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SF's "Write Your Butt Off" Competition HD II.5 Remix


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I have made a little progress on my fic.

Claude is not involved anymore. Apologies, fellas.

But there will still be fluff and headcanons involved.

Anyone here mind if I just... do Three Houses for the next few prompts? I am getting pretty far with progression (only 1 route left), so yeah.

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1 hour ago, Azure, Roundabouted Out said:

I have made a little progress on my fic.

Claude is not involved anymore. Apologies, fellas.

But there will still be fluff and headcanons involved.

Anyone here mind if I just... do Three Houses for the next few prompts? I am getting pretty far with progression (only 1 route left), so yeah.

Nobody minded when I did Xenoblade three prompts in a row. Chloey does Shadow Tactician/Crazy Summoner/Grima a lot.

Claude doesn't appear, but he's involved in mine.

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1 minute ago, Dragoncat said:

Nobody minded when I did Xenoblade three prompts in a row. Chloey does Shadow Tactician/Crazy Summoner/Grima a lot.

Claude doesn't appear, but he's involved in mine.

Ok. Thanks.

I am sure most people on this thread like Three Houses, right?

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2 hours ago, Dragoncat said:

Nobody minded when I did Xenoblade three prompts in a row. Chloey does Shadow Tactician/Crazy Summoner/Grima a lot.

Claude doesn't appear, but he's involved in mine.

I only did ST once and it was practically shot down, so mostly it's been Crazy Summoner Grima, though I just realised something...

 

I owe you one Dcat XP

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4 hours ago, Azure, Roundabouted Out said:

I am sure most people on this thread like Three Houses, right?

Oh, I love the game! I'm not super familiar with all the characters though, as I've only played through the Golden Deer route and half of the Blue Lions route so far.

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My entry finally!!!  I was scared it wouldn't happen...

 

Title: Reflection

Fandom: Shadow Tactician/ Fire Emblem Awakening

Words: 1,145

Pre read:

Spoiler

So this is the second ever Shadow Tactician entry...and you don't really need to have too much knowledge about ST to follow this- but the basic stuff such as Caleb being the Avatar and Robin being the name I gave to the Avatar's unnamed mother.  Just to take the confusion out.

Actual entry:

Spoiler

The bells of laughter rang down the castle corridor as two children raced to meet their parents.  The elder of the two a young boy with mismatched eyes and a shock of wavy platinum blonde hair, dressed in a costume that was meant to be a tactician like his mother's normal wear.  "Mother!" The boy cried excitedly as his companion cried out "Father!"

 

The young girl's dark sapphire blue hair was barely at her shoulders as she ran alongside him, both of them burst into excited giggles again and opened the door to the Grandmaster of Ylisse's office, and sure enough their parents were there doing boring yucky work.  The Plegian woman looked up and saw the excited children and she sighed, "That time already, is it?" She asked the pair who were dressed up as their parents for the harvest festival,

"Yes!" Caleb declared bouncing on his feet excitedly, "You and Chrom promised you'd take us both to see the Harvest Festival Mother!"

She smiled and set the paper down, "Well I can't say no to that."

"But Robin-" Chrom began only to see the children's faces fall, he sighed, "I suppose a little fun can't hurt, though Frederick might think otherwise."

Robin chuckled, "Yes, well, I get the feeling that Caleb has been giving both Frederick and Panne the slip." She said with a raised eyebrow at her son, who sheepishly grinned at them, the gap of two missing front teeth very prominently on display,

"It was bowing and I wanted to do tactician pwactice!" Caleb grinned widely, "Plus Lucy wanted to come too."

There was a sigh from both parents this time,

"He's been getting better and better every day." Chrom said as the two children skipped on ahead to likely go and get the other children.  Robin sighed,

"That's exactly what I'm worried about." She said sadly, "If the risen attacks were not getting so worryingly dangerous…"

Chrom sighed, "You are right, I know you're trying to keep him in the dark from a lot of things Robin, but hiding it all from him isn't right.  He has a right to know about the fact he's the Heart of Grima."

Robin chewed her lip, "Naga help me, I know Chrom.  I just…" she bit back a sob, "I just wish he didn't have that curse on him.  Libra and I have tried everything we can to remove it, it hasn't budged."

"Maybe…" Chrom sighed and rubbed his injured arm as a dull ache coursed through it.  It had never been the same since the assassination attempt on Emmeryn's life. One which killed his sister and left Chrom the inheritance of a throne he didn't want.

 

He however did his best to smile for the children.  It was the Harvest Festival after all and it was a time of mischief and antics.

 

The sight of Caleb and Lucina rushing around thick as thieves was a sight that brought Chrom great joy.  He smiled as the two got into a lot of antics and enjoyed themselves.

 

Little did he know it was to be the last Harvest Festival he'd have with them.

 

~*~

 

Caleb stretched and yawned as his joints popped and cracked.  He couldn't reach his wings to scratch them and had long since resigned himself to spending the rest of his life looking like a freak to be stared at.  He idly wondered how much time had passed since the Harvest Festival he'd gone to as a young boy and sighed as the light of the window filtered through and gave him warmth from the cold Autumn air.  Eyes closed he was soon aware of the tell tale patter of little feet, children's giggles and an odd stab of pain filled his being. It was to be their first harvest since they had returned to the Ylisse from whence they came, and it had changed so drastically from what he knew.  The people were nice enough to rebuild Ylisstol Castle for Lucina and Caleb to live, as it was their home.  He could easily hear beyond where craftsmen were working on repairing old damage.

 

He sighed as he began to nestle on the chase lounge.  This was the one time he didn't want to think about just how much of a freak he was, and even if the people could accept him, he was still a Grima, still something that was intrinsically wrong

 

"Daddy…" A small voice that belonged to the more softer of their twin boys, Marth caused Caleb to open an eye.  Caleb sat up and yawned again. Not even his children were spared from his strange appearance. Behind Marth practically covered in dirt was his slightly older twin, Chrom.  The boy was so much like the man whom he was named after it hurt- well except the fact the child carried wings like Caleb and unlike their father, the twins were spared the lower set of eyes making them look a little less disconcerting as Caleb himself.  Behind the boys was Lucina, radiant as always. Caleb smiled softly, the pair had only grown stronger in their bonds,

"I take it you both wanted to see the Harvest Festival?" He asked his twin sons.  Their older sisters would arrive soon, no doubt, as both Alana and Kana were wanting to know what a harvest festival was.

 

Caleb noticed that Lucina was looking thoughtful and she smiled softly as Caleb rose from his napping spot, and the twins squealed in delight before Chrom declared,

"I's get Ali and Kama!"

Marth pouted, "No fair!" He said folding his arms and the two boys raced off to get their two sisters.

 

Lucina chuckled softly, "I almost wouldn't have believed it possible to have that much energy." She smiled,

"Me neither." Caleb said calmly as he embraced his wife contentedly, "Say Lucy…" he began, "Remember the time before Mother and Chrom left to fight Validar in the war?"

Lucina hummed, "What of it Caleb?" She asked gently prodding the tactician to continue,

"It was the last really happy memory of them I had." He said somberly,

"It was for me as well." Lucina admitted, half leaning into Caleb's arms, as she smiled softly, "We should probably check on them, knowing our son, he'll have broken something and Marth will probably be crying."

Caleb chuckled, "That is our boys alright.  Yes, we should check on them and get them to see a Harvest Festival, at least once in their lives." He said grinning, "Though I wonder how much of it is the same?" He mused, "Those...historians sure did ask us a lot of questions I wonder why?" Caleb asked frowning slightly, "I mean they've asked us to stay in this part of the castle for one and two…"

Lucina hummed, "Yes it is a little strange, but I'm sure we'll have our answers soon."

And post read because context:

Spoiler

I did that uncreative naming convention XD but it works in this case, because damn it I wanted to make it fluffy in the end.  I was so sure this would be an angst piece but I'm kind of glad it isn't.   Really glad it isn't.  Also AU for the win XD

 

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@SoulWeaver

Okay so I thought of something but it's not strictly Halloween themed. It's got witches and that's about it? I mean it's going down the more horrific route but not in general fear sense. It's a madoka magica fic so does that still count?

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On 10/10/2019 at 6:27 PM, Ottservia said:

@SoulWeaver

Okay so I thought of something but it's not strictly Halloween themed. It's got witches and that's about it? I mean it's going down the more horrific route but not in general fear sense. It's a madoka magica fic so does that still count?

I mean, I don't give a crap, write whatever, it's more anyone else who'll vote you'd need to be worried about making sure you can convince them yours is the best piece.
Also, what'd you mean by 'why are we all so wholesome'? I'm curious as to your meaning.

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22 hours ago, SoulWeaver said:

I mean, I don't give a crap, write whatever, it's more anyone else who'll vote you'd need to be worried about making sure you can convince them yours is the best piece.
Also, what'd you mean by 'why are we all so wholesome'? I'm curious as to your meaning.

I think the whole lack of swearing in some cases or stories being mostly PG...other than that I don't have a clue.

Edited by TheSilentChloey
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On 10/12/2019 at 12:41 AM, SoulWeaver said:

Also, what'd you mean by 'why are we all so wholesome'? I'm curious as to your meaning.

It’s because we’re all just talking about general life stuff and having a nice conversation while relating with each other’s struggles. It’s a nice feeling to witness and be a part of.

anyway since we were talking about driver license’s earlier I just barely passed my road test so that’s fun.

on the topic of my entry. Well it’s actually about 85% complete just gotta do like one more scene and it’s done.

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On 10/12/2019 at 1:55 AM, TheSilentChloey said:

I think the whole lack of swearing in some cases or stories being mostly PG...other than that I don't have a clue.

Fair warning, mine has one F bomb and it won't get any more.

Also, if I don't get mine done soon, I may ask for an extension. I've been sick lately. All I could do was sleep.

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28 minutes ago, Dragoncat said:

Fair warning, mine has one F bomb and it won't get any more.

Also, if I don't get mine done soon, I may ask for an extension. I've been sick lately. All I could do was sleep.

And my latest also had an F-bomb. But the one I am trying to make now probably will not have such language.

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The Price of a Wish

Fandom: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Word count: 2,029

Pre-read background info on madoka magica's world

Spoiler

So if you haven't seen Madoka Magical allow me to fill you in on some things. The show itself is a magical girl show kind of like sailor moon. Kyubey, a cute little white cat thing, will grant any girl any wish they choose and in exchange they must become a magical girl in order to fight witches. Each girl carries around what is called a soul gem which powers their magic and houses their soul(though that don't know that latter bit) if the soul gem is destroyed then yeah they die. I think that's almost everything you need to know going into this if you haven't watched the show(which I would wholeheartedly recommend cause it's one of my favorite anime of all time). Well there is one other thing but that would spoil the ending so I will in my post-note self-review. Also I am using original characters in this story so there's also that.

Actual story:

Spoiler

Would you give up your life, mind, body, and soul if it meant you could be granted one single wish?

 

“The labyrinth must be close,” I said as a small white crystal flashed brightly in the palm of my hand.

 

I took a moment and looked around at the surrounding forest. A blanket of darkness draped itself over the field of dead trees and bushes. An echo of cricket chirps rang in the cold stiff air as an owl could be heard calling out in the distance. Speckles of crimson moonlight dripped through the dark clouds like blood from an open wound and provided a sense of visibility to the otherwise blinding darkness.

 

“It’s that way” I grasped the crystal in my hand and sprinted off further into the darkness.

 

The darkness wasn’t really much of an issue. I knew this forest like I knew the back of my hand. After all, I used to come here all the time back when…

 

My sprint came to an immediate halt as I found myself at the front gate of a rundown mansion. I took a moment to look down at the crystal in my palm. A bright white glow erupted from my palm as the darkness slithered away from its terrifying light.

 

“So this is it…” I looked up at the massive ruined building.

 

A swirl of dark clouds loomed overhead as a waterfall of crimson moonlight cascaded downward. A bloodred light poured onto the broken and tattered shills that crumbled off the roof. Vines and other such plants wrapped around the building as splotches of moss clung to the faded burgundy colored bricks. In front between the gate and the entrance existed a large courtyard shrouded in darkness. With my soul gem as a light source, I moved past the gate and into the courtyard. However, as I reached the center, I stopped. I looked over to the side and saw a large fountain drained of water and surrounded by overgrowth.

 

My stomach coiled around itself. It just had to be here, didn’t it? I remembered that fountain. It was where Maki and I would play whenever I came over. Sometimes we would toss coins or play tag in the courtyard. Times were so much simpler back then but everything changed when...

 

I shook my head. That was in the past, it doesn’t matter now. Maki is gone and there’s nothing I can do to change that. I continued on until I reached the mansion’s large double doors.

 

Still, Why would a witch create a labyrinth in such a secluded area and away from so many people? I thought witches fed off their despair so then why would this one seclude herself like this? Why would anyone want to be alone? Even if they were a witch?

 

“Why would anyone want to be alone?” I whispered to myself again as a cool breeze howled through my long dark hair.

------

 

“Wait so you mean you can grant any wish?” Maki asked as she raised an eyebrow.

 

The white cat-like creature nodded, “Yep, any wish so long as it’s within the bounds of your own potential as a magical girl”

 

My face lit up at the thought. “So I could wish for something like more friends to hang out with?”

 

“If that is what you truly desire, then yes I could grant that for you”

 

“Isn’t that great Maki?!” I turned to my friend with my eyes wide in excitement, “We could have the chance to have all the friends we could ever want!” I blinked, “Maki?”

 

“Oh yeah...more friends yeah…”

 

“Something wrong?”

 

She shook her head, “No, don’t worry about me just make your wish, I…” She hesitated for a moment, “I need to think about it…”

 

“Alright…” I turned over to Kyubey, “Okay Kyubey, I wish....”

-----

After that day, we both became magical girls. She and I were partners though that was short-lived. Because of my wish, we sort of stopped hanging out together even to fight witches. Sometime after that Maki’s parents died and I never saw her again.

 

The light of my soul gem began to fade as it morphed into a brooch that I placed on my chest. None of that matters now. I took a deep breath. The sooner I get this done the sooner I get to leave. My hand glowed with a bright white aura as I reached for the door handle. I swallowed the lump in my throat and slowly opened the door. I had a bad feeling about this.

 

The inside of the mansion was nothing like you’d expect. In fact, you could hardly tell it was a mansion from how it looked on the inside. The shape was right but everything else looked like it was ripped straight out of a horror movie. The walls looked to be made of violins as the stairs twisted and turned all over the place. My heart stood still in the silence as the red eyes of the distorted portraits all glared at me through the darkroom.

 

She already knows I’m here. I should proceed cautiously, then. I sucked in a deep breath and began to move deeper into the labyrinth. My heart slowly began to beat once again as I could hear it’s rhythmic song echo around me.

 

Thump.

 

Thump.

 

Thump

 

Thump.

 

Though aside from that and my footsteps, it was dead quiet. Not another sound could be heard from the dark and dreary halls. More clusters of distorted portraits lined the halls and became more and more disorganized as I walked deeper. Their red eyes stared at me and followed my every move. My breath grew more frantic with each passing second as I could sense something coming at me from behind. But those senses were baseless, I was alone after all here in this witch’s labyrinth.

 

As I drew closer to the center of the labyrinth, a little girl’s laugh and sobs would occasionally ring through the mansion. The sobs grew louder and eventually overtook the laughter until somehow I came across a large rectangular portrait and gasped at what I saw. This portrait, however, was unlike the others as it wasn’t distorted so the image was clear to see. The long black hair, those black eyes, the lolita style shirt, and dress. It was unmistakable. This was a portrait of none other than myself.

 

My whole body turned to stone as I looked at the giant self-portrait in front of me. It couldn’t be?! This had to be some kind of mistake! Why, no how did this witch know who I was?! I took a deep breath and shook my head.

 

“Just calm down” I whispered to myself. I just gotta beat the witch, get the grief seed, and leave. I looked down at my soul gem that glowed a bright white. The witch should be just beyond this painting. A magical white aura radiated in my palm as I summoned a large black battleax into my hand. I gripped the ax’s handle and with a yell, I slashed at the painting and ran forward.

 

The center of the labyrinth was bright and colorful and nothing at all like the rest of it. It was like something out of a children’s coloring book with everything drawn in crayon. My feet sunk into the soft mattress-like floor as I gripped my ax in preparation to pounce towards the center.

 

“Alright, you witch let’s see what you can do!” I said as I launched myself into the air and spiraled like a windmill towards the large black mass found in the center of the room.

 

Sparks scattered to the wind as my ax slammed into what looked like the edge of a rapier that jutted out from the mass. I barely had time to process what happened when something large slammed into my side and sent me flying into the wall. I clutched my side. What the hell was that?! I slowly opened my eyes and looked back at where the witch was.

 

The black mass had morphed into the shape that most resembled that of a grotesque two-headed dragon. A thick black sludge oozed off its body. In the place of wings were six long arms that each held a different weapon at the end. A rapier, battleax, halberd, broadsword, gun, and scythe all made from sludge and grasped tightly in each hand. It kept its tail coiled up into a drill-like spiral behind it no doubt in preparation for a surprise attack. The strangest feature though was the heads. One was relatively normal while the other looked to have rotted. Chunks of flesh hung off its face and neck as fangs and teeth were mangled in weird ways. It looked almost fake or stitched together like a doll after years of constant abuse. Something else was strange. As I gazed at this witch, something about it felt familiar. Like I had seen it before.

 

The dragon let out a bellowing roar that shook across the room. I narrowed my eyes and tried to move from my little crevice in the wall. Here it comes. The battleax quickly extended and sped towards me. I took a deep breath and dropped to the floor as the ax slammed into the wall above me. I gripped my own axe and swung upwards intent on slicing the arm in two. The screech of pain that erupted into the air signaled my success as I was drenched in the black sludge.

 

I smirked. I had almost forgotten what it was like to hear my prey scream like that. It’s about time I ended this. I looked up back at the eldritch abomination in front of me and sprinted forward. The other five arms quickly went on the offensive and all extended to try and strike me. They were all easy enough to evade. Move to the left then the right, then jump over another and cut it off.

 

Another roar of pain sung into my ears as I continued my advance. In the next moments, more of that thing’s arms dropped to the floor as an ocean of sludge covered the ground. This witch was too easy. The last one, the rapier, stabbed into the ground as I leaped up and pinned it to the ground with my ax. I then summoned a new one and quickly ran up its arm. The beast struggled to move as I closed in on it’s normal looking head.

 

“Ho...ta...ru…” I heard a somewhat familiar yet garbled voice call out my name.

 

“What was that?” I asked to no one as my feet began to slow down.

 

However, before I could think about it any further, my head darted to the side to see the zombie head slam me into another wall. I groaned and shook my head. Not again…

 

“Ho...ta...ru…” the voice called out again.

 

What was that?

 

“Hota...ru… w-why?” The voice asked again but this time more clear and easy to understand. “Hotaru why….Why did you abandon me?” The garbled voice asked but this time it sounded distinctly more feminine and familiar.

 

Once again, I slowly opened my eyes and saw the dragon looming over me. Draped in its shadow, I stood there frozen as its red eyes glared into my soul.

 

“I-It can’t be….” My heart sank at the realization. This witch that I was trying to kill was none other than…

 

Tears welled in my eyes as I looked at the monster before me. The monster that was at one point my one and only true friend.

I tried my damndest move but the sludge on my body had me glued to the wall. Sweat poured down my face as my heart pounded a million miles per second. Is this what it means to be a magical girl? I thought I would do anything if it meant no longer being alone even fight witches. Was I wrong then? Maki-roll, I’m sorry.

 

The rapier began to lunge downward.

 

“I’M SORRY MAK-” I cried out before the world instantly faded away.

 

Shards of a white crystal scattered to the wind.

Post-read notes:

Spoiler

Yeah magical girls can turn into witches when their soul gems are corrupted enough. Soul gems are corrupted through feelings of despair and when a magical girl fully succumbs to despair well they turn into a witch. This process can be delayed with grief seeds which are things that hatch into witches(which are formed from corrupted soul gems) and drop from witches when they are killed.

Anyway, I don't know how to feel about this one. I tried to go for something a little on the horror and creepy side but I'm not sure if I did that well. Also I'm not sure if I kept the characters' backstories and motivation too vague though I think there's enough information and context clues to sort of work it out yourself but feel free to ask any questions. I also think the ending is a bit rushed as well but eh what can ya do.

Still though, has anyone here watched madoka magica? It's a good show that's nothing but wholesome cutsey happy fun.

not really

Edited by Ottservia
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7 minutes ago, TheSilentChloey said:

@Ottservia I have and I can say I saw the whole series and I won't spoil but hot damn did it pull on the feels.

Shhhh you're not supposed to tell them that. It's just your cute average moe blob magical girl show, right?

I'm lying that show will rip out your soul beat it against a wall until you're left feeling nothing but emptiness and existential dread on the inside.

Also when you say "pull on the feels" do you mean the show or my fic?

Edited by Ottservia
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3 minutes ago, Ottservia said:

Shhhh you're not supposed to tell them that. It's just your cute average moe blob magical girl show, right?

I'm lying that show will rip out your soul beat it against a wall until you're left feeling nothing but emptiness and existential dread on the inside.

Also when you say "pull on the feels" do you mean the show or my fic?

Both XP

So says the person who likes Claymore which is way, waaaaaaaaay more violence than Puella Magi Madoka Magica.  Though I guess I haven't done a T rated fic for Claymore here yet.  But I do have my own Fanfiction series which ironically is where my Username comes from XD

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2 minutes ago, TheSilentChloey said:

Both XP

So says the person who likes Claymore which is way, waaaaaaaaay more violence than Puella Magi Madoka Magica.  Though I guess I haven't done a T rated fic for Claymore here yet.  But I do have my own Fanfiction series which ironically is where my Username comes from XD

I see well I hope I was able to replicate the show's feel cause that's what I was trying to do anyway. There's no such thing as a happy ending in regards to madoka just ask Homura lest we forget rebellion(or most gen urobuchi works really). And that's interesting. I gotta check claymore out looks interesting enough anyway.

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1 minute ago, Ottservia said:

I see well I hope I was able to replicate the show's feel cause that's what I was trying to do anyway. There's no such thing as a happy ending in regards to madoka just ask Homura lest we forget rebellion(or most gen urobuchi works really). And that's interesting. I gotta check claymore out looks interesting enough anyway.

The manga is by far superior to the anime, but the anime was pretty faithful up until the last few episodes.  Other than that it was pretty good.  Also get ready to have your feels smashed big time.

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Title: The Harvest Trick

Fandom: FE Three Houses

Words: 3571

Pre read notes:

Spoiler

This is an imagined Revelations of sort, takes place after a path where all three lords survive. Plenty of 2nd gen kiddos. Not all of them even got put in!

Story:

Spoiler

The continent of Fodlan, year 1205. Once controlled heavily by the Church of Seiros, which is now Church of Sothis, and under the new archbishop, reforms have been made to limit the power and reach of the church. Three nations still exist, recovering from the scars of war.

The Adrestia Empire, ruled by Empress Edelgard Hresvelg. A proud woman who stands as tall as she possibly can, figuratively and literally, with her small stature. Her quarrel with the church twenty years ago was personal, but she is on friendly terms with the new archbishop and how he is running things.

The Kingdom of Faerghus, ruled by King Dimitri Blaiddyd. A battle scarred man who has earned the nickname One Eyed Lion. He had a rough childhood and life to this point, so he's grateful things have settled down. He was willing to work with the Knights of Sothis in reconstruction of the Duscur region, which was in ruins as a result of warfare and quarrels with Faerghus.

The Leicester Alliance, led by Lord Claude Reigan. Still a loose batch of territories where leadership is not guaranteed or permanent, and nobles still squabble. House Reigan has held the leader seat for roughly forty years and has remained mostly unopposed. Relations with the nearby Almyra region have become close over the years, almost to the point that the Almyrans consider themselves part of the Alliance.

In the center of the continent lies Garreg Mach, a monastery, academy, and home of the Church of Sothis. Archbishop Byleth was brought in as a professor twenty years ago by former Archbishop Rhea, who disappeared without a trace, but not before appointing her successor. The academy is still divided into three student "houses", one for each of the three main powers of Fodlan. And although having the house leaders also be the heirs to their respective nations led to disaster last time, the archbishop is confident and stern in his reforms, and "it will not happen again" is all he says to the naysayers. The Black Eagle house, led by Astor Hresvelg of the Empire. The Blue Lion house, led by Kion Blaiddyd of the Kingdom. And the Golden Deer house, led by Giselle Reigan of the Alliance.

It was day ten of the Wyvern Moon, and the archbishop was in his chambers reading correspondence from the former house leaders, who had sent care packages for their children. They may be leading their nations now, but to Byleth, they were still his kids. When he first took the professor job all those years ago, he didn't expect to start thinking of them as his "kids", but they became that way.

Teach:

I heard you made Cyril an instructor! That's great! He'll do awesome. I hope he's gotten used to working for you instead of "Lady Rhea". It hit him pretty hard when he heard she'd left. But I guess she did give him a home and a purpose.

Hilda wanted to pack new socks and underwear for Giselle and Collin. I managed to convince her not to, and give them to them the next time they visit. Because great goddess, imagine opening a care package from your folks and finding THAT! I would want to crawl in a hole and die of embarrassment! My kids aren't gonna deal with that. Not on my watch.

I packed them some fruit and pretzels instead. Nader brought down a huge box of Almyran apples, they're in season and so so good. You can have one if you like.

- Claude Riegan of Leicester

Cyril had been a small fourteen year old when Byleth first met him. He had lost his parents in a skirmish between Almyra and the Alliance, and Rhea took him in as a servant. He had grown into a fine young man. His hard work ethic was going to make him a natural at this.

Nader, known as The Undefeatable, was a famous warrior of Almyra. Claude had actually spent most of his childhood there, as his father was Almyran. Nader had bonded with the young man and mentored him before he came to the academy.

The apples were red, plump, and wrapped carefully in cloth inside the crate. Byleth picked one up and took a bite. Claude was right. These apples were delicious. But he was only offered one, so the archbishop closed the crate and moved on to the next one.

Professor:

Another autumn is upon us. And autumn in Faerghus brings snow that will only continue into winter. I pray the contents of this crate made it, it's storming as we speak.

We got ten inches of snow yesterday, I only know because Ingrid went out this morning before more snow hit and measured the tallest drift in the courtyard. At this rate we might get enough to snow in the townspeople. They'll be making sure they have enough food stocked up for that possibility. In the Kingdom of Faerghus, the snow does not bother us. The howling winds and chills make us strong. 

I swear when Kion was three years old, enough snow fell in one day that I was certain if I let him out to play, he'd fall in a drift and I wouldn't see him until the Great Tree Moon. He played anyway, supervised of course. Which brings me back to the crate. Ingrid packed a batch of cinnamon rolls, the ones my cub keeps raving about like you told me. Tell him his dad says he's welcome.

- King Dimitri Blaiddyd of Faerghus

The crate was wooden, like the rest. But it had managed to protect the precious cargo from the elements. The cinnamon rolls were unharmed. Byleth took a big bite of the Almyran apple to avoid tempting himself before moving onto the last crate.

Professor:

I am well, thank you for asking. The trees in the courtyard have turned a fire red, which means harvest is upon us. I imagine there may be a festival of some sort at Garreg Mach? I fondly remember harvest festivals from my childhood.

I sent Astor the usual food supplies. If there's a festival, please keep an eye on him. I've heard rumors that he's been "a scamp", and his father just seems to think that's funny. Hubert rarely laughs at anything. I told him he wasn't helping. He shrugged his shoulders and walked away. He's a good prince consort and father, but really? I suppose it can't be helped.

Hope my boy isn't too much trouble. He knows better, but sometimes I think he doesn't care. He'll grow out of it before he ascends the throne. I'm confident he will.

- Empress Edelgard Hresvelg of Adrestia

The third and final crate contained bread, cheese, and some spicy smoked jerky which was Astor's favorite treat. Byleth could sense the mother's love in Edelgard's words...he could confirm Astor sometimes had an attitude only a mother could love. He'd shape up when Byleth glared at him. Which was a good sign. 

Dimitri and Claude also sounded like such proud fathers, it was adorable. Byleth had never took a wife or sired children. Despite what malicious gossipers liked to say. People wagged their tongues and single mothers showed up with what they claimed was the archbishop's child. Yet Byleth had likely never even seen the woman in his life. If anything, he was married to his work. 

"Archbishop." The sudden appearance of the monk made him bristle. Why were the monks and nuns always so quiet? Years of mercenary work prior to this work...that reflex was not going to go away. These people were lucky they could sneak up behind him like that without getting hit. "You are needed in the audience chamber."

----

Eleanor was the daughter of knight captain Alois, and a professor and knight at Garreg Mach. Her father had been close to Byleth's father, Jeralt. Alois had been Jeralt's squire and still looked up to him as a full knight. About a year after Jeralt's death at the hands of an enemy, Alois became captain in his place. Eleanor, who was affectionately called "Ellie" by her parents, was a little over ten years old when Alois became captain.

If there was one thing that made Alois a fun dad, it was how he always went all out for holidays. He loved the harvest festival in particular because free treats and general merrymaking. Eleanor had gotten permission to put on a festival every year at Garreg Mach. This year was the third year she'd done it.

She bowed politely to the archbishop as he entered and sat down in his chair. It almost looked like a throne, but he was casually sitting with his legs spread like a typical man. It reminded Eleanor that Byleth was a normal guy despite his status. Or as close to normal as he could be. Goddess only knew the previous archbishop wasn't as casual.

"Knight of Sothis, Eleanor Rangeld. You may speak."

"Thank you, sir." Eleanor bowed again. "I am running into issues with preparations for the harvest festival on Saturday. The storehouse where I'm keeping the treats for it keeps getting broken into, it seems? Someone is coming through the window in the middle of the night and taking all of the contents."

"Who in their right mind would steal a bunch of candy and pastries?" Byleth kept his stern expression. "Repeatedly?"

"I don't know." Eleanor sighed.

"Eleanor! Lord Byleth!" The door flew open and another teacher ran in.

Byleth blinked. "Cyril? What's your issue?"

Cyril bowed. "A Golden Deer student is missing. Virgil Victor. He didn't show up for lunch and his friend Rhonda is worried sick."

"Son of Ignatz and Bernadetta." Byleth tilted his head to recall. Those two had been a slow burn...they were both introverts and didn't interact too much, or at least not that Byleth had seen. Clearly they had bonded without him noticing, when he learned that they had married and produced a child who was now enrolling, it was a nice surprise. "Rhonda Kirsten, daughter of Raphael and Leonie. Yes, those two are close like their fathers are. I'm not surprised she's worried sick."

"He's been gone all day!" Rhonda, a bulky girl with curly orange hair and round yellow eyes, walked in looking terrified. "I'm not allowed to look for him in the male dorms. Landon chased me out. He was holding a lance. A training one, but still! Astor says the Death Knight who terrorized Garreg Mach twenty years ago is back!"

Twenty years ago, the dorms were laid out differently. Nobles on the top floor and commoners on the bottom. Rhonda would be allowed then because she and Virgil were both commoners. Byleth was wondering if changing it to male dorms and female dorms because of his policy that everyone was of equal standing was really as effective as it seemed.

"I wouldn't believe a thing Young Master Hresvelg says." Cyril said. "All he does in my class is make up tall tales. Mostly about how his parents could beat everyone else's in a fight."

"At least he comes to your class!" Eleanor huffed. "He skips mine. Somebody needs to light a fire under his butt."

"He did that himself once. In the dining hall. With his fire magic. On burrito day." Rhonda butted in. "They had to throw a bucket of water on him."

"I have seen no signs of the Death Knight, and I'm sure our Black Eagle leader would report to the authorities first if he saw him. Hopefully."  Byleth sighed. "And no, Eleanor, from my dealings with him, he is not interested in festival treats. He did kidnap students. But he is dead. His corpse was left behind in that armor. He is dead..." The archbishop shuddered at the thought of necromancy because Those Who Slither In The Dark, the cult that was now gone, may have had the magic to pull that off. And he didn't want to believe they were back.

"Festival treats?"

Eleanor gave Rhonda a nod. "Yes. Someone is taking them."

"The Knights of Sothis are to search for the missing student first." Byleth said. "Does your house leader already know, Rhonda?" 

"Yes, she's out with Collin and they're both searching."

"I will tell Kion and see if he will lend a hand." Cyril announced. 

"And Rhonda can accompany me." Eleanor's words made Rhonda perk up. "We can ask around the marketplace first."

----

The two princes of the Black Eagle house had developed a friendship quite easily. They weren't the only nobility around of course, but the future emperor of Adrestia and the future king of Brigid were almost like brothers by now. Brigid was a chain of islands off the coast of Adrestia. Its citizens lived mostly on a hunter/gatherer system. Cyprin's mother, Queen Petra, had told him the Fodlan architecture would amaze him and it did. She also recalled meeting his father at Garreg Mach when they were both students. An Adrestia native. And the marriage had just strengthened ties between Adrestia and Brigid.

If anyone was observing these two, they would see the top of a black haired head poking out from behind a market stall. And possibly hear his complaints. "Just shoot it, goddess dammit. I'm tired of squatting down and waddling around like a chicken myself, my legs hurt."

Cyprin poked Astor with his bow. "And you said Fodlan chickens were stupid balls of meat covered in feathers and that we'd just be able to sneak up and grab it."

Astor responded with a whine and an eye roll.

"Not my fault your parents never taught you stealth and predatory instincts. And if I shoot now, I'll hit one of those kids."

"Then those kids need to move." Astor glared at the group of toddlers between him and the chicken.

The chicken squawked and darted between the legs of a little girl, heading straight for the two "predators". Astor lunged and ended up faceplanting in the dirt as the chicken escaped. Spitting dust and dirt, he sat up and snapped, "Oh, fif this shit!"

Cyprin blinked. "You just said a Brigid swear and a Fodlan one in the same sentence."

"Because last time I said fuck, I got detention."

It was sunny out today, and little cloud cover, yet something blocked the sun for a few seconds, causing both princes to look up. There was a squawk followed by a yell, and then a pine green wyvern landed with a small purple haired teenager clinging to her looking terrified.

Cyprin’s jaw dropped. “Cool, do that again!”

“Good girl, Pinecone.” Collin of the Golden Deer walked over and patted the wyvern’s muzzle, then extended a hand to help his shaking house member off.

Collin’s twin, Giselle, marched over to Cyprin and poked his chest. “He didn’t do it on purpose, my brother’s wyvern took it upon herself to save him after that huge bird dropped him!”

By now, Cyril had arrived with the Blue Lions house leader. Kion looked at Giselle like she just grew another head. “There shouldn’t be any bird that big.”

“Not normally.” Eleanor approached with Rhonda trailing behind her. “There clearly must be some giant birds and wolves left over from twenty years ago. The ones that were...warped.”

“Hey, this isn’t right!” Rhonda snapped. “We can’t have monster birds trying to eat people!”

“It wasn’t eating me.” Virgil stammered, still shaken from the fall.

“Okay, stop the mail.” Astor put his hands up in a “stop” pose. “There was a search party out? And I wasn’t told? Or invited?”

Eleanor crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “Odd, coming from the young man whose response to one of his house members being late for breakfast is ‘can I have her pancake’.”

“I thought she was sleeping in!” Astor protested.

“I think our main concern is whether or not master Victor is hurt.” Cyril attempted to check Virgil for wounds. The student flinched at being poked and moved around. 

“I am fine, Professor. Just sore. And my heart’s still racing…”

“Where are you sore?”

“Mostly my head. I can walk. Let me go lay down somewhere.”

Cyril nodded in understanding. “Rhonda, lead him to the infirmary.”

The two Golden Deer students walked away, the smaller Virgil leaning into the shoulder of the slightly larger Rhonda. Kion blinked and smiled. “Well then. That went well. But we still have a giant...may I swear? Asshole bird. On the loose.”

Eleanor laughed. “You’re good because that’s exactly it. Giant asshole bird.”

“You know my mom used to get confused at that word. She thought it meant a donkey in a hole, and then she figured out it was...anatomy and then she was really confused when she heard it as an insult.”

“Cyprin, you’re an odd duck.” Giselle said.

“Well she did. And I’m a Black EAGLE. Not duck.” Cyprin shrugged and picked up a feather. “I think this came from our asshole bird.”

“Can you track it?” Eleanor asked. “Be the brave little hunter you are?”

“We’re gonna eat it?” Collin made a confused face. “I mean...does it taste like chicken? It’s a bird.”

“I don’t know, but probably not. It probably isn’t safe to eat.” Cyril shrugged. 

“It’s out for blood, so it needs to be killed and stuffed and put in a museum.” Kion said. “Dibs on putting it in the Fhiridad one. All that’s there now for taxidermy is a bear rug.”

Astor made an offended huff. “No! Enbarr already has stuffed demon beasts, but not a bird one!”

“How about it goes in NEITHER museum! And we...burn it. Or something!” Giselle rolled her eyes. The stinky boys were at it again.

“Regardless of what we do with it, it’s a threat, and the Knights of Sothis have fought giant birds before, and we have a skilled tracker among our students.” Eleanor patted Cyprin on the back. “Combat training! Cyril, go tell the archbishop what happened here. I’ll get a ton of healers and other knights.”

----

Cyprin wasn’t sure what he thought of being placed at the lead. It was a bit harder to track a bird than say, a fox, but for some reason this thing was dropping feathers left and right. And every feather he located was met with praise from Eleanor and blank stares and more praise from his peers.

Collin had flown ahead and was the first to locate the village they were now at. It was a farm village in Alliance territory. Smelled like manure. Both Kion and Astor were complaining about that. Giselle was wrinkling her nose a bit too, but not complaining.

“Why did you color on your face?” A little girl suddenly appeared in front of Cyprin as he was sitting in front of the general store.

“Ssshh Kenzie, you don’t talk to strangers!” The child’s mother pulled her back.

Astor nearly spit out his drink from laughing nearby. Cyprin smiled at the mother. “She’s fine, ma’am. I’m harmless.” The little girl watched with wide eyes. “These are tattoos!” Cyprin told her. “They’re what everybody gets in Brigid. They have important meaning to us.”

“You come from Hunter Island? That’s what my big brother calls it. Can you hunt the big bird that came through here and attacked my uncle?”

“Well that’s a lead.” Astor commented.

“My uncle is okay!” The little girl continued. “He’s just...at the doctor until he feels better.”

“We are actually going after the big bird.” Giselle walked over. “It attacked someone where we come from too. I hope your uncle gets well soon.”

The mother looked at the group for a second, then her face seemed to light up. “Did you come from Garreg Mach?”

“We did.” Eleanor smiled. “And we should be hitting the road now if we hope to catch up with the bird. Astor, Giselle, Collin, Cyprin. Where’s Kion?”

“They have cheese curds!” Kion walked out of the general store carrying a bag of cheese curds. “I love these things!”

Eleanor chuckled. “Save room for the cinnamon rolls your parents sent.” This caused the prince to make a surprised, then excited expression.

----

“Concerned there, friend?” Alois approached Byleth at the inner gates of Garreg Mach. “To be honest I am as well.”

“And we still have the festival to worry about.” Byleth sighed. “Not that it bothers ME too much, but your daughter seemed worried about it.”

“Oh yes, whoever is taking the treats! Of all the NERVE!”

Byleth produced a small smile before turning to the knight who just addressed him with an “Archbishop!” and a salute. “Yes?”

“They have returned.” The knight smiled. “And they brought something extra.”

A wagon was being brought through the gates with a dead bird the size of a horse on it. The Blue Lions and Black Eagles house leaders quarreled beside it, something about museums? Byleth did not know.

“This monster had our missing treats in its nest!” Eleanor announced with a smile. “Couldn’t save all of them, but we brought back the ones we could save. Oh, hi Dad.”

“What a trick. But we got our treats back.” Alois smirked. Eleanor rolled her eyes and Byleth turned away. They were used to Alois’ puns by now.

“The harvest festival will still happen at its scheduled time. But I suggest more treats be made ASAP.”

“Yes, sir.” Eleanor saluted. 

Post read:

Spoiler

Cyprin's father is Caspar. Landon's parents are Lorenz and Marianne. The girl from the "can I have her pancake" is Lillian, daughter of Linhardt and Lysithea.

I'm especially proud of the letters from the lords.

The 2nd gen house leaders have symbolism in their names, based on their mascot. Astor means hawk, Kion is Simba and Nala's son in the Lion Guard cartoon, and Giselle sounds like gazelle. Another thing that makes me go "I'm a genius"

 

Edited by Dragoncat
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16 minutes ago, TheSilentChloey said:

@Dragoncat you forgot that it's  von surname for Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude all at once.

E.g Edelgard von Hresvelg,  not Edelgard Hresvelg.

Aside from the minor error nice fic XD

The von thing just means "from", and I didn't see it as a middle name, so I guess it's just me being wierd and ignoring it.

I'm just glad you're okay with the one F bomb in there.

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3 hours ago, Dragoncat said:

The von thing just means "from", and I didn't see it as a middle name, so I guess it's just me being wierd and ignoring it.

I'm just glad you're okay with the one F bomb in there.

The von is part of the surname and denotes nobility. The translation would be "of" like the "prince of Wales". 

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4 hours ago, Dragoncat said:

The von thing just means "from", and I didn't see it as a middle name, so I guess it's just me being wierd and ignoring it.

I'm just glad you're okay with the one F bomb in there.

I haven't got that far yet, sorry! 😧

 

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