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Sylvain prided himself on his ability to stay calm under pressure. It helped him while playing the girls at the academy, it helped him during the war, and it helped him grin and bear his marriage to his awful wife. For nineteen years, he had persevered through Elenora’s bullshit. The verbal abuse, the isolation of his house, even watching his daughter suffer and wilt, trying and failing to placate her terrifying mother.
In all that time, Sylvain had never cracked. He couldn’t make it worse with retaliation, for Noelle’s sake. But after the Blue Lions’ mission went wrong a month ago, everything had gone to shit. Elenora had recognized Bella as the child she’d thought dead for seventeen years. She pulled Noelle from Garreg Mach, and her plans for war were put into motion.
And Sylvain could no longer watch.
He waited on the edge of the bed in the dark guest room where he'd been confined since war preparations began, watching the clock tick closer to 7 PM. He had a plan, and he was going to see it through, no matter how dangerous it would be. Noelle should be preparing as well. He had passed her a note at dinner last week, telling her his plan and what she needed to do. All he had to do now was wait.
Bom! Bom! Bom! The hour hand on the clock hit 7, and he heard the grandfather clock downstairs ring seven times. He stood up and strode to the door, flattening himself to the wall it would swing towards. Thirty seconds… twenty-nine… twenty-eight… he started to count.
Twenty…
Ten…
One…
There was a knock on the door, and the voice of one of the guards called from the other side. “Margrave Gautier, dinner is ready.” Sylvain stayed silent, still as a statue. “Margrave Gautier?” came the voice again. Another knock, then the jingle of keys before the door was unlocked and pushed open.
“Margrave Gautier?” Sylvain waited until the guard walked into the room, then shut the door and charged at him. He barely had time to turn around before Sylvain’s fist collided with his face, knocking him to the floor, unconscious. Sylvain then grabbed the rag and curtain tie he had prepared on the bedside table, stuffed the rag in the man’s mouth, and tied his hands behind his back. Finally, he grabbed the guard’s spear and keys, inhaled, and walked out of his prison. His next stop was the master bedroom, where his wife kept the real key to his escape.
Quickly and quietly he crossed the hall, then stopped at the corner where he knew two guards waited, guarding the master bedroom. He readied the lance, then rushed around the corner. Their eyes widened in surprise, and one opened his big mouth while the other charged at Sylvain. “Margravine Elenora! The-” he started, but Sylvain threw his lance into his throat to cut him off, then wrested the spear from the guard who had run at him and swiped the bladed tip into his chest.
“Don’t you know?” he muttered darkly at the limp body of the one who tried to call out. “My wife hates it when people interrupt dinner.”
Sylvain rushed over to the door and picked out the key that opened the master bedroom. It was his room, before he and Elenora started sleeping in different rooms, so he recognized the correct key immediately. Once he heard the click of the door unlocking, he burst in and marched straight towards the pedestal on which stood the ticket out of this hellscape: the Lance of Ruin. Sylvain grabbed it, and it hummed to life, the tip twitching almost excitedly. “Your penchant for violence has always unnerved me,” he mumbled to it, then ran for the door, on his way to his second destination: Noelle’s room.
Noelle was packed. She had snuck spare clothes for both her and her father from the laundry, made sure she had coats for them both, and stuffed her favorite books into the travel bag that would be the only thing she was taking with her. Luckily, Noelle was very good at organization, and finding space for things where there appeared to be none was no problem for her.
Now she stood in her room, staring at the door, waiting for the sound of footsteps so she wouldn’t be caught off guard when her father came to get her. She already had her coat on, and the travel bag with all their things was slung around her shoulder. In truth, she was terrified. She certainly had never been happy at home, but it was all she’d ever known before the Officer’s Academy. If she hadn’t learned how to be brave from Bella, she wouldn’t have fathomed the idea of escape. She thought back to the note she’d received from her father last week.
‘I want to take you and leave. Will you come with me?’
Nodding yes was perhaps the bravest thing Noelle had ever done. She wondered if Bella would be proud. She supposed she could ask her if they made it to Castle Fraldarius.
Noelle shook her head. Not if. When. She had been trying to correct her negative expectations like Evelyn had told her, but it was hard. Especially when the future was so uncertain.
The sound of quick footsteps fifteen, then ten feet down the hall snapped her out of her thoughts. Her father was moving fast, with large strides. She heard keys jingling, then a click followed by her door opening to reveal Margrave Gautier, Lance of Ruin in hand and wearing a determined expression Noelle hadn’t seen before. He gave her a single, hard nod, and she nodded back. With that, they both rushed out of Noelle’s room and made for the stairs.
“There they are! Cut them off!” Noelle gasped as several guards rounded the corner of the ground floor, blocking the bottom of the staircase. Automatically, she stopped, but her father charged even faster, taking the last steps at a leap into the human barrier and felling them with a single swipe of the Hero’s Relic.
Keep going! Don’t stop now! She could hear Bella’s voice in her head, urging her forward and snapping her out of her frozen state. She rushed to catch up with her father as he continued down the halls of Castle Gautier, heading for the stables. Whenever a group of guards tried to apprehend them, the margrave cleared the way with the Lance of Ruin. Noelle would probably be frightened by it under different circumstances, but she was already about as afraid as she could possibly get. But she used that fear to keep moving, keep following her father as he led them down their escape route.
Finally, they reached the door to the stables. The margrave practically kicked it open, and turned to Noelle with a meaningful look and an outstretched hand. She tossed his coat to him, and they emerged into the chilly stable. Immediately Noelle found her father’s horse and opened the stall for him to untie the reins. At first the steed recoiled with a whinny, surprised by their approach, but Noelle quickly calmed him down, reassuring him that it was just them. Her father hoisted himself onto his back, then offered a hand to Noelle.
This was it. It was actually happening. After eighteen years, she was finally getting out. She took the offered hand and let herself be pulled up and sat in front of her father. She inhaled, smelling the earthy scent of the stable one last time.
“Stop!”
Noelle gasped as both the front gates and back doors burst open, letting in a flood of guards. Suddenly her father pushed her forward against the neck of the horse before letting out a grunt of pain. “Shit,” she heard him hiss behind her. Noelle looked back at him, and her eyes widened in terror when she saw the arrow in his shoulder. As they were surrounded, Noelle’s thoughts started spiraling. They were caught. They would probably be put in the dungeons now instead of their rooms. Her father wouldn’t be treated because Noelle didn't know how to remove arrows, and he would die. She would never see a kind person again, much less her friends from Garreg Mach. Xavier, Adel, Anastasia, Evelyn, Bella…
'You're so much more powerful than you give yourself credit for. So quit beating yourself up. That's what the enemy is for.'
Bella's words from the training grounds echoed in her head, and Noelle knew what she had to do. “Dad, hold on tight,” she warned, then summoned all of the white magic she could muster. She pictured in her mind the path right outside the gates of the castle grounds, and…
Warp.
She felt the world twisting and turning, gravity pulling at her on all sides. She scrunched her face up, willing herself to push through the sensory overload, until finally they were hit with cold wind, gravity stable once more. They were out. But Noelle herself was absolutely exhausted. She heard the shout of the guards outside the gate, the scared neigh of their horse, and the swing of the Lance of Ruin, but it was muted as if underwater.
Perhaps warping herself plus another human and a horse was a bit much. Even if she had white magic like no one Professor Annette had ever seen, she had limits. She heard her father's voice telling her she did good before losing consciousness.
It took them all night, but after a long, freezing, painful ride south, Sylvain could finally see the gates of Castle Fraldarius. Once they had hit the forests, his worries of getting caught significantly decreased. When the smell of saltwater reached his nose, he knew he was getting close. And finally, finally, the trees made way for the walls of Castle Fraldarius. The guards at the gate readied their spears. “Name and purpose!” demanded the first.
“Wait, he’s wounded!” the other cried.
“Is that a hero’s relic?!”
“My name is Sylvain Jose Gautier,” Sylvain panted. “I request shelter for my daughter and I. I also have an urgent message for the duke.”
“Gautier- Margrave Gautier?”
“No time! Open the gates!”
Sylvain honestly wasn’t sure what happened after the Fraldarius guards let them in the gates. He blacked out after they got inside the castle and people started rushing towards them. After what felt like only a few seconds, he started to hear voices around him as he became aware that he was awake.
“...took the arrow for me…”
“...alive, isn’t he? Stop blaming…”
“...vain. Sylvain, wake….”
“...doubt you’ll be able to-”
“SYLVAIN JOSE GAUTIER, I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! WAKE UP AND FACE ME!”
“EEP!”
“Dad what the hell???”
Sylvain knew that yell. He opened his eyes to see an absolutely furious Duke Fraldarius standing over him, and he couldn’t help but smile.
“Don’t give me that look!” Felix snapped as Sylvain sat up, his grin only growing. He appeared to be in a hospital wing, and behind Felix stood Bella and Noelle. His smile faltered as he looked the latter over.
“Noelle, are you okay?”
Sylvain’s daughter looked stunned. “Dad… if anything, I should be asking if you’re okay!” she cried. “You were… they shot you!”
“They would have hit you.”
Quiet filled the room. Sylvain was staring at Noelle, who was staring back at him, while Felix was glaring at Sylvain and Bella’s head was alternating between all three with an uncomfortable expression. Finally she broke the silence, saying “Uh. Noelle lemme show you the training grounds, they're cool.”
“Oh, um. Okay?” Noelle agreed confusedly before letting Bella grab her hand and lead her out of the room, casting one last glance over her shoulder at Sylvain before the door closed. Once again, the room was plunged into silence, and Sylvain’s gaze turned from the door to Felix, who looked a little less angry than before.
Finally, Sylvain had the chance to really take in the sight of his childhood friend. Even after almost two decades, Felix was just as pretty as he always was. His hair was shorter, and his ponytail and bangs were messy in the best way. He wore different clothes than he had during the war, albeit with a similar style. The light blue, wool-lined cape and teal overcoat was gone, replaced by a shorter, hooded cape and a teal coat with white sleeves and a one-sided skirt that resembled a swordmaster's attire. Unlike Sylvain’s, his jaw looked as clean shaven and smooth as it always did; it seemed like Felix still hated the feeling of facial hair. A memory surfaced from the days he and Felix were dating: 'It's fucking scratchy and feels horrid, so if you grow a beard I'm never kissing you again.'
So in short, he looked great.
Felix let out a huff, then pulled a chair over to the bedside and sat down in it, his arms crossed and his eyes squinting, studying Sylvain. For a second he just sat there, scrutinizing him, and Sylvain shifted anxiously. Unable to stand the silence, he finally broke it with a nervous chuckle. “Long time no see?” he offered.
At first, Felix gave no response. Then he growled a little before surging forward and kissing Sylvain with a fury that felt like nineteen years of pent-up frustration and yearning all at once. Sylvain ignored his shoulder's complaints and reached up to grasp Felix's face with both hands, kissing back just as fiercely with an almost greedy moan. Because oh, how he had missed this. This burning fire in his chest, this flame of love reignited after so long. It felt wonderful, it felt right, and most importantly, it felt real. “Your face feels disgusting,” Felix muttered, but it lacked true disdain, and he still kissed Sylvain again. “This stupid beard needs to go.”
“Pffft. Thought you said you'd never kiss me again if I grew one,” Sylvain teased.
Felix made a noise like an angry cat before kissing him again. And Sylvain remembered that this was what happiness was like, something he hadn't felt in years. And now that he had it again, he would not let go of it. Not ever again. This he swore.
“You never change, do you?” Felix grumbled after pulling away.
Sylvain let out a chuff. “What about?”
“You took an arrow to the shoulder to protect her. There must have been several other ways to protect both of you. I know you’re smarter than that.”
Realizing with a bit of disappointment that they were no longer in romantic territory, Sylvain shook his head as he dropped his arms. “There was no dodging it. We were stuck in place. Noelle had to warp us out.”
“Wait, she warped both of you?”
“And my horse.”
“What the fuck? How the fuck.”
“I don’t know, it was a surprise to me too. But I’m grateful.”
“And what if she couldn’t?” Felix’s volume was rising again, and he stood up and started pacing. Oh boy. Here was the lecture. “What if something went wrong? What if she only warped herself and left you behind? What if she ended up warping you and she was left behind? Or what if your plan went south before then? What if you’d gotten caught before you got the lance, or were overwhelmed, or they tried to use Noelle as a bargaining chip for your cooperation?”
Sylvain sighed. “What would you have me do?”
“Ask for help!” Felix retorted, throwing up his hands. “Me, Dimitri, Ingrid, contact any of us and we could come and get you! I bet even Annette would up and leave the monastery to help if she knew!”
“Elenora is preparing an army, Felix.”
That stopped Felix in his tracks. Slowly, very slowly, he turned to face Sylvain. He squinted, studying his face, probably looking for signs of this being a joke. And when he realized it wasn’t, Felix’s expression turned into deep concern. “How large are her forces?” he asked, his voice much lower in volume.
“She has several houses across the Kingdom under her thumb, including in old Empire territory,” Sylvain admitted. “It’s much more than just House Gautier. That's why I couldn't send for help. That, and… I was afraid for Noelle's safety if I tried.”
“Then we need to send for Dimitri,” Felix replied gravely as he sat back down. “We’re going to war again.”
Sylvain laid back into the pillows with a hiss as his shoulder protested the position loudly. He exhaled slowly, then looked back at Felix with a tiny smile. “It is good to see you, Felix. Even if it’s not a candle-lit dinner or something.”
“Shut up and get some rest,” Felix grumbled back, standing up. “If this is really going to escalate to war, we need you in fighting shape.”
“Alright, alright,” Sylvain laughed, before clutching his chest due to his ribs hurting.
“I mean it,” Felix warned, starting to walk towards the door. “Rest or I’m telling Ingrid.”
“Please do not tell Ingrid.”
Felix reached the door and opened it before looking back over his shoulder, throwing Sylvain an eyeroll. “Then rest, you oaf.”
“You got it, Fe.”
A groan of exasperation, and the door slammed shut. Sylvain allowed himself a chuckle. They might be going to war, and they might be in for a lot of tough shit. But now he had Felix with him. And with Felix by his side, Sylvain felt like he could take on just about anything. Even Elenora.
With his good arm, Sylvain reached up and touched his lips. It had been nineteen years since he had last kissed Felix. Part of him had been afraid that things wouldn't be the same. That after almost two decades, Felix would have moved on. It would have made sense, he wasn't the sentimental type. If he had been able to get over it, Sylvain wouldn't have even blamed him, even if he might have been disappointed. In the first year following their break-up, he'd seen Felix occasionally during visits to Fhirdiad. But as soon as the twins were born, Sylvain got too busy trying to postpone getting them tested for Crests to leave his territory. And while he was doing that, Elenora isolated the house. The last time he saw Felix was when he explained the situation with Isabelle, and by that time Sylvain couldn't even fathom being unfaithful because it would mean hurting the lights of his life. Noelle and Isabelle were too important to him.
No. Bella. Isabelle Ariana Gautier no longer existed. In her place was a young woman named Bella Frances Fraldarius. It filled Sylvain with a strange mix of melancholy and peace. Felix had done an incredible job of disguising her (the hair was definitely a surprise when he first recognized her), but it went beyond appearances. She had grown into her own person, and a fighter beyond what Sylvain could have imagined. He still remembered the glimpses he had gotten of her during the Blue Lions’ assignment in Gautier territory. She was the only student not commanding a battalion, but it very quickly became clear why. She fought with the ferocity and strength of a small army all on her own, and she made it look easy.
Just like Felix. Bella was a Fraldarius through and through, and she didn’t need a blood test to prove it. Her grit, her dedication, and her refusal to yield said it all. Even her eyes, which Sylvain knew she'd gotten from him, burned with the same fire that Felix’s did.
Bella was no Gautier. Not even a little.
Sylvain closed his eyes. No doubt they would soon be receiving visits from his other friends soon. He wondered how they had changed, how they had grown. Surely he would get another lecture from Ingrid, he knew that much. But not a whole lot else was certain. He knew that would be scary for Noelle, but Sylvain couldn't help but be excited for it. For the first time in nineteen years, he was eager to see what tomorrow would bring.