#wulfgar etrian odyssey

[videogamedogbracket]

[apples-of-apples]

Ok, so like no one has to read this or look at it I just need to scream into the void about Etrian odyssey X (Major story spoilers)

Starting this off I am going to divide this into 3 sections 1. Story, 2. World building, 3. Gameplay.

Point 1 - The game actually starts pretty good in this aspect! The beginning is a pretty strong hook into the story and game as a whole! The next bits of story are good too! The pink haired medic (I can’t remember her name) giving the party a reason to been called on specifically for help early on because they find the east ruins is great for more set up! But the next part is immediately worse than this because it reuses a plot from a previous game, for some reason?? The plot isn’t any different than it was in EO4. It’s still just a big bad bear murdered some people, and now you have to kill it. The only thing that’s new is Cernunnos showing up for all of 5 seconds before being killed by the party. Like I get this is supposed to be a celebration game for the series but you can’t just reuse a plot from a previous game and add a character into it like they did. Oh well, the next dungeon isn’t horrible. I mean they made a super boss into a joke, but they didn’t copy a storyline this time. Leo and Shilleka are a cute duo together in all honesty. Leo’s moment at the end where he overcomes his self perceived weakness and curse to help the party is nice. Then the next dungeon is from EO3 and it’s different overall in story from the game it came from, but it just stole the characters traits from EO3. Like the new characters are just two kids in the dungeon who know each other and they get separated in the dungeon until one of them is on the brink of death. This is literally just Hypatia and Agata, but they both live. Again I get this is a call back to a previous game, but if they’re going to be so insistant on it then just bring someone into the game like bring Missy so she can talk about Hypatia and Agata like I remember some kids like you instead of just copying characters that were already made. Then the next dungeon is the west ruins and there is nothing to talk about except for the last floor where everyone you met is also here and they are also trying to find out ways to traverse the labyrinth! But why are they doing this? I understand that it is quite literally first come first serve with the hidden treasures of Lemuria but when there are No other guilds in sight other than some 1-2 party guilds it just decreases the tension of bosses. It’s different in EO1 with Ren and Tlachga because they are established to be strong, but in nexus these people can just handle enemies that regularly beat up player parties even though they should be around the same level as you? What’s the logic here?? Then for the next few dungeons they are basically filler that are made just to remember that these stratums exist and to show off more characters new or returning. The only returning one is Artelind and the new ones are a viking princess and the child the Wulfgar, Wulfgar Jr. eventually you get to the north ruins and it’s the same as the west ruins, but it’s a new boss and there is some dialogue between characters for a minute before moving on to more pointless dungeons. This is a good as time as any to address that fact that while there have been official missions from the princess a lot of them are just… things the party would’ve done anyway. The only exceptions are the ruins that you only really would want to do from the rewards from the missions. Other than that we get to the forest folk and they don’t matter after like 3 conversations because they’re dead whoops! Then the final ruins where the worst boss in this game is and the princess gets kidnapped I guess?? Literally no one cares though there is no panic, so what’s the point?? And what was the point of the forest folk if they just die again?? Why are half the things in this game rehashed from older games with barely any creative twist and it can just get away with blatant lazy writing?? You can only call Nexus a celebration for so long before it is just called a rehash of the entire EO franchise. Then there is jormanjander who is just boring. The idea is cool but it’s just a damage sponge that dies without to much of a fight.

[morika]

april fools

[theshatteredrose]

A Gathering of Guardians (Chapter 10) - Etrian Odyssey Nexus Fanfiction

AN: Yes, a new chapter! I’m steadily getting this prologue done, which makes me happy. So I hope you enjoy reading~!

AO3 | Wattpad | FFNet

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Chapter 10:

The dining hall was honestly larger than Oracle had anticipated. It certainly held enough seats and tables to seat a hundred people, give or take. It was currently bustling with a myriad of explorers. Some of Oracle’s own guild were already there, mingling with the others.

“Would you like me to introduce you to everyone?” Lynus suggested as he and Oracle walked into the hall.

Oracle shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

Lynus smiled and tapped his cheek in thought. “Hm, where should I start then?” he hummed as he looked around the dining hall. He soon paused and his smile grew into that of fondness. “Oh. There’s Shiki. Let’s start there.”

Walking with Lynus, Oracle was led over to a tall, perhaps middle-aged man with one arm covered in bandages and a few noticeable scars. With him was a young child with blond hair and green eyes. Also, there were a myriad of beasts. One large white tiger and three wolves with different shades of fur.

Joren also stood with them, crouched to the ground as he kept a protective hold on his little lamb, Suzy. The beast companions didn’t appear too interested in the sheep, however. Jiri appeared to be attempting to ‘befriend’ the sabre-tooth white-tiger. However, the tiger simply stared at Jiri with s steely gaze. Not interested, certainly not intimidated.

Jiri reached out to pet the tiger, only for the white tiger to lift a large paw, place it atop of Jiri’s hand and…pushed it to the floor.

The man with grey hair laughed boisterous at the tiger’s actions. “Chi-hung is a bit fickle. Farley will play, though.” He then made a clicking noise with his tongue, earning a curious head tilt from a wolf with blueish silver fur. Then, he pointed to Jiri. “Farley. Sic em.”

The wolf immediately leapt up onto all fours and with a purely dopey-puppy expression, launched himself at Jiri. Jiri immediately went down, but he rolled away as the wolf attempted to place sloppy dog kisses all over him, his tail wagging a hundred miles a second.

The wolf’s reaction actually pleased Jiri and he jumped to his feet before crash-tackling the wolf in return. This earned another boisterous laugh from the man.

“Well, Jiri has a new best friend,” Oracle commented dryly as they approached.

“Farley is still such a pup,” the man said with a broad grin.

Lynus smiled politely as he regarded the man. “Shiki, this is Oracle. He’s the leader of Guild Aurora. Oracle, this is Shiki and his son Ghali.”

Shiki greeted him with a simple ‘hey’ while Ghali uttered a cute hello. Oracle nodded his head in return before he turned his attention to the small pack (or would it be pride?) of beasts.

“That’s quite the magnificent beast,” he said as he indicated to the large white tiger.

“Yes, Chi-hung the white tiger,” Lynus explained. “Then we have Farley, the wolf playing with Jiri. Wulfgar and his adopted little brother or son, depending on who you ask, is simply Wulfgar Jr. He won’t answer to any other name.”

“They’re harmless,” Shiki insisted. “They’ve been around livestock before.” He crouched down next to Joren and placed a fatherly hand on his shoulder. “Go on. Suzy will be fine.”

Joren was still quite uneasy, but slowly he loosened his hold on Suzy’s collar. “…Ok.” Though little Suzy herself appeared nervous, Chi-hung did not move. Slowly, Suzy trotted forward and Chi-hung finally lowered his head toward her. He gave her a curious sniff before, rather unexpectedly, licked the top of her rather affectionately.

Suzy stumbled, clearly surprised, while Shiki gave another carefree, boisterous laugh.

“See?” he said, triumphantly as he stood up.

“Chi-hung is nice,” Ghali insisted to Joren. “He lets me ride around on his back sometimes. He lets me stay with him when we’re flying.”

Ghali wandered over to Chi-hung and hugged his leg because, honestly, the child was so small and the tiger was rather large. The leg was the only place the child could wrap his arms around. It was no surprise that Jiri wanted to befriend the quite the magnificent beast.

“Chi-hung is also quite protective of his fellow beast companions,” Lynus added. “Which includes one snuggly house cat.”

Ghali pulled away from Chi-hung’s leg to look up at Shiki. “Dad? Is the building going to shake every time we go into the sky?”

Shiki’s gaze softened and he nodded his head. “Yes, I'm afraid so, kiddo.”

The bottom of Ghali’s lip trembled ever so slightly and he looked down at the floor. Pouting, or perhaps disappointed.

“Don't like flight, little one?” Oracle asked as he rested his hands on his knees and leaned forward.

Ghali looked up at him and shook his head. “It's scary.”

“Ah. We haven't experienced it yet. We can all be scared together then,” Oracle said, which brought a small smile to Ghali’s lips.

“Hey,” a sharp voice suddenly cut out through the dining hall. “I'm looking for someone called Oracle.”

Oracle immediately stood up straight and turned in the direction of the voice. He wasn’t bothered. Wasn’t the first time he had been publicly called out for something. “That's me.”

A man with blue hair, pale skin, and a sharp grin was the one at the centre of attention. While he appeared to be smirking, it wasn’t of amusement. He suddenly raised his right hand, revealing that he had someone by the collar of their shirt and was easily lifted them into the air.

And they looked familiar…

Black hair. Scar on forehead. Yellow eyes. Hideous orange vest.

Agata…

“This piece of trash yours?” he asked. “I caught him with his face pressed against a window, peeking in like some kind of sick pervert.”

“I'm not a pervert!” Agata immediately yelled disgruntledly before he abruptly folded his arms across his chest in an arrogant, matter-of-fact manner and nodded safely. “I just appreciate the natural beauty of my fellow man. Bahari understands!”

“Oi, don't associate me with you, Brat!”

The smirk on the blue-haired man’s lips turned decidedly feral. “There's more of you, huh?”

“...”

Oracle stared at Agata silently. Menacingly. He could see from the corner of his eye his guildmates tensing, slowly, cautiously pulling themselves into battle stances.

They then lunged at him as Oracle abruptly raised his hand into the air and attempted to summon forth a fireball, more than ready to lop it directly at that stupid cross scar on Agata’s forehead. Kardos wrapped his arms around Oracle’s waist, lifting him easily up off the ground. Caiden reached up to snuff out the fireball, while Jaxen snared Oracle’s other hand in a desperate attempt to prevent him from using that to summon another ball of fire.

All the while, the three of them were telling Oracle to “calm down” and “this shouldn’t be done inside” and something about “not a good look for a guild leader.” But he didn’t care.

The blue haired man dropped the kid with a bored look. Although, somewhat surprised by Oracle’s reaction, That infuriating brat, on the other hand, just stood there, pinkie finger in his nose, nonchalant and disinterested in Oracle. Instead casting a curious look around.

Insufferable little shit…

“D-did something happen?” Lynus stuttered, obviously quite surprised by Oracle’s actions and aggression.

“A-ah, Oracle just doesn’t like Agata,” Jaxen explained briefly as he kept a firm hold on Oracle’s arm, struggling in time with Oracle’s own flailing.

“Hey!” Agata whistled, sounding impress as he shoved his hands into his pockets to walk around idly. “There’s a lot of beautiful babes here, huh?”

He sent a disgusting little wink toward another medic with white hair and glasses (who deadpanned in return), and ignored the protective bristle from the man with brown hair next to him. Agata’s gaze then finally turned toward Lynus.

“Wow! You’re really beautiful!” Agata said excitedly as he appeared right in front of Lynus, causing the other man to take a step back in discomfort. “You seeing anyone?”

“Ah…” was all that Lynus could utter as he looked nervously at Agata.

Behind him, though, Shiki’s glare and presence were quite menacing. “I must admit, I don’t like him very much either…”

“He’s married, you worthless freeloader!” Oracle hissed as he continued to struggle against his guildmates.

“Aww,” Agata pouted dramatically. Overly dramatically.

“Just let me set his hair on fire,” Oracle demanded. “It won’t do any harm.”

But Kardos kept him firmly in place, in spite of his struggling. “Not the best introduction.”

“As if I care.”

“Agata! Yay, you’re here, too!”

The sound of Cress’ voice and his sudden appearance caused Oracle to immediately deflate, and those restraining him to breathe a sigh of relief. While he was more than willing to set Agata on fire in front of another guild, he was incapable of doing so with Cress around. The precious little inn-keeper liked that snot-nosed brat for some reason.

“Yup! As if I could turn down such an opportunity,” Agata said boisterously as Cress hugged him around the waist and nuzzled his face against his chest.

“You’re not here under good graces, kid,” Holt hissed as he made a sudden appearance, too, walking behind Agata to give him a light smack on the back of his head. “You need to earn your keep.”

“H-hey!” Agata shouted, disgruntled as he rubbed the back of his head. “I’m totally useful.”

Cress pulled back from the hug to grab onto Agata’s arms. “You can help me with the cleaning, Agata.”

“Cleaning? Lame,” Agata whined, but allowed Cress to pull him along nevertheless.

“No complaining!” Cress sung. Happily.

With the two out of sight, Oracle was finally released. Though he was still inwardly seething with annoyance. He continued to bristle silently, glaring in the direction Cress had dragged Agata in, even as Lynus approached him cautiously.

“Cress seems to like him,” he said.

Oracle’s eye twitched. “Unfortunately…”

Oracle didn’t hate Agata exactly. He hated that damn mask he wore. The cheerful, belligerent one. The one that not-so playfully flirted with others to hide his own pain.

That mask was annoying. There was no need for it.

“Um…how about we continue with the introductions?” Lynus offered gently.

Oracle sighed but nodded his head. “Fine.”

Before Lynus could guide him toward another of his guildmates, he unexpectedly tensed. He immediately turned to face the direction that Cress and Agata disappeared in. His brow furrowed slightly as another man appeared. Off-white hair and wearing maroon robes with chains.

And he was stumbling. Leaning against the wall for support as he clutched his forehead.

“Sorry, excuse me just a moment,” Lynus excused him before he hurried over to the other man.

“Hm,” Oracle simply hummed, and watched with some interest as Lynus began fussing.

“You didn't faint?” Lynus asked in a hushed whisper.

The other man straightened his posture suddenly and set about idly fixing up his hair and roes. “I don't always faint.”

“Just ninety-nine percent of the time.”

“Details. Besides, he isn't supposed to be here.”

Lynus audibly sighed. “He should be dead, I know.”

“No,” the other man said firmly, which caused Lynus to tense. “He should truly be dead. But someone else took his place. He's living on someone else's time.”

Oracle’s interest was immediately piqued and Lynus openly gaped at him before a distressed look appeared on his face. “...Don't you dare tell him that.”

“Please,” the man with the robes said dismissively. “I'm not that bad.”

He then walked away casually, and Lynus watched him silently. No doubt contemplating what he had just learnt. He stayed still for a moment before he shook his head, as if to clear it, before he turned and made his way back to Oracle with an apologetic expression.

“Sorry about that.”

“I overheard.” Oracle’s bluntness startled Lynus for a moment. “What did he mean? Was he speaking about Agata?”

Rather unexpectedly, Lynus sighed deeply and touched his forehead in a motion of exasperation. “He always leaves it to me,” he murmured before he straightened his posture and regarded Oracle once more, idly folding his arms across his torso as he did so. “Mahogany is a hexer with a particular skill. He is able to witness past events of others. The more traumatic the experience, the clearer he is able to view it for himself.”

So, it was Agata he was talking about. He must have seen what happened during that event within the Undersea Grotto.

Was he on borrowed time, though? Was that what he meant? What did that mean exactly?

“Interesting,” Oracle murmured as his gaze drifted to another set of doors. Through those, Agata appeared once again. Cress with him, happily snaring a hold of his wrist and either showing him around, or they were both exploring themselves.

Lynus stayed silent. Rather patiently at that. Waiting for Oracle to finish his ponderings as he, too, gazed at Agata with sympathy.

“I don't hate him,” Oracle admitted, obviously speaking about Agata. “Not fully. Maybe dislike him intensely would be more accurate. But what I do hate is the macho front he puts up to hide his pain.”

He sighed as his mind drifted to what occurred. To that event, as they called it.

“A few months ago, his teammate and childhood friend, who was like an older sister to him above all else, died in the labyrinth. Died protecting him. And he didn't mourn. He just went silent for a while. But he didn't seem to mourn. He doesn't talk about her. He doesn't seem to remember. But I know he does.” Oracle could barely suppress a bristle. “Doesn't his sister deserve at least five minutes of crying?”

Lynus was patient once again as he listened to Oracle. He nodded his head on occasion, showing that he was indeed listening closely. As Oracle finished, a small frown tugged at his lips.

“...I see,” he said. “Honestly, I was confused when I first saw him. His aura is far different than what he presents.”

“Perhaps you could speak to him?” Oracle found himself suggesting before he could reconsider. But in the end, it would make sense. After the way he was able to speak with Zydon and Kujura, perhaps he could speak with Agata, too?

“Maybe he would feel more comfortable speaking with someone other than who he knows well?”

Lynus wasn’t put-off or surprised by the request. Instead, he simply nodded his head, his mind briefly elsewhere. “Perhaps.”

“Though, he might be distracted by your beauty,” Oracle added, unable to stay serious for very long. “So, if it results in Axel murdering him, I'm fine with that, too.”

Lynus uttered a small, light-hearted laugh, though said nothing else.

Oracle’s attention was drawn to a man with blond hair and black clothing as he spoke to another, who appeared shirtless and wore gold and black armlets. However, it was the fluffy ginger and white cat that was draped comfortably over his shoulders that really caught his attention. That was likely the housecat that Lynus mentioned previously.

He watched as Kujura wheeled Zydon into the room as Zydon spoke with his brother. The three were focused on each other that they failed to truly realised that they walked past another. Only when the housecat perked up at the sight and shift upon the man’s shoulders, did the five of them acknowledge each other.

And it was when the cat climbed off of the blonde’s shoulder and unashamedly jumping onto Zydon’s lap that opened a venue for them to speak.

“Ah, s-sorry,” the blond uttered as he turned to regard Zydon. “Zanna likes a warm lap.”

Zydon looked down at the feline on his lap, a small but slightly amused smile on his lips as the cat began to make herself comfortable. “It’s fine. Her name is Zanna, then?”

“Un. She’s very affectionate.”

Zydon gave the cat a cautious pet, only for Zanna to butt his hand with her head, snuggling against his willingly. She then stood up on his lap, placed her front paws on his chest and began to butt her head under his chin.

That earned a small laugh from Zydon. Which was honestly quite remarkable as he hadn’t laughed or chuckled for a few months now. “I can see.”

“M-my name is Magnus,” the blond introduced and motioned to the man who stood silently behind him. “And this is Shen. Are you from Armoroad?”

Zanna continued to snuggle with Zydon as he regarded the two. “Yes, that’s right. My name is Zydon. This is Kujura and my brother Kyan.”

Hm. Zydon was speaking more, too. His chat with Lynus truly must have been beneficial for him. Or perhaps it was the friendly feline that was making him chatty.

Lynus had witnessed the scene as well. “Would you like to go over as well?” he asked Oracle softly.

“No,” Oracle immediately replied with a shake of his head. “Let them talk in peace.”

“Hm. You can always introduce yourself later,” Lynus added, which was very true.

“Wha! Agata, did you trip and fall?”

Startled, both Oracle and Lynus turned in the direction Cress’ voice originated from. And what they saw was rather unexpected. There was a trashcan and Agata appeared to be in it. Headfirst. Legs kicking out as he attempted to wobble the can enough to fall over so that he could crawl out.

“Are you ok?” Cress innocently asked, slight panic in his voice as he set about attempting to pull Agata out of the trashcan.

Lynus looked at the scene, not with surprise, but with exasperation. He sighed before he turned to regard anyone within the vicinity. “Do I need to ask who did this?”

People that Oracle hadn’t had the pleasure in meeting yet, all pointed to a man with long, blond hair with somewhat cheeky grins on their faces. And the blond-haired man was sat at a table, a myriad of arrows scattered about on the table in front of him as he set about sharpening the arrow heads.

Lynus uttered another sigh. Once again, there was no surprise. Not even a tiny bit. Which indicated to Oracle that finding someone headfirst in a trash can was somewhat of a common sight.

“I see. At least it’s not Benedict this time who ended up head first in the trash,” Lynus murmured before he gave Oracle an apologetic look. “Still, I should apologise.”

“Nonsense,” Oracle stated firmly, even waving a dismissive hand in Agata’s direction. “He definitely deserved it. I take it that the blond over there is a protective one, then?”

Lynus nodded his head. “That’s Tobyn. And he’s very protective.”

“Good, good,” Oracle said as he made a beeline for this Tobyn person.

He seemed like fun. Overly protective people were always fun. And creative.

As he headed over to the table, he noticed that Kardos and Axel were sat there, too. The two were just chatting casually, as the two blondes sat together a few seats up. Tobyn continued to work on his arrows while the other with short blond hair and kind blue eyes seemed to be attempting to get him to talk.

Lynus quickly introduced Oracle to the two, and he learnt that the other blond was named Jhon. And was Tobyn’s husband. Which explained the protectiveness. Jhon seemed nice enough. Polite. Somewhat like Caiden was. Politeness to the point that they were rather dull.

But the other blond…

“Tobyn, hm?” Oracle said as he quirked his head to the side in question. “Why don't you tell us something interesting about yourself?”

“I can dislocate someone's elbow with a set of chopsticks,” Tobyn answered wryly as he continued to work on the arrows, barely pausing to look up at Oracle to answer his question.

“Tobyn...” Jhon sighed, exasperatedly.

“No no, let the man talk,” Oracle insisted dryly as he sat on the other side of the table, granting his full attention to Tobyn. “This is vital information. Just the elbow?”

“No. I know how to dislocate every joint in a person's body.”

Hm, sounded painful for the victims. Good. Very good.

“Fascinating.” While Oracle’s tone was as dry as usual, he honestly was quite interested. And, well, amused for the most part. “I usually just set their heads on fire, but this sounds far more affective.”

And though Tobyn kept most of his lower face hidden in a red scarf, Oracle did indeed spy a slight smirk grace his lips. Jhon, however, just sighed. He was, no doubt, quite accustomed to Tobyn’s acts of violence.

“What of you, Axel?” Oracle called out to the redhead, pulling him out of his conversation with Kardos. “You seem the protective type.”

Axel glanced over at him through one eye and gave him an easy smile. “Absolutely. My preferred method is just punching them in the face. Gets the point across rather quickly. Though, I do know how to break a few more bones.”

Hmm, that sounded really painful. Definitely had merit. Hope he got to see him in action one day.

A few murmurings of surprised voice caused Oracle to lift his head up and turn to the noise once more. What he saw, he had to admit somewhat surprised him. Two humanoid beings with black wings and adorned in red and gold tribal clothing. One had red horns within his black hair while the other wore a half mask. Both were clearly male as neither wore shirts.

“Hm. Half-naked, winged bird-men as well,” Oracle said as a few members of his guild, and likely those of Lynus’, approached the pair as they walked into the room. One of them being Shobek. “This place is just Agata’s wet-dream, isn’t it?”

“Um, I don’t know about that,” Lynus said as he sat down next to him. “But they are the inhabitants of Yggdrasil in Lagaard. They are known as Winged Ones. The one with the half mask is Skylark. And the other is Cannan, leader of the Winged Ones.”

“Interesting,” Oracle muttered as he watched pair look upon Shobek with blatant curiosity. “They seem fascinated in Shobek.”

Lynus laughed lightly. “And Shobek seems fascinated, too.”

Oracle sat silently as he watched his guildmates as they began to mingle and settle in with their new surroundings. Kardos spoke easily with Axel. Zydon seemed content chatting with Magnus as he played with Zanna. Joren managed to pet Chi-hung as Jiri watched with jealousy, though seemed content enough to play with two wolves for now.

The others were also beginning to mingle.

It was honestly good to see. They had been through a shit-tonne of trouble in Armoroad. It was nice to get away from it all for a while. Months, years; didn’t matter.

He was reassured that they made the right decision.

… … … … …

The sprawling Windy Plains allowed for the residents to view the flying city of Maginia as he approached far off in the distance. Some of the residents of Tharsis watched in awe as such a large, perhaps cumbersome machine of human ingenuity ambled its way toward them.

Nitish stood out in the street as the morning sun filtered down around them. He watched with a few of his guildmates as the flying city grew closer. He could sense the feelings of fascination, interest, and a small amount of fear from the auras around him.

He wasn’t sure how he felt, however. He wasn’t scared or worried. But he did feel that Maginia was in the very near future for his guild. He had heard of rumours regarding an expedition.

“Nitish, we need to visit the Count now,” Roxbury said. “He wants to speak with us in his office before Maginia officially arrives.”

Clutching a notebook against his chest, Nitish nodded as his gaze remained on the approaching city. He then turned to join Roxbury and Isiah as they ventured down the familiar path toward Mark’s Grand Court.

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Final bracket reveal!

Hello, everyone! After some deliberation (and a very stressful shift at work) I've compiled the final list of participants for this bracket! This post is both a bracket reveal and a confirmation that I have the right characters/images. Be sure to let me know if there are any that need correcting!

Aesop/The Flame in the Flood, Ai/Puyo Puyo Tetris, Alice/The Last of Us 2, Amaterasu/Okami, Annoying Dog/Undertale, Arven's Mabosstiff/Pokémon Scarlet/Violet, Barbas/Skyrim, Barista/Rhythm Heaven, Barkley/Cassette Beasts, Barkspawn/Dragon Age: Origins

Blanca/Shadow Hearts: Covenant, Boney/Mother 3, Boomer/Far Cry 5, Brown/Rule of Rose, Caesar/Wargroove, Cain/Red Dead Redemption 2, Cerberus/Hades, Chibiterasu/Okamiden, Chop/Grand Theft Auto 5, Colonel Ruff/Brawl Stars

DD/Metal Gear Solid V, Digby/Animal Crossing, Dogamy and Dogaressa/Undertale, Dogmeat/Fallout, Dr. Potan/THE DOG Island, Dribble/WarioWare, Duck Hunt Dog/Duck Hunt, Elena/Spiritfarer, Flash/Jetpack Joyride, Flippy Doggenbottom/Toontown Online

Fondue/Rhythm Thief, Gab/Zero Time Dilemma, Garm/Guild Wars 2, Giblets/Elder Scrolls Online, Gretchen/Scarlet Hollow, Hewie/Haunting Ground, Holly/Super Lesbian Animal RPG, Hot Dog/Skylanders, Interceptor/Final Fantasy VI, Isabelle/Animal Crossing

Jackal/Hyper Light Drifter, Jake/Dog's Life, K.K. Slider/Animal Crossing, Koroku/Suikoden III, Koromaru/Persona 3, Lesser Dog/Undertale, Lord Arcanine/Pokémon Legends Arceus, Mame/Yakuza, Mira/Silent Hill, Missile/Ace Attorney

Missile/Ghost Trick, Monty/Spelunky 2, Moonless/Fear & Hunger, Noishe/Tales of Symphonia, PaRappa/PaRappa The Rapper, Pepita/Trauma Center: New Blood, Pickle/Papa's Pancakeria, Pizza/Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Polterpup/Luigi's Mansion, Pom/Pom Gets Wi-Fi

Poochy/Yoshi, Ppodae/Lobotomy Corporation, Princess Pooch/Fossil Fighters: Champions, Pryna/Final Fantasy XV, Randy/Wobbledogs, Rei/Guilty Gear, Ren/DRAMAtical Murder, Repede/Tales of Vesperia, Rex/Fallout: New Vegas, Rex/Fossil Fighters

Riley/Call of Duty, Rukey Greentail/Pyre, Rush/Megaman, Rusty Slugger/Rusty's Real Deal Baseball, Sam/Sam and Max, Sant Angelo di Roma/Final Fantasy VIII, Satty/Breath of the Wild, Sergeant O'Fera/Cuphead, Sif/Dark Souls, Sommie/Fire Emblem: Engage

Spot/Nintendogs, Sumo/Detroit: Become Human, Taroumaru/Genshin Impact, Toby/The Great Ace Attorney, Umbra/Final Fantasy XV, White Beast/Guardian Tales, Wick/Identity V, Willie/Deadly Premonition, Woby/Don't Starve Together, Wolf/Minecraft, Wolf Link/Zelda Twilight Princess, Wulfgar/Etrian Odyssey 2

Again, I can't thank everyone enough for their submissions. Sorry to everyone whose submissions didn't make it in, and rest assured that narrowing the list of participants down was hard.

The bracket itself is going to be posted tomorrow, as well as the first group of matchups. I'll be splitting the first few rounds into multiple groups, just so the sheer volume of contestants isn't so daunting!

And, of course, I wish the best of luck to each of these amazingly good boys and girls. See you all tomorrow!

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Bracket (Round Two)

Round Two has officially begun! Here is our updated bracket, and as before, Group One will be going up at the same time as this post. This round will be run in more or less the same way as the previous one, with a group posted each day and a losers' bracket after all groups are complete.

What will happen with the winners of each round's losers' bracket, you may be asking? Will those results affect anything down the line? Well...we'll just have to find out, won't we? :)

Anyway, our Round Two matchups are:

Group One

Mira (Silent Hill) vs. Missile (Ghost Trick)

Missile (Ace Attorney) vs. Barista (Rhythm Heaven)

Dogmeat (Fallout) vs. Toby (The Great Ace Attorney)

Barbas (Skyrim) vs. Rush (Mega Man)

Caesar (Wargroove) vs. Lesser Dog (Undertale)

Wulfgar (Etrian Odyssey 2) vs. Blanca (Shadow Hearts: Covenant)

Garm (Guild Wars 2) vs. K.K. Slider (Animal Crossing)

Gretchen (Scarlet Hollow) vs. Barkley (Cassette Beasts)

Group Two

Poochy (Yoshi) vs. Randy (Wobbledogs)

Jackal (Hyper Light Drifter) vs. Wick (Identity V)

Duck Hunt Dog (Duck Hunt) vs. Dr. Potan (THE DOG Island)

Sif (Dark Souls) vs. Mame (Yakuza)

Rex (Fossil Fighters) vs. Repede (Tales of Vesperia)

Woby (Don't Starve Together) vs. Pepita (Trauma Center: New Blood)

Princess Pooch (Fossil Fighters: Champions) vs. Fondue (Rhythm Thief)

Cerberus (Hades) vs. Polterpup (Luigi's Mansion)

Group Three

Monty (Spelunky 2) vs. Ren (DRAMAtical Murder)

Rei (Guilty Gear) vs. Alice (The Last of Us 2)

Pom (Pom Gets Wi-Fi) vs. Annoying Dog (Undertale)

Noishe (Tales of Symphonia) vs. Isabelle (Animal Crossing)

Arven's Mabosstiff (Pokémon Scarlet and Violet) vs. Moonless (Fear & Hunger)

Wolf Link (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess) vs. Amaterasu (Okami)

Barkspawn (Dragon Age: Origins) vs. Koromaru (Persona 3)

Sommie (Fire Emblem: Engage) vs. Digby (Animal Crossing)

Group Four

Willie (Deadly Premonition) vs. PaRappa (PaRappa The Rapper)

Wolf (Minecraft) vs. Chibiterasu (Okamiden)

Chop (Grand Theft Auto V) vs. Boney (Mother 3)

Cain (Red Dead Redemption 2) vs. Brown (Rule of Rose)

Giblets (Elder Scrolls Online) vs. Satty (Breath of the Wild)

Jake (Dog's Life) vs. Sam (Sam and Max)

Holly (Super Lesbian Animal RPG) vs. Rex (Fallout: New Vegas)

Sumo (Detroit: Become Human) vs. Lord Arcanine (Pokémon Legends Arceus)

As before, just be nice and keep any negativity to yourself. Rest assured that all of these dogs are going to go to the park together after the competition to play and get lots of treats. I'm personally taking them there.

Best of luck to everyone!

[videogamedogbracket]

Bracket (Round Three)

Third verse, same as the first...two. I guess.

Not much to say about this round that hasn't already been said, other than the fact that this will be the last round to:

A. Have multiple groups of matchups, in this case four groups with four matches each. All of the matches will be posted at once for each subsequent round.

B. Have each poll last a day. From Round Four onward, the polls will be up for a week.

And with that being said, here are the Round Three matchups!

Group One

Missile (Ghost Trick) vs. Missile (Ace Attorney) - yes, seriously, this was not on purpose, I swear

Toby (The Great Ace Attorney) vs. Barbas (Skyrim)

Lesser Dog (Undertale) vs. Wulfgar (Etrian Odyssey 2)

K.K. Slider (Animal Crossing) vs. Barkley (Cassette Beasts)

Group Two

Randy (Wobbledogs) vs. Jackal (Hyper Light Drifter)

Dr. Potan (THE DOG Island) vs. Sif (Dark Souls)

Repede (Tales of Vesperia) vs. Woby (Don't Starve Together)

Fondue (Rhythm Thief) vs. Cerberus (Hades)

Group Three

Ren (DRAMAtical Murder) vs. Alice (The Last of Us 2)

Annoying Dog (Undertale) vs. Isabelle (Animal Crossing)

Moonless (Fear & Hunger) vs. Amaterasu (Okami)

Koromaru (Persona 3) vs. Digby (Animal Crossing)

Group Four

PaRappa (PaRappa The Rapper) vs. Chibiterasu (Okamiden)

Boney (Mother 3) vs. Cain (Red Dead Redemption 2)

Satty (Breath of the Wild) vs. Sam (Sam and Max)

Rex (Fallout: New Vegas) vs. Lord Arcanine (Pokémon Legends Arceus)

Best of luck!

[theshatteredrose]

A Gathering of Guardians - Prologue (Chapter 9) - Etrian Odyssey Nexus Fanfiction

AN: These chapters keep getting longer Q^Q Well, ah, enjoy reading?

AO3 | Wattpad | FFNet

-

Chapter 9:

Lynus stifled a yawn with his hand, hoping not to reveal that he had spent a few more hours than he should getting his office up and functional. He honestly would have been there a lot longer if Axel didn’t come looking for him.

However, as he had chosen to sit with his fellow medics for breakfast, the attempt to hide was a pointless one.

“Are you all right?” Remedy asked him with a concerned furrow of his brow. “Didn’t have a rough night, did you?”

“Hm? Oh, I’m fine,” Lynus immediately insisted as he idly curled his hair behind his ears. “Just stayed up a little too late organising my office.”

Hmm, perhaps it was the best time to speak with Simon and Remedy about Zydon and Seyfried? No, perhaps not. It was too open. Maybe he could get the two to visit his clinic and he can speak with them there.

“Hey.” Axel’s voice pulled Lynus from his thoughts and he glanced over his shoulder to look over at Axel. “Seems like Aurora just rocked into town.”

“Oh good,” Lynus said as he placed his hands atop of the table and pushed himself to his feet. “Best for them to get settled in before we take flight.”

“Should we go greet them?” Axel asked.

Lynus nodded his head. “Why not?” he said with a smile before he turned to regard Remedy and Simon once more. “We’ll introduce you to everyone after they settle in.”

“That’s fair,” Simon said as he also pushed himself to his feet, stooping forward to gather the plates and cups from breakfast. “We need to clean up the dining hall, anyway.”

“We’ll take care of this,” Remedy added. “You two play hosts. I’m sure they’ll prefer to see a pair of familiar faces in an unfamiliar environment.”

“Ah, true,” Lynus said with a smile of gratitude before he joined Axel’s side, and the two of them headed for the exit of the dining hall.

After walking down a long hallway, they reached a set of large oak doors that led to the courtyard of the Sanctuary. A stone pathway stretched out through the courtyard, straight to the entrance of the main hall within the Sanctuary, and the tall steel gates that portioned off the premises.

As they pushed open the doors, they immediately saw a large group of explorers with luggage and other essentials making their way down the path.

“Oracle! Welcome!” Lynus greeted warmly as he and Axel stepped from the entrance and down the small flight of stairs to meet with the guild upon the path. “You’re all here bright and early.”

Oracle offered him a small smile as he nodded his head. “Indeed. No point in dawdling.”

“Very true,” Lynus smiled before he looked behind the guild, expecting to find Villard escorting them and helping them to make themselves at home. So, he was surprised not to see him. “Where’s Villard? He didn’t accompany you?”

“He escorted us to the entrance but needed to speak with someone called Mueller,” Oracle answered with a shrug. “Holt went with him.”

Ah, that would make sense. Holt was the one that Villard wished to aid in the management of the museum, if he wasn’t mistaken.

“So, is everyone here and ready to go?” Axel was the one to ask.

Oracle nodded his head, idly readjusting the knapsack on his shoulder. “Right again. Might as well start the introductions now. I assume we’ll be doing it a lot in the coming days. You’ve met some of my guildmates already. So, let’s start with those you haven’t met.”

He placed his hand upon the shoulder of a young man with blond hair and a white sheep at his heel.

“This is Joren,” Oracle introduced. “He’s our caretaker and farmer of the guild.”

“N-nice to meet you,” Joren said nervously, his hand gripping at the collar around the fluffy sheep’s neck.

“And you,” Lynus replied warmly. “Who’s your friend there?”

Joren loosened his grip on the collar ever so slightly as he, too, turned his attention to the sheep beside him. “Her name is Suzy. Villard says it’s ok to bring her.”

Lynus nodded his head as he gazed at the sheep for a moment. He didn’t necessarily have a problem with the sheep, though he had to admit that he was worried due to the four beasts that were part of the guild also. He wasn’t worried about them in particular. But Farley was too energetic at times, and Wulfgar Jr was still quite young, so was rather energetic, too.

“Hm. I should warn you that we have one white tiger, three wolves, and one house cat,” Lynus said before he smiled reassuringly again when Joren looked at him uneasily. “They’re all well behaved, so they won’t hurt Suzy or anyone. But they can be startling when you first meet them.”

Joren still looked uneasy, but as he opened his mouth to response, another short man with a monster mask resting atop of his head suddenly pushed forward. He rushed straight up to Lynus and looked at him with wide eyes.

“Tiger? Jiri makes friends will all beasts. Jiri wants to meet with beasts.”

Lynus blinked. “Oh?”

“This is Jiri,” Oracle was the one to answer, pointing idly at the young man who continued to stare up unafraid at Lynus. “He’s a wildling. He is able to communicate with beasts, monsters included. Even summon them in battle should the need arise.”

Axel arched an eyebrow before he frowned and murmured under his breath. “Hope he doesn’t do that in front of me.”

Kardos also raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest, a slight grin of amusement on his lips. “Instincts too sharp?”

“Very,” Axel said with an exasperated sigh and ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t even train rookies in the labyrinths anymore. I kill everything before they can prepare.”

Kardos laughed at that. “Hard to get experience when everything’s dead.”

“Exactly.”

A half grin, half smirk slipped across Oracle’s lips before he shook his head and turned to his guild. He then motioned to three men that stood together. One with blond hair and dressed similar to that of Topaz, in the armour of a sovereign. Next to him was a slightly taller man with blue hair and garbs similar to that of a buccaneer. And next to him was a shorter, seemingly younger man, dressed as a ninja and a mask covering his lower face.

“Moving on. This is Caiden, Jaxen, and Jaxen’s brother Shiro. Competent Sovereigns of our guild.”

The man with blue hair, Jaxen, sighed aloud and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Can you stop introducing us like that?”

“Take the compliment and stop complaining,” Oracle replied dismissively.

“Yeah, yeah.” Jaxen’s response indicated that Oracle did that a lot. “I’m not a prince anymore, anyway…”

There was a noticeable amount of pain and guilt in Jaxen’s aura when he murmured that last sentence. The pain was both spiritual and physical it seemed. The way he rubbed his chest idly caused Lynus to focus in on that area of his chest. Left side, just over his heart he could see a scar. He couldn’t see if physically, but there was definitely one there. One that seemed to cause him the occasional pain.

Caiden, the man with blond hair, smiled respectfully, honestly remind Lynus of both Topaz and Jhon with his regal politeness. “Regardless, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Lynus returned the greeting with a smile. “And you.”

“Next, we have Ziba, an arbalest,” Oracle continued as he pointed directly at a tall man with spiky blond hair and glasses. “Keep him away from anything remotely explosive.”

The man, Ziba, sighed and idly flicked the toothpick he had perched between his teeth. He then glanced over at Oracle rather indignant. “Hey. I’m not that bad anymore.”

Oracle once again shrugged indifferently. “I don’t mind your random explosives, but it’s not the same for others.” He suddenly pointed to Ziba’s left. “Anyway, the strange little mechanical being next to him is Shobek. He’s what we refer to as an Yggdroid. It’s a long story, and I won’t get into it here.”

Lynus’ gaze immediately flickered over to where Oracle was pointing and his eyes widened. A steel and mechanical humanoid the colour of gold and red stood next to Ziba. His head, or where he assumed was his head, was tilted to the side, almost as if curious.

The body was entirely metal and mechanical. Inside and out. No flesh. No organs. And yet…

“There’s…a soul there?” Lynus murmured in surprise.

Oracle glanced over at Lynus sympathetically. “Like I said, long story. We were surprised, too.”

The yggdroid, Shobek, suddenly turned to Ziba and made several seemingly random motions with his hands. Ziba nodded and looked back over at Lynus with a large smile on his lips.

“Shobek says “hi, nice to meet ya”.”

Lynus blinked in surprise. “Was that sign language?”

Ziba’s grin widened and he raised a hand to idly toy with the goggles that sat amongst his hair. “Yep. Surprising for someone like me, right? Shobek can’t talk, so communicates in other means.”

That was…honestly quite fascinating. He didn’t have a human body, but that the soul was definitely that of a once living human being.

“That’s amazing,” Lynus said in earnest. “You’ll need to teach me sign language some time.”

Ziba seemed surprised for a moment, but he grinned bashfully nonetheless and rubbed the back of his head. He was somewhat embarrassed by the request, but still quite happy.

“Ziba and Owyn there are the only ones who can understand him, though~” Sigil suddenly commented.

As he did so, a man with brown hair and glasses unexpectedly bowed lowly in greeting and quickly straightened. “Yes. We are also the ones to assure Shobek’s health. He is not like us. He requires different form of healing.”

“That’s amazing,” Lynus said in sincere interest as he turned to the young man who was likely that of Owyn. “You have healing abilities?”

“My class is that of a monk,” Owyn answered quickly and professionally. “I am able to use my fists in both battle and healing.”

Axel looked over at Owyn in interesting. “That so? Punch someone while simultaneously healing them?”

Owyn blinked before a look of enlightenment appeared on his face. “…I never considered the possibility.”

Oracle unexpectedly uttered a cough. It was a forced cough, however, as if he wished to cover up another sound. Like a laugh.

“Half-way done,” he said instead and motioned toward the back of the group. “The tall, muscular guys at the back from left to right are; Bahari, a buccaneer, and you’d best keep him from the beautiful people. Don’t worry, I already told him that Lynus is married.”

The redhead of the group bristled with pure indignation. “H-hey, don’t go acting like I’m some kind of degenerate flirt!” He folded his arms across his chest, still rather irate. “I just appreciate beautiful people and things.”

Oracle rolled his eyes and actually lifted his hand to wave dismissively at him. “Right. I did that for your own sake. Axel could possibility break every bone in your body without trying.”

Lynus quickly glanced over at Axel, finding him glaring steely and protectively at Bahari. “Literally,” he said warningly. Lynus couldn’t help but chuckle, though he hid most of it behind his hand when Bahari’s face unexpectedly paled.

“Next, Garreth, a gladiator and probably the sanest of the guild.”

Tall and muscular with black hair, Garreth rolled his eyes. “I do question that myself, though,” he murmured.

“Jaeger, arbalest like Ziba. Just not as trigger happy.”

The man with pitch black hair and almost equally dark skin shot a glare in Oracle’s direction. Much like with Bahari, he looked and felt rather indignant. “Stop sounding disappointed whenever you say that.”

“Suah, a wildling like Jiri, but speaks normally and is surprisingly dull.”

With a mask similar to the one that Jiri wore, yet pulled down to cover the top half of his face, Suah uttered a low, but exasperated sighed. He said nothing else. He just sighed.

“And finally, Devonta, a glass-hearted hoplite who gets scared easily.”

With wild brown hair and eccentric golden armour, the man looked momentarily impressive. Until his shoulders drooped forward sharply and he appeared on the verge of crying. “I knew I wouldn’t get away unscathed…”

“A-ah, don’t forget about me!”

Lynus’ gaze quickly fell upon the sight of a young man with purple hair as he pushed through the mass of tall and muscular explorers. He was significantly shorter than the vast majority of them, yet there was absolutely no feeling of intimidation toward them in his aura.

“Ah, yes, Cress wasn’t it?” Lynus smiled in greeting. “We met briefly yesterday.”

Cress looked confused for a moment before realisation spread across his face, and his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Ah! You were with Oracle. S-sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore you!”

Lynus laughed softly. “Its fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh right, can’t forget Aukai,” Oracle piped up as he turned and once again pointed directly toward a man who stood a little away from the group. With silks and golden jewellery, he looked a little out of place amongst the guild. Yet his aura and the scars that he wore indicated that he was quite the season adventure himself.

Hmm, he was actually quite similar to Jemella.

“Guildmaster of Armoroad, has so kindly agreed to join us.”

Ah, so that was why.

Aukai, however, looked less than thrilled; his arms folded tightly across his chest and a light scowl on his face. “Why am I even here?”

“Don’t be like that,” Oracle chided. “You would miss us.”

“Like a hole in the head,” Aukai retorted with a snort. “I thought I could be free from you bastards for a few months.”

“Come now. You’re not that lucky,” Oracle retorted quickly, dismissively.

Though Aukai’s words and expressions were harsh, his aura spoke otherwise. If he didn’t want to be here, within Maginia with the Aurora guild, there was literally nothing forcing him to stay. He could walk away now. He knew he could.

He just didn’t want to.

Aukai wasn’t openly honest. Perhaps it was a form of endearment that he regarded Oracle in such a way. There wasn’t exactly malice in his words. Oracle didn’t look or even feel remotely put off by his words. And no one around them were either. In fact, there was a sense of familiarity from the others.

Such an exchange must happen often.

“It’s nice to meet you, regardless,” Lynus said politely. “You appear to have some stories to share. Jemella, guildmaster of Etria, certainly has his own.”

Aukai regarded Lynus curiously. Attempting to gauge his sincerity, perhaps. There was a hint of surprise, however. He mustn’t have known that there was another guildmaster from a different city also on board with the expedition.

“Well, welcome to the community,” Axel proclaimed as he jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “Everything you see behind those large steel gates you walked through is regarded as The Sanctuary.”

“A community indeed,” Oracle commented as he looked around idly. “Did Villard steal half of the land in Maginia?”

Axel snorted lightly and folded his arms across his chest. “It’s ridiculously large, no doubt about that. Goes underground, too. We haven’t even finished exploring the place yet.”

“How fun,” Sigil cooed gleefully. “Seems like your first Search and Rescue might be here~”

“Wouldn’t surprise me, honestly.”

Oracle’s gaze flickered to the left, to the hall that lead to the large dining hall. Where Lynus himself could sense the auras of his guildmates. No doubt they grew curious as to who their new guildmates were going to be.

“Hm. You seem to have quite the large guild yourself,” Oracle stated, his attention still toward the halls and rooms behind them.

Lynus nodded his head, smiling softly. Even from this distance, he could feel his guild’s curiosity. “They’ve been waiting to meet you. Why don’t you sort yourselves into your rooms before mingling? We’ll be lifting off some time after lunch today.”

Oracle nodded his head, seemingly idly. He soon turned his gaze back to Lynus. “It might be unnecessary to ask, but did you arrange for Zydon’s room?”

Lynus’ attention drifted over to the young man in the wheelchair, his brother standing on one side of him. While the blond-haired man, one named Kujura if he wasn’t mistaken, stood behind him. He being the one to take the task of wheeling him around where necessary. Both men were protective of Zydon. Both in their physical appearances and their auras.

Zydon, however, possessed a rather…vulnerable aura. And the curse that he suffered from was the underlying cause. Weariness, frustration, feelings of helplessness.

“Of course,” Lynus said as he turned back to Oracle. “Zydon’s room is on the bottom floor. Rest assured, he’s not alone. Your guild will be in the exact same building. Wouldn’t do any good to separate you, would it?”

That satisfied Oracle and he nodded his head in acceptance. “Ah, good.”

“The dorms are actually close to my clinic,” Lynus enlightened. “Why don’t I show you where it is?”

“Yes, that would be a good idea,” Oracle immediately agreed. He even dropped his bag from his shoulder, allowing for Kardos to take it silently. “Kujura and Kyan are sure to be interested, too.”

Zydon uttered a soft sigh, while both Kyan and Kujura nodded their heads in acceptance. Well, Kyan was accepting. Kujura was simply protective. Perhaps even a little bit suspicious of him. And yet…

There was guilt in his aura, too.

Interesting.

Another vulnerable aura caught Lynus’ attention and he immediately turned his gaze toward the man called Seyfried. His condition wasn’t as dire as Zydon’s, thankfully. His exhaustion was indeed severe. But his health wasn’t under threat.

Even so, Lynus was to keep a close eye on him.

“Seyfried may need to know where it is, too, but that could wait.”

Oracle turned to look over in Seyfried’s direction, the other man consciously straightening his posture. His state was frail, but he refused to look so. He didn’t want the pity of others. He appeared to be quite the prideful man.

“Hm. Agreed,” Oracle said simply.

Axel placed his hand on the small of Lynus’ back, gaining his attention. As Lynus turned his head toward him, Axel smiled down at him. “I’ll lead the others to their rooms.”

Lynus returned the smile and nodded. “Hm. Meet you back in the dining hall.”

They then parted ways. Axel led the vast majority toward the dormitories. Kardos walked with him. He said something that earned a laugh from Axel and he looped an arm around Kardos’ neck, playfully pulling him toward him. There was absolutely no sense of annoyance from the group. In fact, they felt comfortable.

And it brought a smile to Lynus’ lips.

“This way,” Lynus said as he motioned for Oracle and the others to follow him.

After they entered the through the entrance of the main building, they took a right and walked down a long corridor that had windows lining one wall, while rooms lined the other. They finally reached the door that led into the clinic.

“Here it is,” he said as he pushed open the partly opened twin doors.

Oracle immediately followed him in and looked around the room. “I’m impressed,” he said with a straight face. “Clinic or hospital?”

“Clinic,” Lynus said with a smile as he walked further in, allowing the others to do the same. “The hospital is found elsewhere.”

As they filed in, Azure appeared from Lynus’ office with an empty box in his hands. He looked surprised to see new faces. “A-ah?”

“Azure, come,” Lynus said gently, his apprentice immediately making his way to his side and latching onto his arm. Lynus granted him another small, reassuring smile before he turned to regard their new visitors. “This is Azure. He’s my apprentice. He’ll be helping me take charge of this clinic.”

“H-hi,” Azure murmured shyly as he stayed close to Lynus, even as the others greeted him in return.

Easily sensing his discomfort, Lynus turned to Azure and speak softly with him. “Why don’t you head to the kitchen and see if Flavio needs any help? He’s going to get another set of helping hands shortly.”

“O-ok,” Azure said as he looked shyly toward Oracle again. “U-um…nice meeting you,” he said hurriedly as he dashed out of the room.

Oracle watched Azure as he disappeared from sight before he turned back to Lynus. “He appears unfairly adorable.”

Lynus smiled and nodded his head. “He’s very skittish, but a hard worker. He’ll grow used to your presences soon enough.” He motioned everyone to follow him into the next room. “Now, this is my office.”

Kujura wheeled Zydon into the room and took a quick glance around, his eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion and protectiveness. “You certainly appear to be professional.”

It won’t be easy to win Kujura over, it seemed.

“I owned and managed my own clinic in High Lagaard,” Lynus stated as he walked over to his desk and sat on the edge, facing the small group. “I worked on the cases that the hospital had difficulties with.”

Still somewhat sceptical, Kujura eyed him carefully. “You said there was a hospital here, too.”

Lynus was thankfully used to the scepticism of others. He was too young to be a specialised doctor and healer, after all. “That’s right. Managed by a good friend of mine. He is also my mentor. There are many capable healers here to offer assistance.”

That gave Kujura a small bit of reassurance, but he was still cautious nevertheless. As was Kyan. Zydon, however, felt tired. Lynus had noted a small wince on his face when Kujura mentioned the hospital. It was subtle, but Lynus caught it all the same.

He got the distinct feeling that Zydon was feeling disconnected from his own healing. Oracle and the others had Zydon’s best interest at heart. But they were somewhat smothering in regards to Zydon himself. Fussing over him. Talking about him, rather than to him.

They weren’t doing it maliciously. They cared for Zydon dearly. But perhaps they were a little too focused on curing Zydon rather than healing him.

“Do you mind if I speak with Zydon alone for a little while?” Lynus requested.

That caused Kujura to instantly bristle and his eyes narrowed further. Before he could say anything, though, Zydon spoke up.

“I’ll be ok,” he said as he tilted his head back to look up at Kujura. “I want to ask Mr Lynus a few things, too.”

“Mister?” Lynus repeated with a tilt of his head before he smiled. “No need to be formal.”

Zydon turned to look at him with a polite smile on his lips. “Sorry. It’s a force of habit.”

Lynus simply continued to smile as Oracle ushered Kujura and Kyan out of the office. He followed, only to quietly closed the door behind them, to grant him and Zydon some privacy as they chatted.

“It’s good to see that your guild is protective of you,” Lynus said as he turned away from the door.

“I guess so,” Zydon replied tiredly before he straightened in his wheel chair, a guilty expression on his face. “I mean, I understand their concern. But I’m half zodiac, so I’m not completely useless.”

Feelings of being a burden…Understandable, really. And normal.

“No one is ever completely useless,” Lynus stated as he walked over to the couch and sat on the edge closest to Zydon. He turned to face him, giving him his full attention. “And this isn’t what this is about. I can sense and see the auras of others.” Zydon looked genuinely surprised, but Lynus continued. “Those who are close to you just wish for you to be as healthy and as safe as you can be. Not because you’re a burden, but because they love you dearly.”

Zydon remained silent as he simply looked at Lynus for a few moments. His expression soon folded into that of guilt and he looked down at his clenched hands on his lap. “…Sorry. I’m just…”

Lynus tilted his head to the side. “Worried?”

Zydon nodded his head slowly. “…A little. I’m also a shogun. I’m…meant for the battlefield. I don’t want to be a burden.”

Quietly, Lynus reached out and rested his hand upon Zydon’s arm. “Is there anything else you feel?”

“Tired, I guess,” Zydon answered softly once again. “I’ve met a few healers before. Some said there’s nothing wrong, others claim that there was nothing they could do for me. A few didn’t even try. I guess…I’m sick of people making decisions for me. Even if they’re born from good intentions.”

Lynus gave his arm a slight squeeze. He could sense everything that Zydon was feeling, but as part of his health plan, he needed to hear him say it. That alone was often enough to ease some of his worries and concerns. “I see. It’s normal to feel frustration.”

“Is it?” Zydon lifted his head to look at Lynus once more. He still held a sense of fatigue, but there was curiosity there, too. “You…seem different from the others, though. You have a presence that makes me want to be truthful with you.”

“Hm. I get that a lot,” Lynus replied with a smile.

Zydon looked at him pointedly. “Do you think you can be truthful with me?”

Lynus was momentarily surprised by that, but he soon felt his eyes soften from both sympathy and concern. “I have been. I’ve been honest with you from the start. However, I will admit that I haven’t been very forthcoming with certain information.”

“You know more about this curse, then?” Not quite an accusation, but still a very pointed question.

“Yes. Do you really want to know?” Lynus briefly tightened his hand on Zydon’s arm, he too looking rather deliberately into his eyes. “I want you to answer that honestly. Are you sure you want to know what I know?”

Zydon drew in a sharp intake of air and held it. He breathed out slowly after a moment and nodded his head. “…Yes.”

Lynus sat silently for a moment, pondering how he should begin to explain. It won’t be easy. He didn’t want to do it bluntly as the news itself was rather…harsh. But he couldn’t truly skirt around the issue either.

“…Let me tell you a quick story that will help you to understand my caution,” Lynus said as he pushed himself to his feet and walked over to his desk. “About two years ago, Lagaard suffered from what we dubbed as the Hex Plague. Hexers, rogue curse makers targeted Lagaard, cursing locals and explorers alike. Putting them into comas, poisoning them, paralysing them. Their curses were so refined, so malicious, that the hospital was overwhelmed with victims and patients. Fortunately, I could remove these curses. But not, at first, without suffering in return.”

Zydon’s eyes followed him as he moved around the office, his brow furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Their curses were designed to also attack the person who removed it,” Lynus explained as he picked up a box of tissues and a medicine bottle from the shelf. “The stronger the curse, the more violent the repercussions. Back then, it felt as though I had been physically punched in the chest each time I removed a curse. To say it left me winded would be an understatement.”

“So, if you remove my curse, it’ll attack you in return?” Zydon questioned.

Lynus shook his head. “That’s not my concern. I’m immune to all things involving dark magic.”

“Then why-?”

“Your curse is a little different,” Lynus interrupted as he sat down on the couch once more, resting his gathered items next to him. “There will be repercussions. But not to me.”

Realisation slowly dawned upon Zydon and he looked frightened. “So…it’ll attack me in a different way?”

“Yes. In the curse’s death throes, as it were, it will lash out viciously,” a frown tugged at Lynus’ lips and he shook his head slightly. “Your curse is perhaps the cruellest I’ve yet encountered.”

“Wh-what will happen?” Zydon stuttered. “Be blunt, please.”

He…wasn’t actually ready to hear it, but…it had to be done. Lynus needed him to understand that his health was rather precarious. And for his own sake, Lynus needed to be his primary carer. No, his sole carer at this point.

“Best case scenario; it damages your spinal column, paralysing you from the waist down. Worst case scenario…it severs your spinal cord completely.”

Zydon sat there in silence for a while, his eyes staring at him as he attempted to assess his truthfulness. All colour suddenly drained from Zydon’s face and his hands flew up to cover his mouth. He tilted forward; his eyes wide as he whispered, “…Oh god…”

Lynus sighed and immediately placed his hand upon Zydon’s shoulder, carefully uttering a refresh spell to ease the nausea he felt. His other hand reached for the tissues that he had picked up earlier.

“This is why I didn’t want to tell you,” Lynus said as he offered Zydon the tissues as tears flowed down his cheeks. “As a healer, my focus, my goal, is the quality of life for my patients. Telling you this news did not help you in anyway. I may keep things from you, but I am never dishonest.”

Zydon shakily took the offered tissues. “S-so, if we found a way to remove it-?”

Lynus nodded his head solemnly. “Yes. But the curse is still there. In one piece. A medic could remove it. I could remove it now. But I won’t risk causing you further suffering.”

Zydon suddenly grabbed onto his arm and looked upon Lynus desperately. “D-don’t tell Kujura.”

“Of course,” Lynus immediately replied as he patted the back of Zydon’s hand comfortingly. “Your brother knows. He’s quite insistent.”

“That’s…why he ran out after you yesterday…” Zydon murmured.

Lynus shifted off the couch and crouched down in front of Zydon, his hands upon the armrests of his wheelchair. He lowered himself so that he was eye-level with Zydon. With all the gentle seriousness he could muster, he said, “I must stress this to you; I need to be your sole carer. For everything. From a paper cut to a fever. Everything. Other healers, though their intentions are pure and benign, may accidentally remove the curse. I know where it is. I’ve dealt with curses before. I can help you without putting you at risk. Do you understand?”

Zydon looked frightened, but he slowly nodded his head. “Yes.”

“Good,” Lynus said as he smiled comfortingly at him. “I know things seem dire for you right now. But I’ll find a way to safely remove this curse. That, I promise you.”

Still pale and trembling slightly, Zydon managed to nod his head. “Thank you.”

“Hm,” Lynus hummed lightly as he reached for the medicine bottle and removed the lid with a light pop. “We’re guildmates now. So of course, I would do whatever I can to help. Now, drink this; it’ll help with your shock and nausea. I best give you back to your family. The one called Kujura in particular is becoming impatient.”

A small smiled appeared on Zydon’s lips. Tired, weary even. But a smile nonetheless. “Hah, yes. Thank you,” he said again as he carefully drank the medicine, colour swiftly returning to his cheeks. “You…really are different from the healers I’ve met.”

Lynus smiled gently as he gave Zydon’s arm a light, comforting touch. “You’ll be fine. I promise.”

He then pushed himself to his feet and opened the door. As expected, Kujura was the closest to the door. He immediately turned to look inside. Dutifully, Lynus step back to allow the three to re-enter the room.

“Is everything all right?” Kujura said as he immediately made his way over to Zydon, going as far as to crouched down in front of him.

“I’m all right,” Zydon replied with a small smile.

Kujura, however, furrowed his brown in disbelief. “You’ve been-”

Zydon used a tissue to idly rub at his eyes. “A little,” he admitted. “It’s just…I feel hopeful for the first time in a long time.”

Kujura fell silent, mildly stunned by Zydon’s words. There was a small sense of relief and, well, hope in Kujura’s aura. Same with Kyan’s and Oracle’s.

“Perhaps you should get yourselves settled into your rooms now,” Lynus suggested. “Axel is likely returning to the dining hall with the others. He’ll show you the way.”

Zydon looked over at Lynus and nodded his head. “Yes, we’ll do that.”

Lynus returned the nod with a smile as he dutifully stepped away from the door, allowing for Kujura to help wheel Zydon out of the office. As they passed, Lynus retrieved the empty bottle of medicine.

“My office is always open,” he said. “Feel free to drop by for anything.”

“Thank you again,” Zydon said. Though he was still in shock of what he had learnt, his aura seemed just that little bit brighter. A shimmer of hope for him at last, it seemed.

“You, too, Kujura,” Lynus stated. “If you’re worried about anything for Zydon, don’t hesitate to visit me with your concerns.

Kujura still wasn’t fully trusting of him, his protectiveness of Zydon quite profound. But he, too, had relaxed somewhat. “…Very well.”

Oracle stayed back with Lynus as his three guildmates moved down the hallway, quickly disappearing from view. He then turned to regard Lynus with a curious tilt of his head.

“You have quite the extraordinary ability to put others at ease,” he said.

Lynus glanced over at Oracle before he smiled and lightly trailed his fingers over the braid within his hair. “My purpose in life, I suppose, is to end the suffering in others. Seeing other people happy, healthy, and safe…that is my goal.”

Oracle gazed at him for a long, silent moment before a small, yet sincere smile appeared on his lips. “…A worthy goal indeed. I’m more than confident that we made the right decision.”

For some reason, Lynus felt a chuckle escape his lips and he nodded. He then turned to walk down the hallway. “I look forward to the types of trouble our guilds will get themselves into.”

Oracle moved to walk with him. “Hm. I foresee the future and it’s certainly going to be interesting.”

[theshatteredrose]

Strange Encounters (Guardian Chronicles) - Etrian Odyssey Untold 2 Fanfiction

Summary: Flavio encounters a rather…unusual ronin. And meets his son…and husband?

Pairings: A very slight Shiki/Gerald if you want to see it that way.

AN: It’s been a while since I’ve written these Guardian Chronicles, but after reading this I’m sure you’ll understand why I waited~ Hope you enjoy nonetheless!

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was nearing sunset as Flavio stepped out of the café to change the menu on the street sign once again. Though he had spent the entirety of the day at the café helping out with customer service, something Regina still needed lessons in, he certainly hadn’t been bored.

He had spent the breakfast rush keeping Lynus company as he rested up from a long day at the hospital and an non-too gentle shove by some jerk in a hurry, causing him to stumble into the gutter outside the café, hurting his ankle and hand. Lynus was a delight to speak with, so it wasn’t like it was a chore chatting with him. He wasn’t even bothered when Axel all but stormed into the café with a scowl of concern on his face.

Naturally, the first thing Axel asked was whether Lynus was ok, to which Lynus himself answered with a gentle and comforting, but firm nonetheless ‘yes’. And the second thing Axel asked, directly to Flavio this time, whether or not he knew the bastard responsible.

With visions of legs sticking straight out of a trashcan flickering through his mind, Flavio honestly wished he did get a better look at the jerk. But he was too busy worrying for Lynus’ wellbeing to get a profile on the guy. While that answer didn’t fully subdue Axel’s understandable protectiveness, it did calm him somewhat.

Though, regardless of the lack of a description, Flavio couldn’t help but feel that the Guardians would be able to track the guy down. His days were obviously numbered. The best thing for him to do was to skip town and never return.

Unconcerned by the customers of the café gossiping around them, Axel crouched in front of Lynus, one hand on his leg, the other resting on the back of the chair which he sat upon. He leaned in close to him, their faces inches apart as they spoke softly to each other.

Flavio hadn’t a clue what they spoke about. It was none of his business, after all, and he had politely took a step back to give the two some kind of privacy. After a few minutes, Axel stood up and grabbed Lynus’ bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

After ensuring that Lynus was ok to be moved, to remove the icepack from his ankle, Axel thanked Flavio for watching over Lynus again before he promptly, and effortlessly, picked the all too slender medic up into his arms. There was no hesitation, not a moment to consider how they were going to help Lynus back to the inn – he just picked him up and held him close. Cradled him. As if…he was the most important thing to ever existed.

It…

Flavio felt a slight tug of envy when he once again realised just how loving and comfortable Lynus and Axel were with each other. In broad daylight. In public. Though Lynus had blushed lightly when Axel lifted him up into his arms, it wasn’t necessarily from embarrassment. Shyness, but embarrassment. The warm smile on his lips and the sheer fondness in his gaze was telling; this has happened before. Numerous times, most likely. And neither of them cared in the slightest who was around to see them.

With another apology from Lynus and a word of thanks from Axel, the two turned and left the café.

And soon after that, just as he had anticipated, Flavio had to deal with a needy and clingy Fafnir who wanted his full and undivided attention. And fending him off took up most of his day after that.

While Flavio didn’t mind that Fafnir was doing little sulky and childish things to gain his attention, it was cute and endearing after all. He just wished that he wouldn’t poke his most sensitive weak points after he perceived him to be ignoring him. Flavio was sick of getting either odd or amused looks from the customers each and every time he uttered a high-pitched ‘eek!’ of surprise.

That little smug smirk Fafnir would grant him each and every time was also rather annoying.

An unsettling trill suddenly racing down his spine caused Flavio to lift his head up and look around at the street once more. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what he was feeling, but it felt like to him that he was…well sensing, for a lack of a better word, a powerful presence. Not that of the monster kind, though. The human kind. As if…there was a veteran explorer near.

As he glanced around, somewhat nervously, his gaze soon settled on two figures walking along his side of the street. One human, the other canine.

The man appeared to be that of a ronin. And he appeared menacing; deep scars on his chest that seemed to reach all the way round to his back, heavy bandages around his left arm, golden gauntlets on his wrists and forearms, and a long blade within reach by his side. And his eyes were narrowed and red, and piercing. His hair an ashen grey and his face hard chiselled with a scruffy beard.

And walking alongside him, head low and ears perked was a wolf with unusual bluish grey fur, quite large, easily reaching the man’s waist. Though not nearly as big as Chi-hung from the Guardians, it did appear larger than Wulfgar from the Beowulf guild.

He, along with his wolf companion, looked like someone you wouldn’t want to mess with.

M-maybe he should just dart back inside the cafe?

But before Flavio could contemplate what he should do, the wolf suddenly lifted its head to look at him, pitch black eyes staring directly at him. It flicked its ear back before suddenly darting forward at an incredible speed, to lunge forward, directly at him! Flavio managed to utter out a surprise “wah!” before the wolf barrelled into him, front paws on his chest and open mouth inches away from his face. The force and the suddenness of the attack caused Flavio to fall backward, landing heavily on the ground, winding him immediately, where the wolf than proceeded to…

Whine excitedly and sloppily lick his face?!

W-what in the world?! He had never seen this wolf before in his life! Why was it acting like it was so excited to see him?

A surprising bellowing laugh of pure amusement cut through the air as Flavio tried to push the overly affectionate wolf off of him. “Now, Farley, what did I say about not jumping on strangers? No matter how adorable they are!”

With a low, seemingly disappointed whine, the wolf that had to be named Farley stopped attempting to lick Flavio’s face and prompted got off of him, leaving him dazed, confused, and rather dirty. As soon as the wolf had scrambled away, though, Flavio felt a pair of hands suddenly grab him from under his arms. For a split second he was alarmed, but he soon recognised them to belong to none other than Fafnir, so didn’t struggle when he hauled him to his feet.

“Are you all right?” Fafnir promptly asked him as he thankfully gave Flavio a hand towel to wipe the, ah, doggy drool from his face before he narrowed his eyes in the stranger’s directly, glaring at him protectively.

“Yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry,” Flavio immediately responded in hopes of cooling Fafnir’s protectiveness toward him and quickly wiped the remnants of the salvia from his face and neck before he turned to look at the ronin as well.

The man…he honestly didn’t look as intimidating now. Not the way he was playfully chiding his wolf companion. Bent down at the waist, he scratched the top of Farley’s head, the wolf wagging its tail so energetically, that its back legs and butt were actually wiggling. Stark contrast to when he felt laid eyes on them.

“Sorry about Farley, yeah?” the man abruptly said as he stood to his full height and smiled broadly at Flavio with his hands planted on his hips. “Four years old, but still an overly excited pup. Reminds me of my own son!”

“Oh, ah, no harm done,” Flavio said in response while Fafnir remained silent and on guard next to him, still eying the man off warily. Oddly, though, the ronin didn’t seem at all perturbed by Fafnir’s narrowed eyes. Either that or he was oblivious to his glare?

The man parted his lips to say something else when another voice, one that was unfamiliar and yet Flavio sworn he had heard somewhere before, interrupted him. “Shiki!”

The ronin immediately snapped his mouth shut and turned slightly to look over his shoulder. Out of sheer habit, and maybe even a bit of curiosity, Flavio turned to look as well, and watched as two men, one dressed in a brown gunner’s coat and the other with striking blue hair and numerous small bandages on his face and neck.

Flavio somewhat recognised the two men, though he hadn’t been introduced to them formally. He was fairly certain, however, that this blue-haired landsknecht was the infamous blue-haired ‘dumbass’ he had heard rumours about. The one they called Simmons of guild Cosmos. And the other was…Gerald? His long-suffering guardian? Or was that uncle? He couldn’t remember exactly.

He also recognised them from that little incident that his guild didn’t believe actually happened in the labyrinth. Yeah, that one. The one with the landsknecht and hexer riding a giant moa.

That one.

“There you are,” the gunner said with a frown, and yet there appeared to be an expression of…relief in his eyes. “How many times have I told you not to go roaming without telling me?”

“Ah, I’m sorry, dear Gerald,” the man called Shiki all but cooed unexpectedly, earning a flush and a huff from the other man. “But give me a sec, yeah?” he said before he turned his attention back to Flavio.

“Hurry up, dad, I’m starving!” Simmons complained with a disgruntled pout on his lips.

Shiki immediately whipped around and planted one of his hands on his hip while the other waved exuberantly with the other. “Hi Starving, I’m dad!”

The pout on Simmons’ lips abruptly disappeared and he smiled widely, exuberant and overly cheerful.

The two of them then proceeded to sniggered to each other, completely oblivious to both Flavio and Fafnir, and of Gerald who had his hand covering his face in the most exasperated way possible. It was probably a good thing the two were so oblivious to those around them, as Flavio knew beyond doubt that he was staring incredulous at the two.

Flavio never really had a father figure growing up, but was this…a father-son bonding moment?

Simmons turned away from his, er, dad, though he remained smiling. He seemed to glance idly in Flavio’s direction before doing a double-take and, unexpectedly, his smile broadened as if he recognised him.

“Oh, hey, you’re that guy from the labyrinth!”

Flavio blinked at him before he gave him a nervous and lopsided smile. “Y-yeah, that’s right. When you were…riding that giant moa, right?” He then glanced over at Gerald, who of which had his brow furrowed, as if trying to recall when that event took place. “And you were being chased by two gunners on foot.”

Immediately after he said that, Gerald’s frown was replaced with an expression of realisation. Before resignation. And then sheer exasperation. Oh yeah, he remembered it now.

Shiki abruptly threw his head back on a loud, boisterous laugh as Gerald dragged his hand over his face in such a way that it appeared that an hour didn’t go by without him doing so at least once. And Simmons, for his part, just kept smiling, seemingly oblivious to everything.

“That’s my boy,” Shiki cheered as he slapped Simmons on the back before lopping his arm around his neck to drag him closer. “Next, we’ll aim for a fire drake. That should impress our little dark hunter, right?”

“Yeah!”

Flavio blinked. Dark hunter? Wait…they weren’t talking about Squirrel, er, Rahas, were they?

“Ah, how rude of me,” Shiki suddenly stated as he slipped his arm from around Simmons’ neck and turned to give Flavio and Fafnir his full focus. “I haven’t introduced myself, have I? I am Shiki, member of Guild Cosmos,” he said in a professional manner before breaking out into a wide grin. “But everyone calls me dad!”

Flavio wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that, so he simply smiled politely. “Oh, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Flavio,” he said before he tapped his knuckles against the centre of Fafnir’s chest to indicate toward him. “And this is Fafnir. We’re members of the Midgard Library.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Shiki said in a good-natured, friendly manner that actually gave the indication that he was being truthful and he reached around Simmons to clasp Gerald by the shoulder and tugging him forward. “This is Gerald, my husband.”

Flavio blinked while Gerald bristled and blushed at the same time. “Stop telling everyone that!”

Shiki, however, ignored him as he dropped his hand from Gerald’s shoulder to instead place both his hands on Simmons’ shoulders and positioned him in such a way in front of them that it appeared that he was proudly showing him off. “My tall son, Simmons.”

“Hi!” Simmons said cheerfully as he waved at them.

Flavio practically heard Fafnir blink in a stoically bemused manner while Flavio himself returned the wave with a small, nervous wiggle of his fingers.

Completely unperturbed but the lack of response, Shiki then reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small leather bound wallet, the kind that kept important notes or documents. But as he flipped it open, he revealed that he was using it as a sort of pocket sized photo album. He flipped through a few of the photos before he pulled one out and lifted it up, all but shoving it into Flavio’s face.

“This is my small son, Lynus,” Shiki said proudly.

Even though he instinctively took a step back, Flavio nearly had to go cross-eyed to get a practical look of the photo, and when the image came into focus, he felt his eyebrows reach up toward his hairline. The photo was that of Lynus, seemingly taken without warning as he sat at a table or desk that was covered in notebooks and folders. He was looking toward the camera, but appeared startled. Though rather cutely, but startled nonetheless.

Flavio…wasn’t entirely sure what to think of that. Surely this man wasn’t Lynus’ real father? No, he must simply mean adoptive. Yeah, that sounded right. From what he heard from Hrothgar, a few people were protective of the medic and some even consider him as a son or brother to them.

Still, he was…curious to say the least. Maybe he should ask Lynus about it later.

Flavio didn’t have any more time to dwell on it when Shiki shoved another photo into his face. “And my emo son, Rahas.”

Flavio blinked and looked at the picture. Unexpectedly, the corner of his mouth twitched into a smirk. It was a picture of Rahas alright, and he was glaring with such utter hatred at the camera as someone out of shot pulled back his hair from his eyes to allow for a clear view of his entire scowling face.

Heh, emo. Glad to know he wasn’t the only one to think so.

Shiki then proceeded to shove two more photos into his face. “And my spacy daughter, Kerri, and my angry daughter, Tiffany.”

Flavio didn’t immediately recognise the two until a few seconds later when he realised that he had seen the small hexer girl riding the same giant moa as Simmons, and the blonde-haired gunner was the one who was chasing them on foot with Gerald.

“You…have lovely children?” Flavio muttered while Fafnir, having thankfully remained silent and not utter a single sarcastic retort during this entire time, snorted loudly.

“Oh, you’ve met my kids?” Shiki asked as he carefully placed his photos back into his wallet and into his back pocket.

“Well, really only Lynus and Squi-Rahas,” Flavio answered. “Lynus is just a really lovely person. And Rahas…really likes trees?”

“And windows!” Shiki added with a wide grin. “Learnt from the best!”

Next to him, Flavio felt Fafnir twitch and he knew, he just knew that Fafnir was about to say something sarcastic. He had been silent for too long.

So Flavio stomped on his foot before Fafnir could utter a word, instead causing him to lowly grunt in pain while Flavio smiled politely at Shiki once more. He tried to ignore the pout from Fafnir as he wracked his brain on what to say to the other man, debating whether to invite them inside the café for dinner, which would have been the polite thing to do. Or to excuse him and Fafnir so that they could get back to work within said café.

But just as Flavio chose to be polite there was another voice, one that was laughing. Mockingly. Childishly.

“Ah-hah! Though you have my meat-shield, er, Herald’s attention now, my eternal rival, rest assured that before the night is through, he would belong to I, Benedict Richardson the Third!”

Flavio winced while Fafnir bristled. Oh no…not again. Did he mistake Fafnir for Rahas again? How could anyone make such a mistake twice? Sure, Lynus said he had very poor eyesight, but he couldn’t be that blind, could he?

Unexpectedly, Shiki’s cheerful face creased into a fearsome scowl as his eye twitched violently. “That little Dick…” he all but hissed as he bristled.

Sure enough, as they all turned in the direction of the high-pitched voice, they watched as a certain green haired, starry eyed child perch himself dramatically atop of a small stone feature wall outside of the café. And, with an all too dramatic flair of his rich, royal cape, he brandished his sceptre in their collective direction.

“Now, my unequalled rival, I, Benedict Richardson the Third, challenge you to a duel at ten paces!”

All Flavio could think, though, was; here we go again…

However, moving at a lightning pace, Shiki stood directly in front of Benedict and clamped his hand atop of Benedict’s head. And he was holding him up off the ground as he loomed menacingly over him.

“Heathen swine!” Benedict actually shouted without a tremor of fear in his voice as he clasped onto Shiki’s wrist with his hands and immediately kicked and flailed with his legs. “How dare you lay a hand on I, Benedict Richardson the Third! I will have your head!”

“The only thing you’ll be doing is clawing your way out of the Lagaardian sewer system,” Shiki said in a low and terrifying voice as he glared at the struggling kid with unrelenting eyes.

“I, Benedict Richardson the Third, will not be threatened by your petty threats!” Benedict said defiantly.

“Shiki!” Gerald abruptly chided loudly. “Put him down!”

Shiki, however, kept a firm grip on Benedict’s head, unflinching even as Benedict kicked and squirmed, shrilling loudly and honestly rather incoherently about the audacity and indignity of it all. “But Gerald…!” he actually whined.

“Don’t you ‘But Gerald’ me!” the gunner quickly returned as he stomped over to him. “For heaven’s sake, he’s just a kid!”

“But he’s an obnoxious kid!”

“So were you at that age! God!”

“Unhand me, you uneducated swine!”

“Quiet, kid, I’m trying to save your neck!”

“You’re my husband! You’re supposed to be on my side!”

“Stop saying that!”

Flavio looked at the scene before turning his head to look at Fafnir, to find him already looking at him. They exchanged glances, Flavio silently mouthing “Should we help?” to him while Fafnir simply shrugged.

This…probably happened a lot, right? Better not get involved, yeah?

“Isn’t my dad the greatest?” Simmons suddenly asked, his question directed toward Flavio.

Flavio paused for a moment as he tried to think of the right word for the ronin. Honestly, when he first laid eyes on him, he found him menacing and intimidating. Goes to show that you really couldn’t judge a book by its cover. Especially not around High Lagaard, anyway.

“He’s certainly a character,” Flavio honestly answered, which was thankfully a good enough reply as Simmons beamed at him once more.

“He had disappeared for ten years, but now that he’s back it was like he never left!” Simmons surprisingly revealed before he started to ramble further. “He had to leave to protect Rahas and Lynus for a while, so that was why he was gone, but he’s back now, so it’s ok!”

Flavio gaped at him silently for a moment…Protect? Protect Lynus and Rahas from what? Or who?

However, before he could ask, or before Simmons could admit anything more, he abruptly turned and wandered over to where Shiki and Gerald were still arguing, and where Benedict was still lifted off the group by a single hand, flailing and shrieking in a highly ‘unroyal’ manner.

Flavio wasn’t entirely sure what to think about Shiki or about Simmons. They were…an unusual guild, that was for sure.

Maybe he should just talk to Lynus about it? But…be was once again reluctant to do so. Simmons said Shiki was needed to protect Lynus and Rahas. What exactly did he mean by that? Did he mean that literally? And if he did…

Asking Lynus about it might dredge up too many painful memories. And after seeing that faraway look of pain in Lynus’ eyes that morning, he didn’t want to do that to the gentle medic.

So…perhaps it was best to keep his curiosity to himself for now.

“Husband, huh?” Fafnir unexpectedly muttering pulled Flavio from his musings.

Flavio immediately turned to look at him, only to find Fafnir holding his chin with a deeply contemplative expression on his face. Flavio parted his lips to ask him what he was mumbling, what he was thinking about, but quickly shut his mouth. It was probably better he didn’t know what Fafnir was thinking about. If that preoccupied look in his eyes was anything to go by. That was Fafnir’s plotting and scheming face.

And Flavio had learnt from experience that nothing good came from that look.

[theshatteredrose]

Blossoming Friendships (Guardian Chronicles) - Etrian Odyssey Untold 2

Summary: Sometimes, it was nice spending peaceful moments with those who are like minded.

Pairings: Platonic/friendly Flavio/Lynus/Hrothgar fluff~

AN: This was supposed to be short. But somehow it kept growing XD These three honestly make such good friends~ Hope you feel the same way! Enjoy!

It was well after midnight, the sky a pitch black outside without the light of the moon, and Flavio found himself unable to settle and relax. Not that it was anything new for him. Staying up late and staring at the ceiling was quite the nightly occurrence. His mind was always reeling with preparation for what tomorrow would bring. He always did a mental checklist over the things he had and the things he needed for when they head into the labyrinth tomorrow.

But tonight he felt unquestionably restless.

And after turning over to his side for the umpteenth time, he decided that he wasn't going to be able to sleep in his current state. Instead Flavio threw off the blankets in an agitated fashion and sat up as he peered around at the darkness with a slight scowl on his face. He was agitated, but not all that surprised. There was a sound of thunder rumbling in the distance and the wind was starting to pick up. He had never been a very solid sleeper. And the sounds of nature outside were making him edgy. What survivalist didn’t feel that way, right?

Uttering an annoyed huff, Flavio swung his legs over the side of the bed and proceeded to sleep on some of his outwear clothes and his boots. If he couldn’t sleep, he should go for a walk or do something at least somewhat productive. Staying in his room and staring up at the ceiling wasn’t an option. That would honestly only irritated him further.

As Flavio slipped on his jacket, he quietly opened the door of his room and peered out. The hallway was as dark as the sky outside and there didn’t appear to be anyone else up and about. He couldn’t see any lights shining from the bottom of his guildmates’ rooms, so thankfully they appeared to be sleeping.

Stepping out into the hallway, Flavio silently closed the door behind him before he turned toward the direction of the front foyer. He figured he would loiter around there, perhaps help Hanna out if she had any late night guests. Or at least sit in the tearoom and just watch the flames in the fireplace. That was always calming.

The foyer was empty as Flavio passed through. He wrapped his arms around himself lightly when the sound of the wind intensified outside, and he shivered. Though not from the cold, but the sound of wind. He had never liked the sound of the high-pitched, shrieking wind. It made his skin crawl. Always had and it probably always will.

Deciding that he didn’t want to be in the foyer in case the wind blew open the front doors, Flavio continued to move and decided to head to the tearoom as he could see the door was open and a soft, flicking light was being emitted from within. If nothing else, he could sprawl out on the large, plush couch that was usually situated in front of the fireplace. The couch was a rather large piece of furniture, designed for anyone to sleep on it if they wanted, a couple of people even. It was there for the winter months, or so he was told, as rooms with their own fireplaces were extremely popular during those times.

He was also told that fights often broke out for the best spot in front of the fireplace. And, funnily enough, the Guardians were said to always win.

As Flavio stepped inside the room, his gaze immediately trailed over to the couch and immediately noticed that it was occupied by two familiar individuals. One was a certain orange-haired medic who was sat in the middle of the couch, reading a book in one hand while the other idly raked through the hair of another, a familiar protector with red hair who appeared to be asleep with his head resting on Lynus’ lap.

Flavio was…surprised by the sight.

“Lynus?” he found himself muttering in surprise.

Lynus glanced up from his book and smiled gently over at him, not at all perturbed by him. In fact, he simply placed his book down next to him, his hand still gently toying with Hrothgar’s hair.

“Hm? Oh, hello Flavio,” he said warmly. “You can come in if you want. Hrothgar is just resting. He tried to guide a rookie guild through the second floor, but their dark hunter was too energetic, I suppose you could say, and she foolishly pulled her guild into a battle against a raptor. And Hrothgar, being the staunch protector that he is, immediately placed himself on the front line. Not without consequence, though. He was thrown back into a tree and hit his head. Thankfully, though, there were no skull fractures and he managed to keep fighting, even with blurred vision.”

“Oh,” Flavio murmured in response before his brow furrowed with concern and he crossed the room to crouch in front of them so that he could get a better look at the redheaded protector. It was then that he noticed that he had fresh white bandages wrapped around his forehead. “How is he doing now?”

“He’s thankfully sleeping now,” Lynus answered with a slight hum. “The threat of concussion has passed. He’s not in any pain or discomfort now. He’s probably getting the best sleep he had in ages.”

Flavio felt his concern lift and he nodded his head as he gazed at Hrothgar for a moment. The protector was lying on his side, one leg on the couch while the other touched the floor. His hands were folded near his chest as his head rested comfortably on Lynus’ thigh. His face was smooth, without any tension or pain. He honestly looked comfortable. But…

“Shouldn’t he be in his room, though?” Flavio couldn’t help but ask.

“I wanted to keep an eye on him for the next couple of hours,” Lynus replied with a slight shrug of his shoulder. “The clinic is a little too cold at this time of night. I thought the tearoom, with the fireplace, would be better. At least Wulfgar seems to have settled.”

Flavio blinked and immediately glanced over his shoulder toward the fireplace. There, lying in front of it was a certain dark furred wolf, who of which lifted his head from his folded paws when he seemed to realise that Flavio was looking at him. And he wasn’t alone, either. He was lying next to a certain white-tiger who was at least twice the size of him. 

“Oh, hey Wulfgar, didn’t see you there.” Flavio greeted with a smile, of which grew when the white tiger seemed to flick his tail irritably at him. “Yes, I can see you too, Chi-hung.”

Lynus laughed warmly, which prompted Flavio to turn his attention back to him. And as he did so, Flavio saw a sense of tenderness in his violet eyes as Lynus gazed back down at Hrothgar.

“Also, I wanted him to have some company,” Lynus said as an empathetic smile appeared on his lips. “He tries to do so much on his own. And I worry that each time he finds a reckless guild, he’ll muse about the misfortune of his own.

Flavio’s gaze also wandered down to the protector and his heart immediately went out to him. “Yeah, that’s true. I’m glad he’s not on his own now.”

Lynus nodded his head idly before turning his back toward Flavio, and tilted his head to the side in curiosity. “What about you? Couldn’t sleep?”

“Ah, yeah,” Flavio answered as he rubbed the back of his neck and pushed himself to his feet. “Just feeling a little restless tonight.”

“Hmm,” Lynus hummed in thought for a moment before he suddenly said; “You have your hair out. This is the first time I’ve seen you with your hair out.”

Flavio blinked at him for a second before he reached out to rake a hand through his hair to see that, he was right. His hair was out. He normally tied it back, no matter where he went or what he did. He must have been so agitated by the wind that he plain forgot. “Oh, yeah, I guess I forgot to tie it back,” he simply muttered.

He was about to make a remark about Lynus having his own hair down when Hrothgar uttered a soft, low moan and he began to stir. But Lynus carefully carded his fingers through his hair to gently lull him back to restfulness. Even as Hrothgar’s breathing eased out once more, Lynus kept running his fingers through his hair idly. As if it was something of a habit of his, now. As if…he had spent many a night sitting in front of the fireplace as he gently soothed and watch over another as they slept.

That…wouldn’t surprise Flavio a bit.

“Could you do me a favour?” Lynus suddenly asked him.

“Yeah, of course,” Flavio immediately replied.

Lynus gave him a grateful smile. “Could you duck into the clinic for me? In the cabinet right next to the door as you walk in are some medicine bottles. Could you grab a blue one and a green one for me?”

“Blue and green,” Flavio repeated as he nodded his head. “Sure, I can do that.”

“Thank you,” Lynus said in earnest. “I would, but I don’t want to wake Hrothgar now that he’s sleeping soundly.

Flavio smiled back at him. “Hm, of course. I’ll be right back.”

He turned on his heel and quickly left the room. The clinic was thankfully only a few doors down and it was open as well. There was no one else inside as Flavio stepped. He had never been inside the clinic before, so he couldn’t help but look around idly. There were several beds lined up with curtain partitions between them. There was a desk in the corner with a filing cabin. And there were bookcases and cabinets practically lining the walls, all of them either holding bottles of medicine or medical equipment.

Flavio didn’t know the first thing about clinics or medical practices, but this place looked efficient. If anything untoward should happen here, they were still in good hands.

Turning his gaze from his surroundings, Flavio turn back toward the door and toward the cabin Lynus said was close by. He pulled open the door to find that, too, was filled with medicine bottles. They had labels written onto the shelves, but they appeared to be in medical jargon, so he hadn’t a clue what they were. So he simply picked up the first blue and green bottle he saw and closed the cabinet.

As Flavio stepped back into the tearoom, he immediately noticed that Hrothgar was still asleep and Lynus was resting back against the couch, his book closed and resting on the small coffee table located half in front of the couch.

Lynus immediately glanced over at him and his expression brightened in a grateful warmth. “Thank you,” he said as Flavio wasted no time crossing the distance and presenting to Lynus the two medicine bottles. “The blue one is for when Hrothgar wakes up. And the green one is for you.”

Flavio blinked at him in surprise as Lynus only took one of the bottles from him. “Me?

“The wind outside increases your anxiety, causing you to feel on edge, like you are in the labyrinth, right?” Lynus stated more so than asked.

“How did-?”

Lynus laughed lightly, though not at him but at his reaction. “Tobyn is just the same. He hates the sound of howling wind. Thankfully I gave him something to ease his nerves, or we would have two survivalists wandering around, complaining about the wind.”

Oh, well, that made sense actually. Still…

“Are you sure it’s ok for me to-?”

Lynus arched an eyebrow at him. “I wouldn’t have asked you to retrieve it if it wasn’t ok.”

Oh…that made sense, too.

“Thank you,” Flavio said sincerely.

Lynus’ gaze softened. “Not at all,” he said before he motioned to the couch next to him. “Sit.”

And Flavio did just that without hesitation.

“Is there something else troubling you?” Lynus asked him gently as Flavio leaned back into the couch.

“I’m…honestly not sure,” Flavio found himself answering honestly as he fidgeted with the bottle in his hands.

Lynus nodded his head in understanding and continued to look at him in a way that Flavio could only describe as a supportive, empathetic parent figure would. “Do you wish to talk about it? I’m not prying, but you are your guilds caretaker, yes?”

Flavio felt himself pout a little when his mind immediately started to recall all the times Fafnir called him as much. “Well, Fafnir seems to think so.”

Again, Lynus simply nodded his head before he reached out to place his hand on top of Flavio’s that were unconsciously fidgeting with the glass bottle. “Sometimes, when you’re a caretaker, you tend to forget about yourself and think of everyone else. And, sometimes, it’s hard to talk to your guildmates when something is troubling you as you don’t want them to be worried or concerned.”

Flavio glanced down at Lynus’ hand that gently sat atop of his before he found himself biting the inside of his mouth. It…should be ok to talk to Lynus, right? He would understand.

“To be honest, I just have…this feeling that something terrible is going to happen,” Flavio found himself confessing. “I don’t mean like encountering a FOE in the labyrinth and coming out second best. As terrible as that would be, this is…different. I feel like…I’m going to lose Fafnir. For good.”

And it…scared the hell out of him. He didn’t…

“I understand that fear well,” Lynus said as he squeezed his hand in a truly comforting manner. “If I were to lose Axel, I…honesty don’t know what I would do.”

Yeah…it was a scary thing to imagine.

“It’s something I hope neither of you will ever experience.”

“Oh, Horthgar,” Flavio murmured before he winced guiltily as he and Lynus both turn to look over at Hrothgar who was pushing himself into a sitting position. “Sorry, did we wake you.”

Hrothgar smiled politely at the two of them as he eased himself upright. “Well, yes and no.”

“Don’t move around so quickly,” Lynus chided slightly as he removed his hand from Flavio’s and casted an inspecting gaze over the protector.

“I’m fine,” Hrothgar said in return before he smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry for taking up your time.”

Lynus made another softly chiding sound and shook his head. “Don’t be silly. You are an honorary member of the Guardians, after all.”

Hrothgar’s polite expression faltered and a look of surprise mixed with guilt, relief and happiness appeared to take its place. “…Hm, you’re right.”

Lynus smiled warmly at him before he pressed the blue glass bottle against his chest. “Now, take this. How are you feeling? Headaches?”

“A minor one,” Hrothgar answered honestly as he took the bottle and popped it open.

“That will fade shortly,” Lynus returned as he motioned for him to drink his medicine, though he couldn’t seem to stop himself from adding; “You need to take it easy for the next couple of days.”

Hrothgar chuckled lightly as he sipped his medicine slowly. “Yes, I understand. How long was I asleep?”

Lynus gave a one shoulder shrug. “A couple of hours.”

Hrothgar frowned and flushed at the same time. “I’m sorry; did you stay the entire time?”

“It was nothing, don’t worry,” Lynus immediately said as he gave a slightly dismissive wave of his hand. “I wanted to keep an eye on you.”

Hrothgar nodded his head slowly before a smile spread across his lips. “I bet there were a lot of jealous people passing by.”

Lynus tilted his head to the side. “Hm? What do you mean?”

Flavio felt a smile of amusement spread across his own lips. “Yeah, who wouldn’t want to rest their head on Lynus’ lap?”

Hrothgar chuckled as Lynus turned to regard him. “Are you saying you want to?” he unexpectedly asked.

Before Flavio had the chance to respond, Lynus suddenly reached up and grasped the collar of his jacket, and with a surprisingly amount of strength, tugged him forward so that Flavio sprawled across his lap. As Flavio made a sound of surprise, he heard Hrothgar laugh a genuinely amused laugh, and despite the fact that Flavio himself had never, ever rested his head on someone’s lap before, he found himself uttering a laugh too.

It wouldn’t hurt to experience some of the infamous Mother-Hen treatment, would it?

Instead of pushing away, Flavio twisted around until he was on his back with his legs dangling over the side of the couch, his head still resting on Lynus’ lap. “It must be hard being the caretaker of such a large guild,” he commented idly as he got himself settled and folded his arms comfortably over his stomach.

“Hm? Oh, not really,” Lynus replied in earnest as he nestled himself into the back of the couch. “I’m used to taking care of a lot of difficult people. My guild is a breeze compared to…other places, like the hospital, I mean.”

Flavio noticed the slight pause in Lynus’ words as quickly as he had noticed the softly pained look in his eyes. But both were fleeting and that soft, genuine smile soon appeared on his lips once more.

“A certain other guild, however,” he continued with an amused glint in his eyes. “Can test my patience.”

Flavio was about to ask who before he heard Hrothgar utter a sigh that was tinged with annoyance. “Cosmos…”

Cosmos…Wait, that was the name of the guild that Flavio had an encounter with! The one with two riding on the back of a giant moa with two more chasing them on foot.

“Don’t tell me you encountered Cosmos riding on the back of a monster, too?” Flavio asked as he tilted his head back slightly to look up at the redheaded protector.

“Sadly, yes,” Hrothgar answered with an exasperated huff and idly batted a strand of his hair from his eyes. “The first time I encountered them they were trying to tame a ragelope. Of course, you can imagine how well that went. No one believed me when I told them. They said no one would be that stupid. Thankfully, Lynus and the Guardians did. Or I would have questioned my own sanity.”

Flavio couldn’t help but laugh. He went through the same thing, after all, so it was nice to know that he wasn’t the only one. “I saw them riding a giant moa and no one from my guild believed me.”

Lynus laughed softly. “Simmons is becoming quite notorious now. Though his guildmates aren’t much better. I have some stories about all of them, to be honest.”

Flavio casually swung one of his legs back and forth, completely at ease. “Regulars at the hospital?”

“Indeed they are,” Lynus readily answered before he shook his head slightly, a softly sympathetic look in his eyes as he stared over at the fireplace. “Poor Gerald, though. He tries so hard.”

“I take it Gerald is the older gunner who is usually chasing around after him on foot?” Flavio questioned.

Again, Lynus laughed and nodded his head as his hand unconsciously reached out to toy with Flavio’s hair, and Flavio made no attempt to stop him. “That’s him,” he said. “The trouble his guildmates put him through, honestly.”

“Hm,” Hrothgar made a sound of agreement. “In all honesty, I’m beginning to think that some of the novice guilds of today are trying to following in their footsteps.”

Flavio felt a smile of amusement spread across his lips. “Go on, give us a bedtime story.”

Both Lynus and Hrothgar laughed good-naturedly, quite contently really.

And Flavio soon forgot about the howling wind outside, too busy laughing at the stories that Lynus and Hrothgar were telling him in turn. Hrothgar about the strange events he had encountered in the labyrinth and the shocking stupidity of novice explorers, while Lynus told stories about his time at the hospital and humorous situations him and his guildmates had encountered both in and out of the labyrinth.

It was honestly nice spending time like this. Speaking with people Flavio felt understood him. They were both tireless caretakers and Flavio, though he may outwardly dispute it, was indeed the caretaker of his guild. And it was nice speaking with someone who didn’t know about the Fafnir Knight Curse or what was happening at Ginnungagap.

At this very moment, he was…normal. Life was normal. Everything was fine. There was nothing to worry about.

It was…peaceful.

“Are you feeling tired?” Lynus suddenly asked and Flavio turned his head to the side to look up at him, only to immediately notice that Hrothgar had his head resting on Lynus’ shoulder, appearing as if he was asleep. “Maybe you should retire to your room.”

“Hm,” Hrothgar murmured sleepily in reply though made no attempt to actually move. “But it’s so comfortable here.”

Yeah, Flavio thought to himself as his own eyes slipped close. It really was.