Interlude I

"aagkhkhhhhh. . ." .

The strangled whine reverberated inside my pounding skull, roughly scraping against my dry throat. Sucking in a breath was halted by the sudden pressure in my chest, "Ahk ahk hack!"

My eyes fluttered open as I sat up, only to squeeze them shut upon having the morning's first light sting against my face. A firm arm wrapped itself around me, keeping me steady despite the exhaustion that quickly sunk into my limbs, and I let myself be held up by the hand supporting my back. "MMMghhh, nnnuufggh."

"Easy now," A man lightly tsked as he brought his hand up to my forehead, and caused a shudder to pass down my body at his cold touch. even as I collapsed into his arms before being laid back down onto the floor. Muttering to himself as he pulled his hand away, "God, you're just burning up. . . Fffffffffffuck."

Warm, would be the first thought that crossed my mind when I saw him for the first time, or saw him in the flesh once again. Part of me thought that this had to be some sort of feverish dream. To be fair, this was my first proper look at my savior. Bright bronze skin adorned by curly black hair, a soft chocolatey complexion that his eyes shared. A look of clear concern was growing on his face as I continuously seemed to stare up at him.

Oh god did he ask me something? Oooooooo Bernie you have to find something, anything!

My eyes flickered around at every possible thing around me for a way to escape such embarrassment. A traitorous part of my mind whispered that it was a fool's errand, that from the corner of my sight that he would be so easily distracted. Rain pouring against the cave's entrance, campfire, a rucksack, a spear strapped to said rucksack, Princess Edelgard, a horse, my savior again, P-prin-ncess Edelgard?!

"Edelgard?" I flailed about springing back into a sitting position, brushing past the man hovering over me to directly address the imperial princess wrapped up in a bundle of blankets. Quickly correcting myself as I called out to her, a light flinch crossed her features as I did so. "Princess Edelgard!"

"Lay- 'Eep!' down," I squeaked as soon as his presence in my mind returned to me, face burning from the shame of forgetting myself even hotter than before. ending off his words with a sign. "Don't make it worse by moving. God how am I supposed get that across to you. . ."

SNAP!

A loud pop rang out from man's free hand, with the other laying me back down upon the furs below. Soon joined by gently knocking his fingers against my forehead followed by the floor under me, "Stay put."

Oh Goddess please just ignore me.

Her grace must've been feeling merciful as she listened to me, because he soon backed off and left me to instead search through his rucksack for something. Leaving me in awkward silence with the imperial princess at my side, her own hands out to warm themselves with the aid of the open flame.

My heart jumped when she actually decided to speak with me, "How do you feel?"

"I-I'm, uh well," The words came out in rush, not expecting the princess to acknowledge my existence so much that my own coughs interrupted my ability to speak. A lone violet iris shone from it's place on her dispassionate face as I rose to meet her, "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm alright."

"Oh for fuck's sake," Again, I jumped at the voice coming from behind me. The man bore an exasperated expression as he approached, very much disappointed to see me sitting upright once again. His only form of a reply took the form of a brief sigh as he brushed some hair out of my face, as it only managed to make the weight settling in my stomach worsen. Despite shrinking in on myself at the sudden attention he still managed to wrap a wet cloth around my forehead, threading a hand through my sweat ridden hair. "I know you can't understand a lick of any of this, but do try to rest a bit. Will you?"

"Not to mention that I have no fucking clue whether a potion might be able to help deal with pneumonia," The last comment came out at the volume of a mere whisper, the guilt ate a me for hearing something that I felt wasn't directed at me. The parting pat on the head he gave me did little to assuage that feeling of shame.

Despite burying my face into the cloth covering my body, my ears caught wind of the princess shuffling over to where I was sitting. I returned my head to place between my knees, begging Sothis that she wouldn't notice the tears burning down my cheeks.

It's water, it's just from the rain.

"We'r-," Sucking in shaky breath, I wiped away the tears before speaking up. The storm raging outside boomed, interrupting my words for a moment as I tried to spit out the words. "Are we free?"

In dim camplight and from the corner of my sight, Princess Edelgard offered me a reassuring nod. She seemed to be focussing on nothing in particular while still intently staring at something that wasn't there. Eventually she did respond, blinking a few times as she came to an answer. Fully turned to me as she spoke, "For better or worse this is real."

My words came out between muffled sniffles and choked sobs, "I wanna go home. . ."

Peeking out from my place, a wet log crashed atop the campfire to clash against the flame. Our mage conjured a pale flame dancing around his fingertips, etching a new path into the waterlogged wood. Encouraging the fire underneath to crack through and spread into the new wood.

A wave of heat split forth from the campfire, bathing the whole cave in a thick blanket of warmth.

I realized just as I was dozing off again that there was a new presence resting against mine, soon joined by steady periodic breathing. Leaning against each other, I focused in on the rhythmic beating of Princess Edelgard's heart resting beside me.

. . .

ssssuuuufffffbBANG!

Edelgard's hand gripping my arm tightened, pulling my back behind the trunk of a tree just as the grass ahead of us exploded. The ground trembled from the strike ordained by heaven, with the force from the magically conjured bolt of lightning felt within my bones. My breathing had been brought to a standstill until the moment passed, waiting to feel the wave of heat pass as I blinked the stars out of my eyes.

Streaks of white cut through the air from within the dust cloud created by the lighting that struck the ground ahead of me. Princess Edelgard's mage had simply shrugged off the hit, retaliating in equal measure to the strike done against him in return. And in that realization, I sucked in a relieved breath, but my anxiety would not remain so manageable.

In his offhand, the pages within his Blizzard tome fluttered to life as he immediately began to cast a second instance of the spell. With the air about him shimmered with a white cloud sucked into shards of ice. Such was the wrong time to blink.

A flash of metal sparked against another just a inches from my face, . Without Princess Edelgard's firm grip on my arm, I'd fallen just in time to see pushed

A strike from a Mercenary that had failed to connect.

Whilst standing above me Princess Edelgard had been locked in a temporary stallment with our assaillant, with her knife blocking his shortsword. One that I hadn't known that she owned. The moment slowed as everything around me became muffled, and muted as it got worse with every moment that passed. The Mercenary seemed to become enraged at the defiance, and Princess Edelgard's stance began to buckle under the pressure. Mouths of masked mages were probably shouting as they closed in, waving their arms to call him off. Some retort was spat out from the few moments that I spent trying to read words coming from his lips, ". . . bounty. . . you said. . . dead or alive?!"

Her majesty's crest let off a boom as it finally activated.

The air burned.

Being so close to the princess as her crest went into effect, I shut my eyes from the scathing heat and simply waited for it to be over. I'd sucked in a grateful breath as the temperature changed with a sudden cool breeze that brushed past me, even as the force for Princess Edelgard's magic grew stronger. My eyes flickered back open.

The sign from Seiros herself hung in the air above Princess Edelgard's head, with said head held up high, her mastery over her own crest seemed so natural. So far beyond myself.

With her knife half buried into his chest, the Mercenary mouthed an inaudible 'what' as the crest shone in the air overhead. Both of the princess's forearms were stained thickly with spilled blood, her blade briefly shone a silver sheen from within her clenched hands. Past the scene where Princess Edelgard stabbed the man to death, the same mages as before switched their focus. Hidden beneath the shadows cast by the trees in the forest parting the afternoon sun's light, the normal men and women that they had brought with them were executed.

The world seemed to return to normal, with the sounds and sights regaining their vibrancy. My heartbeat rapidly vibrated inside of my chest, almost as if trying to escape.

"Mister mage! Princess Edelgard! Mister where are you," A deep hot shame crawled inside of my chest, whereas Princess Edelgard was actually trying to fight back all I was able to do was call out for help. Getting up from my place on the floor, my thoughts couldn't ignore that I was failing to even call out for help correctly- A purple haze bubbled up from the hand of one of the mages that had decidedly crept up on us, "Princess Ede-!"

The dark aura sunk into her skin and as if it were a physical blow, sent Princess Edelgard reeling from getting hit with it. The crest bursting with light, and power above her winked out of existence as if it never had been here at all. Her body slacked in the middle of a ditch effort lunge, slumping over to the side as if the strings holding her up had been cut.

"Edelgard?" Even being on the floor, a mere foot or two away the source of magical power where I was not even the target of such divine might. I wanted to crawl into some hole all the same, painfully aware of the new pressure pressing against my chest. Butterflies didn't live in my gut anymore, and where they had, hummingbirds had taken their rightful place. "Edelgard, please wake up!"

I sprinted over to her side, sliding to a stop to shake her back awake. Her body was still to the touch, frantically calling out her name hoping that she would just tell me that she was alright. For a brief moment her eyelids swung openly, dazed and dilated pupils inside the violet ring binding it in place.

My hands fumbled around grasping for Princess Edelgard's knife, easily parting her slackened grip on the blade. A lump became stuck on my throat at the sight of her vulnerable form under me, "S-sdtay away!"

"Go! Away-Or I'll hurt you -and you'll regret it," They didn't listen, they just continued on despite my desperate warnings. Ones that had started to feel closer to pleading than true threats. I swear that I tried. The closest one, a Priestess clad in black robes approached with darkness pooled around the tip of the staff held in her hands.

Before it could be unleashed, the space at the center of her chest exploded.

A spear occupied the space where her heart ought to be, fresh droplets of blood fell onto my face as my own heart skipped a beat.

The rest spun around to face the source that had thrown the weapon, and I was left to watch her corpse collapse onto the floor with no spine left to keep her upright. Distracted even as I was at that moment I still caught part of some words they spoke, "I thought you guys killed that dastard already?!"

"He should be dead ten times over by now," While they were speaking, the mage came into clear view to me. Limping, with arrows littering his back with a dozen cut marks ruining his robes that had once been able to keep out the rain. The worst came in the form of a literal AXE was stuck in his side, my worry deepened as he continually pried it out from where it was buried. Once ready, he spent a moment pinned in place by agony when it was finally freed, and limped forward in a blitz faster than he should've been capable of. The axe firmly grasped in his two hands was swung into the archer's jaw, "I don't kno-!"

The rest jumped into action, the remaining casters seemingly panicked by the latest causality. A bud of relief replaced my hopelessness at their impending difficulties.

He was still alive, and in that realization the grip I held on Edelgard's knife slackened enough for it to fall to the floor. Searching to clasp onto Princess Edelgard herself, silently murmuring that piece of news, and hoped she could hear me.

A litany of fire, wind, ice, even the lingering tenderals of dark Miasma failed to impede the progress he made on his assault. A slow slaughter, taking a slow approach with every strike that he made against him. Putting his entire body into every swipe, lunge and bash that he made with the axe he tore out from his torso.

No one save of one of the few swordsman ended up trading blows with him, and even then nothing survived the followup after the first had broken their guard.

Eventually, there was none left to continue the fight. Either by being torn to pieces by the raging axe, taken as an improvisation by Princess Edelgard's personal guard. Or the more sensible of our attackers seeing that there was nothing more they could do, and simply turned tail. Sun kissed by the goddess as he was, I could tell from his heavy breaths that there were only fumes left to fuel his actions.

I just hoped it was enough, it had to be. Anything was better than what I could do for Princess Edelgard.

"Peh-pleasse," My pleading came between choking sobs as my vision blurred as the day's stress finally overwhelmed me. The only thing, the other person that I could still see clearly was Princess Edelgard's broken form in my arms. "H-help! Help me. . ."

.

. .

. . .

. .

.

It was raining again.

Distant delayed thunderclaps lit up the valleys along the river we traversed, brief moments that allowed us to see where we were heading. I clutched his hand harder whenever lightning struck the ground closer than what I'd grown accustomed to. Hidden away from the downpour under the mage's coat with blood mixed into our grip's, a weak squeeze came in the form of his reply a second later.

My eyes trudged along behind my feet, and continued to push past loose mud stuck against my legs, despite stumbling to keep up with Edelgard's mage. Taking a little longer to recover every time that did, and left gasping for air just to keep pace with him as we reached the local hilltop. We ultimately came to a stop, taking a moment to lean against a tree to breathe and adjust Edelgard's limp form held in his arms before we continued down the mountain pass.

Headed farther away from home, from Father.

Moving off to one side where the rain was gentler, bordering the Oghma mountains that trailed further northeast toward Garreg Mach. Down the side, and stuck snug by the opening into the valley leading into the plains belonging to house Barnabas. It had appeared much prettier when I'd traveled here with Mother. . .

I wished that she could see what I was looking at now. Of the little glittering village holding out amongst the spring shower, and turbulent streams turned into raging rivers.

"Oh sunshine," Light notes trickled out as we made our way down, almost completely muted by the storm racing beside us forcing us to carefully maneuver the slick mud. It caught me off guard to hear him sing, "Are you coming back soon, and will you be staying the afternoon?"

"Cause sunshine I'm tired of drowning in the rain, with my loneliness that- that remains. . . God how did the next part go?" The foreign words came slow and steady, a rough baritone that brushed against his limbs. Frigid air burned against my skin, while my mind was full of thoughts inked with petrichor that had been present when the torrent first began. Alert, waiting and hanging off every undecipherable word sung, "So sunshine~, oh sunshine, are you coming back soon and will you be staying the afternoon?"

The moonlit landscape almost seemed brighter whilst he was singing, the hand that he had lent me warmer. My own breath left an ache inside of my lungs, new energy pushing me to stay awake long enough so that'd hear the rest.

"Cause sunshine without you I'm blue," I was stuck half distracted by trying to keep pace, leaning closer to hear the words that. Of course I wouldn't understand him, but it would be rude not to listen, and to miss out how such beautiful words were formed. Even the once dried blood stuck on his face seemed to slip away, "And time doesn't move. It's where I lose my groove, so sunshine are you coming back soon?"

"And, and will you be staying the afternoon?" The next verse came laden with thick reluctance, with a spot of bad luck ahead of us. He sucked in the breath at the end to keep on singing, "Cause I'm ti- tired of drowning in my sadness~"

"And sunshine when you do shine," One of those mere streams having been transformed into river lay just beyond reach, with no bridge or path in sight. "You take away my madness by lighting up my day, and chasing the rain away~"

I hadn't expected him to stop singing so soon, and something must've tipped him off as he caught me staring at him. The snap of a twig slipping under my notice, but not under his as he pulled me closer to keep me from falling. And in that moment, the spell that I was under broke as the steel reinforcing my legs liquified.

My heart raced in that brief moment, focusing on the light that to gleam from underneath his eyelids.

"Easy now," His voice took on a joking tone, picking me up with ease despite my protests. He was already carrying Princess Edelgard, I could dare trouble him further than I already was. The blanket that I got wrapped up in beside the princess told me otherwise, "Yeah no, I'm not going to be bossed around by someone young enough to be my niece."

"Hmm, how about this?" Paler than he had any right to be, and looking past me out at the valley born settlement. A lingering sense of contemplation laid written upon his face, "I'll sing for you a little while longer, just until you go to sleep. . . Go on."

What?

"So sunshine will you be coming soon, and will you be staying the afternoon?"

I didn't have the time to question what he was telling me to do. . something that. . it must've been. .

Important. . .

Note:

I've not much to say this go around. Here's an update on the MC's current stats,

Lv 12

HP: 34 (40%) | Mv: 4

Str: 14 (35%) | Lck: 13 (50%)

Mag: 21 (65%) | Def: 12 (30%)

Dex: 12 (35%) | Res: 15 (50%)

Spd: 19 (55%) | Cha: 9 (10%)

Course, as always, check out the in real time thread on Questionable questing where I write this story. Much scuff and shenanigans to be witnessed.