But This Was The Way The Guard Said...?

Oh dear. First day in Garreg Mach and Lianna was lost. She had asked for the directions to the offices that she might introduce herself to colleagues, but she had clearly taken a wrong turn somewhere. Or she had been given incorrect directions, hopefully just in err and not maliciously. The guard had promised that she just had to walk through the monastery, the main building and turn right, then head up the stairs.

But she hadn't found any stairs? She seemed to be in a knight hall, with a small training area with dummies, cozy fireplace, shelves of books, no doubt filled with tactical information and anything else that knights needed to know. Not somewhere Lianna would have visited when she was younger, knights were definitely her brother's thing.

Sighing lightly, realising now that the directions she had given were wrong, Lianna looked around and saw someone else in the room.

"Excuse me," she said as she approached. "Pardon me for the intrusion. I am... Lianna. I was wondering if you could direct me to the offices? The directions I was previously given seem to have been given erroneously."

She omitted her title, not wanting to cause a fuss or anything... though she had to wonder if her tiara gave her away. No, it didn't matter. She was Queen of Aytolis, but here she was simply a teacher.

"O-oh! Yes, I... Well I got lost a lot when I first came here, too, so I should be able to help." Olivia flusters to herself, thinking that maybe something as small as this was manageable. She had been shown around the campus a couple times, and had gone through a lot of practice to familiarize herself to the majestic stretches of stone and garden. To be honest, she was used to getting lost and finding her way through much toil and trouble, so... "It's okay, Lianna, you've come to the right person." She hopes with all her heart that that was true.

"My name is Olivia. I'm..." Her voice peeks through shyly, "A dancer. Though here, I'm an instructor. I've never had the opportunity to teach. Um... not often at least. So this is new." She breathes in. And out. Keeping herself in balance. "This is all very new..."

"Oh! The offices should be up by the stairs!" Olivia tries to find her footing. "I don't think you'll find them here though... Should we go together?"

Olivia gestures for her to follow along, passing by the shelves of books and cozy fireplace out towards the hall. "Are you an instructor here, too?" She can't imagine it would be easy on anyone's first days here. Everything was so cozy, but the scale of the buildings was vast enough to lose yourself in.

briefly, our names are no more

In the evening, when the sweetness of apple and potato stew no longer wafted from their pot and the snow somehow lost its crunch, Henry thought that the mountain was a beast that knew: that knew they were coming, and knew they weren't from around these parts. It swallowed the sound of their shoes, and the shuffling of their capes; it turned their breaths into nothing, and the smell of their food into a chill. The mountain knew their names, he thought. He hoped it wouldn't swallow them.

"Yeah, I heard the reports. Guess food scarcity sucks back in Altrich Village, so it wouldn't hurt for us to bring them some grub, y'know?" Henry recapped mostly to stop himself from going insane. "I haven't seen them in YEARS! Betcha at least ONE of them will be happy to see me."

His raised finger twirled once, before pointing up towards the apex of the mountain with some glee. "Come on, Olivia! We should get going before it gets too dark--"

Her scream and a splash of soup from behind him forces him on high alert, fingers pronged to kill on sight. Spinning a typhoon's worth, the snow blasted from a pivot and pull of his boots—he gets a look-see and immediately numbers down. Olivia at knife point. Four fellas, and another in the trees. All shaky, warn, and ragged. The pot was splattered on the ground. From the looks of vivid disappointment on their faces, to the violent trembling in that knife arm, Henry knew right away what this was.

He frowned, summoning a sigil that marked the ground in cryptic black symbols, littered with scratches and splotches of black eyes beneath their feet. Each eye opened. As a plethora of eyes freckled the snow, each began to glow a beautiful blood red. The "bandits" began to pale, quivering blue like corpses half-way into the grave. The girl in the trees plummets into the snow, not breathing.

"Alright. Let go of my wife. And the curse I just set on you won't just kill you dead."

The cold chill of the winter winds seep deep into Olivia's bones- but it hardly was much of a bother to her, as she felt rather warm within the company of someone that she loved.

Funny, that. To become stronger by the ever-growing tune of her heart. She hoped her son would come to learn the same. This was how it was supposed to be, she thought- as Henry goes on a speech about the state of the villages he once roamed. Naturally, the dancer is compelled to smile- especially since her partner was somebody so kind and thoughtful. A quick glance at the big pot of soup she held at her hands. " I…hope this will lighten their spirits."

She knew she, at least, was happy to see him- but, before she could tell him a word of how she felt, a cool blade of steel greets her neck. With violet eyes wide open, she shrieks in a shock of white fear.

The pot drops to the ground, and well-intentioned efforts were ultimately gone to waste. Her own expression follows the line of defeat, as she notices a fellow bandit just as frustrated about the loss of warm food overturned in the cold snow.

Another shift— further, still, into the cold. Henry, in his seething anger, demands for her freedom by showcasing all the tricks he had up his sleeve. How dreadful it was, for anyone to be at the receiving end of it. Eyes. Eyes everywhere. And not the kind one would find on stage.

The man immediately drops his weapon and insists to his crew to leave them be. Arms were raised as he was the only one of the lot that didn't start quickly fleeing. " We never intended to actually hurt your wife."

Olivia notices the girl who fell out of the tree, and is worried that she might be hurt. And despite of the hostility of the situation, the woman runs to check on the girl. " Henry! Please stop! It's okay! I'm okay!"

It wasn't.

And even if she knew her husband wasn't the sort to go that far, it was hard to even think when a child was at the foot of a tree, still as death.

The soup was forgotten, the last of its essence sinking deeper into the snow, much like this young girl. " …She's not breathing."

The main bandit panics and recognizes the girl as his own. "Dahlia! I told you not to follow--" His line of thought snaps, realizing his child isn't breathing. "No, no!"

He forgets about the dark mage who very much might have his head, as he rushes to the side of his little girl to hold her close. To kindle whatever was left of her warmth. " Baby please.. I know you're hungry but hang on just a little longer… "

He uses a vulnerary. The other scrappy villagers sweat, unsure how to move until the eyes in the snow mysteriously disappear without a trace.

"Dahlia!" He screams, hoping that the will of the gods will change its fate.

Olivia is compelled to do something, anything to help. After all things considered, as a parent herself (albeit a bit unconventional), the pain of losing a child would be far too much.

Far, far, too much.

She removes her cloak and hands it to the man.

"Please. Let's stop fighting... I know my husband can be reasoned with." Her voice is soft as thunder. "We need to take her somewhere warm. Otherwise there will be no semblance of any hope... We will all freeze over if we remain here."

They look at the woman—wife of that terrifying mage who loomed over them—and felt intense guilt in knowing that karma was making them pay the price. The leader resigns to what she says, fear still overtaking the 'hope' she mentions. He hesitates, opening his mouth to bargain for his daughter's life, but cannot manage to utter a word. Instead, he and the other so-called bandits slowly guide them to the camp they were hiding out in.

angels in the snow {

Losing himself to the laughter, he feels his lungs cave in to the spire of joy and guilt that welled up inside him. He felt it curl inside him, in deep, emotional wisps just waiting to smoke. Her smile makes it easier to taste the joy in every wheeze, until both their souls billowed and folded in the wind—content. He was a little gloomy it actually worked, but that's what happened when his favorite person in the world turned the world on its side for him. He parsed his arms, swimming in the cold until they had enough room to press their backs into broken wings of scraped up snow.

The laughter died down naturally, before it died down unnaturally. Was she some kind of psychic?

"...Huh~? How'd you know?" Nervous. He wasn't usually. Guess she could attest to every half degree his crooked smile bent into. He couldn't laugh when he didn't mean to. Not when he knew the difference now, between a smile that propped pain behind closed lips and a smile that could give the moon over to a pretty bird in pink.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right~ There's nothing to be nervous about, nya ha ha!"

He was hellbent on making that true. By Grima's left pinkie, he wanted nothing more than to find a place for them to know peace by its first name. Inigo certainly liked the place enough! He had been here since who knows when, and it was likely going to stay that way for the foreseeable future.

"Guess you can say you're not so sheepish any more, hm?" Laughing at his silly pun for a silly time in his life, where silly people made silly homes around a campfire, Henry relaxed. If their time with the Shepherds had proved anything, it was that it was waaaaay easier with someone by your side. Hell was only lonely if you didn't have someone burning by your side. And really, he was kind of maybe different now. He didn't need to burn to know there was something still worthwhile in the way the sun turned over into the moon.

"Well yeah. That's the thing. If you'll stick with me…" He paused—letting his words fade to dust. Letting her subtle motions become a moment he could keep jarred, in the back of his mind, to turn to in his darkest hour. He canted his head to rest on hers, nesting in her warmth. "We'll be hard pressed to let anything slip through the cracks."

"If you notice me getting nervous again, just call me out, will ya?"

The stars taunted him, eating holes into that wide blanket of space up there. They knew all his secrets, and they knew who he kept wishing on them for. It was a little strange. Being attached like this.

He had changed too.

Sniffling, he felt his lungs shoot up to the roof of his mouth, and a sneeze suddenly hooking itself onto his nose. Dry. Biding its time. "AH-" He sputtered.

"ACHOO!"

"Okay, that's enough livwing for todway." He rubbed his nose with a quick swipe of his thumb. "Geez Louise, the snow is melting through my sweater."

So he was nervous.

Her mind skirmishes over the thought and makes a silent promise to herself to help bring ease towards her husband's troubles. Perhaps Henry wouldn't understand how to express it just now, as he's been learning how to manage a whole plethora of emotions that have been surfacing in his life since the two paths had crossed. Olivia too, struggled to make the most of her own.

She cannot help but giggle over his jab, oh how time flies and changes! To think she once was so frightened by him! And now.. and now.. her snow kissed eyelashes dripped, body at ease with no tension to be by his side.

Henry continues to speak as he makes himself comfortable, nestling his head onto hers. He gives her permission to keep him in line. She just wanted to remind him that he would never be alone.

The dancer's hand gently glides over to graze softly on top of his own. To interlace and interlock. Her lips curl into a saccharine smile , thankful for-

"Bless you!" Olivia immediately replies with a jolt. "Bless you, darling! Before you come down with a cold!" She assists the two back to their feet and helps dust the snow off.

Fodlan, for what it's worth- is rather pretty. How could a dreamlike scenery not be known otherwise ? The picturesque trees are blanketed in white, the softness of the view cradled by the skies of violet. How fitting- she believed, that the atmosphere matches Henry.

Her arms wrap themselves around once more to give him a quick embrace to keep him warm. " Let's get going then, shall we?" Violet eyes glanced at their ghostly remains imprinted on the snow.

"Maybe the monastery might have some hot cocoa to warm us right up! "

As the two set off towards the next chapter of their lives.

angels in the snow {

Live a little..? And here Olivia thought she was already being brave and living plenty. The dancer knew whatever words that spilled from Henry's lips were of good intentions- for his actions often matched with how he felt in his heart.

She smiles quietly to herself within the view of the serene.

Eventually her partner calls out and Olivia is quick to turn her heels and face their direction. "Hm?"

Sporting a rather mysterious expression, playful as ever- could anyone blame her for being enchanted?

Living a little… again?

But we will be living plenty, as we are living plentiful in the now. Her gentle lips remained upwards in turn, always wanting to keep up with his beat in conversation - how erratic his moves can be - but Olivia settles for doing the best she was able.

Her mouth was ready to offer a reprise - but the two always found themselves filling in the gaps of silence at the same time. It meant the two were to be sharing the same wavelength, a fortune teller once told her--

"Ahh! " Olivia yelps upon the sudden movement - and everything ceases to halt as the mage lifts her higher - gravity fails and the dancer feels the cool air breathe life back into her lungs. Their eyes met, her heart beats, as their bodies fell into the virgin snow.

Topping over, and meeting the chill right on her back, she herself couldn't help but laugh. And laughed Olivia had. "Pfft! Hahaha..hahaha!"

Her shoulders raised, her chest heaving- with the stars up above the skies before them.

She certainly believed the two were living.

As the laughter trails off, it doesn't take too long to seek the angel in the snow. Henry had always seen the world in a perspective she hadn't understood, as the dancer couldn't help but wonder while interlocking fingers into his own.

" There's no need to be nervous." Whether she was speaking these words out loud for her or him she wasn't sure. " As long as we're together I think…. It's going to always work itself out. " Pink locks scattering like petals in the snow.

" I don't know what to expect at this academy… But I'm not as afraid as I was when I originally joined with the Sheppards. " Without following a line of thought, their body leans closer to his, finding Henry himself as a suitable place to rest.

" Besides… We have each other, don't we?"

angels in the snow {

It gets to her more than it should.

She supposed it's only reasonable to feel in such a way, but she wondered if maybe she's carrying all the concerns for the two (perhaps three?)  unnecessarily so. Henry seemed excited enough to wrap his mind over it, to easily love and support unconditionally- in some ways, Olivia believed that the Plegian dark mage was far more mature than she was. " Oh.. I wouldn't know if it would be appropriate to baby him like that at school." The dancer sheepishly chuckles , imagining tugging Inigo's cheek teasingly scolding him, as he sports a warm smile much like his father's - with a devil may care attitude to shake it off with laughter.

A quiet admission to the stillness of the serene and to her lover beside her. "Although.. that does sound a bit lovely."

Henry would be blind (no pun intended) to his own talent in theatrics, how he easily flows upon the world's stage with his natural born instinct of improvisation. Olivia always admired the way he could speak his thoughts so shamelessly with mirth and not give a damn if someone heard him shouting out into the dark indigo twilight until someone scolds him otherwise. Then he probably would pause and say 'oops.'

Olivia finds herself naturally smiling at their husband's exclamation and lighthearted promises.  She wanted to say that if their son wasn't in Garreg Mach no longer, the two should speak around and look for clues of where he was headed to next.

Did he mean that conjoined joke about Us this entire time?!

The woman's cheeks were already rosy from the cold, but her heart skipped as their bodies were brought closer than before. Her instincts were to close her eyes, but instead of that she focused on keeping her feet upright. Finally sneaking another glance at his face in admiration.

She wondered if Henry was aware of how charmingly handsome he was.  Or if he was aware of the things he says sometimes.  Her hand subtly wraps around his back for support beneath his cape. Had she been a bit bolder, a bit braver- Olivia would consider bumping the side of their hips with her own in order to make the point across that it was the two of them conjoined by the hip and that Inigo hailed from the umbilical cord instead.

Perhaps not of her own in this world, but definitely in soul.

The two continued to traverse and trek towards the fabled Monastery - how majestic it appeared from its distance. It was majestic and massive- and perhaps it made all the more sense as to why Henry remained there a bit longer than he should. She didn't wish to be in the way of his dreams and what brought him joy, but felt a touch of embarrassment over her weakness of wanting to tag along by his side. Henry had told her the instant he received that letter of hers, he stopped all whatever he was doing and marched all the way back to Ferox and hasn't went anywhere without her since.

He even returned with news of  a pleasant surprise of their time traveling son from another dimension attending classes at this place he worked at.

She wondered what would happen once they arrived, how life would become in the days moving forward. Plenty of thoughts to fill the mind , anxieties, fears- at the very least she knew by the end of it all she wouldn't have to do it alone.

angels in the snow {

"What are you going to tell him when you see him?"

It was snowing the night they neared Garreg Mach, as two figures pitter-pattered foot steps into the silken sheets of frost laid out before them. He hadn't packed much— carrying a waterskin and a sack of shared supplies. He was all smiles, ever enthused about running with a compass, and would have loved to have gotten lost with her a little longer. But that's the thing about getting lost. It was all fun and games when it was with each other. Lacing their hands together, he half-danced, half-pulled her along, keen on staying by her side.

"Nyahaha, I mean, what aren't you going to tell him? The two of you are like conjoined twins! I mean, without the shared spine or anything."

Her son, their son. It still felt like everything made sense the moment the war had ushered him into existence. Of course that was her son. As strange as he was, Inigo was just as special as his mother was. Hopefully a little less special than his dad was.

"What if we arrive and he's not there? You know. He's on one of those newfangled missions?"

Raising his head towards the skies above, he felt the snow flutter against his cheeks. And he let out a warm breath of air, watching it rise in a quiet haze.

"Guess you'd have to settle for me, huh?"

 The world falls silent within the lands of Fodlan- blanketed in a dreamy white and cloaked by lavender twilight with each pressing step carrying the weight of their worries. Olivia feels every crunch and wonders if her husband's morbid nature was starting to rub off since her line of thought flashback to the casualties of the battlefield.

He inquires what she plans to say, not do.

Henry would already know of her immediate response, to run up to her child, stretching her arms out as wide as the horizon to quickly cradle Inigo into an swift embrace.

" …That I missed him, that he's loved and no longer alone." She could only imagine what horrors her son had dealt with, and to think he spent his time alone made empathy only swell further. Her free hand clutches her cloak, seeking warmth in betwixt of all this frigidness.

The warmth was between those interlaced fingers all along with Henry leading the way towards Garreg Mach- his mood more chirpier than ever.

"Ahaha.." there were a few things she would deem inappropriate to say to her own son who happens to be close in age. For starters, Olivia knew she did not need to state the obvious that he wasn't born into this world just yet. A quick glance towards her husband's direction, admiring the way his hair curls slightly on the back of his neck. I wouldn't know what to do as a mother.

" It would be a bit of a problem if we were conjoined in such a way.. Although upon the surface... I believe he could pass off as my brother."

Well, naturally. Considering her time traveling child hailed from the doomed future and she couldn't possibly imagine what sort of things are possibly running through his mind.

(Women, probably. Unfortunately.)

" If he isn't there, we shall wait. " A squeeze of their hands, and soon the crack of her lips break out into a smile.

" I wouldn't consider us as settling- you're my partner, Henry."