unwaveringblade - Tumblr blog

unwaveringblade · 1 year ago

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Tales of Destiny ~PROUST~ Forgotten Chronicle rough summary

I wasn't sure where else to post this, and Tumblr seemed like the one that would get the most use out of it.

So, I streamed my blind run through TODDC with Kio for the past several months. I ended up getting really into TOD from how much cleaner the presentation of the story and characters were over the PSX version, and was really frustrated that nobody had translated the drama CD, which had been hiding like 95% of Leon's characterization until the remake came along.

I kept a notepad of stuff to talk about during those streams. Sometimes it was off-topic things, sometimes it was little tangents about parts of the game that I thought of over the week until we'd play again. Sometimes it was summaries of supplemental material that was never localized. But most of the time, that material was translated by a fan.

Nobody has fully translated Proust. I wanted it to be translated. So I listened to it as hard as I could and summarized as best I could. The following are the unedited notes as I wrote them to be read during stream, rather than a direct translation or anything formal. I'm not good enough at Japanese to fully translate it. I'm so not good at Japanese that there's probably a lot of errors throughout this summary, too. I hope someone eventually comes along and gives us a full translation.

Also note that I'm not great at recognizing the voices of anyone that isn't the main cast of protagonists, so I probably mix up the antagonists or the generals' identities a lot.

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So I went back through the drama cd, and I think I've got a few more little details. I could be wrong about a lot of this since there's no translation and I am really fucking bad at Japanese. But this should actually clear up a lot of misconceptions that we, or I had throughout this entire game. Foolish me for just believing everything TVTropes told me instead of trying to comb the drama cd myself.

(track 1-01 Thunder + track 1-03 Lullaby) Chris tried to escape with both children, but Hugo sent the goon squad after her?? and they managed to take Leon and mortally wound Chris. She drags herself back to the mansion to see Leon again and asks him not to hate Hugo, because this certainly isn't the same kind person she married. [I previously summarized it based on this post, which does a much better job of summarizing track 1-03: https://jeredu.tumblr.com/post/136918641610/so-after-the-horrible-sad-feels-from-the-emilio]

(track 1-02 History That Was Forgotten is just Leon saying the title of the CD)

(track 1-04 Yes, My Lady) Less than 2 years before the game starts. The girls in Leon's class aren't very good at dance lessons yet, so he complains to Marian that all the girls are stupid-- oh but not you Marian, it's only other girls that are dumb. lol I can't catch why Leon's mad at Hugo this time, but Marian sticks up for Hugo, since he's the one who pretty much discovered how useful Lens could be to further technology and make modern life easier, and has for the most part made it all affordable. She's also grateful that he hired her when she had nothing. Marian wants Leon to make friends with the girls because she's worried he'll be all alone. Leon says he's fine alone and that he'll only grow stronger, and to distract Marian, decides to teach her the dance he learned, calling her "my lady". At the end, he says he'll be fine as long as he has Marian. Hugo walks in on them and Leon quickly makes an excuse but Hugo just puts him down for hanging with the staff and tells him to get to sword practice. Leon seems excited for it. Leon whispers to Marian that they'll practice dancing again. Marian says she's looking forward to it, but when he leaves, she sadly mumbles that he's a pitiful child. (Not in a mean way)

(track 1-05 True) [Oops I didn't cover this one. It's just villainy anyway. Who listens to Proust to hear Mictlan-Hugo monologue?]

(track 1-06 Man of the Mask) I forgot about this detail and its MASSIVE importance. In the original, Leon and Hugo's relation wasn't known for a long time. In the remake, their relation is paraded around loudly. Hugo will not let anyone forget that Leon is his son, and Leon's motivation is to not be a nepo baby. But in the original, specifically in the drama CD, Hugo doesn't want their relation known. He doesn't want Leon around while he's doing business because it might reveal their relation. He reprimands him for coming home while he's doing business and tells him not to come home so often. Leon was actually excited to let him know of one of his missions' successes, on his 15th birthday no less. Chaltier tries to comfort Leon when he's basically told to gtfo, but Leon tells him he's not sad at all, and that he just wants to be acknowledged by someone as skilled as Hugo. His cadence is fairly fond as he says all this, but he's awfully insistent about it. Like thou-doth-protest-too-much insistent. Leon thinks he saw a masked man, but Chaltier says he doesn't sense anyone. They go on their way, but a filtered voice of Hugo calls Leon's name.

(track 1-07 Emilio) The following track makes it more clear that yes, he was actually very fucking upset about it. I already talked about this track since it was one of the only 2 tracks that were fully translated by someone else. Where Marian has a little private birthday party for him and he breaks down. With the added context of the previous track, the breakdown makes a bit more sense. He's just been told and brushed off again by Hugo even after so many smashing successes. Took it upon himself to put up a strong front in front of Chaltier. Then Marian does this gesture of kindness that I guess makes him feel like he's being treated like a child or mocked, and that's the last straw. Marian is of course calling him Emilio, and he refuses that name because Emilio is worthless, nobody needs Emilio, and he's all alone. He insists he's Leon Magnus, because he's at least useful as a tool for Hugo. Marian doesn't like him calling himself a tool. Says he's her precious Emilio. And Leon cries. [Previously summarized based on this post, which actually has a full translation!: https://jeredu.tumblr.com/post/136880537875/jeredu-spoilers-for-tales-of-destiny-for]

(track 1-08 Family) Next track takes place a year later and has Leon being the wunderkind beating everybody and being taken under Finley's wing. They've all got praise for him but are a little put off by him being so uptight. Late at night, Leon sneaks into Marian's room through her window because of the lecture he got about COMING HOME TOO OFTEN jfc. He's excited to tell Marian about officially working with the knights, and asks to dance with her. I think I skipped a bit. Leon only started trying to become a knight because Hugo told him to, so that he'd have a pawn within the castle to help further Oberon's goals. I think he moved out of the mansion after the last track to dedicate himself more fully to cementing his position there?? I'm probably wrong. But he's been a lot happier this way. Later that night, Chaltier tries to suggest that Leon just continues living like this and become a full fledged and honest knight instead of working for Hugo, because all of the generals seem to like him and are nice people. Buuuut Leon's already fallen asleep. Boo

(track 1-09 Nightmare) Next track has Leon and Finley talking and they think Greybaum's sus. They meet with Greybaum and Chal also thinks he's sus. That night, Leon has a nightmare where a man is telling him he can save Rutee. Except Leon doesn't know who Rutee is yet, or her name. The man is wearing a mask like the one from the mansion. It seems to be the real Hugo. He attacks Leon when he knocks his mask off I think?? and I guess Leon wakes up and is back at the mansion temporarily? I have no idea what's going on here but Hugo's not doing great and Leon rushes to his aid but Hugo basically tells him to gtfo his house again. I think real Hugo is fighting Mictlan, because Leon says something about Berserius. Belserius. Berselius. Fuck it. Scene change and Leon's at a tavern or something. The waitress fawns a bit, showing his good reputation has spread. Leon thinks about the nightmare and what the heck a Rutee is. Then he overhears some guy talking about a demonic lens hunter dude and the waitress is like oh nah you mean that girl Rutee? and Leon all but trips over himself to go violently interrogate the waitress. The guy she was talking to gets mad and tries to attack Leon and a fight starts. Finley shows up and slaps Leon and reprimands him and I think threatens him?? But Leon got the information he wanted out of the waitress.

(track 2-01 Masquerade) Next track. The villains talk stealing the Eye of Atamoni. A masquerade ball is held in Seinegald. Leon's all ready to be big bad security but Finley says he should blend in and dance. But he ain't got no fancy clothes! So Finley arranges to get him some fancy clothes. He's about to arrange for a partner too but Leon's like nah I got a girl for this and yoinks Marian up. She's worried she's not allowed to attend such a party, but Leon assures her she's part of the mission so it's fine. She tries to make excuses to not go but he shoots them all down. He sounds like he's having just oodles of fun on the carriage ride with her to the ball. He's laughing and smiling and it's just great. This moment is probably literally the happiest Leon will ever be in his entire life lol He… sneaks her in through the BACK DOOR and gets stopped by guards who ask who dis. And he says, "my partner" and they say they can't let randos in and he says NO SHE'S MY PARTNER and they say :/ that's not good enough bro, come on, and Marian takes his arm all suggestive like and says "What part of partner don't you understand ;)" and they let them in??? okay But Marian hasn't received her dress yet, so Leon's waiting for her to get dressed. And Chal teases him a bunch implying Leon's nervous to see her in her fancy dress. Leon tells him to shut up but Chal notes he's blushing really hard. But, Leon suddenly sees the masked man again, and this time Chal sees him too. Leon attacks but he disappears. He hears the voice and he's big mad 'cause he thinks he's being jerked around so he shouts a lot. Marian hears him shouting and rushes to him and real-Hugo goes whoops sorry about that I guess lmao and goes away. The ball gets into full swing and allll the girls are wowed by how pretty Leon's partner is. Marian says she feels awkward and Leon tells her she's beautiful, but she still doesn't think she should have come. He asks her to dance, she tries to make excuses not to, but he keeps asking, calling her "Lady" again like when they danced alone ;A; aaaa So they dance, and Leon is just so entranced and whispers that he wants to go far far away together to a place with only them, that's quiet and warm. He says something like he lost such a promised place inside of him a long time ago, but feels that it's also right there with her, and he's about to say something that MIGHT have been a confession, but they're interrupted by an attack and are separated. SO YEAH I'D SAY HIS FEELINGS FOR HER ARE PRETTY ROMANTIC. HOLY SHIT. I felt like I was listening to one of those listener-POV CDs where they do nothing but sweet-talk you, gosh. Whether his feelings are actually romantic or not, he's still just entirely fucking smitten with her. oh my god.

(track 2-02 Venomous Snake) Next track, I have no idea what's going on because I'm not familiar enough with all the villains' voices, but it's villain stuff. I think it's Greybaum mostly, and they're messing with King Isaac, the Phandalia King. And Greybaum is evil monologuing but Leon was hiding in the room and ambushes him. Hugo shows up before Leon can do any damage and something happens or is talked about, idk, villains get away. Leon's like what the fuck, dad, they tried to kill the king. Hugo says Isaac's spent too long in office and ain't doin his job right no more. So it's fiiine just let it go, besides, Graybaum's gonna be a useful tool. And the word "tool" sets Leon off 'cause it's always about tools with Hugo, and Hugo goes YEAH, A TOOL, A TOOL JUST LIKE YOU. I'VE BUILT HIM UP AND I'M TAKING ADVANTAGE OF HIM, JUST LIKE I DID TO YOUUUU. And he demands Leon apologize but Leon says no, he's done being Hugo's puppet, he's going to live for himself, he's not going to accept this shitty fate anymore, he's going to carve his own path and make a place for himself in Seinegald. And Hugo goes "Ohoho what silly thoughts Finley's put in your head. Sure, you could do all that, you could escape me no problem, you're good enough for it, but I wonder how Marian is doing~ Sure hope she's okay after getting separated from you. It's just such a scary world out there, you never know when or where such a fragile little thing like her could get got." So basically the ongoing threat on Marian's life has begun. It's not explicitly stated, but obviously the implication is that Leon could leave and take Marian with him, but Hugo will get to her one way or another. Then it's just 20 full seconds of Leon desperately calling and looking for Marian.

(track 2-03 Requiem) Next track, he finds Marian and clings to her and sobs in relief that she's okay. She says yeah it's okay I'm fine, but Leon just cries harder. Later after he's calmed down, he brings up that far away warm place he spoke about. He wonders where that could even be anymore. Probably somewhere further than the moon. He wonders if he can go there. Then it's very suddenly Finley's funeral. People are crying. The priest is praying. People are swearing vengeance. Hugo, Chaltier, and Finley's voice echo in Leon's head. Hugo coercing Leon into poisoning Finley. Chaltier asking him not to do it. Finley telling Leon they're alike in that they both lost their parents at birth. That he'd like for Leon to think of him as his father, because he thinks of Leon as his son, I think. Hugo reminding him where his place is, and that that's never going to change. Finley succumbing to the poison, in disbelief that it was Leon, and desperately asking why. Leon's sure he's never going to get to that place. Hugo and friends do some villain talk and make some snide remarks at Leon, and he just says it's fine. He's defeated at this point.

(track 2-04 Rutee) Next track has Leon on his way to Cresta to look for whoever Rutee is. Chaltier recognizes the name a little but doesn't remember. Rutee runs into him and runs away, but Chaltier recognizes Atwight on her back right away and they give chase. Rutee's giving gifts to the kids at the orphanage, is asked how she made the money for this and she's like "eehh I worked really hard :D" Chal finally remembers Rutee was the name Chris spoke of before she died and he's super excited that Leon's not all alone, that he still has his sister. But Leon just runs away. Chal's like what the fuck, where are you going, and Leon says it's been 15 years, so it doesn't matter, they're not family. Chal keeps trying to get him to go back to Rutee, insisting she must have been looking for her family for a long time, and that he should reach out to her. Leon admits that he's scared that Rutee won't accept him. Chal tells him that's stupid. Leon admits he's scared of Rutee also betraying him like Hugo did, and cries that he's truly all alone. The track ends.

(track 2-05 Flow of Fate) Next track, it's revealed Greybaum's theft of the Eye of Atamoni was actually not in the plan. He did that on his own and betrayed them. They plan for Leon to lead the investigation and gather the swordian users. Leon asks if Hugo knows who wields Atwight, and Hugo, like a fox, says mmmyessss. During Leon's first real meeting with Rutee, while she goes off on him, he's thinking to himself that he wishes he met her sooner, but he's too dirtied to face her for real by now. Chaltier insists to him that it's not too late, but Leon refuses. A bunch of scenes of Leon traveling with Stahn's group pass. Leon thinks about how Rutee has good friends and a home and family to return to, and feels even worse that he can't be happy for her. He hates himself for it, but he can't help it. Chaltier tells him he could become a part of her family. Leon says it'd be nice, since he's being shown such a warm place, but he can't escape his fate. More scenes pass, and Leon is moved by Stahn's resolve. He thinks maybe he was wrong about fate, because everyone is fighting. More scenes pass, and Leon is even moved by Batista and Greybaum, because they went against Hugo. Even if they couldn't win against their fates, they still tried. He's confused and doesn't know what to do, but Chaltier doesn't have answers for him. The only thing he knows he can do is protect Marian. The only reason he has to keep living is Marian.

It continues in the mines. Hugo and friends say they need to buy time to escape Stahn's group. He tells Leon to stall them as long as possible, and then detonate an explosive. Tells him exactly what will happen, down to the sea water flooding in. So Leon absolutely knows he's going to die if he agrees to do this. Leon asks to be alone with Marian, as his first and final request as Hugo's son. Marian observes that Leon doesn't want to go through with this. Leon says it's fine, he'll just do what he's told. He asks why Marian is here, why she's still a maid for Hugo. Marian answers it's because Hugo was trying to save the world, or whatever. She owes him a lot. So she'll do whatever she's told, too. Leon asks what'll happen if he dies. Marian says she'll probably never stop crying. Leon asks how much, for how long, because it's not possible to cry for him for her whole life. Says she'll probably cry for a bit, but eventually she'll meet someone he doesn't know, fall in love, get married, and have children, and she'll forget all about him, and then he'll truly be gone and not exist anymore. He'll disappear. Leon cries, really hard. He pulls himself together, apologizes, says she should go. She goes, but she calls after him that it was fun. That being with him was like a dream. He says quietly to himself that, yeah, it was like a dream to him, too. (The wording is different from the opening song! Important to note because the remake did a full on title drop in its climax. The opening song is 「夢であるように」, but the wording here is 「夢みたい」. But it's still probably a 100% intentional reference to the opening song.) [I cut off here because I previously summarized these two posts about the end of this track, which is an exchange with Chaltier: https://jeredu.tumblr.com/post/136997902840/i-dunno-if-its-possible-to-fall-in-love-with-a https://jeredu.tumblr.com/post/137057162215/checked-with-a-friend-who-knows-more-japanese-and]

[I yada-yada'd track 2-06 Father, Friend because I already summarized it previously based on this post: https://jeredu.tumblr.com/post/143045097730/i-finally-typed-up-a-summary-of-father-friend]

(track 2-07 -Epilogue- Yes, My Lady) In the final track, Rutee is visiting Marian. She asks Marian to live with her. Marian declines, saying she has to keep Emilio's room clean for him for when he comes back. Rutee says he's already gone, but Marian interrupts and asks Rutee to dance. She teaches her how to dance. She calls Rutee "My lady" like Leon did with her.

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May I just say, if Leon retained his character from the drama CD in the remake, he absolutely would have broken down crying after Stahn convinced him they could work together to save Marian. And maybe hugged him or held his outstretched hand with both of his. While crying. Drama CD Leon is a huge crybaby and I'm so here for him. I was disappointed he didn't get to cry through the remake.

And also that hot damn, Hikaru Midorikawa was allowed to emote SO MUCH MORE in the drama CD than in the entirety of the remake, not even counting all the crying he does.

#[ OH...information on proust...fascinating #wow leon really does spend a significant part of this in tears huh #my boy truly has a soft marshmallow heart under all that bluster #proust was always interesting but i've only listened to the 'emilio' track closely before and my understanding was limited #so it's great to see a full summary at last #thank you very much op ]#;unfinished world (information)

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unwaveringblade · 1 year ago

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Leon blinks, then blinks again – but the bewildering sight in front of him doesn't change, with remnants of the last broken boulder scattered all over the ground while a new one had already taken its place. These are the kinds of showy things that Chaltier used to do to entertain him, when he was a child, and it does resemble power of a seraphic origin. But...

He can definitely see Edna, though...?

"...If this is your idea of a joke, I'm not laughing." It can't be Edna. She's been visible to him from the very beginning, and he's never been able to see the seraphim before. There's clearly some gimmick at play here, even if he doesn't know what it is yet. Leon looks away, scanning their surroundings for any signs of abnormalities and listening carefully for signs of a third presence, but there's nothing save for the whistling of the cold mountain winds.

"Stop it with these cheap parlour tricks. I'm being serious, here." Still, there was something abnormal about those rocks just now. Could it be that... "Did you have the actual seraph help you with that just now?"

She doesn't even respond to that snappy remark, given how he already lets out some exasperated hiss noise, as if to control himself. Edna finds it a little funny, actually: how he is willing to put up with her antics just to know more about some seraph rumor he'd most likely heard from the grapevine. It must mean a lot to him. After all, only very few people come here these days.

When they finally reach the shrine, though, P-eon is the one who approaches it first, overtaking her speed to march ahead. Edna is still calm, stopping behind him as he examines the shrine before he turns to frown at her. ❛ Of course, I have, ❜ she replies, rolling her eyes. Looking around, Edna closes her umbrella and walks towards a boulder her height near the shrine, making sure he is watching. ❛ In fact, ❜ she continues, lifting up a finger and letting it hover just about a centimeter away, ❛ you're talking to the seraph right now, P-eon. ❜

With that said, Edna channels her powers through her body, sending it to her hand, through her finger as she casually pokes the boulder. Upon contact, it immediately starts crumbling into pieces. As extra insurance, she lightly stomps the ground and creates a new boulder in the place of the destroyed one, dusting off her hands.

Facing him again, Edna feigns a courteous bow. ❛ I know. Impressive. Save your applause. ❜

#[ help im starting to feel some kind of second hand embarrassment on leons behalf asdjifoafsfd #the way hes gonna wanna kick himself after this... ]#ednaeflowers

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unwaveringblade · 1 year ago

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okies, i've managed to clear out my drafts~! if i still haven't responded to you, then i must've lost the thread, so please give me a poke <3

#outofduty #[ going on a trip so clearing things out before i leave~ ]

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unwaveringblade · 1 year ago

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Ah, so Yuri had been a former knight. That would certainly explain how much he knew about both sides, though it also raises more questions on exactly what had been bad enough to cause him to quit the organization in the first place. Yuri had already alluded to some general reasons for the people's dissatisfaction with the knights, but there's still a lot of details lurking beneath the surface. And if Leon's to be stationed here until further notice, he might as well take the time to understand them.

Still, he can't help wrinkling his nose at Yuri's next suggestion for a tavern. Leon had passed by plenty of those along the street, and they were no different from their counterparts in Darilsheid – that is to say, loud and boisterous, filled with rowdy drunkards who would inevitably fail to walk in a straight line and get in other people's way. It's far from the kind of meeting place that Leon would consider pleasant, but...

"It could be fun!" Chal pipes up. "You've just been working since you arrived, young master! Why not relax for a night?"

"That hardly sounds like a relaxing place, Chal," Leon mutters. He speaks quietly out of the corner of his mouth, mindful of Yuri's presence but too accustomed to speaking with Chal to hold back from responding. His left hand drifts down, brushing lightly against the swordian's hilt. "But...fine."

Chal must be curious about seeing new places and Yuri sounds like he had useful information to share, so he might as well go. Leon inclines his head into a stiff nod.

"Very well. Lead the way, and I will follow."

"Well, I don't know the identities of all the knights. I used to be in the knights and left, but... I still lived in the capitol that the knights are supposed to protect. Now I'm kind of a part time resident of three different locations. I live in the capitol, Zaphias, in the Lower Quarter where I was born and raised, in Dahngrest for the guild I'm with, and Aurnion which is... basically a place for both of them to try to live together."

For someone unfamiliar it was probably already a lot to take in, so he spared the detail about there technically being another guild city unrelated to Dahngrest. In general Zaphias currently seemed to have less to do with Nordopolica anyway, and Yuri did at least have an idea of Leon's duties here mostly involving Dahngrest. Ioder would be emperor soon, but boy did he know how to talk. It probably had to do with how excited he was to have what he considered friends, but he really had basically no filter about imperial information with Yuri.

"I kind of come from both sides, I guess you could say... and even though the guilds are more my style and fit my lifestyle better, it's not like I'm unfamiliar with a good handful of knights both from my time there and from living in Zaphias. I don't like taking sides unless I absolutely have to, but that really depends if one side is really in the wrong." Sometimes they were, but... often it was as simple and sometimes stupid as a difference in opinion. All he needed to do was break up fighting.

Thankfully it worked, since people were starting to recall him as the last person who spoke directly to Don before the man's death. Being close to Raven also had a hand in people looking at Yuri as more of an authority figure than he actually was. The rest of it was likely just his demeaner. If he felt the need to appear imposing, it wasn't like he was incapable.

He watched as Leon paced, taking note of how everything he'd talked about so far had been tied to his work. Either he was one of those, or something was bothering him... or, well, both. Something about Leon came across to Yuri as... tense. "Do you... want to go to a tavern or something and talk more? I really doubt those guys will just turn around and come back to fight the moment we're gone. I've actually got a job I've gotta start tomorrow, and it might be a good idea to talk to you about particulars if you're here to observe the empire's knights and the guilds."

#[ ah yes...'one of those'#the way yuri immediately recognizes leon as one of those all-business workaholics LMAO ]#bravewolfvesperia

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unwaveringblade · 1 year ago

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"This isn't a matter of obligation! It's common courtesy to refer to other people by their correct name." Which is...actually kind of like an obligation, depending on how you think about it. Leon scrunches up his nose and lets out another frustrated hissing sound between his teeth, but there's very little he can do as the girl continues to saunter up the mountain at a leisurely pace.

...It's just for a little while longer. He just has to check out the place to any hints of Chal's presence, and then he can leave this infuriating girl behind. Even her self-introduction is hardly any information at all, so Leon settles for a glare and a huff as he finally catches sight of a small shrine further up the hill. He quickens his pace, overtaking Edna so he can take a look for himself.

It's...a pretty sad looking place, honestly. If this shrine had worshipers or visitors, then it must not have been recent or frequent, which kind of makes sense based on how desolate this whole mountain looks. Leon frowns as he turns back towards Edna.

"...Is this it? It looks deserted." She must be the only person weird enough to come here on a regular basis. "Have you ever observed actual signs of a seraph in this place?"

Edna watches him from her peripheral vision, then fights back a disappointed sigh. Great, he doesn't even have much on hand to offer. Guess she won't be getting that apple today until later whenever he leaves—if he will even leave, that is. It's no real problem for her anyway—whether she eats or not—but he's human, and every human needs food eventually. Then again, he seems to have an attitude problem and is rather stubborn... Joy. At least he's good at entertainment.

❛ Okay, P-eon, ❜ she casually replies, all too accustomed to people nagging her. Meebo does that waaay too much already, so she is very prepared for whatever P-eon can dish at her. She leisurely continues walking, pleased to hear the irritated stomps of gravel behind her. Not even Meebo stomped whenever she annoyed him. Ha. ❛ You're not my father, so I'm not obligated to listen to you, though. ❜

Edna leads them up the trail, keeping an eye out for the shrine. Maybe once they get there, she can finally put him out of his misery and make him see just how deep the hole he dug for himself really is? How fast would he switch tunes then? Hm...

❛ Edna. I'm just a local lady who is taking her daily nature walk. ❜ And checking the mountain for any weird people like you. ❛ Satisfied now, P-eon? ❜

#[ you know what would be hilarious #if edna discloses her identity to him now...im not sure if leon would believe her... 😂😂😂#he's already labeled her weird mountain girl (that he can see! therefore human) in his head LOL ]#ednaeflowers

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unwaveringblade · 1 year ago

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"It's not the same with Chal!" Leon protests, his own voice rising as he shouts back at the invisible seraph. "You don't know him at all, he's–"

–Not like that. Chal isn't like that. But it's true that Chal had just up and vanished without warning one day, without telling him anything, so maybe he doesn't know Chal as well as he'd thought. As quickly as the thought arrives, Leon dismisses it again. None of that matters, not when he's finally so close. There's no use for speculation when he'll be able to get the answer from Chal's own mouth, soon enough.

Still, it's a problem if the seraph doesn't want to give him more information – but then, help arrives from an unlikely place, as the mute cook steps in between them. Leon blinks, not having expected him to offer his help so easily, and without asking for anything in return. Maybe he's waiting until the job is done to make his own request? But even that would be more than fair for a favour fulfilled, and he can't let this lead escape no matter what. Leon nods quickly.

"Yes– yes, that's perfect fine. Thank you." He can't help wondering what the catch is, but that isn't important right now. Leon's eyes drift from the man's friendly smile to the empty space beside him, and repeats, "Thank you."

Even if the young seraph still sounds reluctant, it doesn't matter so long as she's agreed. Now, with that sorted out, Leon is left with an increasing awareness of the noise they'd made and the number of heads peering their way with an mixture of curiosity and irritation. He flushes slightly and ducks his head, clearing his throat as he looks back at the cook.

"My apologies. I'll...go wait outside until you're finished with work."

Oops... Her pleas went too deep into details, name dropping the city. And just as she thought, first thing this guy wanted to do is appeal to it. Humans who didn't know better always wanted to try being the one who manages the impossible and get eaten!

"No! You're being stupid!" Elle shouted back. "Once someone's a dragon, even family's just dinner or a bug to squish! That's why Shalltier ran away-- he knew he'd hurt or eat you! So be a good friend, respect his wishes and go back home--!"

'Let's not make a scene please! (｡╯︵╰｡)' Ludger stepped in between them with his plea. While they couldn't hear Elle, Leon's excitement already turned a fair share of heads their way. Any more commotion, and they might kick him and Chal's friend both out. 'How about us three go find Chaltier after work? You trust my judgment right?'

"No way! You know how mad Glasses Guy'll be if I take you?! I'm not making him angry for some weirdo in denial!" Elle puffed her chest, turning the other cheek. Though when she glanced at Ludger's pleading smile, she sighed, "...Fine. I'll lead, and you follow Ludger, mister. But we're all gonna run once you see we're right!"

Normally Ludger'd correct Elle's snippy comment, yet he just tried to fight an embarrassed silent chuckle. She was right; he couldn't let a civilian fight a dragon and call himself a Kresnik. Especially against one that torched his brother, the toughest person he knew... For now, he'd hope either reason or the man's blind faith paid off.

'Okay with you, sir? Promise we'll pull our weight! d( ᐖ )人d( ᐛ )b'

#[ ludger immediately gets +20 points of goodwill from leon #for being so willing to help him LOL ]#ofstarsandskies

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unwaveringblade · 1 year ago

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The girl glances back at a fancy-looking manor and, briefly, Leon wonders if he should inquire further to make sure that she has parental permission to leave, or something. But then he dismisses the thought. If the girl thought it was fine to leave, then it isn't really any of his business - she made the choice to tag along on her own, and that's that.

And so he falls in step with her as they proceed down the road. "I've been to Barona once before," he answers. "It was during a local celebration, I believe. Some kind of holiday. There was an event that was...short on people," his nose scrunches up a bit. That embarrassing costumed performance is far from Leon's fondest memory, and he definitely doesn't want to do it again, but... "I lent them my assistance and Richard was facilitating the event, so I became acquainted with him."

He doesn't really know that much about Richard, in the end, but the other man had always been pleasant enough company, and it seemed like natural to seek him out if Leon was to learn more about this foreign country. This girl, though...

"...Ah, that's right." He still hadn't introduced himself. Leon inclines his head in a stiff, formal motion. "My name is Leon Magnus. I'm a knight from the Kingdom of Seinegald."

Tall, blond, and brown-eyed... yep, that was Richard through and through! Sophie nodded eagerly, pigtails bobbing up and down a little bit with her head movement.

"That's him!" She smiled. It seemed fate had brought her and Leon together for a reason. Or maybe it was just coincidence that the two of them knew Richard. She was curious about how they'd met. Was it before or after she, Asbel, and the others had met him. Only one way to find out.

"Thank you," Sophie told him. She was excited to get to see Richard again. When Leon asked if she was able to leave on such short notice. For a moment, Sophie glanced back toward Lhant manor. Cheria and Asbel probably wouldn't mind. After all, they knew Sophie was perfectly capable of protecting herself if she were to get in danger. Plus, Leon would be with him. Although her friends didn't know Leon, Sophie didn't get the impression that they would think he was a bad person. If she trusted him, then her friends probably would have too.

"I can," she answered. "Barona isn't too far, even with the ferry trip. So it should be all right."

"I'm ready to go when you are," she told him. In fact, she'd already started to take a couple of steps in the direction they needed to go. She had to admit, though, she was curious.

"When did you meet Richard?"

#[ it's good that this is post-part 1 tod leon...he's got enough character development to be courteous with sophie #bless sophie's cinnamon roll heart. it's good for leon to spend more time with ppl like her =w= ]#talesofourworlds

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unwaveringblade · 1 year ago

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pretend to be someone my muse knows ! on anon, send a message from someone my muse knows. could be a family member, a lover, a friend, an enemy … or, you could even send a secret message from your own muse !

leave clues as to who it’s from, be completely anonymous, or just sign off as them.

#[ ooh 👁️ ]#;memes

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unwaveringblade · 1 year ago

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Up to them? ...Right, this place leaves matters of individual guild members up to the guild itself. Just thinking about it made Leon's head ache. Going along these lines, maybe it was a blessing in disguise that he hadn't arrived first, because Leon would likely have acted on his own habits and tried to arrest all the people involved regardless of which guild they did or didn't belong to. Things could've gotten ugly, if that were the case, but trusting all these scattered guilds to 'handle their own' felt like appeal to the blindly optimistic. Who's to say that they won't be back in a couple days, filled with even more bluster in the name of 'standing up for their own' and whatnot?

...Still, he's just a foreign knight on a temporary exchange program. Far be it for him to tell these people how to run their country.

Plus, it seems that some of them had still had their head screwed on straight. Despite his rather infamous reputation, Yuri Lowell had shown himself to be reasonable, pragmatic, and clearly have a good grasp on all the local politics. Maybe he'll prove to be a good source of information as well.

"You seem to 'know some guys' on both sides of this squabble. An unusual case, when most of them can hardly stand to be in the same room as one another." What Yuri is saying now appeared to be a more moderate position than most of the ones Leon tended to hear, and Yuri had just referred to this as his home, still, so... Leon tilts his head a little, genuinely curious. "Hm. Does it not feel like contradictory loyalties? Which side do you take, when the two comes into conflict?"

As he talks, Leon circles their immediate surroundings again, if only in hopes of identifying the knights involved in this conflict and grilling them for info later. But there's not much more to take note of aside from some overturned carts and minor property damage, and the people directly involved are long gone. After a moment's deliberation, he turns back to Yuri.

"And, as a witness to the fight that broke out...I don't suppose you'll give me a description of the knights who were involved?"

Yuri almost sighed at the wording used. Without breaking the law? Did someone somewhere go spouting some nonsense about him to the new guy? By now he probably had a... reputation, but it wasn't that bad. ...Okay maybe sometimes it was. But that kind of thing always involved some kind of scum that used their positions and/or riches to evade the law. A small thing like this wasn't something he needed to go to particularly great lengths for.

Still, it was really none of Leon's business if he broke the law here. It was an almost... interesting dedication to his role as a knight. These lands were not his home, nor were the people his own. Theoretically, he could just watch everything fall apart and not even get involved if he deemed it necessary. Considering his position, he doubted that anyone in Seinegald would truly blame him if he chose to walk away when things were in the middle of falling apart. But then, wasn't almost everything almost always falling apart around here?

"Honestly, I couldn't really tell you if it's resolved or not. That's up to them. It's also up to the guild one of them is part of to deal with their own guy." That said, it could... get worse if the guy's guild felt an even bigger fight was necessary. Some problems did escalate if one person in a guild was involved, usually because it was "one of their own" involved in the first place. As much as it was a matter of pride for some guilds, it became a much more sticky problem if it was related to the knights and not another guild.

Granted, the fact that Leon showed up at all was a good enough sign, he supposed. Yuri's initial impression of him was far more aloof, perhaps even detached from having any duty here. Not that he would blame him, considering how stupidly crazy things has been since Yuri himself left the capital to begin with. He wasn't sure what kind of impression Leon could or would leave on their own knights, but he hoped it was a good one - preferably the completely opposite direction Alexei had been leading them.

"If something goes wrong with the guilds though, I'll try to talk sense into them. Worst case scenario I know a guy who can. I'm kind of in a... weird position, technically being a resident of the capital while being in a guild, but so is the guy I can talk to about it. Normally people from guilds have more or less abandoned their right to being an imperial citizen, and the ones who were born only ever knowing the guilds couldn't care less about the capital anyway. I guess I don't really have it in me to go that far when it concerns my own home, but I don't want to see the guilds keep making themselves look like total pricks just to prove a point for what they stand for. I agree with their reasons for not wanting to be part of the capital, but that does no good if they're gonna go about it like this."

#[ finally getting to this one asjidfosaf ty for your patience ]#bravewolfvesperia

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unwaveringblade · 1 year ago

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Already left–! Great, so he'd been speaking to the empty air like a fool. Leon's head swings towards the kitchen doors, but it's not like he can see anything either way; in the end, he can only wait for the cook to return, hopefully with the seraph in tow. There's a familiar frustration brewing in his chest again, a fervent wish of if I had just a little more resonance, if I could just see them–

He takes a deep breath, and tries to smooth out his expression as he sees the cook returning with one hand held out in a slightly unnatural position, as if floating in the midair. And there's that young voice again, audible even past the rest of the crowd's chatter. Leon rises to his feet, prepared to apologize again if it meant getting on the seraph's good side, only for her to volunteer the information freely.

However, it's not the information he'd hoped to hear.

"A...dragon?" He'd heard warnings about those – terrible, unstoppable monsters, as tall as a mountain and mindless ravagers of everything in their path. But it's impossible to reconcile those stories with the cheerful Chaltier he'd known, and for a moment, Leon's mind simply goes blank. "T-That's..." Numbly, he shakes his head. "That's impossible. What do you mean, Chal's turned into a..."

He can't even say it. Frantically, Leon runs over the other information the seraph's voice had provided and while he doesn't recognize any of the numerous names, he does recognize a location.

"Chal's in Hyland, then. Close to Ladylake?" And with that he's already in motion, half-turning around as if to take off at that very moment. Even as he hears the seraph's frantic plea, it mostly goes in one ear and out the other as most of his attention had already shifted to figuring out the most likely places to look. "Lady seraph, please tell me exactly where you saw him. Chal would never hurt me!"

It's not just blind bravado; one look at Leon's expression will show that he really does believe what he's saying. "I've known him since I was a child. If I can just talk to him, then...!"

Ah, the man had the resonance to hear Seraphim. Good, that saved him convincing he wasn't pulling the ultimate prank. Though not seeing her leave meant giving the awkward news, 'That's right. Already left to kitchen. Always storms off when she's mad ε-(‐ω‐；)'

When it became clear they were abandoned, attention shifted back to him. Ludger only had time to ready his pen for the first question when more questions came. But when his excitement died down he explain his interest: he wanted to find his Seraph friend, Chaltier. The name didn't ring any bells, but Ludger spent his time in kitchens, not crowds. Elle though... She wandered off often, so maybe....?

Ludger held up his index finger, then bowed and left to the kitchen. He came out not long after, completely empty-handed... or did he? His hand was grasping onto something and swinging around on its own. And the faint whispers about Table 3 eating food off the floor followed him to Leon's table without his mouth moving.... Was it--

"Oh, this guy again," No doubt about it anymore, the little Seraph returned, thrilled to be here. "He didn't make you come get me, did he? I don't talk to jerks!"

'Don't be like that! (´∩｀。) He apologized after you left! And he didn't "make me"! I'm helping him find his friend Chaltier. Know him?'

"Shall-tier... I think so, but..." Elle recognized the name, but Innominat help her where from. Repeating it in her head while doing a Julius impression got her closer, yet why him in particul-- Oh.

"I got bad news, mister... Shalltier turned into a dragon," Elle didn't normally cry in front of strangers, but him lacking the resonance to see her did help her feel better about it. "Glasses Guy and I found him right before he turned. We tried to help, but he needed Milla or Icksley to cure him. He didn't hurt me, b-but Glasses Guy... I-I had to drag him to Ladylake before he died!"

Ludger's eyes blew up; this was why Elle and Julius went missing for a week?! His brother told him bad weather hit and stalled the trip! Figures, he lied so he wouldn't worry.

"So even if Shalltier's your friend, don't try to find him anymore!" Elle kept pleading. "If you go near him, he'll hurt you too!"

#[ leon's going through the mother of all mood whiplashes rn LOL ]#ofstarsandskies

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