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Harmony's eyes skittered over the letter as Lise read it aloud. She took a breath as she realized Darius's request.
"But..." she murmured, blinking, "what are you supposed to do?"
It took her a moment to realize what would be required. "Does he really expect you to go, by yourself, all the way to Eturia?"

To say the least, Harmony was struck awed. A good friend would wish such a journey! ... Would they? It must have been really bad condition in Eturia. Lise would have to cover so much land! Of course, she would probably take her pegasus...

Of course! There was only one possibility. She would have to go with her. Theo, too... That must have been the whole reason to gather them! Harmony's mind raced with ideas of fantasy journeys and long-lost families far-away dreams. Could this really be happening?

Lise cleared her throat, "I... I really want to go help him. I would never abandon a friend in need, but I would be leaving without my father's permission..." These thoughts wieghed heavily in Lise's mind these last couple of days since she recieved this letter, "I know my father won't take action on this... he would try to stop me... I can't just ignore this, though! I've given it a lot of thought... I've decided to go. He's depending on me, I can't let him down! The reason I called you here is because I want you to come with me. I know I can't do this by myself, and you and Theo are the only people I can really trust with this. I heard from a reliable source that the storm will calm down sometime around midnight ((is 11:45, lol)), and we should be able to get out safely if we leave before the outside patrol is dispatched... Please, Harmony... You'll come with me, right?"

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

As the threesome made their way to the nearby village Hare started conversation with Ryu. "Ryu..."

Ryu kept walking and said not a word.

Hare continued, "...Ryu....I think we should go to Ilia for the time being."

Ryu halted and his gave was at the back of Hare's head, ".....And why is that?"

Hare kept walking, "Because we are being followed as of late." Hare's voice became deeper and almost sorrowful, "It isn't going to be as easy as we had planed Ryu. We need to hide for a time, or at least make it look like we know nothing."

Ryu resumed walking at this point in the conversation.

"And from what I hear, Ilia is in a state of turmoil. Were better to hide than in a place where we can do our jobs and not get noticed for it?"

With reluctance in his voice, Ryu agreed with Hare.

Zephr was a good deal ahead and was the first to see the village. "Hare, Ryu! Look, the village is right over there!" Zephr was overjoyed at the thought at eating real food and sleeping in a soft bed.

Hare stopped walking and Ryu caught up to him.

"...So when do we tell the boy..." Ryu turned his head to look at Hare.

Hare was silent for a moment and then decided on what to do, "We won't tell him until we have a real plan. The port is a way's from Sacea so we have plenty of time. I also have been thinking about heading to Bern to check up on a few things." Hare looked to Ryu with a smile on his face.

Ryu turned his head and pressed onward towards the village, "Do as you like.....But don't get me killed....not yet...."

Hare sighed, 'Ryu, have you forgotten what I promised you so long ago...'

Zephr was running towards the village still on the high of the possibility of sleeping on a soft bed.

Lise smiled slightly, as though a burden had been lifted off her shoulder. She was originally confident that Harmony would agree to accompany her, but it was not enough to defeat the doubt she had. Hearing Harmony agree defeated the doubt completely, "Oh, thank you! C'mon, let's head for the door, maybe Theo is waiting there."

Suddenly, as Lise turned around...


"Well, well. It's a little late to be out, isn't it milady?" A middle aged man was standing behind them, just waiting for them to turn around and discover him. His arms were crossed, which complimented his lax expression. He must've been able to teleport or something, because he made no sound of coming, while Lise was reading the letter to Lise.

Lise nearly jumped out of her skin, but still had enough sense to try and hide away her letter in the shock of the moment. How embaressing... getting caught red handed... no less by an individual she knew, "De-d... DEREK! Don't scare me like that! W-what are you doing here?!" What was more on her mind was how Derek was able to sneak up on the both of them. Then again, he was a pretty crafty person when he wanted to be.

"I believe that is my line."

Derek smirked, which belied his usual apathy. Apparently, he was amused, "I have my reasons for being here," He obviously didn't intend to tell them, "But, that's not important right now. What is important are you two. There were two men at each of your doors. They were instructed not to let anyone enter or leave without permission, and yet here you two are. However, I am not suprised."


Lise was frantically looking for a way of getting out. She was not going to be stopped here. She was not going to be sent back to her room. This was her only chance to get away. She didn't quite see a way out of this predicament, so she stalled as long as she could, "Not suprised? What do you mean?"

"For quite a while, the king has been aware of your attention towards Ilia's neighboring countries. In particular..." He intentionally paused, "Eturia. Your father knows how adamant you are concerning those in need. He asked me to keep a close eye on you, in case you tried to aid them."

Lise grew angry, "That means he knows why I'm doing this! It's because he doesn't want to help them out! So, what now!? Does that mean you're going to stop me?!" Given the chance, Lise was prepared to ditch him... if she could, that is. Derek refreshed his smirk, but it faded to his normal, apathetic face.

"No..." There was an awkward silence afterwards.

"You're not making any sense! If you're not here to stop me, then why are you here!?" You don't just appear before someone and then just let them go, like you weren't even there. Maybe he was just pulling her leg or something, but Lise didn't really know what Derek had going through his mind.

For the longest time, Derek was and is a very reserved person, never opening up to others. He served the king as a vassal, and his main job was to be Lise's retainer. He also happened to be the squadron leader and trainer of teh 4th division of Pegasus Knights, which both Lise and Theo were a part of. Of course, it was a mandatory custom for the princess of Ilia to undergo training as a Pegasus Knight, so Lise being a part of the Ilian military was not unusual. She was very familiar with Derek. He was always calm and collected, and is a very capable man. The only thing about him was she could never fully figure him out. He was so bound to procedure and repetition, that he almost seemed robotic ((Of course, there are no robots in FE blaugh )). Lise was aware of the rumors about him, his past life, and his parents. She drew her own conclusions from them a long time ago. Even so, Derek was predictable and unpredictable at the same time...


"Your father did ask me to stop you, and of course it is for your personal saftey, milady. However, there is much that you are unaware of. Troubles all around Elibe have been appearing, the nations are us are starting to become unstable. These eminent disasters are merely a prerequisite for something even more terrible."

"What? More... terrible? How can that be? I don't understand." Lise was very easily confused by Derek's 'enigmaese' talk. He really liked sounding indirect for some reason. However, it was sounding more convincing that he wasn't here to stop her.

"Do not delude yourself. The situation is not what it seems. This discord is exactly why you are heading for Eturia tonight. You are going because all is not well!" He sounded really serious, but he was confusing Lise even more. She just wanted to help Darius! She never took the time to read between the lines.

"What?! What are you talking about? If you're not here to stop me... that means you're not following my father's orders! What are you trying to say?" Hopefully, Derek wasn't going to encrypt his reasoning as well.

((RPing rampage, rawr! domokun ))


"The king is not going to be able to act on these matters. Ilia, as a whole, does not have the resources or the (wo)manpower OR the funds to take any action. Ilia is essentially paralyzed, and the king cannot lend the aid of Ilia to anyone." He was referring to the recent debt Ilia owed to Lycia that drained all the funds of Ilia, and as a result, caused the mercenary force of Ilia to work full time... no, overtime! The nation was broke and was diligently trying to earn more money. There were no more soldiers left to grant any aid, especially since Bern and Sacae have been borrowing many Pegasus Knight recently to strengthen their numbers.

"However, as individuals, we can make a difference. If we don't take action, nothing will change."

There was a lot Derek wasn't telling them. Lise had this hint that Derek knew a lot of things he wasn't telling her, perhaps things that she shouldn't know. Instead, he was dropping enigmaese. Why couldn't he just get to the point? Lise gave it some more though, only to realize that Derek must've been following her for the past couple of days without her knowing. All her sense of security flew out the window, save a few strands since it was Derek spying on her and not some wierd stranger.


Aside from all that, Lise also caught on to something else Derek said, "... ... WAIT! What do you mean 'We'?"

"That's correct, milady. I'm going to accompany you on your journey. It is also my job to see that you are well protected. It is only fate that I come with..." Derek glanced behind him with that 'omg, look at the time!' face on. Lise was still deciding if she even wanted Derek tagging along, although she wagered that she didn't have a choice in the matter. She was a bit oblivious to those footesteps Derek was so alarmed about.