Grimnir

Euden: Ready, Grimnir?
Grimnir: Indeed. Behold my power!
Imperial Soldier: The wind! What's happening?!
Grimnir: The gales I summon split the sky and cleave the earth.
Grimnir: I am the mad cyclone. I am...GRIIIMNIIIR!
Imperial Soldier: Waaaaugh!

Euden: You were a great help today, Grimnir. Thank you.
Grimnir: Heh. I merely served as a conduit for divine justice to see evildoers smote. It was nothing.
Grimnir: To the pure of heart, my wind is gentle as a summer breeze. To the wicked, it strikes with the weight of tempered steel.
Grimnir: And to you, brave soul, it shall be as wings fit to carry you to the empyrean and on!
Notte: Buddy, I am THIS close to taping your mouth shut if you don't use normal words.
Grimnir: Oh. Er, I was just saying, y'know, it was no big deal. Happy to help.
Ranzal: You ever think of just...sayin' that, then?
Grimnir: But I...I am compelled to weave a tapestry of prose that echoes the solemn howling of my soul!
Cleo: ...I'll fetch the tape, then.
Grimnir: Gah! I mean I want it to sound cool, okay?!
Luca: Don't force it, buddy.
Grimnir: I'm not forcing anything!!! This is the product of years of diligent training!
Cleo: And yet you could have put your efforts towards something far more practical.
Grimnir: Waaaaaaah! At least YOU get me, right, Prince? Tell me you're on my side here!
Euden: Aha ha...ha...
Grimnir: What's with the awkward laugh?!
Euden: I don't mean to offend. There are simply times when, as the others say, I'm not certain what you're saying.
Euden: But you needn't change on anyone else's account.
Euden: If you want to...weave a tapestry, was it? With your soul howling? Well, I support you all the way.
Grimnir: Oh, bless you, magnanimous Prince.
Ranzal: That's Euden for you.
Cleo: It's extremely Euden.
Grimnir: Heh. The covenant of our fellowship is sworn here and now! Let my wind ever blow at your back!
Luca: Dude. Tape.
Grimnir: Let's be friends! ...Please.
Euden: We already are, Grimnir. We already are.

Euden: Come to think of it, Grimnir's been with us for a while now. Is he settling in all right?
Cleo: He seems to be getting on well enough.
Luca: What she said. Oh, and Aldred swung by the castle a little while ago and...

Aldred: My left arm throbs... Damn you, Syndicate monsters.
Grimnir: !!!
Grimnir: Do my ears deceive me? Dare I believe?!
Grimnir: Have I found the bearer of a kindred soul?!
Grimnir: My right arm throbs... The souls of two score hundred demons sealed within it seethe.
Aldred: What are you supposed to be? Leave my sight, before this accursed wyrmbinding in my left arm rages beyond my control!
Grimnir: Heh, then we two share the same burden. I am the war-god, Grimnir. Let us swear a forbidden oath, here and now!
Aldred: What are you—*gasp* No! Are you with the Syndicate?!
Aldred: Start talking! You'll tell me all you know, or the abomination I harbor within will drag it out of you!
Aldred: WYRMBINDING! Feel the brunt of my accursed power—ngah?! Can't...control!
Aldred: Arm...throbbing!
Grimnir: Yes...YES! I TOTALLY get that! Arms are the WORST!
Grimnir: Two abyssal souls, brought together now by fate, resonate and echo forth!
Together: Hnnngh... THROBBING!!!

Luca: It looked like they were getting along great!
Ranzal: You sure about that?
Notte: Yeesh... Speaking of Grimnir, he had a run-in with Malora the other day.

Malora: Ooh, what have we here? A fresh recruit?
Grimnir: I am the war-god, heaven sent. My name...is Grimnir.
Grimnir: I have alighted upon fair Alberia tasked with nothing less than saving the world from destruction.
Malora: Awww. Aren't you adorable?
Grimnir: You would dare cross the threshold of, uh...
Malora: Mmm? Of what, sweetie?
Grimnir: Personal space! You're very close, Miss!
Malora: Ah ha ha! Look at you blushing. Still new to all this? That only makes you cuter.
Grimnir: I know a guy who insists on getting close, but this feels more threatening!
Grimnir: Waaaaah! Priiince, heeeeelp!

Notte: ...Saddest thing I ever saw.
Euden: Good to see him getting...friendly? With the others? If we can call it that.
Cleo: At the very least, he's begun to settle in.
Euden: I suppose that's progress.
Notte: Is it, though? Ah, well. It's no skin off my wings. ♪ ...Ew, phrasing, Notte.
Maribelle: Hey, have you seen Grimnir?
Ranzal: I think he's on watch duty out east today. Why?
Maribelle: Aw, he's working? I was gonna ask to play with him again.
Euden: You've played with Grimnir?
Pia: Yeah! He uses his wind to float you up in the air.
Maribelle: It's awesome! You should come try it too, Euden!
Euden: That does sound like fun. Unfortunately, it will have to wait for another time when he isn't on duty.
Ranzal: Nah. I got this one, you guys. I'll go swap shifts with him.
Pia: You really don't mind?
Ranzal: The new kid's makin' friends. How's a guy NOT gonna encourage that?
Maribelle: Hee hee, thank you! You're the best, Ranzal. Now, c'mon! Let's all go together!
Euden: Lead on.

Maribelle: Aha ha ha! This is great!
Pia: I feel like a faerie!
Grimnir: Hey, now. Don't go wiggling around too much up there. I don't want you falling!
Together: Okaaay!
Cleo: Heh. He doesn't come across as the most reliable fellow, but he's comfortable in the big-brother role around the little ones.
Euden: Yes. I'm relieved to see him so at home here.
Cleo: Right...
Euden: Do you not agree, Cleo?
Cleo: No, it is as you say—he does seem to have settled in. But...just between us...
Cleo: He's such a curious case. Take that wind.
Euden: What about it?
Cleo: Mind you, I have no proof of what I'm about to venture. Honestly, I'm not even certain it's possible...
Cleo: But his mana suggests that he may not be human at all. And mana doesn't lie.
Euden: He certainly looks the part, so I'd never thought to question it.
Euden: What do you suspect he might be, if not human?
Cleo: I couldn't say. He's clearly not a sylvan, nor a rokkan or qilin.
Cleo: I sense from him a mana I've never felt before.
Cleo: Something...vast. In the realm of the gods he claims to walk among.
Euden: The war-god, Grimnir... Just who is he, really?

Pipple: Pipple!
Kleimann: Mwah ha ha! Stop your running, my good Pipple!
Pipple: Pi! PIIIIII!
Kleimann: Hm? GWAAAUGH?!
Jiang Ziya: Oh gosh, oh jeez! I've got a relic on the rampage here! It's gone berserk!
Jiang Ziya: Is everybody okay?!
Lazry: So much for the weapon I was commissioned to make...
Ramona: We've got to dry it off, quickly! Here, we'll help you.
Grimnir: Plants and humans and...
Grimnir: She's gotta be a qilin, right? And a rokkan...
Cleo: Er, Grimnir? What are you mumbling about there?
Grimnir: Sylvan!
Cleo: Indeed I am. May I ask why you're shouting that fact at me?
Grimnir: Oh, sorry. Just noting that this castle really is home to all kinds of people.
Cleo: True. We've gathered across the borders of race or nationality because we share a set of ideals. Now we work to realize them.
Cleo: I believe they were all drawn here by Euden's welcoming and open-minded nature.
Cleo: Wouldn't you say, Euden?
Euden: Sorry, what? What are we talking about?
Cleo: Just that the reason we're all able to live here so happily is thanks to your efforts, Euden.
Euden: Oh, goodness. I haven't done anything special.
Notte: You say that, but I don't think there'd be anywhere near this many different folks running around the Halidom if you weren't the boss.
Cleo: I would certainly second that.
Euden: I don't know about that... Well, whatever the reason, so long as everyone's happy, I'm happy, too.
Euden: So, how did we come to talk about this?
Cleo: Oh, Grimnir seemed to be struck by the diversity of the Halidom's residents.
Euden: Did you have some question or concern about that, Grimnir?
Grimnir: When divergent forms and faiths collide, it oft beckons a maelstrom at best. At worst, it portends a singularity of fates.
Notte: Still no idea what you're talking about.
Grimnir: Ugh. I'm saying it can be tricky when lots of different people come together.
Cleo: What of you yourself, Grimnir?
Grimnir: Huh?
Cleo: Your mana makes it clear you are not human.
Cleo: Just what are you, then?
Grimnir: What am I? Well, if you would know...
Grimnir: I am the wind that blows through time. The Tuner who imposes order upon a world in chaos. I am the mad cyclone, Griiim—
Cleo: We can skip this part.
Grimnir: Wha—hey! Nooo, I was just getting to the best bit!
Cleo: I'm starting to think we don't know who you are precisely because you always dodge the question with your abstruse bloviation.
Notte: Yeah, all your abstruse bloviation! ...Remind me what that means again?
Euden: Er, something abstruse is inaccessible and difficult to understand. And to bloviate is to speak a lot yet say very little, I believe?
Grimnir: To say very—HEY! That's not fair at all! I work really hard to think these lines up!
Cleo: Then tell us, plainly. I struggle to think that you're secretly a villain, but I cannot trust someone I know nothing about.
Grimnir: I...! I'm...
Grimnir: ......
Cleo: You can't say?
Grimnir: I'm sorry. But know that I am not your enemy. I hope you can trust in that, at least.
Euden: ...All right. I trust you.
Cleo: Are you sure that's wise? That means granting free run of the Halidom to an unknown entity.
Euden: He must have circumstances he's not at liberty to share. In the time I've known him, Grimnir has proven trustworthy.
Euden: Who or whatever he is, I believe that is reason enough to grant him a place here. Do you object?
Grimnir: Prince...
Cleo: *sigh* I don't know what to do with you sometimes... And yet, I'm not surprised in the slightest by your verdict.
Cleo: If the castle's master welcomes him, he's as much a part of the Halidom as I am.
Euden: Thank you, Cleo.
Cleo: I should think I've said nothing to merit thanks.
Grimnir: Let me thank you as well, Prince. It was an inevitability of fate that we should meet. For ours is a destined alliance.
Grimnir: Know that my winds shall never pierce the flesh of my allies. I swear before you now that they shall be ever as your shield!
Notte: Cool story, bro. Whatever you say.
Grimnir: I...feel like you guys' reactions are getting weaker over time here.

Grimnir: (The prince is kind of heart and commands the trust of all who dwell here. I cannot imagine he would disrupt fate's flow...)
Grimnir: (But the keeper told me that he was an irregularity who had no equal counterpart in any of the other timelines.)
Grimnir: (Just what does that mean for this world? For all worlds, across all realities?)
Grimnir: (Even fate's keeper held no answer to that question.)

Grimnir: Determining that is my task as Tuner.

Ranzal: It's weird, right?
Luca: Definitely. Think something happened?
Grimnir: I sense great disquiet here. What trouble ails you, friends?
Luca: Euden's squad still isn't back yet.
Ranzal: We got a tip that the Empire'd attacked a nearby village, so he headed out with a team to deal with it.
Ranzal: But that was three days ago. It's been too long. Somethin' ain't right.
Grimnir: Then...
Ezelith: *gasp...* *wheeze!*
Ranzal: Ezelith! You were part of the team that was with Euden, right?
Ranzal: If YOU got thrashed, somethin' bad is afoot. Are the others who went with you okay? What happened?!
Ezelith: We played right into their hands.
Grimnir: What?!
Ezelith: The villagers were in on it. The Empire knew that if they spread word a village was under attack, we'd come running.
Ezelith: They used Euden's kindness against him!
Ezelith: It was an ambush. There were so many of them. They had us cornered...
Ezelith: Euden told me to come and get help. I barely made it out alive...
Ezelith: But the others... They're still... Euden's still in danger!
Ezelith: Please. You have to...go and save him, you...big lunk...
Ranzal: We will. Don't you worry about a thing. We'll take it from here. You rest easy.
Ranzal: You did good, kid.
Ezelith: The rest is...in your hands...
Luca: You heard the gal! We gotta hurry!
Ranzal: Right. Grimnir, you come with—
Ranzal: ...Huh? Where'd he go?

Grimnir: (So the time has come.)

Euden: Ngh... *huff*
Euden: Cleo! Are you all right?!
Cleo: Yes... Somehow...
Euden: (This isn't good. They've split us in half, and everyone is exhausted, besides. At this rate, we won't—)
Cleo: Aaaaaugh?!
Euden: CLEO!
Villager 1: Don't move! Don't nobody move!
Villager 1: If you do, I can't make any promises about what happens to the girl.
Euden: Rgh... Why? Why are you...helping them?
Villager 2: You really gotta ask? We just have to hand you over, and they'll make sure we never go without again.
Villager 2: I'm never letting one bad harvest mean we have to pick who lives and dies again!
Villagers: Yeah!
Euden: Please, listen to me... Whatever they told you, I can promise you that they'll never give you the future you desire.
Villager 1: Shut yer mouth, you!
Cleo: What you're doing is useless. There is too large a gap between your power and his.
Cleo: Even in numbers, even if you take hostages, you have no hope of taking Euden captive.
Villager 1: Nrgh! Well... Well, then we'll at least make an offering of your head!
Cleo: !
Euden: NO, DON'T!
Euden: (Cleo! Dammit, there's no way to save her without killing the villagers!)
Villager 1: Nnngaaaah!
Euden: Rrgh! Do I really have no choice?!
 ???: HRAAAAAH!
Villager 1: Gwargh?!
 ???: Foolish, pitiable denizens of this land... Your petty machinations are undone before me, as the dew fades in morning's sun.
Villager 1: Who the hell are YOU?!
Grimnir: If you would ask my identity, I shall oblige! For I am the mad cyclone, protector of fate and friend alike—Grimnir, war-god!
Euden: Grimnir! You're a welcome sight! Are you unharmed, Cleo?!
Cleo: I am fine. You have my thanks, Grimnir!
Grimnir: ......
Euden: Er, Grimnir? Everything all right?
Grimnir: ...d it.
Euden: Hm?
Grimnir: ...NAILED IT! That was absolutely bang-on that time! MAN, I am awesome!
Together: ......
Grimnir: Oh, er... *AHEM* Now, downtrodden masses. Lay down your arms, or face the war-god's judgment!
Villager 1: What's WITH this guy?! Rrgh, I'm not about to surrender to some washed-up theater kid!
Grimnir: Heh. Pitiable indeed. Then taste the wind of my whirlwin...wait, that's two winds. Uhhh... UHHH...! HAVE AT YOU!

Euden: You truly saved us today, Grimnir. Had you not come to our aid, I fear that—
Grimnir: You might've killed them?
Euden: ...Yes. I fear I'd steeled my heart to do just that.
Grimnir: I don't doubt it. In order to save his fellow, the seventh scion of Alberia did strike down the villagers.
Grimnir: Though betrayed by those he was tasked to protect and left no other choice, their end cast an indelible shadow upon his soul...
Euden: Is that...a premonition of my future self?
Grimnir: In another timeline, perhaps. But that is not the future that awaits you, Prince.
Grimnir: Yet perhaps, as a steward of causality, it was not my place to intervene today.
Euden: Do you regret it, then? That your actions today changed the course of history?
Grimnir: It's nothing you need concern yourself with. Each branch of time affects the rest.
Grimnir: The pain you were spared today will return to find you in some other way, upon some other day.
Grimnir: My actions here held little meaning, in the end.
Euden: Then...why did you save me?
Grimnir: Well, I... That's...
Grimnir: Because we're friends, I guess?

Euden: ......
Grimnir: Euden.
Euden: Hm? Oh, Grimnir. What has you up at this late hour?
Grimnir: I could ask you the same, my sworn companion.
Grimnir: It seems I find you lost in thought as deep as the abyssal dark of this starless night.
Grimnir: And so I have come to dispel the shadow that envelops your heart...ah, ahem...
Grimnir: Look, if you wanna talk about it, I'm here. To listen, I mean! If you want. No presh.
Grimnir: I just thought, I dunno, maybe you'll feel better if you get it off your chest.
Euden: You're very kind, Grimnir. But I fear this is a problem I must grapple with myself.
Grimnir: Aw, don't say that. I'm more helpful than I look, you know. I've seen...a lot. Like, a LOT a lot.
Euden: It hasn't been easy for you either, has it? You...said you were a Tuner, sent here by a "keeper of fates."
Euden: I've been trying to sort through your remarks. To understand them, the best I'm able.
Euden: Your duty is to stop those who would alter the past or future, or to punish those who already have. Is that correct?
Grimnir: Forgive me, my friend. I cannot speak to the details of my employment, for I am duty-bound to silence.
Grimnir: But, um... Don't take that personally. It's just how it is, man. What can you do, am I right?
Euden: Well, whatever the specifics, I understand you're unable to say much. But at least tell me what you can.
Euden: If I'm not off in my assumptions, you're here to monitor me. Am I getting warm?
Grimnir: Huh?
Euden: I may one day become someone who disrupts the natural timeline you describe. And you're here to keep watch over that.
Euden: And that's assuming you don't already know the future that awaits me.
Grimnir: ......
Euden: Perhaps your true role here is to kill me once I become a threat to the timeline. Or before, even.
Grimnir: Whoa, hey, nobody said anything about killing here! I just—
Euden: No. It's fine, Grimnir. If anything, I would almost take comfort in it.
Grimnir: Euden...
Euden: At times, I lose sight of who or what I am. It...scares me, to be frank.
Euden: I'm resolved to keep going just the same. I won't stray from the path I believe is just. Too many have joined my cause to stop.
Euden: But still, uncertainty takes hold of me in my weakest moments. Of where this path I've chosen will lead.
Euden: If I am marching us all towards tragedy, or something still worse...
Euden: Grimnir, if or when that happens... Please, I want you to k—
Grimnir: Pfft... Heh heh. Ha ha ha ha ha!
Euden: Er, is something funny?
Grimnir: So that's the kind of red-hot third act twist you're hoping for, Prince?
Grimnir: So be it, then. Now, normally I'D be the one looking to play martyr, but since you asked first, I'll just be your understudy.
Euden: Unsurprisingly, you've lost me yet again.
Grimnir: Don't you worry. I hear you loud and clear. The prince, fallen prey to his own darkest fears... The war-god, his merciful liberator!
Grimnir: GAH, that's gonna be SWEET! Talk about a climax!
Euden: I... What? Truly, fundamentally: what?
Grimnir: Look. Lemme clue you in on something here, Euden.
Grimnir: It's true that among the myriad worlds, there are some that hold clues to what this world's future will come to be.
Grimnir: And yes, among them there is a world where a certain seventh Alberian prince marches on toward unspeakable tragedy.
Euden: Then it is as I feared...
Grimnir: But the future's not something so easily pinned down.
Grimnir: One timeline resonates with another, so it's true that any given world is likely to proceed to a future hinted at in another.
Grimnir: But if everything was predetermined, guys like me would be out of a job.
Grimnir: The fact that I'm even here at all is a testament to the possibilities before you. Right?
Euden: Because if my every move from here on were set in stone, there would be no need to monitor me...
Euden: I suppose that makes sense. And if the future ISN'T set, then it's in our power to guide and shape it to some extent.
Euden: Thank you, Grimnir. That has indeed eased my mind a bit.
Grimnir: You needn't thank me, bosom friend. For not even the muddy mire of self-doubt can dim the diamantine shine of our bond.
Euden: Er, I'm not certain I catch your meaning, but...I'm glad to hear it.
Grimnir: Wait, really? I thought it was a pretty solid line. Was it not cool?
Euden: The line may have been wasted on me, Grimnir, but your earnest efforts to cheer me up were very cool indeed.
Grimnir: Uhhh... Gosh! Um, okay. Great, then!
Euden: I hope I can continue to count on you being my stalwart ally long into the future, indecipherable monologuing and all.
Grimnir: Heh. But of course, my friend. My wind will ever be your feal wings, to guide you to the heavens and beyond... EXCELSIOR!
Euden: Excelsior, Grimnir. And thank you.
Grimnir: My pleasure, buddy!