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Who: Eirika, Innes
When: 05/30 - Late Afternoon
What: Innes wants to talk with Eirika about the martial law and what the real source could be behind Eggman's antics.
Where: Eirika's Room → Stadium
Warnings: None

She wondered what it could have been. Eirika hadn't considered a source other than the strange man who was so adamant about reinforcing his new rules. She'd not addressed it - or the man, for that matter - but it didn't sit well with her. But according to Frelia's prince, martial law was not something they had ever come across in Magvel, which she supposed she had to be thankful for.

Standing outside of her door to the shared room with Lyra, she settled a hand upon her hip and then let the other hang loosely. She'd not been so curious over the galas of the academy that she'd forgotten the greater forces at work. Certainly Innes wasn't going to let her get too involved and she was willing to try to stay out of it as much as she could.

In the back of her mind, however, she knew it was inevitable for him to try keeping her completely away from things. And eventually Innes was going to need to tell her what he was really holding her back from.

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Innes hadn't planned on involving her, but he knew that leaving her out would a. get her very irritated with him and b. potentially get her hurt. He knew quite well that misinformation could lead to tragedy. It was a general concept of strategy. Last thing he wanted to see was her hurt. Again.

He had slung a longbow and a shortbow over his shoulder, with a quiver of arrows at his waist. He wanted to be armed to the teeth at the moment, as the place felt like a warzone. A chance to do some archery practice was always good too.

He knocked on her door. He'd made haste to her dorm room.

She'd been waiting for him. Arming herself with her rapier at the very least. So when he knocked, she only made him wait a few moments before she greeted him with a look from behind her door. Then she waited for him to move aside in order to leave and close the door after her.

"Prince Innes," was her polite acknowledgement of him. And then a light smile afterward, for they were friends. "I trust you had no conflict in arriving here?"

"None at all," he replied. Surprisingly, given the nonsense running about the place. He hated all the robots and surveillance and other nonsense that was ruining the place even more than the battles. Granted the fighting had stopped, but only because a stronger, more oppressive force had taken its place.

He offered her his hand. "Come, let us make haste. I don't want us to be followed."

For a few moments at least, Eirika simply eyed the hand he offered to her. Was that actually appropriate? She wasn't even that keen on holding hands with Ephraim. At least not in public. And even in private, she wasn't particularly fond of anything that made her feel a little more childlike.

So she moved beside Frelia's prince and arched an eyebrow at him, "Someone may see us, you know." And she had the suspicion that either Innes wouldn't care, or he'd be all too pleased to ensure she remained 'hands off' to the locals.

"Let them look," Innes frowned. What was she so afraid of? And besides, having a hand on her meant none of those bots could just pick her up and take her away. Granted he hadn't seen that happen yet, but the idea had crossed his mind several times. They were like rogue flying nights, able to attack and defend just like a knight would, though they were metal and very much not alive. Creepy thought really. And given they were like knights, the possibility they could abduct people was easily there.

She eyed him for a few moments more.

"I don't think it's necessary," Eirika began, but she relented and placed her hand into his. "I'll humour you, however." And she found that she was beginning to do that somewhat frequently.

"We were going to the stadium, right?"

"We are," Innes nodded, pleased to have her hand in his. Perhaps it was the need for protecting her (there was a very good possibility this was at least part of it). But there was the idea that he simply wanted to be close to her, even as much as she pushed him away.

"Probably the safest place I can think of, away from these abominations."

He felt pleased. She admittedly felt a little awkward. Like holding hands with him was a 'thing.' And in a way it was. But Innes seemed to like it, so what harm could it really do?

"Abominations," she repeated softly with some thought. "I wonder what's really happening to this place. It wasn't like this at all when I first came here. Everything seems to be getting worse." Looking over to Innes, her head tipped, "Is there anything we can do?"

"We have options yet no solution," Innes replied. There were always options, possible paths to victory. He liked to find the options and explore them, finding the best and quickest path to success that he could. Yet at the moment, none seemed to be leading anywhere.

"The lack of information is making this very hard," he frowned. "The best path, however, currently involves discovering who is really pulling the strings in this entire war."

For him, it was just like war. People chose sides or got stuck in the middle. And maniacal idiots take advantage of the chaos. Just like war.

War. She really didn't like the word. Mostly because she'd just left one to come to another. And the first one left wasn't even of her own volition. But all the same, Innes had made a few valid points that she couldn't argue, as much as she wanted to be a bit optimistic through it. Sometimes logic won over heart.

"Well, that man before had - as I said previously - been put into his position by the mayor. I assume that's the leader of the town. So if we go see him, do you think we could find out why he opted for martial law as a means to handle the situation?"

Tapping her chin with her free hand, she followed along in step, "It's true that there have been fewer instances of hostility. Is it possible once all traces of it are faded that martial law will be removed?" Except she knew that was too open-minded to be true. If ruling by tyranny worked, then ruling by tyranny would continue.

It wasn't the first time he'd heard the idea, however, yet Innes wasn't entirely convinced the Mayor was the one pulling the strings. It seemed more like the mayor was simply trying to patch up an even larger problem, or even perhaps hide it, masking the true issue. Innes wasn't entirely certain how the mayor truly played out in all of this.

"It seems there's more to this than just the mayor," Innes replied. "There's something more to this entire thing. This martial law is just a bad bandage, one that'll probably be ripped off and cause the problem to resurface again." He wasn't too set on the idea that the martial law would truly fix things, especially not with a maniac at the reins. It was just trying to quell a bad situation with someone worse than the fighting.

"What makes you think it could be more than just the mayor?" she asked him suddenly. "Aside from your natural suspicion, I mean." Eirika raised an eyebrow and she shook her head after a moment's consideration. "It's possible, I suppose. He is a man in a position of power. Even the strongest leader could be moved at the threat of blackmail."

She thought even Innes would be - depending on what kind of incriminating information someone could have on him. Provided Innes had anything to hide, which she didn't think he really had.

"I wonder if that's what it is. But even if it were, it'd probably be Eggman, which would really lead us nowhere we haven't already been. So... explain yourself. Tell me what you're thinking."

"What benefit would the mayor have to constant fighting in his own city?" Innes replied with a question. "He wouldn't have much to rule, unless he simply wished to rule over chaos. Then I'd question his morals or if he were somehow possessed by a darker being." Far too easy to be true, if history had anything to say about it. Even with a far off land such as this, there was nothing to say the same thing couldn't happen here.

"And if Eggman were the culprit," Innes continued. "He would have had to bribe people, probably even the mayor, into starting such a fight and hatred over absolutely nothing. Yet this Eggman seems nothing more than a hard-headed dolt willing to take advantage of an already bad situation."

"Yet there is one piece of the puzzle which simply doesn't fit anywhere else." It was something that had bothered him for weeks. "The people. There's something wrong with them. Their actions, their movements. It's like they've reverted to savages. Well, savages that could take three arrows to the heart and continue moving as if nothing had happened."

[ idk what happened to this notification. ]

Eirika took all of his words in carefully and... oddly enough found validity in them. Well, it wasn't odd at all. Innes had a greater grasp on this kind of conspiracy talk, didn't he? Wasn't that what Frelia's network had been all about? Naturally Innes had never been too directly involved, but he couldn't be, with his position behind him. For the same reasons she had to be careful, Innes couldn't quite escape his title.

And he didn't seem to want to.

She thought back to the day in the town when Connor had arrived. The first time she'd really been annoyed with him and his antics. Understanding, but also understandably frustrated. And she knew if it had been Innes in his place, she would have felt much the same way, if not more so.

"You sound as if you're comparing them to monsters beneath the Demon King's rule," she replied pointedly. "While I remember hostility, I can't recall... 'savages.'" Although she found the term rather cruel. To put it lightly. "There are definitely things going on we don't know about. I wish I could say I'd found out something, but I haven't."

"Savagery is a very fitting word," Innes protested. "Have you seen the way these people within the city act? I hardly can tell their human anymore, almost like something is just wearing their skin." Horribly creepy thought. It was like comparing them to monsters beneath the Demon King, and that really was the closest analogy he could come up with. The difference was these people were more human, at least at one point. He wasn't entirely certain yet.

"They seem to operate on a mob mentality, blindly following the commander without question, their only commands to kill and destroy."

"I haven't..."

She paused after a moment and shook her head. "I've not gone to the city recently. I was there some weeks ago, but things didn't go well, so I haven't gone back." Eirika frowned, "We come from lands where people can be under spells. And your living partner, Henry, he seems to be something akin to a magus of the dark arts, yes? I'm not saying he's responsible, as I don't believe he is."

"I'm just saying that these people who appear to be acting out of sorts could be under a spell. I'd like it if we could avoid harming them. If possible. I won't dirty my blade with innocent blood. There has to be more than simplifying it to 'savage' behaviour."

"They attempted to kill me," he responded. "I plan on defending myself. And as for Henry? I'm still uncertain what his initiative is, other than to bother me at every waking moment." Probably unwaking too. He didn't trust that Henry, not yet, and he hadn't found a reason to trust him either.

"Isn't it slightly possible that someone possessed could be persuaded to kill another person?" Eirika asked suddenly. "I'm not sure how likely it could be, but I wouldn't think it impossible. These people who are hostile, surely you wouldn't mean they're corrupt to the core, right?"

Because if there was no hope for them - which she didn't want to consider possible - then perhaps there was no way to save them either.

She was far too kind sometimes. Hopeful or something. In a way, he admired it but it also frustrated him. "There's a point where someone goes beyond redemption." He'd seen it. There was just nothing left but an empty shell of a man. These people seemed to be in deep, though Innes wasn't entirely sure how deep it went. He planned on using his resources to find out though.

"...I don't like thinking like that," she admitted without shame.

But she supposed Innes had a point. Still, at her base core, Eirika didn't want to condemn anyone. How many people had she known in her own personal life beyond help? Valter? Perhaps. Most likely. And that was likely based on bias. She couldn't forgive the man who led the invasion or her father's downfall.

That made her feel a little bad, too. Conflicted.

"I hope we don't have to do anything regrettable," was all she could thing to say. Yet she feared the worse.

Of course not. He expected such a response. She was still far too kind for her own good.

"What do you expect we'll do?" There was a sort of war going on. Something of that nature would be inevitable.

"I don't know."

She honestly didn't have a way past that. She wanted to have the answers, of course. Eirika wanted to have the plan of action. If it were Ephraim in her shoes, she was sure he would. But she had to embrace their differences, not try to become a second Prince of Renais.

"What are you proposing?" she asked him, a little uncertain of what he had up his tactical sleeve.

"The same as before," Innes replied. "We're still stuck without any usable information. Running in blind certainly isn't helping any of us." Yeah, that plan failed miserably, if it hadn't been for a certain bird-man helping out at the last minute. Innes was the type who'd go down fighting, but he wasn't stupid. He wanted to avoid casualties.

"We desperately need a lead. Everything is still turning up dry or leading nowhere." It was annoying, really.

She nodded. "I hear you. You're right. We really need something. Otherwise, we're just stumbling about in the dark."

Looking from him momentarily, she thought about the others she'd met. "I haven't heard anything from my other contacts. Nothing particularly useful, anyway. No way of figuring out what's really going on. It's all educated guessing."

But speaking of educated guessing... "Have you met Gordon Freeman? The physics instructor?"

Well at least they were on the same page. Many people seemed far too complacent with the current situation, yet it was good to hear she hadn't fallen into that trap. She was smarter than that, anyway.

And he had to admit the subject change was a bit odd. "No, I haven't. Should I?"

She had a really for making it seem like a topic change. It really wasn't, but of course Innes wouldn't know it from the beginning.

"He's very smart," she began. Lifting her free hand, she motioned somewhat idly as she continued. "I believe he may have information on the source of at least some of the things going on. Do you remember that candy? I feel like that's the source of things. And if not that, specifically, then the person responsible for spreading those about."

Her head tipped, "Doctor Freeman has been working with them, I think. Maybe he has information on the other things happening in the town. I hadn't asked him yet myself..." She trailed off, considering everything else she and Gordon had talked about, considering it usually had something to do with physics on one level or another.

"Those stupid round candies on a stick?" Innes remembered them, though only vaguely. It had been some time since he'd heard mention of them, and he didn't particularly care for them in the first place. Pointless round sugary things.

"So what, he thinks the people are addicted to a bad batch of sugar?" He'd heard weirder things lately, to be honest. He was up for any sort of theories at this point. No one had been able to turn up anything lately. Investigations were getting nowhere.

She nodded to his first question. Then when he continued, her expression darkened a little. How could she keep with the optimism when he seemed to... mock whatever it was she was thinking?

And regardless of how he was saying it toward Gordon, it was still something she interpreted as slightly insulting to her. If only because she was supporting the sage doctor.

"There's a possibility it is more than simply 'sugar,' Prince Innes," she clarified. "He wanted me to keep it quiet, but he was performing tests on it to determine. I have not checked with him since then on his progress, but this may be a solid point to the investigation. We should not be so quick as to shrug it off."

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