synergetic | Prince of Fire Emblem: Gray Waves

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prince of fire emblem

Prince of Fire Emblem: Gray Waves

A princess with a poker face, Yukimura thought, as Yanagi took away the tea cups and retreated to where the rest of his entourage waited near the doorway.

He had open across the small negotiating table a letter from Princess Azura's stepfather, promising him that he would make her marriage as valuable to him as if she were his own flesh and blood. King Garon had a reputation that his own children shrank from, even as they bowed to his every whim. Azura didn't have the same fawning, wincing air as Garon's own children, from what Yukimura remembered of the spy reports. She looked placidly into his eyes.

"You pushed for this?" he asked, bluntly.

"No, milord," said the princess calmly. "Having just returned to Nohr after a long stay in Hoshido, I was as surprised as you."

Was she lying to him? She'd appeared at the gates of his castle alongside a delivery of flowers and wine for the ball celebrating Marui and Lissa's engagement, accompanied by her stepfather's offer of her hand and a ne'er-do-well with an axe as large as his body.

"He's this eager to get rid of you?"

"Or to gain your goodwill," she answered delicately.

Was she lying to him? The timing angered him immensely.

"By sending you here? Customarily, the pleasure of the bride's company is withheld until the marriage has been satisfactorily arranged."

"Your refusal is noted," she said, not without a certain heaviness.

His eyes narrowed. An outright refusal, in front of the man with the axe... his head burned. Could he afford to refuse Garon's offer without at least the pretense of consideration? Was she simply manipulating him into making a mistake?

"I said no such thing," he answered tightly. She inclined her head apologetically. "But my concern is with the engagement of my own princess, which you're interfering with."

She didn't contest his choice of verb, and his blood boiled.

"Like your princess, I am at the mercy of kings," she said. "I mean no disrespect to Lady Lissa."

But do you mean her harm? he wondered. Did Azura mean to displace her? The king's wife was necessarily given more authority than the king's sister. Yukimura didn't want that. He didn't want a wife for his own sake, there was nothing left within him that could love or cherish the princess before him nor any other, and he certainly didn't want a queen, who'd expect to see her own child on his throne in due time.

A queen would displace Lissa in the hierarchy of the court, and an heir would do the same in the line of succession. A perfect sabotage of his failsafe. A waste of Marui's and Lissa's sacrifices both-- not to mention the hints he'd tried to give them during their dance practice for tonight.

He had to play this intelligently-- even if he was starting late. He swallowed back the venom and vitriol he felt for this interloper and, hating himself for the debasement, stood, only to bow to her gallantly.

"Enjoy with us the festivities already planned," he said, more instructing than inviting. "We can talk more when I've discharged the business already in front of me."

"Yes, milord," she said, opaque as an iron wall.

Felicia -- delighted to be visited by a princess of her native land -- quickly escorted Azura and Hans, the axe man, to their lodgings, and Yukimura turned to his friends, pale and glowing with displeasure.

"I want to know why Nohr chose now to do this," he said, "but I will settle for what I should do to them in retaliation."

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Sing with me... a song...

Pain exploded behind Yukimura's eyes and he rose without any clear idea how to stop it. The tome under his throne pulsed with magic and flooded his body with power, power that he concentrated quickly into his hands and threw across the room at the songstress.

Of losses and gain...

The water around Azura coalesced in front of her, trying to form a shield, but the magic burns it quickly into steam, as each musician abruptly stops in shock, leaving only the songstress' voice to carry on alone.

A star rises, but can't negate the pain...

Half of Yukimura's mind shatters at the way her words seem to rip through him, forcing the Trance tome's magic out bit by bit, but the other half relaxes, starting to feel himself being reborn.

It's a little too much. When his guard lowers, wanting to be free of the tome's power, a final, desperate surge straight from the book gets hold of his mind and hands, and he kneels to seize the tome in his hands, to cast its spell directly at the songstress trying to attack him.

Yukimura, with the tome under one arm, collects the entire last year of frustration and pain, both the loss of his body to the sickness and even, perversely, the loss of his autonomy to the tome controlling him now, and hurls it all at Azura.

The water can't block the magic the again; she took the hit directly and cried out.

Edited 2023-10-26 03:18 (UTC)

While most of the attendees are beginning to dance, mingle, or perhaps browse the catering selection, Sanada stands stiffly at Yukimura's side, his sword at his hip and his eyes alert. For all outward appearances, he could have passed for a bodyguard to the king. And, for all intents and purposes, Sanada never was one to suffer a conflict between his outward appearances and his inward truths. It put him somewhat at odds with the entire charade of this party in which everyone was celebrating (or, as the case may go, seething over) an occasion that did not in fact exist.

It's a charade of joy complicated further by the choice of fiancé. Naturally, Sanada trusts and has full confidence in Marui to carry out the mission. He harbors no hard feelings over Yukimura's decision. It's also impossible for him to join in festivities knowing the magnitude of danger he's in. Were he the one appointed, he could have at least drawn from his pride and the knowledge he was serving an important role protecting both Yukimura's family and his brothers in arms to find a smile.

But it's better this way. Sanada sees that now, blessed with the full scope of Yukimura's goals in this arrangement. Marui will achieve things he could not, both by virtue of his roots and his temperament. He's a convincing actor, for one. Lissa too, for that matter. Watching them dance with their eyes locked and arms around each other, Sanada might himself believe there was something between them if he didn't know better.

Given the attention he's paying to their surroundings, Yukimura's sudden rise and magic attack-- with no apparent trigger-- takes Sanada completely by surprise.

"Yukimura!"

What in the hell just happened?! The music stops, though the melodic voice of Nohr's princess carries on even as panic begins to surge through the crowd. Later, Sanada may dryly register the irony that it's the recipient of the attack who is reacting the least to it. For now, his focus is Yukimura: understanding what's wrong, what slipped past his guard, what does he need to do to ensure his safety.

Yukimura, too, is responding, collecting the tome and casting a fearsome spell out at--

Sanada stares in absolute shock as the princess cries out in pain. The first could have passed for an accident. Twice in a row was no accident. To attack Nohr's princess so directly, it was as good as a declaration of war. What a thing to do...

Sanada won't question it right now. There must be a damn good explanation for this. He's going to hear it from Yukimura, and then he's going to deal with the matter. He looks to Yanagi for teamwork and support.

"See that Princess Azura is available for questions later." Which necessarily meant addressing any medical care as well.

He, in turn, would see that Yukimura was escorted to safety, away from whatever threat had slipped past their notice and besieged their king. He places his hands at Yukimura's shoulders, a gesture equal parts to anchor and to redirect towards the exit.

"Yukimura: this way. Quickly."

Sanada's words give Yanagi something to accomplish while he tries to figure out what data point he missed that could have led to him being able to-- he shook the what-ifs violently out of his head and fled toward the stage, before raising a Rescue staff that would transport Azura directly to his side... though not until he felt himself a far enough distance from Yukimura.

Sanada's voice, so steady and reasonable, draws Yukimura's attention directly to him. The pain of Azura's voice still rings accusingly in his ears, and desperate to protect himself, he doesn't move. The authority in Sanada's voice... it shouldn't be more than a reflection of Yukimura's... but what if... what if...

"You're not telling me what to do, Sanada. Are you?"

What?

Did they really have time for this? Was this really the moment Yukimura decided he was overdue for a rebellious teenager phase?

"If you're in danger the first priority should be distancing you from it."

Logic like a blunted sword breaks through the mist of pain, and Yukimura smiles, seemingly seeing Sanada clearly for the first time since Azura began singing.

A wave of weakness follows it, and he grasps for the steadying hands on his shoulders.

"Lead," he says simply, trying to get through the sudden fog in his head, and worse, the urge to mistrust someone he's trusted as long as he can remember.

It seems Yukimura has come to his senses quickly, which is a relief.

"Yes," he affirms, and the hands that had reached to draw Yukimura's attention through a tactile connection shift to provide bracing support as he calmly leads Yukimura out, through the next room and around a corner to a secret passage they can use to retreat to the crisis room. If anyone was following to finish what they'd started, this route should shake them off.

Yukimura is not well. Whatever pushback that was, Sanada will forgive it and write it off as a product of not being in his right mind. The attack must have been a mental one. It may have impaired his judgment. That would explain the unprovoked attacks on the princess as well. One thing at a time. Get Yukimura to safety. Get to the bottom of what happened. Do whatever is needed to fix the problem.

"How is your steadiness? Do you feel your strength returning?"

"Have I ruined everything?" he asks instead, not wanting to admit how unsteady he feels. What did Lissa see? What is Princess Azura going to tell her people?

He drops the tome from under his arm, letting it crash to the floor.

"Tell me what you think, in all honesty."

But he smiles as he says it, thinking the last part is probably not necessary.

Yukimura should know that Sanada is not one to lie, sugarcoat, or deflect.

"The situation has become complicated. But it is not unmanageable. Yanagi will attend to Princess Azura. We will take the evening to strategize how we address Nohr."

He simply has confidence in that much. They were an impossibly strong team, and they were all fiercely loyal to Yukimura. They all knew how to provide the support the king needed, often without instruction.

Yukimura did know that, and was grateful for it. But even without any lies, sugarcoating, or deflection, Sanada's own steadfastness and unwavering belief in their strength still colored what was, to Yukimura's ears, a "Yes, but."

"You were wise to send Yanagi to her," he said quickly. He would have to capitalize on that; if he'd truly meant the princess harm, Yanagi and Sanada would not be trying to help her.

His eyes fall to the tome.

"Someone has to talk for me at some point," he said. "I don't know what they'll say yet."

"What do you want them to say?" Came a familiar raspy voice from beyond the door just before its owner slid inside. If the eruption of chaos and crisis has at all put him in a sour mood, he's not sharing it.

"And... who's the messenger?"

He means whose face, of course.

"Someone more credible than I am right now," he said wryly.

He was lucky, he thought, to be surrounded by so many people who would do so much for him. He'd wasted the work they did for him, taking a chance on that tome. If he'd only let the disease take its course...

But that would have been too much of a burden for Lissa; he had a chance now to better prepare her for what he was slowly beginning to see as inevitable.

"I had no intention of harming Princess Azura," he said, just in case that needed clarification. She was probably trying to help him, using her abilities to try and purge the tome's magic from his body.

Was it safe to tell his friends that? Or would it make the tome -- make him -- want to attack them?

"You might have to go as me..."

But he also wanted them both to stay at his side; it was easier not to fall under the spell if he could focus on the people who mattered to him.

He jokes in self-deprecation, but of course, that option is going to be the only one that can fly here, isn't it? Anyone else will be seen as an excuse and a cover. This will be the best way to keep rumors from growing by orders of magnitude with speculation of his condition. The scene at the ball can't be the last impression the crowd has of him. Yukimura understands this without need for prompt. It's the kind of acuity Niou has always loved about him.

"That's true... Then, what's the situation with the princess? I don't remember her on the RSVPs."

And there had been that private meeting with her earlier...

What indeed. "Nothing I say -- or Niou says for me -- is going to matter if Princess Azura just stands up and contradicts it immediately after," he said, thinking out loud. He reached a hand out to Sanada and Niou both, with a rueful smile.

"Trust in me a little longer," he said, too proud to beg but too beaten down to command. He pulled the magic to him, around the three of them, and found Yanagi and the princess in one of their conference rooms with a teleport spell.

Yukimura turns his head when he hears the tome fall to the ground behind him, disappointed because he'd hoped to have left it behind, and staggers, both with the effort of using so much magic and the surprise of Princess Azura pointing a Blessed (and sharpened) Lance directly at his throat.

"She would not come with me unless I allowed her to be armed," Yanagi said mildly, and Yukimura supposed he'd earned that, and made sure that he lost his balance in Sanada's direction-- if Sanada had to catch him, he couldn't wonder if he was supposed to be pointing a sword at the princess in retaliation.

Edited 2023-11-02 01:25 (UTC)

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