#tomorrowscircle

She giggles as she tosses aside the shovel, hiding in a nearby bush to the best of her abilities, her pitfall carefully (and perfectly) hidden, only waiting for her victim (her father) to walk right over it and fall in!

Now then, to somehow get him over here. Which surely had to be the hard part... right? Her smart and brilliant father surely could not fall for such a trick so easily!

"Father...! I've missed you so much!" She calls out from the other side of the covered hole, trying her best to get his attention. Just once! She wanted to be able to truly surprise her father and get a look of surprise from him!

"Are you happy to see me, Father? Why don't you come say hi?"

It might have worked.

If he hadn't seen her, he may have fallen for it. There was a chance, at least.

She was getting too clever for her own good. He was glad for the little mistakes like this, as it allowed him to keep a step ahead, but there would likely come a time when she would surpass him.

Still not there, but close. He was proud of her, certainly, but the thought always made him nervous at the same time.

Still, couldn't let her know he was onto her this early. That would ruin her fun, after all. And he still wasn't sure exactly what sort of prank she had planned. He clasped his hands behind his back and smiled, a warm, genuine smile (because he was, genuinely, pleased to see her), and approached, stopping before the area she seemed to be trying to direct him to.

There was something off in the air and it was starting to grate on Grima. She excused herself from the group she had been chatting with and decided to get to the bottom of it herself. It was her own influence she was sensing, that much she knew. That or it was the influence of another version of herself. Time travel made things irritating. It didn't take Grima long to zone in on the location and when she did she kept herself to the shadows.

It took several seconds for Grima to register what she was looking at. One of her offspring stood several feet away, completely unaware of Grima's presence lurking nearby. Grima inhaled slowly through her nose, pushing Robin's consciousness deeper into her prison. It felt as if her heart were going to beat right out of her chest, a cold sweat breaking out across her body. Terror gripped her heart and left her breathless and nauseated. So her worthless vessel was afraid for Morgan. Of course it would be but Morgan was ever loyal, was she not? At least, her children had been. She wondered if this young girl was the same one she remembered so fondly. Recalling the blood her children had shed in her name brought a twisted joy to her, quickly replacing the terror Robin felt.

Grima approached Morgan carefully, keeping a tight control of her own fell energy. There was no need to tip Morgan off immediately, was there? There would be more than enough time for that.

"Morgan? Is that you?" Grima asked, allowing Robin's kind inflection to seep into her voice. She kept her expression open and full of hopeful surprise.

closed starter for @tomorrowscircle

Have you ever wanted your own emblem ring? Well look no further! A professor at the academy, who shall not be named, has recently begun forging copies of his Ring of the Avenger, which he promises will grant overflowing power and arcane energies to any who equip it. But, he also warns, it curses the wearer with an insatiable urge for bloodlust! With so many copies floating around, surely these claims can't be real... Better slip one on and find out for yourself!

Byleth fiddled with the ring in their pocket. It was a curious thing, an object forged by a returning professor based on the emblem rings doing the current rounds of the rumour mill. The Professor hadn’t intended to pick one up, it just so happened they’d been passing the office when he’d come out looking flustered, forced said ring into their hand with the words “It’s you’s to deal with now”

Now they had one of these ‘emblem rings’ in their possession, Byleth would be lying to say they weren’t curious about the power they were said to contain. Heading to the combat grounds, Byleth decided maybe the best way to investigate would be to try it on, now they had the opportunity. It was probably safe, surely no professor would really create a ring that brought out bloodlust like the rumours said. . . right?