When Rayzonna awoke, her entire body ached with a dull pain. Her tattered clothes seemed to be replaced with a dark purple robe. She looked around the room seeing that she was no longer in the damp cell. The best way to describe the room was a cramped dorm room. It barely had room for the desk and bed, it only had about 2 feet of walk space. She looked over to the desk and noticed that there was bread and cheese on it. Rayzonna felt her stomach turn. She tried to quickly get up, nearly collapsing onto the ground. Quickly grabbing the sheets to stop herself from falling, immediately her arm screamed out in pain. The plain slowly faded to a dull warm feeling in her arm.
Standing on wobbling legs, she quickly sat down on the chair next to the desk. The food was ripped and torn into quickly she didn't realize that she was this hungry till she saw food. After all, that was left on the plate was crumbs. She noticed that there was a parchment under the plate. She moved the plate and read the note.
'Dear Rayzonna,
I would like to thank you for being a successful test, with you I may lead the next phase of the operation. While you were asleep, I tested you on your aptitude for magic. You seem to have an aptitude for Dark and Reason magic, but your body almost rejected Faith magic. These effects are understandable given your crest, speaking of your crest, do not activate it child we don't know how your body could respond. I will return soon.
Solon.
Rayzonna let out a sigh of relief. She needed time to calm down and get her thoughts in order. So Alpha had sent her to a world that she knew, a world where her knowledge could be a sharp and deadly weapon. She was in a den of snakes that would do anything to know the future. Rayzonna let out a small sigh of relief. She took solace in the fact if she died, nothing too bad would happen. Rayzonna thought back to her conversation with Alpha and her goal. She couldn't help but grimace at the thought of it. To even say it was a herculean task might be an understatement. To have Claude, Dimitri and Edelgard live would be complicated. In her mind, someone without all the pieces would have to pick Dimitri or Edelgard to live. Dimitri needs to be told the truth and not blame Edelgard for everything, and Edelgard would need to trust more people. She doubted that stopping the war was an option, those that Slither would make sure of that. Rayzonna's mind moved to the target of Edelgard's hatred. A woman driven to madness, by the death of her mother and family. Rhea would be a thorn in any plan that she made, but she didn't want her dead. In some paths she felt remorse for what she did to humanity and in others, she was willing to kill kids. She would need the 3 house leaders under one banner, and that would be easier said than done. It's not like she could explain her situation.
Deciding to switch topics because there wasn't much she could do right now being in the belly of the beast. She had a crest, one that resisted faith but made her good at dark and black magic. No crest she could think of would stop faith magic from working. It could be possible it was a crest from a dead bloodline, like the crest of flames. The thought of performing magic in any form filled Rayzonna with excitement.
She looked herself over once again to fully take in her new form. She was short and her hair was a stark, unnatural scarlet red. Guessing the body's age was hard, she was a child at least by height, but without a mirror, it was hard to tell. She couldn't be any older than 10, which put her in line with the students at the academy. She wasn't looking forward to people treating her like an idiot because of her age.
A sharp knock at the door and a gruff voice coming from the other side interrupted her thoughts. "Subject Zero, Solon has requested your presence in his study." She let out a sigh, it seemed her thoughts would have to wait till she was alone. Stood once more, legs threatening to give out, she drifted to the door and opened it. It was one of the Agarthan mages.
"As much as I would like to, I can barely walk as it is right now." Rayzonna knew a man like Solon would not be kept waiting, but she would attempt to get just a little more time to herself. Those hopes were dashed when the man shook his head
"Solon thought as much, I will carry you there." Without waiting, he quickly scooped her up. Rayzonna was thankful that she wasn't thrown over the man's shoulder, she was being comfortably carried like a child. As he carried her through the hall, she almost fell asleep, her body still hurt from the operation. It seemed they were in a quiet part of the underground city because she barely heard anything other than the slight humming of a machine.
The man put her in front of a door before giving a slight bow and walking off. For a second she considered taking off down the hall and trying to escape. She doubted she would even make it 10 steps. She pushed the door open. The room was a mess of books and parchment. The floor was cleared, but the table and the desk had many books and papers spread across them. It made her think a tornado ran through the office. Sitting at the table, Solon was going through a small stack of papers. He glanced at Rayzonna and motioned to an empty chair. As quick as she could, she sat down and waited for Solon to start the conversation.
"Rayzonna, they have given me the order to get you to combat-ready so you can be a weapon for us." He handed her a book. It was a thick and dusty tome and on the front, it read 'Reason Magic for Beginners.' She went to crack it open but was stopped by Solon's hand. "My time is short here right now, so you will read this in your room. In one week we will meet again, and that tome will be finished." She gave the unsettling man a nod who returned to his notes.
"What do you know about how magic works and the 3 schools of magic?" He said without looking away from his notes. She couldn't give away that she was more than a 10-year-old. She shook her head, and Solon let out a thoughtful hmm.
"The knowledge of the world powers reason magic and is the easiest to empower. Simply study and learn and your reason magic will strengthen. Your connection in the world empowers faith, be that of friends or religion. You crest will make it difficult to learn such spells." She wondered if not being from this world contributed to her lack of faith magic. "Last, there is Dark magic, and that is the most tricky one. Most would say it's empowered by emotion, but they are misinformed. Truth empowers dark magic, be that yourself or the world." He looked at her and she could help but almost squirm at his gaze. "For now, only focus on reason. Trying to use dark magic at this point could harm you. Any questions?" His mouth pulled into a smile and with a face like his, he was terrifying.
"My crest, what is it?" She asked and by his reaction, that question didn't shock him, but he didn't answer right away. She could see in his eyes he was contemplating telling her.
"The crest you carry is from a Fell Dragon. This divine beast was said to be a weapon wielded by the goddess, but in a great battle, they turned and joined our side. We don't have a name for it, but all we know is the creature that held your crest was a brilliant tactician. It was even said he could see into the future." Solon looked her up and down giving a small smirk "We were slightly worried that you would turn into a rampaging dragon, but it seems the crest accepted you" He turned back to his papers. Solon said little more, so she read the book about magic, but was soon brought back to her room.
The last couple of days passed quickly. For Rayzonna, she was a kid in a candy store. Coming from a world with no magic, made learning magic even more interesting. One thing she could debunk from the games is set learned spells. In this world, you couldn't even consider a basic mage unless you could cast the four basic elemental spells; Fire, thunder, blizzard, and wind. The book talks about after you master the basics you would specialize in an element. At the end of the second day she was slightly disappointed, reason spells were just reciting equations. Hopefully, that was something at the next level that would make it more interesting, like being able to construct her own spell. She would have tried it if she wasn't worried about blowing herself to kingdom come. She quickly grew frustrated when she was practicing the flame spell. It was wimpy and small compared to the others. She hypothesized that her crest possibly dampened fire. There was a good possibility that the crest had more than just one effect, like in the games. This almost made her want to study crestology like Hanneman, but she shook her head at the thought. Did she have time for any of that?
Depending on where she was in the timeline and how soon Edelgard was experimented on would determine exactly how much time was left. She decided to err on the side of less time. Using the assumption Edelgard was already welding the Crest of Flames she would have a little less than 6 years. 6 years to fix, to prepare the world for the coming war. First things first, she needed to hone herself into a weapon so she could escape this place.
On the third day, she was bored having finished the book soon after getting up. She knew food was coming soon, they always seemed to feed her soon after she woke up. Her hand shook with nerves. If her plan went awry, they might just kill her. A knock was heard at the door and it soon opened. She felt her hands get cold as she prepared to cast her ice spell. When two of the mages walked in, she let the building spell fade. Her plan would have to wait.
"Subject Zero you have been requested, if you can't walk I can carry you once more. If you resist, we will have to put you in manacles" he shook the chains slightly to drive his point home. For only a half-second she considered blasting both of them and testing out her luck, but her rational mind told her otherwise. She gave them both a nod, standing up indicating she had no desire to resist. The men led her down the hallway in silence. They passed by multiple doors, but they were all closed tight. She cursed the Agarthans for their lackluster interior design. It was all function, no form. They entered a room that was small, tiny to be honest, the doors closed behind. Without the Agarthan's action, the room began to rise. She was in a freaking elevator. Damn you Rhea, forcing humans to take stairs. She smiled to herself. The ride soon stopped, and they entered a rather big circular room filled with loose sand. The edges of the arena had solid stone seats, some of which were filled with people. A couple of figures stuck out. Solon was here and he was watching her like a hawk. She worried she finished the book too fast and suspected her. The other made her tense up and almost stopped walking.
The woman had a kind and soft face, but right now it was pulled into a glare. She had light pink hair. The attire she wore was grandiose and golden. Cornelia was replaced by an Agarthan and was set on not letting Dimitri have his place on the throne. Rayzonna didn't know her true name, but it didn't matter right now. When she was brought to the center of the circle, the mages left her side to sit down in the seats. The quiet talking continued, almost like everyone in the room completely ignored her. She felt fear as she looked around once more, giving a better look at the audience. Almost none of the 30-ish people looked like the low-ranked grunt mages. The way they held themselves gave it away. She was surrounded by deadly foes.
Solon rose to his feet, a smug wide smile growing, and raised a hand. The crowd slowly quieted down. "Thales told me to arrange this meet to decide how best to use our newest resource" Solon motioned slightly to Rayzonna "She is infused with a powerful crest and has completed the basics of magic at 10." Dread entered her veins when she saw Cornelia's head perked up at that. She had learned the books too fast, and now Solon was suspecting something was up.
"While I could train her into a deadly practitioner of the magical art, Thales wishes for me to bring it up with the rest of you." Talking broke out right now. They were deciding her destiny: she needed to affect it. She couldn't just ask that would cause suspicion.
One of them stood up and shouted over the crowd, "My team and I could use her as another member in our clean-up crew in Faerghus." The crowd seemed to quiet somewhat. The man continued, "The Faerghus branch could use every hand they could get. We all know what's happening soon."
No one seemed to oppose him til that witch Cornelia stood. "Her potential would be wasted in your care. Clean-up? You're a fool, if she can learn this she deserves the best." Rayzonna would rather die once again than go with this witch, but Cornelia had more to say. "If she comes with me, she would have excess to King Lambert's resources and she would become a gem." Rayzonna could feel her own greed spike, there were some serious pros for going with her now. She would have all the time in the world to master magic, and she could probably meet the young prince himself. The cons she would be working for a power-hungry witch, but would that change with another Agarthan?
"You must think us all fools, you continue to gather power, maybe Thales should worry about you overthrowing him!" A female mage in the crowd yelled out, but Cornelia just widened into a monstrous smile "If Thales let his guard down enough for me to kill him, he would thank me." Dark energy pooled on the edges of her fingers "It's the survival of the fittest, if Thales is killed by one of us it only strengthens us as a whole. If you think you're in the right, I'll let you get the first strike." The female mage seemed to wither at Cornelia's words.
"Silence!" a stern booming voice came from behind Rayzonna. She twisted around and ended up falling on her ass in fear. The man in front of her looks like a ghost, stark white hair, beard and pupilless eyes. He wore plate mail that had a fur liner. Thales, the leader of this den of snakes. He didn't even glance in her direction before continuing, "This child is a powerful asset and you act like she is some treasure to boost your power." He clenched his hand and glared in Solon's direction "Solon, I wish you had waited for me, instead you pushed your own goals." Thales let out a sigh before letting his hand drop. "What was your goal here, because I think her going with Cornelia is best. You obviously had other plans"
Solon chuckled "You have always been able to see through me Thales. Her crest, I wish to train her before she goes off to the world above." Solon has had a smug look almost this entire meeting, but Thales didn't seem to budge looking to Cornelia.
"She will be yours after Solon is done with her. You will train her to the best of your abilities, and when I am ready, I will take her off your hands. With Solon's research, we will make someone capable of destroying the fell star once and for all. The head of the Adrestian Empire is the goal." Thales, while speaking slowly moved to a seat above everyone else. "Now to show that Solon isn't lying about this girl's capability, let's move onto the testing stage." Thales' voice was decisive and stern. One of the men that brought her here moved next to her, tossing a dagger at her feet. She picked it up, and it felt heavy in her hand. Did they expect a 10-year-old to fight? At a command from Thales, the door across from her opened.
A grey mass of fur walked out. It let out a low growl as it stared at her. Being a little girl, the wolf was almost 3 times her size. She felt her heart rush and a cold tingling sensation on the edges of her fingers. Time seemed to have slowed as she released the spell, it was slightly off target. Ice spikes erupted near the wolf, giving a deep gash in its hind leg. The wolf seemed to only be slowed slightly and her heart raced faster. The wolf would reach her before she could fire off another spell. For the first time since her operation, she felt that strange presence shift, and then the world froze. All she could see was the wolf and her in a black empty abyss.
When she looked closer at the wolf, she could see a 2nd one almost overlapping the first but slightly transparent. She blinked, and the image shifted once more. The wolf had replaced its apparition, and a new transparent wolf was there in a slightly different position. It finally clicked, she was seeing a slice of the future. The 'ghost' wolf was a moment in the future. She could use this to dodge the wolf and win this fight. The world came back, and she heard two of everything, but she put herself in a ready stance and tried to focus on the wolf. She could see the foresight moving and she channeled a spell. The wolf jumped at her, but she saw it coming. She rolled to the ground under it and cast at the spot where she saw it land with this new power. Spikes of ice impaled the wolf before it touched the ground. Her head was throbbing as the adrenaline faded. She closed her left eye, and the foresight seemed to stop. She sighed in relief.
She was forced to cough into her hand. Rayzonna felt her hand be splattered with liquid. When she looked down, her blood coated her hand. She was forced to take a knee as the pain slowly seeped into her head, centering on her left eye.
"Control yourself girl, less you be consumed by the crest." Solon's voice pierced the pain. His voice was calm and collected. She got her breathing under control. It worried her that she trusted Solon even just slightly here. "You are too young, your crest seems to have some drawbacks to its use." Solon let the statement hang before grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the elevator. "We have no time to lose, Cornelia will want you as soon as possible." He laughed as the elevator dropped. "The woman is impatient and greedy, it will bring me great joy in making her wait." Solon led them through the hallway back to his study. Solon was too excited to study her. He knew something was up. It seemed the mental sparring match had started.
After some grunts cleaned her wounds she sat across for the mage, him giving him a wide toothy grin. "Where did you learn magic like that, Or do you think I should just believe some peasant just so happens to be a prodigy?" He was cutting right to the heart of his concerns it seems, she needed to think quick.
"I have had no teaching. It almost felt like I knew the spell before. It was like remembering something from a dream." She said, Solon's grin not seeming to falter, he leaned back in the chair.
"As you grow older your crest will grow stronger, and it will be harder for you to control. From now on you will wear something that will stop you from activating it," Solon slid a cloth object over to her. It was an eye patch. "We saw an image flash over your left eye, the eyepatch will help suppress it," She went to grab it but he put up a hand to stop her. "What did it do for you? Could you see into the future?" She worried if she told him she would never leave.
"Time just slowed down, it gave me time to decide" She guessed that wasn't entirely untrue, but Solon just seemed to nod before standing up. She worried he caught her in the lie, but he walks over to the bookshelf, pulling a couple of books.
"I would guess we have about 36 hours before Thales prys you from me. The first 12 hours will be me cramming as much of my knowledge into you. The 2nd 12 hours will be you holding your crest power as long as you can, take a break to be healed and repeat. The last 12 will be sparring, am I clear?" he said as he set a couple of books next to her "I will answer questions that you may have." She quickly opened the book and read.
10 hours in and she feared her eyes would bleed if she had to read another word of this damned book. She noted how simple she thought the basic level of magic was, and how much harder the next level was. She hated to admit that Solon's company was slightly pleasant. He answered her questions without a hint of malice or disgust; she drank the information he provided. Rayzonna was looking forward to casting new spells, but the old mage shot down the idea.
"You're not ready." He said plainly, "You are just a child, if you try to fly too high you might permanently damage your capability to do magic." He folded his arms "Normally I wouldn't care for you, but I believe a prodigy like yourself is worth giving up principles."
She looked him up and down, not sure what to say to the man. He had possibly saved her from blowing herself up, but out of greed, not kindness. "Thank you, Master." She had to hold back a giggle because she swore the words hit the man almost like a fist. He quickly shook it off, giving Rayzonna a deep glare.
"I am not your master. You are a tool for us, nothing more, nothing less. I do not need your thanks, just as I do not need to thank a knife." Solon glared at her, but she seemed to meet his gaze perfectly fine.
"I am using you to get stronger. As a commoner I would have had nothing. Now I have a chance to do what I want with my own power." Solon's glare slowly turned into a neutral expression.
"My, you will be a force of nature when you get older. I look forward to watching you grow." She looked back to the book, but soon felt a dark presence from where Solon was standing. "Do not forget girl, I was the one that granted you that power. I will end you if you step one hair out of line, or if you cause more trouble than you are worth" Her head snapped back to him, heart pounding. In his right hand, dark purple energy coalesced. She felt the same energy from her last fight overtook her. The world only seemed to slow down a hair. She saw no foresight of Solon releasing the spell, so she relaxed slightly.
"Solon, you would not kill me so frivolously. I am worth more to you alive and we both know that. This is a play for me to fear you, it will not work." Rayzonna gambled, Solon's pride was on the line here. The magic in his hand dispersed as he sighed, glaring at her once more.
"Keep channeling your crest, we will start this block sooner than I thought, you read faster than I calculated. I will go get healers, do nothing too reckless."
As Solon left, she had some time to herself once more. She now had the basic knowledge of the 2nd tier of spells, but she must wait until her body could handle channeling those spells. That stung more than she would care to admit. She needed to be stronger if she wished to save everyone. That brought her to the power of her crest, the ability to see slightly into the future. It would be an amazing tool to have in battle, even if the drawbacks seem to nearly cripple her afterward. While her body at this moment had limits, her mind didn't. While under Cornelia's care, she would absorb as much of the king's library as she could.
Rayzonna felt a slight headache coming on as this marked the 2nd minute for her crest. She wondered if the after-effects would be worse the longer she channeled it. The thought of her crest becoming uncontrollable and her needing to wear an eyepatch scared her slightly. Rayzonna also feared being consumed by her crest and wondered if it was possible. People being consumed by weapons was one thing, but what if your blood revolted against her? She swore she felt the presence in her head shift slightly at that. She heard the door swing back open, and it made her drop her concentration. Her headache amplified 10 fold, she grabbed her head as she let out a high-pitched scream. She felt the monster in her head like it was trying to escape. It felt like someone was trying to push her eyeball out of her from inside her skull. She felt blood running down the left side of her face, and inside her mouth. She felt hands on her, and she could register that people were talking, but she couldn't hear them.
The world went back, and she fought it. Rayzonna refused to lose. She feared that if she gave up now, her crest would swallow her whole. She forced herself through the pain, keeping herself awake. When her eyes landed on Solon, the darkness slowly faded and cool healing energy entered her body.
"Luckily for you, healing tonics still work on you." He helped her into a chair, handing her a tonic. "It seems we were right to fear you being consumed, but it seems you are stronger-willed than we thought." His smile grew as he looked down on her "Now get ready girl because you have two minutes before you will try again" Rayzonna gave him a look of complete shock. She knew Solon would push her to the limit, but she was there right now. Solon must have seen the look because he slammed his fist on the desk "You must learn to resist the backlash, healers won't always be nearby." His face turned into a scowl "This training is to stop you from killing yourself you daft girl, you need not understand it just do it." Rayzonna gritted her teeth contemplating throwing herself at the mage spell in hand, hoping for the best. She slowly let out a sigh before channeling her crest.
Rayzonna spent the next 5 hours semi-conscious, her head always having a dull throbbing pain. She was thankful when Solon called the training off and told her to get some sleep. Rayzonna was unsure if the training would help because all she could feel was pain. She was giving 5 hours of rest and 2 hours of downtime. Solon had promised that she could make up sleep on the trip to Fhirdiad.
After being woke up she felt the tonics had done their work and the dull pain would only slow her down slightly. She spent the majority of the next two hours stretching, trying to ease the pain. Her mind drifted to her next destination. The capital of the kingdom, the home of the Blue Lions. She would work for Cornelia, and that means she would be working for the king. Her mind thought about the young prince. This could be an amazing opportunity. She could gain Dimitri's trust and learn more about magic while she was there. She smiled to herself as she was looking forward to meeting little kid versions of the cast. What would they be like? Would Dimitri even give her a second glance? She supposed she wasn't strictly a commoner anymore, so there was the possibility.
She could hear the footsteps approach her door, but she beat them to it. They led her back to the sandy arena, but luckily there were only two people in the stands. Solon and Cornelia watched her like a hawk. A couple of grunts stood across from her. Weapons were drawn. She felt a shiver entering the room after almost dying. Her escorts pointed at a nearby rack of weapons. It would be good to have a backup in case someone closed the distance. She looked through the rack and her escorts helped her get the necessary light armor on. It was slightly too big and looking at the weapons there were all made for an adult except for one category. Her helpers put on a belt that had many daggers. She had 5 in her belt, and one in her hand. The next half an hour was spent giving her a basic overview of the daggers and how to use them.
She stepped into the ring and one man who had just been talking stepped forward. She could hear him talk to his buddies about how quick this match would be over. Rayzonna wanted to humiliate him, and if he had no magic, this match would be hers. Solon gave a wave of his hand to start the match.
Her crest activated on its own, but she was thankful. He was rushing her down, but she knew where he was going. She channeled a blizzard ready to drop it right in front of him, but she saw the foresight of the man rolling to the left. It was simple to put it where he was going. The blizzard impaled the man, but only slightly she wasn't strong enough to end it in one shot as she planned. The man was soon upon her, sword already coming down in a swing. Rayzonna could dodge because of Foresight, but she couldn't dodge forever as she felt her body getting tired. She prepared a wind spell to blast him back, but found herself on the ground with a sword to her neck. She cursed herself for getting cocky.
"You were too focused on me, you didn't even notice my foot about to trip you." He said helping her up "Also, while magic is strong you have daggers, use them." he said sternly. He walked back, and another took his place. This one had a lance. She sighed, her body already tired from that one fight. This was going to be a long 12 hours. She tried to count her wins and losses but wasn't 100 percent sure. By her count 154 losses and 2 wins. She was almost sure one of those had been given to her. When Solon had said she was done, she dropped to the ground exhausted. She wouldn't be surprised if she was purple, because she felt like a walking bruise. She heard the crunching of sand as the two mages walked over to her.
"Well Solon, I'll be taking her now. Thank you for wasting my time." The venom in her voice was clear. "She lost nearly every fight, and you call her a prodigy." Rayzonna wishes she had the energy to tell her to fuck off, but all that comes out was a sigh.
"Considering she never had held a weapon in her life, and only 1 fight using magic, I would say she did remarkably. At 10 years old she lasted 156 fights, I would like to see you do better." Rayzonna wondered why Solon was defending her, but she would take what she could get.
She heard a scoff from the witch before a snap of the fingers "You there, take her to the exit, we are leaving. Now." Rayzonna felt herself being thrown over someone's shoulder. She was numb and felt her eyes droop. She didn't resist, she let her body slip to sleep. When she awoke, hopefully, she would be in the Fhirdiad.