#sybellion

[liaytolisia]

"Excuse me." Innes fought to keep his tone even, though unbridled rage coated his words. "You are related to... that, aren't you?" He pointed to Rowan with a shaking finger. "I'd like to inform you that he spat all over my flowers, and--!" He couldn't even bring himself to say it. He gestured to the snot on the front of his clothes. "This too was him."

She wanted to be insulted for her brother by the tone this man was using to talk about him. But she couldn't. She had just watched....! Gods, her brother was an idiot!! Bowing deeply in apology Rowan, I'm going to kill you Lianna offered her apologies.

"I am so sorry about this," she said. "I swear he knows better. Mother taught him better than this! Please, allow me to deal with him and here, have a few of my roses instead."

She took a handful of her roses and handed them to Innes before she rounded on her brother.

"ROWAN!!" She marched over and grabbed him by the ear before walking off.

tagging @sybellion

[mxlusine]

09. Evaluating allies…‎ ‎

“I fought with a lot of different people by my side back in my homeland- when the war was happening! But they were all from many different places and ended up being brought to our world to help us end the conflict, and then they all went back home. Outside of those people…my best allies ever are my sister Lianna and my best friend Dario- ouch! Ow ow ow, hot!” His sentence was interrupted by a slight yelp as unexpectedly hot tea bit at his lips. Well- maybe it was expected for it to be hot, it was just that tea wasn’t exactly Rowan’s favorite thing ever- compared to the cookie and pastry crumbs around his cheeks.

The burn was completely ignored though. “So, what about your allies? What makes a super awesome ally in your view? Have you ever had any that you thought, ‘we make a great team!’ or something like that?”

Perfect Tea Time — No longer accepting! I always make exceptions for my darling sunshine boy

A terribly thoughtless child, this one—and yet, instead of rolling her eyes as she otherwise might have, she reaches out with a napkin to wipe at Rowan's face instead. "Are you eating with your mouth, or your cheeks?" she tuts. "Let the tea cool for a while longer before you drink. I'm not exactly well-versed in bandaging tongues." Cutting them off, perhaps—but it's not a detail she absolutely must share here and now.

"As for allies, I don't have any." Underlings, yes. Soldiers. Sombron's faithful, either through choice or through reanimation. "...But," Zephia amends after a moment, "I did have family."

Stern, stalwart Mauvier. Adorable, charming Marni. And, of course, Griss—loyal, terrible, and foolish Griss, who cast his die on the wrong board and laughed when he lost it all.

"Ah, but before you ask—why don't you share more about this best friend of yours? It wouldn't happen to be a young man with black hair and curious eyes named Darios, would it?"

[izanagifortune]

I WANT MY FORTUNE TELL ME MY FORTUNE I WANNA KNOWWW

See! Now there's some excitement! This is what I like to see folks! Pat pat, you're a good happy boy aren't you?

Give me a moment, I must speak to my special crystal ball.

Hm... yes...

You will recieve some good news and a tasty treat in the near future! Please enjoy!

[ulirblood]

Right, he should be checking in with a nurse properly. While the first responding healers took care of his most concerning injuries, Rowan walked past them far too fast for their treatment to fully set in thanks to the frustration burning at every fiber of his body, urging him to mindlessly roam around until something else took over his attention. In that case, it was the lingering discomfort from burns along his arm- the rolled up sleeve burnt off alongside a large part of navi gloves, exposing a pale bicep riddled in bruises, small scuffs and angry red burns.

A nurse….uhhh….”Found one! Heya there Edain!” One of his teachers at last- the one that teaches faith if he can recall properly. “I gotta ask you for some help one day! Back in my homeland I used to be pretty good at Faith magic, but the way we casted stuff is completely different from how it’s done in Fódlan so now I need to relearn all of it!” Trotting over to the blonde, Rowan acted as if none of his injuries seemed to bother him at all if one were to judge by the cheerful and nearly clueless smile on his face. It was the slight stiffness in his movements and how he subtly adjusted his body to avoid further upsetting his skin that gave it away.

He also didn’t seem to register the slowly burning flame in his hair, the glow almost merging with the furiously bright share of blond and spiky styled locks. By all means he looked like a walking candle. "Wait what did I come here fo- oh yeah! I got a bunch of burns during my fight and some of them are stinging sorta, can you give me a little boost? I'm doing all fine though, nobody managed to make me sweat! I just got a bad matchup with a crappy weapon, but next time I'm gonna get everyone here and I'll win!" A pause, followed by a cheeky giggle. "...I'll win with the Lions, I mean! Hehe, oops..."

she jumps at the sight of yellow mixing with red in away she hadn't seen in quite a long time. "bragi's b— aHHEem." she begins to say something not so appropriate before she coughs into her fist, closing her eyes for a moment. she is not so unused to rowan's shenanigans since he's of the blue lions house, but...

seeing him walk around with his hair on fire like it was nothing might have just given her a heart attack. how and why were these kids so reckless....!?

"your hair is on fire, rowan." she frowns, pushing him towards one of the cots. "nobody stopped you before you got to me? bragi..." she lets out a sigh after patting the fire out with a towel, leaning over ever so slightly to check on the various wounds on his body.

"well, it looks like you gave it your all out there. take what you've learned today and use it to win the next fight, alright?"

[gemianthium]

“Sis…! Hey, don’t look so worried! I just got knocked out, it’s all!” Although mild disappointment blanketed him once waking up and seeing that the battle had ended for the time being, his feelings were quickly replaced with worry at the thought of his sister. Memories of what happened were hazy and hard to make sense of, nameless and faceless enemies just hitting him relentlessly until an underwhelming little crook showed up last minute for the win. But Lianna saw it all, didn’t she? She must’ve seen him getting beaten up, and knowing her…

…well, it’s not like Rowan wouldn’t be in pure distress seeing his sister getting beaten until she lost consciousness, too. He’d never judge her for feeling that way, and the moment he spotted her the young king quickly went in for a hug. “How are you doing? You didn’t get too hurt, did you?” At least from his quick once-over, she seemed fine physically.

Eyebrows relaxed, then formed a slight worried frown as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Sorry, I wasn’t careful at all and got roughed up real bad. I don’t even really know what happened but I know some lame enemy hit me last and…yikes, right in the ego. I’m sorry, I promise I’ll be more careful! I’m feeling just fine now, see?”

"Rowan!"

The relief in seeing him again, seemingly okay and alive! Sure, in hinsight she didn't doubt the academy would let its students die in the fight, but her own injuries proved they weren't against roughing them up a least a little. Lianna flung herself into her brother's arms, a shard of annoyance pierced her otherwise relieved tone. "Urgh, please don't be so reckless! I thought I lost you!"

She released her brother from her grip, stepping back to give him breathing space. Lianna examined herself. Her injuries, from the mild to the severe, were gone now, no trace of pain in her system or scrape on her body. Maybe her hair was a little messed up, but nothing she couldn't fix physically. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I didn't think they'd go this hard on us though. I mean, how many people here can claim they've done something like what we've done?" A second passes. "Actually, that makes sense. Training them to face something like that would be sensible." A little worrying, but Lianna did wish she had experienced something akin to this in a safe environment before Aytolis was attacked.

Not that she didn't take her initial training for granted!

Her mind replayed the events of the latest battle. The anger that surged through her, unable to distinguish ally from enemy, attacking Lapis... Did something like that affect everyone else as well? If that happened, could they all be tricked into fighting each other again? It was a thought Lianna attempted to shrug off, but the doubt clinged to her. All that was certain was that the cheapshot who took out Rowan died by her hands (as much as their enemies could die, at least). A smile crept across her face. "I took it out, with some help, but I did get the final attack. It was pretty cool, I wish you could've seen it."

[pillarofopenness]

“Sharenaaaa! Hey there!” That was her name right? He heard her during Python’s roll call, so it was most likely that. If not, then he’d find out soon enough. Rowan called out with a wave, jogging up to the fellow blonde with a typical bright grin and curious blue eyes. She was a classmate of his- in fact the only fellow Blue Lion among their current group, so naturally he’d gravitate to her since…well, Darios was missing. Rowan didn't like being left alone.

Besides, as soon as he approached her, Rowan couldn’t help but shake off the fact the girl just seemed so very similar to his own twin sister. Brushing off a faint pang of nostalgia away, he started. “I’m pretty sure we’re the only Blue Lions here, so let’s be friends! I’ve seen you around class before here and there but we never got to practice together because I’m pretty sure you use lances instead of swords? I’m a sword type of guy, but lances are awesome because knights use them! Are you one by any chance?”

“Oh, hello! Your name’s Rowan, right?” Sharena smiled just as brightly right back as the fellow lion approached, confirming her guess that he’s the only other. At least, the only one amongst them in the group that remained post-mirror. She’s not too sure on the missing five… Especially that one guy…

She shoves the thought aside, for now. As strange as she feels it is for a school full of legendary heroes to send in (what she assumes must be) two regular students along with them, who would she be to judge based on Breidablik alone? It’s not like the thing’s recognized her, so by that logic, it makes just as little sense for her to be here.

Besides, from what she can tell of their brief introduction, he definitely has the spirit of one. Open and friendly, just like a true hero of Askr! That’s what matters, not some dumb legendary relic of untold power prophesied to save all the worlds!

“Hm… I guess I’m kinda like a knight? I’m a member of the Order of Heroes back home, and we do do a lot of knightly stuff!” Pulling Fensalir out from its spot secured behind her back, she gives it a little spin for extra flair. It looks a bit goofy, probably, but hey! He could be a future order member, who knows! The commander always says they gotta try to get the marketing points in where they can.

Still, marketing or not, she can only hold a pose in dead silence for so long before she can’t hold back the laughter anymore. Princess though she may be, being all cool and serious was never her thing. “I mostly chose the lance because it was what my older brother’s friend used when we were kids and I thought he was cool, though.” That and Alfonse already chose swords and she wanted to be different. Finding out lances had the advantage against swords ‘due to their superior reach and finesse’ from a certain someone had just been the final push. But he doesn’t need to know that part.

“I’d be happy to be sparring buddies when we get out of here, though! It’s always good to get practice in against different weapon types than your own, even if it’s not in the curriculum a lot of the time. It could be fun!”

[hresvelged]

Rowan wasn’t terribly familiar with people from the other houses. Not that he avoided them- not at all! It was just that many of them leaned into other weapon types and Rowan wanted to focus all his time and energy into honing his skills with the sword, and most of the time things just didn’t align enough for him to properly meet them, but when it came to the other House Leaders…well, of course Rowan was curious and eager to meet them!

“Hey! You’re Edelgard, right?” She was skilled, he had no doubts. He really wanted to spar with her one day, but she also seemed like an ideal monarch with how she carried herself. It was admirable, all while bubbling up slight repulse deep within himself as he wondered if this is how he was meant to be as king. Repulse not towards her- no, but at his own fate. 

Rowan smiled. Here he’d rather think of all of them as friends. “You have this super fierce and confident look in your eyes, it’s a little scary but really inspiring!” The boy held nothing back in his speech, preferring to rely on complete honesty. “But! While I know you’re the House Leader here, I want you to know you can rely on me too! I can pull my own weight, trust it! We can all do this together!”

She may not know everyone at the monastery despite the efforts she took to know all that she could, but she did permit time to understand those she was with in the present. It was why she stood strong as the Black Eagles' house leader. And why, now, she exuded similar readiness. A nod followed the call of her name, etching Rowan's own into memory. He spoke in a welcoming tone that was easy to recall. She wondered what sort of person he was and why he was here.

"Yes, that is me. But.. Scary?" She repeated with a hint of surprise tapped on her face. Edelgard did appreciate the honesty, knowing full well her features were best tuned to display an untouchable demeanor. "That won't do. We must pause our efforts and rectify that first and foremost." It was a jest despite the serious way she spoke it. It fell flat.

Blinking away the thought, she agreed with all that was spoken. What remained was seeing it put into action. "In any case, your words are appreciated. Solving this on our own will get us nowhere. I look forward to seeing that determination of yours coming to fruition." Her expectations were as high as the ground they stood upon.