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Time for another Summer Spinoff Special. This time it's the only CD release from Zero Phoenix, a duo group consisting of Hikaru Midorikawa and Canna Nobutoshi. The download has all 7 tracks and scans of the CD covers and lyrics.
Had this outfit concept sitting around for like 5 months and I finally got around to drawing it☺ I think techwear is really cool, so I wanted to try to make him an outfit.
Disconnected, barely coherent Destiny x Zestiria AU/crossover thoughts from over the past year. Partially from DMs, but mostly not. Maybe I should have polished them, but I really didn't feel like it. It was either post them like this or not at all.
Spoilers for Zestiria, obviously. Less obviously, some spoilers for Berseria near the end of the post.
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Okay so Leon being a seraph might work out fine for crossover and slot way too easily into parallels with Mikleo lmao
Symonne is an evil little prick, so I figure seraphim can be as evil and selfish and corrupted as they want to be as long as they have a vessel.
So Mictlan is a seraph who'd also like to wipe out humanity. Motives no more complex than his normal ones. Aetherians Seraphim rule and Er'thers humans drool. Though I guess optionally you could give him some desire to save fellow seraphim from humans' malevolence, it'd probably still mostly just be about superiority bullshit. Also he is ancient and stupid powerful.
Hugo is one of the previous Shepherds. What little we know of him in canon, he seems to also have been a very kind (though weak-willed) person, so maybe he was also exceptionally pure.
Since we don't know shit about Prime Lords, there's nothing to prove that an evil bastard like Mictlan couldn't be one. So he was Hugo's. While armatized, Mictlan takes full control and mortally wounds Chris and the newly born Emilio. Hugo, as pure as he is, doesn't corrupt, but gives up. There is no fight for control. So Mictlan's form as everyone else knows it is a permanent armatization (explaining why he's blond, idk), though most humans still only see Hugo. He uses Hugo's body to be able to communicate directly with humans and his good reputation as a Shepherd to [404 rest of evil plan not found i have no idea how he'd plan to wipe out humanity without also triggering the generation of enough malevolence to fuck over most seraphim since vessels seem to be in short supply.]
And from there, either
A) As in Destiny proper (or Drama CD specific), Chris managed to get Rutee to a safe place and returned to be with her son in her last moments. They're both reborn as seraphim, with Marian actually being Chris reborn, with her only memory being her love for (her) children. Mictlan gives the reborn Emilio the true name "Duoqoi Maeve" ("Leon the Bruised"). Marian doesn't recognize Leon as her own, but loves him all the same. She always feels like something (Rutee) is missing, though. Mictlan keeps them both around, trying to raise Leon with all his own beliefs and as many insecurities as he can without overwhelming him into becoming useless. With Leon being both under Mictlan's thumb and a seraph, he's considerably more isolated than in Destiny proper and actually follows Mictlan's orders of his own will rather than at the threat of Marian's life. He's ordered to join the Shepherd as a Sub Lord and manipulate Stahn's journey to suit Mictlan's plans. Over the journey with Stahn, the small doubts he had in all he was taught to believe by Mictlan become bigger and he isn't so sure he wants to go through with the plan anymore.
Optional bit for A: Maybe Leon's told (lied to) that he was reborn as a seraph as a result of an oath that Chris made before she died?
B) Chris managed to get away with Rutee and Emilio, and Rutee somehow got separated from them. Chris and Emilio both die close to Stahn's village. Emilio is the only one to be reborn as a seraph. He and Stahn grow up together, and he's given the name Leon. He doesn't have a true name until he becomes a Sub Lord, where he names himself "Kovmekh Maeve" ("Leon in the Sunlight").
C) Emilio wasn't newly born and was instead around 3 or 4 years old. His only memories are his mother, his sister, and his name. He was the one to get separated from them when escaping Mictlan, and died close to Stahn's village. His vague memory of his mother getting hurt has him pretty sure that she and his sister are dead. He and Stahn grow up together. He doesn't have a true name until he becomes a Sub Lord, where he names himself "Kovmekh Leumei" ("Emilio in the Sunlight").
Optional bit for C: Later on during his and Stahn's journey, they come across Marian, who he mistakes for Chris. She's only seen at a distance, visibly very happy. Emilio decides not to talk to her, figuring if she's that happy, he shouldn't complicate her life, especially since they have an important job to do. By the time Stahn convinces him to go to her, she's already gone. It's left ambiguous whether she was a human or a seraph, and at this point there hasn't been confirmation that Chris died, so for all they know, it could have been her, a look-alike, or even her reborn seraph. Emilio says it would have been an embarrassing scene anyway if she turned out to be the real thing, and not even be able to sense him.
Optional bit for B or C: Not a concrete decision yet, but pretty sure that Stahn's village shouldn't have any other seraphim in it.
That'd put Leon as the perpetually isolated stranger with probably only the Ailerons (or only Stahn?) to really interact with. Then again, Leon's also enough of a brat that he probably wouldn't let himself stay unknown when people whisper about Stahn being too old for an imaginary friend. He can still interact with the world, after all, and he wouldn't have had any other seraphim to instill in him the notion that he shouldn't. So that village at least has been made to believe in seraphim just from Leon's bad attitude. (Though he'd probably only do this in this village since it's Home. Elsewhere, he recognizes the utility in being invisible, but he's still probably too good deep down to think to abuse it outside of eavesdropping and going places he shouldn't be allowed.)
There'd also be no seraphim to teach him about the differences between human and seraphim, so not only would it be a bit awkward growing up, but it'd also draw direct contrast between Sorey and Mikleo's situation where Sorey was a human raised among seraphim, and here Leon is a seraph raised among humans.
Another optional bit for A (for contrast with the above optional bit for B or C): Stahn's village does have a few seraphim hanging around, who bless its farmland. His village is one that believes in seraphim simply for that bounty of the land. Stahn's resonance is naturally high enough to hear them, and he sees flickers of them as he grows older since that's additional time he's been exposed to them, but he's not able to see them fully until the start of his journey.
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Leon starting off as a seraph would also solve the glaring issue of, if Leon was a human and squire, why he wouldn't be a damn geyser of malevolence from all Mictlan's put him through. (Though the inconsistency of how malevolence generation works could still have it explained away by supplementary material that still claims that he has "a pure heart". (or that could also be countered by Famitsu's guide that describes his heart as "kind and coldblooded, and too sick to be soothed".) Sure he does what he does out of love for Marian, but we've seen how it eats at him; and he says he has no regrets, but we've seen how that's bullshit. He is not as self-assured as Rose or any of the villainous humans in Zestiria who don't turn into hellions.)
The hard part about Leon starting the story as a seraph though is…
that means no Chaltier, which means Leon should probably be an earth seraph so he can keep all his earth spells, but that means his hair would have to fade to orange and THAT SOUNDS WEIRD. I guess he could be a dark seraph that just minors in earth, the way the others have spells that combo with other elements. Fading to purple doesn't sound as weird. (I don't think Symonne's element is ever discussed, but her hair fades to purple, and there is the one example of non-standard element in Zenrus, who is lightning, which some Tales titles equate to light. So maybe Leon's allowed to be special like that.)
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If they grow up together as kids, Stahn probably spends a long time studying the ancient tongue so that he can give Leon a name. That show of effort doesn't become apparent until they've grown a bit and Leon knows how difficult it is for Stahn to focus on books.
In scenarios where they don't grow up together, he probably just gets help from Dymlos or the rest of his teammates. It makes for awkward pact ceremonies. Or maybe after his first squire complains about it, he starts thinking of names for most people he meets and asking for help translating them ahead of time.
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[This thought didn't end up going anywhere, but could be neat]
Chris dies during childbirth with Leon, and some event leads to Hugo dying not long after. Hugo is reborn as a seraph, Mictlan, with his important memory being "my wife is dead because of my son" with no context for it. He fills in the gaps himself, which is where his general mistreatment of Leon is going to come from.
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If Leon starts as a human, we've got 2 paths to take. OG and DC.
If OG, I don't think Leon can be a squire. He'd have too much malevolence from how his life's been going the past few years. It'd culminate in him becoming a hellion that Stahn needs to purify. The default route would be that Stahn is unable to purify him. If Stahn is able to take all of it on (going off of the anime's rules), he would be uniquely familiar with Leon's life in a way not even Chaltier is.
In this case, Chal would definitely be using the sword as his vessel. He'd need a vessel not only to be around Hugo, but to be around Leon.
Since Leon can't be a squire unless he's purified, Stahn might not have access to an earth seraph unless he purifies Leon. Chal is only concerned with Leon, so he has no desire to help Stahn on his own, and Leon wouldn't be loaning Chal out.
Or alternatively, Chal becoming a Sub Lord is part of Mictlan's plan—since Chal is loyal to Leon, and he has Leon doing whatever he asks for Marian. Plan being to have Chal assume control of either Stahn or one of his squires through armatization. So Stahn would have access to an earth seraph until he fails to purify Leon.
Well, whatever the case, I don't know how to treat Leon's high malevolence as a party member. Maybe something like Maltran where he's learned to hide it somehow? idk, Maltran is also an unexplained mess.
If DC, he can be a squire right away, but he might be toeing the line of corruption when Mictlan decides to reap all he's been sowing.
The name Stahn gives him here would probably be the same as the ones I mentioned as a seraph. Kovmekh Maeve (Leon in the Sunlight) as a squire, and then Kovmekh Leumei (Emilio in the Sunlight) when reborn as a seraph. ... Or in an OG scenario where Leon can be a squire right away, maybe Leon is his first squire and he doesn't know the ancient tongue at all, so he's at a loss for what name to give him. And since Mictlan has to have a hand in them working together, he'd probably be there for the ritual. Maybe he'd offer Duoqoi Maeve (Leon the Bruised) without telling him what it means. Though I guess the party members who do know the ancient tongue would be suspicious then 'cause why the hell would you name someone that. Might be able to frame it as a sad observation of the unfortunate child he's been sponsoring rather than something malicious, I guess.
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("no, leon waking up as a seraph has a happy ending," I said to myself. but then)
Kind of. Maybe. Maybe not. The more I think about it, maybe the more frustrated he'd get. Because there's very few actual memories, but a lot of reactions and feelings.
Knows a name, knows it belongs to this person, feels both at ease and unsatisfied, but not having the context for why makes it… not great.
Wanting the same things as before but with different reservations about them. Feeling dictated by someone else even if he doesn't feel like a different person, and wondering if he seems like a different person from the outside. Worrying that he can't just pick up where he left off but on a rickety foundation—that he's a breathing ghost among the living, only hurting those who knew him by being Not Quite. ("If you hold me, are you holding me or someone else? Are you going to be mourning someone that you perceive as not here anymore? Am I my own replacement?")
I suppose that comes to how others feel about those who are reborn. Even if they had all the same memories, would they be the same person? Or would they be seen as a clone of sorts? A copy that isn't "real". I find it hard to believe that everyone would see someone reborn as a seraph the same way, including the seraph themselves.
Maybe it'd help if I had a list of everything he'd remember under different circumstances… I should write one…
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Or what if the memories kept are foundational rather than cherished memories. Leon only remembers what Mictlan put him through and literally nothing else.
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[From DMs]
ugh ; ; Thinking of Destiny Zestiria crossover where Leon dies and is reborn as a seraph mid story
It's difficult to think of how it turns out. Because Judas is a thing, it feels like it should follow whatever the heck his deal is. How much should he remember? How much should he want to cast aside or hold on to his old self? How should those who used to know him perceive him? Does it match with how he perceives himself? Is there resentment?
I still don't know shit about Judas, so I can't even use him as a guideline. Maybe that's a good thing, for creativity's sake? But should the parallel be broken?
Obviously I don't want it to be a sad outcome…
Having so few examples of humans reborn as seraphim really doesn't help. Yeah we have 2 whole party members who did it but they were literally babies and fetuses when it happened so it's useless data lol There really is only Seres/Celica and the few words Lailah and Edna had to say. That is not a good sample size :\
I GUESS that opens everything to be a sliding scale :\ so it could be 100% perfect all memories feelings intact and no perception of him as a different person but that feels too clean! I want some conflict but what would be the least ouchie for me!! I don't!! know!!!
[Please don't tell me what Judas's deal is. I want to find out when I get to play D2 in 800 years.]
Commission by @jennerarts! Thank you for the lovely art as always!!!
I didn't have a specific scene in mind for this so much as I was feeling all fluffy for their relationship in spinoff games. Many of the crossover spinoffs pair them together in some way or have them in the same group, but Leon always gets to have his development when he gets a story, and stays with Stahn in the end, and Stahn always fights so hard for him and keeps believing in him. It always reminds me what they could've had in Destiny too, and who Leon could've become if he'd made it out.
I do feel like this is generally how Stahn would've reacted to seeing Leon if Leon had made it out of the mines after Stahn thought he lost him, though. Maybe Leon would have also had a lot to think about...
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