Welcome to Gaia! ::

..::Eirika::..

Well, then.

After an unceremonious entrance into the world of Learania, Marina had gracefully-or as gracefully as that woman could manage to be- explained to her how things worked, that there was not a dark lord afoot as far as she knew, and that there were others from Magvel currently residing in the city of Eyris. She warned her that not everyone was from the same Magvel, strangely enough- something about fractured timelines, and the planes of the world being greatly disrupted by the Demon King's arrival and defeat depending on where you looked.

Thus, she had realized she really MIGHT have blown up at King Joshua for mistaking him for the Joshua of her own world. She made a strong mental note to apologize for her behavior when she saw him next, since it was quite unbecoming of her.

Marina had helped her again by procuring a room for her to temporarily stay in at an inn, and by securing the common room of said inn for reuniting with the aforementioned others from her world. It was quite strange- Marina seemed like she spent her time tripping all over herself to make things accommodating for her, but at the same time Eirika had caught the woman eyeing her with suspicion. Perhaps she'd be able to address it at a later date, because for now, the princess was hoping see some old friends.

[This thread is open to everyone who originated in the world of FE8, original characters and otherwise, and also to anyone who also is just "passing by" and would like to interact with Eirika or any of the other said characters. However, please be polite and courteous, Eirika is still quite shell-shocked. smile ]

"Alright, thank you for dropping off the mail today. Your services are rather appreciated."

Rin had improved in dealing with the people who came in on a day to day basis ever since Blossom had suggested she greeted each of Cloak's guests whenever she was at the HQ. It helped her get familiar with some of the clients, not to mention give the group a first good impression with one of the more reserved members, along with helping Rin become a bit more productive within the group. With the door shut, personally checked by herself, Rin fell into a light humming as she swayed her hips. " ♫Here's the mail...It never fails...~ ♫"

"Oh! Looks like it's his mail this time!"

Rin muttered, mostly to herself, as she held up the envelope addressed to one of the newer members, Ewan. He was certainly...unique in his personality, to be nice. Rin was a bit unnerved around his energy, as uncontained as it was, but he was polite enough. So far, he had rejected any help that Cloak had to offer, including room and board. One of her unofficial duties, self-taken, was to check up on him daily. "Now let's see what we have here..." She skimmed the letter, as to not waste his time, before sitting up. "Oh...He's going to need that,"
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"Oh come on! Do you really have to-AAAAAAAAAAH!" "If you don't behave, I might accidentally slip with this comb again. Now are you sure you're buttoned up right? You said you didn't wear this sort of thing often." Ewan grumbled as he fought back a single tear from the sudden pull, his usually wild hair being tamed by her brush. If this was Princess Erika, as in the one that he knew, actually here in this place...He needed to look his part! I mean, it was probably just simple courtesy for someone like him to be invited. If he hadn't been part of the party all those years ago, a village boy Jehannian like him wouldn't have been thought of for a second.

That made his appearance all that more impressive, even if it did feel like a bit of a lie. After all, this wasn't his own work reflected by it...All that much more to finally become something respectable someday! But for now, it was probably better to simply relax and enjoy the company of some old friends. Perhaps Amelia and any of the others would be there? Royalty definitely...He still hadn't been able to look any of the princes in the eye passing by them at the HQ, much less talk to anyone after his run in with Joshua.



"....Alright, you're free to go. Try to enjoy yourself now."

Ewan didn't even stop to say good-bye, winning a small exasperated sigh from Rin as he bolted out the door. And after all that work, not even a simple hello! Her pricked and bandaged hands were tucked behind her, thinking back to her weeks of work. She had done a passable job, even for the level of formal-wear he needed for this, even Ewan had to admit. His collar was adjust before he calmly stepped through the door, trying to keep himself collected and calm.

"...Am I late? Is it really...Princess Erika! Amelia!"

...oops.

The Prince had been traveling and learning of this land for months. He had finally come back and was stationed at the Cloak HQ about to head out on another excursion. As he went about his daily business news reached him of a squabble between Marina and Joshua. He was about to mark it up to just how different those two are. Then he heard who caused it. His heart stopped.

"A woman with long teal hair you say?"

He addressed the man outside the tavern regaling them all with his account of the day. His description of her was flawless. It couldn't be though. He had spent close to a year trying to find some trace of her. And she just appears out of thin air one day? Hmm... I guess this was not so unfamiliar to him since he had done the same thing. His mind was racing a hundred of different ways. What would he say to her first. The way he had disappeared was suspicious enough. He had asked her to meet him in the Frelian gardens, famed for their beauty. Firstly in importance was what had happened on that day. Earlier that day he had come back from a fight with her brother. It was an exhibition only the two of them knew about. Promised after the war when both had rested and gotten used to the idea of becoming kings.

That day he and Ephraim dueled a duel that Innes felt he would finally succeed his promise to Erika. And after a match that spanned hours Ephraim finally dropped out of pain and exhaustion. Innes didn't fall much later. He had finally won. He proved that an archer of his caliber could hold his own even among one of the most skilled lance users of his lifetime. However he would never admit this to Ephraim. It would kill him to acknowledge him now. But the deed was done. And in front of no one but he and Ephraim. After making Ephraim swear not to tell a soul. A move that left the lancer confused because he thought that the archer would want everyone to know of his victory.

Innes had invited Erika to these gardens to finally confess his love for her. The gardens beauty would pale in comparison to the princess. He had been preparing this exact spot since the war was over. Only he and a select few hand chosen gardeners were allowed in this part. He had been breeding a few flowers, lilies of some sort, that would bloom only at night. He had also constructed a small pond which he had filled with fish of all sorts of colors. He did almost all of this with his own two hands. For it would mean nothing if it wasn't done this way. His sister joked at how it was the first hard work he had done in his life. It was true in a way. This stuff was normally reserved for servants and what not. But in the war he had learned that Kings and Servants are only different in birth. Many of the men and women he had fought with were no different from him. He simply had had luxuries that they had not. Since his coronation he had ceased to treat these people as lower than him. In fact he enjoyed his strolls among the common people. He had changed into a man that was worthy to be a King. Not because of his own beliefs but because of her compassion when dealing with others. It showed him his faults as they were. But he couldn't dwell on this for long for the men he was with had noticed his absentmindedness and were staring.

"I'm sorry but I must go find her."

He rushed off his cloak swishing behind him.

"Hey mister. She is supposed to be at a pub for a meeting of some sorts. I bet ya could find her there."

He turned and looked at the man. A mixed feeling of happiness and nervousness blanketed his face.

"Thank you with all my gratitude for this information."

As he rushed off to the pub he worried again over that night. He had lit the candles and even practiced his cooking to a level above military rations. He had brought in the finest of the Frelian wine cellar. He wore a more formal suit than usual. It had his kingly regalia on it and had a few pieces of decorative armor. When his chambermaid, Valentine, came in and announced the princess' arrival. He had decided it best to stick to his comfortable attire. He had just finished changing and had walked down the hall when... nothing. He woke up here in this strange land.

Since his arrival he had seen many of his companions and people from his homeland. Yet he longed to see the one that held his heart. He had been worried of what she had thought of him not showing up. Or her worry at the lack of his return. The thought of what his discordance had put her through still ate at him. His emotions led him to finish the way to the meeting place at a dead sprint. He reached the door and pulled it open. Looking inside of its darkened space with the light shining behind him he still hadn't thought of what to sa....

She was beautiful. He hadn't forgotten that but something seemed to have changed about her radiance. He had forgotten about the intoxicating effect it had on him. It was like nothing he had ever experienced with a woman other than Erika. He started to approach her but then stopped worried of what she might think of him. His eyes averted trying to avoid hers. He couldn't do it for long and looked into them as what he wanted to say welled up.

Erika...

"Eirika!" Amelia laughed and smiled wide, eyes growing damp as she closed the distance between them, giving her a gentle, but relieved hug. The Door had brought over so few familiar faces until recently that to see not just someone from her homeland, but such a good friend... Amelia couldn't help but give her a good squeeze to make sure it was all real. (But gently, of course. You couldn't bruise princesses, it was like... a law.)

"I... I was, actually," Amelia admitted, releasing her friend and smoothing out one of her puffy sleeves. "I rode with Duessel over to where my mother was staying, and I opened the door, and it was so dark inside, and when I stepped across, it... it wasn't her." She laughed sheepishly. "I suppose it just... was never meant to be, you know?"

"Ewan...? Have you always taken the time to dress yourself so, or am I... misremembering?"

Amelia turned to face him, giggling again before beaming wide. "Goodness, Ewan, when you take the time to clean up, you really clean up!" The General wasted no time in rushing to him and pulling him into a hug as well, this one was a tad less... restraint, for lack of a better word. There were less social mores against hugging little mages too tightly as opposed to princesses. "It's good to see you again here! Who made this for you? They look tailored exactly right!" Amelia gave him another hug before grinning wide and releasing him, stepping away. "It's just... it's all so nice to see some of you again... I mean, I already saw you, Ewan, we sort of crashed into each other before, but Lady Eirika..." Amelia clasped her hands together under her chin and beamed. The last time she could remember being this happy to see someone, she'd fallen ill while under bedrest with that grievous wound across her waist and Tibarn had taken the time away from his duties to make sure she was properly cared for.

"A-And Innes, too! Hi!" Amelia waved energetically to the Sniper in the doorway, beaming, and looked back to Eirika as Joshua approached, missing his appearance for the moment. "This is... Eirika, this was a really good idea. I mean, yes, there are some weird time things going on here, and I think--" Amelia beamed and looked around the room and--

Oh. Understanding dawned across her features as she noticed Marina in the corner, quiet, save for the slight scrape of a knife slicing an apple into pieces. Amelia watched her for a moment, hands held loosely in front of her, before approaching and giving her a slight bow. Just a subtle inclination of the head, but she smiled in gratitude as she did so. "Thank you, Marina. Eirika must still be very new here, and... I appreciate it." She bowed her head again. "I shouldn't have expected anything less from one of the higher members of the Rehabilitation Committee."

She paused, then glanced over at Eirika. "Again, like I said, there are a lot of weird time things going on here, mostly because of the Door... it's what brought you here." She rubbed a hand against her shoulder, approaching the princess again. "It's some weird temporal... thing... that will grab people in their worlds and bring them here."

"No, I'm still the same Ewan you remember, as I can only hope. But this is a meeting with old friends and royalty you know! Beauty like our Princess Erika and our General Amelia...My, I have to look the part or I'll put myself to shame!" Ewan answered Erika without skipping a beat, despite a quick jab to his feelings from her comment. It truly is a hard thing to adjust to, especially without familiar faces to help you through it. He himself would have had a especially rough time had it not been for Joshua setting him up with Cloak and letting him in on the situation. ...It was almost as if everything never happened, that it was his old Joshua again. There wasn't the smell of alcohol and failure following him, though old humor and wit shining strong. The memories of the decling Jehenna was still burned in his mind, a home he was unable to save when he had set out to make his living away from his master and sister. And his Joshua was to blame for that. HIS Joshua, the one who taught him tricks during roadside breaks, the one who treated him as if he was a brother. They certainly looked the part, a bond that Ewan had treasured dearly. He was his king, his friend, and treasured family. ...That's what made his decline harder to bear.

Honestly, everything was just too hard to bear sometimes. Somedays he wondered if he would ever apologize to his master, lay eyes on Gerik and his crew again...He wondered if his sister still thought of him from time to time, how long had actually passed for her? Perhaps the day would come when they would be reunited as he had with the royalty, barring Princess Tana and L'Arachel, and his dear friend Amelia. Speaking of whom, didn't he have an embrace to return? Her grip was as strong as ever, reassuring despite the threat of breaking his back with her unrestrained affection. "I-It's nice to see you too Amelia..." He gasped, dealing with it happily as he always did. "One of the members of Cloak who's been looking after me decided I needed some formal-wear if I was going to get my life together here. I'm not looking for any hand-outs so I owe her quite a bit once I get back on my feet. But that's beyond the point here. All that matters is that I'm looking simply flawless and I'm surrounded by wonderful friends. Oh, and Prince Inness too I guess."

The Prince had made his entrance during his talk with Amelia, Ewan relaxing at the sight of him. Despite his royal status, Ewan was much more relaxed around him then he was Princess Erika. The two just played off each other with his stoic nature and Ewan's...explosive nature. He could never really irritate him too far, knowing Innes limits, and Innes found talking to him to be a strange kind of test in its own right. With Erika, there was a higher level of respect and care taken with his words. After all, she and her brother had been the force that led them into hell itself. You don't forget respect like that, you don't ever stop wondering why someone of her status would ever be considered a friend in her book. Ewan lost a shard of his innocence during those years, embedded with each and everyone of his friends...Princess Erika included. Somedays, it was a bit embarassing to remember how light-hearted he took the whole campagin. Maybe it had just been his own method of coping? A glance was stolen in Amelia's direction, his gaze focusing on her for a moment. Yes, that was right... 'Take fun in everything that you do.'

This was stupid.
]Here he was, celebrating and reunited with friends, and he was too busy worrying about his own awkward feelings and status to cut loose and enjoy himself! He had been down on his luck for far too long! Innes, the Joshua he still respected, Erika, Amelia, the newly arrive Prince Ephraim [!], and perhaps even more of his friends...This was simply too wonderful to be wasted! A dance awaited for him later with his horrible rythm and footwork to go with it. Things needed to be explained, but he would leave that to Amelia and this Miss Marina. This was their job after all and his place to respect.

That just meant more fun for him!

"Eirika!" Before anybody could say anything else, his younger twin suddenly went tipsy turvy and fall toward the ground. He dashed forward and caught her just before she hit the ground and let out a sigh. At least some things never changed. So in this Eirika's world, he was to be wed to Tana...Well that wasn't going to end well what with Innes being here and all...knowing that sniper, he'd give him an ear full about it sooner or later. In his own world..he hadn't really had time to find someone more or less get married. With the reconstruction of Renais as well as Grado, there really wasn't any room for other things. When he had the chance to, he would make his way to the darkling woods to pay Myrrh a visit, to make sure she wasn't lonely. He invited her several times to live in Renais with him and Eirika but everytime it was asked, she refused. So things just stayed the same.

He looked up, eyeing everybody else who just stood around gawking. "...Well? Get some water for her! Don't just stand there!" yelling at no one in particular, actually any one of them could do that but hey, a girl just fainted, a PRINCESS just fainted...his sister for crying out loud. Different dimension or not, this was still the same Eirika he knew..just with a few life changing moments. This was going to take a lot of explaining to do, that's for sure.

In any case, lets try to get Eirika back up on her feet and explain things...slowly and clearly, none of that screaming at each other and say our memories are messed up. Actually the only other person other than himself who was probably sane about this entire situation was Amelia.

Amelia bit back a surprised gasp as Eirika fainted, glancing back at Innes before looking back to Eirika. "Ephraim, rest her on the chair, all right? I'm sure she'll be fine, I bet she'll be back in just a couple of minutes. You stay there with her if you want, I'll get some more water, just in case. Ewan, mind finding something that she can use to fan herself if she needs it?" In times of crisis, Amelia had found that her greatest coping mechanism was to attempt to force some logic into the situation.

The General smiled encouragingly at the group in the room before darting into the en-suite washroom, coming back with a small pitcher of water. Most inns kept pitchers in order to allow the tenants to get fresh drinks without forcing them to cup their hands at the sink like campers, thankfully. Amelia set the pitcher on the table near the clocked-out princess and her twin brother. She smiled encouragingly at Ephraim and bapped him gently on his upper arm with her fist. "She'll be just fine."

She let out a long breath and turned to look at the other people in the room, smiling wide. "W-Well, then! Ewan is right, we need to give her some space. We still can catch up while Eirika rests, right? We can catch her and any of the other newcomers up to speed when she wakes up." Amelia cast a curious glance over at Marina, expecting her to chime in eventually, before walking back over to Ewan.

"So. Tell me, who exactly sewed these clothes for you? It's really well-tailored." Amelia grasped him by the arm and tugged him a little closer, trying to be gentle this time, and grinned. "I never knew you could look so proper!" She giggled and noogied him. "Especially with this hair! I miss the messy hair. It was cute on you!"

Amelia certainly had a way with words, he certainly had to admit. Knew had to take control of the situation in a more efficient manner than he did, that's for sure! Ewan was never the type for those big "may I have your attention we are all being idiots" moments, his talkative ways being far more effective on a personal level. But alas, a gentlemage's work was never done! Thankfully, he had just the tool needed for the job. Sure, it wasn't exactly fit for someone of Erika's status, but it was the best he could deliver without searching all over for a suitable fan. Saleh had drilled in the basic principal that any mage worth his salt always carried supplies with him, anything that could fit into a simply pouch. Which happened to include....

"Here we are, a foldable fan. Mostly use it to stroke the fires that I need to use, but it'll make due in this situation if that's fine with you Ephriam, sir. I'll just set it down next her if you need it."

And now that all work was finally put off to the side, his worry for the moment pushed down, it was time to wind down. After all, he had a lady friend to entertain! ...Well a friend for him to be noogied and complimented by, though the smile that remained afterwards was just as nice. She actually missed his messy frumpy hair, a fact that he rather enjoyed. Then again, that one girl put a lot of work into his appearance. And...Mental note to thank her later made!

"Hey, you don't know much about a guy when the only times you've talked would be on a battlefield and through mail! Not exactly the best places for hygiene you know." He leaned forward, whispering to her. "I'm not going to lie to you, I don't think Ross would be much different in either situation." A smile was won for his efforts, celebration contained inwards. Amelia certainly had a rather nice smile, one that he was happy to see again. Heck, it was great to see even Innes crack his ol' smirk!

"But I have to admit, I'd take a few more trips just to see you like this again. The outfit looks good on you, you're looking better than ever."