#futurerequiem

FLMerceus 2022 Team 2/Green starter for @bcmbshellblcnde and @futurerequiem

They had their targets. The aspect of actually facing one of their enemies head on was intimidating, but it was better than not knowing, he supposed. Rhys’s Recover staff tapped lightly on the ground with every few steps he took. The courtyard they were gathered in was clear for the moment, but they had to all split off at some point...

He idly hummed a few bars of melody, not just because it helped his nerves, but it conjured and then sustained a sort of aura around him to those in earshot. May my allies be lighter on their feet and heavier handed with their weapons than our foes, he prayed.

Rhys paused and listened intently. Some sound from the cobbled streets made his ear twitch, as though someone had tripped over an uneven stone.

“Everyone- let’s try this way.” He said it with more confidence than he felt, off to the cobbled streets of a residential area. Tap tap tap tap, like a gentle rainfall, they made rather good timing, and they made within the edge of the district without trouble.

The following day they wake up and the house is already bouncing with far more energy than Charlotte feels she has. Still sulking and wounded over all her wasted time and energy, she sulks behind the group as they are directed along the house to where the supposed party will be taking place. It’s bustling, but not in the way Charlotte assumes the party is meant to be.

Servants rush around with last minute directions, fixing things and rearranging other things and putting things down just for someone else to come and pick it back up...Charlotte’s exhausted just watching them, and she hasn’t even done anything yet.

Sitting stationary in the ongoing storm of events are two people, a young woman and a younger boy. Charlotte perks up curiously. Were they lucky enough that the missing person they’d been sent to hunt down was sitting right there in front of them. She wished...the sooner she could get away from all this disappointment, the better.

Before she could even nudge any of the people she came with to try and suggest heading over to them, a voice calls out and Charlotte quickly snaps the mask of a perfectly demure woman back on.

“Oh, welcome everyone! Ah, it’ll be a while yet until we can truly begin…”

Charlotte smiles, though it lacks the energy she had yesterday. "Oh, that's quite alright! I know that I'm still just honored to even be invited." It’s not a bad idea. Charlotte figures if there's still time, they might be able to try snooping around and seeing if they can find something interesting to do until they're all shepherded around for the rest of their stay to make sure they don’t see precisely the kinds of things they might be looking for. "Is there anything that we might be able to do to help? I'd be delighted to help things run smoother and take that stress of your minds!"

“No need.” It’s not Lady Bergliez that answers but her companion, an incredibly lordly older man. He looks down his nose at you all, seemingly unimpressed. “I didn’t realize that we would have extra……… ‘guests’.”

Charlotte mentally wrinkles her nose. Great, some stuck up snob. She didn’t need any more than that interaction to feel that this was exactly the type of noble who got his kicks outta shitting on anyone below them. Ugh. She did not want to deal with this guy.

"Oh, you must be Lord Bergliez?" Charlotte smiles all white teeth and cheeriness once more, doing her best to look perfectly sweet. "Lady Bergliez so generously invited us, yes. We have been sent here formally by the Church of Seiros out of concern for Sasha, but I am sure that the announcements made here today will be of great reassurance to them when we return."

“You’re mistaken.” The lord says flatly. “I’m Lord Ziegler, actually.” His displeasure was already palpable when you came, but at the mention of the Church his mood manages to sour even more. “Hmph.”

Oops. Well, good. She hope that stung his ego.

“…Oh don’t mind him.” Lady Bergliez gives a winning smile. “It’s only natural for a father to be less than thrilled to part with a daughter. Isn’t that right, Virgil?” There is a moment of silence as Lord Ziegler seems to collect himself, his anger relaxing into a pensive, melancholy expression. “Yes… you’ll have to excuse me. Life’s trials continue to stack heavily on these shoulders of mine. To give away sweet Sasha threatens to be the straw that breaks the horse’s back.”

Charlotte hums in a way she hopes comes across as understanding. He was probably just pissy he didn’t marry her off to better. Charlotte glances over at the rest of the group and hopes someone else steps up to deal with this.

Starter for @futurerequiem

One of the students has been hounding their peers to     join their newest club, one where you “roleplay” a “hot     myrmidon” on a quest to defeat a dragon, using dice to control the flow of     combat. You may be familiar with tabletop versions of this game, but this     student insists that “live action roleplaying” is the     best way to do it, with costumes and props and all. Defeating a dragon?     For some of you, that’s “been there, done that”!     [Grants Sword +1]

@futurerequiem

“It’s… quite the replica,” Ingrid remarks upon seeing the “dragon slayer” blade placed on the desk before them. She and a few other students are gathered in a Golden Deer classroom for the purpose of learning this playing of roles, and despite the long lecture her senior with glasses had just given her Ingrid still feels quite out of her depth.

(Why were there so many numbers involved?)

“Not a replica,” the Golden Deer student tells her sternly. “It is the mythical sword and you are tasked with bringing it to the master knight in order to defeat Nefarious the Drake.”

“Mm,” Ingrid says, licking her lips and turning to Lucina – the only other person she really knows in the room, and only because they’ve shared classes before. “So Lucina –“

“No using real names!”

“Er, so, is it that I am this Sir Knight’s squire and she is tasked with slaying the Drake correct?”

Appeased, their senior in the Golden Deer nods and sits back down behind a resplendent screen bedecked in the various crests of the saints; Ingrid has little time to wonder if that was cleared by Seteth ahead of time and sits down in her own appointed seat.

“Roll the dice of fate, young squire,” the senior intones, and then turns to Lucina in kinda. “You as well Master Knight! The dice will decide if you can lift this sacred blade.”

HEART starter for @futurerequiem​

Just why this odd sort of training was mandatory for the entire academy, students and faculty alike, Katarina wasn’t sure. Etiquette was an important subject for a good many of their number, but there were plenty who had no need of such training. And the method... Her lip pushed into a thoughtful line. Just how much did a venture such as this cost? (Just how many plates of spaghetti...?) 

“Oh...” The flickering of a shadow at the edge of her vision caught her attention, the faint advent of a much surer presence. With one last swipe of her hand, the picnic blanket smoothed beneath it, Katarina rose to look at who it was that’d had the misfortune of being paired with her-- and then blinked. She looked rather a lot like... How odd. Nevertheless, a smile tugged more easily at her lips, however faint it was, and Katarina bowed slightly as she rose to greet her. “Good afternoon. You’re... Lucina, aren’t you?” 

                                        i ask: of what did my soul die?                                         and the silence answers

                                        if your soul died, whose life                                         are you living and                                         when did you become that person?

          curiosity shutters the covers of the thin booklet in her hands at the permeating aroma of spring blossoms, sweet enough to creep in through the cracks of her concentration. verse momentarily forgotten, though perched like a nested sparrow on her breast, she looks instead this way and that for the perfume’s source across the grassyard expanse bustling with... with the first signs of spring.

          it would be right. it should be right. she would like to believe so ardently that it was right.

          it is not, of course, and no amount of will or wishing will make it. or undo the gaping cold she can’t fully understand and so answers by trying to ignore.

          ❝ you there, you there! is that a book of poems? that means you’re a romantic type, right? why don’t you give the wishing tree a try? ❞ an insistent, cheerful hand is pushing a silken magenta ribbon against her knuckles before she can react, startling her back into the present so suddenly that she can only dumbly parrot,

          ❝ the... wishing tree? ❞

          ❝ mmhm! make a wish on the ribbon, and tie it to the tree! ❞ ruby eyes drift up... already, countless similarly fuschian strips flutter loosely in the late afternoon breeze. a marketing tactic by this bubbly merchant, or do so many of her peers believe in this kind of superstition too? ( too? no, of course she doesn’t think there’s anything to them. it’s just a silly game, that’s all. who does it hurt? ) ❝ fate will hear your wish, and you’ll find the one you’re truly destined for! ❞

          truly destined for? recoiling instinctively, she almost thrusts the ribbon back at the girl as a flush overtakes her cheeks. that’s embarrassing; she doesn’t need to be seen doing something like this! but already the merchant’s a ways away, stopping another pair on the side of the path, and she can’t just drop the ribbon on the ground and leave...

          truly destined for... —all her life, the thought had been so ripe a fantasy, edenic object of her dreams and waking alike. it’s with startling apathy that she contemplates its ashes. why so tasteless a vision now? and why so little care? ❝ i cannot be happier that it is real... ❞ tremulous fingers curl tightly about the belt of fabric, as though to engulf it whole. ❝ but it must be destroyed. ❞

          she finds one of the lower-hanging branches, humble enough to kiss the ground. and hesitates. 

          the wish clutched within her hand. 

          the falseness of the vernal sun.

+1 Lance Starter for @futurerequiem

When given the chance to travel, Priam leapt at it. The monastery was all well and good, but the open road or open seas were full of endless possibility. New places and challenges- that was what he sought to grow stronger.

Priam gazed out to sea aboard their fishing boat, eyes scanning the surrounding area. Brigid’s coastline as far as his eyes could see was all jungle. The foreign foliage and wild sands beckoned him as much as the great expanse of water did. It was only by chance that his eyes flickered downward and he caught a glimpse of a shadow under the boat.

“Hey Lucina. You see anything weird in the water?” He looked again, grabbing a fishing net. “I dunno if this is gonna do it- it looked big.”

He should’ve been worried, but...

He grinned. “I bet it’s tasty whatever it is!”

A ritzy butler arrives with a job offer for trustworthy individuals that can handle a bit of responsibility. Their masters will be traveling with their son on his Grand Tour of Fódlan, leaving their luxurious coastal villa in Derdriu unattended. If you could protect their property from opportunistic thieves, you’ll find this family… well, actually, the pay isn’t all that great, but beachside accommodations are practically impossible to find in Derdriu, never mind at the start of their tourist season. This is a chance to let your hair down and have fun… just make sure to put everything back where you found it!

♠  ~ Farina had never thought she'd end up so bored out of her mind at what, uh, basically amounted to a beach resort. Great food. Sandy beaches. A good amount of splishing and splashing. Those were the sorts of things she'd expected she'd be doing. Oh, you know, some good old fun in the sun.

Then again, it wasn't as if she'd came prepared for fun. She blamed that butler for the misunderstanding. For his urgency, you'd think he 'd received something threatening and needed some extra muscle in a hurry. But, nope. Apparently, his bosses were going on a road trip and just needed someone to watch their house.

Well, she didn't know that back then and she'd thought it was about something serious. And as a serious mercenary who took her job seriously, Farina had decided it would have been bad form to present herself to an employer unprofessionally. Coming prepared for a vacation would definitely have been oh so unprofessional.

Hence, why she was now raiding her nominal employer's their dressing room. What? She was at the beach. There wasn't any pressing emergency and she was in the mood for some fun. And any good fun in the sun will need a swimsuit, which she'd, uh, neglected to pack. Out of the mistaken belief that this job was going to be a lot more serious than it was turning out to be.

And besides, this room was huge. Bigger than her house, even. The one back in Ilia. That she was sharing with both of her sisters. So, in other words, it was huge. And full of row after row of absolutely cute outfits that she could only dream of actually owning. What? Even she could indulge in her girly side too. And, so far as as she was concerned, there was nothing girlier than dressing up in cute outfits. Especially cute swimsuits.

Turning to face a large dressing room mirror nearby, the mercenary spun to show off her new, uh, freshly borrowed outfit. Frilly and with a nice sets of heeled sandals and umbrella to go along with. Not entirely her thing. Actually, it had felt like it would suit Fiora a whole lot better. Oh, she could just imagine. But it'll do on her. Certainly far fancier than anything she could have brought along with her.

A series of soft footsteps outside interrupted her self-centred preening, prompting Farina to turn to peer outside. Oh, she hadn't ended up picking up this job alone. There was a student who came with. A blue-haired Black Eagle, who, uh, seemed to be staring at her with a quizzical look. As if she wasn't quite sure what she was seeing. Seemingly undeterred by her partner’s look of confusion, Farina simply reached out to tug the Black Eagle inside. "Oh, nice timing!", she grinned. "Oh, c'mon! Ya gotta try some of these swimsuits too!" What? It wasn't everyday that you got the chance to try out something this fancy. May as well make the most of it, right?