Once more the arena shifts in the midst of their battle, and this time it carries with it a sense of finality, of one final, ultimate battle between the persevering heroes and their illusory enemies. Once more Ferdinand sits upon a horse, armed with a lance as well as a magic spell. His garments and armour denote him as a holy knight, and the ginger grins, giddy with the Projectionist's choice. "How did she know?" he murmurs. "One of many aspirations of mine... Now it is, however temporarily, fulfilled."

Two hulking metal giants stand before them, with an inky-black heart shape lurking behind them. Ominous, and likely to be rather troublesome if his experience here has taught him anything. Best to eliminate this creature first before it can visit whatever wrath it sees fit to inflict upon them. "Comrades! We must attack that heart of darkness and defeat it if we are to have any hope of succeeding!" With that, he charges toward the entity, intent on taking it down.

Bond activates! Health restored: 1. Ferdie: 9/10 HP

Roll Gradivus: 14. Hit! Damage dealt: 5. Void Heart: 33/38 HP

Roll Darting Blow: 22. Crit! Damage dealt: 10. Void Heart: 23/38 HP

Ultimate Defense activates! -2 Def to Ferdie until the end of Round 1.

Ferdie is poisoned! Damage dealt: 1. Ferdie: 8/10 HP

Ferdinand strikes once, twice, the second one sinking deep into the endless black heart before him, all the way to his hand. The sensation of the abyss slides against his body like a sickening nothingness, an absence, and to make it worse, the poison creeps further through his blood. The young noble retreats, shaken by what he has just experienced.

"We must be careful," he admonishes them, expression serious. It is out of character for him, he knows, but they cannot lose when they have come so close to their goal, and thus they must proceed with utmost caution. "Marianne, darling, would you happen to have a Restore spell handy? It is imperative that we rid ourselves of this poison if we are to succeed."

Fruit HCs!

I think Leonie is a pretty selfless person, more than she actually realizes. I believe Leonie has a mental list - a ranking - of people she would help, like most other people I would say. At the top would be her friends and family along with anyone else she cared about. Following that would be those who are unable to protect themselves; those who are deemed vulnerable like the elderly or children. After that would be regular common folk, nobles, and then at the bottom rude people. But even with this list I think she’s still the type to go out of the way to help someone in need. I don’t think any help she offers is done for her own benefit. She often mentions how she’s becoming a mercenary to help those in need, to help the children back in her village. She also willingly goes out to fight an ancient beast to get a weapon, despite being a commoner and being crestless, in order to be more useful during the war. I see little benefit in putting oneself in danger or training for practically one’s whole life for the sake of being able to help another person, but maybe that’s just me.

A lot of the help she offers is often done at the cost of her own health or safety. I think, more often than not, she takes on more than she can handle and injures herself in the process. I think this is why she equates helping others also as a form of training; to be injured/tired while doing a simple task is something to be frowned upon. In her eyes she should be strong enough to help just about anybody. The strong help the weak so to say. So even though she is a helpful person by nature, because she just thinks of it as training and for her own benefit, she thinks she’s not truly ‘helping’ somebody.

Swipe left-

Roll: 19!

-a critical hit.

Maybe he was so distracted that someone else was showing some flair that he didn’t react in time to the curveball throw of the water balloon that burst solidly against the side of his head and soaked down his body.

he’s still revelling in his triumph against celica and tana by the time he becomes a target once more. with two hits to his count, one even being against someone that edelgard had pitifully missed, the aegir heir finds himself particularly enthralled as he roamed with jubilation in his gait. dulcet hums drip from ferdinand’s lips as he bounces a crimson balloon in his hold, skirting by the eagle’s moat as if to keep a lookout on their base.

“and here comes he, ferdinand von aegir, the one who leads us to victory,” he sings, mind drifting far from matters that are currently presented at hand. for a moment, he ponders where hubert is. he’d best gloat his accomplishments to the imperial princess’ retainer, if just to get a petty rile out of the man and prove that the emperor-to-be was no match for the heir of house aegir! and-- speaking of that scoundrel, where was he? at least edelgard has led her own fight with grace, but her retainer has all but vanished from sight. ha! what a coward!

roll: 20! total hit!

head bloated with his arrogance and thus soaring in the clouds, ferdinand does not notice the challenger that approaches. he turns, notes still belted from his chords as he continues to sing his own praise. in little time, his brilliance shall be recognized by his peers! now, there is little leeway for him to be the house leader when the school year officially begins, but surely he will be seen as a praiseworthy figure for many come the academy. why, even beyond personal matters, he’s quite certain he’s made an exemplary impression of fodlan’s nobility!

the aegir heir turns, then it hits. literally. as he opens his mouth to sing some more, a column of water blasts against his face. he yelps, then sputters as he rids his mouth of saltwater, a grimace nearly rippling across his features had he not had an instinctual habit of maintaining face.

“you--!” he gasps, then forces out a laugh even as his sopping wet bangs flop unceremoniously over his looks. “i agree, though the success of your attack was aided purely by luck and deceit.” his tongue swipes across his bottom lip as he carefully places his hair back, waves now less controlled without the aid of pomade. “tread carefully, my lady. one does not strike an aegir in the face and expect themselves to roam free of consequence.”

as she said, revenge was a beverage best served cold.

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐌𝐍  𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒:     not accepting.     @freliana

🍎  —  our muses going apple picking

               𝐀𝐒   𝐅𝐀𝐑   𝐀𝐒   𝐓𝐇𝐄   eye could see, untold crops of mature apples were strung from sprigs high and low. Round, juicy, and full-bodied; when plucked right at the heart of their growing season, there were few who could contest these ruby fruits to be more precious than the gems they closely depicted. Many constituents of the monastery preyed with uplifted spirits upon this value, forming parties in twos or threes to share a basket and more efficiently harvest nature's bounty.

               “Princess Tana, I see you haven’t a basket at your disposal. It so happens that I do! How about it; shall we join forces and split the labor, as well as the spoils?”

               And thus, one such duo was named in terms of the Altean prince and Frelian princess, with the measured plodding of their feet carrying them along the well-traveled swaths between apple trees. Their circuit through the orchard was dotted with various stops, here and there, as the princess picked apples on low-hanging branches while Marth himself reached for the ones elevated beyond her reach. The basket shared between them, handled by the prince, grew fuller and fuller.. Then as the time tipped towards eve, lighter and lighter.

               Light. Then; so suspiciously light that the once heavy basket in his hand, supposedly close to overflowing with their edible treasures, now weighed as a feather.

               How mysterious, Marth thought, until the enigma resolved itself with a curious look directed downwards. Ah. The prince halted in his tracks with such an abrupt start the movement was no doubt bound to catch his companion’s eye. He hung his head and lifted the basket into the air with ease, like a bundle of wool, revealing a sizable gash in its wicker underside. A hole. Without even sparing a glance, he bore no suspicions of the long trail of apples no doubt winding behind them in their wake.

Result: Barely hit!

Well, it didn’t hit him. He backed off quickly enough to avoid the worst of it, water bursting from the vessel upon impact with the sand and splashing onto his feet. A little too close for comfort—he has no desire to be drenched again.

fruit hcs!

I think an important thing to consider about Myrrh is that while she may be more grown as a human, but as a dragon she still is a child. I think that seriously colours how she perceives her childhood, and how other people might see it as well. She would tell someone that it was spent happily with her father while the two of them were practicing their duty to humanity. Internally, she knows just how lonely and sad it felt.

This, I think had instilled a certain mature understanding about the world in her. She still has a sort of childish lack of knowing when it comes to social things, how to read emotions (including her own) and general things about daily life. That awkward balance between the two coupled with the pressure of inheriting Morva’s position, she is stuck at a sort of crossroads.

In a way, she is a bit afraid of embracing the idea of being an adult because her childhood was basically the same thing for 800 years regardless. Similarly, she feels as if she moves on to a new stage in life, it would be like leaving everyone behind.

The alcove looms in front of him, like a portal of radiant salvation.  So focused he is on it that he fails to notice the wind shifting, a deadly shadow hurtling towards his head.  It’s the eye-catching colours that save him. He turns his head to look, distracted-- and jolts as another one of those bright orbs barely misses his crown. He leaps back in surprise, glancing up to find a lady, poised with confidence, blue hair billowing in the wind like the arc of a smirk.  What is with these people with blue hair (save the exception of one fluffy orange) and seeking him as a target?! Abort! Abort!