#pheraean

the Abyss - Pitch black as ever. If only you had some light…

@ninocence @pheraean

Like a sudden chill flickering out a flame, in an instant, it was night. Not even do the stars above offer any hospitality, for they don’t seem to shine as bright. Pale comparisons to the true and only refuge in this endless blackness; bioluminescent blooms, that some of their lot had even fashioned into crowns. There was little to do between poor visibility and incoming storms than fortify their shelter. But curiously, Ephidel took the short walk to the steep drop off between building.

Not even in brightest day did the sun illuminate much of this abyss, but her reach could only go so far. But his-

Ephidel knelt by the abyss’s edge and removed his crown, dipping it just below the surface and bringing light back to the depths.

Pale, thin, red-haired. He does not wear his cape, nor the royal blue outfit that is seared in Limstella’s memory, but he is recognizable all the same.

Lord Eliwood. The Pheraean lordling. The man who led an army against them. The man who had, over and over again, ruined and demolished the most concerted efforts of Master Nergal and those he commanded.

... Why?

What was it that this human teenager had that Limstella did not? What power did he brandish that they could not master?

They stride, closing the distance between the two of them — they stare in his bright eyes. Always so bright. Nearly searing.

They don’t know why they ask, but— but— but they must know.

Starter for @pheraean <3

Roy would recognize that hair anywhere. The gait of his walk, the way in which he carried himself, all of it had Roy’s mind racing and boots hitting the pavement at a run, closing the distance between them without hesitation.

Father.

Was everything alright back home? Surely Eliwood would have written a letter if his presence was requested back in Pharae. Was he going to teach? Maybe they wanted him as a knight... although he would worry a bit about his father’s health. Whatever the reason was, Roy was smiling as he ran, a genuine leap of joy in his heart at the familiarity he had, perhaps somewhat childishly, been longing for ever since returning from from the pages of Villainess.

For a split second, he considered telling Eliwood about it. Maybe he would someday. Even though he was alright, he’d nearly caused so much worry. He had to stop thinking he needed forgiveness for what hadn’t happened to him physically. It had just felt real.

Roy practically skidded to a halt, barely stopping himself from charging him with a hug. He beamed at seeing Eliwood’s face. “Fa-!“

...ther?

He stopped mid-word, blinking a little. The same thing had happened with Lord Hector, hadn’t it? The trio of them, all so young. Eliwood’s hair was missing the hints of gray Roy had gotten to know, and he looked so young, barely years older than Roy himself. Would he get in trouble if Eliwood realized who he was? Would Roy not exist? That seemed silly, but he stood there gawking for a moment before remembering to close his mouth.

MIDORI’S SMILE WAVERED at the sudden pulsing between her eyes.  she did not stumble, though the ground moved beneath her feet.  her eyes closed, her grip on the heavy staff tightened, then loosened; when she attempted another grip, her fingers closed around air.  midori opened her eyes and choked back a gasp.  whether of amazement or fear, she could not spend time identifying the feeling when there were massive hunks of metal in front of her.  like... massive massive!  and there were multiple of them—   four, to be exact.  but the one in the back, behind some flickering veil that seemed cast around it, looked like the baddest guy there.

fists clenched, midori swallowed and whispered,   “   holy sweet cakes, what is that?   ”   then, surprise colored her face in a faint flush.  midori looked down at her hands, finally aware of the lack of weight from the staff.  instead, there was a shield clipped tight by a band around her forearm.  that was... all, really.  despite the oddness of it all, midori couldn’t argue since she adored how the ochain shield flashed a glow of light within its gems every time she shook it!

ochain shield! heals midori for 1hp!   (   midori hp = 10 / 10   )

a groan of metal sounded in front of them and midori turned towards her team, smiling bright and hopeful,   “   i’ll go first!  watch my back, friends.   ”   she was sure that, even if something went wrong, her teammates would be there to cover her mistake.  so, determined and bright-eyed, midori turned back towards the beasts of metal and raised her hands.  the weight of the shield made it a slight struggle but it was nothing that she couldn’t handle—   nothing would compare to the travel case she carried daily!

midori! rolls d20 = 7! ‘seraphim’ critically hits, 4 damage!   (   radio scout: bulwark a hp = 6 / 10   )

the incantation fell from her lips in an easy roll of enunciation.  at the call, light burst from midori’s hands and enveloped in an explosion around the closest scout beast.  if she looked close enough, peered through the brightness of the spell, then she would guess that there had been a flicker of feathers from the blast.  angel wings, midori thought, then ignored it at the sound of the scout’s metal whirring and churning.

black ice node! rolls d3 = 1! ‘radio scout: bulwark a has been deactivated!

suddenly, there was silence.  midori blinked wildly; once at the beast, twice at her hands, before whirling around to face her team.  her fists flickered with a faint glow but she paid little mind to them as she shook her hands excitedly.   “   did you guys see that!?  i think it stopped working.   ”   a glance was thrown back to the other two scouts.   “   we might have to do the same to those two, right?   ”

   “Lord Eliwood!” 

   It’s before class starts that she notices him, in one of the seats, all proper-like, like he’s always, polite and good-mannered and all those other lordly things. The teacher is already standing at the front of the classroom, but Serra’s too delighted to notice such frivolous, meaningless things — she floats to his desk, beaming, wide-eyed. 

"If it isn't Lyn," comes a greeting as Eliwood approaches, having spotted her amidst the cheerful crowd. "It's been a while! I hope you've been well. What a day for a reunion, huh." A new song is played as he speaks, and as everyone around them begins to cheer and dance anew, he smiles, extending his hand to her.

"Have I ever shown you some Lycian dances? If you'd allow."

midsommar 2022 prompts

Now this is the kind of dancing that Lyn prefers. No stuffy dresses, gaudy ballrooms or hidden intentions, just people having fun together. Every person brings a part of themselves to the fire; their own personal spin on their homeland's dance.

Lyn is in the midst of the crowd when a familiar voice calls out to her. She spins around and finds herself face to face with someone she didn't expect to see here in Fódlan.

"Eliwood!"

Lyn's heart soars at the sight of her friend and she breaks into a grin. "I didn't expect you to be here! I've been well." Recent book and monkey related misadventures notwithstanding. "How about you? Has everything been okay in Pherae? Oh! Have you spoken to Hector yet? I'm sure he'd be thrilled to know that you're here, too."

For reasons unknown to anyone else, a mother wyvern has rejected her newborn wyvern and refuses to care for it. The task is now up to some brave volunteers to acquire a friend for life... or the scars. [Grants Flying +1]

When Altena hears about the abandoned wyvern baby, she wastes no time and immediately volunteers herself to take care of the little thing. She's had plenty of experience having raised her own mount, her sweet Peaches, from infancy. And, while the loss of her own mother was a different circumstance, she can't help but feel a kinship with the little one.

With the wyvern swaddled in Altena's softest and warmest blanket, she carries it from the wyvern stables on her way to her dormitory. It's still quite little so it shouldn't make too much of a mess in her quarters yet. She doesn't imagine Fódlan wyverns are too far different from their Thracian cousins in that, or any, aspect.

"We'll have to come up with a good name for you. Something a little more badass than "Peaches". But don't tell her I said that, alright? It was cute when I was five but I feel rather silly charging my enemies while calling out her name to give her orders."

And she feels rather silly right then as well, realizing she is very much not alone as she holds a full on conversation with an animal who is not about to answer her on a path that is very much occupied by someone else.