The Forgotten Zodiac

"Ritz has come to stay for a while, Ike. The situation in Ivalice is quite dire, and it looks like war. Ritz is going to be staying here for her safety. After all, unless the time mages over in Ivalice are coerced into it, anyone who means her harm cannot get here," the Queen explained. Her face had taken on a serious expression, but it brightened as Lucia came over and hugged her.

"Lucia! It's been <i>far</i> too long!" Elincia said, beaming brightly. "Kindly inform Soren that's he's never allowed to keep you away for more than a week again, won't you?" she said, smiling at the mage, who was tending to his horse as the others had. He glanced over and offered an apologetic expression, before turning back to his horse. The Queen released Lucia and turned to her husband, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Glad you and everyone else made it back in one piece, darling," she said, patting his shoulder. She turned to look at Ritz, seeing Mist over there as well, telling the Ivalician all she knew about pegasai and how well her riding lessons had been going.

"Ritz, Mist, Boyd," Elincia interrupted the thought processes of each of the people that weren't directly involved in the current conversation to speak. "I believe dinner will be on, soon. Shall we head inside?" she asked.

"Oh... I'm sorry to here that." Ike's normally cheerful face took on a much darker expression, but it passed with Elincia's mention of dinner. He wrapped both arms around his wife and kissed her on the forehead, quite joyful at the prospect of dinner. "I can't wait. You know how hungry riding makes me."
Boyd, as he started out of the stable, couldn't resist the dig at Ike, no matter how uncomfortable his old friend's new position made him. "Ike, I think we all know how hungry anything makes you," he commented as he strode past. Once outside, he turned to Mist and excused himself. Unlike when they were children, the man now not only knew to clean himself before dinner but also was willing to do it himself. It was lucky he'd come prepared to stay a few days. Otherwise, Shinon and Gatrie would have a field day on the trip back.
Ritz assented and reluctantly left the stables behind her. Once in the fresh, evening air, she turned and addressed Soren. "Mewt sends his apologies for missing his appointment yesterday. He was busy attempting to calm public anxiety after the attack on Koringwood, and every decent time mage was needed for crowd control. If it's any consolation, he sent me with all the notes he was working on, even the unfinished ones." She sighed and broke eye contact, one of the few tells that something was negatively emotional for her. "There won't be much time for magical studies for a while, now. He figured you'd do better having them." The woman brightened slightly as an offer occured to her that, if anything, gave her something to do. "I can do any Ivalice Common- that's what it's called now, right? to Forest translations that you need."

Elincia smiled at her husband, but let a laugh slip at Boyd's comment. She took Ike's arm and walked with him back up to the castle, inquiring about the trip and finally, "Did Lucia tell you whatever she's dying to tell me on your ride over here?" The Queen looked back at her sister curiously, then turned back to Ike and speaking loud enough for Lucia to hear. "I'm really interested in knowing what it is that has her so excited. Is Soren letting her get a kitten?" she guessed teasingly. She knew that something excited had happened to her sister for her to greet Elincia in the fashion she had, but the thought that she was going to have a child didn't cross her mind. She was with <i>Soren</i>, after all, and he didn't seem much like the fatherly type. If Lucia was pregnant, she would likely have heard it from Ike first, because that's who Soren would have gone to to complain about such a thing.

Meanwhile, the mage Elincia was mulling over turned to Ritz, intrigued by her offer. "Right, of course, you can write in the Ancient Tongue. Shara must have taught you, or something to that order, correct?" Soren didn't exactly know how the Viera fit into the picture with Ritz, only that she referred to many... all, in fact... of them as her family, but she was obviously closest to her aunt. He pondered her suggestion for a moment, then nodded. "That would be helpful. I have a key that Mewt fashioned for me of Ivalice common, but it is incomplete, and I've been struggling with a few pages of the Bangaa books he left with me last time. So, if it is not too much trouble, I'll take you up on that offer. Provided, of course, that Lucia doesn't mind me being holed up in the library to do so."

Ike shook his head, looking entirely ignorant. "She didn't tell me anything. Why? Has she been trying to get a kitten?" He took Elincia's inquiry on face value, not processing that her query had been a joke of any kind. He frowned and though his way further through the question, still taking it under serious consideration. "I mean, if Lucia wants a cat, I see no reason why Soren wouldn't let her. He likes her enough; and he doesn't have a problem with cats, I don't think."

Ritz laughed at Soren's assumption, by now used to the majority of people misunderstanding her relationship with the Viera. Her magic, unmolded before her birth, had been more resistant to the molding effect of her mother's magic. As a result, her magic was entirely Viera; but it didn't show on the oustide. "I learned from my mother, a year after Shara did." The woman wrinkled her nose when Soren mentioned the Bangaa and rolled her eyes expressively. "The Bangaa really have no idea how to write. The fact that anything they do write is either offensive or judgmental does not help their case." Despite the annoyance she was expressing, her tone was light. "I don't have anything better to do; I'd love to help."

Lucia shook her head as she stepped forward and took Soren's arm. "I don't mind in particular. You'll promise to come eat meals and everything, right?" She brushed against him slightly before separately the contact, with the exception of their hands. "And you've been so good about actually coming to sleep at night. Go ahead and keep up with your reading."

Elincia merely smiled at Ike, then said, "Well, cats are hard to keep in so big a house. Felirae is large enough, but can you imagine us trying to keep one here? We'd never see it," she said. She paused for a moment, then said, "Who knows? Maybe we already have one, and just have never seen it. I wonder if our child will ask for one..." she mused.

Soren nodded at Ritz's assent before adding, "If that's all the Bangaa works will amount to, I'll find something else for you to read. I wouldn't want to waste your time or mine with such things." He then looked to Lucia and smiled as he received her permission. "Thanks, Lucia. You know how much it means to me." He leaned a bit closer to her as she did to him, but drew back as she did. He curled his fingers around hers in a loose grip, still smiling slightly as he fell quiet.

Ike eyes widened as he reprocessed the idea of having a child, something that happened every time he saw Elincia or she mentioned it specifically. "Well, I guess, if we already have one, we could just find it and give it to our kid. That would actually be pretty smart of us." He continued that thought process, still taking the entire thing much more seriously than Elincia was. "Do you think we should look for a cat now, in case he, she, you know, the baby, does want one? We wouldn't want him to miss out or anything..."
Ritz shook her head, immediately correcting her own interpretation of the Bangaa writing. "No, you should read them. I haven't read most of the sages, which are what Mewt gave you, I thought; so they should be passable. Even the ones I hate are accurate cultural analysis. I just hate their culture." She stopped there, fully aware of how horrible it made her sound. It wasn't that she hated the Bangaa, just their legalistic and overbearing tendencies. There was a difference.

Elincia smiled at Ike and nodded. "Maybe we can get Gatrie and Shinon to look while they're here. They said that they came looking for work, didn't they?" she asked, smiling brightly at him. "So they can do that."

She led the way into the dining hall, sitting down near the head of the table. Ike now sat at that spot, since becoming King. Soren, Lucia, Ritz, and Mist were quick to take their seats, and three were left empty for the visiting mercenaries.

"Think Gatrie and Shinon will be back for dinner?" Mist asked, placing herself next to one empty chair so Boyd could sit beside her. Soren placed himself across from Mist and between Lucia and Ritz. He glanced up at his wife before speaking. He cleared his throat and gave Lucia a knowing look, then said, "Regardless of whether or not Shinon and Gatrie show up, Lucia would like to--"

"Did I hear my name?"

The red haired archer sauntered into the room, Gatrie following just behind him. The two took the chairs at the end of the table, before Shinon grinned and spoke. "Heh, we <i>still</i> beat Boyd, Gatrie. Even with how long it took to draw you back here."

"Hey, I take offense to that!" the blue-clad lancer said, frowning as he sat. Gatrie turned his gaze to Soren and Lucia, giving them a nod. "Nice to see you both again." His gaze moved over to Ritz, and his expression visibly brightened. "Hello. Who might you be, and to what do I owe the honor?" he asked.

Before Ike had time to comment on Shinon's likely reaction to such a job, they entered the dining hall; and he was more immediately distracted by the food. He settled into his chair, zoning out slightly until Shinon and Gatrie entered the room. When his former workers entered the room, he pushed his chair back to stand up and greet them both. "Shinon, Gatrie! It's nice to see you again. Sober." They'd both come to the wedding, but Shinon and free alcohol never ended well.
Ritz laughed at Gatrie's question and held out her hand. "I'm Ritz Radiuju. And, as much as I like the muscular, blue-eyed, blonde types, I'm afraid I have to tell you something." She looked straight into his eyes, still smiling, and continued. "I'm married to a muscular, blue-eyed, blonde. And, believe it or not, pregnant with his <i>child</i>." She laughed again and sat back down between Soren and Elincia, somewhat pleased that anyone was flirting with her and thoroughly amused at the expression on Gatrie's face.
Boyd spun around the corner, a second after Shinon commented on his absence. His hair was wet where he'd scrubbed it out, and he was in a completely new set of clothes. "Sorry it took me so long." Without waiting any further, he slid into the seat Mist had saved for him, smiling at her widely. "Hey Shinon, hey Gatrie."

Shinon merely crossed his arms and frowned in Ike's direction at the greeting, but Gatrie gave the King a nod before turning back to Ritz. "Oh. Well, he's certainly lucky," the lancer said, then quickly ducked out of the conversation. It was made easier by Boyd's appearance, for Shinon, of course, was compelled to comment on it.

"Just get back from the bath, Boyd? Since when did you care about public appearances?" the archer snorted and rolled his eyes taking his seat and leaning back about as far as he could go. "So how's the lap of luxury been treating you, Ike? Soren?" The archer's tone was increasingly condescending, but he kept it at a level where he wasn't pushing <i>too</i> far, if only for the sake of Elincia and Ritz, whom he had deemed worthy enough for him to toe the line.

Soren's crimson gaze cut across the table and bore into Shinon's at the question. "Fine," he offered curtly, frowning. He and the archer had never been on good terms, partly because... well, almost completely because of Shinon's attitude. But even before the mage had gotten to know the archer, something about him had always been offputting, at least, from what the mage could see. He had attributed this knowledge to his own skills of perception, and they were quickly proven right when he'd gotten to know the archer a bit better.

Desperate to diffuse the tension caused by the most snide of the mercenaries, Elincia offered a quick change of topic. "Ah, Lucia, didn't you have something you wanted to say?" she asked, hoping that whatever her sister had wanted to speak about was all right to be said in a place like this.

"Shut up, Shinon." Boyd retorted intelligently. Rather than argue in Melior's dining hall, which still made him feel like he needed to be on his best behavior, he focused intently on the plate before him. Elincia was a great help, since he suddenly didn't have to respond. Instead, he could sit back and wait for Lucia to answer the question. With her talking, Shinon would stay quiet.
Lucia caught Soren's eyes briefly before turning to Elincia and nodding. "Well, I guess, everyone here will find out soon enough." She stood to better address everyone present, reached down to take Soren's hand, and made her announcement. "I'm having a baby." Before Mist, Elincia, and anyone else prone to squealing could reach her, she dropped her way back into her seat, pressing against the back of the chair for the, to use Soren's terms, strangling she knew was coming.

((After all the screaming, I feel like Ike should ask Soren if he's /okay/.))

Mist, who was sitting across the table, was nearly about to fling herself across it to hug the couple before she thought better of it and ran around, attaching herself to Lucia's shoulders as Elincia already had her arms about her sister's neck, laughing and saying generally excited things that no one could understand because of the high pitch of her voice. Soren flattened himself against the back of his chair, bracing himself for when they finished with his wife and moved on to him. He was vaguely aware that someone was punching his shoulder, and he glanced over to see Gatrie.

"Didn't know you had it in you, kid!" the lancer said, grinning.

"Of course you didn't, Gatrie," Shinon chimed in snidely from where he remained sitting in his chair. "I bet you <i>never</i> thought that <i>Soren</i> would beat you to it."

Gatrie's expression faltered a bit, and he pouted, but turned back to Lucia and Soren with a smile on his slightly-redder face. "Congratulations, you two," he said.

Ritz, rather than immediately strangle Lucia the way Elincia and Mist were, turned to Soren to congratulate him, since he seemed to be left alone by the immediate celebrations. She reached over and brushed his arm to get his attention. "Don't worry, I won't hug you. Congratulations, though. Aren't you excited?" She demanded of him, smiling delightedly at Soren. "Everything's moving so fast, isn't it? Everyone's getting married, and now the pregnancy; it's wonderful!"
Lucia, once she regained her breath from Elincia's strangling, hugged her sister back tightly. She released her after a second and reached back fro Mist to hug her too, before finally dragging Mist around the chair and hugging them both tightly. About halfway through this exchange, she looked over at caught Soren's eye, beaming delightedly. So far, he'd been safe from any strangling.
Ike, deliberately ignoring Shinon's entirely dampening presence, glanced over at Soren. Once Ritz had stopped running her mouth, he made eye contact with his mage friend and started an entirely separate line of conversation. "You okay, Soren?" He asked. "You should eat up." This was typical of Ike, to treat any suspected emotional upset with large amounts of food. It's what he would want, at least.

Soren offered Ritz a small smile, which grew slightly as he turned to Ike. "I'm fine," he assured quickly. "More than fine. Happy." He paused for a moment to think about his current emotion a bit more, then shook his head. "More than happy. Excited. Overjoyed."

This was the point that Elincia decided to turn her attentions to the mage, grabbing him in her typical chokehold hugs that she had learned from Geoffrey as a child. Soren spluttered slightly, awkwardly patting the Queen's arm and hoping that that was appropriate, then faced Ike again.

"A bit overwhelmed, might I add," he wheezed. "But... happy."

Ritz, once Elincia released Lucia, immediately moved around Soren to embrace her friend tightly. Unlike Elincia, Ritz released after just a second and returned to her chair, leaning onto the table to maintain eye contact with Lucia. "How long have you known?" She smiled widely, looking somewhat like her face was trying to split in two, when really she was just so sympathetically joyful that she couldn't keep her mouth shut.
Ike grinned at Soren, overlaying the absolute ecstasy he had felt when he found out Elincia was pregnant onto the mage. "That's good, then. We can be nervous-dads together." He laughed, then faltered off, taking his comment more seriously than it was originally meant. "Not that you should be nervous. Or that I'm nervous. I mean, I'm King of Crimea; so I'm not really nervous about much." He stopped, realizing the occupants of the room he'd just said that in, and silenced himself.

Shinon nearly bent double with laughter at Ike's comment, and even Gatrie couldn't resist poking fun at his former commander when Ike had opened himself up for it. "Ah, no nerves? I remember a time when you were so nervous you could barely look a certain someone in the eye... and Ashera, you were talking with your hands in such flamboyant gestures you knocked a pitcher of water over your father! Wasn't that... ah, yes." Gatrie gave Ike a smirk, then winked at him, "Day after you met the then-Princess Elincia. My, I don't think you could ever outdo yourself on that one..."

Mist laughed. "You should have seen him the day he made his first public speech as King. Oh good Goddess, I'm sure the people of Melior are still talking about that one!"

Soren shuddered when he remembered why he'd been absent for that speech, and it was as much fr his own sake as Ike's that he offered a change of topic from the current 'mock-Ike' conversation that the others seemed to be enjoying so much.

Even though he'd heard stories from Greil that would easily match those that had already been told...

Resisting the urge to stoop to the level of the others, he offered simply, "I hope no one intends to throw a baby shower for us. It'd be much more prudent if we just tagged along on Elincia's or Ritz's. Actually, having all three together would save the <i>most</i> time and provide an excuse for Ivalice and Tellius citizens to see more of each other." When he offered this, he was mainly thinking of comparing notes with Mewt in some corner while the soon-to-be mothers were allowed most of the... 'fun,' but he supposed that, as a lord now, his social skills could stand some improvement...

"That sounds fun!" Elincia chimed in at Soren's suggestion. Though she had rather enjoyed the previous topic, she turned to this one with a grin on her face. She turned, smiling to her sister and Ritz. "It'd save <i>so</i> much planning, and I'd simply love the chance to celebrate with you both!"

Ritz shrugged and smiled, orginally intending to argree before she faltered off. "I'd love to, but I don't know how much mingling will be possible in the near future." Realizing Soren was still completely unaware of the events in Ivalice, aside from her casual mention earlier, she hurried to fill him in. "As of two days ago, a small faction of nobles declared themselves in rebellion against the crown. Following that announcement, a large faction of the clans declared themselves in rebellion as well. While the two groups have completely opposite intentions, they seem perfectly willing to rally behind the banner of killing Mewt and anyone who ever once agreed with anything he ever said. Every Viera is on Mewt's side, after they burned Koringwood there was no doubt. The Bangaa have declared themselves neutral, as a whole, and have declared Sprohm neutral as well. The women and children of both sides are flooding the city, as well as merchants trying to sell to both sides. This leaves the rest of the country to be ravaged by the upcoming war." She smiled and glanced back down to her plate, focusing intently on her food.
Boyd stopped short, a dig at Ike on his tongue when Soren abrubtly changed the topic. Instead of redirecting the topic to continue insulting Ike, he nudged Mist in the side and leaned over to speak into her ear. "All this is happening in that Ivalice place, right?" He questioned. Unlike those immediately involved in Melior, most of Crimea was just learning of their new ally. Boyd had the advantage of Mist as a contact; but it was still hard to gain reliable information about the country, though rumors were abounding as to their origins and motives.
Lucia quickly dropped off her emotional high and registered what Ritz had just said. "Ritz, I'm so sorry. I had no idea." Her tactical analysis quickly set in and Ritz's presence made more sense. The wife of a military leader and a high-profile target herself, Ritz was a liability unless her safety could be assured. Where else but Tellius for a war that was clearly scoping a continent?
"You should come see Felirae, as long as you're visiting. I just married in, so everyone's expecting me to decorate it, and I am absolutely hopeless." It wasn't actually the hopelessness of Lucia's decorating skills, but this was a good way to give their refugee something to do with her time while also accomplishing a useful purpose.

Soren nodded at Lucia's offer for Ritz to visit, then added, "If you're any good at landscaping, apparently that's what the citizens of Crimea value. The entire country, of course, being structured on agriculture, I can see where it comes from. Felirae's all orchards and perfume-flower gardens - the rains in the north foster such growth. If you like spring and do not have trouble with hay fever, it's the place to be," he said. After a small pause, he added, "However, if you're prone to headaches from seeing too much color and pollen makes you cough, I'd advise you stay away." At these words, he cut his gaze over to Mist, who, for all her love of flowers, usually came away from the rose gardens with reddened eyes and terrible fits of sneezing. Before the girl had time to process the intent behind the mage's gaze, he had turned back to Ritz. "But I suppose you'd like it. If you grew up in the forest, I'd imagine you'd have immunity to such things."

At Boyd's question, Mist turned to look at him. Keeping her voice low to keep him from the small embarassment of ignorance about the new country, she explained quietly, "Yes, this new war is in Ivalice. Ritz is... well, the best I could describe her position as is like a princess or something. She lives in a castle, but she's not the ruler or anything. She's more than just a noble, though, because she gets to do all kinds of things, and she's like the ambassador for the humes to the Viera."

Ritz thought for a second, remembering the various landscaping projects she had seen. After a second, she nodded. "Landscapes have never been my real forte, but I'll certainly do my best. Worst that happens, I draw up an idea and you veto it immediately. And, no, I'm not allergic." After a brief moment to think her way through the venture, Ritz added a request to her acceptance. "Are there flowers, or any sort of plant, specific to Crimea? I'd want to become familiar with the agriculture before I tried to make it look good. I'm sure there are similarities between the plants here and in Ivalice, but Ivalice has a good variety."
Lucia answered Ritz's question immediately, having spent enough time skimming through the libraries of Melior and Felirae to know that there were many options. "Besides taking you to every garden surrounding Melior and Felirae, there are plenty of books on the subject. Admitedly, they are frequently some crazy mage's theory that flowers are the root of all evil; but they should tell you everything you need to know."
Boyd nodded carefully as he listened to Mist and replied in an equally quiet tone. "Thanks. Stuff, even important stuff like this, doesn't spread out to where we are very fast. Mostly, I find out when I come visit." He smiled at Mist before straightening back against his chair and returning his attention to the conversation the others were having, as boring as it was.

Mist nodded to Boyd, before listening in to the conversation as well. It was about flowers, so she was somewhat interested.

"There are a few poisonious varieties that you should avoid, but none grow very close to Felirae Manor. They're a bit further north. I checked the courtyard as soon as I got there to make sure that... <i>that</i> wouldn't be an issue. ...needless to say, I had to do some removal that didn't make the gardener happy and he's refused to fix it, on account of fearing that he'll," the mage paused here and gave an emtpy laugh, "incur my wrath."

Elincia gave a small smile, but unsure if she was allowed to laugh at the mage's comment, offered a change of topic. "Ritz, if you're done eating, why don't we get you settled in? There will be plently of time for visits - wars do have a tendancy to drag on. Come on, then." The Queen rose, smiling. "And please, make yourself at home. All of you." She cast her gaze around the table, and nodded. "Melior is always a welcome place for guests."

The days passed slowly for Ritz, despite how busy her hosts kept her. On the rare occasions Marche was able to send word, which could be several weeks apart, it was mostly tactical reports on the battles with a brief note, maybe five sentences. Even Soren, the most tactically minded to be brought into Ritz's trust, was unable to gather much from the notes other than how incredibly long it would take to end this war and, judging from the tone of the notes, that, even as wars go, it wasn't going particularly well.
By the third month, Elincia was near the end of her pregnancy. Nerves ran high the nearer time went on until, at the end of the first week of April, the Queen's labor began. When dawn came the next day, Crimea woke to the news of the prince's birth. Ike and Elincia christened the child Greil Ramon Crimea, in honor of his two grandfathers. All the country rejoiced with their rulers; and, for Crimea, it was a time of great peace and joy.