A/N: Puck and Echnida/Satella. Was supposed to be the prologue for something initially but left that particular AU and crept closer to canon.

Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, e14 - write a fic with at least 80% dialogue

A One in Thousand Chance

'I won't allow it.'

'They'll have her fulfil her role as the vessel. They'll bring the witch back.'

'I won't allow it. I'll destroy them all first.'

'They'll slip in like shadows, unseen. They'll twist their way through the walls you put in their path and they'll smile when you cut off their heads far too late.'

'You speak as though it is inevitable.'

'It is. They will not tolerate her ambitions. And you will not tolerate the witch.'

'I will not tolerate the Witch's cult, either, and most certainly not the threat they pose to my Lia.'

'So you say, but for all your power, you cannot find them in the shadows until it is far too late. You are stuck, Puck.'

'As are you. And yet you bring these omens as though I am the more powerless one.'

'Oh, of the two of us it's certainly I who's fallen far from grace – but you cannot protect her by yourself, Puck, as much as you pride tells you you can.'

'As you've never told me such a thing before, I am almost inclined to believe you. But then who would you have me turn to? There is no-one to trust in this wretched world to protect her.'

'That is a sad state of affairs you see, my dear Puck. But there is always someone. And there are other places to look. And other ways to protect someone.'

'I froze Lia for two hundred years, once.'

'Yes. And I grabbed her heart and pulled her back from death, once.'

'…'

'You won't recall. I could not have you bear witness, you understand.'

'Of course. I would have had to destroy the world, as per my contract, if I had.'

'And an ironic turn of events, if it had been so.'

'I do not trust you either, you realise. Truthfully, you stand the most to gain.'

'Naturally, that depends on your definition of "gain". But I stand as much to lose, as well. I need Emilia as well.'

'Indeed you do. It's your use for her I don't trust, of course.'

'Of course. But for the moment at least, our needs are mutual. We work for Emilia's continued survival. And yet she'll just die again.'

'What do you mean? A petty thief against a spirit user and me –'

'Your blind-spot, dear Puck.'

'In the night, then. But then how am I to stop it?'

'You cannot. That is the unfortunate truth of it. And your dear daughter is foolish enough to die many times over before she can prevent it for herself. And that is just the first and the mildest of these threats.'

'Well, she is far too young for wisdom yet.'

'Says a spirit who is nearly as old as I.'

'Oh, are you going to reveal your true age?'

'We have digressed. Have you forgotten that, even if you were omnipresent, you could not interfere with the Ordeal? You need help regardless.'

'And why offer it, Echnida? Can you break that chain?'

'No. And nor can I. A man who loves a woman and only her is a frightening thing, you understand.'

'Then you wish for the world's destruction?'

'Come now, Puck. I would not have pulled her back if that were the case.'

'…I suppose you would not. But who knows? A woman's heart is a fickle thing, is it not?'

'Indeed. But the hearts of sinful men are equally fickle, are they not? For the archbishops who inherited my brethren to have strayed so far from the cause.'

'And yet to the world, they faithfully follow your footsteps and call you the Jealous Witch.'

'It is unfair. I did not choose it… And up till now, I have been unable to correct it.'

'You will use Emilia to correct it.'

'It will be to her favour too, dear Puck. To correct the tale of the Jealous Witch, to release those frightened gazes on all silver-haired half-elves that walk the earth, and to create a place where all sorts of people can live in peace instead of this farce the world entertains…'

'It is but a dream.'

'That you support nonetheless.'

'I support Emilia.'

'Emilia is lucky to have you… But you are still not enough.'

'So then what? Shall we leave this world to its doom? I cannot manifest myself in all hours of the day.'

'No. And the people that surround you have their own agendas. You know this. And my faithless faithful archbishops, beyond redemption.'

'You have other plans.'

'I suppose. But the weight of old failures pile up, do they not?'

'…'

'I have one left.'

'A sin, you mean?'

'I saved him. Nurtured him. Tucked him away on the other side of this edge of the world.'

'From there? Then he is useless. He'd know nothing about this place. Not even his own powers.'

'And those who know things about this place can't be trusted. So why not the blank slate he represents?'

'Your record with the other five doesn't speak well for you.'

'Ah, but that is akin to me stealing one child away and leaving the other five to their disagreeable father.'

'Why?'

'When was I allowed to face my own destiny with decent odds?'

'…I suppose that is true. So then…'

'This child… Pride… Is the representation of my small but stacked odds.'

'And I should trust my daughter to him?'

'Not entirely… But if a chance of one in a million can improve to one in a thousand, then why not take it?'

'One in a thousand is still quite poor odds. Though even you cannot know how powerful he'll be here, or how devoted to Lia.'

'Oh, he thinks himself a normal human child. I'm sure he'll be very devoted to Emilia.'

'As a father, I cannot be pleased with that notion. But it will be a far more innocent devotion, at least.'

'Someone unaware of the ordeals will only think of making her happy, the way she is.'

'Presumably. But the sins have hardly been reasonable through time.'

'For Pride, that will depend on what he puts his pride in and his rate of success, I think. At least that is something that can tailored to Emilia and just Emilia. Unless Gluttony who tries to devour the entire world…'

'In any case, devotion alone is powerless.'

'…'

'Then you plan to…'

'Dragging Emilia back again and again… What do you think will happen?'

'That child will grow up far too fast… And lose the very thing that she wants to protect in this world.'

'Are you sympathetic, Puck? Dear Puck… But yes. For Emilia to obtain her wish, she can't accept the weight of a thousand deaths on her soul. Nor for the Ordeal…'

'The Ordeal…'

'You promised, Puck.'

'I know.'

'I can't bring Emilia back again. I can't have her lose her radiance too soon.'

'I know. And if I had my way, I wouldn't have her ever lose it.'

'But a knight doesn't need their radiance. Rather, he the shadow that will stand beside her, bearing all that weight himself.'

'These one in a thousand chances… You will drag him back from death until he succeeds in saving Lia? How cruel…'

'And you who would not give the world a second chance is not cruel? We cannot stake our chances on a once in a lifetime opportunity.'

'Not you, who has the power to change that, in any case. But even us greater spirits must live with this one life we have.'

'True. But I will try as many times as it takes. And if Emilia survives it all, won't you?'

'…yes. But there's still no guarantee Pride can be trusted with Emilia.'

'Then Pride will have to prove himself. But he is, at least, a possibility unlike any we could find on this side of the world.'

'…we're welcoming a stranger from another world. Only for Lia.'

'For Emilia's sake. And by extension, my own.'

'I fail to understand why she matters to you.'

'As do I. We're the same in that manner, dear Puck. But Emilia must shine brightly. And my sins must straighten themselves out, to become that which we've already failed once and then, only then…'

'The prison you're encased in is cracking, and yet you're worried.'

'… I do not wish to be reincarnated as the Jealous Witch.'

'No, I suppose you don't. But you'll bet your odds on Pride.'

'I must. He is the only piece I can play. My failsafe. And if he must break and put himself back together and break again… He must. I have no other hope.'

'We'll see, then. I still cannot trust Emilia to him alone, but I'll have no choice once the sun sets.'

'Ignorance and determination. Those are the only two things he will have… And whatever he's gained in that other world.'

'… Will those things be enough to increase his one in a thousand chance of saving Lia?'

'… perhaps. We'll see, after we've welcomed Natsuki Subaru from the other world.'