(━━ ♔ ♕⋅𝑺𝑬𝑨𝑺𝑶𝑵𝑺 𝑶𝑭 𝑾𝑨𝑹𝑭𝑨𝑹𝑬 ! // )

[guh-huh!]

─── ＴＨＥ　ＳＥＡＳＯＮＳ　ＯＦ ───

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━


────────────────────────────────────
ＯＨ， Ｉ ＷＩＳＨ Ｉ ＣＯＵＬＤ ＳＴＡＹ！
────────────────────────────────────



━━━━━━━━━━ ● ● ●
the crest of flames, also known
as the crest of the goddess, is
one of 22 crests bestowed onto
humanity by the goddess of fodlin.
● ● ● ━━━━━━━━━━


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ＲＥＡＣＨ　ＦＯＲ　ＭＹ　ＨＡＮＤ，　Ｉ＇ＬＬ　ＳＯＡＲ　ＡＷＡＹ！
───────────────────────────────────────────────────
five long years have passed since you've last been to garreg mach monastery- and it shows.
the place where you grew up, had fun classes, and met some of the best friends in your life;
has now been turned into a wreck of what it once was. the war has separated the students
of garreg mach, and has turned these once fun-loving students into a military to fight one
another. the continent of fódlan, was once divided into three, peaceful superpowers. the
adrestian empire to the south and west, who once studied as the black eagles, are now the
driving force behind a long and bloody war against the church. the holy kingdom of faerghus
of the north, had given up their schooling as the blue lions and declared war on the adrestian
empire. the leicester alliance to the east, has found themselves trapped in the middle of the
war, yet are eager to take the continent for themselves. with scarce resources, the three
groups have found themselves returning to garreg mach for what can only be described as
the worst class reunion ever. once classmates, turned opponents in war. with swords at
each other's throats- there's no way this can go well. hopefully, this fun, class reunion, at
your old, war-torn, school, won't end up with all of you killing one another. here's hoping!

████████████████████████████████████████████████
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ＩＦ　ＯＵＲ　ＬＩＦＥ　ＩＳ　ＢＵＴ　Ａ　ＳＰＡＲＫ　ＩＮ　ＴＨＥ　ＥＹＥＳ　ＯＦ　ＧＯＤＳ，　ＬＥＴ　ＵＳ　ＢＬＩＮＤ　ＴＨＥＭ　ＡＴ　ＬＥＡＳＴ　ＯＮＣＥ！
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[guh-huh!]

─── ＴＨＥ　ＳＥＡＳＯＮＳ　ＯＦ ───

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
● ● ● . ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ . ● ● ●


────────────────────────────────────
ＳＥＴＥＴＨ　ＳＡＹＳ；（ＲＵＬＥＳ）
────────────────────────────────────


⊰ ─ all of cs' rules apply, duh. but,, guh's rules also apply,
and by those i mean;
⊰ ─ lgbtq+ characters encouraged! pride month bby.
⊰ ─ this is a semi-lit rp, but quality over quantity!
⊰ ─ please be good to one another! you characters can hate
other characters but we're all buds outside of that.
⊰ ─ don't like,,, mortally wound somebody without asking first.
⊰ ─ discord is encouraged!! c:
and,,, most importantly,,,

⊰ ─ have fun! ♥

████████████████████████████████████
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[guh-huh!]

● ● ● . ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
the black eagles house at the officers academy is comprised of
students who hail from the adrestian empire. they favor the use of
axes and black magic.

the twin-headed eagle of the adrestian empire's coat of arms and
the black armor worn by imperial soldiers inspired the name and
banner of the black eagles.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ . ● ● ●



xx─────────────────
xxxxx𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐑 !
xx─────────────────

they took the throne by force
and feel destined to rule the
whole continent. driven by a
dark past and a hopeful future.
will do anything for power.


xx─────────────────
xxxxxx𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐋 !
xx─────────────────
the vassal is the emperor's only
trusted friend, and is the most
devastating black magic user in
the land. born to serve, and will
stomp out anyone in their way.



xx─────────────────
xxxxxx𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐁𝐋𝐄 !
xx─────────────────

perhaps the world's most
intelligent scholar, if they had
the energy. incredibly gifted
in magic, yet hates using their
talents to further the war.

xx─────────────────
xxxxx𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 !
xx─────────────────
coming in hot! the hard-hitting
brawler who is desperate to
prove themselves to the world
they are more than a commoner,
but instead, a force of nature.

[guh-huh!]

● ● ● . ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
the blue lions house is comprised of students who hail from
the holy kingdom of faerghus. as their homeland is known for its
knights, many of the students are proficient at using spears.

the blue lions were named after the founder of faerghus, loog,
the king of lions, who had a penchant for blue.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ . ● ● ●



xx─────────────────
xxx𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑭𝑨𝑳𝑳𝑬𝑵 𝑹𝑶𝒀𝑨𝑳!
xx─────────────────

once thought to be killed, this
royal has seemingly come back
from the dead and is fueled
by extreme rage and past sins.
will do anything for revenge.


xx─────────────────
xxxxxx𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑯𝑬𝑰𝑳𝑫 !
xx─────────────────
their homeland was destroyed in
the war, and owes their life to
the royal. because of this, they
are quick to risk their live for
the cause- aided by high def.



xx─────────────────
xxxx𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑳𝑶𝑵𝑬 𝑾𝑶𝑳𝑭 !
xx─────────────────

they were born to the kingdom,
yet hate their ties and would
rather do anything than be
fighting for the royal. but,
must due so for their family.

xx─────────────────
xxxxxxx𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑭𝑳𝑰𝑹𝑻 !
xx─────────────────
used to be the biggest charmer
in the whole school, has now
turned a bit cold during the war.
hopefully a class reunion will
bring their light-spirits back.

[guh-huh!]

● ● ● . ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
the golden deer house is comprised of students who hail from
the leicester alliance. many of whom are proficient at using bows.

the golden deer name and banner were inspired by creatures
of the same name that are said to have been sacred protectors
of the leicester region since time immemorial.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ . ● ● ●



xx─────────────────
xxxxx𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑪𝑯𝑬𝑴𝑬𝑹 !
xx─────────────────

as the child of two different
royals, they have had a past
as an outsider in their own
land. time to pull the strings.
will do anything for approval.


xx─────────────────
xxxx𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑯𝑰𝑮𝑯-𝑳𝑰𝑭𝑬 !
xx─────────────────
from the most luxurious life to
the battlefield. luckily, they
enjoy the respect on the field.
it's something they don't get
at home. flashy and poised.



xx─────────────────
xxxxx𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑫𝑰𝑮𝒀 !
xx─────────────────

due to an unknown illness, they
don't know how long they have.
but, the side effect to this illness,
is insanely strong magical power.
fight while you still can.

xx─────────────────
xxxxxx𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑪𝑼𝑹𝑺𝑬𝑫 !
xx─────────────────
incredibly sweet, and has been
known as somebody who wouldn't
even hurt a fly. it's a shame that
their family is cursed to turn into
bloodthirsty werewolves.

[guh-huh!]

xxxx

❝ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑽𝑨𝑺𝑺𝑨𝑳 ! ❞

raised alongside the emperor to be their personal
servant. they only truly got along with them, as
the rest of the world saw them as evil. however,
they have a mutual respect with the lone wolf,
and helped the curse deal with their shifts.

❝ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑬𝑴𝑷𝑬𝑹𝑶𝑹 ! ❞

they grew up with the vassal as their only friend in a
harsh society. they organized the hit on the fallen
royal, yet it proved unsuccessful. best to do it
themselves. is related to the prodigy, and is trying
to convince them to join the empire's side.

❝ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑷𝑰𝑻𝑭𝑰𝑹𝑬 ! ❞

grew up only passing exams because the noble
helped them. before the war, they were sparring
partners with the shield, and had a long-lasting
relationship with the high-life. it seemed pretty
serious, y'know, until the war happened.

❝ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑵𝑶𝑩𝑳𝑬 ! ❞

has never been good with emotions, and so they hid
their only crush, which was on the spitfire. to
make them upset, they hung out with the flirt.
they also found the schemer to be interesting,
as they enjoyed studying together for class.

❝ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑯𝑬𝑰𝑳𝑫 ! ❞

extremely devoted to the fallen royal to the point
where it's not good for the both of them. is
extremely against the vassal, as they believe
they hired the assassin. used to be with the
cursed, who saw them as more than a royal shield.

❝ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑭𝑨𝑳𝑳𝑬𝑵 𝑹𝑶𝒀𝑨𝑳 ! ❞

has gone completely off the rails since the attempted
coup, and only really trusts the shield atm.
used to be very close with the schemer, and
saw them as an ally, but now cannot trust
anyone. wants to kill the emperor himself.

❝ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑭𝑳𝑰𝑹𝑻 ! ❞

name a person here? they've probably flirted with them.
is best friends with the whole team, but grew
up with the lone wolf. always had a crush on
the high-life, and resented the spitfire for
being with them. maybe now is the time?

❝ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑳𝑶𝑵𝑬 𝑾𝑶𝑳𝑭 ! ❞

why are they here? oh yeah, because they have had
feelings for the flirt for seven years. they're too
aloof to say anything. only talked to the noble
about it since they're friends, and used to train
daily with the prodigy to become better at magic.

❝ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑯𝑰𝑮𝑯-𝑳𝑰𝑭𝑬 ! ❞

yes, they used to date the spitfire, but that was mostly
for rebellion against the parents. who do they really
like? the cursed. they're too sweet! best friends with
the schemer since childhood, and the flirt in class,
but still has their eyes elsewhere.

❝ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑪𝑯𝑬𝑴𝑬𝑹 ! ❞

caught in the middle of war, they used to be great
friends with the emperor and the fallen royal.
but now, now is the time for action. if the two
heads of the rival teams fall, the land is theirs.
their bff, the high-life, is on board too.

❝ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑪𝑼𝑹𝑺𝑬𝑫 ! ❞

very sweet to everyone, but grew closest to the
to the shield and the high-life during their years
here. however, they have always had a crush on
the emperor, of all people, for always being
ambitious and taking charge of their life.

❝ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑫𝑰𝑮𝒀 ! ❞

their illness and desire to study everything has pushed
them away from most people, alas, but not the noble,
who they believe is the only person smart enough to
cure them. had a brief crush on the lone-wolf while
the trained, and loves the whole golden deer squad.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
(i am incredibly lenient on these. please, feel free to explore further relations with everyone. this is just to ensure everyone is included!)

[guh-huh!]

─── ＴＨＥ　ＳＥＡＳＯＮＳ　ＯＦ ───

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

discussion thread coming soon!

[guh-huh!]

ＮＡＫＵＬ　ＶＯＮ　ＣＯＳＴＡＶＡ. / / ✨
━━━━━━━━━━━ ━━━ allegiance; golden deer.x ` role; the schemer x ` tagged; golden deer squad


xxxxgrowing up in the shadows of fódlan has always made nakul ache for the sun. it cost them decades of his life, like a plant grown only in darkness, twisting and contorting to grow any way they can; growth is growth, after all, even if the semi-finished result is sickly with broken-bone height, a product of all that cracking open of skin and flesh and marrow to burst out into the light that never quite reached him.

xxxxbut, unlike the metaphorical plant he finds himself akin to, nakul has always found some excuse to shun the daylight and remain stuck in his darkened corner, his growth only ever a product of trauma. he’s smart - his mother always told them so, but it didn’t mean much unless it came from his peers, for whom praise was the easiest form of manipulation. and, even worse than that, nakul had let them believe it, and had consciously let them keep on falling for it, because, well, it was easy. it was easy for others to think they were special, that they could be the one person to whom the golden deer leader would be genuine, and he would be an undoubtedly terrible ruler if they had shunned out the people who would need him most.

xxxxtherein the problem has always lain. the thing with nakul von costava is that he has always been calculated, and everyone under their vast influence of manipulation was - up until five years ago - convinced that they were the only person nakul could trust enough to be honest with. nakul supposes that this is why someone as forcefully, intricately independent as leigh beorhtric could have never been taken in by the sour-tasting charm. alongside aziel, the two had always seen right through nakul as nothing more than a scared child; begging for a chance to prove to himself that they were more than what they truly were; a coward. how can he, now, go back to garreg mach and not think of them? for as many flaws as nakul has, they had exponentially more strengths, which is why they could do the one thing nakul never could - they brushed off the years of friendship and harmony with a simple, “it's war, we have to pick a side and fight.”

xxxxwe have to. nakul hates that. not because they don't like being classified next to the other royals - if anything, it’s an honor - but because he knows that he would not have the strength in a million lifetimes to do what they did. the scenario, hypothetical and still terrifying all the same, has played in his head many, many times since war broke out; an anxiety-laden movie in nakul's mind wherein leigh raises an axe to their protected school, already three moves ahead, and aziel would ask him to fight one of his best friends to protect another. would he, even with the tools to be able to kill, run into warfare just for the chance of hearing his friends praise him? of maybe having a chance to be seen in a positive light?

xxxxnakul wants to scream. it’s been over five years since he's last communicated with the other houses, so why is it fair that he has to bear the continual burden? his best friend had told him - for the brief few months nakul spoke their true feelings before finding it too shameful - that they did nothing wrong. that he was just a kid who needed to be loved, that he was okay with doing anything- even manipulating- to receive attention. in all honesty, that had made him feel worse. the thread he was hanging on by had finally snapped upon that realization, and then everything - oh, god, everything he thought he knew - had shattered like stained glass.

xxxxit doesn’t matter if the rug is ugly, it still hurts to be pulled out from under you, nakul thinks.

xxxxhis indecision and desire to be loved had caused him to both fight for, and leave both of his friends in some desperate hope of clinging onto what had once been. nakul, for once in his life, had to make a decision for those remaining deer that had stayed with him. in the end, nakul had chosen to flee the mainlines of war. gathering up as much as they could, and hightailing it back to the leicester alliance land to assess the situation. they all needed time, and to protect what little they had of stability. they kept their land protected and safe from harm until they couldn't anymore, and now, nakul had to face the war they had been avoiding for so long.

xxxxback then, nakul would be loud, taking out his frustration by covering his ears and making whatever noise he could, but they mellowed out in his twenties and now, his anger is quiet. fuzzy. static. a deep, abyss-like hurt that sinks into every atom of them, weighing him down with anxiety and self-blame. nakul breathes in, air unearthing the sticky tar of anger from his lungs, and exhales. if the golden deer were going down; they certainly weren't going down without one last, golden scheme.

xxxxthe wings of his wyvern thrashed harshly against the oncoming southern wind as he, aided his closest friends, quickly made their way to the remains of their old school. guarded by the darkness of night, kyo and nakul's wyverns were practically invisible as they made their way across fódlan's throat, and plunged full-force into their old memories. garreg mach was no longer the spectacle it once was, but to nakul, it was brimming with the promise of extra resources, and valuable weapons that the church had stored inside. besides, the school had resided in the middle of all three lands, making for easy access to territory that was both friendly, or hostile, with ease. they had to plan each move meticulously; and the risk of running into bandits on their way there was greatly outweighed by the benefits of having a structurally sound infrastructure with good placement.

xxxxeverything had seemed according to plan, as the wyverns and horses had slowly reached their long-awaited destination. nakul was ready, albeit devastated, to finally set aside his indecision in favor for his people, his friends, and his golden deer. no more hesitation- the time for action was here at last.

xxxx"be sure to keep your weapons on you," nakul says, stepping down from his wyvern, "even if everything seems fine from here, i don't want any of us deer getting hunted." even if nakul stood with a relaxed smile on their face, they still were worried about the safety of those who came alongside them.

[whispersome]

✦ ──── 𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐀 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄 𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑
TAGGED: Golden Deer squad • LOCATION: Monastery outskirts

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ It was not quite a dark and stormy night, but Lucia would not have been surprised if it had been. It seemed the sort of situation that would call for that: For all-consuming darkness, even the moon (waning crescent, Lucia knew, visible somewhere above but not earning their attention) obscured; for sheets of unrelenting rain adding to the gloom; for thunder to rumble across the earth and lightning to split across the sky; for a warning from the Goddess herself to echo all throughout Fódlan and perhaps even the world beyond.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Lucia were grateful that the conditions of the night, instead, were far more pleasant, though that wasn’t to say that things were perfect. Cold wind swept across their face, reddening their cheeks and stirring their hair loose of its intricate braid. Shivers rippled through them even with the weight of their clothing, bundled up to combat the harshest of Faerghus winters—at this altitude, with this discordant chill in the air, the temperature bore a strong resemblance. Yet despite the gelidity, her heartbeat was as strong as ever, rattling her chest and ringing in her ears.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ It was perhaps that as much as the trembling of Lucia’s arms that had her horse tensing beneath her, the realization of which had Lucia tensing further in response before forcing themself to settle. One hand stayed firm on the reins while the other smoothed along the mare’s neck. “Steady, Uschi,” Lucia said softly, their voice rough even to their own ears—and reedy besides, high and tight with the very nerves they were struggling not to pass onto their steed. Her blunt nails scraped briefly down Ursula’s throat. As soon as she noticed, she spread her fingers out again, patting Ursula’s neck in apology. “It won’t be much longer.”

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Even as the words left them, Lucia couldn’t help but grimace, questioning herself mid-sentence. They had been traveling for some time now, and they couldn’t imagine how much farther and longer Nakul and Kyo had had to come before Lucia had joined them. It felt as though they had been pressing toward Garreg Mach for days, but surely that was inaccurate. In the darkness of the night, the shapes moving alongside Lucia’s were difficult to discern, and she felt herself cling tighter to Ursula’s reins with the bolt of wariness that shot through her. But if they listened closely, they could hear the beating of wyvern wings above, Nakul and Kyo keeping to the skies. It was comforting, if only in the thinnest sense—but in a situation like this, in a time like this, the smallest of comforts were all that Lucia needed.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ When the summons had come, Lucia hadn’t even had to think twice before rushing to the stables—or so she’d like to say. In truth, the decision had not been so clean-cut. Of course Lucia missed those idyllic days at the Officers Academy, dwindling time away tucked in a shadowy corner of the greenhouse or halfway up the stairs in the library, or even just lying on the carpeted floor of her dorm room, letting sunlight and laughter and silence wash away the pain that came with every full moon. Of course what had come to pass in the time since had broken her heart, and of course they wanted to reunite with those they had once been so close with.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ But, even as the youngest of their siblings, their utmost responsibility was owed to their family. It had only been just short of a decade since their brother’s death, and now with her sister—the eldest in his absence—having taken ill under such inopportune circumstances, the pressure already weighing down on House Astor had seemed to increase tenfold. With the Alliance so divided, and their territory so close to the Empire, their failure to openly lend their strengths to either it or the Kingdom seemed asinine at best and lethal at worse. Their strengths were few to begin with, and the disgrace their family name bore weakened that further, but Lucia supposed these things didn’t matter in wartime. It was always about numbers. Numbers of allies, numbers of soldiers, numbers of casualties. What looked good on paper. Who cared about a single name, a single sword, a single life amongst the hundreds of others?

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Lucia’s stomach churned at the mere thought, even now—or perhaps especially now. After the attack on Garreg Mach, she had returned home almost at once, ashamed at their cowardice but more desperate for some sense of security and safety. In the five years since, rarely had she so much as ventured out of the Astor home, let alone their territory. Those who had aided her transformation years ago were now enemies, and there was no better place to wait them out than the cellar made for those unfortunate enough to bear the Astors’ cursed blood. Besides, as strained as their relationship with their parents had grown, Lucia had missed their home and family more than they had realized.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ They had gone to their sister before they had dared to make any decision, before they had let their emotions and sentimentality get the best of them. With shaking hands and a shaking voice (not that that was anything out of the ordinary), Lucia had explained the situation and laid out her options.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ The look their sister had given them still hovered at the back of their mind. Being bedridden and holding a bloodied cloth to her mouth had done nothing to diminish the cold judgment of her glare, and Lucia had hurried to bow as though Ilse had been seated upon a throne rather than sagging into her headboard. A sigh had rung out, though, and Ilse’s voice, the firmest Lucia had heard it in months, had too just a moment later. Do you ever once consider yourself first, little deer? she had asked, stern yet soft, calling to mind Lucia’s earliest memories of her: Standoffish and brusque, but always with her family’s best interests at heart. You need not worry about me, nor Astor. The world at stake is one you will inherit as much as I. Go.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ And so Lucia had gone, gathering her things and tacking up Ursula and rendezvousing with her fellow Golden Deer just east of the mountains enshrouding Garreg Mach Monastery, and so now here they sit, growing ever closer and feeling their heart climb higher up their chest with each mile. Though their murmur to Ursula had been unfounded, as Lucia lifted their head, they thought they might have stumbled upon the truth after all. The sky was still dark, but against it loomed a shadow that could only be the monastery.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ No call rang out to announce their approach, nor did archers spring from their dark surroundings to strike Nakul and Kyo down. (Archery had always been the Alliance’s specialty, though, as evidenced by the quiver shifting against Lucia’s back.) At the slowing of their pace, Lucia’s suspicions were confirmed: After five years separated and spread out, they had returned.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Watching Nakul dismount from his wyvern, Lucia couldn’t help but swallow, the sound almost inaudible but seeming as loud as an earthquake to them. Her hand, absently stroking Ursula’s neck still, fell away. This… was really it, wasn’t it? There was no turning back from here, was there?

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ Lucia couldn’t help but stare at what had become of the monastery. Of course she hadn’t expected it to look the same now as it had five years ago, let alone after its siege by the Empire and subsequent abandonment by the Church, but—she hadn’t expected it to be in a state of disrepair as drastic as this. Although—what if it wasn’t as abandoned as it appeared? A feeling of uncertainty crept as coolly as ice along her spine. Their travels had been lucky thus far, but perhaps here was where that luck came to a close. The chance that they were walking into a trap, be it a den of bandits or an Imperial or Kingdom ambush, was far from zero. But they had come here for a reason, and Lucia could not gallop away now that they had already arrived.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ At Nakul’s words, she refocused on them. Lucia took a breath, releasing Ursula’s reins and slowly sliding down, catching themself with a hand on their steed’s shoulder when their legs threatened to give out beneath them. The bow slung across their back and the lance resting at their hip seemed to burn against them, scalding even through all their layers. Time and time again, she had had no other choice but to use them, but the prospect still left a bitter taste in Lucia’s mouth.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ “Of course,” they brought themself to say, one hand shifting toward their shoulder and the other falling to their waist. Their chest twinged at the thought of how immediately and naturally they were able to adopt a fighting stance now, but there were more important things to be considered now. She swayed slightly on her feet and peered around as much as she could without moving altogether. “Do… do you think we’re the only ones here? Would it be safe to split up?”

[rex.]

xxxx█ 𝐀𝐙𝐈𝐄𝐋 𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐑

(r.) - fallen royalx(h.) - blue lionsx (m.) - void.x (t.) - blue lion crew

indentThis was stupid. This war was stupid. All of this was stupid. None of this should of happened. Of all the possible futures the universe could've picked this was easily the worst one that could've come to mind. Trust me, Aziel spent all of his freetime pondering what the world would be like had the emperor -- the one who he could not even bring himself to speak the name of -- not done what they did. What's worse: he couldn't even think of a valid reason for the takeover. The possibility of it all being for nothing was what really set Aziel off; rather than explain themselves like they could have (not that anything could of possibly validated their actions) the emperor chose to continue their climb to power with seemingly no remorse for their actions.

indentIt was sickening.

indentAlmost as sickening as the feeling the royal got whenever he tried to think of happier times. A time where he could laugh and joke with the people who were now considered his enemies. A time where meaningless squabbles over who-took-who's fancy quill were the worst of their worries. But now they were at war. There were no 'meaningless squabbles'. Every second counted. Each move had to be carefully thought out, leaving no room for error. Lives were at stake, and with each mistake came countless deaths. Luckily, no fatal errors had been made. But the same could be said for the other houses. Aziel had to give them credit; they were smart. As capable as him, if not more so. That's why his house was making this trip to the monastery.

indentThe old school was what started this all. It was the first attack the Black Eagles had made, and open attempt at starting a war. At the time Aziel didn't want to believe what his parents -- the then current leaders of the house-- had said:

indent"We are at war, son." his father spoke quietly despite being in the privacy of his study, placing a gentle albeit firm hand on his eldest's shoulder. His father proceeded to explain what had happened, warning his son to be extra careful during these dangerous times. Aziel could recall asking why his friend would do such a thing, but his father only gave him silence as a response. That wasn't good enough for the boy. He simply couldn't believe that his friend would do that, and retained the hope that this was all just a big misunderstanding. That Leigh would pull through with an apology and reason for his actions.

indentBut that never came. Instead he would be met with the execution of his family, a failed attempt on his life leading to their deaths. That was the true turning point for Aziel. Their deaths marked a key change in his personality; the once bright and exuberant boy turned cold, unable to truly let anyone close for fear of them turning on him. All except for Armeena. His shield. She was the one person who he could count on to get the job done without worrying about the chance of betrayal. Of course, before his shift in personality Aziel would never truly refer to her as such since he felt it made her seem like more of an object than a person. When his family first rescued her she always insisted that she owed her life to him. But Aziel never saw it that way. He only hoped to bring some peace to her after what she experienced. He'd always push for her to consider him a friend, not somebody she owed. And, at some point, she might've. Not that it mattered anymore.

indentThough Aziel may not have pushed her away entirely his coldness did seep over. He began to treat her the same way he had once objected against. And, deep down, he's upset. Angry with himself for changing. But then again; what wasn't he angry about nowadays? He refused to talk about his emotions, leaving him unable to even begin to search for a sense of peace. It was this very rage that drove him to continue on through this war. His hunger for revenge a ravenous beast in and of itself. He needed to avenge all that he's lost. That's what he keeps telling himself. What he has to tell himself, because without revenge he is nothing. He is just a corpse reanimated by his vengeance. After it's all said in done he sees no future for himself where he is truly happy.

indentEven now as he and a select few members of the Blue Lions ride towards the monastery he doesn't feel anything. This is a necessary trip for supplies, one that could help tip the scales of this evenly matched war, even if ever-so-slightly. The location of the school was also a favourable one, located right in the centre of the three houses' territories. If they could just secure it then maybe, just maybe, they could begin to make game-changing moves.

indentThe group travelled swiftly and stealthily, taking the shortest route possible to get there. Fortunately, they had no run-ins with bandits on their way, either, so that was definitely a plus. The only thing to worry about is what potential dangers could await them inside; whether that be thieves or beasts or some other sort. Seeing the ruined building brought back memories that made Aziel's head spin, and he had to fight down bile that the feeling of nostalgia always brought up to his throat. He made the effort to steady himself before swinging his legs over his stead, tying the palomino mare to the nearest (safe) post he could find. "Keep your wits about you. We don't know what dangers may await us inside." Paranoia caused him to grip his blessed lance tightly in his hand as he turned to face his travel companions. "We'll split into two groups of two. Armeena, you're with me. Takahashi, Seki, you two will branch off together." His tone left no room for debate, instead he turned on his heel to enter the building, expecting the other's to do the same.