he hadn't said it. "That is to say, you're not alone in this, Serra."

"Yes, I am!" she suddenly exclaimed. She buried her face in her hands. "I'm alone," she continued, barely suppressing a sob, "And I'm only just now realizing that. I'm thinking about everyone. I see you all out there—you with Nino, Bartre with Karla, Lyn with Guy..."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Erk interrupted. "Lyn with Guy?"

"Yes," Serra said, looking up at him. "Didn't you see them? They were talking together outside the front gate about an hour ago."

Erk sighed. "You might be reading too far into that, Serra. Just because they're talking doesn't mean they're..." he trailed off. "Wait, you think that Nino and I are..."

"It doesn't matter," Serra said quickly, turning away from him. "What I mean is... this is our last night together. And everybody has somebody. Not necessarily somebody they love," she added before Erk could protest, "but somebody. A friend to hold them and tell them it'll be OK. And I began thinking of who I could go to, and I realized..." she sniffled. "I realized I don't have anyone. You're the closest thing to a friend I have, Erk—and you hate me."

Erk wanted to say "I don't hate you," but for some reason couldn't bring himself to do it. He tried to scoot a little closer to her. "Serra, don't talk like that," he said. "That's not possible. There has to be somebody who likes you."

"Really?" she sniffed, looking back at him. "Who?"

He fell silent. She buried her face in her hands again. "I knew it!" she sobbed. "Nobody likes me!"

Crap in a bucket, now what am I supposed to do? Erk wondered. Reluctantly, he put his arm around her. "It's all right," he said softly.

"No, it isn't," she muttered. "This is all my fault. I thought I could make them all like me... but now they all hate me, and..."

"They can't all hate you," Erk interjected.

"Yes, they do!" she insisted. "Even Vaida hates me, and I never did anything to her!"

"Vaida hates everyone," Erk replied. But he could tell it wasn't going to appease Serra.

"I should have changed," Serra muttered.

"What?"

"I should have realized that they all hated me. I should have tried to change so that they wouldn't hate me anymore." She looked up at him. "I can do that, right? I can change who I am."

"You can..." Erk sat back, thinking. "Yeah, I suppose you can," he said. "But why on earth would you want to?"

"What?" Serra asked, surprised and somewhat offended. "Haven't you been listening?!"

"Of course I have. You're worried you have to change yourself to make people like you."

"Right..."

"And I ask, why should you have to?"

"But people don't get along with me..."

"Frankly, Serra, that's more of their problem than yours," Erk said, shrugging. He shifted in his chair. "Sometimes, you may not 'get along' with people as much as you'd like, but trying to change yourself would only make things worse. Maybe people would like you more, but you'd be lying to them—and, more importantly, lying to yourself. The person they get along with wouldn't really be you. That's not to say that change is bad, but if you want a friend, trying to change the fundamentals of who you are is not the way to go about it."

Serra furrowed her brow. "But then—well, what am I supposed to do, then?"

"Think about it," Erk continued. "A friend is someone who likes you for who you are. Someone who'll stand by you and help you out when you need it. Someone willing to listen, and occasionally, someone willing to talk back. You don't always have to get along with them; you just have to care about them. Think hard, Serra, and I'm sure you'll come up with somebody who does that."

Serra remained silent, then looked up into the distance. "I... I think maybe you're right..." she whispered.

Erk only looked at her tentatively.

She stood up at last. "I think you're right," she said, with much more authority in her voice. "There is someone who likes me for me. Someone I don't have to change for. Someone who I always feel so at home with, so wonderful around. I just never..." she trailed off, then gasped suddenly. "By Elimine, tomorrow we sail to the Dread Isle! This could very well be our last night together!"

"Well, yes," Erk said. "You said that already."

"I must go to him," she resolved. "I must tell him how I feel." She started towards the door, then quickly turned and took Erk's hand. "Thank you, Erk," she said, a smile returning to her face. "I can't tell you what you've done for me. I—thank you so much."

Erk was taken quite aback. "Uh... yes, you're welcome. Be careful out there."

She gave him a swift nod before darting out the door.

Erk sat in silence for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts and figure out why he had said what he said. Before long, yet another knock roused him from his stupor. "Yes?" he called, exasperated.

The lanky form of Matthew peeked inside. "Erk, did I just see Serra emerge from your room?"

The mage let out a heavy sigh. "Yes, Matthew. Yes, you did."

The thief came further in. "What was she doing here? I mean, I can understand the whole 'last night together' thing, but her...?"

"No!" Erk said sharply. He relaxed a little before continuing. "No, it wasn't like that at all. She was worried that, even after all this time, she didn't really have any friends in this army."

Matthew pursed his lips. "It's certainly hard to argue with that."

"So she asked me if she should try changing herself... if maybe that way, people would get along with her better."

Matthew arced an eyebrow. "And...?"

"And I said no," Erk sighed in response. "I told her, she shouldn't have to change for others; she should find someone who appreciates her for who she is."

There was a long pause. "I see," Matthew said slowly. "Erk, can I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"What in the name of all that is holy, and a good number of things that aren't holy, is the matter with you?!"

"I don't know!" Erk cried, throwing up his arms. "I had a chance to get Serra to change, and I didn't take it! I must be insane!"

Matthew placed his hand over his eyes. "An opportunity wasted," he mumbled. "Well, hopefully I can catch up to her and convince her otherwise, before your words get set in her mind. See you later."

"Matthew," Erk called before the thief had a chance to leave. "Any idea what time it is?"

Matthew shrugged. "A little after eight, I think. Quarter after, maybe."

Erk swore. "I'm late! I'm supposed to meet Nino outside. She's helping me practice."

"Practice what?" Matthew asked. "From what I've seen, you're more powerful than she is."

"Yes, but she is able to learn spells without... you know what? It's complicated. I'll tell you later."

Matthew shrugged. "If you say so. I'd best be going." He vanished from the doorway.

Erk quickly gathered his things and rushed out the door, hoping Nino wouldn't be too unhappy with his lateness as he darted down the stairs to her.