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Fire Emblem: Crestfallen

Parthenia Harland Ciran

of House Ciran

---

Had Parthenia had lesser self-control, the disappointment on her face would have been palpable. Oh, sure, she had still outplayed Leonid at his game, but there was little better than seeing someone who deserved it eat crow… or rather, flowers, in this case. Not every plot or play could always be a complete winner, though. He had bowed out, but he had given her so much more ammunition in doing so… well, overdoing it was a thing, too, so she held back a bit.

“A social butterfly you are not, to refuse such a flower,” she chided, even as he turned faked disrespect into a real one. Parthenia still wasn’t sure if the girl was actually a lowborn, but that didn’t even matter, here. As far as she was concerned, any lowborn student that had made it to the academy had earned their place, and was worthy of their station and place alongside their noble peers.

Even if some of the commoners did look rather… unorthodox.

“Really, what a poor performance,” she lamented, as the Sylmare heir beat a swift retreat before Parthenia could properly chastise him for the real breaches in etiquette. Well, there was always later.

Turning back to Lapis, she canted her head slightly as the girl made her introduction. Parthenia was sure they had met before, even if she insisted otherwise. She idly suspected Lapis was lying in some way. She was tempted to press her on it, but thought better of it. Everybody had their skeletons in the closet, and the way she had introduced herself was telling in and of itself… Well, she had the entirety of school to figure it out. Patience was the virtue of nobles, after all.

“Is that so?” she answered. “What a strange title you have there, but a pleasure nonetheless,” she continued, with a little curtsy. She had a good guess of what that implied, shifting her perceptions of Lapis’ upbringing slightly, even if she was still skeptical of her implied origins as a commoner. A very, very poor one. She didn’t comment on it. “If Leonid Sylmare decides to give you anymore trouble, don’t be afraid to come to me. Disrupting some of the self-important or harebrained schemes of my peers is a bit of a pastime for me.” Parthenia gave her a grin before she excused herself to mingle with the other students as the tour continued, properly, this time.

The little group tour was more or less what she expected; she took a closer notice of the mess hall, enjoying the alluring smell of food being prepared for the coming dinner banquet, but glossed over the cathedral itself. The architecture was pretty, though. The Academy itself she would explore on her own time.

Lastly came the dorms and their room assignments, which surprised Parthenia on the sheer audacity of some of the assignment penned on the parchment outside. To her absolute delight, if she didn’t know better, it seemed almost as if the combinations were designed for maximum chaos among the student body. Cohabitation? Roland and Elivinthia? Sherry and Leon? Perhaps she would have to reevaluate her opinion of the Archbishop. Either he was as clueless as a duck or he was a master of her craft, and a kindred spirit…

She would have to find out.

Her own assignment with Lapis was interesting, too. It wasn’t as interesting as being paired with Elivinthia or as amusing as sharing a room with Sherry or Roland, and would make a late-night liaison –if she wanted one—harder, but Parthenia could certainly work with it. It would make uncovering Lapis’s mystery easier, she was sure.

“It would seem we’re one of the few girls with a traditional dorm experience,” said Parthenia with some amusement when she found her dormmate again. “The archbishop has an interesting sense of humor…”

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

As Polina continued to watch the scale demon’s behavior, she resolved that she would have to work on her politeness and etiquette. Perhaps even take a personal hand in it, if Polina had to. She quite enjoyed making sweets for everyone, even if not all appreciated them –A certain pink-haired drill instructor came to mind—but if Elizstrasia intended to enjoy her treats, she was going to have to learn to politely ask for them or respond with a thank you when offered.

Treats would not be forthcoming otherwise.

Now wouldn’t that be a way to civilize a demon?

Polina continued along with the group to the various destinations on the tour, pitching in with some descriptions of each place when it seemed relevant to her. Soon enough, though, they all found themselves outside the maison’s tailor, although they were intercepted by the head maid before entering.

She shrugged at the exchange that followed, before adding, in that serious tone that she liked to use, “All in all, it wasn’t so bad. There weren’t any deaths, injuries, or blood oaths sworn today, so I believe Eliz is ready for her maid uniform.”

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Giselle de Farry

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

Giselle thought things had gone better than expected, all things considered, but only marginally so. Better here meant that Kordelia had not turned into an eldritch princess like she had half expected. Unfortunately, the vampire lord was still a twisted approximation of her former self, either corrupted through the passage of time or by some other influence. From her words and the way she looked at her fallen pet, and the corrupted paladin back in the city, she wondered… Either way, it meant conflict. How many times had she been forced to fight in the past day now?

The Farisian princess barely had a telegraph of a warning before Kordelia launched herself at Aleksiya.

She was far too fast. Faster than she had remembered… or had they gotten slow? That wasn’t something to be pondered at the moment as Giselle brought her sword up. The speed differential was terrifying… but she had the paladin’s silver sword. She just hoped that they would be able to simply disable her rather than making this a more permanent rendezvous.

For now, though, a regular fight it was. Coming in from the side, she took advantage of the exposure Kordelia had given herself by rushing for Aleksiya, jabbing out with her sword. Time to beat her up a little.

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

Polina stood there politely as Myrilla continued her little spat with the other maids. It still wasn’t her place to intervene, and even if she did have the personality to meddle or try and smooth things out in that way, she was sure it wasn’t going to be appreciated by the combat instructor, which would surely come back to bite her in the ass somewhere down the line. The Farisian made did make her displeasure known when the older maid figuratively threw her offer back at her face.

“Perhaps another time then,” she replied, unfailingly polite as usual. At least the elf maid had the good graces to politely decline in turn.

Kat arrived at that point, and she offered her a sweet as well, even as the demon in the center of all this snapped up her bonbon without a word said. Hmm. House training and etiquette lessons would still be needed. Then again, there was Myrilla, and between the two girls, only one orifice had not been verbally threatened in this conversation at this point…

Charming. Polina was sorely tempted to make up that deficiency with a quip, but she couldn’t figure out a way to keep it polite, so she swallowed the urge.

“Right. We’re going to have to get you in a maid dress and start your etiquette lessons first thing then,” she said aloud, echoing her earlier thoughts.

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Giselle de Farry

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

Giselle remained on guard as she pressed forward with Aleksiya. Passing through yet more dead trees, they were met with a small river, the type that would have added a quaint, pleasant accompaniment to a forest landscape with the comforting gurgle of water. Unfortunately, this was not a normal river, but a stream long-tainted with corrupted blood. This river had ruined the forest.

They followed it upstream, but each step they took provoked a further sense of decay and wrongness, and the white-haired vampire unconsciously tightened her grip on her weapon as they continued. Giselle didn’t have to walk much longer to come across a new scene that made her tense, until she realized that the familiar great beast on the ground had long fallen. The Farisian princess only relaxed for a moment before she caught sight of the altar and what was on it.

Kordelia.

She looked exactly like the day that Giselle had last met her, in better times. Giselle almost immediately approached to greet her, but held back. There was something deeply uncanny and unsettling about this situation. Her eyes flicked between the dead Gorebat, the beating heart that fed the tainted river, and sarcophagus. They were definitely being watched, somehow.

Something was very wrong here, even if she couldn’t reason why.

It was not difficult to suspect that the being that looked like the Princess of Beasts might not be their former friend.

Giselle began to hold out an arm to stop Aleksiya from approaching, but the diminutive vampire had already stepped forward and spoken.

“…Kordelia,” she tensely greeted, preparing for what might come next.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

---

It was a somewhat surreal experience returning to sleep in accommodations where a small-scale battle had been fought, but that was not what bothered Éliane. Between overconsumption of coffee and the paranoia of wondering if there would be a follow up on the failed Valheimian attack, the Skaelan did not manage to sleep. It only took a few minutes of lying awake in bed for her to think to hell with it, and rose again. It didn’t sit right with her to leave her fallen compatriots to the tender mercies of an Edrenian cleanup crew.

She returned to her original, blood-stained room and sorted out their belongings, and coordinated a proper repatriation effort with the guards that ended up bringing the bodies to the morgue. There was little more that she could do on short notice, but by the time she was done, dawn began to break.

In the end, Éliane had to appropriate another carafe of coffee from the castle kitchens to get her through the coming day.

Nonetheless, in this vague, zombielike state, she managed to find her replacement team and the chocobos they had been designed, although she was none too amused with their color. Unlike her Viera counterpart, she as displeased not with looking unassuming –there would be little of that when she kept wearing her fancy uniform—but the fact that they were Leonhart’s colors. A proud member of the Guards, mounted on that? How scandalous!

She moaned and grumbled about it, but she took the gift like everybody else. She wasn’t going to look a gift chocobo in the beak, in the end, especially when the entire quest was ostensibly a multinational effort. She was also apprehensive of the wagon and its driver, having almost exclusively operated with a small, mobile team not unlike team Kirin, but she had to recognize the need of a small logistics train on a long-distance quest like this.

Éliane was mostly silent on the journey itself as she managed her all-nighter, although she idly listened into the conversations around her. Team Kirin had more of her countrymen than she had originally thought, and she couldn’t help but to overhear the one Arton had with the woman that had recruited her. It was an interesting tale that explained much of what she knew of Izayoi and her demeanor. Her opinion of the invading foreigners fell further, even as she anticipated seeing her fight alongside her in combat with the barbarians from Valheim…

As the surroundings changed, Éliane kept up her guard even as she was reminded by the small moogle. She polished off the rest of the coffee, though long cold, leaving her wanting more. Leifur, who she had immediately recognized as a fellow gunbreaker from Skael upon meeting, suggested they make a stop at a nearby Edrenian town, and she was inclined to agree. “Good idea. I’d rather not go into hostile territory blind and without intelligence, although I doubt information crosses the border overmuch. There is only so much of a border that can be patrolled, so I’m not too concerned about entry yet,” she replied sleepily. Nonetheless, she turned to Mystel from Osprey expectantly for any helpful information.

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

That fight had gone about as well as Polina had expected it to. Eventually a maid or two stepped in and put a stop to the combat. She might have stopped Lucrecia from going in, but she doubted the more upstanding maid would have been inclined to be persuaded otherwise. Thankfully, it seemed her delicious bonbons were accepted and appreciated by nearly all.

Speaking of which…

“Now that all that’s done, I still have bonbons. Would anybody like more?” She offered the bag to Myrilla, Sieg, Eliz, and Lucrecia this time, even as the elven maid started to lecture her.

The Farisian maid turned to address her, even as she continued to hold the bonbon bag out to offer. “Yes, Sieg, I would have allowed this to happen if it was any other maid,” she answered. “It was not my place to intervene. I had no reason to think it was not a training exercise appropriately tailored to Eliz’s skill level. Besides, it is clear that the two of them have some issues that they need to personally work out regardless, and I have it on good authority that such things are best worked out in mutual combat,” she continued, by way of explanation. It wasn’t like she didn’t believe what she was saying, either. Only a little bit of it was bullshit. The fight just also happened to be good entertainment.

“I agree though, that was an unfortunate situation. Combat outside the fields is highly irregular, but this maid is innocent of any crimes but handing out sweets. Speaking of which, a bonbon, Sieg, Eliz? You can have more, treat it as part of your welcoming gift.”

Fire Emblem: Crestfallen

Parthenia Harland Ciran

of House Ciran

---

With how many of her fellow peers that had dogpiled the teasing onto Sherry, it hadn’t been a surprise that the sum of it met with a rather frosty reaction from the Galbian princess. For just a moment, Parthenia had almost felt bad for the –mostly—good natured ribbing that she herself had dished out onto her friend, before she mentally corrected herself. A proper princess would just let it all wash over her, so wasn’t this just good training for the fledgling royal? Parthenia herself had endured far worse from the lovable creatures that were her siblings. Nonetheless, she had to fight the urge to roll her eyes as the princess took her frustrations out on the only person here that she could—the scion of the Raveleths. Yet just as quickly, that anger faded away as her attention was taken by a young wyvern, of all things.

Personally, Parthenia thought the pegasus was the more splendid of the two popular winged creatures.

She had to bite back the quip that had risen to her mind at Sherry’s lack of filter. Poor Roland…

Ever in search of entertainment, her attention drifted to an overheard conversation. It was between the heir of Sylmare and that girl that she had failed to recognize. That still frustrated her; from the way she acted and spoke, she lacked proper education in etiquette, yet she swore she had met her before in polite company. What caught her attention this time, though, was the nonsense that Leonid Sylmare was talking. She liked the spunk of the other girl, though.

As a fellow connoisseur of stirring shit, Parthenia felt obligated to meddle, and not to Leonid’s favor. “Slacking in your floral arrangement classes are you, Leonid? Well, I suppose boys don’t do floral arrangement,” she said in a musing tone as she butt in. “Perhaps the Lychnis senno could be considered vermillion, but right you are, it is a delicacy for men around these parts. In fact, it’s even a custom in Ciran –and Irinduil— that a man of proper breeding should accept and partake of such a floral gift when offered.” She paused, her tone darkening to forestall any escape. “It would be a prodigious insult to decline.”

She smiled as she looked at Leonid expectantly. Most of it was true, too. Declining any flower from a fair maiden would be an insult anywhere, but she’d stressed the consumption definition of partake, and Parthenia would love to see his face once he ate the flower. It was a treat for wyverns and pegasi, but she heard from her family’s trainers that the flower was awfully bitter to humans and could sometimes cause indigestion…

Regardless of the outcome, she turned to the blue-haired girl and made an introduction. “Parthenia, of Ciran. Apologies for my rudeness, but have we been acquainted? I recall we may have met previously, but I can’t remember a time or place.”

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Giselle de Farry

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

Giselle was not amused when she failed to properly dodge the unfortunate bird and was knocked aside like a ragdoll. Thankfully, she didn’t land like one, bleeding the momentum and coming to rest with a graceful rolling stop before springing back up. She immediately took a guard position in the event that she had erred in her blow, but she had done the job. Reigning in the urge to retaliate for the injustice meted out on her, she watched silently as Aleksiya landed the killing blow on the suffering pet.

The princess lowered her silver blade, but didn’t sheath it as she briefly knelt to inspected the fallen bird. Satisfied that Aleksiya’s spike of ice had truly ended the creature, she stood back up, taking the time to mend the minor battle damage to her dress as it stitched itself back together.

“Unfortunate, but it had to be done,” she consoled the smaller vampire, before pushing forwards into the forest towards where Kordelia surely was.

“Time to convene with a peer.”

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

Polina was leading the small group towards the training fields, following the stone path that the Farisian maid was now fully acquainted with when their conversation with the small demon maid to be was interrupted by the characteristic crack of a gunshot passing close by. The maid immediately fell into an alert stance, before recognizing that it came from the training fields, rather than being an external ambush. It didn’t take long for her to catch that the combat instructor was running straight at them, sword drawn.

From the reaction of the new maid, Polina suspected that this was not about how she had reverse pickpocketed Myrilla some macarons during their combat mission days ago. No, no, this was clearly something personal, and she decided that discretion was the better part of valor and stepped out of the situation rather than draw her own hidden knives and get involved in this little spat.
“Good luck,” she encouraged, even as the demon girl screamed and engaged the older maid.

The uninvolved maid produced a bag of bonbons this time, and popped one of the chocolate confections in her mouth. Glancing over at her fellow maids, if they were still uninvolved, she offered them a snack as well as she watched the impromptu duel… whether it was to the death remained to be seen, but Polina was sure that things would turn out fine. Probably. Maybe.