Abandoned idea for fe_contest: "Interviews", with notes.

[amielleon]

Posting this for wet_noodles. This was my first idea for fe_contest. I ditched it because it was pretentious and I wasn't feeling it.

It's about a couple of things that I think are still interesting. It's about how Soren does all the dirty stuff, and only by this privilege can Ike remain pure. It's about what constitutes a war crime in the treatment of prisoners in the Fire Emblem era. It's about how Lucia must sometimes balance Crimea's welfare and morality at opposite ends of the scales -- and in doing so, Lucia to Elincia serves as either a foil or a parallel as Soren to Ike.

I hadn't decided what decision she would make at the end. That was probably part of why I wasn't feeling it. Or maybe it being open-ended is okay. I just really don't know about this fic.

---

[[Note that in this scene Lucia is being somewhat deceptive with Pelleas. While she has some dedication to the truth, she is smart enough to know that knowledge is power, and she wants to hear this before other people to know how to work the situation.]]

Please state your name and position for the scribe.

I'm... Lord Pelleas of House Nevassa.

Thank you. Do you know why you were called here, Lord Pelleas?
Please. Just Pelleas.
Very well, Pelleas.

The reparations?

Yes.

Forgive me. The crimes against the– laguz during Ashnard's reign, I'm afraid I know little about them.

Oh, please don't worry. We've finished looking through those incidents. In fact, we will be communicating with Queen Micaiah shortly with our full report on the prewar era. I requested an interview with you because what you know is vital to another investigation.

What I know...?

Yes. You were the inspector of the Western provinces of Daein?

Oh, yes. So you've heard about the prison at Oribes....

Please tell us about that.

Of course. Oribes Prison was a makeshift prison during the last months of the war. As you know, the structure, at the west end of the bridge, was formerly a fortress. I heard that – I'm sorry, I heard that the unified army of the Laguz Alliance chose to convert it into a prison before the assault on the Oribes. There they kept the prisoners from that battle.

My inspection there... well...

I understand it was horrifying.

Yes. Well, I. That is...

Shall I send for a drink, Lord Pelleas?

N-no. It's not that. I mean to say, Lady Lucia – I'm thankful for Crimea's offer for a neutral inspection. Some still remember the Mad King's War, but everyone believes your word over Begnion's.

Thank you.

But... the Oribes Prison... you will not like what you learn.

Don't worry about me. I want to hear what you have to say on the matter.

... I... There was...

[10 second pause]

We found and talked to some of the survivors... the ones who kept their minds. We collected, maybe twenty accounts of the... the operations at Oribes. There was starvation, and exposure... as there usually are in prison camps.... We also heard about the chair, the rack... and ... something new.

It was a corruption of the spirit charming ritual. The prisoners would be forced into the pact, but the ritual would be interrupted before its completion. The spirit is thrown from the body, ripping off a piece of soul with it.

Lady Lucia, you know that I... know something of the charming ritual. When I prepared, my... mentor... cautioned that it not be interrupted, for it would be a fate worse than death. Worse than our own eventual consumption. I never imagined what... what I saw in those soldiers. Every moment of life they suffered from within themselves, and I... understood, then, why their families, sometimes, let the mobs take them.

You can even tell, after death. Which ones it happened to. With part of the soul missing, the body shrivels into itself. We saw the curled bodies of old men with teeth like those much younger. And in the air there, hundreds of shredded souls screaming...

The visit to the prison itself was– unbearable.

I'm sorry. It never should have happened. Why did you not bring this to our attention, Lord Pelleas?

Well – it was – they were prisoners. Their captors were Crimean. I didn't know what to do. I brought it to the Queen's attention, but she's already dealing with so much.

That should not be inflicted upon anyone. Please believe that I will not excuse such a crime, even coming from my own country.

Haa... I'm glad, Lady Lucia. I should have had more faith in you.

Do you know, perhaps, why they were subjected to that...?

... They wanted to know why Daein was fighting in the war.

The prisoners couldn't have told them. None of them knew why... what I'd done.

I see.

[20 second pause]

That's all I know, milady.

If you wish, I can arrange for some of the prisoners to meet with you.

Thank you for your offer. I may ask you later.

Will... will our soldiers.... Will they receive their justice?

It is my duty to see that all of them will.

---

Please state your name and position for the scribe.

Ike. Commander of the Greil Mercenaries.

Thank you. Do you know why we called you here, Ike?

No clue. You're not all going to Lord me again, are you?

Ha ha, no. We just need your help in an investigation. No mercenary work, just questions.

Sure. At least I know, coming from you, they'll be straight questions with straight answers.

Thank you for your faith in me. Our investigation concerns a prison at the Oribes Bridge.

There was a prison at the Oribes?

Oh, yeah, I think Soren said something about that.

You were the commanding officer, weren't you?

Yeah. I told them not to kill any surrendering soldiers. I don't look after the specifics. The prisoners must've been brought somewhere. Sounds like it was there.

I see. So you didn't give any orders about the prisoners?

No. What happened?

... Ha ha. You know nothing about this? Forgive me, Ike. I'm having a hard time believing that.

–You think I would lie to you? Something happened. Tell me.

I'm afraid it's a force of habit. But you really don't know, do you?

I don't.

We've received reports that the prisoners at Oribes Prison had their souls torn apart.

What?! You're sure? Their souls were turned apart?!

I trust our sources.

Unbelievable. No one was told to do that. No one!

I recall you saying – what was it now? [“I don't look after the specifics.”] Thank you.

Look, I don't. No one would've given that order. Ranulf, Soren, Titania. I trust all of them. They don't do things like that.

You're that certain, hm.

Absolutely.

[10 second pause.]

You still don't believe me.

Unfortunately, I have no reason to trust them as much as you do.

It's not hard. Why would they do that?

Information.

What kind of information could make them tear souls apart?

I cannot say. Can you truly think of no reason?

[[--- that's the last thing I'd written.]]

Ike's interview was meant to continue to show that Ike really and truly believed and held to his principles. When presented with hard hypotheticals, he responds instead by breaking the terms of the hypothesis. (For example, to "If you could only save Mist or Titania, who would you choose to save?" / "I would try to save both.") Lucia is fully convinced he is not responsible, albeit possibly too idealistic to live. Thus her suspicion falls on Ranulf/Soren/Titania. She interviews them in some order I hadn't decided -- one that would've been convenient for framing her interview with Soren. EDIT: To clarify, the interview would have been skipped within the story. I mean whichever one would've been convenient to make reference to within the Soren interview.

Her interview with Soren would begin very briefly, before Soren would suddenly question the faithfulness and closemouthedness of the scribe. Lucia takes the hint and dismisses the scribe. The story shifts to a more normal narration, third person from Lucia's point of view. While confessing nothing, Soren questions what good could come of this investigation for Crimea and its queen.

Somehow or the other, after making it abundantly clear that Lucia is in no position to reveal the truth, Soren willingly and covertly implies his guilt in the business, and his motives for doing so: to end the war ASAP for Ike's sake. Of course, it didn't happen that way, but you can't blame a guy for trying. (Or can you?)

Lucia wonders what the hell she's going to do next.

(Maybe it's actually better open-ended like that.)