cross posted on ao3 click the funny hongkes to access my account
oh oops btw the prompt I used is Fire and Ice
Why is Alice DeRoss always hanging out with that sketchy prospector?
Florian is unsure. But when Norton gets sick, he decides to steal his limelight.
(Little does he know he’s being watched.)
For @sundae-nite and by extension @fallereus and @tempestimes
I love you all dearly and I am so blessed to have you guys in my life!! Thank you for supporting my goofy works and for all of your guys’ encouragement. Sundae you have a special message waiting for you (it’s at the bottom sorry Queen 💔… it’s the end note on chapter 4 if u wanna skip to it on ao3).
There had always been something so strangely fascinating about that journalist since he had first met her.
Florian didn’t know exactly what it was. And frankly, it was driving him a little mad.
Maybe it was because everything in Oletus was quite maddening, as of late— from Naib’s outing as a Wildling-hunting mercenary to Eli the Seer’s scandalous love letters in Welsh to the release of Demi Bourbon’s DemiPremiumTM Milkshake.
Florian would have found it all so funny if he didn’t feel like an absolute clown whenever he was in the same room as that journalist— “Eurydice Lamb”, she had called herself.
But it wasn’t Eurydice’s presence that made him feel like a fool.
It was the man who was perpetually beside her. Always talking with her.
That icy Norton Campbell.
The worst part was that Eurydice seemed to actually enjoy the man’s presence.
Norton Campbell wasn’t known for the same polite attitude and steadfast generosity and any accolades the journalist was; a vast portion of the Manor saw him as quite the brute, a man as cold and dense as an ore.
But descriptions were getting Florian nowhere. Somehow, someway, that grumpy fellow always managed to sneak away with Eurydice or get rescued by her or spare her whenever he was a hunter.
There were rumors, of course— nobody had to have a keen eye like Florian to understand that for some reason, Eurydice Lamb and Norton Campbell (fire and ice, really) got along just fine.
And maybe a little more than ‘just fine’.
So when, one day, Norton was stricken with an unbelievably terrible fever—and of course Dr. Dyer wouldn’t let anyone through that part of the medbay for visits, Florian took his chances.
“Good morning, Eurydice!” Florian quickly slid into the chair where Norton usually sat the day after the prospector’s sickness was announced.
“Good morning, Florian,” the woman dipped her head. “How are you today?”
“As joyous as always,” he chuckled. “And you?”
“Well,” she hummed, lifting her cup of white coffee. “A shame some of our friends couldn’t join us this morning.”
Naib was on room arrest. Norton was sick. Emily was taking care of him.
None of them were Florian’s friends— that was certain. Still, he played along. “Oh, that’s right…”
“Did you check the roster yet?” Eurydice took a sip of her coffee. Her eyes locked with his singular one.
“You and I have a few matches together. That’ll be fun, won’t it?”
“I’m sure it will,” Florian affirmed, never blinking once.
Florian Brand. The Manor’s resident Fire Investigator— or, perhaps, arsonist.
Alice (“Eurydice”) didn’t know exactly why she seemed to constantly hit it off with fire-loving or otherwise suspiciously danger-loving men (Norton… the golden cave explosion. Orpheus… well, he had a strange thing for sitting near the fireplace. Need she mention that particularly evil Knight or adrenaline junkie Matador?), but it was helpful to her cause.
In fact, all of her days in Oletus Manor were helpful to her cause— all because she had just asked the right questions, followed the right steps.
She had caught a mercenary in action. Accidentally exposed a seer’s scandalous love letters (and photos meant for his fiancée) to the whole Manor. Even helped Demi create the latest Manor cuisine.
It was all strangely productive, and no matter what she did, it would all be kept in her report:
“Oletus Manor, Apple of Desire: Death Ring in Disguise?”
It was a little too sensationalistic for her taste, but the title and all could be figured out later.
For now, she had to press this suspicious Fire Investigator for anything helpful.
Thankfully, he seemed rather eager to be pressed.
That smile of his never left his face. She assumed it was just his nature— as for why he was so jolly and joyous, she had no clue.
“So, Florian…” Alice eyed him at the waiting table before a match. “Remind me how long you have been here?”
“A few months, Eurydice.”
That name. On occasion, it still hurt to hear. But it wasn’t like she could go under anything else.
“Did anything catch your eye about the Manor when you first came here?”
“It was very big, Eurydice.”
Of course it was. Alice’s family had been rich —she had been rich— before that cursed fire…
Ah, there was no time to complain. Not when this fire investigator was staring through her soul.
“Who was the first survivor you met?”
“Annie, Ganji, and Emma gave me a tour.”
“What is this, an interview?” Freddy Riley remarked from Alice’s left. “Mind you, our match is starting in a minute.”
“Oh, quiet, Freddy. She’ll get around to you at some point,” Florian lightheartedly chuckled. He leaned towards the table and perched his chin on top of his hands. “Go on, Eurydice.”
In the distance, the hunter entered their little booth. And as they did, the questions continued.
And eventually, as a prospector’s mysterious illness persisted, Florian took his place.
Of course, nobody needed a keen eye to notice that.
“First Norton, now Florian,” the gossip Richard Sterling muttered in disdain, side-eyeing the Manor’s fiery duo one day, at the match waiting table. “They complement each other, don’t they, Hernando?”
The Matador shrugged. “You tell me. You’ve been looking at them for a while now—“
“I mean, isn’t it a little suspicious? How well that journalist gets along with everybody…”
“You have too much hate in your heart, Richard,” Hernando rolled his eyes. “If you were half as kind as she was, I’m sure you’d get more friends too.”
“I am not simple, Hernando. I do not need friends…”
“Grit your teeth any harder and you’ll need a dentist,” Hernando chuckled, elbowing the Knight.
As much as Alice wished to downplay it, she enjoyed that fire investigator’s company.
He was quite the change of pace from Norton (who was slowly getting better… if the fact that Emily was allowing visitors now was any indicator) and was willing to answer almost any question.
Whether or not he was honest about his answers was… uncertain.
All he did was with an impeccable smile. A little bounce to his step. A glimmering in his eye.
“Would you mind sharing how you’re so… full of light all the time?” Alice asked, one day. The duo sat together in the greenhouse, observing the three sunflowers Emma had planted recently.
“Is there a reason not to be?” Florian tilted his head.
“I mean… it's not as though the world is full of sunshine and rainbows,” Alice retorted. And then she quickly added:
“Although I’m sure you know that full well.”
Florian’s smile twitched into an even fuller one. “Well, Eurydice… any tragedy can end with a miracle. And that’s why I’m here, isn’t it? Saving people.”
“Being a hero,” Alice murmured, nodding along.
“The mere prospect of being able to be that for someone is enough to brighten the rest of my days,” he sighed— almost dreamily.
“…Mhm,” Alice side-eyed him.
“Well, now that you’ve asked…” Florian turned to face her. “I must ask— what makes you so happy?”
“Ah… huh?” Alice blinked. She wouldn’t quite describe herself as a happy person…
“You have quite the lovely smile, if you didn’t know,” Florian chuckled. “You know, I’ve always thought of you to be quite beautiful.”
“Oh, my gosh… he’s totally flirting with her,” Richard scoffed from a nearby bush.
“We should have left earlier,” Hernando grumbled. “I can’t believe you’re making me stay here with you.”
“Tch. Leave if you want— it’s not like the Baron entrusted my mission to your incompetent self.”
Richard slammed a hand over the Matador’s mouth.
“Thank you,” Alice sheepishly murmured, rubbing the back of her back. “If I’m quite beautiful, you’re even more so…”
“Really?” Florian’s eye widened, his tone incredulous. “I don’t believe that.”
“Hah,” Alice mumbled, a slight flush spreading through her face.
It was just a tiny compliment… and, in fact, a frivolous one (as beauty faded with age, so Alice had been told), and here Alice was.
She felt like nothing short of an idiot.
“Ahh, you’re smiling,” Florian pointed to her face.
“I am?” Alice’s hand reached up to her face.
She slowly turned away from him and towards the sunflowers. This was… incredibly embarrassing.
“Do you remember when I bought you a sunflower for Valentine’s? I cannot believe Norton would copy right after…” Florian lightly scoffed.
“If anything, I should’ve gotten you something after,” Alice muttered. “Sorry about that.”
“What’re you apologizing for? You have no need to get me anything— what, I haven’t put you in debt to me, have I?” Florian teased.
“Ugh, romance,” Richard peered through the bush, wrinkling his nose.
“Ah, romance,” Hernando cooed, checking his nails.
“So don’t apologize. If anything, I should’ve gotten you truffle cake to boot,” Florian continued. “A little Demi told me you loved such things.”
“You’re making me blush…” Alice sighed.
“Adorable,” Florian kept his eyes on her face.
“Really, you don’t have to get me anything else… that was enough.”
“I’d go for a truffle cake,” Hernando whispered to Richard. “But… what is a truffle?”
“You should ask Florian to buy one for you,” Richard dryly replied.
“Ah, but I’m not really friends with him… why don’t you buy me one instead?”
“I’m. Broke. And I don’t buy things for people, Hernando.”
“You’ve made good money as a matador, yes? Where’s your wallet?”
“Mary confiscated it from me during my first match…”
Richard eyed the man as if a muleta had sprouted from his head.
“Oh, please,” Florian brushed Alice’s words off. “I have enough money as is. Is your birthday soon? Consider it a birthday gift. Or… Easter is soon, yeah? An Easter gift.”
“Aha… well, what do you want for your birthday? Or Easter.”
“More matches with you. We make quite a good duo, don’t we?”
“Of course. Your airbags are always so helpful…”
“It would mean nothing without someone to rescue me before I use them!”
The longer they talked, the brighter their smiles grew— a flame that fed another.
Chapter 4: The Secret Ending (Drug-osity)
This was the original ending taken inspo from Ashes of Memory from my nortalice challenge
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
As Norton’s illness persisted, Florian and Alice spent more and more time together. In a way, they resembled the former fragments of Alice and Norton’s bond.
And of course, nobody needed a keen eye to notice that.
Especially not the Baron, who was among them.
“You too, Florian Brand… seriously, why must everyone flock to that woman like a moth to flame?” said the Baron, one “Orpheus” Blanche, standing behind Florian in the Baron’s hidden meeting room. Only one other person could have known where it was, and of course, that would the former resident of the Manor, Alice.
Not that she would come to the rescue, given that she was supposed to be in a match and Florian had been summoned for a run-of-the-mill Baron conference.
Oh, and yes— the fire investigator in question did need to be rescued. Orpheus was, by now, a master at knots and ropes at the like. And also at cutting off sleeves so he could inject people’s arms.
He was a jack of all trades.
“Well, she’s simply fascinating!”
When all else failed for Florian, he typically resorted to talking. He was pretty good at the sort, he believed, although if he knew how many times he had talked with the Baron before in these kinds of ‘meetings’, he would certainly think otherwise.
“Oh, I can tell. Given the fact that she has some kind of harem,” Orpheus rolled his eyes. “Anyhow, congrats on being the second person I have to give a talking to about—“
“A harem?! Why, Eurydice is a lovely woman… I am not surprised she has a—“
Orpheus slammed his gloved hand over Florian’s mouth. “Yes, yes. Can you be quiet now? I have to make my injection quick.”
Now Florian could feel his heart beating just a smidge faster.
“Why else do you think Norton has a fever? And whoever’s getting close to Eurydice next is on the list as well.”
“Why is that?” Florian, with a muffled voice, questioned.
“Because she’s messing with my plans,” Orpheus rolled his eyes, taking a substance-filled syringe out of his pocket— not that the arsonist could see it. “This is a threat to her, actually. You know how threats work, don’t you? This is just one without flames.”
“They’re actually miracles, not thre—“
“Any last words?” Orpheus moved his hand from Florian’s mouth. “Please make it quick. I had a terrible argument with Norton the last time and it was awful. You wouldn’t be like that, would you Florian? Would you mind giving me your love confession for Alice so I can put it into my poem anthology?”
“For a man in a rush, you sure speak a lot.”
“Such boring last words. Oh, well— beggars can’t be choosers. Are you sure you don’t want to beg that your crush be spared?”
“You totally are. I am not dense, Brand.”
“I’m not. I admire the woman. That’s not love—“
“‘Set me as a seal upon thine heart’,” Orpheus began reciting, inspecting the syringe for a brief moment.
“As a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave…’” Orpheus squinted at the area of Florian’s arm where the deltoid muscle was. “‘The coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.’”
“I think you’ve started enough flames in your life, Florian Brand.” Orpheus mused, and without another word, the syringe broke through skin.
Everyone looks at least a little different from their childhood selves.
Alice and Florian were the same way.
Some things didn’t change, though— little Florian’s adoration of miracles and flames was simply fanned on through the years. Little Alice (or Eurydice, depending on which father of hers you asked) had always been a curious girl, which was only spurred further by the tragedies that fell upon her.
Florian was the why— at least, to some degree, because the motivation behind his miracles could always be attributed to someone else. Or, someone’s ‘something else’.
An unholy obsession with curing “evil” by being evil itself had been Florian’s igniting spark, only shafted by the first miracle he had ever witnessed.
And his first miracle was not unlike Alice’s first curse: what is a child supposed to do when the present is fire and the past is ice? When, like ice, the ones you love melt away to never be seen again— at least, in the form of how they originally appeared?
If Alice had asked this question to the fire investigator, his answer would have been simple.
A future always needs its flames, doesn’t it?
And perhaps her questions —that persistence— was what Florian was most enchanted (and perplexed) by.
He questioned himself, although not as much as he probably should.
He questioned himself, but never to consider if the “miracles” he sought would lead him to his death.
And if Alice only knew about this —about another resident willing to die for a cause that, to everyone else, was unreasonable— she would’ve found it just as maddening as she was to him.
But what was more maddening was the man’s dramatic change in demeanor ever since a few days ago.
“Sleeping beauty,” Richard sarcastically remarked, wrinkling his nose at the sight of the pale, sleeping fire investigator.
He was sleeping in front of the fireplace.
“Richard, be quiet,” Alice scoffed. She placed the back of her hand against Florian’s forehead. After dinner that night, he had quickly retired. He hadn’t even said anything to anybody.
“Why is it always the men you hang out with?” Richard raised an eyebrow, a hand on his hip. “First Norton, now—“
“Are you ill, spreading a disease? Or a witch perhaps?” he prodded.
“Are you a Knight or do you go around roleplaying as one?” Alice shot back, crouching down to inspect Florian’s face.
“This is incredibly odd behavior,” Richard remarked.
“You are incredibly odd, Richard.”
“Watch out or you may end up like him,” Alice gestured briefly to the sleeping blond. “I know something is off. Both him and Norton had a Baron meeting before their respective changes, yes?”
“As if the Baron is some kind of virus, sure.”
“Well…” Alice straightened and turned to face him, the quiet flames of the fireplace illuminating their faces. “Perhaps there’s more to the Baron than we thought.”
Richard knew that one full well.
And soon, Alice would, too.
Ten million gazillion kudos to one of the best fanfic authors (and authors in general) of all time, my dear amiga SundaeNite. This challenge has been such a blast ever since we conceived it in the wee twinkling hours of the morning. I am real glad and thankful that you didn’t give up on your enthralling works and thank you for encouraging me through mine. May God bless you always and may you take a great nice long rest.
Let’s avoid carpal tunnel together!
Love, Vesper ❤️
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