Notes: This doesn't follow the game storyline very closely. I kinda am drawing inspiration and just running with it. I wanted to use the headcanon I have for my MC and give her some love. My MC is named Alyss Hart (a common name I use for my MCs. I had no idea MC was canonly named Liz Hart until well afterwards. Haha). I'm not including all the characters either, because that would make this huge. They might show up as side characters, but they will be mentioned in passing more than anything. I am basically using the characters from the "Tower of Sorrow" and "Spring of the Unicorns" storylines, but replacing Azusa with Guy. Also, super spoilers for Randy March. If you haven't played his route, don't come here. Like, at all. Don't even read the tags. You read the tags didn't you? Why did you read the tags?! I have no idea how quickly this will be uploaded, but I am looking forward to getting this written. I haven't written a chapter fic in a long time, so I am a bit nervous. Let's see how this goes, eh?
It was a bright and sunny day at the end of Harvest season. Alyss Hart was on her knees in the dirt, fighting a losing battle with a coil of snakevine that had invaded her rainclaw patch. Her garden was rather large, containing all manner of magical plants for use in various potions. She grew everything from blood ivy to lavender. Today's harvest included rainclaw, sage, lavender, kitten whiskers, basil, goldthorn berries, and this damn Snakevine if it would just cooperate. Snakevine was useful in a tonic she could make to numb the skin during medical treatments, but it was incredibly temperamental to harvest, and just about as annoying to grow, so she generally just bought it mashed and bottled from the village.
Alyss lived alone in a tiny cottage, just outside the forest, on the Northeastern side of Reitz. Reitz was a tiny village in the middle of the mountains in Gedonelune. This area of the countryside was populated by kind and loving people who all worked to take care of one another. Reitz was mostly full of farmers and other country folk, with a few minor Wizards living among them. Of those wizards, was the Hart family. Adam Hart came from a strong Wizarding family, who fell into shambles when his Grandfather was framed by his closest friend, and falsely accused of Dark Magic. The persecution was so severe, that at a young age, Adam's parents sent him off to live with a family friend, who changed his familial name to Hart, after his maternal Grandmother. They moved to the countryside, into Reitz, for the sake of her health, but she passed just before Adam turned 18. He hid most of his magical ability, using magic only to aid the plants to grow, and worked as a vegetable farmer. On his third harvest season, he met Emma. Emma had been away for years studying at the Gedonelune Royal Magic Academy to become a respected Wizardess. Her area of study had been in Magic Potion Pharmaceuticals, so that she could be a doctor in her village.
The chemistry between them was unprecedented, and they were hopelessly smitten at first sight. Adam was of the belief that he didn't deserve a woman such as Emma, the daughter of the mayor. Emma was firm in her choice though, if she was to have any man, it had to be Adam. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't avoid her, even if he had wanted to. Emma's family owned the general store that he sold much of his produce to, so he often saw her there. Emma was quite aggressive in her courtship, surprising Adam with packed lunches and potions. Sneaking goodbye kisses when his guard was down, and leaving him no choice but to live with her at the forefront of his mind. By the time Spring had arrived, he had given up and began courting her properly. Their love was pure and deep, and before Summer was in full swing, they had earned her father's approval to marry. They chose to marry at the first snowfall, as Emma had always dreamed of being wed in a world of white. She used a magic spell to rain a shower of pale, pink, posies over them as they exchanged their vows.
That Autumn, Adam would begin the bad joke that they had spent the last day of Harvest season "harvesting" a daughter instead of potatoes. They named their little girl, Alyss, and their life was happy and full of joy. Alyss had the most loving parents anyone could ask for. Adam would teach her about the planting and harvest, all while playing with her just to see her smile. Emma would teach her cooking and baking, and eventually taught her to help brew the potions she used in her healing. But what Alyss enjoyed the most, were the magic lessons.
Alyss' magical abilities had manifested the full moon before she turned six. It was another month before her parents realized what was going on. She didn't think anything of it, when she woke up one day and was able to understand the animals that lived in the forest, who would come to visit their home during the day. Emma began to suspect that their daughter was magical, something that Adam continued to deny, until the day Alyss managed to levitate herself around the cottage without a spell. After they had spent three hours trying to get her down, and to stay on the ground, Adam had to admit that his daughter was, indeed, magical. Adam was against Alyss learning any magic, but he loved his wife and wanted her to be happy, so he allowed it. Though he wanted to support Alyss in everything, he wasn't thrilled with her dream of attending the Gedonelune Royal Magical Academy, as her mother had. He would use the excuse that he would be too lonely without her, but he was really just worried that his family connections would be discovered and she would become an outcast the way his grandfather had.
Alyss loved magic, and being taught it by her mother just made it even more special to her. She learned a few basic spells, mostly healing spells that her mother used in her work, all while learning potion making under her mother's watchful eye. Her magic glowed and sparkled with love, and she never failed in a spell, so she was so certain that she would have no trouble entering the academy when she was old enough to attend.
But all that changed when she was eight.
An epidemic swept the countryside, claiming the health and lives of many people in Reitz and surrounding villages. Those that lived through the sickness were never the same again, and were often bedridden until they wasted away. Her parents weren't able to avoid the sickness, and Alyss had to watch as they grew pale and the sickness stole their vitality. She made them tonics and soups, changed the cloths on their foreheads, and took care of them as best as she could, but it wasn't enough. When her father passed into a deep sleep, her mother pulled her into her arms and told her how much they loved her. How proud they were of who she was becoming, and encouraged her to always smile and be kind, and to follow her dreams no matter what. Emma told her to trust her gut instincts, and be mindful of her dreams, because they would never lead her astray. That she was sorry they couldn't stay with her longer, but that she would be alright, because she was special and loved, and the world would never abandon her. Then Emma kissed her forehead, each of her cheeks, her chin and her nose, as she did every night before bed, told her she loved her, and laid back on her pillow. Frightened, frustrated, and through her tears, Alyss cast healing spell after healing spell on her sleeping parents, but none of them worked. None of them could help them. They never could. This epidemic was just too much, even for magic. Alyss laid down her head and cried into the night. When morning came, her parents were gone, and Alyss was all alone.
But Reitz was full of kind people, and though her own blood relations had all passed away, be it from old age or the epidemic, there were plenty of people who were more than happy to look after the girl. The Woodsman would sleep on her couch most of the week, using the excuse of being closer to the forest in order to keep her company. The seamstress would always bring her bread and milk, and charge her a smile instead of coin. The farmers would take turns helping her with her land, before finally offering to purchase much of it, and giving her a cut of the harvest as part of their negotiations. The farmer's sons would help her with her garden, making sure she was tending it correctly. She had a talent for growing the herbs her mother had kept for potion making, and she was able to sell the leftover bounty.
As she grew, she became better able to care for herself. Cooking her own meals, doing her own shopping. Tending the gardens without help. After some time had passed, she even began to use magic again. Her talent to speak with animals flourished and she found an affinity with magic that was performed on them. She became an animal doctor by the suggestion of some of the villagers. Word of mouth had spread after she spoke with the chickens one of the farmers kept. A mongoose was stealing their eggs and leaving them injured. When she was able to ask them about it directly and then heal their wounds, the villagers started asking her to help their other livestock and then their pets.
"Ryo! There you are! I was wondering where you had run off to" Alyss reached over to scratch the fox sitting in a basket on the counter top behind his ears. He chittered back to her happily before yawning and falling back into a dose.
Ryoichi had been one of her patients the year before. The silver fox had gotten his paw caught into a snare trap and the bone was broken through. Alyss had rescued him, and healed him up, before he ran off deeper into the forest in fear. Over the following weeks, however, he would show up at the cottage almost daily. At first he would watch her from a distance as she worked. Eventually though, he would come right up next to her, playing around her, or attempting to help in her work. She would feed him kitchen scraps and scratch his head and back. Before she knew it, he was inviting himself inside and staying the night. Occasionally he would wander off, sometimes for a few hours and other times for a day or two, before showing back up like he had never left.
Alyss set her bounty on the counter and strung up the line she used to hang her herbs to dry from. She pulled off her sweater and flung it over the back of the couch and began to wash the herbs, one type at a time, drying them in towels to remove the bulk of the water. She then tied them in bunches to the line so they could begin to dry. She hummed softly while she worked, completely focused. Birds sat on the window boxes, eating the seed she would leave for them there and singing along, all while Ryo snored softly from his basket.
Once the herbs were all strung up, Alyss lifted her left arm and pointed her finger straight into the air. She drew a circle, clockwise, with her finger, positioning her hand at the end of her motion so her grip would be ready for the wand that was materializing in her hand. It was one of the first spells her mother had ever taught her. She wore a ring on her first finger that acted as a magic tool, giving her wand a place to live in a spacial dimension. The ring would then conduct her magical power through it to retrieve the wand when she needed it. "A wizardess must always have her wand if she wishes for magic to bless her with it's aid," her mother had always told her.
"Flama Flamio!" she recited in a commanding voice, conjuring a small string of fire that floated in the air a half a foot below the hanging herbs. This magical fire would not burn, but would provide the heat needed to warm up the cottage, not just for comfort, but also to dry the herbs quickly.
She set off deeper into the kitchen and grabbed her flint and tinder, because a flau spell would end in disaster, to light a fire under the hanging kettle so the soup stock could come to a boil. She gathered her vegetables and washed them, before chopping them up and tossing them into the kettle. Then she tenderized, seasoned, and cut the beef into smaller pieces before searing it on a skillet over the fire and tossing it into the soup as well once it had browned. She set the soup to a simmer and covered it, turning to begin the sweeping when there was a knock at her door.
"Miss Alyss? Are you seeing patients today?" a young man's voice called from outside.
"Yes, of course!" she opened the door, smiling brightly. She recognized him at once as Todd, the son of the pub owner. "Please come in and tell me your troubles."
"It's my sister's cat. She has been so lethargic, she's just really worried about her." He set the gray tabby down on the work table Alyss indicated. She quickly pulled on the apron she wore for work and gingerly approached the cat.
"Hi precious, what's your name?"
"Claire," the cat mewed back weakly.
"Hi Claire. So you are feeling tired lately? Do you know why?" Alyss asked her, petting her neck gently.
"I think I ate a weed the other day, and it's just given me a stomach ache," she purred. "I'm sure I'll be fine in a few days."
"What did the weed look like?"
"It was yellowish, with a white bulb at the end."
"Ah, silkgrass. I see. Yeah, that will give you a stomach ache for sure. But that is an easy enough fix." Alyss went to her hutch and pulled open the cabinet doors, fiddling her fingers as they ran across the bottles inside, looking for the one with the right label. This hutch contained a vast array of liquids, tonics, potions, herbs, stones, and bark used for healing and other things. She finally found the one she was looking for, an amber liquid the thickness of syrup and brought it over to the table. She went back and grabbed jars with rosemary, goldthorn berries, and sunflowers and placed them on the table as well. She grabbed a mortar and pestle and an empty vile and began preparing the medicine. She ground three sunflower seeds and two pinches of rosemary into a fine powder, and then added four goldthorn berries to make make a watery paste. After mixing in a dribble of the amber syrup, and poured the mixture into the empty vile and handed it to Todd.
"Just pour a dollop of this into Claire's meals until it's all gone and her stomach will be fine in no time. Try to mix it with fish if you can, that will make it taste less bitter to her." She smiled and turned to Claire. "And you be careful around that silkgrass. I don't want to have to see you so sad and ill again." Alyss giggled and scratched at her head as Claire mewed her thanks and licked at her fingers.
"Thank you so much! My sister will be so thankful." Todd smiled bashfully as he deposited his coin on the table to pay for the service.
"Anytime at all. It's starting to get late. Be safe on your way back!"
After seeing Todd and Claire off, Alyss returned to her housework, sweeping the floors and putting the laundry from that morning away. Her herbs had finished drying, so she called off the Flamio spell and began packing them into jars, vials, or between butcher paper and into boxes for storage. Some were crushed into powers, while others had their leaves picked from the stems. Nothing went to waste, every part of the plant playing some part to some potion she could make. Ryo and her set down and had some of the soup she had made, talking about the garden and the various things she needed to do for the rest of the week.
She believed it was going to be a calm and simple night, as she did the dishes. Just as she had finished and was getting ready to grab a novel to read until bed, there was a noise at the door.
"Alyss Hart. Is this the home of Miss Alyss Hart?" a snooty voice said through the wood.
"Err… yes?" she replied timidly, opening the door to see… no one? There was no one there! She was certain she had heard a voice. "Hello?" she called nervously.
"Up here." She looked up to see a scroll of parchment floating just above her head. "Wha…?" she replied in a confused tone. The paper was talking. Does paper usually talk? Is that a new thing like animals talking that she was going to have to get used to? Were lamps going to talk next? Did she want lamps to talk? Oh crap, the paper has been talking. What has the paper been saying? Oh, he sounds annoyed. Can paper have a gender?
"Are you listening?" the parchment spoke up, startling her out of her thoughts.
"Yes! I mean, no. I'm sorry." She admitted despondently.
"Well," he sighed, annoyed. "As I said, I am the Acceptance Letter. On behalf of the Gedonelune Royal Magic Academy, I would like to invite you to come with me as a new student."
"You…" she stared at him blankly as she processed what he had said. "Are a letter that wants me to be a student… A student!" She squeaked when his words finally hit her. "You mean, I've been accepted? I've really been accepted to Gedonelune Royal Magic Academy?"
"Yes, you've been accepted to attend, so start packing. We leave first thing in the morning." He replied gruffly, floating past her and into the cottage.
"Wait, tomorrow?!" Oh man, how was she ever going to get packed in time?
Notes Cont: I hate writing prologues. I feel like I am always too stiff in them and that it isn't until later chapters when my writing opens up and feels more natural. I need to get better at that. Prologues have to hook people if you are going to use them… mine never seem to. I am planning on writing out three routes, choosing the love interests as Serge, Yukiya and Elias. The route will split off at the second or third day and they will be uploaded accordingly. I'm starting with Serge. Plans may change on releasing the other two depending how I feel by the time I am done with his route. This story will take upload priority to my AO3 account, but it will make it's way here as well.