I legit had a massive headache the entire freaking time I was typing this chapter, not just when I was writing out the brief conversation with Miriel either. Not much happens in this chapter, slightly questionable bath awkwardness but that's about it. Oh, and I have more fun messing around with my spells. Oh, a random dream too because I miss home yeah? And my friends... (Legit, summer break and I miss those punk-asses xD)

The next thing I realized was I was staring at a bright fluorescent light.

'Wasn't I just in a bedroom in Regena Ferox?'

Confused, I looked around and tried to figure out where I was. The room was a distorted parody of my Chemistry class. Sitting around the room were strange blobs that might be people if they were cleaned up a bit. The only thing that looked remotely normal was a blocky storm trooper to my right.

"Hey. How's that play through of Water Token coming along?"

I cocked my head to the side.

"What..?"

"Water Token. You're favourite game? The one you insist I should buy a 3DS just to play?"

The storm trooper continued to talk, but eventually the only thing I could hear from it was garbled speech. I walked away from the storm trooper and explored the rest of the place I was at. I wanted to call it my school, but it was so distorted and was just getting worse by the minute.

'Dear Gods, it's bad enough I was poofed to Ylissee!'

A loud bang resounded through the building. I froze and looked around for the source of the noise.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

Another bang.

"Don't mess with me, I almost know how to use a sword!"

Bang, bang, bang!

"I AM FIVE FOOT TWO, I WILL MESS UP YOUR DAY!"

Suddenly, I was tumbling through empty space and darkness. I flailed around blindly and shouted in pain when suddenly I landed hard on my tailbone.

"Sane? Are you alright?"

The darkness went away suddenly and I was looking at a very confused Lissa holding a thick blanket in her hands.

'I was just having another weird dream... Figures.'

"Yeah. Trippy dream"

Lissa cocked her head and frowned.

"Well Flavia was knocking on the door. She said breakfast is almost ready and we should hurry up and get to the dining area before it's all gone."

My stomach grumbled.

"Ha, sounds like you're hungry. C'mon, let's go!"

We made it to the dining area before too many people got there and looked at the huge amount of food laid out on the tables.

"Holy cow Lissa... And you said we wouldn't get any food."

There was bacon, eggs, hot cakes, sausage, fish, fresh fruit and vegetables, and biscuits for dessert!

'Oh lord, my inner fat kid is going to be so happy!'

But despite the bountiful spread before me, I had to restrain myself. Instead of stuffing my face and leaving no leftovers like I would've at my house, I was careful to not eat any more than the people around me. I decided to use Sully as my model for 'appropriate' amount of food to eat. So I ended up eating three hot cakes, two servings of eggs, three sausages, and three pieces of bacon.

'Hm... Maybe if I ask Flavia nicely she'll let me take some with me? Then I can eat it later and the others will never have to know.'

After breakfast I was able to properly bathe for what seemed like the first time in a thousand years. It wasn't a shower like I preferred sadly, but I wasn't about to complain. There were about twenty different soaps and shampoos to choose from and I felt like taking a few hours just to smell them all. Until Lissa, Sumia and the other female Shepherds showed up that is.

'You have got to be kidding me? A communal bath?'

As if it wasn't awkward enough having to sleep a night with Lissa trying to cuddle me to death, now I was having to bathe with four other women. I tried to keep my back to them as much as possible so none of them would be able to see. But of course, everyone kept moving around because the tub we were bathing in was a good four feet at least and the size of a small swimming pool. Thankfully, my hair was just long enough to keep my chest covered and there were enough bubbles and suds in the water I wasn't worried about anything else being visible.

'They seem amazingly unfazed by being in a pool naked together.'

"Sane, why do you look like the one straight guy on a dude ranch? Are you afraid of something?"

'Of course Sully would have to point me out like that...'

"Uh, what do you mean? I always bathe like this..."

Sully wasn't believing me for a second.

"You're not nervous bathing in front of us, are you? We're all women here, no shame."

'Easy for you to say, you don't have all that extra flab on your gut and thighs.'

"Perhaps Sane is unnerved due to her lack of familiarity towards us. Despite the fact that we are all of the feminine gender, and therefore possess all the same gender-specific pieces. Sane cannot yet relate to us on any level efficiently aside from our genders."

Everyone looked at Miriel briefly.

'Geez, even she's not bothered by being in a pool full of naked women.'

"I have a theory that perhaps Sane would feel more comfortable bathing with either Chrom or Frederick due to the fact that she has had the most conversations with them outside of battle."

My face turned bright red and for a moment I forgot about my shyness.

"Miriel! That was uncalled for, and inappropriate!"

If Miriel was wearing her glasses she would've adjusted them.

"I was merely stating the facts. You seem to be quite comfortable around Chrom and Frederick and based on what I have heard of your conversations with them they are also comfortable around you. I wager they would be able to bathe with you without much discomfort."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I tried to say something, anything in response to Miriel, but the words simply died on my tongue. I knew my face had to have been an interesting shade of red, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. The rest of the bath was awkward, and I was the first person to leave. I tried not to imagine the others staring at me as I left, but I still felt their eyes boring holes into my back.

'Never... Again...'

I hurried away from the bathing room as fast as I could without looking silly. Some of the guys were chilling out in a courtyard thing and I figured I might as well join them. Sort of. I sat down in a corner and tried not to cry.

'I wanna go home. Why do I have to be here? I'm not meant to do stuff like this...'

I pretty much was left alone until Flavia told us it was time to go to the Arena. When we got there she showed us to a room separate from the main battleground.

"I figured you'd want some time to train. I've talked it over with Basilio and he agrees that he wants some extra time for his champions as well."

'Extra time? Great, I had some stuff I wanted to try out.'

I went to Frederick, who was preparing to practice axe work with a dummy.

"Sir Frederick, I was wondering if perhaps I could watch you train?"

"Of course milady. Are you thinking of taking up an axe yourself?"

"No, I was just thinking that perhaps if I watched you, I could learn to better defend myself."

He nodded.

"Very well, I'd be happy to help you then."

He began his training, alternating between different strokes of his axe against the dummy. While he was doing that, I pulled out my tome and tried to read it.

'These symbols look just like mine, but they keep moving... Almost like they're tempting me to make them say what I want to read...'

Staring at the symbols for too long gave me a headache, but if I crossed my eyes slightly they seemed to behave, although that didn't mean I could actually read them. Frederick was absorbed in his training, showing the dummy no mercy. I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of metal striking wood. When I opened my eyes, a whispered word came to my mind.

'Shield...'

And with that thought the symbols stopped their jumping and lay still for me to read.

'Find where you wish to channel your energy, then allow it to draw there. Your energy is not derived from strength, it is derived from will.'

I gazed at the training dummy, and tried to see it as an ally. In a way, it was. That dummy was going to help me train wasn't he?

'Visualize what needs to be done to protect what needs to be protected. How can you bend your spell to your will?'

Simple, by encasing my ally in magic.

'Release the energy you were allowing to be drawn out. Now hold it fast where it is needed.'

Frederick was about to strike the dummy again. The axe whistled through the air aimed right at its' neck. I clenched my jaw and frowned.

'I don't think so.'

Before Fredericks' axe was able to strike the dummy, his axe was forced away and he himself tumbled from his horse. A faint electric barrier could be seen crackling from around the dummy before dissipating as I lost concentration. I clutched my head and groaned, but no one noticed me as they were all concerned by Fredericks' sudden attempt at acrobatics gone wrong.

"Frederick, perhaps the road of Knighthood is not one for you if you are unhorsed so easily." I joked.

He was helped to his feet by Chrom.

"Sane, was that your doing?" He seemed confused, not angry.

"Well... Sort of yeah."

I turned to Frederick.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

Frederick shook his head.

"Not at all milady... Perhaps a little rattled is all."

I smiled at him.

"I don't suppose you want to do that a few more times then? I still need some practice."

Frederick shook his head.

"I'm afraid not. I'd quite like to keep my arms in their sockets."

I saw Chrom looking at me from the corner of my eye. I met his gaze for the briefest of seconds before glancing quickly away.

'Why do you have to watch me so much?'

Chrom didn't spend too much time looking at me and soon went back to his own training. He swung Falchion through the air with ease and grace, something that I desperately wished I could do.

"Sane, that was quite the impressive display. Tell me, what methodology did you use to so aptly manipulate your spell?"

'Dear lord Miriel, would it kill you to talk normally for once in your life?'

"I just kind of told it what I wanted it to do. Isn't that how you control magic?"

Miriel frowned.

"It's an interesting method. However I can imagine it could be flawed."

I cocked my head to the side.

"Why is it flawed if it's doing what I want it to?"

"If you do not fully understand how something works, you cannot understand how to fully use it."

I shrugged.

"It's working for me so far, why fix something if it isn't broken?"

"Attempting to manipulate an object or situation that isn't flawed allows you to more adequately tailor it to your needs and allows for a higher percentile of success."

I paused.

'Buggar all, my head...'

"Miriel, what I said was a figure of speech. I wasn't intending for an answer."

"Ah, you were being acrimonious?"

"..?"

"Mordant?"

"Um..?"

"Sarcastic?"

"Ah! I know that word!"

"Yes, it is a word even Vaike is familiar with and can accurately use."

'She did not just insinuate that I am retarded...'

"Are you saying I'm dim?"

"I'm merely stating that your vocabulary is sub-par."

'Have I mentioned this is why I never use you?'

"Miriel, while you're here I'd like to talk to you about the upcoming battle."

She adjusted her glasses.

'Why do you do that so much madam?'

"Of course Sane. You are our Tactician after all. What would you like me to do?"

I bit my tongue in thought. I don't want to make her feel bad, but I don't think she'll be much use in a battle against mostly Feroxi fighters.

"It's possible that you won't be a great choice for the upcoming battle. Feroxi fighters are brutal and would put some serious hurt on a Mage. I don't want you to be at any more risk than necessary."

She nodded.

"I understand. I'll have no problem observing from the sidelines."

'Why was I concerned she'd be upset?'

"Thank you Miriel. I'm glad you understand."

Flavia came strolling into the training area.

"Alright, listen up my champions, that oaf Basilio said he's done waiting. So it's time for you to go out there and make him regret challenging me for the title of Khan!"

The blocky Storm Trooper is my buddy Keal McKing, who is actually an author on the site if you wanna read some of his stories. I think they're pretty good myself, but he hasn't updated in freaking forever! Anyway, Water Token is almost like an ongoing joke between the two of us, we got to talking about video games and their opposites in Chemistry one day and he said Water Token is the opposite of Fire Emblem. Oh, and yes, I actually am five foot two. Deal with it xD