[Video, and Action for Team Ramza]

[regal-innocence.livejournal.com]

[The video is rather blurry at first--Ovelia sits there, adjusting the camera with a single hand as she makes a good attempt to give it a decent focus. The stupid thing was still new to her, thus the former Princess had her troubles getting it to work properly.

Soon, her face came into focus. Her eyes were red and puffy, though her face seemed dry, as though all of the tears she had cried were long since shed, and now only the raw emotion of it remained. Then she backed away, and you can see that her dress is gone, replaced by a rather shabby green tunic that she probably found lying around somewhere.

And her long locks were also sliced short, finally allowing her bangs to be equal length to the rest of her hair--though to a degree, this also looked shabbily done, and a bit uneven in places.]

The Lucavi are no more, and yet still this news comes with great sorrow.

I...

[Her expression is somber, and she lowers her eyes and sighs.]

Mayhap I have no right to say such, as we were only merely acquaintances, but I offer my deepest condolences to those closest to her.

I am...I am sorry.

[Looking ready to cry again, she holds a hand over her mouth, shuts her eyes, and turns the video feed off.]

[Note: This was filmed during the Airship Ride back to Figaro, after the Lucavi Fight]

Comments

[video]

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

[Giving comfort isn't one of this princess' greatest skills by any means, but that doesn't mean she won't try. If this girl had possessed enough bravery to seek out the Lucavi stones alongside Ramza, then she must be stronger than she first appears, even in her upset now.]

Mjrn's loss will be mourned, as is just.

But do not lose sight that you, and your allies, have saved many lives this day in preventing the Lucavi's evil from further spread.

[video]

[regal-innocence.livejournal.com]

[She nods, and sniffles in. She'd long since stopped crying, though bits of tears still tried to squeeze their way out from her eyes every now and again. She holds them back, though.

She can't let them out. Not now.]

...I am glad.

[She nods.]

Yes. I only wish that the cost for doing so was not so great.

[video]

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

[A sigh, Ashe appreciates that sentiment all too well. The restoration of Dalmasca, of peace across Ivalice had come at such a cost; loss of good people's lives.]

I understand. Yet the peace we make in the light of the fiends' defeat... will surely honour her.

[video]

[regal-innocence.livejournal.com]

[Peace...

With Ivalice the way it was, that word was almost foreign to Ovelia. Still, she liked the sound of it, and really, truly, wanted to believe that it would be so, just because Lady Ashe had said that a peace would come as a result.]

I am certain that it will. It must.

[Despite her own hesitance, the words were spoken with a small bit of strength in them, of conviction.

Of hope.

She wanted this to be so, she really, really did...]

[video]

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

If all strive to make it so.

[She's all too aware that peace isn't everyone's goal, but fortunately many good people have been brought to Gaia and it's in them that faith and trust must be placed. Leaning toward the belief that this girl must be one of these, Ashe takes up the mantle she had neglected upon their first meeting.]

Forgive me, I am not familiar with your name. Upon our last meeting my thoughts were occupied only with that... stone, and ensuring it was taken far away from my husband and son.

I am Ashelia Dalmasca Nabradia.

[Whether she already knows this or not, the polite choice is made.]

[video]

[regal-innocence.livejournal.com]

[Husband and son...

Already she was married and had a child?! But she seemed so young?!

Maybe, if she was still in Ivalice, there would have been little time before she too was married off...

It was a strange thought...one she thought little of, and did not wish to consider now.]

I am Ovelia Atkascha...

[She paused a moment, considering her options...

Twisting her hair between her finger, and pulling lightly on the ends, she bit her lip, before speaking once more:]

Former Princess of Ivalice.

[video]

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

[Ashe's gray eyes widen at such a rate that it's impossible to miss her clear shock at this news. Immediately questions plague her mind - was Princess Ovelia of her future, or past? Why did she refer to Ivalice as an entire governance when it consisted of smaller realms, each with their own Heads of State? Was she referring to the other Ivalice?

Moreover, why 'former'? She halts her racing thought train, making a choice.]

Ivalice... in her entirety? Including Dalmasca, Rozzaria, Archadia?

[video -- AND FINALLY. DX Sorry, formatting issues, and I can't edit comments on this account.]

[regal-innocence.livejournal.com]

[Dalmasca, Rozzaria, Archa--

Oh, yes. Those must have been the names of the cities of the Other Ivalice; places such as that did not exist where she was from. She lets out a soft sigh, wondering if this was truly a good idea to say it.

But she was a noble woman. Lady Ashelia had no reason to take advantage of her, and no reason to use her. She already had power, and did not seem to wish to gain more.

She only hoped that her trust wasn't misplaced...]

We do not have such places where I am from. You must hail from the other Ivalice...The Ivalice that...

The Ivalice that Mjrn hailed from.

[Composing herself before she could go down that particular gravy boat, she continued:]

But...yes, I was the Princess of the collective realm of all the Kingdoms: Gallione, Limberry, Zeltennia, Lesalia, Fovoham, and Lionel.

[video -- Not to worry :) it happens to everyone!]

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

[Realisation dawns; they do not hail from the same realm, Ovelia must be a compatriot of Ramza and Delita.

The thought is somewhat relieving, Ashe uncomfortable with the idea of her own Ivalice's nations being combined after so great struggles to ensure their independence. A quiet sigh of her own follows, her face relaxing a little. Dalmasca's endurance means more to her than any word could ever express.]

Then we are not of the same world, despite her name.

[Strange, how Ovelia refers to her position in the past tense. Has she resigned herself to the possibility of never returning?]

The rule of so many realms.... must be indeed a great responsibility.

[video -- Okay...Whew. @_@]

[regal-innocence.livejournal.com]

[This is true. They weren't the same...they had the same name, but everything about them was so different from one another...

Technology, ideals...the nobility of the people ruling. Her Ivalice had nothing but knaves willing to stab one another in the back for power--she only wished people like Ashe would take up positions of power where she is from.]

I...I had always thought you were of the Ivalice...

[Before the Cataclysm.]

Of our past.

[Her much better past.]

From what Mjrn had told me, it seemed most appropriate. It would be strange for two worlds of the same name to exist at the same time, would it not?

[At her last statement, Ovelia felt herself tensing. Responsibility...Responsibility that she had no part in. She had no power in ruling. She was simply a puppet, only taught the essentials of society and figured to marry a powerful man and that was that.

Her entire position was a ploy to keep one out of power that the others did not like--this was hardly a true responsibility.]

From what I understand, it is as though the Royal Family acts as a mediator betwixt the realms themselves; they have the final say in manners encompassing all, but there are plenty of means in which each realm cares for itself in its own way. If something is wrong in one of the realms, it is the Royal Family's job to see if something can be done to solve the problem, or to settle disputes between them.

[She let out a sigh.]

At least, this is what they wish to do in its greatest theory. It does not work as that in its own practice.

Though in truth, I had experienced little of governing myself--almost none. That was not my 'duty'.

[She says the word 'duty' with a snort. There's bitterness there, obvious bitterness. As though she was hurt before...

Or rather, betrayed.]

[video -- :) ]

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

['Of the past' is little better, either way, somewhere along the line it seems Ivalice is to change. She can only pray that such isn't true in her lifetime nor that of hers and Rasler's children, or their own after. Her eyes flicker closed a moment, considering this, but quickly putting such thoughts aside. There was too much to think on in the present, let alone the far future.]

Strange, yes - but not impossible. Gaia has taught me... that nothing is beyond the realms of possibility.

[It can't be seen on-screen, but she's unconsciously stroking a finger across her wedding band. All the while she listens, interested in what Ovelia has to say.]

As for theory and practice, I have found the same. What is intended to be... does not always come to pass, however good the intentions of those trying to uphold the right path.

[Hearing the word 'duty' spoken so surprises her, however. For someone so apparently gentle to use such a tone of voice...]

... You were not the heir?

[video]

[regal-innocence.livejournal.com]

[Nothing beyond the realms of possibility...Ovelia had not thought of that. She had always felt that everything was impossible, always out of her reach...

It wasn't until Gaia that she had found that she could make something of herself. Otherwise, she was 'useless'...

And however good the intentions...

So her Ivalice was similar to hers. Except she found the means to get stronger. Ovelia had never done such, nor had she the ability.

She still could not think that it was possible for her to change anything, even if she had tried to uphold her old mantle--the mantle that was thrust upon her.

Ovelia shakes her head.]

I am a replacement.

[It was so much easier to think about that nowadays--it's almost like a part of her didn't care. Didn't want to care.]

The true Princess had died of malady many years before, and I was taken from my mother's arms and sent to live as her doppleganger, unbeknownst to myself. The Queen had too much power, and Ivalice needed an heir, as the others were killed before they were to bear any true fruit.

[She pauses. She should probably not name any names here--not any names that could cause issue. She had caused Delita much grief already for her own anger. But if he was trying to redeem himself, then slandering his name wouldn't be in her best interests.

But if he wasn't...If he was still just trying to use her...

Well, even if he tried to use her, Ovelia...Delita would be a fool for trying to use Lady Ashe. She would never fall for his tricks, and he would thus suffer the consequences.]

Once the Queen bore a son, I had outlived my usefulness, though still people wished to use me, in order to keep power. My duty was naught to rule, but to be a 'Princess'. I was to allow them to make the decisions, whilst I stood idle.

[video]

[mademyresolve.livejournal.com]

[What a fate, to possess a title and be able to produce no goodness from it. Ashe has known power - how it felt to possess and lose it, to seek and desire it, and then at the most pivotal of moments, to ensure it was used for the right reasons.

Power may bring influence, but it certainly does not ensure happiness.

What cruelty... she can't help but imagine how different this girl's life may have been had she remained with her own mother.]

Your 'usefulness'...

Each of us has the potential to achieve goodness, purpose. If Ivalice denied you the opportunity to seek your own... perhaps Gaia may grant you that which you were denied.