Author's note: Sorry to have kept you waiting!
Keep in mind, that all underage characters have been aged up. Also there is a more 'suggestive' version of this fic on AO3.
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After meeting Siegfried, both siblings were allowed to meet the rest of Schwarzwind. The first person they came across was Hilde, who was in the middle of lecturing a few soldiers.
"Excuse me, but..." Pyrrha managed to say, "But are you one of Mr. Schtauffen's associates?"
The redhead was able to notice, and looked over at her and Patroklos with a smile. "Why, of course. My name's Hildegarde, but you can call me Hilde."
"So let me get this straight, you used to be coached by Freyja?" he asked her.
"Yes, that's correct. But nowadays, she has Marie under her wing." was her reply.
It didn't take long for one of the soldiers to exclaim, "Well, if it isn't the Alexandra siblings!"
Both Pyrrha and Patroklos brought their attention from Hilde to the two soldiers, and the other one lightly smacked him upside the head. "Dammit, Greed! You're supposed to introduce yourself, not go 'Ooh, I've seen these guys before!'"
"Um...who're you?" Pyrrha asked.
The taller, and more moderately built soldier, with fairly stringy brown hair, replied, "I'm Malice. And this guy here's Greed."
Greed was the shorter, and rather potbellied soldier with short dark blond hair. He grinned and was about to greet them when Malice remembered something off the top of his head.
"Hold on...you there, the taller dude. We just so happen to run into you once when we were misfit children." he said.
"Y-You remember me?" Patroklos asked, blinking in bewilderment.
"Yeah, not to mention we tried to jump you when you overheard us talkin' to Z.W.E.I.."
"And then Ares and Athena interfered."
"Yeah, yeah, we know!" Greed exclaimed, following up with, "...Maybe?"
"Z.W.E.I.? Sounds like an interesting fellow. Would you mind if Pyrrha and I meet him in person?" he asked.
"Of course we do! And there's nothin' you can do about it!"
Malice's words prompted Patroklos to roll his eyes, letting out an annoyed sigh. It wasn't long until another voice was heard.
"Ares and Athena, huh?"
Pyrrha almost jolted, offering to hide behind her brother's back in fear. "I remember meeting those three, too." she spoke softly.
"I see that."
Patroklos then turned the man whom the voice belonged to, and asked, "So you're Z.W.E.I., huh?"
"Heh...how'd you guess?"
"Considering you and your cronies have gotten older, you guys have probably changed for the better, have you?" he said, smirking as he crossed his arms.
"Very much so...what are your names?" Z.W.E.I. asked.
"I'm Patroklos, and this is my sister Pyrrha." was Patroklos's response.
Pyrrha almost shyly emerged from behind him, and bowed courteously. "Pleased to meet you...Z.W.E.I.."
Z.W.E.I. just smirked, and said, "You've grown to be pretty good-looking siblings. I bet you got those looks from your parents."
"Are you tryin' to get flirty with her?" Malice asked, referring to Pyrrha.
"Yeah, you still got Viola on your mind, right?" Greed added.
The silver-haired man sighed as he looked over at the duo, and replied, "I haven't made up my mind about getting together with her yet. So could you please not barge in next time?"
"Sorry, boss." both Greed and Malice said in unison.
"And for your information...yeah, we look a lot like our parents, alright!" Patroklos exclaimed. He also added, "We even got guardian deities to watch over us, too."
"Ares, mainly. And lately, I'm afraid that my brother has been following in his footsteps." Pyrrha said.
"HEY!"
"Well, this conversation between the lot of you has been quite interesting. The fact that you and your brother are the children of Sophitia Alexandra, the Holy Warrior. Not to mention guardian deities..."
It was Hilde that broke in with her words, and added, "Oh, and I forgot to mention, these two," she turned her eyes over to Greed and Malice, "they had wanted to join a group like Schwarzwind when they were just teenagers, so Z.W.E.I. relented and let them in."
Both men just grinned and waved their hands, as if to say, 'Hey, we're here!' Nevertheless, Z.W.E.I. looked over at both siblings and said, "Even if you tried to snoop in on us when we were younger...I still look forward to getting along with the two of you; as long as you're not bothering me while I'm busy."
Pyrrha nodded, as did Patroklos, who added, "Maybe I'll look forward to the two of us becoming potential rivals, too."
"We'll see..."
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The next day, Patroklos and Pyrrha were then brought to where the Mad Hearts Neo resided: a fairly large, mansion-like building. In fact, the interior was just as roomy as they expected it to be.
The base featured seven bedrooms, five for each of the members, and two guest bedrooms that the siblings would use. There was also a room where the group would hold their meetings, as well as a kitchen where they would make their own foods, and a dining room nearby with a total of eight seats.
It also had a public bathing chamber, to which both sexes are allowed to bathe together. However, the Mad Hearts Neo had also prohibited any potential wanton activity from ever happening there, as they wanted to make sure that nothing suspicious could come out of it.
There was even a training room, a study for Lydia, and even a garden that Elizabeth (who openly admitted that planting flowers and gardening were some of her favorite things) would attend to.
"So, what do you think?" the siblings heard a voice ask.
They would look over at the girl who asked, and Pyrrha replied with a smile, "The accommodations you provided for us are quite reasonable; thank you, Marie."
"Don't mention it. Besides, you guys are probably gonna be here for quite some time. Well, I have to go and hang out with Viola, so we'll talk again soon, okay?"
"Who's Viola?" Patroklos asked.
"Hmm? Never met her before have you?" Marie cupped her chin in thought, before she said, "Well, she's usually admiring the scenery up on the hill, so maybe both of you could get to know each other. I'll even introduce her to you!"
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After having agreed, the trio of Patroklos, Pyrrha and Marie traveled to the hill that Marie had mentioned (and also the same place where they first met Freyja). True to her word, they would notice Viola looking over the townscape of Lasberg.
The white-haired girl quickly detected Marie's presence, but was confused as to whom the others were. "Marie?" she asked, standing up and walking towards the group.
"Hey, Viola!" was her vibrant greeting.
It didn't take long for Marie to add, "This is Viola; she also happens to be aligned with Schwarzwind, though I think it's because of Z.W.E.I.. In fact, I think he was the first friend she ever made before she befriended me."
"Who might the two of you be?"
"My name's Patroklos, and this is my sister Pyrrha. We're both the children of Sophitia Alexandra, in case you're wondering." Patroklos responded.
"It's nice to see you being courteous for once." Pyrrha said to him with a smile.
He let out a small sigh and said, "Well, I'm being as courteous as I can. Hell, this is the first time we've ever met this girl."
"You mean me? Or Marie?" Viola asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You, of course." Pyrrha replied.
"I see..." It wouldn't be long before Viola stared out at the city again, and from the looks of things, it almost reminded her of a certain city that had even more charm than Lasberg.
Marie briefly looked at her, before turning her attention to the duo. "She has had amnesia for quite some time; hopefully, she'll be able to learn who she is as time passes."
Pyrrha wryly smiled, though Patroklos was surprised. "Really? What was her life like before she-"
Suddenly, Pyrrha glared at him for a moment, before he sighed and said, "Sorry I asked something like that. If I offended you, then my apologies."
Viola, having heard their conversation, told them, "It's okay; you never did."
"Thank the gods for that!" Patroklos exclaimed as he breathed a sigh of relief.
"So, is this everyone we had to introduce ourselves to?"
Pyrrha's question prompted a nod of approval from Marie, who replied, "You guys are more than happy to stay with us; heck, you might even help me, my friends, and even my parents deal with Nightmare if he ever shows up."
"Thank you." the elder sibling said, bowing her head with a genuine smile.
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The next day...
After breakfast was had, Pyrrha and Patroklos went their separate ways. As the younger sibling began to practice his combat skills with the sword and shield he had obtained from his teenage years, he had remembered as to how Marie reminded him about sparring with her father later on in the day.
"Um...mister?"
Helen had just called out to him, and that prompted him to turn and ask, "What are you doing here?"
"I...Well, I just wanted to let you now that Marie's dad had-"
"She already told me so. And why do you keep calling me 'Mister'?" he told her.
"Because...You're older than me, so I have to be formal...Mister Patroklos?"
Scratching the back of his head, he took notice of what she just said, and pondered for a bit. He then took a breath and replied, "I don't mind you referring to me as 'Mister' or even 'Mister Patroklos'."
"Really?" Helen asked, a small smile on her face.
"Yes, really. I mean, yeah, you're gonna need to drop the 'Mister' bit later on as we hang out more often."
"Maybe..."
She went and gave him a small hug, much to his surprise, and said, "I hope I'm not interrupting your practice."
"Of course not."
When Helen left the training room, Patroklos resumed his work. However, someone else was able to arrive, but not in the same way as Helen.
As he materialized, Ares had already crossed his arms, a rather perturbed expression on his face. "Really? You want her to keep referring to you as 'Mister'? What are you, babying her or something?"
"No, I wasn't. I just thought that was a term of endearment." Patroklos replied.
"A term of endearment? Pfft. I tried using one on Athena with 'Attie' once when we were younger, and she just glared at me."
"You mean your sister Athena? And Pyrrha's mentor at that, too?"
"Of course, you idiot! What, you don't remember her as much as Pyrrha?" Ares snapped.
"I do remember her, thank you very much!"
Rolling his eyes, Ares grumbled under his breath. "Fine. If you want the girl to refer to you as 'Mister', that's fine, I guess. I would've preferred that you told her to refer to you by your name, instead."
At the same time, Patroklos seemed puzzled as to why he was behaving that way towards her and the other girls of the Mad Hearts Neo. Perhaps, a change of heart in the future...?
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"So, Dad, about that prophecy..."
Marie had been curious as to why she was one of the "Fated Heroes" that Siegfried had brought up to her team, as well as the Alexandra siblings. She even wanted to know whom the other one was, as she was certain it could be either them, any of the Mad Hearts Neo (excluding herself), or even Z.W.E.I. or Viola.
"As much as I am honored to be one of the 'Fated Heroes', I'm kind of wondering if you know who the other one could possibly be."
Siegfried sighed as he looked over at his daughter, replying, "As of now, I am not sure. Only Freyja knows, for sure, but she's yet to reveal who."
She nodded, and added, "I can't wait!" while sporting an excited smile.
"I know you are extremely eager to find out, but just play it by ear?" Tristy, who was also present with her husband, told her.
"Okay."
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Up next will be Part 2 of Chapter 1!
With love for my fans,
Chrissy