The Missing Stone

Surprise

Glenn knew something was wrong. He knew since Maris and he were looking for that tomestore, where they had been arrested for unknown reasons and Maris had been put up against Nader the Undefeated in a gladiator ring. He hopes he's still okay.

"Nader!" Glenn calls, standing outside Nader's tent. "We need to march!" A groan from within before Nader pokes his head out, still very much asleep. When he sees Glenn's impatient expression he ducks back in momentarily before coming back out like he's been up for hours.

"All right! Let's go hope the boy hasn't completely screwed up everything," Nadar stretches before calling over a soldier to fetch him a horse. Glenn rolls his eyes before marching over to Maris' tent.

"Maris!" No answer. He's probably still sleeping, the insomniac.

"Maris? There's no way you're still asleep," he grumbles, thinking about just going in. He decides to wait a little longer. He did almost get killed by an Almyran general, and Glenn's own experiences with death weren't pretty either, so he empathizes. After another minute of impatient shuffling Glenn pushes aside his father's teachings amidst his growing worry, moving the tent flap.

"Maris?"

He's gone.

Where is he? Glenn frowns, stepping into the tent. An empty bowl of stew beside the bed and his glasses. But he doesn't go anywhere without his glasses...

Whatever the reason, he certainly left in a hurry. He couldn't have taken a horse or a wyvern; Maris doesn't know how to ride either. That leaves warping and walking on foot. Glenn picks up Maris' glasses, thinking. It's possible he warped somewhere, but where, and why? They had specific plans after getting Claude's help to find Mildred and explain everything to her. Then together they would find the other Four Saints...

In the whole seven years Glenn has known him, Maris is anything but careless with his plans. He's very resourceful, able to reorganize and improvise in split second decisions.

Something happened.

Glenn pockets Maris' glasses and runs outside, searching for Nader. The general is predictably found near the stables, readying his steed for travel.

"Nader," Glenn addresses, crossing his arms. "I will go ahead to tell Claude of your arrival. Your forces combined with the Kingdom's will no doubt be enough to push back and conquer the Empire's numbers." Nader grunts in acknowledgement, patting his horse. He glances around, a light smile on his face before his brows furrow in confusion.

"Where's Second?" Glenn freezes at the name. He hasn't heard that name in years. How did...

"Se- What no, his name is Maris," he corrects, feeling a bit shaken that Nader knows about Second. With Maris' sudden absence, it could be possible that they knew each other.

"Huh. I always thought Second was a weird name anyway..." Nader mumbles, swinging himself onto his horse. "Off we go! You said you're going ahead?" Glenn nods, a hand hovering over the pocket with Maris' glasses in it as he turns away from the stables.

You've got some explaining to do, Maris.

-

"AAH!"

Mao what the f-

"Flayn," Seteth calls. "What are you doing here?" He pushes the door open, spotting Mildred and Flayn sitting together on the floor, both startled by Seteth's sudden appearance and Mao's outburst. "Oh, apologies for interrupting. I've come to inform you that the fish-" He doesn't get to finish his sentence before Flayn is out the door. Aelura bursts out laughing. Seteth sighs before leaving to follow Flayn.

"How did that scare you?" She giggles at Mao.

I used to have wings?

"Yeah," Mao raises her own wings in response, ignoring Aelura's question with a slight scowl. "Like mine, except they were white, like your hair." Mildred hums.

And I didn't have a tail before?

Chester shakes his head no. Mao smirks at him. Mildred blinks at her. Aelura yawns, "Can we go eat now?"

"I'm glad you finally agree with me!" Mao cheers, hugging Aelura, smirk still in place. Mildred sighs, retracing her steps to the dining hall. It's no monastery, but she supposes the company is still familiar if not new. Chester starts a tune in her head, Aelura soon humming along with Mao swaying to the rhythm, adding a bounce to Mildred's step.

The war so far has been going well...

"Yeah," Mao agrees. "Might want to pull on your hood though." She snickers, remembering all the looks Mildred had received from the Alliance soldiers when her ears were showing because her hood had blown off by the perilous flight. Mildred snorts softly, lifting her hood over her head and lining up for food.

Fish is indeed served, with quite a lot of it on Flayn's plate. Mildred manages to get her own share with no trouble, sitting on a bench near the balcony. Felix storms in looking typically ticked off, an unusually serious Sylvain and pensive Ingrid following him. Mildred watches Annette and Ashe stride in muttering about something, something about the Empire and Dimitri.

"Hm, wonder what all that's about," Aelura says, ears perked in curiosity. Mao hums too, thoughtful. Chester says nothing. Mildred waits until after Sylvain and Felix leave, the former laughing while the latter grumbles with a hand on the hilt of his sword, to approach Ingrid. She slides easily into the bench, the blonde somehow consuming twice the portion of a normal person.

"Did I miss anything while I was meeting the others?" Mildred asks, waiting politely for Ingrid to finish chewing. The knight swallows, twirling a piece of vegetable around her fork.

"Heh, I guess even His High- I mean His Majesty has his own secrets," Ingrid stutters over the titles, lifting another forkful to her mouth. Mildred leans away from Mao practically drooling over her shoulder. Ingrid takes Mildred's movement as a sign of boredom and quickly resumes, "Who would have guessed that the Emperor and King are related? It certainly brings a few things to light..."

"Wait what?" Mao snaps out of her food haze, blinking rapidly at what Ingrid said. "How are they related? Is it like one of those blood rit-"

"Shut."

Mao smacks Chester with her wing, pouting at him.

"Might I ask how they're related?" Mildred echoes Mao's question, whose triumphant smile reappears. Ingrid nods, a mouthful of food in her mouth. Mildred waits.

"Mm mm," Ingrid waves her fork at her while she swallows, "They're step siblings. Apparently Lord Arundel had claimed that Edelgard's mother had married Dimitri's father while she was in the Kingdom-" A burp. "Heh, excuse me."

Now that she's done with her serving, Ingrid takes her plate and heads to the kitchen for perhaps a second serving. Mildred smiles, glad that everyone is in a decent mood. Except Felix, but she supposes that's normal.

"Well, who would've thought," Aelura frowns, hands on her hips. "It's a shame that they're on opposite sides of the war."

Chester tilts his head at Mildred, "Remember when you found His Majesty to give him Claude's message? Do you remember what he was talking about?"

Mildred wracks her brain, struggling through her strange memories and amnesia-induced dreams. Then she gasps.

He wouldn't, would he?