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sacred-stanning · 5 months

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Chapter 16 Part 8: Dance party, and then...

I end turns a bunch more and knock out some more supports.

Gerik and Tethys's B picks up where they left off in C.

Gerik had asked something about Tethys's background in dancing, and at the time she had avoided answering, but now she tells him, "Ewan and I were abandoned by our parents."

She learned to dance by imitating dancers she saw while she and Ewan were living on the streets. She tells Gerik about how hard it was since she didn't have a natural knack for it, but that she always kept a brave face because she knew that if she cried, then Ewan would cry too.

I also unlocked Moulder and Vanessa's B support. This is another continuation one. In the C conversation, Moulder had told Vanessa that he would tell her a story about Innes as a kid another time, and now the time has come.

He relates this story about Innes as a kid challenging a traveling archer to a competition, and how Innes won in the end with a hail-mary curved shot into the target.

(I'll be honest, I'm kind of *eh* about this whole support chain since I'd rather learn more about Moulder and Vanessa's history together since my interpretation has always been that Moulder is like an uncle figure or something to her. This is mostly based on the one line he has when they're introduced where he defends her as "being a bit overly serious, but a very dependable knight" or something like that. There's something sweet and protective about that line, I think.

It's too bad Vanessa and Moulder's whole chain is about Innes, a character I don't even really care that much for. Uh, also, I may be biased since Vanessa's barely hidden unrequited love for Innes doesn't sit right with me since CLEARLY OBVIOUSLY LOGICALLY FACTUALLY she and Lute are the best partners ever. And while I buy it that she looks up to Innes as an amazing archer, the whole romantic attraction part of it always felt shoehorned in to me.)

</soapbox>

The last support conversation I unlocked was L'Arachel and Rennac.

It starts with L'Arachel calling Rennac, and him yelping in response, to which she takes great offense.

"What do you mean by saying "geh" in response to me calling you!?"

(I guess "geh" here would be more appropriate as something like, "yipes" maybe.)

Rennac points out that his particular line of work becomes more difficult with "noisy people like you around".

"Noisy!? How rude! At the very least you should use a word like 'extravagant'!"

"You don't have the slightest clue how to properly treat a lady!"

Somehow, in defending himself, Rennac brings up that he used to be known as a good dancer. (So I guess he knows how to treat a lady on the dance floor?) He challenges L'Arachel to see by dancing with him right then and there.

"For me, to dance with a mere commoner...Such a thing!"

Rennac sees his opening and eggs her on by saying that she's probably just refusing because she can't dance.

L'Arachel takes the bait and agrees to dance with him soon. Then she reminds him that having the opportunity to dance with a high born woman of her station is an "extremely rare, special, unbelievable opportunity that you must be thankful for! Understood?"

lmao, seriously, how did this conversation turn into a dance off?

At any rate, I've grown bored of hitting end turn, so I take the throne and end the map.

Seth guides Ephraim to the room where Orson had holed himself up.

Ephraim and Eirika enter the room, and someone speaks.

The word used here is literally is one of the words in Japanese for "you", but this word in particular is often used by wives to call their husbands, so it's more like "dear" or "honey" or something in this context.

"Dear dear dear dear dear dear dear"

Ephraim realizes what we the player could already guess was coming. "This is the same type of magic that animated the emperor..."

"She's dead already. I'll take care of the corpse."

"Eirika, it's better if you don't watch. Wait outside."

Seth offers to take care of it, but Ephraim insists that he will do it himself.

"Orson and this thing spent every day living here..."

"Orson was crazy, but I think he must have been happy..."

*shiver*

This scene gets me every time. It's genuinely one the creepiest, most skin-crawly scenes in any Fire Emblem game.

Just the thought that Orson sacrificed everything he had lived for in order to bring back his wife, but what he actually got was just an animated corpse, but he was so desperate to see his wife again that he holed himself away with this animated corpse and spent all his time with it, barely eating, sleeping, or taking care of any responsibilities...

It actually kind of reminds me of a Japanese folk tale I remember reading (and there are probably multiple examples like this) where a man started disappearing every night, all night, and no one knew where he was going, but they could see he was slowly wasting away. Then when someone followed him, they discovered that the "lover" that he thought he was visiting was actually a giant snake that was slowly draining his life force.

(I searched online a bit, but I couldn't find an example of the story I am talking about above. I don't remember where I read it, or what it was called. It's not the white snake Chinese story that you will probably find if you search for it. That one came up a lot in my results, but I'm thinking of a different story.)

For that matter, this situation has shades of the story of Izanagi and Izanami, the creator gods of Japan. They were a brother and sister, and also a husband and wife, but the wife, Izanami, died while giving birth to fire, understandably. When Izanagi goes to the underworld, he finds her, but when he finally gets a good look at her, he is revolted to discover that she has become a rotting corpse (still moving and stuff, but a corpse, and indisputably a resident of the world of the dead).

Back in the main throne room, Eirika says that the broken down castle can be repaired, and stolen treasure can be replaced, but she is still upset about what has been done to the people of Renais.

Ephraim wonders if the people of Renais will accept him, a prince who disappeared right as the war began and wasn't there to protect them.

But upon stepping outside onto a balcony, they hear the people chanting their names.

"Ephraim! Eirika! Our king has returned!"

And then in a moment that's very real, Seth warns that it's less that the people are celebrating Ephraim than it is that they are celebrating their release from Grado and Orson.

Basically: "This is your opportunity to prove yourself, Ephraim. Don't fuck it up!"

Ephraim resolves to become king and dedicate himself to improving the lives of his people.

And then they use their bracelets and prepare to go find Renais's sacred stone.

(Look at this Zelda-ass throne with stairs under it!)

"Ephraim and I will be going with Seth to find the scared stone of Renais. Our patrols have cleared the castle and it looks like there are no remaining soldiers, so you can all rest now, but please keep an eye out just in case there's something we missed."

Eirika had addressed the generals in place of Ephraim. Vanessa wasn't entirely sure why, but the rumor was that Ephraim was overcome with emotion after the greeting the people of Renais had just given him.

Vanessa understood the feeling. She didn't like to show too much emotion in front of the soldiers under her command, so she could imagine how Ephraim would want to do the same.

"He's got a lot riding on his shoulders..." she thought. While she knew that acting as a general under Ephraim was temporary and that she would be returning to Frelia's army once this war was done, she had become very fond of Ephraim and his sister in the time that she had known them.

She started walking in no particular direction, just to move and clear her head. "There's going to be a lot of rebuilding to do in Renais after this war. Since we're allied together, I suppose Frelia's military will probably assist in that. Maybe I can continue to do work in Renais even after the war." She smiled at the thought. "I could visit Lute then!" She had of course invited Lute to visit her in Frelia, but she imagined that Lute would probably want to go home see to her family and village, so it was hard to say when that visit would be.

Vanessa turned a corner and almost bumped into Ross.

"Oh, hey, Vaness...I mean, uh, General Vanessa!" Ross stammered.

Vanessa wanted to laugh. He was such a goofy boy, but he was also a good fighter with a lot of potential, so her instincts as a knight told her to be strict with him. She adopted a stern look and stood straight. "Ross."

Vanessa's tone and posture sent a signal to Ross. He immediately stood up straighter, and then, as if an afterthought, brought his left hand up to his forehead in a salute.

"Right hand, soldier. How many times do I have to tell you?"

Ross's eyes opened wide and he quickly switched his salute from his left hand to his right. "Sorry, general!"

Vanessa stared at him wordlessly and let him sweat for a moment. But in truth, she was tired. They all were. So she decided not to push him too much right at this moment.

"At ease. We have a little time to rest now while the prince and princess look into the sacred stone in the castle." To drive home that she really meant for him to relax, Vanessa smiled and stressed to him, "Make sure you get some rest while you can, ok?"

"I will!" Ross said, his natural exuberance coming back into his voice now that he no longer was trying to soldier. "I'm just off to find my dad to see how he's doing!"

Ross then hesitated, and then he continued speaking, "Um, I don't want to offend you or anything, but I was just talking to your friend, Lute, before, and I was telling her about how you look like my Aunty R..."

"Aunty R?" Vanessa raised an eyebrow. What does this have to do with anything?

"Yeah, she was one of my aunts, and she was tall and strong like you are!"

"Ok...thanks?"

"Um, anyway, that's not my point."

Vanessa bit her lip slightly to keep from laughing. In her experience talking to Ross, she had found his conversations often flitted from one thing to another. It was frustrating when she was trying to get a actual report out of him, but it was amusing when they were having a more casual conversation like this.

"I guess, I just noticed that Lute looked really pale, like she was about to collapse, but I guess she's always been pale, and I didn't want to pry too much, but, uh, I just thought I'd let you know since you two seem to get along well... I'm not...uh, out of place, am I?" Ross swallowed nervously.

"No, no. Not at all. Thanks for looking out for your fellow soldiers, Ross. I wouldn't want you to do otherwise. And I meant it when I said to get some rest now while you have the chance. I'll go check on Lute and make sure she's ok."

"Alright, thanks Vanessa!" Ross smiled and waved, "I'll see ya around!"

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "He has a lot of potential, but no formal training as an actual soldier. If we weren't stretched so thin already, I'd make him run laps for that 'I'll see ya around' he just threw at me!"

But there were more pressing concerns. Vanessa was slightly worried to hear what Ross said about Lute. She had been by Lute's side for much of the invasion of the castle, and she had also noticed that Lute seemed a bit off. It had been a long campaign. Hopefully, she was just tired...but still...

"Now, where would Lute have gotten off to..." Vanessa started to think, and then it hit her. "This is a royal castle! I bet she's found the library already."

And with that thought, Vanessa starting walking--quickly--to find where the library was.

Next time: We get more nifty stuff

#fire emblem #sacred stones #fire emblem the sacred stones #fe8 #ファイアエンブレム #聖魔の光石 #japanese language #l'arachel #rennac #moulder fire emblem #vanessa fire emblem #gerik #tethys #japanese folklore #japanese mythology #lute fire emblem #lute x vanessa #ross fire emblem

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