Chapter 4: Osvald & Victor
Osvald used to have a Sylveon.
No, that wasn't right. It was much more accurate to say that Rita had a Sylveon. She had named her companion Chiara, and the two were practically attached at the hip. Osvald took much longer to bond with the creature at first; not for fear, but because he was so busy with his research. In fact, he was so busy that he might not have bonded with the Sylveon at all if it wasn't for Elena. Whenever Rita had a project that didn't require Chiara's help, the Sylveon was happy to keep Elena company as she watched her father's research.
Of course, everything changed when Harvey framed him. Chiara was also nowhere to be found in the wake of the fire - it was never certain whether she managed to get away from the fire or if Harvey had killed her himself.
In the five years that passed since that fateful night, Osvald carried the anger burning within his heart like it was all he had (because it was). This is what kept him going - his heart crying out for revenge against the man who took everything from him. Even after the day of his escape, that anger would keep him going.
It wouldn't stop until Harvey paid for his actions.
On the other hand, there was no way for Victor to know any part of Osvald's past.
All Victor knew was ice and snow; to the point where his life as an Eevee seemed more like a dream than a memory. His evolution into a Glaceon wasn't just a matter of preference; to become anything else in the Winterlands was just plain foolish. Some could say that he had evolved very young, but that's just how life was here. You either adapted or didn't survive.
The point was, Victor was more than a little familiar with how ice affected other living creatures...and that included the fact that humans really needed to bundle up when traversing through the snow. Everyone in Cape Cold had been doing so for as long as he could remember, so it was more than a little jarring when the giant human that had washed up on shore had clearly decided to not do that. It was easy to see that the outfit he wore underneath his coat was tattered and worn! And he really hoped the chain wasn't an attempt at what humans would call a 'scarf,' otherwise there was no way he'd survive. Where had he been that the living conditions were so poor?!
It didn't take Victor long to decided to tail him. For security reasons, you understand. Surely a human that determined had some kind of dark secret lurking within. Victor needed to know if he had to be on his guard should this human ever come around again.
It was hard to tell if the human ever noticed the Glaceon following him as they walked; it was clear that he was a man of few words. And a scholar to boot; he used a lot of fire spells on whatever creature came his way, and the occasional lightning spell for good measure. While it was true that most of the monsters here were also weak to fire, Victor couldn't help wondering if it was a kind of warning for him.
That theory was confirmed when the scholar turned around after incinerating a particularly tough monster - looking the Glaceon right in the eye as the flames died down. Neither of them made a sound for a few moments - the scholar staring the Glaceon down, and Victor standing his ground. The scholar broke the eye contact first, turning around and continuing on his way. Victor could see his mouth moving as he turned around, but he couldn't pick up on what was said. His voice was too soft - almost like he used it too much just in the last hour or so.
As intimidating as the scholar's show of power was, the Glaceon would readily admit that he found himself appreciating the scholar's approach to protecting himself; proving his power with his actions, not simple words like most of the fighters in Cape Cold liked to do. If he also knew ice spells, maybe Victor could learn a thing or two from him. So he followed.
Before Victor knew it they had left the Winterlands. Victor had never been in the Crestlands before - in fact he had never left the Winterlands at all before. And to be honest, the Glaceon was awestruck. This was a total contrast from the familiar surroundings that he called home - so much so that Victor found himself wondering what the rest of Solistia was like.
Flamechurch was the same, but Victor noticed that the scholar looked like the walking dead. Just how long had he been fighting monsters? Did Victor really lose track of time for that long?!
As if that wasn't enough, the peace was immediately broken by an agitated armored man shouting something about a cleric he needed to find for some reason? Victor wasn't paying attention, but the cleric standing right next to them left no room for questions. No doubt the same cleric that the brigand was looking for. The cleric seemed almost serene for someone who had clearly handled this kind of thing before...and he seemed to have absolutely no qualms with throwing a clearly exhausted human into his mess. He did wave his hand and cause the scholar to glow a faint light before the fight started, but Victor wouldn't have recognized it as healing magic at that point.
Victor jumped into the fight - as you do when you find yourself wanting to help a total stranger out. Perhaps this was a thanks for not hurling one of those fire spells at him in this entire trip. Only Victor knew the answer to that question, and he wouldn't tell.
It was only after the dust settled that Victor would learn that the scholar's name was Osvald.
While this particular partnership had started under very strange circumstances, Victor would soon find that he wouldn't have had it any other way.