Hey guys! If you have read my other works of Marred Mirrors or Viridian Viper's Wayward Saint, go ahead and ignore this.

However

If you haven't read them, I severely implore you too. This is a story about Edelgard's confusion of loving an enemy and Santaniel's confusion of not seeing it earlier. Also the heartbreak of his first lover being the one who practically hunted him down like a rat.

However, if you don't feel the need to read them, I will be including an info sheet of the character's and how they were/will be fleshed out as people seem to believe this is an entirely standalone story.

Beware: Spoilers

Avoid this by just reading the other works

Love: Flame

Santaniel Horus Blessing- The Wayward Saint

Species- Nabatean/Human Half Breed

Gender- Male

Age- 16/23

Birthdate: 12/21

Crests: Ernest/Macuil

Likes: Steaks, Pastries, Novels, Architecture, Cooking, Singing

Dislikes: Sour foods, Failure, Bullies, Stuck Ups

Boons: Swords, Axes, Heavy Armor

Banes: Lances, Faith, Riding, Flying

Budding Talent: Reason, Authority

Physical Description: Ah, the main protagonist of most of the stories. The third youngest at the academy is 5'10 and very stocky, broad shoulders and has a rounded face. His face is scarred with many small white scratches and a single long one across his face, suffered the same night as his fight with the Flame Emperor, but from another enemy. His hair is a mixture of brown and white, and practically overgrown. The silver starts at the base and is only noticeable when he lifts his bangs. His right arm from the elbow down is pure steel, manipulated by magic. His typical, and pretty bland fashion choices consist of colder colors, mainly blues and greens, the occasional purple finding its way in too. He always wears his father's jacket though, a shade of jade that is etched in elaborate gold and silver, constantly dragging on the ground due to the current height difference. After the time skip, he gets even taller! 6'2 and his body becomes even more war torn. He no longer dyes his hair and it becomes a brilliant combination of silver and green like his mother's. His features become sharper and his muscles are more defined from working heavily on the island, and the eye color shifts to green and purple, a mixture of Macuil's and Ernest's eye colors. His arm is now silver instead of steel, crackling with power and he's itching to fight the Empire! Unless you're in Crimson Flower of course. His jacket no longer drags on the ground and his clothes are now a combo of purple, blue, and white.

Dragon Form: A hybrid of The Wind Caller and a Basilisk. His torso extends into the body of a snake, familiar frills and eyes of a typical basilisk. His eyes are a hypnotizing swirl of purple and green. His arms and legs extend into those of the Wind Caller, or technically a griffin in this case. His back also sprouts the golden brown wings of a griffin, while his head turns to that of a viper and has large, venom dripping fangs. If you see this thing: RUN

Personality: He wears his heart on his sleeve and is very blunt when need be, calling people out on their bullshit due to Xavien teaching him all about deception and his practice with reading Arti's eyes. It's almost impossible to lie to him once he picks up your habits. He flirts teasingly with most, never intending to take it farther than words but this has gotten him in trouble with leading people on by accident. If he's around, there's no need to worry about watching your back, he's got you covered. After the time skip he's more in control emotionally, typically quieter and always searching people's eyes looking for their deeds and sins, wondering if they can be trusted. Especially during Silver Snow. Don't believe him if he said he didn't have a crush on the Princess during the school year. He defends his friends with his life, and if you dare attack the ones he loves… The Goddess will be seeing you shortly.

Life up to enrolling at Garegg Mach: Santaniel was born on an unnamed island to the mage Horus Santaniel and his wife Lisa (Ernest) Santaniel. He was experimented on at the age of four and his parents took him away, attempting to flee the island but were killed whilst protecting him, provoking him to transform for the first time and tear apart his pursuers. As the days went on he was approached by Hephaestus and Arti, the former being his father's apprentice and familiar, calming down and accepting his help. The years wore on and Xavien attempted to assassinate his brothers whilst attempting a kidnapping on Santaniel, failing and was only saved at the request of the young boy. In 1179, he lost his right arm in a duel to the Flame Emperor, swiftly replaced with his prosthetic. During the mock battle at Garegg Mach, Xavien, Santaniel, and Arti were spotted, resulting in Santaniel enrolling at Garegg Mach under the newest house, the Viridian Vipers.

Hephaestus Von Trinity- The Ultimate Perfectionist

Species: Human

Gender: Male

Age: 22/27

Birthdate: 8/17

Crests: Noa

Likes: Drinking, Hikes, Dogs, Researching

Dislikes: When he isn't immediately good at something, unprofessionalism, his weaknesses

Boons: Swords, Lances, Brawling, Reason, Authority

Banes: Axes, Bows, Flying

Budding Talent: Riding

Physical Description 6'3 and a slender build, broad in the shoulders and a rounded face. He has a mess of dirty blonde hair on his head and a bulbous nose. He commonly wears a red tunic with brown dress pants, adopting a red and black robe whilst on the battlefield, taking after his late mentor Horus. He has a long scar trailing up his arm and one running underneath his left. After the time skip, not much has changed for the mage, other than the additions of grey hairs on his head and the start of a wispy beard starting underneath his chin. He has a new style on top of this, donning two bracers on his arms along with rider's boots.

Personality: A tried and true perfectionist, always striving to be better and move on to the next thing. If he isn't immediately good at something he practically refuses to touch it ever again. He's a hopeless romantic and can usually be found at the local tavern, trying to woo a girl and attempt a lasting relationship, he tends to be unlucky in his attempts though, the girl never giving the same effort back. Well, yet. Give the guy a chance and you'll have a friend you can rely on for life, and even after it. Horus would be proud of the guy, he's practically a spitting image!

Life leading up to Garegg Mach: He was born to a small house in the Kingdom, he was supposed to inherit a wonderful piece of land that was perfect for farming but it was razed at the age of six and he was kidnapped for his Crest. He broke away from them one night and fled to Remire Village, raised by a family until the age of nine, where he ran away to the Empire to attempt a career in magic where he coincidentally met a small, meek bodied boy named Arti. The two excelled and were sent to an island to assist in magical research where he held an apprenticeship under Horus Santaniel. He was there for his son's birth and heard his first words. At the age of twelve, he took in Horus' son and raised him as best he could, attempting to teach the boy magic but was shocked to see his natural prowess. They continued slowly as they defended their home from Agarthans and eventually the Flame Emperor. At the age of sixteen, he and Arti nearly killed an assassin that they would learn to be Xavien, who pledged his life to the young boy they were raising. At the age of eighteen he became a regular at a tavern Xavien conducted his bounties at and was also the reason the group was caught up in Garegg Mach's business in 1800, having left the mirror portal open to Byleth.

Arti Luis Weber- The Masquerading Man

Species: Human(?)

Gender: Male

Age: 21/26

Birthdate: 5/7

Crests: The Crest of the Beast

Likes: Silence, Meditating, Riddles, Hunting, Foraging

Dislikes: Noisy places, being without his mask, himself

Boons: Lances, Bows, Faith, Flying, Riding

Banes: Swords, Axes, Brawling, Authority

Budding Talent: Reason

Physical Description: Oh boy. He's a mess. Well… He has an unruly crop of platinum blonde hair, not quite white, but similar in color to Dimitri. He's 5'7 and quite slim, his eyes are usually the only thing visible, so you have to be good at reading them to understand how he's feeling. Santaniel learned that quite well. His lips are quite thin, his skin fairly pale and you can almost always see the veins beneath the surface. He practically looks like a corpse half the time! Arti wears a black tunic, stained with white paint that makes it look like a night sky. His slacks are typically grey but can alternate to bright blue sometimes. After the time skip, he gets even longer hair, his eyes no longer as heavy anymore. His mask is slightly cracked on the edge, no longer really needed, you can catch him without it if by surprise.

Personality: He's a caring individual, but can be quite over bearing. Arti is always either hunting, or in the medical bay to help when Manuela is out drunk or just absent. If you don't know him very well, most would say he's practically a gender bent Bernadetta or Marianne, always looking tired or anxious, but it's just his resting face. He's typically reserved though, the exact opposite of Santaniel on his emotions, but the two balance each other out quite nicely. Hephaestus is also usually reigned in by Arti, so befriend one to get to the other. Those two idiots are always better as a pair!

Life Leading Up to Garegg Mach: Not much is really known about his life before the incident. He refuses to say how he was found half dead on the side of the road, only Hephaestus knows. After he was found, he was given a blood transfusion that left him looking ghastly pale and he's caused several panic attacks when seen around the top of the monastery. He's the reason there's ghost stories up there after all! After he was taken in by his savior, she taught him Faith magic and helped him with his breathing habits, thus the mask! He took to the Empire at a young age to assist with his studies in his field of magic, where he met a young Hephaestus who really helped him. Trust me, we've all tried to get him to spill about why he was almost dead. He won't. After they arrived on the island, Arti was typically away from Hephaestus in the forest to relax or just hunt. He was the one to coax Santaniel from his hiding spot and he cared for the little one like his father never did. Wait, I didn't write that, give me a moment… Arti GET BACK HERE DAMN IT! Ok. He finally spilled on why he was found half dead on the road… phew… anyways-

Xavien Catacomb- The Serrated Dagger

Species: Human

Gender: Male

Age: 27/32

Birthdate: 3/29

Crests: None

Likes: Sour Foods. He literally takes whole lemons and just… He eats them. Peel and all. He loves his family, well.., Bounty Hunting, Flirting as a joke, Snakes

Dislikes: You, Overly Sweet Foods, and Start Ups

Boons: Swords, Axes, Bows, Brawling

Banes: Reason, Faith, Flying

Budding Talent: Riding

Physical Description: And then there's this asshole…Nah he's actually a pretty alright guy. He's 5'9 and never lets that go unnoticed by Arti. He has a crew cut of brown hair with a small fade down each side. His skin is fairly pale, specked with freckles up and down his arms and he's quite fit for his profession. His usual garb is just typical commoner clothes, a brown overcoat on top of a white undershirt. His slacks are usually black, but when he's on the island he rotates through a variety of colors, grey, yellow, green, red, purple, and pink! After the time skip, his wardrobe narrows down a bit, but he still has a fairly large one at that! His beard regrows and is neatly trimmed, Santaniel says it's better than Hephaestus' shit excuse for one. To be fair? He's right. His face gains a couple wrinkles, but he's still ready to rock anyone in sight!

Personality: You will never find a more deft person than him. Also, he's a big dumbass, well, he's smart, yeah. Good luck getting him to use it for anything other than his job though. He's also shockingly quick witted. He's caught several people off guard with snarky or blunt remarks after he's talked down to and is always studying for his profession. After the time skip, he's much more refined and acts with a certain grace he hasn't before, always very careful of most people. He does it for Santaniel and his other two brothers.

Life Leading to Garegg Mach: Well. He had a nice childhood at least, a bit rough, but still better than the other three. His parents loved him very much, and his brother was a bit of an arse to him at times. He had to care for him a long while when his parents were out, and it wore down his patients for him quite a bit. He took up bounty hunting at the age of 19 and is obviously quite good at it. Most retire at the age of 25 and he's still going strong at 30! He took a job from an anonymous source one day, some upstart named the Flame Emperor… Couldn't get edgier than that, yet it paid quite nicely. He pursued it to a small island, just two teens he had to kill and a kid to kidnap? Cake walk. It was nearly a cake walk up to heaven as well. His life was saved by a pleading Santaniel, who heavily chased him with a fire wood axe he had been training with and Xavien pledged his life to the young boy since. He always trained him in the art of fighting, neve a day off! It paid off too, the boy surpassing him and kicking his ass nearly weekly!