eachdraidh | memory + video // open to both courts

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memory + video // open to both courts

[Video of the memory here.]

[The memory opens in an empty throne room, dusty with disuse, with the light filtering through a stained glass window illuminating a young woman on the throne. To anyone who's seen her before Elincia is easily recognizable, though her face is softer and younger.

Ike's voice, too, is a little younger:] "What's wrong? Everyone's waiting. Is it okay if they don't even see your shadow?"

[Elincia answers without looking up.] "I'm nervous. My existence has been hidden ever since I was born. I never received the education of one who would be responsible for a country. Is it all right for someone like me to be crowned? The people, will they recognize me?"

"What's this foolishness?"

"But Lord Ike, I..."

"If that's so, then... did you receive an education on how to hire us mercenaries?"

"Huh? That's--"

"Or an education about how to gather your scattered retainers, or take back your lost country?"

"But that and this are--"

"They're not different."

[The view shifts as Ike kneels with one gauntleted hand braced on his leg, looking up at Elincia's anxious face from below.]

"Up until now, haven't you done wonderfully? And from here on out as well, you'll be able to make it work."

"... Yes."

"Well then, let's go. Everyone's waiting. If you're uncomfortable alone, let's go together."

[Ike rises again, extending his hand. After a moment's hesitation Elincia accepts and he pulls her up towards him, her weight slight. The memory lingers on her warm smile as she clasps his hand in both of hers.]

"Thank you, Lord Ike. It was truly wonderful to have been able to meet you."

[The only answer he gives is taking her hand firmly again as they turn to walk together towards the light of an entranceway. The decorative mirrors in the hall catch his reflection briefly, showing a young man barely taller than Elincia and considerably smaller in stature than the Ike anyone in the Drabwurld has spoken to.]

[Sometime later, Ike's usual vaguely frowning face will appear in the locket:]

Hm. Another one of these. Um... Sorry.

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[ Well, out of all the memories, this one is nice to revisit. Even if it does negate the whole "avoid using her own title to keep attention away from her" plan ]

[ Elincia laughs, smiling warmly ]

And that feeling hasn't changed at all.

Edited 2014-07-19 09:40 (UTC)

My mind hasn't changed either. You really have done great.

[His smile is warm but just a little sheepish in return. Out of all the memories, huh?]

Sorry about that, though.

Thank you, Lord Ike.

[After all the troubles she's faced and the choices she was forced to make, it means a lot to hear that from Ike and she knows he wouldn't say it unless he truly meant it.

Her smile grows and she laughs again, sweet and gentle]

It's not your fault. You don't have control over the memory chosen. But, I'm glad they chose a good one.

Hm... Me too. I think this is one neither of us mind seeing again.

[After a moment of studying her he can't help but chuckle.]

It's funny. I didn't notice at the time because it happened bit by bit, but you've grown.

[And your bun isn't crooked anymore.]

[Nico is breaking his whole don't talk to anyone for a long time thing because of this. He's not doing video, though. He knows full well he's looking worse than before since he's been up three nights straight and passed out from dawn 'til dusk today.]

Wait a second. Elincia is...a queen?

[He rubs his face.]

She's a queen. Great. Fantastic, even.

[Nico is so tired of shit he cannot even.]

Edited 2014-07-19 21:51 (UTC)

[Ike's expression thoughtful for a few seconds; pinning down the voice without an image to go with it is kind of tricky, but understanding dawns after a moment.]

Nico. Are you okay?

[He feels like he's been asking that a little often lately, but between the memories and mounting tensions it's been rough on everyone.]

Yeah, she is.

[He's quiet for a moment. He's not sure how much trust to put into Ike right now. Sure, the man's someone Elincia trusts completely, but he himself isn't so sure. Though, something about Ike reminds him of Jason, and it's pretty annoying.]

Could be better, but I'm fine.

[It's a lie, and one that even a toddler can see through, but he doesn't care at the moment.]

That explains some things about her mannerisms. I'm guessing she didn't want anybody knowing she's queen, though?

Alright. I'm here if you feel like talking.

[It's easy enough to tell that Nico's lying, but he guesses that it means he doesn't want to talk about it. Ike nods understanding and lets it rest for the moment.]

She didn't tell me that she was keeping it a secret, but I'm guessing she didn't see a need to announce it either. Maybe she wanted people to treat her normally.

[But yes, it definitely does explain her mannerisms. So, so many of them.]

She never did manage to shake all those fancy manners, though.

[He appreciates that Ike doesn't pry.]

Probably because she wasn't sure who to trust here with that knowledge.

[The son of Hades shakes his head ruefully.]

In all honesty, she's a lot more polite than most politicians I've seen, alive or otherwise.

[King Minos, for example. And Lycaeon for another. Those guys were dicks.]

I never found being dead improved their manners any, either.

[He remembers that from Nico's memory--hide among the dead. He wonder how literal that was.]

Maybe it's because she wasn't raised to take the throne. She's a lot more honest than most politicians, too.

Tell me about it. I can point to more than a few royals who only got worse in death than when they were alive.

[If only Ike knew....

Nico blinks at this.]

She wasn't?

[Her crooked bun was stylish shhh. She keeps her hair super neat and out of the way, yes. Elincia laughs]

And you. But with you, your growth is a bit more obvious than my own.

[Mr.Mountain]

I guess once they're dead they didn't see any reason to start behaving.

[Ike hesitates as if mentally double-checking that he's said something he shouldn't, but he supposes it was more or less in the memory after all so he nods.]

Her uncle was supposed to be crowned. Hm... I can't picture Elincia being rude or cutthroat even if she had been raised to be the queen, though.

I don't even remember being that small. It's strange.

[Even though he'd just said Elincia had grown, it was a little disorienting to see in the memory how close their heights had been back then.

He's only a medium-sized mountain, there's still Caineghis.]

You were always larger than life.

[Still larger than life. But yes, back then Elincia could look you in the eye without craning her neck upwards. It's very disorientating.

Also we don't talk about Caineghis, he is an outlier]

[Nico snorts, though it's of amusement.]

Many were sent to the Fields of Punishment, if not Tartarus or cursed by one god or another.

[If Ike seems alright with talking about dead people, and Greek/Roman mythology, then perhaps this will be a faster friendship than Nico thinks.]

I can't, either, unless she'd been spoiled rotten. Even then...it's hard to imagine her ever being mean.

I did not think the Lady Elincia was so high born. [ Maglor sounds... tired, but there is interest and perhaps a little amusement there too ]

You seem to have been good friends, Master Ike.

[Elincia, you can't just say stuff like that, you'll embarrass him.]

I think you, more than most people, know me too well for that.

[She's a queen, she can say all the embarrassing things she wants to say]

Hmm, that may be very well true but you do have a kind of charisma that draws people in.

Fields of Punishment? I suppose it'd be too obvious to ask what that is. How about Tartarus?

[He cocks his head, his expression curious. He hasn't tired yet of hearing people talk about their worlds, and the subject seems relatively a safe one.]

Even harder for me to imagine. I don't think I've seen it happen once in all the time I've known her, no matter how justified it would have been.

[The closest he's seen her get to 'mean' is 'fair.']

It sounds like quite a victory.

[Ah, Tartarus. A tough topic for him after being there for himself. He takes a breath.]

It's like high security prison. It's the place where all monsters go after they die, and then get reborn to find a way into the mortal world. Not only that, but its the physical body of the primordial god by the same name. Just like how Gaea, the Earth Mother, has the whole earth as her body. Or Ouranos, the primordial deity of the sky, had his body as the sky.

[Yeah, the past tense for Ouranos is intentional.]

She must be an amazing ruler, then. It's hard not to see her as being beloved by her people.

I don't think she meant to tell everyone quite like this. [Ike smiles a little at the sound of Maglor's voice, tired though it is. He's going to end up asking another person if they're alright again, isn't he? It's been that sort of week.]

We are. We've been through two wars together now. [Three, counting the Drabwurld. Speaking of which:] Is something wrong? You sound tired.

It was. Even though the cost was high.

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