Gray Whirlpool Gaiden: Defrost
By P.T. Piranha

Chapter 1: The First Day

"It's right this way. You know, it's quite fortunate that you arrived in the morning," an old knight spoke.

This was the Northern Fortress. Two girls in fur coats had arrived an hour ago, set to remain here for the rest of their days as servants. The girls looked rather similar to each other, but had different attitudes. One walked with unchildlike reserve. Her powdery blue hair remained neat and gray eyes were focused. The other slowly tagged along, her pink hair messy and blue eyes absorbing all the sights.

"Felicia, don't get distracted," the knight warned without even looking. "Your sister already had to pick you up after you tripped on that rug corner."

"Sorry Mr. Gunter!"

Felicia and her sister were being led by the famed Sir Gunter of Nohr. A former champion of their army, now reduced to the primary caretaker of this fortress. Felicia looked over to her sister. She seemed to want to say something, but the other girl apparently had to coax it out.

"…Yes?"

"What do you think the princess is like, Flora?"

Flora, the quiet one, raised her eyebrow. "Uh… I don't know. Shouldn't we just give it a few minutes? We'll meet her soon."

"That other kid was so sad he couldn't come with us," Felicia remembered. "Johnny?"

"Yeah Jakob's a bit… protective of the princess. As you'll learn to be," Gunter explained. They soon ascended the stairs, and the knight unlocked the door. He spoke again, but with a quieter tone. "All right, before we begin your training, why don't you try waking up your liege for the first time? Go on."

He nodded to encourage them. Flora took the first step, while one could presume Felicia was attached to her hip. And then they both saw her.

Asleep in the bed was a pajama-clad girl, about a year or so younger than the sisters, if Flora had to guess. She was completely out of it. Her hair was strangely white. There were a lot of varied hair colors in Nohr, but white was one Flora had not seen as much. Oddly, she was sleeping above her blanket, which also revealed a tiny dragon doll resting by her feet. So this was Princess Corrin.

I'm not really sure what I expected. Flora surmised. Is she even alive? I don't think I've seen anyone sleep this deeply other than Father.

"We just wake her up?" Felicia whispered back to Gunter. He nodded. "Okay!" Felicia stepped over to the bed and proceeded to shake the princess's body. "HEY! WAKE UP!"

Flora winced. Oh no.

The pink-haired sister kept shaking the princess, ultimately pushing her out of the bed. Felicia giggled. "Heh… heheh… Oops."

"Oh this'll be fun…" Gunter said, rolling his eyes.

"Ow… Jakob, that hurt!" The little princess slowly picked herself off the ground rubbed her forehead. Her eyes were still shut, but she opened them when Gunter cleared his throat. Flora was surprised by how red they were.

Wait, she's albino? Or whatever it is? Flora pondered. The princess looked at Flora and her sister for the first time and smiled, already over her rude awakening.

"Hi! I'm Corrin! …Who are you?"

"My name is Felicia! And this is-"

Suddenly Gunter caught up to Felicia and put a hand on her shoulder. "Lady Corrin, I'd like you to meet Felicia and Flora. Starting today, they will be assisting you in the same manner as Jakob."

Wait… was that other boy a hostage too?! Flora quietly freaked out, reliving the first she and her sister had heard of their reason for being here.

"Hello Felicia! Hello Flora!"

"Hi again!"

Oh, she's talking to us! "Hello, Lady Corrin." She seems friendly, at least. She just woke up, you don't wake up and automatically hide your personality, so it has to be real. I think…

"I had them wake you up today, to get them used to it," Gunter told the princess. "But now it's time for their training," he said more to the girls than to his liege. "Lady Corrin, your clothes for today have already been prepared, so we'll leave you to that."

"Aren't we supposed to help with that? Or some other servant?" Flora asked.

"Whatever," Gunter dismissed. "She's eleven, she knows how to use her arms."

Flora and Felicia gave each other confused looks.

"So she's one of the princesses?" Felicia asked. Previously, nobody had spoken during the trip back downstairs. "Where are the other princesses? Or the princes?"

"They don't live here," Gunter answered simply.

Felicia tilted her head. "What? Why?"

"I don't even know." Gunter led the girls into a small room with two beds. "This is where you're staying. We have uniforms for you, but they'll be a bit big. You'll grow into them. Probably. After that, just start cleaning. You know how to clean, right?"

"I thought you were training us," Felicia countered.

Gunter shrugged. "Yeah, and? It's cleaning, how much do I need to explain?" He walked out of the room. "Just look around and see what needs cleaned! That'll be your work for today. Tomorrow you can learn cooking. So there."

Thus Flora and Felicia were left alone.

Gunter's minimal instructions left the tribalist girls rather confused. As such, they began wandering around the castle, looking for things to clean. Flora carried a bucket of water, while Felicia carried some hand rags.

"How about that window?" Felicia suggested, pointing to a window with a few smudges.

"I guess so." Flora narrowed her eyes. "Mr. Gunter's not very helpful."

So Flora and Felicia got to work, trying to clean the window. Back home, their father occasionally had someone clean the house, and the girls were not fools. But without a lot of guidance, they has no real clue how to go about it.

"Hi."

The girls looked away from their task to find themselves in the presence of Princess Corrin. She had changed from her nightclothes into a somewhat formal black dress. While she had long sleeves and leggings, her feet remained bare. "So… uh… which one of you is which again?"

Felicia and Flora stared in confusion.

"I mean… which one of you is Felicia and which one is… the other one?"

Oh come on! Even here, people remember my sister's name better than mine?! Flora shut her eyes as she spoke. "My name is Flora."

"Oh okay," Corrin said with a nod. She looked at Flora's sister. "So you're Felicia!"

"Yup! Uh, I mean… yes milady!" Felicia then tilted her head. "Hey, why aren't you wearing shoes?"

"Felicia, you can't just ask our boss that kind of thing!"

"Wait, she's our boss? I thought Mr. Gunter was our boss!"

Flora sighed. "We're taking care of a princess, that makes her our boss! Why do you think we're calling her our lady?"

The younger twin blinked. "…Ohhh."

"I don't like shoes."

Flora had nothing to say, but that did not stop her sister. "Why not?"

Corrin sighed, as if this were the hundredth time she had talked about this. "For so many years, Gunter told me I didn't need any. So I didn't bother with it. Now they feel weird when I wear them and I don't like it. So… don't tell me to wear shoes. I told Jakob the same thing."

Okay she's definitely weird. "Well I guess we'll just have to be even more careful then… If you're not going to take care of your feet," Flora told her new boss.

"So if you're maids, that means you're like Jakob, right?" Corrin had changed the subject.

"I guess so." Felicia shrugged. "Did his dad send him to become a butler?"

Flora and Corrin both winced. Flora, because she knew the real reason they were here. Corrin, because she knew about Jakob's parents. "Um… He doesn't like to talk about it."

That piqued Flora's curiosity. But that was a story for when she and Jakob had gotten to know each other better. If they would even know each other better. Flora had hoped she and Felicia would be able to leave after maybe a few weeks, if Corrin or Mr. Gunter were to praise their work. But none of that could happen if she and Felicia slacked off, so she knew they had to get rid of Corrin. "Princess Corrin, shouldn't you be doing… something?"

Corrin shrugged. "I don't have any lessons until after lunch, today. So I thought I'd talk to you guys!"

"But why?" Flora asked.

"Well… you're staying with us, right? Shouldn't we get along?"

She's so naïve. And there goes my last suspicion that she was in on this whole hostage situation. She's kind of like Felicia, really… "We'll have time for that later, princess. Right now, we have work to do. Isn't that right, Felicia?"

"Right!" Flora noticed a gleam in her sister's eye. It was the same determination she had whenever they sparred together. The older twin once entertained the thought of telling her sister the truth. But that innocence in her stare, as she failed to eliminate the stain on the window, it struck a chord in Flora. She had to protect Felicia's innocence. "We can talk to you later, Your Highness!"

The princess nodded. "All right. I'll go see if Silas is coming today."

With that, the sisters were left to their task.

The girls attempted to fold a blanket together in Gunter's uninhabited bedroom. By which, Flora and Felicia dropped the blanket on the floor, then Flora discerned an (uneven) angle to fold it, and then Felicia messed even that up. A young boy with silvery hair walked in, gaping.

"What are you doing?!"

"We're folding a blanket!" Felicia chirped.

The lad scoffed. "And I'm the King of Nestra!"

"Wait, really?!"

"…He was being sarcastic, sister."

"Aww…"

"So you're Jakob I guess," Flora said. "Right?"

Jakob nodded. "Yes, yes I am. Now, are you real servants?"

"Uh… technically… no." Flora answered truthfully.

"Have you ever done any household tasks, like any real cleaning?" Felicia nervously shook her head. Jakob tried again. "Have you ever even folded any blankets?"

"No… no…" Flora repeated.

"All right," Jakob sighed, "I can see that I will have to teach you how to be servants!"

Suddenly, Jakob provided a saxophone and began playing on it. Flora raised her hand. "Uh, wait what are you doing?"

The boy stopped. "I'm teaching you. Pay attention."

"Oh… uh, okay…"

"Flora, I'm scared."

"Me too, sister."

Lesson number one!
Lesson number one!
(Jakob had lost his saxophone and was already folding.)

Now listen closely…
Here's a little lesson in butlery:
This is going down in history!
If you want to be a servant, number one!
You need to see that all your chores are done!

(Suddenly the two girls followed Jakob through a corridor.)

Just walk down the hall-
And look for work.
Be careful not to ev-er shirk!
(Felicia accidentally knocked over a vase and Jakob winced.)
No, don't do that!

(Jakob began overseeing Felicia and Flora as the two of them got to work. Flora had been scrubbing the floor, with Felicia walking past with a stack of Corrin's clothing.)

Lesson number one!
(The younger twin tripped, to Flora's concern and Jakob's chagrin.)
Lesson number one!
(Flora got up to help her sister, but ended up tripping too.)
Lesson number one!

(In another room, Jakob gave the girls a blanket.)
Now look at this blanket, that I just found!
When I say go, be ready to fold!
…Go!
(Felicia immediately tore a bit of the blanket.)
I said to fold it, not tear it!
Ugh, let's try something else.

(In the kitchen, Jakob began to prepare soup.)

Now watch, and learn, here's the deal!
This is how you'll prepare her meals!
(Flora absentmindedly put an eggplant in the soup.)
What are you doing?!

(Jakob showed the girls more and more tasks.)
(Flora and Felicia kept messing up in different ways.)
(Felicia at one point tripped and hit her head on a table, to Flora's concern.)
Lesson number one!
(Flora snuck away from Jakob, helping her sister to walk.)
(Jakob never even noticed, holding his arms high.)
WE SERVE OUR NUMBER ONE!

(Jakob never caught on to the fact that the girls ditched him.)
(He simply began doing more of the chores all on his own.)
Lesson number one!
Lesson number one!
Lesson number one, he-hey!

Jakob turned around. "…And that's how to serve Lady Corrin. Any questions?"

He opened his eyes to find that they had both disappeared.

"Um… hello?"

Felicia and Flora sat together on a staircase, while Flora mulled over which potion to give her sister. The injured one spoke first. "Flora, that guy was weird."

"Yeah, you can say that again."

"He's not so bad when you get to know him," a new voice chimed in. Flora and Felicia looked over to find Corrin sitting on some steps behind them. She drooped. "Uh, sorry for interrupting. I… finished my lessons and saw you guys sitting here. So I thought… we could talk or… something."

Flora sighed. "Okay. Fine. What did you want to ask about, Lady Corrin?"

"Is it true you can do magic?"

"Yeah!" Felicia answered.

Corrin's eyes sparkled. "Wooow! Can you teach me magic sometime?"

"Uh, our ice magic isn't really something that we can teach…" Flora warned.

"Oh… Okay." Then the grandfather clock chimed, startling the princess "Aah! Dinner already? Wow. I wonder what we're having."

Is someone else coming to the fortress today? "Who's 'we', milady?" Flora asked.

"Well before, it was me and Gunter and Jakob. But now you guys too!" she answered, standing up. "Come on, let's go!"

The older twin curiously stared. "We're eating… with you?"

Corrin shrugged. "Well, Gunter says no one gets to eat until I take a bite, but other than that, yeah. I don't like to be alone when I eat."

That was all Felicia needed to hear. "Okay!" She got up and ran toward the kitchen. "I haven't eaten all day!"

Flora gasped. "Wait! Felicia! The concoction! You forgot to drink it!"

After dinner, and a few more lessons (courtesy of Jakob), the twins were finally allowed to retire for the evening. They went into their shared room and readied themselves for bed. Like in their home, they each had a bed to themselves. The girls went with what they knew and picked the same beds relative to each other's position as they did back in their old bedroom.

"So how long do you think we'll be here?" Felicia finally asked.

Flora blinked. "I… I don't know."

"Well it's not so bad here. At least the princess is nice."

"…She is, isn't she?"

"Yeah, I remember everyone back home talking about how scary King Garon and his children are. But Princess Corrin's not like that at all!"

"That was a nice surprise," Flora told her sister. She then gave it more thought. From the moment she met us, she's spoken as if we were friends. To hear Gunter talk to her at dinner, this must be normal behavior. The new maid smiled. I want to go home. But at least the princess isn't cruel to us, like her father would be. "We should probably get to sleep though. Tomorrow we're going to learn cooking, after all. If Mr. Gunter can be bothered to teach us."

Felicia yawned. "Okay… Good luck tomorrow, Flora…"

Hearing that, Flora smiled. "Good luck to you too, Felicia."

Post-Script A/N:

First of all, February 19th (today) is the birth date for both Flora and Felicia. Yaaay. That also means Fates has now been out in North America for a year. Yaaay. So I'm writing about my favorite ship: Flora/Corrin. Or rather, I'm cross-posting this fic from AO3. There's no real difference between the two versions.

Before I go into author notes, I want to address some concerns in case anyone is wondering why my Revelation fic is on break. If anyone's even wondering.

The thing is... I just have too much going on. Other ideas I want to do, other commitments, all kinds of things. And I admittedly got a little stressed out and had a meltdown over whether or not Gray Whirlpool was even worth anything. But whatever, I feel better now. But I definitely need a break, I started that fic way too early. I can't say for sure when it will come back, but we'll see.

Anyway, this story.

After finishing the Conquest fic, I realized I wanted more practice writing for Corrin and Flora. Or pairings in general, really. One of the Birthright chapters begins with a montage of moments from their childhood, so I figured I could expand that into a vignette fic.

These will all be within Whirlpool continuity, but I'll try to make it palatable for folks who haven't read it. Chapters will vary between pre-canon, post-Conquest, post-Birthright (usually for sadness), whatever. But since this is in the greater Whirlpool continuity, expect that story's brand of silliness to rear its head.

I uploaded the first chapter on AO3 on Valentines' Day to celebrate my pairing. It wasn't really romantic in this chapter, they didn't even talk to each other as much. But that was the plan. You don't show the whole hand of cards at once. Corrin doesn't even have feelings for Flora yet like she eventually gets. Right now, Corrin's just happy to meet new people, and Flora (and Felicia) are acclimating to a new life.

While my pairing is Flora/Corrin, there's no true preference for Corrin's gender. She just happens to be female in Whirlpool. But if you check Flora's support with the female Corrin, it sure is better "ammunition" than her support with male Corrin. I'm not one of those shippers though. If I see a fic where Flora's happy with another character, I'll usually enjoy it. I guess Flora/Happiness is my real ship hahaha.

Also I'm not entirely sure why Jakob sang a version of "We Are Number One". I just... needed something to establish his relation to the sisters, and... well...