Er. This requires a bit of explanation/author's notes before we get down to business. 
One, this is not going to be completely faithful to the game's script. I do have it on hand as a reference, but I will be altering, adding, and deleting bits of dialogue where I see fit.
Two, I will most definitely be taking liberties with events and characterization, filling in things that I think need to be fleshed out, and adding in ideas I liked from the manga, and bits of the real mythology.
Three, this will focus on the A ending path through the game, so expect spoilers up the freaking wazoo. This also means that any einherjar recruitments that are completely irrelevant to the storyline will have to be cut. I'm sorry if I axe someone's favorite scene, but my primary concern is the A ending storyline, and to include superfluous story bits would only bog it down unnecessarily.
That's pretty much it; on with the tale!
Prologue - In Pace Requiescat
I'm going to be late. . .again.
It was the only thing the young girl kneeling beside the gently flowing freshwater spring - the only thing of note in this tiny mountain village - could think of as she hurried to fill her bucket at the edge of the water. She was a petite, thin girl, clad in a tan dress that had clearly seen better days, her shining silver hair pulled back from her pale face in a single braid that fell past her small wrists. Her teeth caught her lower lip as she frowned, worried and yet resigned to what she knew awaited her upon another tardy return to her home. Somewhere deep down, she knew that even punctuality would not be rewarded with what she desired, but that wasn't something she cared to dwell on. Not now. It wasn't a pleasant thought by any means, especially not when she was already doomed to be punished for what was sure to be seen as dallying.
"I must hurry," she mumbled to herself as she struggled to pull the heavy bucket out of the water. "I don't want to be scolded by Mother again. . ." Yanking at the handle, she managed to get the bucket onto the ground, but not without splashing some on herself, which elicited a cry of alarm. It was still very cold these days, the weather teetering on the edge between winter and spring. Some unmelted snow still sat on the earth, mere feet away from her, and most of the leaves on the trees around her were devoid of the green life they seemed to hold for far too short a time every year. Were it closer to summer, her dress would quickly dry, but not so at this part of the season - it would take a very long and uncomfortable time today.
"Oh, I hope Mother doesn't notice, she'll be even more displeased by this. . ." She pressed her lips together, trying not to get upset at the thought of what her mother would say at the sight of her damp gown, the harsh lecture she would receive on her carelessness and stupidity. Shaking her head to clear the images from her mind, she grasped the bucket's handle firmly and stood up, brushing some of her hair out of her eyes. . .and drew her breath in sharply as she happened to look up.
There were many days in which she doubted the existance of the gods altogether, or at least believed that if they did truly exist, they were cruel beings who took pleasure in making Midgard a living hell for humans, one without any joy or beauty whatsoever.
This was not one of them.
"Oh, how beautiful. . ." she breathed as she watched slender beams of sunlight push their way through the spaces between the dead foliage to dance and glide atop the crystal clear water. Her azure eyes widened and lit up with delight at the sight of the sparkling water, and the tiny glimpse she could just barely get of a patch of blue sky above her head. For just a moment, she forgot that she was late, forgot that she had spilled cold water on her dress on a chilly day, forgot about her mother's inevitable anger, forgot about everything that was troubling her as she paused and took in the beauty of her surroundings. She visited this spring every day - it was the only source of fresh water for the inhabitants of Coriander, and occasionally brought in visitors wanting to see it, though not the prosperity the villagers needed - but had never really stopped to look around and appreciate how lovely it really was.
The spell faded almost as quickly as it had been cast, however, as reality came crashing down once more and she recalled the direness of her situation. Her enraptured expression fading, she lifted the bucket and began to walk away from the spring at a slow pace, careful not to tip the contents as she inched her way back towards her home. That was the last thing she needed right now - to spill it again and incur more wrath, not to mention cause herself more discomfort and run the risk of becoming ill.
Sometimes I wonder why I even try to please them. . .nothing I do is ever enough. Or maybe I just need to do more? Oh, I don't know. . .I just don't know. It gets harder and harder every day, and I just. . .I don't know. I don't know what I want, much less what I would need to do to get it if I knew. Oh, if only I didn't have to -
"Platina!"
She instinctively cringed at the sound of her name being called, but immediately relaxed upon realizing that it was not, in fact, one of her parents who had addressed her. Despite herself, she couldn't help but smile as the speaker - a blonde boy of about fourteen years old, the same age that she was, wearing plain clothes that had been mended and patched too many times to count - approached. He was the only source of happiness for her in this place, her best friend in, what she was fond of saying, not just this village but the entire world, in any world.
"Hello, Lucian." Platina smiled warmly at him as he reached her. "How are you?"
"Platina, where have you been? I've finished my chores for now, do you want to go play?" He pointed at the spot where they always sat together whenever they had the time to spend with each other - a patch of barren earth next to the bridge that spanned the stream that ran between the land they stood on, and the land where, up ahead, their dilapidated houses sat upon.
"Lucian, I wish I could, but I can't - I've got to take this water back to Mother." Platina quickened her pace, though still careful not to spill the water. "I'm already late as it is, and - oh, I'll try and come out later, but I just can't right now."
"Oh. . .all right. . .well, do you want me to help you?" Lucian reached for the bucket that she was struggling with, but she pulled back and hurried past him without looking at his face, thus missing the confused hurt that sprang to life in his cerulean eyes.
"No, no, I can handle it on my own," she answered hastily as she passed, still avoiding his eyes. "But thank you anyway, Lucian. I-I guess I'll see you later on, then." She didn't dare look back, knowing what would be reflected on his visage, nor did she look straight ahead - she gazed instead at the water sloshing back and forth in her bucket, and the distorted reflection of her face therein. Normally, she might have accepted his offer for help, but not now. . .not today. She didn't want him seeing her getting scolded again on top of everything else - he already hated her parents enough as it was. Part of her didn't blame him, but the other part always squelched that impulse in favor of asking him not to badmouth them in front of her, as despite the fact that what he was saying was true, she still didn't want to hear him speak that way about them. It just didn't seem right to her, no matter how badly they did in fact treat her.
He always says that nothing is ever going to change, that they'll never be nice to me, they'll always be awful. But I don't really want to believe that. I want to think that they can change, that I can do something - anything - to make them be different. I just can't let go of that hope, no matter how faint it is. It is starting to fade, or at least it feels like that sometimes, but I still want to hang on, keep trying. And I can't tell him how I feel, or. . .I don't know what he'll do. Or say. I'm afraid to find out.
Focused on her task and wrapped up in her unhappy thoughts, Platina failed to notice that the front door of her house opened to let two men in dark clothes exit, her mother, Laia, close behind. She had no idea they were there until she collided with one of them. . .spilling some of the water on his pants.
"Aaah!" Platina gasped and took several steps back, a horrified look on her face. "I - I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to. . .it was an accident. . .your clothes, are they -"
"You stupid girl!" Laia pushed past the men towards Platina, livid with anger. "Watch where you're going!" Drawing her hand back, she slapped Platina hard across her face. "How
dare you splash water on a guest! Can't you be more careful?"
"I'm. . .I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. . ." Platina raised her own hand to cover her stinging cheek, willing herself not to cry and praying to whatever gods might exist that Lucian had gone inside his own house and hadn't witnessed this. "Forgive me. . .I'm so sorry!"
The man merely grunted in response, and brushed past her, the other following suit. Platina turned her head to watch them leave, curiosity momentarily overtaking humiliation. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Lucian a short distance away, staring at their backs with a strange look on his face. Ignoring this, she turned back to her mother, confused. "Mother, who were those men?"
"None of your business!" Laia snapped. "Now hurry and pick up your bucket - you have work to do!" Not even bothering to wait for her daughter, she walked back into the house, slamming the door behind her.
Sighing deeply, Platina did as she was told, bending to retrieve her bucket. She glanced at Lucian as she straightened up, and saw that he was still standing where she'd left him, a stricken look on his face as he continued staring at where the men had gone. It didn't make any sense to her why he should have that reaction to them. . .but then, it didn't really matter, did it? Not when she needed to hurry and get inside to do whatever task her mother was going to set her to next. Another sigh, and Platina turned away to haul the water the rest of the way to her house.
"Took you long enough, you lazy brat!" Laia sneered as Platina struggled to get inside. "Now bring that water over here, girl - you need to scrub the floor. And when you're done, you can go back and get some more - but no dallying this time!"
"Yes, Mother," Platina said dutifully, sighing inwardly.
Maybe Lucian is right. . .
~*~
Nights were the only time Platina was ever able to find any real peace, though even then it wasn't a sizable amount. Tonight had been as unpleasant an evening as ever, her parents running her ragged before she was allowed to sit down and eat the small, tasteless supper her mother had prepared, which had grown cold by the time Platina took her first bite. It was better than nothing, however, and her parents were oddly civil during it. What passed as civility for them, anyway. She didn't understand what had wrought the sudden behavior shift - small as it was - but was glad for the brief reprieve, as it were. For once in a very long while, she didn't cry herself to sleep.
It was unusually quiet this night - the air still and cold, as though waiting for something. The only sound that could be heard was the flowing stream off in the distance. There was no wind tonight to rustle the leaves, and it was too early to hear any insects - the cold had killed them all off months before. The sky was clear and cloudless for the first time in weeks, revealing a bright, pale full moon and eliminating the possibility of rain.
The lack of precipitation was indeed a good thing, but Lucian couldn't find it in himself to appreciate the other reasons for the silence. His heart pounded as he crept towards Platina's house, cringing at every little noise, whether it was his boots in the mud and slush, or his own rapid breathing. He
needed something to cover the sound of his approach, convinced that someone was going to be woken up any minute, and that they surely must be able to hear his frantic heartbeat. After what felt like a torturous eternity, he reached Platina's window. Holding his breath, he slowly opened the shutters, his hands trembling as he prayed that she would be the only one to hear.
But even Platina didn't hear him, sleeping still in her small bed, her hair spilling over her pillow like a shining silver river in the moonlight. Lucian stared for a moment, transfixed, but then leaned over the windowsill and grabbed her shoulder, shaking her slightly. "Platina. . .Platina, wake up!"
"Uhhh. . .huh?" Platina rolled over to face Lucian, and her disoriented expression changed to one of utter shock as she saw him. "Lucian. . .what's going on?" she demanded in a hushed voice as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Do you have any idea at all what time it is? What are you doing over here at this hour?"
"Shhh!" Lucian leaned forward, an anxious look on his face. "Be quiet, Platina. . .don't let your parents hear you."
"What? Why? What are you. . ." Platina's voice trailed off as she heard something from her parent's room.
"Platina, we've got to run! Hurry!" Lucian urged her, reaching out to take her hand. "Come on!"
"Lucian, what are you talking about?" Bewildered, Platina started to pull her hand back, but Lucian held on tightly. "What's going on?"
"Platina, I. . .it's. . .listen to me. Your mother and father, they've. . ." He took a deep breath to steady himself. "They've sold you!"
Her eyes widening, Platina opened her mouth to respond, but never got a chance to, as her door burst open and Laia stormed in, looking furious. Her eyes narrowed as she spied Lucian, who was still holding onto Platina's hand.
"You. . .you little thief! What do you think you're doing here at this time of night? Get your hands off my daughter!" She started forward, but Lucian moved faster.
"Come on!" Grabbing Platina's other arm, Lucian managed to pull her out of the window and set her down on the ground. She barely had time to react before he grabbed her hand again and started running as fast as he could, pulling her along with him.
"Lucian, wait!" Platina cried as she struggled to keep up. "Stop. . .please tell me what this is about!"
"We don't have time, Platina!" Lucian's legs were aching by the time they reached the edge of Coriander, and he could barely breathe, but he couldn't stop, couldn't even look back - there was quite simply no time for it. Only when they had made it a respectable distance into the woods outside town did he slow down to catch his breath, and allow Platina to do the same.
"Lucian. . .I. . .I want to go home," Platina gasped as they walked through the forest at a less frenzied pace, her heart still racing. "Please. . .take me back. . ."
"What?!" Lucian whirled, his eyes wide with disbelief. "How can you say that, Platina?"
"Lucian. . .are you sure about. . .what you told me? About being sold? I haven't heard anything from Mother or Father about it. Are you sure it's not just some misunderstanding?" She shivered, the chilly night air beginning to set in for the first time since the mad dash from her house. "She must be so worried about me right now. . ."
At least, I hope she is. . .I'd like to to think she is, anyway.
"Platina, you saw the men in black earlier too. . .remember? They came to my house too. And the next day. . .my little sister was gone. My mother and father didn't tell me anything. They still won't talk about her. . .it's as if she never existed at all."
"What?" Platina was even more confused by this. "But. . .but everyone told me she was stricken with a disease."
"Oh,
really?" Lucian raised an eyebrow. "Tell me, have you ever heard of a disease that makes you vanish into thin air? And our family has no money for doctors, anyway!"
"I. . ." Platina fell silent, at a complete loss for words. She stared at Lucian, her mind spinning with the information that had just been presented to her.
Sold me? To. . .to whom? And why? Why would Mother and Father do this to me? I know they don't. . .that they. . .the way they treat me. . .but why? Why sell me? Oh gods, why? I was wrong. . .I can't ever make them love me. . .it's too late, I failed. And what am I going to do now? I can't go back home, and what if they come looking for me? What. . .I. . .I don't know. . .
"Platina, I. . I just. . .I don't want to lose you!" Lucian blurted out, his voice cracking slightly with emotion. "I can't. . .I
won't let that happen! That's why I. . .I just can't stand the thought of them taking you away from me, so I came to get you, and. . ." He trailed off, obviously trying to compose himself.
"Lucian. . ." Platina's lower lip trembled, and she swallowed hard against the lump that had suddenly risen in her throat at his impassioned words. "Then. . .then let's run away, far away! It doesn't matter where. . .I'll go anywhere with you, Lucian! In this world or any other. . ."
A wave of relief flooded over Lucian's face at this statement, and he smiled faintly at her. "Then let's go, Platina." He slid his jacket off then, and helped Platina into it. "Here. . .you need this more than I do right now." It was true - his escape had been planned, and so he had dressed accordingly, but Platina hadn't had time to change, or even grab something to put over her nightgown. She smiled gratefully at him, and took his hand, and they continued walking through the forest.
It was still quiet now but for their footsteps as they trod through slush and mud, and over fallen leaves. The near-silence was eerie now, and felt somehow
wrong to them - they thought that there should have been some wind, some noise of the wildlife that surely must live here. They had no desire to actually meet any of the more dangerous forest residents, but the sight and sound of a rabbit moving about would have been some small comfort. But nature declined to provide them with that, and so their journey was more unsettling than they would have wished for.
"Where do you think we are?" Lucian asked as they hiked up a hill some time later. It was the first time either one of them had spoken since their conversation in the woods.
"I don't know. . ." Platina cast a nervous glance around at the countryside. They were still the only ones around that either of them could see, which was, oddly enough, comforting and unnerving at the same time. "What do you think will become of us, Lucian?"
Where will we go? What are we going to do? How are we going to survive? Platina wanted to ask these things, but though it was too much to put on him at the moment. And when he didn't answer what she
did ask, it only confirmed that she had made the right decision. . .at least, with regards to how many questions she asked him. The rest, she wasn't so sure of.
They made their way up the hill in silence, and continued their trek down without speaking. Some clouds had begun to gather as they passed through the forest and up the hillside, obscuring their view of the moon. But then, they reached the bottom of the hill, and -
- the clouds parted to allow the silvery orb to illuminate the field of snowy white flowers they had discovered.
"What. . .? Where. . .where is this?" Lucian stopped short, startled. He had never seen a place like this before. . .had never even dreamed that such a location could exist.
"It's so beautiful!" Platina walked ahead of him, her eyes filled with awe. For the first time that night, the wind blew past them, tossing alabaster petals into the air that now carried a faint, subtly sweet fragrance. "Wow. . .Lucian, do you think this might be. . ." She turned back to face him, and spoke in a voice tinged with wonder. "Do you think this might be. . .heaven?"
Assuming such a place does, or could, ever exist.
"Platina, don't! It's bad luck to say things like that!" Lucian cast a fearful look around, and even up at the glittering, star-studded sky, as though he expected emissaries of Hel to come down from above and smite them at any moment.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Platina giggled as she said it, though, and ran forward to explore the field further. Kneeling, she picked one of the delicate white flowers, and held it close to sniff it. A smile spread over her face as the sweet scent tickled her nostrils.
Lucian stood and watched her for a moment, then looked at the petals that drifted along on the wind, which was now blowing gently and sporadically. Despite Platina's delight at the place, there was something nagging at the back of his mind about it, that tugged unpleasantly at his stomach. Reaching up, he plucked a stray petal from the air, and inspected it. But even as he touched it, a fragment of a memory sprang to life in his brain, and his heart dropped into his stomach with a horrible jolt. There was definitely something wrong here, and now he knew what it was.
"Platina! We've got to get out of here!" Lucian rushed forward, dropping the petal onto the ground. "These flowers, they're all. . .they're weeping lilies!"
"Weeping lilies?" Platina lifted her head up to look back at him, a lily still clutched in her hand.
"Yes, weeping lilies! If we stay here, their poison will kill us!" He took another step forward, an urgent look on his face. "Come on!"
". . .If I were to fall asleep here. . ." Platina's gaze had dropped to the flower in her hand, which she was now inspecting more closely than ever. . .as though she were considering something. "Do you think I would be able to just. . .slip away?"
"Wha - what?!" Lucian froze, not really believing what he was hearing.
"I. . ." Platina's eyes fluttered, and she started to fall forward.
"Platina!" Lucian rushed forward, and caught her as she fell. She trembled for a second, then looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears.
"I can't stand it any longer! No matter how hard I've tried. . .Mother and Father have never treated me with kindness!" Her chest hitched as she fought back a sob, and she shook her head. "It's never enough. . .nothing I do is ever enough for them, and I know now it never will be. It's never going to be enough!" Her head fell forward onto Lucian's shoulder, and her own shook as tears spilled from her eyes onto his clothes.
"Platina. . .don't say these things!" Lucian's voice shook with raw fear. "They may not care about you, but I do! Platina, I -"
"If you care about me so much, Lucian, do you think. . ." She lifted her head again to look at him with eyes that brimmed with fresh tears. "Do you think that. . .that we might be reborn? That we might be reborn together? I. . ." She squeezed her eyes shut, and her voice was hoarse when she spoke again. "I'm so glad to have known you, Lucian. . .so glad we met. But. . .I just have too many awful memories. I just. . .I just want to forget. . .forget. . .it. . .all. . ." Her voice trailed off then, and she collapsed against Lucian.
"No! Wake up!" Lucian shook Platina frantically, his voice rising with desperation, praying to every god he could think of, willing this to not be happening, because
there was just no way this could be real - no way that she was - "I won't have it! You want to forget? Would you forget me too, Platina?!"
But she never answered him. Her head lolled back as he shook her again, and something inside him died as he saw her face - her eyes half-open and blank, her mouth open with no breath coming from it, the tears still on her pale cheeks. She was gone.
"PLATINA!"
(albeit without RI's wide array of smilies, of course)
Thank the Aesir that starting next chapter all I'll hear are the dulcet tones of Megan Hollingshead. (bit of trivia I just learned while looking up the names: Arngrim was voiced by a woman) 
Linear Mode
