"At last. Garreg Mach Monastery…"
Staring up at the imposing gates that led to the centuries old seat of power for the Church of Seiros, a young girl stared in awestruck wonder, as if she couldn't believe that she was actually here. Said girl was a petite young woman with steely gray eyes, rusty orange hair that fell in a pristine curtain to her shoulders, and a fair complexion. Dressed in an expertly tailored and immaculate blouse and long skirt defining her as a member of nobility, the girl took a deep breath as she fussed with her outfit and smoothed at her hair as she prepared herself to take the next step that would change her future. "Just you wait, Mother…Father…" The girl murmured to herself with a look of fierce determination. "I'll show you. As your daughter, I'll be sure to make you proud of me!"
As the young girl strode through the gates and into the bustling market area occupying the entry courtyard, she marveled at the famed Knights of Seiros that casually strode by her, as well as gawked at the impressive wares being displayed by the various vendors as she ascended the nearby stairwell. So enamored was she by her surroundings, she was startled when a jovial voice hailed her from a few feet away. "Greetings, miss! May I assist you?" Looking to the source of the voice, the rusty-haired girl was met with a smiling sentry standing guard at the entrance to what looked like a grand reception hall of some sort. "Oh! I beg your pardon." The girl replied with practice prose, her mouth curving into a polite smile. "Yes, I would appreciate your assistance. Would you happen to know where I can locate the Officer's Academy?" "Of course! Are you an incoming student?" The gatekeeper replied. The girl nodded. "Yes, yes I am." It felt empowering to the girl to hear herself say that; yes, she was a student at the prestigious Officer's Academy. An accomplishment she had achieved of her own merit, no one else's.
The gatekeeper nodded as he pointed somewhere beyond the girl to the northwest. "Excellent! Just make your way through this hall, up the steps, past the gardens, and make a right once you enter the main hall. Your room assignment and academy uniform will be waiting for you at your House's classroom." The girl dipped her head in gratitude as she memorized the directions. "Thank you for your assistance, sir." The gatekeeper beamed happily as he saluted. "You're quite welcome, miss! Congratulations, and welcome to Garreg Mach!" Her smile slightly more genuine, the girl nodded again as she began following the gatekeeper's directions until she found herself in an open pavilion filled with fellow students (and cats, oddly enough). Her eyes scanning the trio of classrooms, the girl's eyes finally landed on the middle classroom bearing the telltale blue banner emblazoned with a poised silver lion, denoting the classroom belonging to the Blue Lion House for students from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. The girl immediately made her way to the classroom, passing the threshold and making her way to the main desk where a gray-haired gentleman wearing a heavy coat and a monocle sat with a list set before him. The man soon noticed the girl's approach and smiled warmly. "Hello, miss. Are you an incoming student?" Once again, the girl beamed with pride as she replied, "Yes, I am." The man nodded in return. "Wonderful! I'll assume you are well aware that this classroom is for students hailing from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. Now, may I please have your name, miss?" The girl nodded and opened her mouth to respond when a voice called out behind her.
"Vivi? Oh my gosh, Vivi, is that you?"
'Vivi' froze where she stood, all elation at being at the Officer's Academy suddenly melting away as something…else crept into its place. There was only one person she knew who called her by that name. One person who she hoped beyond hope that she would NOT run into, here of all places. Forcing her mouth once more into the polite smile all noble children are taught at an early age to give to others – even individuals they may not particular like – 'Vivi' turned to address the person calling out to her.
"Oh, hello Annette. What…a surprise to see you here."
"Vivi, it is you!" Annette squealed as she ran forward and tackled the rusty-haired girl in a tight bear hug, causing the recipient to wince. "I can't believe it's you! I'm so happy to see you here!" 'Vivi' chuckled awkwardly as she patted the smaller girl on her back. "R-right. Hey, um, Annette? Could you please let go now?" "Oh! Yeah, sorry!" Annette squeaked as she stepped back, her smile as bright as the sun. "I'm just…really happy to see you here, Vivi." "Yes," the girl responded back, her own smile twitching at the corner of her mouth. "You've said as much."
"Annie? Where did you go?" Another lighter, yet mature voice, called out from the classroom's entrance as another girl appeared. As the girl's eyes landed on Annette, her concerned expression quickly turned into a kind smile, almost motherly in nature. "Oh, there you are Annie! I was so surprised when you suddenly ran off." Annette chuckled sheepishly. "Oops! Sorry about that, Mercie. I just saw someone I recognized." The other girl – 'Mercie' – approached the pair, her gentle eyes falling on 'Vivi.' "Oh, hello there. Are you a friend of Annie's?" "More than that!" Annette said with barely restrained excitement. "Let me introduce you to her!"
"Ahem!"
All three girls spun around to face the gentleman behind them, his previous smile now replaced with an expectant frown. "Pardon me for the interruption, but I would very much like to be introduced to you as well, young lady." He tapped a quill on the piece of parchment before him, a roster most likely. "Your name, if you please?" "R-right! Of course, my sincerest apologies, sir." The rusty-haired girl fumbled out her apology while doing her best to contain her now blossoming frustration behind a congenial smile.
"My name is Vivian Fae Dominic, daughter of Baron Dominic of Faerghus."
"Dominic…Dominic…" The gentleman murmured as he pored over the roster until his quill came to a stop. "Ah, yes! Here you are, right under miss Annette. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, my dear." Checking off her name, the gentleman reached down behind the desk and retrieved a female academy uniform with a small note resting on top. "Here is your official academy uniform, as well as a note containing the location of your living quarters. Inside, you will find your bedding as well as additional sets of your academy uniform." He set the clothing down on the desk as he extended a hand. "I am Professor Hanneman, an instructor here at the Officer's Academy. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to come to me with them." Taking the outstretched hand, Vivian's smile began to regain some of its lost luster as she glanced briefly at the uniform that would mark her as an academy student. "I will. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Professor." Hanneman chuckled as he withdrew his hand. "A pleasure indeed, my dear. You have the remainder of the day to make yourself at home and become familiar with the monastery grounds." With that, the professor sat back down as he reviewed the paperwork in front of him as Vivian retrieved her new belongings.
"Oh, this is so exciting!" Annette gushed from behind Vivian, drawing a sigh from the older girl. "We're going to have so much fun together; me, you, and Mercie! Oh, speaking of!" Annette gestured to the girl beside her. "Vivian, this is my best friend, Mercedes! Mercie, this is my older cousin, Vivian. But I like to call her Vivi!" Mercedes gave Vivian a gentle smile. "Hello, Vivian. I'm Mercedes von Martritz. It's a pleasure to meet you." Vivian nodded in acknowledgement. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Mercedes." "Oh please," Mercedes said with a giggle. "There's no need to be so formal. You can call me Mercie too, if you'd like!" "Er, I'll keep that in mind." Vivian murmured. "Well, I'm going to get myself situated in my quarters…" Annette's eyes lit up with excitement. "Ooh! We can help you move in! Right, Mercie?" Mercedes nodded enthusiastically. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, Annie! It would also give me the opportunity to get to know you more, Vivian!" "Th-that's really not necessary. I can…" Vivian's voice, however, went unheard as the two friends took hold of Vivian's arms and pulled her along.
Eventually, the trio managed to locate Vivian's living quarters and immediately got to work helping the reluctant girl arrange the room to her liking, with some small talk filling the room. Once everything was finished, Vivian released a sigh of relief. "Finally," she muttered under her breath before turning to her two 'guests.' "Annette, Mercedes. Thank you for your help in arranging my room. If it's all the same to the both of you, I'd like to get some rest for a moment." Annette nodded with a cheery smile. "You're welcome, Vivi! When you're all rested up, come find me and Mercie! We could all explore the monastery together, and you and I can do some catching up!" "R-right, sure…" Vivian responded with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. "It was nice meeting you, Vivian!" Mercedes said as she exited the room. "I look forward to getting to know you. I hope you and I can become friends, just like Annie and I!" Again, Vivian nodded with forced enthusiasm. "Um, yes. It was nice making your acquaintance as well, Mercedes." With that, Mercedes and Annette exited the room, with orange-haired girl squealing "This will be great!" as the door closed.
Alone at last, Vivian's practiced smile finally slipped away into an annoyed scowl as she sat on her bed. "Of course, she would be here! Always butting into everything I commit to." She grabbed her pillow and squeezed it in her hands with all her might, allowing it to take the brunt of her frustrations. "Fine. It doesn't matter." She spoke assuredly to herself as she released her pillow and held up her new uniform. "I'll just avoid her. She stays out of my way, and I'll stay out of hers." Standing up and walking toward a mirror she had brought with her from home, Vivian held the uniform up to her, allowing her reflection a small smile of approval. "This is my moment. My future." She stared intently at her reflection, approving the steely determination found within her gaze.
"And I won't let anyone stop me from seizing what's mine!"
Sighing with relief, Hanneman lightly rapped the neat stack of documents in his hands to straighten them out. Registration had finally come to an end, with all of the students off somewhere either exploring the monastery or getting settled into their rooms. Relishing the peace and quiet for a brief moment, Hanneman stood up and prepared to deliver the Blue Lions student roster to Seteth's office before making his way to his own study for the remainder of the day. However, as he picked up the sheet of student documents, one page slipped from his grasp and fell to the stone floor. "Oh, blast." The professor murmured as he set down the stack of parchment on the desk before bending down to retrieve the fallen document. Straightening up, Hanneman scanned the roster profile he had dropped so that he could neatly return it to its proper place within the stack. Seeing the name 'Vivian Fae Dominic,' he turned to the stack and carefully inserted the document back to its rightful place. However, a portion managed to stick out to the side, and as Hanneman moved a hand to pat it neatly in place, his eyes glanced over one specific note of information listed on the document. A look of sympathy briefly crossed his face as the palm of his hand gently pat the document into alignment with the rest, obscuring the one record that caught his eye:
'Crest: Crestless'
Author's Note: Hey there! Here I am, back at it with another crazy story idea with another OC! This time, let's step into Fodlan and allow me to introduce you to the main focus of this story: Vivian Fae Dominic, sole daughter of Baron Dominic of Faerghus, niece of Gilbert, and older cousin to Annette!
So, this character and the direction this story will take is one I've been sitting on for a while and wasn't sure until now how to put it on paper. This story will lightly follow the Azure Moon route of Three Houses, mainly focusing on conversations between Vivian and select characters within the Blue Lions during Part 1 of the game before focusing heavily on the post time-skip chapters of Annette and Gilbert's paralogue and chapter 18 of Azure Moon. The reason for these specific choice of chapters will be revealed as the story progresses.
As for Vivian herself, her conception is heavily influenced by the character Vivien from the Story of King Arthur and His Knights. Like her source of inspiration, Vivian is a magic-wielding unit while also possessing a powerful drive to succeed and be acknowledged for her achievements and prowess. She also - as you may have noticed - is without a Crest, unlike her bubbly cousin, which you can bet will play a BIG part in this narrative! One of the main goals of this story is to highlight the conversation and ensuing events touched upon in chapter 5 of Part 1 in Three Houses, concerning Faerghus' strongly held beliefs regarding Crest-bearing and non Crest-bearing children. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this new story, and I'll see you again soon!