Here it is at last! The big mama, the pinnacle and my personal obra maestra for the Three Houses fanfiction fanbase!

After hurting myself repeatedly by writing Forlorn Feelings, the story it was based from is finally here!

This story will go beyond what is shown in the game's Crimson Flower route as well as explore not just Lysithea's involvement in that route but significantly expand on her various relationship with different characters besides Byleth, especially her expanded bond with Edelgard as the story develops!

Prologue

House Ordelia, ruled by a man more commonly known as Count Ordelia along with his wife, was a noble family in the Leicester Alliance who had built up their power and reputation as a noble house of intelligent individuals and blessed with a strong affinity for the arcane arts.

Among the recent members of House Ordelia however, one such girl showed extraordinary qualities above what an average Ordelia possesses.

Her name was Lysithea von Ordelia, first daughter and eldest child of Count Ordelia, her birth was celebrated due to the discovery that she possessed latent magical power unseen in recent times which prompted House Ordelia to declare that Lysithea is bound for greatness as she grows up.

True to such declaration, at a young age, Lysithea had shown considerable intelligence as well as her curious nature allowed her to become smarter than anyone in her age, pouring most of her time reading books to educate herself rather than spend time to play in and outside of her house just like most children her age would rather do.

Though this brought concern to her parents because of Lysithea's over-studious nature, the subsequent births of Lysithea's siblings finally snapped her out of her reverie to finally find time to play with her siblings, often visiting them in the nursery or their cribs.

At age five, Lysithea's strong affinity for magic manifested when she accidentally set the mansion's gardens in fire, though she was scolded, she was praised even more upon awakening her magical powers at such a young age.

She was eventually tutored by a scholar and mage hired by her parents to better control her magic which she often used to entertain her siblings and cousins, smiling at their awestrucked expressions and beaming with pride. They were her source of joy besides the books she's been reading and she loves her siblings and cousins more than anyone else beside her parents.

One day, while Lysithea practiced on her magic, displaying excellent performance, a group of men wearing black robes with eerie patterns and masks arrived in their mansion along with wagons containing strange looking equipment, they were accompanied by soldiers bearing the colors of the Adrestian Empire.

Even at a young age, Lysithea noticed that the people in the mansion, those who were particularly close to her parents disappeared without a word, even her uncles and aunts vanished and were being asked for by her young cousins, they were beginning to grow restless at the absence of their parents.

When Lysithea asked her parents why people have been leaving the mansion and the men wearing black robes kept on staying day after day like they owned the place, her father couldn't say anything else other than they were guests as the men in black robes watched their every move.

One day, she was told that her tutor had gone off somewhere and as such, one of the men wearing black robes began to take over her magic lessons. Unlike the scholar who was teaching her, the man kept on pricking her finger with a needle and taking drops of blood to use to 'gauge' out her power for analysis.

Lysithea never truly understood why she and her siblings kept getting their blood drawn out of them or who were these masked men in black until one such day occurred.

Lysithea was studying as usual in the library while being watched over by her 'tutor' when she heard a loud scream that sounded like her younger brother.

Despite her 'tutor's' orders to stay put, Lysithea defied him and rushed downstairs to find her younger brother being dragged away by a man in black towards the basement cellar beneath the mansion.

Her younger brother screamed and kicked as he was dragged away by the arm as Lysithea watched in horror, she turned to her mother and father who would could only watch in horror and cry helplessly at what's happening.

Gritting her teeth in anger for the first time, Lysithea attacked the man who was dragging her brother away with a fireball before she was immediately restrained by the other black robed men for her actions.

Her brother's dragger burned before his associates managed to put it off but the damage was done, Lysithea finally saw a glimpse of what lies beneath those masks and black robes.

They were of pale white skin unlike anyone she has ever seen and their sclera was black as night with irises of yellow color.

Lysithea was immediately knocked unconscious for what she did and when she awoke, she learned that her younger brother hasn't returned from the cellar.

Days passed and one by one, her siblings and cousins were taken down to the cellar. Despite her questions and demands, they were all unanswered until she noticed she was the only one remaining among the children in the house.

Further questions were met with silence, Lysithea wasn't even allowed to be with her parents.

Then one day upon waking from her sleep, she found herself in the cellar, her hands and legs bound and shackled on an inclined wooden surface.

After the men in black robes discussed over experiments and the failed subjects, Lysithea began to show signs of fear and such fear was amplified when, despite her limited vision, she saw the body of her younger sister slumped on a dark corner in the cellar.

Lysithea, in her young age, had difficulty comprehending what she just saw as she called out for her younger sister, each call more frantic than the previous one.

Her calls for her sister was immediately replaced with a loud shriek of pain was she felt the skin on her back being cut open by something sharp, tears welled up in her eyes as she continued to scream.

What happened afterwards was her own definition of what hell felt like. She could feel like foreign objects being embedded on the open flesh of her back and something else flowed within the veins of her body, she screamed and screamed until she lost every bit of consciousness she had.

Smoke and ash filled her lungs, the screams of anguish of many people were heard as their flesh burned with flames, the smell of blood filled her nose.

Lysithea felt a sting of pain on the left side of her body and glanced at it, she saw her body stained by blood, her blood as she touched the excruciating pain in her damaged flesh.

She looked up to see a man, his face obscured, looking down at her with a sword raised above his head.

"I'm sorry." The man said before the sword descended down on her.

Next thing she knew, she felt the breeze of the ocean sweep passed her, replacing the scent of blood as well as the screams of anguish being replaced by that of the sound the ocean waves crashing on the rocks below the cliff she was standing on.

Another breeze swept, making her blinked until she saw a small girl standing on the edge of the cliff, her back facing her. Lysithea couldn't make out what color her hair and clothes was but she felt that this girl… she was significant, at least that's what her mind kept convincing her to believe.

And this wasn't the first time the girl has ever visited her.

Lysithea's pink-red eyes opened as she immediately sat up from her bed, she breathed heavily as she awoke from the nightmares and the mysterious girl that constantly appeared in her dreams after all the nightmares.

She got out of her bed before wearing the pair of slippers on the side of her bed, she went to the basin of clean water on the other side of her room to wash her face as she heard the sounds of birds chirping through the morning sky from her room's curtain covered windows.

Her thoughts lingered on to her constant dreams of the girl until she heard a soft knock from behind her door.

Lysithea went to open the door leading outside her room to be greeted by one of the maids of her family. The maid bowed politely to her before handing her a sealed white envelope.

"Lady Lysithea, this letter has arrived for you just now."

Lysithea gave her a nod.

"Thank you." Lysithea sheepishly thanked the maid.

Taking her thanks as permission to leave, the maid left the young noble at her doorway.

Lysithea then looked at the letter she held before turning it on its other side to see who sent it to her.

It was a letter from a place called Garreg Mach Monastery...

And with that, this personal big project of mine begins!

Thank you for the time and energy you guys spent reading this story! This story will basically sum up my personal headcanon for Lysithea's story in Crimson Flower which has been hounding me for quite a while prior to this story's writing.

Reviews are very much appreciated and I hope to see your continued support of this story!