(A/N): Hey, it's the Eleven Year Anniversary of this story! To celebrate, I give you... this. It's a flashback, to the day where Leo broke his leg- is that a spoiler? Well, sort of, but I think after the second paragraph, it's pretty clear what day it is. This chapter is written in the third person limited style, which means that while all of the characters are referred to in the third person, we are experiencing things from Leo's point of view, basically. We are privy to his thoughts, and we know what he knows- which is more than he should, apparently.
This chapter was originally written in first person like all of the others (except for chapter 159, which was written in the third person- but it's third person omniscient, I think? We definitely get both Leo's intentions laid out, and certain other characters, so it's not just him.) I chose to change the narration style because I was having trouble making Leo's description of things sound like that of a seven year old, and this way I don't really have to worry about that. He still probably sounds a bit older, but I assume he and Mia have a better vocabulary than most kids their age, because there's no way Cipicia would allow anyone to dumb anything down for them, and they have tutors and stuff.
This chapter is Part 1. (I will talk more about this in the end author's note, because when I put it here there was just a wall of text before the chapter).
Trigger Warning: Talk of broken bones (including a pretty graphic explanation of what Leo's leg looks like that might be kind of gross to certain people), themes of parental abuse and Leo thinking about particular things that his parents (but specifically Cipicia) have done to him in the past, and might do to him in the future as a punishment. Um... in depth explanations of the pain that he's in at various points, including a few sort of graphic analogies to describe to other people what it feels like, in order to get it across? I think it's pretty clear that I've never had a broken bone before. I have seen a fractured one in person, but I don't think that helped me very much.
October 18th, 1967
It was a day just like any other- and, simultaneously, a day unlike any before, that would change the way they lived every day after that.
Leonides and Miasenna were walking through the gardens, taking their customary midday stroll with their governess, when a gust of wind loosened the ribbon from around Miasenna's neck, and snatched away her hat- the one Leonides knew was her absolute favorite.
Their governess, one Ms Rochester- Amelia- was preoccupied with the gardener- Nolan, not that Leonides was supposed to know, much less remember his name- airing her grievances about the rose bushes being situated too close to the path for someone with long skirts such as hers to be able to walk past unimpeded, so, Leonides... did something even he knew was a little stupid. Then again, it was also quite possibly the best decision of his life.
He went after it, himself.
It didn't take long for them to locate it- they had mostly been able to follow the path the hat had taken, and after a few seconds of craning their necks, they spotted it amongst the leaves of the old oak tree.
"There." Mia quietly pointed it out to him, and he nodded, his cheek brushing against her balled fist as he glanced back to make sure that their governess hadn't noticed their disappearance. At the current point, they weren't that far away- maybe ten, fifteen feet behind her on the path, but they were usually at least five feet behind her at all times anyway, so this wasn't all that odd- especially considering that most adults- but particularly Ms Rochester- were rather unhappy if they thought someone was listening to their conversations more than they should be. Leonides brushed his hand against his sister's forearm.
"Stay here." He murmured, and he felt her eyes dart sideways to him- saw how wide they were, out of the corner of his own eye.
"What? Where are you going?" He didn't answer for a second, instead taking the opportunity to shed his wool coat- a deep, forest green- and push it into her arms as he said,
"To get your hat back." He took a step, then another, before Mia recovered from her shock, and lunged forward to latch onto his arm.
"Lelo- Leonides-" She corrected herself like she usually did, even if there was currently no one around to overhear, and punish her for her silly little nickname- which was, already, based on a nickname. She was only supposed to call him by his full name- Leonides- even if she still had trouble pronouncing it. She had to take it rather slow, and it usually wasn't worth the effort, anyway. "No. Not worth it." She tugged on his arm, and he turned so he could look her in the eye.
"But it's your favorite." She looked torn.
"They'll catch you!" He glanced at their governess, who was still preoccupied- for now.
"Not if I'm quick." She looked like she didn't believe him. "I'll be back before you know it- with your hat." Her smaller hand tightened on his arm for a second, before, reluctantly, she let him go. "Stay here- away from the tree. We can't both wander off." The worry in her eyes only intensified- because she knew that meant he was already thinking about what would happen if he got caught. Most likely, when, he got caught.
With one last look at their chaperone, he stepped off of the path, having to battle his way through some thick lavender bushes before he reached a clearer section of the garden, made by the roots of the oak sticking up out of the ground. There were some leaves on the ground, but not many- most likely, they had been raked up by one of the gardeners, earlier in the day- and as it was, even from a distance, he could see the start of their carving on the underside of the lowest branch.
It was small, and right near where the branch joined the trunk of the tree, and it was slightly darker than the rest of the bark surrounding it. Even if he hadn't been able to read it, he would have known what it said- LJJ, and right beneath it, MKJ. They were messy, and to tell the truth, barely legible. Leonides had stolen a knife from lunch one day, and while they had been allowed to rest in the shade of the old oak, he had gotten the idea to leave a mark on it.
The knife wasn't very sharp- and definitely hadn't been designed to carve initials into wood- but eventually, he had managed it. A paltry three letters- until Mia had gotten her first good look at it, and begged him to do the same for hers. Hers was easier- but whether that was because there were less curves, or because he was doing it out of love, he didn't know.
For the shortest of seconds, he rested the pads of his fingers against this scar in the wood, before he started to climb. There was no point in looking back now- he had already left the path, and because of that, he would be punished... so adding to that, by climbing a tree, no longer really mattered.
He wasn't dressed for climbing. His shoes had very little grip, and they weren't very flexible. His trousers kept getting in the way of him lifting his knees, and his button up shirt made it hard to reach for branches above his head- and every time he did, he felt it coming more and more untucked- but eventually, he made it.
Halfway. He made it halfway.
As another gust of chilly wind blew, he braced himself against it, his knuckles turning white as he gripped one of the branches near his neck. It was because of this tight grip, that when he heard the sound of wood cracking, his eyes focused on the branch just below his eye line- only to be confused for a second as to where the sound was coming from, since that limb seemed intact. It was only when there was another, louder crack, followed by a snapping sound, that he realised what had happened- though, he would admit, that was mostly because he felt himself start to drop out of the air.
His grip tightened on the branch he had been bracing himself against out of reflex, but as his whole weight came to be supported by it, it too, snapped. Now that he had nothing to support him, and he was falling through the open air, his mind went almost blank- the only thing he could think about, was whether or not Mia had followed his order, and stayed on the path, and away from the tree. Away from him, coming crashing down.
He braced himself, but he didn't think it helped, in the end. He heard someone call his name- Mia, and thank Merlin, she sounded far enough away- and then... agony. He had never felt pain quite like this before- he had felt near as bad, yes, but not in the same way. He had been hit, or cut, or slapped, or burned, or who knows how to describe that thing she did with her wand when he didn't get her drink right, but... none of that compared to this.
His right foot hit the ground first, and must have taken the brunt of it, because pain radiated up out of it, like he had stepped on a bed of nails that, for whatever reason, had been set on fire. He felt the pain all the way to his hip- beyond that, even, and there was some much lesser pain in his left leg as well, which he guessed must have been the result of that foot landing as well- but the worst of the pain was in his right ankle, and lower leg. His knee hurt too, but he figured that that was because his lower leg had been forced up against it much harder than it ever should have been.
He tasted blood, and at first couldn't figure out why- and then, he realised that he was biting his tongue. It hadn't happened during the fall- or, landing, he supposed was more accurate- but rather, he must have done it to keep from screaming. He hadn't thought about it, it had simply been reflex- not because he was worried about being caught by their governess- he could already tell that it was too late to stop that- but because he had learned to try to hide any external sign that he was in pain, because he knew it would just make it worse for him.
He unclenched his jaw- and he was surprised by how much his teeth hurt- in order to draw in a shaky breath. The pain didn't really get any better- it was slightly less sharp, but it still ached unlike anything else, and for a second, he didn't know whether the drumming noise he could hear was his own heartbeat in his ears, of footsteps.
"Leo!" Mia reached him first- and when she did, he realised that it wasn't just because she had been closer, and aware of what he had been doing, but because she must have thrown herself through the bushes between them- judging by the fact that her hair was a mess, and there were a few small scratches on her face... and a stick or two, caught in the lace on her dress.
He had fallen backwards, onto his rear end, and then, the force of his landing had driven him flat onto his back, and she dropped to her knees beside him, like the ground was the softest pillow ever made, rather than cold, and hard. Her hands dropped to his shoulders, and he could see the fear in her eyes- but as soon as they met his, and she saw that he was both breathing, and conscious, she relaxed slightly. Ever so slightly, but still- and carefully, without really thinking, he reached out, and gently pulled the sticks free from the lace, without ever saying a word.
"Master Leonides!" Their governess exclaimed, probably attempting to sound stern, and frightening, but he could hear her voice wavering- she was just as afraid as she was trying to make them feel, because, after all, she was the one that was going to suffer, for letting them out of her sight. She hovered a few feet away, clearly checking him over with her eyes- only her eyes. Beside her, Nolan appeared- and then, he moved forward, leaving her to handle them, her charges, in order to inspect the branched Leonides had brought down with him.
"Master Leonides, what- whatever could have possessed you to-" She spluttered- one of the few times Leonides had ever seen her flustered- and he pointed, high up into the tree.
"Hat." He said simply, and she blinked.
"I- what?" She sounded bewildered, so, once again, he pointed.
"The wind took Miasenna's hat- stuck it in the tree. I had to climb it to get it back." She looked at him like she wanted to throttle him- but he wasn't sure if that was because she was actually mad at him, or because she was worried about what his mother was going to say. Or do.
"You- you-" She glanced up, and must have seen the hat, because her eyes landed on him again, and she said, "You should have told me-" He shrugged, and glanced rather pointedly at Nolan's back, where the man was still distracted, inspecting the branches.
"You were busy." She flushed a dark red, and her eyes darted to the gardener as well.
"Still, I- you should have interrupted me. I am meant to be the one watching over you- and what you did was exceptionally dangerous. You're very lucky you weren't any higher when you fell- you could have seriously injured yourself." He wasn't sure whether now was the right time to tell her, or not.
"Honestly," Nolan piped up, and Ms Rochester's eyes swung to him. "I'm shocked he made it as far as he did." He held up one of the branches- by the look of it, the one he had been standing on. "The wood's rotted all to hell- the oak must be dead, or dying." She blinked, and stepped closer to him, so he could show her the rotted insides of the branch- the branch a child had been standing on, not too long ago.
"That's-" She looked up, meeting Nolan's gaze, before she flushed, and quickly looked away from him, all together. "Right, up you get." Leonides winced, knowing he was in trouble- and not the punitive sense. "It's time to face the music, and take you to your mother." Was he 'facing the music', or was she? Over her shoulder, he saw the concern on Nolan's face, but he put that to the side, for now. He used his arms to help himself sit up, but when he leaned forward slightly, which forced the muscles in his legs to stretch, a stab of pain nearly made him scream. Unclenching his jaw again, he told her,
"I don't think that's a good idea." She narrowed her eyes at him, obviously displeased by this statement.
"You can't get out of this, Master Leonides. You made the decision, you need to face the consequences. Now- up." He winced.
"I'm not-" She cut him off, crossing her arms over her chest- which was rather out of character for her.
"Now, Leonides." He hesitated, and it only made her more angry.
"I'm trying to-" She stalked forward, and grabbed his arm, quite tightly.
"Stop playing around- if I have to, you have to." She ground out, and in return, he grabbed her arm- pulling her slightly off balance, which seemed to shock her. "Leonides-!" He flushed at his own actions, but unfortunately, they were necessary, and as such, he cut her off.
"Broken!" She blinked, and he hoped that that his one word declaration would be enough to make get her to hear him out.
"...what?" He took a breath, and released her arm, now that he was fairly sure he had her attention- not wanting to push the contact any further than was absolutely required.
"I think my leg is broken." Once again, she blinked- and then, her eyes dropped to her hand on his arm, and just like that, she released him. For a brief moment, she just sat there, staring at his leg through his trousers, before she sighed.
"Alright," She said. "Let me see. Maybe it's not broken, maybe it's-" She met his eyes, and whatever she saw there seemed enough to make her stop talking. "Let me see." The problem was, he couldn't lean any further forward without being in agony.
"I can't lean any more than this- it hurts too much." Her face softened slightly, and she turned her head towards Nolan, even as she kept her eyes on Leonides's.
"Alright. Nol- can I have some assistance, here?" In a second, the gardener was by his other side.
"What do you need me to do, Ame- Miss Rochester?" Her eyes widened, and Leonides rolled his at her- something he only felt comfortable doing, now that he knew for sure that she had something to hide.
"I'd say, 'I won't tell if you don't', but I don't think there's any way around this." She winced, then looked to Nolan, who had lost some of his color.
"...about you, or about...?" She tilted her head towards Nolan, and Leonides lips quirked up a little.
"About my possibly- but most likely- broken leg." She hesitated for a second, then nodded.
"...alright then. Let's... take a look, shall we?" Leonides braced himself on his hands to keep himself upright, as Ms Rochester's hands neared the hem of his right trouser leg. He could tell that she was trying to be gentle, but the second she touched him, it was like her hand was made of fire and knives, and it was only because he was so used to pain, that he managed to stop himself from crying out.
"Stop!" Mia yelped, and the governess's touch instantly disappeared. The pain melted away again- at least that heavy wave of it, and her eyes darted to the young girl.
"What- why?" She asked, clearly confused, and Leonides could tell, even without looking, that Mia's face was all screwed up.
"He's in pain." The two adults shared a look.
"Miss Miasenna- he's going to be in pain either way." Leonides felt Ms Rochester's eyes on his face.
"No- not like that. This is- I don't think you- it's really bad, I can tell." For a second, there was silence, but Leonides kept his eyes focused on his shoes, and his mind focused on keeping his breathing as steady as possible.
"...Leonides?" Ms Rochester asked, and he tilted his head, to show he was listening.
"Mhm?" Another second of silence, before,
"How bad is the pain?" He didn't know how to answer this, so he didn't. Then, by some sort of unspoken agreement, they changed plans.
"Master Leonides-" He jolted slightly. Nolan didn't usually address him- the gardeners weren't supposed to talk to them in general, except for the one in charge, and he only really spoke to their mother. "Would you mind telling me how your leg is feeling, right now?" Leonides thought this over for a second.
"Right now, it isn't so bad." He saw them share a look he could only guess was relieved, out of the corner of his eye. "It aches, for the most part, from the bottom of my foot to my hip, and then a little bit up my back. My other leg hurts too, but not as much." They shared another look, but without looking at them, he couldn't tell what it meant. "When she touched me- and when I landed- it felt like... like someone had stuck a butter knife in the fire, and then straight into my ankle." He heard her suck in a breath.
"Leonides-" She said, before she corrected herself. "Master Leonides- I think it's fairly safe to say that your leg is broken." And then she said something under her breath, which he thought sounded not unlike, 'And you have a worryingly high pain tolerance.' He shook his head.
"Check it." She paused, and he continued. "If we're wrong, my mother will-" Break it herself, he thought, but didn't say. "-not be pleased." She swallowed thickly, then nodded, before she turned back to Nolan, whose eyes were already on her.
"Do you have anything we can cut his trousers with?" He reached for his tool belt, and a second later, Leonides saw a pair of secateurs in his hand- garden shears. "I suppose that will have to do." She turned back to Leonides, looking concerned. "Now, Leonides, I'm going to have to hold the cuff of your trousers for him- there's a good chance that it might... tug a bit." He nodded- probably more than needed, because she then said, "If you need to scream... feel free to do so." But if they were wrong... Leonides knew they would all suffer for it, not just him.
"Belt." Her eyebrows furrowed, and her head lifted.
"Excuse me?" He lifted a hand to reach for his belt, and immediately, Mia's hand were on his back- as if she could do anything to help him stay upright, when his body dwarfed her much smaller one.
"My belt, I need to take it off." Ms Rochester still looked confused, so he kept going, even as he felt a bead of sweat make its way down the side of his face, from the strain of hiding- and just enduring- his pain. "No screaming- and no damage from biting down." She blinked, and she got this look on her face, before she turned her head, to share a look with Nolan. Leonides continued undoing his belt, and after a moment, he pulled it free- then, he folded it in half, and shoved it between his teeth. The governess stared at him, looking vaguely horrified, and he nodded firmly, to show that he was ready.
"I... we'll be as gently as we can be." She told him, swallowing thickly- nervously- and Nolan agreed.
"And as brief as possible." They shared another quick look, before he slid the tip of the bottom blade of the secateurs under the cuff of the trousers. Ms Rochester met Leonides's eyes, as if she was searching for something, before she reached out, and slowly, pulled the fabric taut. As soon as she did, Nolan commenced with the cutting.
The fabric, pulled as it was, brushed against Leonides's skin on every cut, wasn't comfortable- but it wasn't as bad as before, so he put up with it. It wasn't like he had a choice, in the end. It took a minute or two, and the only sound was the quiet 'snip, snip, snip' of the secateurs through fabric, and Leonides's breath coming out heavy through his nose, now that his mouth was full of leather. Then, the snipping stopped.
"Well," Nolan said. "If your ankle isn't broken, I'll eat my hat." Leonides glanced down, moving his eyes from the bushes behind them for the first time since they had started cutting, and saw that his ankle was already quite swollen, and starting to purple. He pulled the belt from his mouth, not wanting to spit it out in front of their governess- in case it earned him a scolding.
"And the leg?" Nolan hesitated. "It's just the lower, I think, if it is. It feels..." He screwed his face up, mostly just because he knew that Ms Rochester would probably let him get away with it at this point unlike any other, especially if she thought it was because he was in pain. "I think at least up until the knee must be swollen, and the leg doesn't feel... right. I haven't moved it to check, but-" She blanched, and held up a hand rather hurriedly.
"Please don't try to move, you could do more damage- not to mention the pain." He hesitated, then shrugged.
"If you say so. Can you see from there, or do you need to cut more?" Nolan leaned forward to inspect the existing cut, before he and Ms Rochester shared a look- and then, he turned to Leonides.
"I'm going to have to cut more. Are you sure you-" Leonides nodded, and before Nolan could say anything else, he stuffed the belt back into his mouth. "Alright, I guess he's... set on it. Ame- Miss Rochester?" She nodded, and once again, she leaned forward, to pull the fabric taut- it was a lot easier this time, since there was more fabric for her to grip, and pull away from Leonides's body. Nolan continued to cut, but this time, Leonides was able to see what he was doing, since he wouldn't have had to lean forward to see, and he watched as Nolan cut all the way up to just above the knee, which was both swollen, and purpling.
"...I'm not sure about the knee." Nolan said, and this time, Leonides did spit out the belt- taking the risk that Ms Rochester was too distracted to pay attention to his manners, which he thought was most likely the case, given the lack of color in her face.
"Um... that's not... how his leg should look, is it?" Mia asked quietly, and Nolan winced.
"No, Miss, it isn't." Yes, the fact that they could see that the two halves of one of the bones no longer lined up- and was in half- made that fairly clear. Leonides was silent for a second, thinking.
"If the tree is dead, how are you going to get Mia's hat down?" Nolan blinked.
"I-" He glanced back to Ms Rochester, who looked just as shocked and perplexed as he did. "I suppose I... I could levitate it out- I'm not the best at that, though...?" Ms Rochester seemed to recover.
"The hat isn't important." Leonides's eyebrows furrowed.
"But it's Mia's favorite." She half glared at him, clearly exasperated, but more than anything else, she looked concerned.
"And you have a broken leg- was it worth it?" He shrugged.
"As of right now, yes. Whether it stays that way, depends on how my mother chooses to punish me." Punish them- but he couldn't think about that. Their faces showed even more concern.
"Your priorities are all muddled." Leonides tilted his head to the side.
"What do you mean?" Ms Rochester sighed.
"It means, it's odd that you think a hat is worth being punished over." He shrugged again.
"Making my sister happy is worth being punished over- and I get punished for using the wrong fork at dinner, or messing up a dance step. At least this way, I get something out of it." They stared at him- Ms Rochester more than Nolan, probably because of her higher status.
"Leonides-" He cut her off, tired of this sort of talk.
"How are we going to do this?" They stared at him. "Do you take me to my mother? And if so, how? Or do you send someone to fetch her? What do you think would make her less mad?" They stared at him for another second, before they shared a look.
"It would certainly anger her less if we took you to her- but I highly doubt that we could get you on your feet- upright- without a lot of pain, and that's before we take into account actually getting you there. I could levitate you, but I doubt that would go over well either- and I think to avoid a situation like earlier, the first thing she should hear is that your leg is broken- nothing about you climbing the tree, until it's absolutely necessary." Which Leonides knew would be about three seconds after she arrived.
"Nolan shouldn't be here." Both adults blinked.
"What?" Ms Rochester demanded, and Leonides glanced between them, as pointedly as he could manage.
"A gardener is a lot more disposable than a governess- and I know she will be looking for someone to blame, even if it wasn't their fault. And, if she thinks he was a distraction for you, it might make her look deeper into it." They both blushed. "He needs to leave. Even if it's just that he helped to cut my trousers, servants- staff-" They looked like they appreciated his effort. "-aren't meant to interact with us, let alone touch us- or damage our clothing." She blinked, but didn't look like she disagreed.
"Then how-?" Leonides cut her off.
"You were scolding Mia for losing her hat, when you noticed I had snuck off. You only found me when the branch broke, and I fell. You found the pair of secatre- secta- shears, left out, and used it to cut my trousers, when I insisted that my leg was broken. You couldn't carry me on your own, and knew that if you levitated me, you wouldn't be able to focus on keeping an eye on Mia- and you refused to let us out of your sight, ever again." She stared at him.
"You- you're taking the blame." He shrugged.
"It was my fault." Mia's smaller hand slipped into his, and he squeezed it lightly. "You need to be very clear that you're feeling guilty, but you won't let it happen again- she won't take anything else. She may not take this, but..." They locked eyes, and she nodded. Then, she turned to Nolan.
"Go. Alert Aldin- tell him you heard me calling for help, and I asked you to fetch the Lady of the House, but you know you aren't supposed to interact with the family." She grabbed his arm, as he moved to rise. "Don't come back here." Leonides could tell he wanted to fight this, but thought better of it. "Go back to work- act normal." He flashed her a smile.
"I'm afraid I don't know how to do that at the best of times, Miss Rochester." And then, with one last long look, he left- and after a few seconds, she turned back to Leonides.
"That's quite the lie you came up with." He shrugged.
"I can't promise it'll hold up, but as long as she doesn't question it too much, we should be fine." And as long as she didn't try to enter anyone's mind but his.
"Have you ever-?" He snorted, and she seemed to take that as an answer. "After this, no more lies. If you need something, tell me... I'll do my best to help." He hesitated, then nodded.
"I know you have your responsibilities, just as I have mine- and we're both working to keep my mother pleased. I just need you to be a bit more lenient with us." She hesitated, then nodded- he got the impression that she might have been copying him.
"I'll be as flexible as I can be. I have never been your enemy, Master Leonides." He stared at her, somewhat warily.
"You certainly made it feel that way, sometimes." She winced.
"As did you." He tilted his head as if to acknowledge this, and then smiled, despite the pain in his leg- and entire lower body, really.
"You know, you're not so bad when you're not scolding me." She gave him a dry look.
"Don't push your luck." He huffed out a laugh- then winced, and laid a hand on his side, where the laughter had jarred his already pained midsection.
"Ow." He said, and her eyebrows shot up.
"That's the first time you've vocalised any sort of indication that you're in pain- is that a sign?" He shrugged again.
"I don't see the point in talking about pain." He told her, and watched as he eyebrows creased. "If I told someone every time I was in pain, it would be all I ever talked about." Nothing happened for a second- and then, she reached out, and placed her hand on his arm, ever so gently.
"You need to tell me if you're in pain-" He shook his head, but she pushed on. "Leonides, I can help. Let me help." He stared at her for a minute, shocked, before he blew out a breath, and opened his mouth to speak.
"Ame-"
"What. Happened?!"
(A/N): Leonides: *breaks his leg climbing a tree*
Amelia: 'Whatever could have possessed you to- do something so foolish?'
Leonides: 'I wanted to make my sister happy.'
Amelia: '...that is surprisingly sweet.'
Amelia: 'You're still not getting away with it, though.'
also
Amelia: 'How bad is the pain?'
Leonides: 'The only answer I can give is a scream, and I don't think that's appropriate behavior, so I'm just not going to say anything.'
Amelia, to Nolan: 'Can you try to get anything out of him? Please?'
Nolan: *addresses Leonides for the first time*
Nolan: 'Would you mind telling me how your leg is feeling, right now?'
Leonides: *is too shocked NOT to answer him*
Leonides: '(...) like someone had stuck a butter knife in the fire, and then straight into my ankle.'
Amelia and Nolan: *concern*
also
Leonides: *accidentally demonstrating that he has a suspiciously high pain tolerance*
Amelia: 'What the frickity frackity, snickity snackity, tickety tackity is going on here?'
also
Amelia: 'If you need to scream... feel free to do so.'
Leonides: *shoves his own belt in his mouth so he can bite down on it to stop himself from screaming, without breaking his teeth*
Amelia: 'There is something VERY wrong with this picture.'
also
Mia: 'Um... that's not... how his leg should look, is it?'
Nolan: 'No Miss, it isn't.'
Leonides's Tibia, snapped in half: 'I should think the fuck NOT!'
Part 2 will be chapter 400- but I did not originally intend that to be the case. This was meant to be short enough to be one chapter, but... well, it got away from me. Because I wanted to have a special chapter for the eleventh year anniversary, and I did the math and saw that that would end up being Chapter 397, I knew I would have to have a second, different special chapter for Chapter 400, so I already came up with an idea for that. Then, I realised I would have to split it into two parts, and honestly, the thing I had planned wouldn't have been timed right for Chapter 400 anyway, because of the other stuff that's happening in the story, so I decided to push it back a bit. So, you will get a 'special' chapter a bit later, when there's no real occasion for it- and no, it's not another Evie chapter. I don't know if you guys like that (I saw a video on tiktok about how people absolutely hate it when fanfic writers put little side stories in), but it's part of the story now, for better or worse, until I finish what I want to say, there. I'm also planning a part 3 to this little thingy- the 1967 thing. So basically, Evie: 1966, Little Leo: 1967, Main Story: 1975 (for now).
Also, I originally said this was the 26th, for particular reasons that will become clear at the end of part 2 of this flashback, before I realised that I got the year wrong, and had to change it to the correct date, which ended up being the 18th.
Edit, from a few days later, after I originally wrote this Author's Note: Part 2 is already more than 30 pages long, and I haven't finished everything I wanted, so I am considering splitting that 'part' into two parts as well. So instead of the whole 1967 'Little Leo' story arc being three chapters, it may be four (if part four doesn't end up longer than I expect too, which it very well could). Would you guys prefer it to be one very, very long chapter (probably closer to fifty pages, just judging by the estimate of things still left to do), or two shorter (but still long) chapters that come out one after the other? I know some people prefer to have a break, so I thought I'd ask.
Also, did I make the 'governess' and 'gardener' I briefly mentioned in Chapter 329 ~characters~? Yes, yes I did. And did I make them... involved? Also yes.
My thoughts on the governess situation, and the characters of Ms Rochester/Amelia and Nolan, are going to have to wait for the next chapter, but if anything seems odd, I want you to remember that the entire thing is kind of supposed to be a bit old fashioned (read: antiquated), because the upper crust of pureblood society thinks it's fancier that way. I will also explain why, if you noticed, Leo refers to her as 'Ms Rochester', and Nolan calls her 'Miss Rochester'- it isn't a mistake, there's a reason, I promise. Also, it swaps back and forth between 'Mia' and 'Miasenna', because it's supposed to be the difference between Leo calling her the nickname, 'Mia', in his head, versus the fact that anyone else would call her by her proper name, 'Miasenna', but I don't know if that comes across very well. There was also supposed to be a more gradual slide of Leo referring Ms Rochester as 'Amelia' in his thoughts, long before he started to say it right at the end there, but that's kind of hard to do in third person.