exsilium | ☼ 001

[There's a pair of big brown eyes - and just that - peering very, very closely into the camera. They blink a few times before their owner backs away slightly, just enough so that the rest of her face can be seen. Aw, it's a cute little girl! She's wearing an elaborate golden crown that appears to be just a touch too big for her head, as shown when it slips down over her forehead. Scowling, she pushes it back up to its rightful place atop her head, and glares daggers at the camera. Her mouth is pressed into a hard, thin line; her eyes are narrowed. It's a strange expression for such a young face.]

You have an awful lot of nerve, dragging me into all of this. This isn't my country. This isn't even my world, apparently, and I'm not sure I even believe all that nonsense. Why should I care? What does it matter to me whether you win or lose?

I'm just a little girl, you know. How much help am I going to be, hmm? And I am a queen, on top of that: queen of a nation with its own war to worry about. Perhaps if you'd asked nicely, I might have sent reinforcements, once things had been settled. Except I can't, now that you've gone and kidnapped me.

And what if I die? What then? Falena would never, ever, ever forgive the death of its queen - you'll just end up with another war on your hands. This Initiative of yours isn't very smart, is it?

[There's a pause, and a pained expression crosses her face for a brief moment. Her voice is suddenly as small as she is.] They could have at least brought Frey here, too. He would know what to do.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, you look pretty old.

[Kids say the darndest things!]

[Ouch :(]

My name is Nash Clovis. I'm… [it is unlike him just to come out and say it, but these are unusual circumstances] from the Holy Kingdom of Harmonia. I could give you a fancy title if it'd make you more likely to trust me, but I don't see why it would.

[The truth hurts, Nash!!]

Harmonia? That's really far away, isn't it?

It takes a lot more than a title to gain someone's trust. [She pauses. There's no point in hiding who she is - she's already thrown her title around, and she doubts anyone from Harmonia really gives a damn about the war in Falena.] I'm Lymsleia Falenas.

You should never trust a title, milady. [Especially ones that Nash makes up.] But there's not a lot to trust, here, and if you can't hold onto anything it's that much easier to fall.

Harmonia's on the northern continent, yeah. Everything's far away though now, right?

What good are titles here, anyway? For all you know, I could just be a silly little kid playing make believe. [She wrinkles her nose.] I'm not trusting anyone here until they give me a really good reason to.

...Yeah, it is. I've never left Falena before, so this is - weird.

Exactly. For all you know, my name isn't Nash Clovis.

I've travelled a lot. This is still weird.

But you are from the same world as me. You're being honest about that much.

At least I'm not alone.

That would be difficult to fake. [Hmmmm.] I wish I could come up with some mutual acquaintance, but Falena is so far south… You don't have to trust me, but I'm trying to be an open book. None of my secrets, none of the politics, none of them are worth anything here.

There might be a few ways out of this, or there may be none. [He shakes his head.] But I doubt if any of them are alone.

No, none of that matters. We're all on equal ground here. [It's very strange, to suddenly become so unimportant. She shrugs.] I'll believe you.

...Do you think we can find a way out? People have been here for months; surely they would have figured that out by now.

[Nash has some sympathy for the situation. He'd never been a queen, but he'd been someone more important, and then suddenly not, anymore.]

Some wars take years to wage. I don't see the point in giving up after a week.

We've been at it for almost a year, back home. I don't want to be stuck here that long.

No. You wouldn't be queen if you did.

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