Chapter Text
Jeralt sat by the fire, cleaning his blade while his men went around and made fools of themselves. They had just finished setting up camp for the night to take a break before continuing on to the closest village. The men were celebrating a mission well done by taking swigs of some poor guys secret stash of whiskey and overall just being loud.
Typical.
Jeralt didn’t consider himself a full on hypocrite for judging them. He was well aware could drink and yell with the best of them. Those activities though, could wait until they were in town at a proper indoor establishment where everyone had their own cup of beer to chug.
And well, maybe the completely honest reason why he wasn’t partaking in any of the festivities was because Byleth had gone off their own a little while ago to fish and hadn’t come back yet. The sun was only just beginning to set, there was a least another hour before it would be completely dark, so there wasn’t any real reason to worry.
Byleth was a responsible kid, perhaps way more responsible than a ten year old ought to be if Jeralt was being honest. Strange as it is, it was convenient to have an oddly responsible kid when your job happened to be a traveling mercenary so Jeralt figures he shouldn’t complain too much. He trusts Byleth to come back before it was dark, safe and sound with some good catches,
What Jeralt had not expected was Byleth coming back carrying a little girl on his back and presenting it to him the same way he would have presented a trout.
“Err, kid...who exactly is that?”
“Madison.” Byleth says, tone flat as ever as they lay the little girl down next to the fire. Close enough to get warm but not close enough to get burned, Jeralt couldn’t help but notice. Smart kid.
“Huh.” Jeralt hums, looking at the little girl. It was a weird name, definitely not a popular one in Fodlan at least.
Little Madison was flithy, soaked with mud tangled into her hair so badly it was impossible to tell what color it was, and she was so thin, it wasn’t any wonder how Byleth could have carried her for so long. Soaking weight she looked like she weighed only 30 pounds. She looked rough, scratches all over her, almost as if…
Almost as if she had been bouncing around in a river. Jeralt scratched his head, did his son really catch a little girl fishing? He shook his head deciding he didn’t even want to ask.
Jeralt was pulled out of this musing by a tug on his sleeve, standing there was Byleth looking as serious as ever. He tilts his head towards the girl.
“Watch her.” It was stated bluntly, and if it were anyone else it could have been mistaken as a simple demand, but Jeralt could hear the faint hint of a question in Byleth’s voice.
“I can look over her for you.” But you better not just ditch me with her, Jeralt keeps the last part to himself as he watches Byleth scurry over to his tent.
What were they to do this this child though? They could just drop her off at the nearest village. Jeralt stroked his chin as he considered the idea. Drop the kid off, rack up a bar tab at whatever waterhole they had to offer, and then leave and never come back. Sounded like the perfect plan.
Those thoughts died as he watched Byleth come back over to them, his own blanket in hand. He covered up Madison, gently tucking the blanket underneath her chin.
The thing about Byleth was that he was a strange kid. Not very emotional that one, and it was hard to say how much of that was due to being raised with mercenaries and how much of it was due to his own special circumstances. Maybe having someone closer to his own age around would do him some good. Jeralt doubted this particular little girl had anyone looking for her, he spotted the bruises peeking out from her clothes. Not to mention if she really had been found in a river.
That interaction with the blanket, Jeralt shook his head. Maybe his dearly departed wife was onto something when she insisted on having multiple kids.
---
As smart as the idea Jeralt had was, the problem with Byleth and Madison was they both were little freaks. Neither of them acted as a child should.
“How the hell do you keep coming across these perfectly behaved children? My sister has one of those damn things back at home and it never shuts up!” One of the mercenaries complained at him, as they both watched Byleth and Madison sit quietly in the corner of the bar.
Madison had been with them a couple of days and she was quiet, and distant. She didn’t speak, and in fact she just wandered around day in and day out with a blank look in her eyes. It was different from Byleth who was unemotional but had eyes sharper than a sword.
Jeralt often wondered how Byleth even knew her name, he hadn’t heard her speak once. He tried to ask his son about it but it didn’t really help the confusion.
“Byleth when you met Madison, was she passed out?”
Byleth had nodded.
“So then, could she had told you her name? How did you know it?”
Byleth had just shrugged, and was the end of that.
The two of them got along, as well as two weirdo kids could get along. Jeralt had started training Byleth with a sword recently and he had caught the kid trying to impart the secondhand wisdom to little Madison. She had just stared blankly as Byleth stoically mimicked the stances she should be attempting. It was kind of cute if he was being honest, so he hadn’t interferred, just watched quietly from the sidelines.
Madison was odd, but he had a feeling there was some sort of reason behind it. Tragedy, it could change a kid in weird ways. Just how did she end up in that lake? Not to mention that kid didn’t look like anyone who would be native to Fodlan, or even any of the neighboring places. The complexion of her skin, the shade of her hair, and even the structure of her face were off. He couldn’t quite place the ethnicity, not that it really mattered that much. Just another strange observation to add to the list.
Madison was strange and distant, until the day she was not.
Byleth and her went off to go do their thing, which happened to be Byleth fishing while Madison watched quietly (weren’t kids suppose to be loud and play rough with each other?). Hours later Jeralt is watching Byleth carry a wet, scratched up Madison, the same way he did many months ago.
Rushing over to them, Jeralt plucks Madison from Byleth.
“What happened?!”
Byleth’s face almost looked impassive as ever but from the way his eyes kept flickering over Madison, it was clear he was worried.
“We were fishing on the dock, and she got up and walked over to the ledge. Then she passed out and fell in.”
Byleth stood there after explaining, like a soldier waiting for orders. Was it really okay for a ten year-old to be acting like this in a situation like this ? He tried to think how he would have acted at that age and couldn't find any similarities.
Regardless of his thoughts, he still barked out orders for Byleth to get a warm bath running so they could try to warm Madison up. He held her close to him, trying to give her little body some source of heat.
Her face was scrunched up, was it due to discomfort or a bad dream?
Eventually Byleth comes down, letting him know the bath is ready.
“Stay outside, and if any one comes asking for me, tell them I’m busy.”
Jeralt makes quick work of getting Madison out of her wet clothes and into the warm bath, taking care to make sure her head stays above the water. The tub they were using really was made for someone much bigger.
He left her in the tub until the water was no longer warm, and her skin was flushed pink. Jeralt was no doctor but he figured that was probably enough to get the job done. He wrapped her up in a towel, carried her to the room in the inn they currently were staying at and dressed her for bed.
As he was finished Byleth peaked his head in the doorway, holding a pillow and blanket underneath each arm. Jeralt shook his head, fighting a smirk off his face.
“Taking watch, huh?”
Byleth nodded, laying out his blanket and pillow on the floor next to Madison’s sleeping form on the bed.
“Let me know if anything happens, I’ll be across the hall.”
With that, Jeralt retreated to his own bedroom hoping that neither kid would need him overnight.
That of course, was not the case unfortunately. Jeralt woke up to Byleth tugging at his shoulder. They didn’t exchange any words, just rushed over to Madison’s room.
When they got inside, Jeralt paused. Madison...was crying. In all the months they’ve spent together, he hasn’t heard her make one peep, but now here she was curled up in a ball sobbing her heart out.
He crouched down beside her bed, and reached out to place a hand on her head.
“Hey there...what’s the issue?”
By the Goddess, he was probably the worst person to comfort a sobbing child.
She flinched away from his hand, crying even harder.
“They...They…” Her voice came out raspy, and thick with an accent Jeralt had never heard before. That was something to ponder later however.
“They? if you’d look up the only people here and Byleth and me, kiddo.”
Slowly she peeks her head up, seeing him she just looks confused. When her eyes turn to Byleth, her eyes sharpen and she sits up straight.
“Oh...I know you..” Byleth nodded at her, as if to say yes you know me I take you fishing and teach you how to swing a sword. These kids were just so strange.
She stared at him for a little longer, before turning back to Jeralt himself.
“Mister, can I go to sleep? I’m very tired.”
Jeralt let out a loud laugh, he couldn’t remember the last time anyone referred to him with something polite as mister.
He reaches over and pats Madison’s head, “Sure thing, kid.”
Jeralt makes his way to the door, as Byleth resumes his guard position on the floor. He swears he hears a faint, “You don’t gotta sleep on the floor ya’ know.” and it makes him smile.
-----
Jeralt really came to have an appreciation for Byleth the next couple days.
Madison was a loud, nosey, and clumsy child. Always getting into things, and poking her nose into the other mercenaries conversations.
“Can I pleaaassse borrow your sword, Ross? Byleth has one and I don’t! How are we going to practice?”
“Listen, I already told you no. Plus you couldn’t even lift this sword!” One of his men had been arguing with the girl for the past 15 minutes. It was hell.
“Yes, I can!”
“No you can’t”
“Yes, I can!”
“No, you CAN’T!”
“YES I CAN!” Madison yells, her face flushed red.
Ross was quiet for a moment, obviously frustrated and trying to figure out how to get her off his back.
“Fine, since your so strong, here you go then!” He hands the sword over to Madison, who what do you know, can’t handle it’s weight. She drops it. Right onto to her own foot.
She starts to scream and cry from the pain, and the mercenary panics, his eyes darting around. “Aw, shit--Jeralt!” Ross’s eyes meet said mans, and Jeralt lets out of sigh. Why does it always have to be his problem?
Ross picks up Madison, and practically throws the bleeding child to him. “She stabbed her foot!” He says before picking up his bloody sword and running off.
Jeralt sighs once again and carries Madison to the towns local healer without a word.
When he dumps the bleeding child on the healers work table, she gives him a judgmental look.
“Again?” Serra says, shaking her head at him.
Jeralt just shrugs, “She won’t stay away from point objects no matter how much I tell her.”
Madison sobs on the table, “I j-just wanna have a s-sword!”
The healer shoots him another judgmental look, before getting to work crafting a healing spell for Madison’s foot.
“Sweetie, why bother with a sword, when you can do this?” Serra gestures to Madison’s foot, and they all watch the wound start to stitch itself back together. Jeralt turns his head away after a moment, yuck .
“But...I can’t do that.” Madison says solemnly, pouting at her own foot like she wasn’t even grateful it was healed.
“Have you ever tried?” The healer says gently.
Madison shakes her head.
“Well how about instead of messing with those pointy swords everyday, you come here and practice with me?”
Madison looks at Jeralt for permission, her eyes wide and excited. Jeralt, nods his head in agreement, they would be in this village for a while and this would keep the little devil occupied.
Madison cheered, giving Serra a quick hug before Jeralt guided her back outside. As they walked back to the Inn, Madison’s smile dropped and she glanced at him with her mouth twisted. Jeralt let out a sigh.
“If you got something to say just say it, Madison.”
Madison quickly looked away from him, and kicked at the dirt at her feet. “Um..Well...It’s just..”
“Come on just spit it out.”
Madison takes a deep breath before looking up at him, “Mister Jeralt, areyoumydad?” she spits out quickly.
“Huh, what makes you say that?” Jeralt scratched his head, that was the last thing he expected her to ask. They looked absolutely nothing alike.
“Weell, whenever I get in trouble, it’s you who everyone comes and gets. Plus if your were my dad then Byleth would be my brother! So are you?” Madison was still talking fast, looking at him with big earnest eyes.
Jeralt thought for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders.
“I guess I am.”