Chapter Five
1.
The Main Character has the powers of Sothis and videogame protagonism on their side, and they still begin their life at the Monastery with a D+ as their highest skill. With a sword. After living as a mercenary their whole life.
Leonie believes she's a D if she's being generous grading her strengthened skills. It's why she's being extra cautious following Godfrey to his meeting. Just to the doors. So long as no one on the streets tries to assassinate him, he should be fine with the Riegan Crest marking his clothes. The merchants not tied down by the violet blue and indigo of the capital will notice and spread rumors if he goes missing.
Leonie leaps to the next roof, Silence erasing the noise her impact makes. She's careful not to move too much, too fast under Invisibility, it doesn't make light go through her. There's a distortion with motions, though only when looking straight on her edges. Under the setting sun, no one would do more than a doubletake.
She really hopes Duke Gloucester doesn't use poison on the dinner. Leonie hates poisonous food. Never a good way to detect it with without intense, gut destroying training or death.
He can't risk killing Godfrey, Leonie thinks to herself, nervous for her logic to be true. It would start a war in the Alliance, and Gloucester would be demolished by Riegan and Goneril.
Like the artistic nature of the city, the country isn't ready for that type of escalation. It's why everything the Duke does stays within the country. His people are loyal solely to him, the travelling merchants see none of the real shady dealing going on. The worst they get are a few monsters or bandits to deter them towards other villages or countries.
Godfrey better know better than to bring up what I said, Leonie winces, ducking behind a chimney to watch the castle gates rise. He doesn't have the advantage here.
After the noble, merchants, and guards have gone through, she does a running leap off the roof. Sticky Fingers latches her to the castle wall, Lightweight making it an easy climb with half the gravity. The guards pass, and then she throws herself on the walkway.
Down below, Godfrey is being greeted by a man who has more of a roundness than tone muscles. Not overfeeding, but from not keeping up with a usual exercise regime. As someone who continues to brag about his win during the Monastery's Battle of Eagle and Lion, he doesn't look ready to take on an army.
In fact, Duke Gloucester looks rather nervous as he greets Godfrey.
Leonie climbs in the shadows of the inner wall, less chance of the light giving away her position. She leaves the violet blue haired Duke to ramble on, only using Crest vision for a moment to ascertain he's the one with violet blue steel cords spreading out from his veins. Major Crest of Gloucester.
With that noted, the teenager playing Mission Impossible pulls herself along the wall. At a window just as the party moves inside, she swings in and summons enough magic for Sticky Knees. Leonie curses in her Silence, wordlessly snarling at the high ceiling of the castle.
"I'll have the cooks make us a feast!" Duke Gloucester rumbles as he guides the guests forward. Leonie pulls herself around a mural, very glad no one ever looks up. She rolls her eyes while Godfrey is giving his quiet reply; everyone always forgets to look up. "Yes, Lorenz will be joining us. He's grown much since you last came by, Godfrey."
Leonie flicks back and forth between Crest vision. Her eyes are beginning to strain, along with her arms, as she follows the indigo threads away from the group. They go around her like she is stone in a riverbed, wearing down her deflectors without trying. The pull and push of its wake are so much greater than the golden deer's stone.
The orange haired teen crawls her way up, in and out of the castle. By the time she reaches second level of the castle's church, Leonie collapses to the ground without a sound. Her arms are limp noodles from all the exercise, all the lost energy making her stomach rumble. When she finally catches her breath, the girl pulls out an apple, soundlessly chewing while she sits at the front row pew.
Down below are two guards making quiet conversation. Behind them, resting on the alter under a glass casing, is a staff with five points coming out the top, looking like a hand. At the center of the staff's swirl is a burgundy stone. According to Crests of Fódlan, the legendary staff of House Gloucester is known as Thyrsus.
According to old and mostly forgotten memories of a past life, it is made of blood and bone. It was once a walking, talking person, and now all that remains of their conscious is the Crest Stone beating and bleeding indigo into the Crest vision air. In the strands, unreadable sigils weave before being trapped by the glass, unable to reach out to the guards.
Gloucester's Hero Relic. It still lives, blanketing the land and pulling in all it can. The moment she leans over the railing, it sees her.
It focuses.
2.
Leonie had known her decision before she sat in the pew.
She had known the moment she realized she'd being going to Capital Gloucester. The teachers in Sauin love talking all about all the wonderful thing the Ten Elites did. Seiros shoved the lies in the scripture and to a bunch of thirsty, Crestless, isolated men and woman, it's a lovely dream to think about a future as part of a Major Crest household. In the dream, all their problems would be gone. Crest bearers are the most important people in the land, after all. The words of Seiros are gospel and sung throughout Fódlan, those blessed with Crests are chosen by the Goddess.
Leonie's dreams are about breaking fate. The one, single moment she's written nearly a book in theories and plots. A hyperfixation in its own right: how can Jeralt survive?
The easy answer, kill Kyrona, has three difficult follow-ups. What can kill an Agarthan? How can someone get around the Agarthan's time travel? How is it possible Jeralt won't turn into a beast when Seiros is weakened?
That last follow-up in particular is an itch that cannot be scratched. Leonie would love to solve all her problems with violence – one of the few things in this life that allow her to feel – but killing Seiros would do more harm than good to everyone and everything. The woman has too many fingers in pies, too many devout that would hunt the assassin down. Leonie would like to be alive as long as possible.
Which leads back to the only epicenter she can really, truly effect. A point in time where things go from bad to worse: how can Jeralt survive?
What can kill an Agarthan? Destroy their mockery Crest Stone. Leonie believes she knows how to do that, but testing it is a whole other matter. Plot-wise, her options of test subjects are the librarian, Monica, and Edelgard's uncle. Assuming the Mock Stones are weaker than real Crest Stones opens up the possibility of targeting Sothis' children. Attempt to destroy real Crest Stones as a test, like the one in the Gloucester's Hero Relic.
Leonie knew her decision before settling on Godfrey's cart the first time. Accepting it is the hard part.
…A lot can happen in two years.
New Leonie can barely remember the finer details, but she remembers the first few missions. For the price of stealing a Hero's Relic, the Church of Seiros sent a young man – sent his friends and year mates – to kill his older brother. Foul relationship or not, the death warrant went out the moment the Relic was stolen, and teenagers were tasked with it. Stealing a Relic now, when Riegan and Gloucester representatives are meeting, could cause a war in the Alliance. If the Church of Seiros found out, they could wipe out the Leicester Alliance in their quest to retrieve it.
If the Crest Stone of Thyrsus were to be purposefully destroyed, there is no qualm that war and decimation will follow. There is a reason Those Who Slither in the Dark do not go after Crest Stones directly.
There is a reason Leonie does not stand up, make a bow of hard light, and attempt to destroy the weapon now. She decided long ago that testing the durability of Crest Stones isn't worth the consequences before the future she knows comes knocking. It isn't worth testing to see if the Agarthans will come after her, rewinding time to find her before she crushes the stone.
If anyone learns who kills Monica, it will be the end. A lot can happen in two years, survival is key. If this all is a never-ending time loop set up by the Agarthans to stop Byleth, Leonie cannot give anything away.
So she decides looking at the threads is all she'll do. Get a taste of what she'll face at the Monastery. Don't take Godfrey's offer, wait until Sothis awakens to begin any sort of meaningful butterfly effect. It is on the pew that Leonie accepts making waves now, with no allies and being so weak, is a terrible idea, no matter how bored she'll be as she waits.
Unfortunately, it seems Thyrsus does not have her patience.
3.
The apple drops to the floor with a small thud. The guards don't hear it, too busy talking with one another. Leonie doesn't hear it, her intangible screams oh so loud in her head. She hugs herself, face contorting into pain as she pushes back.
Thyrsus puts all attention on her, doubling efforts as she blocks the probing cords. Leonie feels like she's drowning, indigo submerging her in its prickling irritation. Broken rainbow threads swirl as first the diverting ward drops. The teen buries her face in her legs, muffling her whine as Silence goes next. She pushes back, trying to make a bubble so she can focus. The irritation leaves, for a few seconds she can breathe, and then Invisibility shuts off.
The indigo vanishes.
A deep breath, Leonie waits. The attention is still on her, but the focus is not. Silence goes on, then the diverting ward. Slowly pulling back the bubble of outward force, raising her head to look through the railing bars. The guards haven't looked behind or up, Thyrsus is still in the glass casing. When the blocker goes, she is left with the gentle feeling of waves moving around her. Leonie stays afloat.
Invisibility comes back on. The probing begins again, only not as intense. A thread of indigo skirts around the diverter, trying to wrap around her body. Trying to ascertain where she is. Leonie slowly picks up her apple, hesitant in every move. She fiddles with it, focusing on how unhygienic it is rather than the thread slipping around her, trying to pull her, trying to bond.
This was a mistake, Leonie thinks, centering herself. Lesson learned. Crest Stones can still see her, even if those with Crests cannot. The golden deer was not a fluke; it's much worse when the Stones take notice. The Monastery is going to be awful.
-weakweakweak-
She's only human. There's a long way to go before she can fight dragons.
Leonie stands, a few more indigo strands appearing as the first slides off her. It tries to tie the power into knots around her, but she just removes it over her head or kicks it off her feet. Without her in sight, crawling out the window, it struggles to find her until it no longer can. Her hair stands on end as an almost unnoticeable feeling running through the land. Leonie climbs up to the detailed roof above the church, sitting back on a popular bird's alcove. They can't see her, a few scattering as a bitten apple appears from nowhere. With a last bit of strength, Leonie jumps and climbs a different tower.
There are voices coming from it, nothing clear until she sits next to a too high stained-glass window. The sunset before her, Leonie sneaks a peek while summoning another apple from her bag.
Four females, one male, all sipping tea. The ladies simpering, the noble with a rose puffing his skinny chest in pride.
What a day, Leonie mouths, turning back to rest against the wall. She bites and looks out in Crest vision. The indigo around the church tower is much more prominent than the violet blue, riled up by the surprise appearance. She'd never thought she'd miss her Crestless village, does not look forward to living in a place where Crest Stones walk around and rest in tombs.
The easy solution would be to start forming bonds, but Leonie truly has no interest in that. There's no one she'd throw her life away for, no one she'd want wrapping threads around her heart or appendages like puppet stings. Even if it means staying the emotional range of a teaspoon, she refuses to be weak to someone.
Two years to build up resistance, but what can stop the power of a Crest Stone?
4.
Lorenz Hellman Gloucester. Heir to the Country of Gloucester. Future student of the Golden Deer house.
A noble. Minor Crest of Gloucester. He is ten months younger than Leonie and, if she remembers correctly, he is a threat to the Alliance's stability. Spent too long under his father's thumb, and yet also disagrees with how most nobles act. After listening to the ladies talk with him, Leonie thinks she knows why.
They are his teachers, mentors, and suitors all in one. The only real conversation he likely gets all day. They inflate his ego, telling him how wonderful he is. How they're impressed with him and his accomplishments. You are gorgeous, they say.
Leonie can't see him well through the stained-glass, so she can't tell.
I think a real noble is someone who cares for the people, is the summary of what they slip to him. They manipulate him, but with all the praise he can't see through the webs. Each woman has a Crest, each a different colour. They are connected not to Lorenz, but the indigo of Thyrsus. They teach him their gospel, explaining what they see as a good leader. They instill why he is above all others in his duty.
In the long run, it is a good plan to make him a leader for the people. Telling him why his bloodline needs to stay powerful, stay a pure noble line, is their selfishness. New Leonie cannot dislike this boy at the moment, not when she doesn't know him. She sees how few bonds he has coming out of his wispy Crest blood and cannot pity him. He was a child in County of Gloucester when she was a child, so Leonie cannot hate him. Not yet.
Like every person she's met, Leonie puts no stock, no hope, in him. Another person she's passed by. It would be nice to be on friendly terms in the future, but they are from very different worlds and want very different things. He is another side character, there is only one story where the hands of time might be turned back for him.
The only reason Leonie knows his full name is because everyone in Gloucester does. The Duke and Heir are just about royalty in the eyes of their commoners. They can do no wrong.
Bitterness is a muted emotion, but it is still there. If the choice came between Lorenz and Claude, Leonie would choose Claude in an instant. Long live the king.
5.
Godfrey raises his eyebrows as Leonie saunters towards the cart, "I thought you would have been gone already."
"Why?" she raises her eyebrows. "There's lots to do here. Got everything you needed?"
"Yep," the man smiles, glancing over to where Luci and Mickael are bickering on the best place to set the paintings. "Though, it almost didn't feel like Duke Gloucester was expecting me."
Leonie's eyes are drifting to the new knights. "Are they to help you home?"
"Yes, the Duke was kind enough to lend them to me until I reach the border."
"Right," she sighs, wondering who the stupid party is in this situation. Duke Gloucester for thinking this would work, or Godfrey for accepting them.
"It would have been rude to refuse."
So, Gloucester's fault. "Is it alright if I jog along? I'm heading that way for a job and then returning home." Letter and disguised money sent ahead of her arrival to her village, just in case.
"You can ride with me! Plenty of room on the crates!"
"I'll run for now, thanks."
The knights do not pay attention to her. The most they do is shift their horses slightly to avoid her. Most times, it seems as though the knights with violet blue wrapped around their hearts never see her. Leonie is unimportant by their Crests' standards, and then unimportant to their mission. They miss a lot, realizing she's there but never acknowledging it.
As they talk, she listens.
As they ride, she watches.
A thread curls up one of Godfrey's knights, like roots stretching over their arm. Up and important, spreading over the chest, until it swallows the heart. An hour later, Leonie throws herself in the moving vehicle. She calmly greets Godfrey, pulling out a piece of scrap paper and writing down everything she heard.
His face grows more sever, "Are you sure?"
"Unfortunately."
He breathes softly, showing the notes to Luci. The thick woman tenses, eyes widening, "We have to-"
"Do nothing," Godfrey cuts in. "Doomed if we fight, doomed if we don't."
"But…" Leonie spreads out her hands a little, "if we were near a village and monsters attacked…?"
Godfrey jerks his head to her, Luci still fuming over the note and not focusing. "I won't endanger-"
"Near enough the villagers can vouch for us defeating the monsters, far enough away it doesn't endanger them."
"…Where would we find monsters?"
"I am really good at tracking things. And running."
Godfrey does not look impressed. "Leonie-"
"Too late," she moves to the back opening, no guards taking the rear to block her. "Stay alive until tomorrow."
Jumps and rolls, springing to her feet and turning to wave as Godfrey's shocked face stares back. He doesn't shout, doesn't tell them to stop. Leonie gets to searching for high ambience of untapped reason magic in the air, those are usually a good sign for monsters.
6.
Terrible idea.
Leonie ducks under a low branch, the roar of several beasts echoing as they lunge at her momentary slow step.
Weakweakweak-
Runrunrun-
Leonie hasn't slept enough for this craziness. Can't cast another Speed because her already poor reaction time means struggling to see trees before they're in front of her. Everything is looking blurry, the Giant Beasts practically crawling over one another to get her. Those things are hungry, starving, sensing the magic pouring out of her with overuse.
The teenager breaks the treeline, heading for the sand. Steady Ground causes a sickening howl from the closest Giant Wolf. A Giant Bird swoops down for her, but fast as she is Leonie dodges.
She sees the cart, bolts for it. Godfrey climbs on top, shouting for his men to attack the monsters coming towards them. The village guards stir but do not leave their posts as the monsters do not focus on them. The villagers begin screaming, far behind Leonie and the monsters, but still nothing turns to the people.
Leonie runs past the party, the monsters stalling and kept at bay by arrows and javelins. She slows enough to plant a foot, hopping and turning with the momentum. Skids back over dirt and sand, hands digging into the ground to steady. She looks up, Crest vision on.
Off.
One… two…
Leonie is a blur, darting around and jostling the traitorous knights into claws, beaks, or wild magic. Skids on the ground again. On. Off.
Three... Four…
Keeps it up, pausing only once to throw a training spear at a monster attacking Luci.
Five… six…
Gloucester's knights dead, Leonie pulls out a bow and gets to shooting.
Seven… Eight…
Then, silence as the bodies of monsters dissolve when wild reason magic bursts and evens out over the land.
Nine… ten.
Release.
"What were you thinking?" Godfrey hisses, climbing down as the village guards finally begin coming over.
When Leonie looks up at him, she's faced with honest worry and concern. It throws her a bit, and drained as she is answers, "There's no proof?"
She doesn't think that's the end of it, but they can't let the villagers hear the real reason so many people died today. They already look displeased that Godfrey lived, Leonie knows they wouldn't accept the real answer.
7.
"I have a daughter," Godfrey admits, hours away from the Great Bridge of Myrddin. They really will split there; Leonie doesn't care to protect them through Riegan's territory as well. "She's a bit younger than you."
The teenager purses her lips. "Is that why you want me to go to Riegan?"
"No, no," he quickly shakes his head, running a hand through his chestnut hair. Green eyes look out the back, reminiscing. "She's… not there anymore. My father tried to force her and her mother out because they had no Crest. Hypocrite." His laugh isn't nice. "Neither do I nor my sister. A mercenary group saved them, helped them. Gave me a contact. I assist them when I can, but for all my father knows my daughter's whereabouts is unaccounted for. I'm… not even sure she knows I'm her father."
"…So?"
"So, that's why I asked you," he wryly grins. "You're not my daughter, but you remind me of her. She'll be going to Garreg Mach Monastery one day. Thought I would offer to help one of her potential classmates."
Leonie narrows her eyes. She's not angry so much as annoyed. No way would she give up all this work for some unknown person, she will not mess up her plans just to protect his daughter. Godfrey can find someone else to train. "No thanks."
"Well… the offer's always open."
Leonie doesn't roll her eyes, no matter how much she wants to. This vacation's only a blip in her new life. Something to look back on fondly but doesn't change the scheme of things. They'll likely never see each other again.
8.
Leonie waves on the edge of the bridge, watching them cross into Riegan territory.
It was vaguely fun while it lasted.
She turns and begins the long jog home. If she stalls, taking requests from villages along the way, no one needs to know.
9.
A week after her return, school supplies funding gone and only a light scolding from her father, finds Leonie out in the deeper forest where the golden deer haunts her. She notices the moment it arrives but stays in Crest vision longer than the normal spot-and-avoid. There are words coming from its Crest piece. She squints, the writing seemingly old Fódlan style.
"You need…" she trails off, tilting her head. It says, 'You need to work on unarmed combat.' "Well, yes, but-"
Then a bear bursts from the underbrush.
10.
Two weeks after her return, Leonie receives a letter from the 'rich merchant' she assisted. The envelope has her description and village, the first line of the message is 'To L'. It details tips on how to store magic in tomes like mages learn how to in the Monastery, followed by a request that she write back any questions she has.
'I still want to help you get in,' it reads. 'It would be nice to have someone as skilled as you help keep my territory safe.'
It's signed 'G'.
"He just wants to be able to request me as an escort again," Leonie lies to her father, hiding the words.
There's an address, apparently to his secondary home. The mail between countries gets intercepted a lot, 'so remember to write the number of the letter and the date you send it.'
As terrible an idea as it is, to get attached, Leonie puts pen to paper. If he's willing to keep correspondence, then she'll take the breaks in the monotony and workouts when she can. If he's willing to train her, provide her with resources, then all the better.
'Hello G'
A/N: Leonie should really be more curious about her potential friend's backstory.
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