Chapter Text
Chapter 1:
C SUPPORT
“....and this here is the main part of the castle. You’ll see a lot of the heroes come through here quite often, so this is a nice place to make some friends…”
“...I see.”
It was only a few days since Lyon was summoned by the Summoner, and it still shook him how… welcoming, this place was. It was so unlike his world, his own country… it almost unnerved him with how nice everything was. The Summoner, whose name was Zephyr, was so kind, and the prince and princess of this castle let him in with open arms. Had his heart not been so blackened, he would have wept.
It served to remind him of better times, with Ephraim and Eirika (whom Zephyr had informed him were not present), times he would almost certainly never get back. The sight of so many unfamiliar faces, the way they just seem to gather around with not a care in the world. The way they could just go about their lives like nothing was wrong, even with the threat of Embla’s forces on their doorstep… it did something to the prince of Grado. He was denied his happiness long ago… and they got to keep theirs?
Something cold strummed within him, like a dark temptation, that felt akin to envy.
So caught up in his reverie that he didn’t hear the Summoner’s warning to look out, and he found himself crashing right onto another mage in a flurry of lavender and crimson.
“Lyon!” cried Zephyr, racing for the two fallen mages. She knew that Lyon wasn’t particularly known for his dexterity, and he bruised at the drop of a hat. “You okay?”
“I am--” Lyon began, getting his bearings, only to be harshly pushed away by the red mage, grunting when he landed awkwardly on his hip.
“Gah! Watch where you’re walking, purple haired freak!” the red mage spat as he stood, dusting himself off.
Lyon felt his cheeks bloom almost as darkly as the red mage’s own hair, his eyes downcast as he managed to stand at last. The first person he meets immediately berates. That shouldn’t have been surprising…. “M-my apologies,” he stated with a polite bow. “I hadn’t been aware…”
The other mage scrutinized him, stark crimson eyes that seemed way too inhuman for the Grado prince’s taste staring into his very being. He couldn’t hold his stare, not with such… malice looking back at him. It reminded him too much of--
It only took a flash of Formortiis’ baleful glare to enter his mind before he mentally quashed that thought, shivers running through him. He didn’t need to be reminded of that, especially now of all times.
“Zephyr, who is this guy?” the other mage asked the Summoner. “Never seen him.”
“That’s because he’s new, Julius,” Zephyr told him, standing between the two now, a hand gripping Lyon’s quivering one, as if to comfort him. “His name is Lyon, a prince back in his world like you. I was just showing him around the castle is all.”
Julius scoffed haughtily, sneering at the other prince. “Him? A prince?” he said with a laugh. “No way is this punk a prince. He’s the meekest looking prince I’ve ever met.”
“Julius!” Zephyr said severely, sensing Lyon cower the tiniest bit. “Apologize!”
“For stating a fact? I have no need.” He turned on his heel with a swish of his cape, shoes clacking harshly on the smooth floor as he made his way down the hall. “Just keep him out of my way. I have no tolerance for the weak.”
Lyon let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding in after Julius was out of earshot. He hadn’t realized that he was gripping the Summoner’s hand in a deadlock grip until she grunted out of pain, and he quickly let go. “S-sorry…”
Zephyr turned to him, giving a sigh of her own. “Don’t apologize. If anything, I’m sorry you had to be part of that,” she replied. “Not everyone’s like him. Julius always has his head up his ass over something…”
Lyon shook his head. “I’ve met… many people who were like that back in my world,” he told her. “I’ve learned how to deal with it.”
“But you shouldn’t have to,” Zephyr emphasized, her eyes filled with so much concern Lyon was sure he was looking at someone else entirely. “You’re in a better place here. You’ve been given a second chance… and you deserve better, Lyon.”
The prince rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, suddenly silent. Did he really deserve better? After all he went through back in his world… with the Demon King, with Grado, with… with… his death at the hands of his friend? He was the cause of so much misery and sorrow for everyone involved… he didn’t wish for a chance to live, didn’t have the right to be living when he robbed that chance from so many others…
And yet she was saying he deserved a second chance….
“...thank you, Zephyr,” he said after a moment of pause, a ghost of smile stretching across his face. “Your kindness… knows no bounds...”
Zephyr beamed at him, that same brightness Lyon recognized was similar to what Eirika had. “No problem, Lyon. I’m always here to help,” she reassured him. “As a member of the Order of Heroes, you’re always welcome.”
The Summoner grabbed his hand and proceeded to drag him down the hall. “Now, come on! We still gotta get to the library~!”
Perhaps, just perhaps, he could find redemption here.