Chapter Text
Sometimes, Lyney can feel the water calling him. Beckoning him, his sister, and his brother to come close to the edge of the land, soak their feet in the ocean, and let the water consume them all.
He knows Lynette and Freminet hear the call of the water the most. It’s why- when he first learns of the “Prophecy of the Drowned”- as some fellow homeless people have called it- he panics.
(He doesn't want to lose his family, not again- he can't bear to watch them die-)
They may be trapped with- Father, may be grieving Cesar, but they have long since realized that their only way of escape was not limited to the water.
~~~
The three prepare as much as they can. Lyney gets better at his magic, Lynette closes off her portrayal of emotions, Freminet focuses his time in the sea-
all to save their home of Fontaine.
(and, hopefully, escape Father, the House of the Hearth, and the Fatui all together.)
~~~
The magic pockets… well, they are actual magic. He has- had Cesar to thank for that, as well as the countless amount of research he did throughout his life.
But the people of Fontaine don't actually believe in magic, as he’s realized. They just crave a show, crave entertainment- just to distract themselves from their problems in reality.
Their spouse cheated? Part of Act IV, Scene I, Lines 10-12.
Their father died? Then may the child seek revenge for his death, only to die from his own madness.
Fontaine needed entertainment, needed a distraction, and Lyney was happy to give them one.
Then the famed Traveler arrived and all their planning, all their fears, and all their dreams fell apart.
Because Lyney looked into the eyes of light themself and fell in love.
He didn't know how or why they had come to Fontaine, but the rumors told of a pair of travelers, walking across hundred of miles of countries, and ridding those countries of their evil.
Maybe that was why they had come. To be Fontaine's savior.
But Lyney… Lyney just looked at the Traveler and their companion- Paimon- (comPaimon?), watched as they cautiously spoke with a closed-off Lynette, and sighed softly.
He wasn't just doing this for his family anymore. He was also doing this for them. He wanted to see that light of theirs again, day after day. He wanted to take them out to dinner and treat them like the treasure they were.
Lyney had something else to fight for, and he wasn't ever going to let them go.
Except that would be wrong. Except he wasn't thinking with his head, he was thinking with his heart, he was thinking like the Fatui who took and took and took, thinking like the noble who took his sister-
The moment Traveler leaves for a place to stay the night (the day they arrive), Lyney sprints for the restroom, shuts the door behind him, and throws up in the toilet.
He promised- promised Lynette- promised himself that he would never treat anyone like that monster nearly did her-
~~~
Lyney makes a new promise. Even if the Traveler never knows of his love, he will gladly love them from a distance.
Then he opens the bathroom door and walks out, wringing his hands as Lynette and Freminet gaze at him worriedly.
“I'm fine.” He tells them. “I'm fine.”
(He's already lying.)