Day 13 of the Blue Sea Moon

Santaniel grunted as the thief slashed across his chest, ending the battle with a crushing blow to his knee and stomping on his throat. He snorted as he pulled his jacket around his chest, 'Of course I'd be training as a Brigand today...'

He narrowly avoided an arrow aimed for his head, responding by summoning Bolganone under the feet of the archer, singeing him to ash. Another thief rushed him, sighing, he blocked the first slash, but another vertical slash cut his shirt and jacket open, revealing pale and heavily scarred skin.

He growled, he was pissed, the Crest of Macuil manifested and he grabbed the thief's face with his metal hand, shocking him with thousands of volts to his cranium.The reason Santaniel was so pissed, is that it was his father's jacket he wore.

He and Hephaestus had worked together while studying Reason theory, he apparently had dark brown hair and wore this jacket nearly all the time. As for how his hair was white, it was due to the experiment, his hair was apparently a variation of jade, similar to Linhardt.

He didn't know much about his mother, a few details like her bright green hair and coming from the Empire, he didn't get lucky enough that Arti somehow worked with her. She also had the powers he bore, just to a somewhat greater degree. He grumbled as he took the jacket off, leaving it on the stone with red splashed across it.

He jogged forward and clashed with another group, sending three to their death with a Luna while the other two met their death via Short Axe.He had been sent off during the battle to take care of any flanks but he guessed he got caught up in the battle. Then again, if he wasn't alone he wouldn't have summoned his other Crest. He hummed as he summoned a scry spell, glancing over the battlefield and seeing where they were all convening in the forest, about five units left.

He went back and grabbed his jacket, running through the forest to reunite and he arrived just in time for the fighting... 'The hell is that thing?!' He thought as a demon straight from hell shot a fireball that singed his bare skin. The thing was armored like an insect with a bony exoskeleton '...Demonic Beast!' he thought. 'Different than any I've ever fought', he started off by slamming his silver axe into its forehead, a fountain of blood and gore showering him.

He jumped back as it slammed it's fist into the ground, avoiding it swinging it's tail wildly after it. 'Things fast...' he nearly met his end as a thief shot the axe out of his hand with a powerful shot, he growled and shot a Fire at him, breathing it out like a dragon would.

He turned his attention back to the Beast... which acted strangely calm now, nearly docile. He ran up and cracked it's throat with his hammer, cutting off oxygen and the rest of it's life.

He turned and saw Arti approaching, 'Ah, Crest of the Beast doing its work.' He thought, he waved and pointed to the scales that fell off, or Umbral Steel as they were called.

Arti went and collected them, tossing them into a pack. Santaniel hummed and watched out for extra thieves but none were to be found, the group eventually caught up and Santaniel waved to them... Except he forgot he was shirtless and scars were on full view.

Thankfully the only result of his scars were intense staring from Hilda and Lysithea who were then subsequently teased by Claude and Lorenz got in a jab as well.

He rolled his eyes and started to ask Raphael, "Hey big guy, got any shirts for me to use?" He shook his head and Santaniel sighed, "Anyone know how to sew?" Leonie raised her hand, and Santaniel responded, "Does anyone know how to sew things together that doesn't result in just a giant patch of fabric?"

Leonie put her hand down, and he leaned forward on his hammer. "Ok, well guess I'm going shirtless on the way back."

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Everyone mounted up and Santaniel hitched a ride on the equipment wagon, one that he now drove. Lysithea had gotten hurt in the last battle so she sat back to back with him in a make shift seat. They rode in mostly silence besides when Santaniel made a small joke to her chagrin or when she asked him about the island.

Eventually the elephant in the room was asked about, "You went through an experiment. Didn't you?" Lysithea asked, Santaniel mulled it over in his head and finally answered, "Yes. I did. I was about four at the time, much younger when they actually started them."

She stayed silent as he continued, "My home island is where it was committed," he uttered the words like it was a simple crime to humanity. "Every day they made new cuts, funneled new blood, and eventually they gave me my Crest." He flicked his tongue, rescinding some information to himself.

"My parents were also buried under their work with figuring out new spells that they never noticed their colleagues stole me away to perform on me. I was Silenced every waking moment I was suspected to say something. So I bottled it all up and when my parents finally realized, it was too late."

He rolled his shoulders and shook his head, "They gave up their lives to save me and if I have a say in it, no one else will die trying to save me. Ever again." The statement seemed to kill the conversation before Lysithea picked back up again.

"...I know how you feel. I had three older siblings and one younger before the mages came." Santaniel remained silent and pulled on the reigns to slow the horses, listening intently.

"They were performed on before me because I was already frail... they all died due to the experiments. I was the 'Success'-" She spoke the word with the same amount of venom Xavien used on his daggers yearly, "On top of that, I'm deemed 'talented' and all of my work is discredited because of it!"

She started going on a tirade about it, cutting herself off when Santaniel cast a Heal and she calmed out of her stupor, "...I thought you didn't know any white magic?"He smiled and winked at her, "Some people have to have their secrets Shortstack."

She slugged him in the arm and he chuckled, ruffling her hair, "Hey. Serious question. You think Edelgard is the same as us?" She sat in thought for a moment and shook her head no, "I don't believe so, she said her father has always had white hair."

He nodded and hummed, 'Maybe she isn't that person then.' Lysithea pulled herself onto the bench next to him and listened to him hum their way back, leaning into his arm...

Until she realized he was still bare skin and blushed so red he thought she would pass out from blood loss. She mumbled an apology, causing him to cackle, "...idiot..." she whispered, smiling just ever so slightly.

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Day 19 of the Blue Sea Moon

Santaniel's lance snapped in his hands, the weight change throwing him off balance and the resulting sound resonated again as he hit his skull on the floor, blood gushing from a wound. He groggily pulled himself up and rubbed the area around it, blood staining his face.

He was alone in the training room, well, until Claude walked in after he saw the bloody mess Santaniel was. The Almyran man helped him wrap the bandages around his forehead, wiping away the fresh blood. Santaniel opened his eyes after and was extremely close to Claude, he flushed a bit.

Claude noticed and leaned in for a mock kiss which Santaniel backed away from quickly.

Claude laughed and Santaniel grimaced, even he drew the line at that kind of shit. He smiled and decided for a bit of revenge, he picked up a bow and acted like he was going to shoot a target, whipping to Claude and pinning him to the pillar with an arrow as he leaned against it.

He walked up to him slowly, leaning in closely to his ear, "Listen pretty boy, don't mess with me unless you feel like going all the way." Claude cackled and Santaniel pecked him on the cheek, drawing a blush, and he turned leaving him pinned to the pillar.

Someone would get him down.

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Day 24 of the Blue Sea Moon

Santaniel brought the knife down on the fish's head, cleaving it straight from its body and tossed it into a barrel to pickle. He didn't like them but someone else here does... somehow.

He cleaned the fish quickly, sweeping the scales and excess skin into the garbage, he ripped the bones out with the same efficiency, tossing them with the scales. He cut the fish into chunks and seasoned them with pepper, salt, paprika, and dunked it in some frying batter.

He tossed the chunks into the boiling oil, letting it fry for a couple minutes before pulling it out at golden brown. He smiled and set them onto the plate with a helping of potatoes and collared greens. Simple meal, for simple pallets.

He had chef duty today and the Professor had requested the meal for him, Petra, and Ashe.

He served the plates to the group, wiping his hands on his apron before returning to the kitchen. He awaited the next request and it was the special, he hummed as he prepared another sea food dish, consisting of Caledonian Gar and an assortment of veggies. He grilled the fish on a couple lemon rings while mincing green onions to put on top.

Whenever all was said and done, he plated it and walked to the table, sliding the dishes across the rough wood and in front of their seats. He wiped his hands and started, "Well, I hope you guys enjoy, more of a stylized version of my father's recipe but I made do." He looked up and met his eyes with Flayn's, who was smiling brightly at him.

He looked over to his left and saw Seteth, who always acted more like a father figure than a brother, sat across from her.Seteth started to narrow his eyes and Santaniel went into defense mode, ready to deflect anything. Seteth spoke, "I apologize for Flayn's clumsiness and how she dented your prosthetic." He bowed his head and Santaniel nodded his thanks before smiling slightly at Flayn.

'Better than expected.' He thought, his next order was a tall one, 'Caspar, Ingrid, and Raphael must be doing an eating competition again' he thought, and groaned at. He super sized the recipe and pushed out a cart full of the stuff, slabs of meat and plenty of potatoes.

He stared at the food hungrily and called back to the chefs, "Hey, mind if I take my food break?" The main chef waved her hand and smiled, taking it as a yes, he sat down with the three and stretched.

"I haven't eaten in a while so this'll be fun." Caspar and Raphael readily started digging in while Ingrid ate a bit slower... however, Santaniel wolfed down his food in just over two minutes flat, steaks were gone and plates were cleaned.

He smiled cheerily at the three who's eyes were as wide as the dinner plates he served their food on. "What? It's my own cooking I have to enjoy it somehow." He smirked and leaned his hand into his cheek, "If you guys don't hurry it'll get cold, or maybe I'll help myself."

He reached slowly for Raphael's plate and he pulled it back, all three digging in again. Santaniel laughed heartily, standing back up and collecting plates, dropping them into the sink.

He took off the apron and tossed it into a hamper, stretching tall as possible and letting out a small yelp when his joints popped. When he looked back to level field, he saw Byleth standing in front of him and he asked, "Mind helping me make desserts?"

Santaniel looked at him with one corner of his mouth pointed into a frown and he groaned dramatically, picking his apron back from the pile. "Alright, Immortal Jelly I suppose?" he asked, already knowing with a small grin on his face

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Day 26 of the Blue Sea Moon

A loud crack rang out as Santaniel assaulted the Death Knight with Byleth, narrowly avoiding swings from his scythe. Lysithea was trying to get in Miasma where she could but was missing due to avoiding Lightning at the same time.

His jacket's collar was frilled up and he struck as quickly as possible, his strikes against his armor bouncing off and resonating like he was ringing a bell. Byleth couldn't get in any stabs because he was at a range disadvantage, 'This is pissing me off...' he thought.

So he did what he knew best, level the playing field. He changed his trajectory to the horse which bucked him off, crashing into the ground heavily. "Lysithea! Now!" She got the meaning, summoning Dark Spikes T while he summoned Luna, accidentally pulling strength from the Crest of Macuil, manifesting in front of him.

The spells cataclysmic explosion knocked him into a pillar and the wind out of him. No attacks pursued however due to the Death Knight having vanished in a beam of purple light.He waved off Lysithea and Byleth's attempts to heal him, pointing to the casket where Claude and Xavien had already led their troops, "You have a clear shot, don't-"

He coughed a bit of blood, "Miss your shot." Santaniel groaned out the last part and thought, 'Why always the ribs that crack?'

He watched the rest of the battle play out, his face turning to fear as the casket got unlocked, and the mage pulled out a large, bone white sword that turned blazing orange in the Professor's hands. 'That's a Relic I've seen before... but where...'

His mind drifted as heavily into the past as possible but came up blank, when he looked back the mage was cut down in a bloody fashion, the sword feeding off the man's blood like the Holy Twins fed off his emotions.

He pushed himself up and partially limped over to the group, leaning heavily on Xavien who groaned when he saw him injured again, "Would you be more careful you idiot? You won't always get so lucky." Santaniel shook his head and retorted, "No one dies on my watch. That's a fact." He got a slap on the back of the head from Arti who glared at him. "Be more careful otherwise, I won't be saving you next time."

Arti cast a Recover followed by Fortify to heal the group. "I'll try to be more careful, as long as everyone else promises too as well."

He glared at the Professor and Raphael, "That means you two especially."

This drew a chuckle from the group and Santaniel put his weight back onto his feet, away from Xavien. "It'd be better if we had Hephaestus here... he knows Rescue and it makes it so we aren't so in danger all the time. Lysithea is studying Warp and Byleth is focused on healing like Marianne. Anna isn't very combat oriented but she knows the spell... wait, any of the people from Abyss know the spell?"

Byleth closed his eyes and opened them nodding, "Constance is working on learning it, but Yuri knows a trick called Foul Play, it's like Warp but switching places with someone." Santaniel perked up at that, "Which means that we can have the advantage of surprise! Think you can get him for our next fight?"

Byleth nodded and Santaniel cheered, "Yes! I get to be as reckless as possible!" He received a jab from Xavien and Arti simultaneously, and then a slap from Lysithea and he yelled, "I was just joking! C'mon!"

Everyone laughed and he cracked a smile, 'I'll keep em safe. They aren't just my friends now, these are family.' He thought.

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Day 3 of the Verdant Rain Moon

"I'm sorry but what happened to Flayn?" Santaniel asked bewildered, he had just woken up and gotten the news from Hephaestus.

"Flayn was kidnapped." Santaniel kicked out of bed and rushed to get ready, "Well? C'mon! We gotta do something!"

For once, his time wasn't the shortest. It was a friend and ally. He shot through the mirror like a comet, racing across the grounds and into the classroom, "Professor! Let's get started with the hunting!"

All eyes were on him. And they weren't friendly. They glared and their gazes tore into his skin... did they think he did this?

Four hundred and forty weeks left.——————————————————