Eleven

Discontinued

omg it's back :')

I'd like to bring Freya back, although I'm worried there's some overlap with some of the other characters.

f r e y a

█ Freya Brigham

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▼ PERSONAL DETAILS ► Age - twenty-five ► Gender - Female ► Sexuality - Bisexual ► Nickname - Frey, Faye ► Occupation - Junior Creative Director ► Qualifications - 1st runner-up at Miss New York Pageant, graduated summa cum laude at NYU ► Residence - New York, NY ▼ PHYSICALITY ► Scars - A small one down her wrist, shaped like an umbrella's handle, that has since been covered by her tattoo ► Tattoos - Freya has a small tattoo of an outlined paper crane on her wrist, hiding her old scar ► Piercings - Just ears ► Style - Freya has a keen eye for fashion and the funds to purchase it. Although she often chooses to splurge on designer brands, she has no problem putting together stylish outfits from thrift store buys. Recently, she's been into off-shoulder tops and dresses, and high-waisted bottoms. She takes extra time to style her hair only during special events or gatherings, opting for a natural wavy look on a day-to-day basis. ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

LIFE AT RITMAN Have you heard about the freshman who threw a yacht party that the police shut down? Or the sophomore whose father was sent to jail for embezzlement? How about the junior who was allegedly in a relationship with one of her teachers? Freya's reputation in Ritman High seemed as though it had a life of its own, growing beyond her control as the rumor mill churned out endless claims about her life, her family, and her relationships. Within the year they relocated from New York to Delton, her family had become a frequent source of gossip and scandal in the otherwise peaceful town. Not that she was blameless in all this; Freya, caring little about what people thought, neither confirmed nor denied any of the rumors' validity, which only served to exacerbate their wildfire spread. For the most part, Freya had simply allowed herself to be swept away by the tempestuous tide of high school life. It didn't matter to her what she did or with whom, so long as she would be surrounded by people that can distract from the much more turbulent deluge that was her home life. Turned out that the popular clique was easiest to breach and preserve—wealth impressed them, simple as that. Freya let them throw as many parties as they wanted in her family's pseudo-mansion and that was more than enough to hold together their brittle friendship, if it can be called that. Even with her increasingly bad reputation, she was never directly ostracized by her chosen circle, although she supposed they all talked about her behind her back anyway. The number of students who knew truth from rumor remained the small handful that she truly considered friends. Although she often hung around her elitist clique for the mindless distraction, she shared more intimate moments with unlikely friends, finding solace in their pointed lack of interest in her supposed scandals. One of her biggest regrets has been not keeping in touch with them. When she had to suddenly move back to New York, her mother had forbidden her to contact anyone outside the family. They packed their things and left within a day, just a week before her graduation. PSYCHE INTJ. With her signature wry smile and calculating gaze, it would seem as though nothing fazes Freya. Not the rumors that trailed her around most of her life, nor the insurmountable expectations her mother demanded of her. Instead, she is flippant when put under pressure, seemingly in control of whatever situation she's in, even when she's very clearly out of her element. Freya will pursue any and all endeavors as though there is a 100% success rate. And if she fails, well, then she'll just make it seem like she did it on purpose. Her poise is often misconstrued as the cocksureness of someone too young and privileged to have known any hardships, and while there is some truth to that sentiment, it isn't entirely accurate. The trick Freya learned at a very early age—had to learn lest she succumb to the toxicity surrounding her—was to drown out the noise and let her inner voice ring loudest. If she seems entirely self-assured, it's because she tells herself that she is and ignores everyone else telling her otherwise. Freya had been so afraid of getting hurt that she erected wall after wall around her, keeping any detractors from getting close. Unfortunately, without realizing, she had not only shut out the bad, but the good as well. She distanced herself from her friends and family, even her true self—she had put on this self-assured, blasé persona for so long that she's worried her world will come crumbling down if she sheds it. The truth is, beneath all the pretense is a bleeding heart that gets attached too quickly and too deeply. Nothing scares Freya more than baring her soul, because she knows that if she lets someone in, there is no questioning her devotion. She will kill for you, die for you, tear herself apart for you. ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

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POWER Almost like the world is conspiring against her, Freya has gained the power of telepathy. Generally speaking, she can project, read, and manipulate the thoughts of anyone within a certain range. This ability has many applications, most of which require her utmost focus or she runs the risk of getting overloaded. Its easiest and most straightforward use is to send or receive the thoughts (and sometimes emotions) of those around her. This is not limited to a single target, and in fact, more focus and effort are required to single out an individual's thoughts. With enough practice, Freya can tune this so she can also share the senses one mind is experiencing with herself or someone else. Manipulating thoughts is vastly more difficult and takes a toll on her physically and mentally. With a lot of strain and concentration, Freya can induce hallucinations into a single target's mind. It lasts for as long as she can withstand the headache it causes, or until her concentration is broken. There are limits to what she can project—mainly, it has to be something she can clearly envision herself—and these hallucinations' effects are entirely dependent on how the target handles them. Lastly, Freya can also implant suggestions or commands in the mind of others, although doing so is even more demanding to her body. It doesn't work like regular mind control, where she simply wills someone to perform an action and they succumb to it, at least not yet. It's more like having a mini-Freya standing on your shoulder, whispering in your ear, coaxing you to do her a favor. ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

- ▼ STRENGTHS ► Can provide secure and reliable long-distance communication. ► Getting in the head of her opponent can be incredibly advantageous, provided she has the means to utilize the knowledge she obtains. Works best in tandem with others, where she can supplement their abilities with precious intel. ► Messing with an aggressor's mind can lead to clouded judgment, lowered composure, or distraction, generally leaving them in a debilitated state. ▼ WEAKNESSES ► Perhaps the biggest drawback from her ability is that the switch starts on, so to speak. Freya has to actively stop from listening in, and still needs to learn how to ignore or silence the voices. If she's surrounded by too many people, their thoughts could overwhelm and incapacitate her. If even a single person who has very strong convictions, their thoughts come across as loud, unwavering yells. The more intense the thought, the louder it is. In addition to the toll exerted on mind and body, thought manipulation also demands absolute focus. Even the slightest distraction can unravel a hallucination or a suggestion. And obviously, Freya has no means of physical defense. She's as strong as your average twenty-something-year old. ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

Additional classes would normally have excited her, but it didn't seem to involve any training this time. With night shifts at the cafeteria and (secret) later night investigations keeping her up, Imogen could hardly keep her eyes open during her afternoon classes. She must have drifted to sleep at some point during the last class, unless there really was a miniature horse prancing about the professor's podium.

Imogen grabbed her seat beside the rest of the Deer, and despondently laid her cheek on the desk, fully prepared for just another long-winded lecture. She was about to ask Iz to wake her up in case she happened to fall asleep, but it seemed there would be no need. The mention of injuries and Crests had her bolting upright, her foggy sleepiness replaced with growing excitement. She remembered what Chi had told her about them, how amazing the professors' different abilities were: talking to animals and super strength and detecting people from anywhere in the Monastery!

To think they'd actually have a whole class dedicated to it. And that she was right about everyone having Crests! No wonder everyone was so cool. With rapt attention, she watched as Professor Mal pointed at the scribbles on the board, calling out funny-sounding words that she realized belatedly were family names when she heard hers. Imogen couldn't help flinching slightly at the mention of it. Goneril. Years of practice have made it easier to shoo the unpleasant memories of her mom that came with it, but she still didn't like how it made her feel.

Anyway. Crest of Flames, now that sounded super cool.

Imogen looked around the room with a giant smile and shining eyes, fully expecting to see everyone mirror her excitement. Because how can they not be excited when everyone in the room had some sort of amazing ability? She locked eyes with Kel for a moment and her head tilted in confusion. He looked embarrassed? Ah, maybe he didn't like bragging about it because he's too humble. Kel really needed to own his awesomeness. But turning to her fellow deer, she started to realize Kel's reaction wasn't the odd one out after all.

"Clary?" Imogen pursed her lips when she received no response, but chalked it up to Clary being too focused on the rest of the lecture. The history of Crests was a fascinating subject after all. When Clary suddenly got up and stormed out—in what she liked to think of as "pulling a Lin"—she looked to Jory to see if they needed to do something. It wasn't like her to skip out like that! Professor Euphie had it handled, though, so Imogen remained seated and instead decided to make Clary proud and forced herself to focus on the lecture as well.

Turning back to face Professor Mal, Imogen tried not to let her thoughts drift into imagining the different abilities of her classmates. She's pretty sure she'll be finding that out today.

As she listened, the names and dates completely escaped her grasp, but their abilities struck a chord with her. She felt inspired. A healer, a fighter that defied death, a man with strength and speed increased tenfold. Imogen wondered if her own ability would ever make her as legendary as these people. Could she use Dogberry to save people other than herself? She didn't mind starting smaller—like, maybe she can start telling Kel when there's something dangerous to worry about so he doesn't have to worry all the time. Or, or, maybe they can use her like a portable alarm?

Imogen raised her hand after Lin and that other guy, what's-his-name. Crap, why does she always forget about him? She made a note to give him a really memorable nickname later. "I think mine is autonomous 'cause I never have to think about it. How can I get better at it, if Dogberry does all the work?"

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

The cafeteria was a surprisingly fun place to work. It wasn't just because she was surrounded by delicious-smelling food that she sometimes got to taste-test after winning over the cooks, or the really fun and fascinating kitchen staff she got to know. The dining hall, Imogen learned, was a hub of information. Rampant with rumors and gossip, there wasn't a day where she didn't find out something new. Often, it would be something as trivial as two students hooking up after class. Maybe something slightly more scandalous like someone getting caught cheating on an exam. But occasionally, she'd get something meatier.

Like whispers of ghosts, disappearances, and danger lurking in the dark.

Ever since she'd caught wind of the gossip, Imogen had readily volunteered for the late shift at the cafeteria, which no one minded in the least. Some have gotten cagey and preferred to return to their rooms before sundown. Imogen, on the other hand, made sure to be last to leave and took the longest possible route back to the dorm, eyes and ears (and Dogberry) peeled. Sure, her heart would be drumming up a storm and she'd have to drive away a half-dozen scary stories she'd involuntarily concoct in her head. And she supposed it would be nice to have someone accompany her. But in the end, curiosity trumped fear. Imogen wanted to see if these rumors were true, and who better to investigate than someone who could sense looming danger?

Io's announcement all but confirmed the rumors and indirectly enabled Imogen to continue her late-night investigations. If students really are going missing, then they wouldn't get mad at her for trying to help, right? Probably not. The new strict curfew wasn't ideal, but she was confident she could avoid the guards to some extent. She's had experience escaping authority figures back in her hometown. It's practically the same thing. Kind of.

Clary offered to accompany them on errands and Imogen imagined for a second what would happen if she invited her out on her excursions—nope! Her ear burned from a phantom tug and she felt pre-chastised already. Clary was great and all, but Imogen knew better by now than to involve her in any rule-breaking shenanigans. In her mind, she had made her up to be part saint, part badass warrior, part mom. At some point, she had even learned to fear disappointing Clary.

Imogen's gaze swept over to where the Blue Lions sat, watching as Kel offered a similar gesture, although he seemed far less certain than Clary. This time, she imagined asking Kel to tag along and nearly burst out laughing as she pictured the two of them cowering behind a tree, both in tears after they had just seen a ghost. It made her wonder; would she be braver or more afraid in the company of someone who is also terrified?

Okay, so maybe she can just ask Jory instead.

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

Today, Imogen learned a valuable lesson: knowing an attack is coming doesn't always mean she can avoid it. Case in point, Professor Mik, who had technique and experience in spades. Every time she was able to dodge an attack, he repositioned himself so that she had fewer opportunities to avoid the next. Eventually, she had no choice left but to brace for the final sweep, pouting at the inevitability of her loss although she took pride in lasting against the merciless professor longer than most. She will best him one day!

With Professor Euphie, it came down to a battle of speed. Imogen was fast. In her village, no one can outrun her, not even Caius, and he had strides twice as long! She held the record time of going up and down the mountain, although she supposed no one actually bothered trying to best her time, those lazy butts. Anyway, however fast she was, Professor Euphie was faster. Dogberry gave her just milliseconds to react, enough time to block (even if the professor didn't actually try to connect her attacks) but not to dodge. The challenge made her blood sing with excitement, fueled her even as every inch of her body protested its exhaustion. She never got the upper hand, but boy, did she move faster than ever before.

Magic seemed to be a glaring weak spot of hers. Dodging was easy when she didn't get distracted. Unlike most physical strikes, magic had an innate buildup time. It didn't matter if this accumulation lasted as fleetingly as a blink or a heartbeat; as soon as magic is being called upon, Dogberry doles out his warning and she gets more than enough time to scurry out of the way. She figured eight out of ten times, she'd be able to dodge. Twice she had gotten distracted and forgot to move out of the way—first by the neat glyph that appears when the magic was being cast, and then later by the shimmery lights that appear. Getting hit by a magical attack even once debilitated her much more than any regular attack, it seemed. It hurt worse than getting mauled by a bear eight seconds after having just been stomped on by a horse who just the night before, ate all the hay in town and so he barely fit in the stable.

Professor Mal kept telling her to focus her magic, but how the heck do you do that?

Despite her usual surplus of energy, even Imogen was beaten into an exhausted heap of fresh bruises and sore muscles, barely able to trudge to the sauna along with the others after their training ended. Imogen tried to follow after Iz, but she seemed mad. Actually, she had seemed upset ever since their earlier discussion. She should probably ask her what's wrong. But later. Right now, all she could think of was a nice, hot bath.

After an incorrect turn into the boys' side almost led to an awkward situation—luckily, a finicky fellow student dragged her out before anything scandalous happened—Imogen found the showers and cleaned herself as quickly as she could while still being thorough. She'd been caked in mud and sweat for a while now, and even she couldn't stand being filthy for too long. Usually, after a long trek through the mountains, she would just jump into the first body of water she could find to cool down and clean up, but she supposed she would get scolded if she did that here.

That didn't stop her from diving in the bath anyway, though. As soon as she finished rinsing off, she made her way to the end of the bath, furthest away from the others already in it out of respect, and dove in, relishing in the relief the hot water brought. Imogen noticed Lin huddled in the corner a moment too late and could only grin sheepishly in apology after she had resurfaced. "Oops, sorry, Lin! Didn't see ya there!"

Of everyone in the Rose Unit, Lin seemed the frostiest—uh, no pun intended?—even around her fellow Lions. Always irritated, always hiding behind a wall. Imogen wondered if like Iz, she was just shy and unused to being around people. There hadn't been many opportunities for them to get to know each other, but Imogen could smell the mountains on her and she had quickly accepted her as a kindred spirit.

After the water settled from her disturbance, Imogen waded next to Lienna and gave a proper greeting. She could glean from how warily she scanned the room that she was on edge, although how she could be anything but relaxed right now escaped her. Leaning in close, Imogen lowered her voice to a whisper, guessing at the root of her concerns. "If you're worried about Ronnie attacking you or something, don't worry, I can give you a heads-up."

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

If it were up to her, all classes would be like this one.

Imogen thrived when she wasn't forced to sit for hours on end, listening to the professors talk about strategies in the battlefield instead of practicing it. Or worse, having to pay attention to which rich or powerful house did this or that and remember how they screwed over their people. Spending the day training was fun and seemed more like play than learning, especially as she began experimenting on her new choice of weapons. Caius had more than once tried to make her understand the concept of her sword being an extension of her arm, but the idea never clicked. With the gauntlets – well, her hands were actually extensions of her arms so it made more sense.

Getting to train with Iz was a plus, as well! After watching her demonstration, Imogen all but hounded her fellow deer, begging to learn some of her techniques. Sure, it was enjoyable going crazy and letting loose on the targets, allowing her instincts to take over and guide each strike. But Iz looked really, really cool doing her attacks and she wanted to look like that too. And, uh, there's probably some practical reasons to learn some proper techniques too.

Imogen ended up eating a lot of Iz's time, although she hoped their training session wasn't too one-sided. There were times when Iz seemed to be holding back, for no reason she could discern. Imogen tried pushing her past this invisible line Iz seemed to have drawn for herself, but she knew not to prod too much, too soon.

Not too long after, Professor Mik called them back for a break. Although the others seemed to welcome it, the tolling of the bell brought upon a sense of dread for Imogen instead. She would have much preferred spending another five hours training with her gauntlets than have to face Professor Lys after class. It was no use letting him know she was as broke as the recently beheaded dummy (may he rest in pieces)—the professor had been adamant about her paying for the damage she caused. That meant she had to figure out how to scrounge up some gold after class because she was certainly not going to ask Caius to send her any.

Instead of dismissing them, Professor Mik led them to the Black Eagles' classroom, and there Imogen had experienced her first miracle: she was actually grateful for a quiz. Her meeting with Professor Lys has been delayed and she gets to fill her plate with pastries! Plus, the quiz didn't seem all that difficult at all. Not like those written tests with questions so long, it was a struggle just trying to read it all the way through.

As was often the case, it was Clary who got the Deer started. Her evaluations were comprehensive, so much more thorough than Imogen would have ever thought to do. Imogen tried her best not to drift away into her daydreams, but she did slip for a moment as she thought that Clary would be a good professor and imagined her in Professor Mik's place.

"Aw, thanks," Imogen said through a mouthful of lemon cakes, after listening to Clary's assessment of her. The critiques she made were ones she had heard before, repeatedly, but she sincerely took them under consideration. "I promise I'll try! Sometimes, it's just hard to slow down, y'know?"

After inhaling another mouthful of pastries, Imogen stood up and gestured to herself. "Okay, me next!" There was a brief pause as she tried to collect her thoughts, and she looked almost silly glaring up at the ceiling as she recalled each Deer's demonstration.

"Clary, I love watching your magic! It's so sparkly and it makes me feel all warm inside. I also think it's wonderful how you can save people in a battlefield instead of just hurting the enemies. Um," Imogen paused, realizing she was more gushing than evaluating. She wasn't knowledgeable enough about magic to pinpoint any flaws in her spellwork, but she supposed she could bring up things she noticed before. "You take really good care of others, but you need to think of yourself too. In Luin, you rushed in to save Professor Euphie and that was really brave and you saved her life! But you could have also gotten hurt, and if that happened, a lot of people would have missed out on your amazing healing. When something like that happens, you can trust us more to have your back!"

She turned to Jory next and grinned. "You're like the main character in the stories I read, Jory! Always swooping in at the right time to save the day. You're like bam, arrow in the eye! bam, arrow in the chest!"—here, she mimicked nocking an arrow and loosing it for effect—“You seem to always know what to do… oh, except when you're mad or annoyed! I noticed that before. Like with Princey! At one point, I thought you were going to hit him instead of the enemy. Maybe don't do that in the future?" Imogen wasn't entirely sure what her point was; maybe something along the lines of being more patient with your allies? She knew she would have the hardest time trying to critique him when she was always in awe of the things he did.

For Iz's turn, Imogen gave her a hug before stepping back. "Iz, you're the best! I learned a lot from you in that short time we practiced. Like how I can flip someone twice my size if I use their weight against them—I definitely want to try that out." She spotted Aubie across the room and wondered if he'd let her try on him. He was probably a whole foot taller than her; he'd be great practice. "I keep telling you this, but you need to realize just how awesome you are. Look, I watched you fight once and now I want to be just like you. I know you worry a lot and you overthink things. Maybe we can work on that together? Clary says I don't think enough, so maybe we can find a way to even it out." Imogen laughed. It was almost like Iz had an anti-Dogberry, one who warned her about everything, even if it wasn't something dangerous or concerning. "But honestly, I think it'll help if you tell that mini-Iz on your shoulder that's worrying about everything to shush every now and again. I can teach you that, I have a lot of practice."

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

better late than never: the stables pt. II, with chionne and only

The stable boy wiped his brow as he finished replacing the pegasus’ last horseshoe. He gave it a pat before turning to Chionne, who stroked its mane gently. She nodded, using her free hand to dismiss him before turning her full attention to the animal. It was still highly nervous, but once the stableboy left, he was considerably calmer.

“Hopefully you’ll stop throwing fits whenever you’re ridden.” She chastised it calmly, taking the reins in hand as she led it to its stable. Once she locked it up, she stretched her arms before placing her hands behind her head, stopping as she spotted a blob of pink hair. Ah, this is the one Michail had been talking about.

Dropping her arms, she held a hand to her lips and blew out a loud whistle. “Oi! C’mere, you,” She waved her over.

Imogen came bounding over without hesitation, reacting to the call instinctively. She was just about to find the stable boy to see if there was anything she could do, but this seemed way more interesting. The woman who called her over was vaguely familiar, although she was certain she'd never talked to her before. Was she a professor? Or one of those church people?

"Hey! I know you from somewhere," she beamed at her. "Need help with something?"

“If you’ve frequented the stables, probably. An extra pair of hands is always welcomed, though that isn’t what I had in mind,” Chionne admitted, unpinning her sleeves and rolling them back down. “You’re one of Michail’s students in that one group or whatever, right? Urswick? I was wondering if there was any relation to Caius Urswick.”

Imogen’s ears pricked up at the name of her favorite person and the burst of excitement that overcame her was palpable. Because Caius was an ex-knight, she thought she would have come across someone who knew him within the first few days she arrived at Garreg Mach. But she had no such luck until now.

“Yep! He’s my dad...ish?” Imogen pursed her lip as she tried to think of how to explain their relationship. It wasn’t like she was officially adopted, even if she did take his name. She shrugged, deciding to just leave it at that. The lady probably got what she meant. “Yeah, basically my dad. So, so, do you know him? Are you like an ex-girlfriend? I’ve been looking for someone to tell me stories about him!”

Once her sleeves were fully taken care of, Chionne shook her head. “What an overactive imagination, though I worry that your first assumption was ‘ex-girlfriend’,” She laughed, leaning against the wall of the stable. “Most every Knight of Seiros knows one another, former or otherwise. He disappeared into Alliance territory some years ago, though I was surprised to hear he had a kid. I think Michail was his former squire as well before he squired for Kalliope, the current Captain. He’ll probably have the stories you’re looking for.”

Pausing for a moment, she remembered something. “The name’s Chionne, by the way. What’s Caius up to these days?”

Imogen's eyes lit up considerably at the mention of Professor Mik being his squire. That precious information was enough to offset her slight disappointment at not finding a former flame (the huge age difference wouldn't cross her mind until much, much later), and she made a note to badger Professor Mik later on. Dozens of questions were already piling up in her head, although she was sure to forget half of them before she'd get the chance to see the knight-professor.

"I'm Imogen!" she supplied happily after Chi introduced herself, briefly pointing at herself. "Mostly, Caius goes into the mountains to hunt and then he goes and sells them to other towns. He used to train me too, but now that I'm here, I bet he's all by his grumpy lonesome." Imogen laughed as memories of their time at the village came flooding back. No matter how hard she tried to work on his image, everyone in Yarrow still feared him and often used her to pass along any message they might have for him. One of her biggest regrets was that no one but her knew how terrible his jokes were.

"He never told me how he ended up there. He just goes"—Imogen lowered her voice to mimic his—"'I needed to get away from it all' and then makes a grunting sound and then changes the subject."

It was nice getting to talk about him, Imogen thought, even as a sudden wave of homesickness rushed through her. The attack on Luin and the urge to do something useful had been consuming her thoughts as of late; this was a nice change of pace. Oh, crap, but now she’s thinking about it again.

“Hey, you know about Luin, right?” Imogen frowned, unable to stop herself from inquiring even though she was supposed to be enjoying all this Caius talk. “Does that happen a lot? Bandits just go and destroy everything and kill people for no reason?”

Chionne nodded, shoulders rising as she let out a wistful sigh. “No. I’d be lying if I said that bandits usually leave the villagers be when they plunder, though,” She admitted. “And of course, the more daring ones outright steal people, but...wanton destruction isn’t common. Think the plague made it so their kind was more focused on surviving than anything.”

She looked out in the distance at nothing in particular, though she did push herself off the stable wall. “Now everyone’s buzzing with conspiracy theories. Some say it’s a new invention some thug came up with, others predict it’s retribution from the Goddess since Luin hasn’t been donating as much as usual,” She laughed. “The mage you all captured is still being interrogated. Lady Arianthe’s arrival must mean they got something out of him, so we’ll see.”

Imogen scrunched her nose. Caius had written to her about his own concerns about these current events, but his was more straightforward. Along the lines of, "evil people are up to no good, you must be vigilant." It gave her some reassurance to know that bandits don't usually go around making villages go boom for fun, but it didn't completely quell the urge to get out of the monastery and help. These bad people are up to something, and the sooner they figure it out, the better.

"You know, I never understood why people always involve the Goddess when things happen." Even though Caius worked for the church, he didn't raise her to be overly religious. Unlike Clary or Aubie who were so earnest in their beliefs and did just about everything in the name of the Goddess, lest they provoke her wrath or fury or whatever it is they say, she preferred to think of the Goddess as a mostly hands-off, benevolent deity. She'll sprinkle some miracles every so often because she's cool like that, but Imogen didn't think a being so holy and powerful would waste her time meddling in petty human affairs.

At the mention of the mage she had left unconscious, a pang of pity shot through her. He definitely deserved everything he got for trying to make everyone explode, but Imogen still couldn't believe his ally could so easily leave him to the wolves, so to speak. She maintained that even if she were to turn evil—like, say her future husband gets murdered by the king because he was framed for treason, and driven mad by grief, she becomes an undercover spy in order to avenge him—she would never abandon friends and allies like that.

"Lady Aria… oh! the super nice green-haired lady," Imogen thought out loud. "I hope Professor Mik tells us what they find out. I wanna know what we need to protect people from! Next time we go on a mission, I want to make sure no one gets hurt and—"

Something triggered Imogen’s internal alarm just then, beckoning her toward the row of shrubbery behind Chi. At first, Imogen had been startled, nearly convinced that she somehow summoned the bad guys by talking about them. But then a rustling of leaves caught her attention, and a familiar hissing sound made her realize who the culprit was.

"Watch out!" she called with a laugh, just a second too late. A clawed paw emerged from the shrub and swiped at Chi with an angry meow.

“Lady Arianthe,” Chionne corrected her. “It’s disrespectful to--”

She was cut off as she winced, looking down at the cat. Letting out a sigh, she looked down at her scratched calf. Kneeling down, she reached out a hand, though the cat hissed and backed away some, every hair on end. Shaking her head, the woman stood up, shrugging.

“Cats don’t like me, unfortunately,” She admitted. “I never could properly communicate with them.”

"Communicate?" Imogen plopped onto the ground after Chi got up and started clicking her tongue. Her attempts to reach out to the very wary cat were more successful. Although his ears were pricked up and his tail was puffed out, he allowed her to scratch behind his ear. He never took his eyes off Chi. "Like actually talking to them? You can do that? Do they tell you funny things?"

“Mhm. It’s why my services mostly revolve around training the horses, pegasi, and wyverns that the Knights of Seiros and students here use,” Chionne frowned down at the scratch, though she didn’t linger on it for too long. “It's not a very impressive Crest power, but I’ve always been able to understand animals. They understand me, too--though I guess what I say isn’t impressive to the feline community.” She joked. “You guys haven’t gone over Crest abilities in your classes yet?”

"Uh, yeah, Crest powers, right," Imogen's lips curled as nervous laughter bubbled up her throat. They've probably gone over Crests in class, although put on the spot, she was having a hard time recalling pertinent information about it. Because Caius had advised her to talk as little about her Crest as possible, Imogen hasn't had much exposure to the subject. She knew it was a big deal to have one, although she didn't necessarily know why.

"But anyway, what do you mean not impressive?" Imogen's eyes had widened at the thought of Chi's abilities. There were so many cats and dogs she would've loved to talk to! "Does that mean you can have bird spies? Ooh, or actually have a fly in the wall. Wow wow, that's so cool!"

Raising an eyebrow, Chionne looked a little confused for a second. “It does serve well for espionage, but it isn’t as handy elsewhere,” She admitted that much, though as she raised her hand to her chin, she tried to remember.

“Let’s see...Malathice--Professor Malathice has that sensory ability of his, though considering he’s been studying Crests for as long as he’s been able to read, I think he’s technically an exception to the rule in how effective a Crest can be,” She recalled. “There’s also Michail’s, I think it’s some sort of strengthening ability? Then there’s the nurse--shoot, I forget hers, but I remember thinking it was really only good against other Crests. If you look into it, those with Crests usually come with extraordinary abilities, like enhanced strength or magic, superhuman reflexes, and even the ability to see your opponent’s moves. ”

Realizing she had basically only properly explained one, she shook her head. “They range from person to person, and their extent also varies. I remember hearing about Professor Malathice’s in particular, so I guess that’s why he stands out the most. It started as only being able to sense how many people were in a room. Good for sneak attacks, but not too handy. Now I hear he can sense everyone around the entire Monastery, and can go even further if he chooses to track specific people. If you’re ever curious, I highly recommend speaking to him about it, it’s the only thing he’s willing to talk to anyone about.”

She nodded, shooting Imogen a grin. “In comparison, talking to animals isn’t nearly as cool. Handy, just not as useful as I’d like it to be,” She confessed, though her laugh afterwards showed she didn’t really mind.

With eyes aglow, Imogen listened with rapt fascination, like she'd been bestowed a fountain of knowledge and she wanted to drink it dry. Definitely not a look she wore in her actual classes. But who knew Crest abilities were so interesting?! It sent her reeling with thousands of thoughts and questions. She wondered if she could ever find a way to sneak up on Professor Mal. And of course, Professor Mik's would be something like that! She still thought Chi was selling herself short--hers is still one of the cooler abilities for sure and she told her as much.

Imogen wondered if everyone in the Rose Unit had Crests. She knew a handful had mentioned they had one… maybe that's what they all had in common and why they were in special classes. What abilities did they have; she never thought to ask before. Was Jory's to be super charming, or like super aim so he never misses? Maybe Clary actually had Saint-like powers and that's why she's so awesome.

In the middle of imagining what Kel could do, Imogen gasped as a very important realization dawned on her. "Is that what Dogberry is?" she asked without preface, grabbing Chi's hands excitedly. So she had superpowers too-- she’d have to tell Caius all about it. "I thought everyone had their own version of him, but maybe that's my special thing!"

Suddenly bursting with excitement, Imogen leaned over and gave Chi a tight hug. She was practically bouncing with joy, making the little kitty, who had been happily resting against her leg this whole time, jump up and hiss as it scuttled away. Who could have thought that talking to Chi was the remedy she needed to cure her of her earlier doom and gloom anxiety?

"Thanks for the chat, Chi! I hope we can talk some more later. I gotta run right now though. I have to write a letter to Caius right now and let him know!"

---

Last night had been the best sleep Imogen had since the incident at Luin. Ever since her talk with Chi, Imogen felt as light as a feather; restless still, but channeled into a more positive "can't wait to do things!" instead of the desperate "have to do things" that plagued her as of late. Her to-do list for the day was already brimming with more enjoyable tasks: ask Professor Mik all about Caius; attempt to sneak up behind Professor Mal; find out what kind of Crest superpowers everyone had.

She arrived at the arena with a spring in her step and an infectious energy that made the not-so-morning people she passed by glare crankily as they sipped their coffees. Imogen addressed everyone with her usual cheery greeting, although there was little time to socialize before the professors began today's activities. Early morning training! It was like being back home with Caius again. He liked to take her on a hike up the mountains right before the sun rose, when the air was crisp and sometimes biting, and there they practiced until her stomach protested its hunger.

Imogen automatically reached for one of the training swords but stopped short, looking at her bare hands in contemplation. She looked around for Iz, trying to remember how amazing she fought before her thoughts trailed off into how she had manically beaten up that last mage. It probably wasn't a good thing to ponder, and she had enough decency to look sheepish in the off-chance one of the others' ability allowed them to read her thoughts, but it felt good letting loose like that. Without her sword, she didn't have to worry about proper stances and correct form.

Her hands balled into fists and after one more second of hesitation, Imogen skipped over the sword and rummaged through the weapon chest for gauntlets that fit. The added weight took a second to get used to, and she took another moment to do some practice jabs. She grinned. Something about this felt right, as though she was writing with her right hand her whole life only to discover she was naturally left-handed instead. The tiny sensible part of her worried that trying out a new weapon during their first assessment would mean she'd fail. But the professors did say to get their preferred weapon, and she was certain this was hers now. Besides, it had little spikes all over the knuckles. Those were like tiny swords, right?

By the time she made her way to her own dummy, a couple of the others had already begun their demonstrations. Imogen paused to watch the magic users, distracted by the sheer awesomeness of it as usual. Clary's has become her favorite to watch. Something about the burst of light and the way it faded into a shimmering glow, like little fireflies scattering in the wind, made her feel like she was back at home. And plus, it cemented in her mind that Clary was an actual saint.

When she finally stopped being distracted, Imogen faced her dummy with a determined grin. "Okay, I'm going to attack you now," she announced and nodded to herself as she pretended it responded with its permission.

Imogen started with a basic combo: jab, cross, hook, uppercut. Then a roundhouse to finish the set. The dummy held up too well for her liking, torn and shredded where her attacks landed with a slight tilt now after her kick connected, but nowhere near as damaged as she hoped. Although briefly disappointed, she wasn't discouraged in the slightest, considering it growing pains.

One more time! Imogen pounced on the target, channeling the wild energy she had back in Luin. She wrapped herself around the dummy and positioned herself so she was perched upon its wooden, makeshift shoulders. Then she let loose a barrage of punches, along with a war cry because she swears that adds more power to each of her strikes, until the dummy's head snapped and was knocked clean off.

Imogen hopped off and picked up the fallen head to assess the damage she'd done. "That was fun!" she laughed, making the dummy nod in agreement.

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

_{@Scribe of Thoth@Achronum}

The bandit attack, its aftermath, and the slow ride became a jumbled chain of events in her head, one moment bleeding into the next to form one impossibly long day. After the behemoth of a man fell and they were certain the village was finally safe, Imogen had spent the remaining time in Luin running about what was left of the town, helping where she could. There were fires to put out and crying children to console and reunite with their parents. There were injured villagers that needed help getting to Kai or Clary and so much debris to clean up. There were people to bury. So many things to do, so little time. Imogen didn't stop milling about until they had to leave the next morning.

Sleep had been a stranger to her since, but not because she had been haunted by the blood of their slain enemies or anything dramatic like that. In truth, Imogen barely gave it more than a passing thought—a detached "oh, I killed someone the other day" and then a reluctant acceptance of her sullied hands. Even she could understand that battles had casualties; Caius' stories had prepared her for that.

What kept her up at night was a restlessness that gnawed at her gut. A seed of awareness planted after witnessing the aftermath of a bandit attack first-hand, slowly sprouting into a relentless itch to just! do! something! It made her fingers drum impatiently upon tabletops and her legs bounce whenever she sat for too long. She could hardly pay attention in class—not that she was ever fully paid attention to them in the first place, but that was beside the point. In her daydreams, which came more frequently than usual, Imogen thought of other villages in need of saving and how she wished she could help them all. What if those villages get attacked by a scary giant man, too? What if no one was there to stop the mages from exploding everyone in time? Even Caius, so far away from them, wrote to her about similar concerns.

Imogen paced about the classroom as she waited for Professor Mik, eager to find out what their after-class meeting was about. She hoped they would be given another mission, or really, just anything to do. More training sessions, maybe? Instead, the meeting turned out to be nothing more than a debriefing, where Professor Mik pointed out what worked well and what didn't during the bandit attack. Aubie and Jory and got their well-deserved praises and Imogen cheered for them—she already knew from the get-go that Jory was awesome, he was their Deer Boss, after all. But seeing Aubie on the field reshaped her image of him: from Mr. Holy Stick up his Butt to a kickass warrior with hilarious trash-talking skills.

Clary was basically a literal saint, Imogen thought, feeling proud by proxy. Deer power, yeah!

"Me too? Yay!" Imogen beamed upon getting recognition and reached out to give Kel a high-five for his assist. "Dogberry says we could have died in that explosion so I'm glad we didn't."

The news of Rai-Rai and the (not?) twins leaving would have hit Imogen harder if it wasn't for the surprise introduction of a Rudy ham Burger. Imogen did a double-take as the person in question made himself known, seemingly materializing out of nowhere. "Wow, how'd you do that? You were like a ghost!" Imogen blurted out. Then she realized that might have been rude, so she added, "Oh, and welcome to the team! Don't let Aubie intimidate you—he's actually pretty funny!"

As soon as they were dismissed, Clary approached her and Iz, asking to meet up later that day. Imogen, excitable as always, accepted for both of them. See that? Literal saint. It was like Clary knew she could use some company to stave off her restlessness. "We'd love to, right, Iz? See you in a bit!"

For now, Imogen ran off to the stables. She learned from Iz that it was a good place to volunteer her services, and she needed to feel useful right about now.

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

Imogen punched and clawed at the robed mage in a frenzied display of resolve and ferocity. Whatever they were doing, it was bad and she knew they must be stopped at all cost. And so she put her all in each strike, keeping in mind the other two that still need to be dealt with. Oh, just one now! Imogen cheered, amazed at Jory's awesome timing. It had been like that throughout this whole ordeal, she noticed; Jory always coming in to finish the bad guys off. His arrows always found their mark right on time! It didn't matter that one whizzed by her face and nicked the tip of her ear; in truth, she expected a lot worse when she realized she was putting herself within target range by tackling the mage.

A sudden flash of light from beside her stopped her onslaught. She braced herself for an attack that never came, pulling the mage up by their robes as she reflexively and unabashedly used them as a shield. Sorry, not sorry. When no fireballs or magic gusts of wind came flying at her, and no Dogberry warnings on top of it, Imogen took the chance to properly survey her surroundings. "Wait, what?"

Imogen gasped when she caught on, scandalized. "Your friend left you!" she told the now unconscious mage she still held by the collar. She had seen these men and women pillage and destroy a whole village, yet somehow it still shocked her to see them betraying one another without a second thought. "How mean! I know you guys are evil and all, but I thought you were at least nice to each other."

Professor Mik's anguished cry had her racing back to rejoin him and the others before she could fully process what was happening. From what she could see, Professor Euphie was badly hurt, although Clary had quickly swooped in to rescue her. She barely heard the call to charge, her blood pulsing too loudly in her ears as a surge of adrenaline carried her feet faster. Luckily, she'd had enough sense to pick her sword back up along the way. Was it strange that she seemed to function better when she was like this? She thought of nothing but the task at hand; keep Professor Euphie and the others safe by helping defeat this monster of a man.

Aubie was already mid-swing by the time she got close, and she spied Jory positioning himself for a shot. Imogen waited until both attacks landed before she rushed in, sliding low and behind the bandit to slice at his legs, hoping to fell him and leave him vulnerable on the ground in case he somehow withstood everyone else's assault.

After seeing what he was capable of, the thought hadn't seemed so impossible.

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

Imogen stubbornly pressed on, fighting every urge to turn around and fight the goliath filling her peripheral vision. At some point, she knew she would make it past safely—or did Dogberry tell her? Whatever, it was difficult to keep the metaphor straight while simultaneously trying to: pounce on the mages that were making things go boom; stop herself from joining Aubie in taunting and hurting the big bad giant man; and keep from worrying about Kel, who closed in on the mages as well from the other side. Imogen had resigned to following what her gut told her, and normally it was the easiest thing in the world to do. But when other people's lives are on the line, she would have preferred to be in the thick of the action.

This time, she'll have to trust that everyone will be okay.

And just as she thought this, she felt rather than saw the giant's axe swing downward. Her heart hardly had the time to drop and fear for Kel; the unmistakable clashing of metal against metal was enough to tell her he was safe. Imogen couldn't spare a backward glance to see what had transpired so she settled for imagining Kel masterfully parrying the bandit's blow with his sword, hands strong and steady, though his knees were shaking. It would be too unrealistic, even for one of her flights of fancies, if Kel wasn't at least slightly scared.

With the giant bandit properly distracted, Imogen was in the clear. The mages might have been too preoccupied with their creepy chanting to notice her approaching, but there was no escaping their attention now. "Hey, over here!" she called out, waving her sword wildly to get them to focus on her.

Once again, the goal was diversion. Earlier, she had seen an arrow bounce off a magical barrier they cast. And before that, she was almost certain it had sucked up whatever magic attack the Professors directed at it. Any attack she does would ultimately be deflected as well, but that would give the others their chance to strike. She'll have to do a one-two combo to break through and then just kinda… hope for the best? That was as much strategizing as Imogen was capable. Attack twice and see what happens sounded pretty foolproof to her!

While still in full sprint, Imogen raised her sword over her head, grasping it with both hands as she charged. It almost looked like she was going in to slash at the closest of the mages, but instead, she came to a sudden stop just meters away. She used the momentum to throw her sword, sending it hurtling toward the leftmost mage. Then she ducked and stepped to the side, away from the sword's trajectory once it bounces back.

Aaand that was part one of the combo, in which she literally throws away her weapon. The only way Imogen could think to follow it up was through some good ol' fashioned grappling. Kind of like that time someone in town dared her to hunt down a hog without weapons, except this time, she'll win and not need Caius to save her. Crouching down in preparation, Imogen singled out the mage with the skull staff—not for any Dogberry-related warnings but because he honestly looked the most menacing—and waited for the faint flicker that signaled the barrier dematerializing.

When she was sure it was gone, Imogen sprung up and pounced on the mage with a war cry.

Fire Emblem: The Slumbering Goddess

Once she'd really committed to the whole not thinking thing, Imogen felt more like herself. When she stopped worrying about how things could go and focused on what was actually happening, a wave of sureness washed away her fears and trepidations and gave way to a staunch resolve to keep her friends and the innocent villagers safe.

As Clary had ordered, Imogen took the opportunity Princey gave them to maneuver herself behind the pack of bandits that advanced on him, moving swiftly enough that she had gone unnoticed. She used her speed to distract and annoy – hey, that was a valid strategy, right? She darted in and out for quick swipes and jabs that left shallow cuts at most, but bothersome enough to get them looking her way for a second or two. It might not have been enough to fully incapacitate one, but she figured it at least helped give Kel a chance to compose himself and defeat one (way to go, Kel!) and Clary to work her amazing magic light (yesss, Clary!).

Before an especially disgruntled one had time to turn around and finally deal with her disruptions, Jory had taken care of him with another well-placed arrow through the neck.

"Great job, guys!" Imogen called, scanning the vicinity for any other potential attackers. At least for now, it seemed there would be no more surprises from the back.

Before they continued trudging forward, they were afforded a moment of respite that Imogen was immensely grateful for. A welcome soothing sensation settled upon her, like a balm on a burn she didn't even have. Or, crap, did she get burned without realizing it? Imogen patted herself frantically; although there was blood, none had been hers. Was that Kai's magic then? How cool! Her earlier exhaustion all but faded, making way for a renewed burst of energy that had her raring to go like she wasn't just running around like crazy just moments ago.

Professor Mik led the charge forward and Imogen started to sprint alongside him, only to come to a sudden halt when a strong pull forced her backward. She looked up just in time to see something—someone?!—hurtling toward Professor Mik, and finding out that it had been Professor Euphie wasn't nearly as shocking as seeing the super blood-soaked axe and the behemoth who wielded it.

"Oh, flying Pegasus dung, that is one giant man!" Imogen had to crane her neck to properly look at him. He might have been five times as big, but she readied her sword without hesitation anyway. Der was closer and had been first to move in, attempting to exploit an opening against the giant, only to be outmaneuvered. He's big and fast? How was that fair?!

"Iz! Der!" Imogen called out a second too late, hardly getting the chance to step in before Iz was flung aside so effortlessly it was like she weighed nothing. "Damn it!" Gritting her teeth to contain her anger, she gripped her sword tightly, desperately wanting to charge at the giant for hurting her friends but unable to disregard the private warning bells tolling deafeningly loud against her ears. It was urgently pulling her attention toward the activity happening behind the giant instead and that could only mean it was the bigger threat, however unlikely that seemed.

Imogen looked around; just like before with Princey, she needed a distraction so she could slip past the giant. Maybe she could throw a shoe at him? That's… probably unexpected, right? Luckily, Aubie seemed to have read her mind and hurled a spear across. He followed it up with some unexpected trash-talking that coaxed out a giggle out of her in spite of the situation they were in.

She didn't squander the great distraction he'd provided, though. Once Aubie had gotten his attention, Imogen attempted to rush past, giving the giant a wide enough berth to avoid being within his range.