Part I - Summer (Middle) - "We got drafted into a war."

Cameron and Heinrich lay prone, low to the ground, hugging their repeaters close.

Neither had ever fired such a weapon before this day, but their marksmanship and instincts would be forged yet in the crucible of this battle.

… Assuming they made it out alive, of course.

"See anything?"

Cameron shook his head. "We're pinned down. Nowhere to go. We poke our heads up, we're goners."

Heinrich clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Snipers are the worst."

Around them their cover of thick grass swayed gently in the breeze. Blue sky above. A perfect day, by all appearances. You never would have guessed that such a battle was raging on the outskirts of Embervyl.

Cameron fingered the trigger. It had almost frightened him, how easy it'd been, to squeeze. To do what must be done. … To take a life.

"What should we do?"

"I guess," Heinrich sighed loudly, seemingly resigned to a grim fate, "there comes a time in every man's life, when he must accept his role as a comedic supporting character."

"… Heinrich?"

Tears began to form in Heinrich's eyes. He smiled warmly at his roommate. No … Not roommate—his friend.

"Listen, Cam. The moment I get up, you've got a small window. Make it count. I'll draw their fire. The rest will be up to you."

"Heinrich, no …"

"You're the main character here, Cam. … She's waiting for you. Are you going to let her down?"

Heinrich then clutched his repeater, and looked wistfully up to the sky. "The price of freedom … sure is, uh— … It—it costs a lot."

"(Nice, nailed it. … By the way, how do you cry on command like that? It's … unsettling.)"

"(Thanks!)"

"(Not a compliment.)"

"(I learned to do it in first year, because I heard girls like sensitive guys. Turns out, tsk, they don't. … At least not ones that cry when you first talk to them.)"

"(… You know what? That was on me. My fault for asking questions I didn't want to know the answers to.) … Anyway, go, Heinrich! Go die for me!"

"Ugh … You could've phrased that in a more dignified way." But Heinrich got up anyway, like he said he would, and sprinted out of the grass.

The enemy was on him immediately, the high-pitched yells of elflings pointing out his position.

"THERE HE IS!"

"GET HIM! GET HIM!"

"DIE, HUMAN!"

Pew, pew, pew!

The elfen children fired their own weapons, their hydro-repeaters, at Heinrich, each splash of water hitting their mark, Heinrich falling to his knees as he was drenched from head to toe. "Blargh … Gurghh …" he gurgled, dramatically.

Back in the tall grass, Cameron watched and shook his head, unable to help smiling, trying to remember how things had ended up like this.

It started the instant they arrived in town. That … kid—Dalton—had stood in the middle of the road as the cart pulled in, as though he had been expecting them the entire morning, one hand on his hip, the other pointing a finger right at Cameron, as if in accusation.

… Imagine their faces, frozen in shock, as the young elf boy declared, "Oi, human! Miyu-nee is mine, got it!? I won't let you marry her!"

Apparently the kid, who had obviously developed a kind of boyhood puppy love crush on Miyu—or Miyu-nee, as he called her—over the course of her visits to Embervyl in previous years, had heard from his mother (… who had heard from the butcher's wife, who in turn heard from the taiyaki shop owner, who heard from so-and-so, and so on …) that the priestess from Lazumere would be headed into town to pick up clothes for a wedding, and he had decided to do something about it.

"Oh, Dalton, you got it all wrong! Miyu-nee's not getting married!" assured Miyu, as she brought the elf boy in for a hug. "… Yet." (This last word accompanied by a subtle side glance in Cameron's direction.) "… Yuka-nee is the one who's getting married!"

Yuka, sighing grimly: "… Yeah. Congratulations to me."

"Bu-but," Dalton said, downcast, hands gripping the sides of his shorts, as he kicked idly at the dirt, "My mom said … that you have a …"—his voice going soft—"… a boyfriend."

Miyu smiled. "I do!" She gestured to Cameron.

"H-Hi, kid …" stammered Cameron.

Dalton stared up at Cameron for a while, as if sizing him up.

Then, without addressing Cameron, Dalton blinked, turned back to Miyu, and stated, matter-of-factly, "Miyu-nee, this guy's no good. He's too much of a dweeb."

At which comment Cameron collapsed, floored instantly from one keyframe to the next—one where he was standing, the other straight to the ground, no in-betweens here—in a cloud of dust.

By the time Cameron recovered and picked himself off the ground, it was already decided: Miyu-nee was now Dalton's 'hostage', and Cameron would have to earn the right to continue being her boyfriend.

Terms of engagement? A water fight, obviously—what else?

"What? No," scoffed Cameron, "we have errands to run, things to buy. We're not gonna waste time playing with a bunch of—"

But Miyu was already heading off somewhere with her kidnapper (M, smugly: "Surely you won't lose me to a little boy, right? You'll fight for me, right?"), and a group of Dalton's playground friends (who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere) were gearing up, filling up their hydro-repeaters canisters with fresh water from a nearby tap.

Cameron pinched his forehead. "Ugh, fine. I guess if we're gonna do this, then Elegia and Yuka, you two can help defend—"

"Oh, no," said Yuka. "You're mistaken. We're on Dalton's side."

"… What."

"It's Elves vs Humans, dont'cha know."

"What!? How is that fair!? Heinrich and I are massively outnumbered!"

Yuka winked. "Isn't that what makes a true love story? Pulling through against all odds? Now get ready, lover boy. Here's your weapon, catch! … We'll give you about thirty seconds before you guys are marked as 'kill on sight'. Got it? Great. Now then … Thirty! … Twenty-nine! … Fifteen!"

Heinrich: "You just skipped, like—"

Pumping her hydro-repeater: "… Ten! … Nine! …"

And when Yuka reached zero, their little war officially began, the two human boys fending for themselves against a horde of elflings out for their blood.

All things considered, they had held out pretty well up until now, taking out a few of Dalton's squad before taking cover in the tall grass. But their luck couldn't last forever, and now, in the aftermath of Heinrich's noble last stand, Miyu's fate lay in Cameron's hands alone.

"Your sacrifice won't be in vain," muttered Cameron, as he darted out of the grass, making his way around to flank the elflings who had taken out Heinrich.

Cameron raised his hydro-repeater, took aim at the elfings closing in on Heinrich to finish the job (H: "Hey, hey, kids … I'm already dead, come on … Hey! No kicking!"), their backs exposed. Too easy.

Pew! Pew! Pew!

Elfling 1: "Hey, no fair! You snuck up on us!"

Elfing 2: "That's cheating!"

Cameron chuckled. "Heh heh, there are no rules in love and war, kid."

Elfling 3: "You're a jerk, mister human!"

Cameron: "Yeah, yeah. Now lie down."

Buoyed by this inglorious victory, Cameron Callihan, feeling particularly proud of himself for dominating a group of literal schoolchildren, marched confidently into the enemy stronghold, which in this case was the playground nearby, where Dalton, armed with his own repeater, had Miyu trapped inside a steel jungle gym.

("Have you been studying hard this year, Dalton?"

"Miyu-nee!" he whined. "You're supposed to be my hoos-taaage right now!"

"Okay, okay, sorry, sorry! … But you have been studying properly, right?"

"Uh-huh …"

"Okay, good boy.")

"Let her go, Dalton!" cried Cameron, his repeater aimed at the final boss, standing atop the jungle gym.

Dalton, his own weapon similarly trained on Cameron, wagged his finger. "Uh-uh-uh. Not so fast. I'd drop your weapon, if I were you."

"Do as the boy says," came Yuka's voice, from behind.

Rats. Cameron swore under his breath. He should've seen that coming.

But then—Pew! Pew! Pew!

Without taking his eyes off Dalton, Cameron could only infer what had happened from the conversation going on behind him.

Yuka: "What the—Elegia!? What's your deal!"

Elegia: "Oh, now you know my name, huh? Payback, for referring to me as Miyu's brother."

Yuka, sputteringly: "That was … Wh—… You … How petty of a grudge do you have to— … YOU ARE MIYU'S BROTHER."

"Whatever." The sound of Elegia shaking his bangs out of his eyes. "This game is boring, anyway. I'm going to the bookstore." The sound of his hydro-repeater clattering to the ground, and Elegia walking off.

… So now it was just Cameron and Dalton alive, fighting over Miyu.

The human stared at the elfling, the elfling at the human. A classic standoff. Neither one willing to make the first move.

Cameron squinted his eyes. Dalton spat sideways.

And then—

"Daaaaaal-toooooon! It's time for luuuunch!"

All eyes turned toward the source of the call, Dalton's mother, who was standing in the distance, waving her hands.

Dalton cried back, "Aw, mom! … Five more minutes!"

"Now, Dalton!"

And then Dalton, sulking, hopped off the jungle gym, waved good-bye at Miyu, ignored Cameron completely, and then ran toward his mother for lunch.

And just like that, the war was over.

"My hero," said Miyu, crawling out of the gym, falling into Cameron's arms.

"Well, I didn't really—… Okay, yeah. I'm your hero."

Miyu laughed. "What's with the long face?"

"I dunno," sighed Cameron. "I just don't think I'd be any good in an actual war."

Miyu smiled, and placed both palms on Cameron's cheeks, squishing his face together. "What?" she said. "And you think I would be?"

A cute moment, sure—ruined entirely when the couple was sprayed, drenched, even, by an relentless storm of hydro-repeater blasts.

"What the—HEINRICH!"

Heinrich, standing close by, holding a freshly-fired hydro-repeater, its barrel smoking (well … dripping, at any rate), screamed at the wet couple, "Ahhhh!!!! FREAKIN' TYPPIES, EXPLODE! PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION PROHIBITED! NOT WHILE I'M AROUND!"

Cameron, not willing to let Heinrich get away with this act of aggression, reached for his hydro-repeater—but before he could grab it, who else but Yuka Yuuni rushed in, to deliver yet another upper-cut to Heinrich's solar plexus, this time shouting: "You just want to see Miyu's top wet, don't you?! What do you think you're doing to the priestess of Lazumere!?"

Heinrich, blasting off to another solar system, voice growing fainter with each word: "WHAT DID I DO to deserve such a faaaaate …"

Yuka scratched the side of her face. "Did he say something just now? I couldn't really hear."

Cameron: "I think he said, 'Thank you very much, Mistress Yuka'."

Yuka shuddered.

(Heinrich, distinctly, from somewhere in the shadow realm: "That's not what I said!")

"Well, this was certainly a rewarding side quest and all," said Cameron, "but we're all wet now and we didn't bring a change of clothes. … What now?"

Miyu and Yuka winked together and said, in unison, heads tilted, flicking up their fingers in a perfectly synced flourish: "Relax. We know just the place! …" Then, singing: "Every-day's great at your … Embervyl shoutengai!"

"… Did you two rehearse that just now?"