#and milla kresnik was mostly successful

[kresnikcest]

No more Rays, time to think transformatively again

[yume-x-hanabi]

Could be considered spoilers for your Fractured Lives fic, but...! Some headcanons for the world that the fractured Chimeriad came from?

gosh this is reminding me chapter three is in need of finishing haha

Under cut cuz it got long oops

Its coordinates are: Depth 79, Variation 0.15. Entry point was the Xailen Woods Temple because Fractured Musee had actually been lurking around Khan Baliq looking for the Chimeriad. That’s why they were staying in the Xailen Woods Temple. They would have probably been found out at some point and killed had the prime party not arrived and destroyed their world. Musee’s the catalyst because she’s still got her full dimensional powers and is the reason behind most life-death differences.

As illustrated by the low variation, this dimension’s history ran parallel to the prime for a long time - the divergence started during the battle of Fezebel, when Ivar sacrificed himself instead of Jiao. After that the events played out more or less the same as in the game, except with Jiao instead of Ivar on the Zenethra.

It’s said in the game that Musee attacked Gaius a couple of times (when she wasn’t busy tormenting Jude or slaughtering the elders in Nia Khera); I headcanon that one of those times she attacked him in Il Fan, but the Chimeriad (minus Jiao) was with him and they managed to fend her off. In the fractured dimension though, Jiao’s presence caused the Chimeriad to be a bit further away when she started her attack, and she managed to get the upper hand on Gaius before they could reach and assist him. They were just a few seconds too late.

In this dimension’s Hamil incident, Alvin killed Jude and Leia, and Musee disposed of him. His body was never found, though.

It was explained in chapter 1, but since Gaius wasn’t there to help bring back order, Rashugal fell into chaos and split into two factions, with on one side Rowen and Driselle trying their best to calm things down, but on the other side House Zmey taking advantage of the empty throne to try and seize power. War was close between the two of them.

In Auj Oule, the Chimeriad ruled together with more or less success, but some clans saw Gaius’ death as an opportunity to re-establish their former influence, so tensions were high.

Elympios lost contact with Exodus, but they had the blueprints for the Lance of Kresnik, so given enough time they would have rebuilt one and re-opened a hole in the schism. Musee would be waiting though.

Milla was reincarnated as a spirit as in the game (with the Four running interference to the memory-wiping process as well), but since Jude and the party never went to confront Maxwell, she didn’t completely regain all her memories and settled in the spirit realm with the Four.

Although the fractured Chimeriad were the same as the prime ones for most of their lives, the divergence caused some changes. Well the biggest one was Gaius’ death, of course, which is a big trauma for all of them and left them with intense survivor’s guilt (especially for Wingul, whose insecurities got worse as a result). It however brought them closer together, as they now did everything together - for safety reasons at first, but they also quickly became each other’s emotional support, something to cling to when everything was falling apart around them.

Interestingly, Agria’s the one who’s keeping it together the most. She witnessed Wingul (her no-fun insensitive boss who was always snarking her and scolding her about etiquette) completely break down in front of Gaius’ grave and it sparked something in her; she felt someone had to be strong for all of them, and if he couldn’t do it, then she would take that role. She became the one who kept track of if they were eating or sleeping properly and not moping around too much. It gave her something to focus on. Jiao noticed and encouraged her to let off steam when she needed instead of bottling everything for the sake of the others. So sometimes she went with him to the forest to vent and destroy things. Presa didn’t fare too well at first (she was also worried about Alvin, despite everything), but she was getting better. And Wingul mostly buried himself in work (more than he already was, anyway) to keep himself from thinking too much about what happened, but of course the thoughts would creep up at any time. He tried to hide it at first, but they managed to get him to open up a bit. The other three became really protective of him (which he both hates–he’s not fragile, dammit! and is grateful for–it’s proof he hasn’t lost everything and still has a place to belong) and are probably ready to fight anyone who so much as looks at him wrongly. This is pretty much the point they had reached when the events of ch1 happened.

They’d kept contact with Rowen and Elise through letters, keeping each other updated on the political situation, warnings about Musee sightings, and sharing advice (and, in the case of Jiao and Elise, encouragements). They were planning on an official Auj Oule-Sharil alliance.

They’re actually not that shaken by the destruction of their dimension, partly because its future seemed so bleak (and the prime seems too good to be true, in comparison), partly because their “place” is now with each other, so as long as they keep together, the actual location doesn’t matter much. They do feel like their struggle had been in vain, though, as the world was doomed to disappear, and sometimes struggle with the fact they were spared from that fate.

This became way too long, but I’m happy to talk about it. Thanks for the question! :)