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Coughs from the usual energetic Sylvain echoed across the room as soon as Felix opened up the door to his dorm room. He almost shut the door again, but he owed his friend one after he supported him after a rather vile round of food poisoning the other month. The near-retreat did not escape the red-head’s eyes though, even if his shape was everything but fine.
“I swear, if you make me sick, I’ll kill you.” Felix grumbled as he kicked a chair next to Sylvain’s bed and sat down. The sweet scent of chicken soup comforted the red-head, who did his best to sit up despite his current state.
“Who’s going to take care of you then, if I’m dead?” He tried to joke, only to get scoffed at straight away. As he was about to open his mouth once more, a spoonful of soup stopped him from speaking further. It made Sylvain feel at ease however; it was the best form of love and care he could ever hope to receive from his pal.
Because he knew how much Felix cared about all of them. The soup smelled much better than it tasted, so there was no doubt who had cooked it, just for him .
“People’ll think you are sulking about your brother, you know.” Felix spoke while feeding Sylvain with a rather forceful technique.
“What a timing to get sick… what is wrong with you? Ingrid thought you were dying when you just passed out during stable duties. Heck, even His Boarness was showing concern for you. He believed a lady had put poison in your meal-”
“Felix, it wasn’t a choice of mine…” Sylvain let out a small chuckle, before slipping under the warm blankets and getting comfortable once more.
“...Then again, I wonder if this is one last laugh from Miklan… I was the one who…”
He swallowed, and felt another roll of coughs approaching. Indeed, it felt like a curse from his brother, but it was what he deserved, was it not? His lance was what ended that monster’s life in the end.
“His pride wouldn’t let you perish from that kind of thing… I mean, uh, never mind...” Felix blinked, looking up for a brief moment in thought. Why was that memory suddenly returning? That day, back then...
“...” Sylvain kept his attention at him. Even if his head was killing him, he still knew how to adapt to the situation at hand, thanks to the continuous muder attempts by his older brother.
“Tell me a bedtime story, Felix.”
“Excuse me?” Felix squinted and raised an eyebrow at the red-head, who gave him a soft smile back. The smile that told him that he already knew a tale was in Felix’s mind, and he wanted to know all about it. He repeated his request, implying that the other had no choice but to oblige.
“...Fine. I suppose it won’t hurt to let you hear about it now.” Only because he was owing him that right.
The young boy walked around the palace with puffed cheeks. This was the fifth time this week that his older brother had shut him out of the training hall, and it was not like his father would be of any assistance. He even brought along his training sword this time, and yet, Dimitri did not want to let him join either--!
The stupid Prince who kept stealing Glenn from him every single time they went for a visit, which was every day…!
He knew the Gautier was in the palace today too. He had seen his father speak with one of them earlier, so his friend had to be somewhere! Sylvain was nice, because he always said yes to play, even if they did get scolded a lot for walking far beyond the castle gardens during their little playtimes. The excitement to head out and discover something new was still not enough to calm down his pout, however. Hearing the servants giggle over how cute he was did not help for the little one who was in a very sour mood.
Felix had to wander for quite some time in the gardens until he finally managed to spot the familiar tufts of red hair around a corner. The owner of said hair was leaning against one of the pillars, arms crossed and gaze towards the castle gates. The boy snickered, and snuck up right behind Sylvain to do a sneak attack - a true traditional greeting in Faerghus.
However, as he raised his wooden sword and leaped up for an attack, he didn’t meet the warm eyes of Sylvain at all. Instead, his wooden sword got sliced in half by a spear, and cruel, terrifying eyes stared right into his own pure ones. The boy let out a gasp, and as the counterattack was unexpected, he fell onto the ground.
“OUFF--!” He lost his breath from the sudden impact for only a mere seconds, because he wouldn’t remain on the ground for long; before he knew it, a hand was clasped over his mouth and he was hoisted off someplace else.
It was then the horror struck him:
This wasn’t Sylvain.:
It was Miklan.
The moment he was put down, he tried to recollect himself to get away. Sylvain had told him all the awful things Miklan had told him or done to him. The elders spoke nothing but ill about him as well, and even Glenn said he would never face someone as vile as him in a duel. Someone who wanted his own brother dead was no man worthy of a fair duel, he would say.
He took his first step, only to be held back. It only made the panic rise, and he could recall the terrifying things his father would whisper about Miklan.
“Stay, just, stay. You need to stay, kid, don’t run-” the words were hushed and desperate, as if someone was tailing them. Felix stopped at once, feeling how the hand holding him back was shivering.
“...” He turned his head to face him. What he saw wasn’t anything like what the others had told him; in fact, he appeared as if he was about to tear up from fear. That did not seem usual at all, especially considering that this was someone who wanted to get rid of their own blood.
“I’ll get killed if you scream, understood, ki- uh, Felix? ” Miklan tried to smile, however his lips twisted into a grimace. There was absolutely no doubt that he knew very well who this little brat was. No, they both knew very well who the other was; and that was exactly why Felix stood up straight, took a deep breath, and crossed his arms. In fact, the boy got a brilliant idea.
“Then take me to town.” He said, copying that serious look Glenn would have whenever he said something cool. Miklan blinked, staring back at the now confident looking little kid.
“...Why in the name of the Goddess would I-” Miklan stopped his words when he saw Felix take a huge breath, and only a squeak got out before he managed to clasp his hand over that little bug’s mouth.
“Fine fine, we will go to town! But don’t think I’ll buy you any candy or whatever. I don’t get shit from my family since I’m nothing but dirt.” He grumbled, letting go of the boy once more.
“I hate sweets. I just want to go to town for once.” Felix began to walk with a focused pout, but once again Miklan reached out his hand and had a hold onto the boy, this time it was his shoulder.
“Wait, you little… Ugh, listen, we need to wear hoods then. People will send me to a prison cell if they see me with the heir of the Fraldarius.” After all, the rumors that he was a kidnapper and murdered children were already floating around thanks to the well incident only a moon ago. Felix’s head turned once more, the pout still in place.
“Then let go of me. I can’t pull it up otherwise.” Miklan’s annoyance with the brat only rose, and he couldn’t believe this idiotic situation he was stuck in thanks to that snobby kid and his attack. This wasn’t his fault even; it was all on the dumb child.
“You’ll still have to follow my lead, you du- Felix. We’ll need to go by horse…” Miklan’s eyes rolled as he gestured for the little one to bounce after him towards the stables. Just the journey to the nearby town would be the true punishment from the divine Goddess herself, he thought...
Yet, the journey to the town nearby was not as bad as he had thought. The boy suddenly lightened up, talking about the little things they saw on the forest path, such as the birds chirping and flying around them, the flowers peeking up around their path and the fresh scent of spring arising made Miklan feel almost nostalgic…
Nostalgic of a time where it was only him, and no Crest was in the way of the attention put on him.
Felix looked up on the older Gautier as they rode too. Seeing what was described as a villain have sorrow visibly in his eyes made him wonder if Miklan truly was as evil as the adults described him as. After all, Sylvain did not once call his brother bad, he said he understood why he did the mean things towards him.
He opened his mouth to ask him about something, but quickly stopped when their gazes met once more. The little one quickly turned his head forward, blushing slightly out of embarrassment. He was a warrior, but to stare at someone was still not something a warrior would do--!
Miklan did spot the increased colour of red on the boy’s cheeks, and couldn’t help but feel slightly amused by it. He’d heard the Crest-boy speak of this Felix and how he was like a typical little brother. That fact was proving to be true alright.
Just as he was about to give the little one a teasing pat on the head, there was a screech coming from deeper in the forest. Both boys turned their attention towards the direction of the scream. Felix looked up at Miklan, expecting him to get ready to ride in said direction--
However, he could only remain still. The older one was frozen on the spot, but his clenched fists were showing his true feelings on the matter: he wanted to go, it was a part of him, but if he did, people would just misunderstand and--
“WE GOTTA GO!!!” Felix yelled at him while trying to grasp a hold of the reins. The way his horse suddenly rocked made Miklan snap out of any restrained and he sent a quick nod to Felix before commanding his horse to gallop forward.
The boy knew to hold onto the mane of the horse to not fall off, as their new path was anything but clean of obstacles. Branches, fallen over trees, rocks and other disturbances tried to stop them from continuing, however the three knew there was no time to slow down. There was yet another shriek, closer this time, clearly by a lady of sorts.
As the horse did one last leap over a tree trunk, a young lady in a now torn dress was holding back a man in a hood, possibly a thief. He was already holding a sword, so there was no doubt who was the criminal.
“HALT!!!” Miklan called out, already getting a hold of his own lance. The thief let out words a kid should never have the displeasure of hearing, before dashing off in high speeds. The lady fell to her knees, both in shock and relief that she was saved from the brink of death. Miklan got down from his steed first to get to her. The Goddess actually blessed them this very afternoon, since their hoods would conceal their identity. Miklan held out his hand and assisted the woman with getting up on her two feet.
“Oh, the Goddess heard my calls-!” She smiled ever so gently towards the Gautier, a smile that had not been sent in his direction in years. He shook his head, and told her to hurry to safety. The sounds of bells from town was chiming nearby, so they both knew she would be fine on her own.
“But, please, take these!” She handed over a basket to Miklan. Felix couldn’t quite catch the rest of the conversation as he was busy trying to get off the horse without falling off, but he heard the lady laugh and telling them to have safe travels before heading in the direction of town. Which meant they did something goo--
He was grabbed before he could plummet to the ground once more. Miklan let out a groan, now that the unfortunate lady was out of hearing range.
“Your father will grow suspicious if you turn blue all over, you stupid brat…” He grumbled while putting down the boy onto a tree trunk. Felix could only blink, surprised over how gentle the so-called evil monster was supposed to be. He sat down next to him, opening up the basket…
...only to find a bunch of pastries.
“...” the two boys stared at them, then at each other. A snort, a chuckle, and a laugh shared between the two of them. After all that, all they got was something neither enjoyed.
“We can give them to someone else, I guess.” Felix giggled while Miklan picked up a couple of buns and handed one to the little one.
“At least we won’t have to go to town to steal something for you now.” He took a bite of the baked goods, not noticing how Felix was sending him a glare for even thinking about doing such a thing. After a couple of nibbles, however, it didn’t go unnoticed.
“What?”
“You’re really not as bad as the adults say.” Felix began to pout once more while taking his first nibble into the treat. At least it wasn’t overly sweet.
“Adults? You mean Sylvain, right?” Miklan turned his gaze towards his black steed who was enjoying some fresh grass after a rather wild workout.
“No, he doesn’t call you bad… he just says you do a lot of bad things. Because of his Crest, he says…” Felix looked down onto the pastry in his hand. Quality made, but he recognized it from the bakery in town. The lady had not baked this herself, so she was obviously some noble or something.
“...” Miklan kept his attention forward. He swallowed, unable to really respond to that. It was no secret that he did desire to get rid of his own brother due to all he had robbed from him -- but to hear that he wasn’t called bad despite that…
“You know, you’re kind of like Glenn! He’s also grumpy and calls me a brat a lot since I want to train with him but he doesn’t allow me to.” Felix crossed his arms and allowed his gaze to turn towards the black steed as well.
“Because you’re tiny and annoying?” This time, Miklan was able to look at the weird child, snorting a bit at how pissed he looked.
“Dimitri is the same age as me, but he always trains with him anyway! Even Ingrid gets to train with him! But he never wants to spar with me…” It was pretty easy to guess what the little one was implying, especially with how his gaze was slowly moving up to meet Miklan’s.
“...You know I’m-”
“Not with a sword! Can’t you be my training partner, Miklan? We can meet in this forest every moon and have a duel!” Felix bounced up on the tree trunk and began to glow. Finally, he would have someone to spar with, something to work towards, since his brother never wanted to.
“We can’t. If I succeed, you’ll be partially why, Felix.” Miklan stood up and made his way towards his horse. Felix’s gaze turned downwards, knowing very well what that meant. He let out a small sigh in defeat.
“...Then I’ll train so you’ll never be able to succeed, Miklan. Sylvain wants us to not die on each other, so I’ll have to grow stronger to protect him.” Felix’s head bounced up again, and his eyes looked more resolute than ever. This was it, a new goal they could both agree on. This whole conversation was so backwards and ironic…
...Yet, Miklan found a strange fulfillment about it. A purpose of sorts, even if that meant kicking a small kid’s sweet little bottom.
“...” Sylvain’s eyes were wide as Felix finished the tale. That wasn’t exactly how the receiver of a bedtime story was supposed to look at the end of it, but he could understand it.
“We made it home safe and sound after that. You, Glenn and Dimitri all let me play with you after that, so I handed over that basket to his Boarness afterwards.” He began to stand up. Sylvain let out a soft chuckle.
“The basket that our dear Highness brought along to the academy? We had a pretty good time that evening with those pastries, from what I can remember. We sat outside on a blanket from His Majesty’s bedroom too, remember?” Felix could sense the smile from Sylvain from behind.
“...Perhaps. So sleep, or Miklan’s efforts to get rid of you would’ve been for nothing.”
Felix made his way out of the room in a rush. It was strange how that moment lingered in his mind, especially after seeing the one who once kept him safe and sound during a wild horse ride through the forests of Faerghus turn into a horrifying monster right before their eyes.
But what he feared the most, was to see his friend’s true reaction to it all. To let him know that indeed, his brother had a human, caring side, and that he wasn’t the monster he wanted him to be ever since he got disowned from the family.
Had Miklan been granted the Crest, the people of Faerghus would have spoken of a very different person.