Heron au Saguntum

"'Wherever you are, bruja, remember that bats eat moths.'"Heron au Saguntum (formerly au Belii) is the youngest of the Saguntum children. He is a subPraetor for Helsa Squadron fighting under Tiberius ti Valiander's command.

Joining House Saguntum
Heron is the only child of Antoninus au Baetulo and Tacita au Belii, Antoninus's marriage prior to Maria au Saguntum. He barely remembers a thing from his childhood prior to becoming part of House Saguntum at the age of six, but he was raised primarily by his father, a compassionate and caring man who just wanted a lifetime of happiness for his son.

He always felt like an outcast in his new home, often being teased by his step-siblings for being more a scholar than a warrior and they even accused him of being an usurper, as they feared an "outsider" to become House Primus. Heron never wanted to earn a scar before meeting his new family, but after spending a couple of months with them, he desperately wanted one just to cease their teasing.

He was a House Minerva midDraft in the Western Hemisphere Institute of Earth and took a more passive role within the House. He was fine with not getting Primus, but stood close to his house Primus primarily as an advisor and master strategist, but also a soldier when necessary. Like his step-sister, he was good at planning a defense against the other Houses and helped coordinate his people to make Castle Minerva an impenetrable fortress, using stealth as his advantage.

Heron was supposed to be a sacrificial lamb in the Institute and he was paired with a taller and stronger girl in the Passage who, unlike him, knew what was going on. After almost a lifetime of defending himself against the attacks of his step-siblings and also craving his family's approval, he finished off by twisting the flesh under her upper arm to release her grip on Heron's neck and slam her head against the ground. Due to Heron's lack of strength on his arms compared to hers, he had to step on her skull to finish her off.

The Fall of Luna
After the Institute, Heron attended the Politico School on Luna but gave up on that kind of education due to conflict of ideologies, him being openly reformist against the traditional views of the Society, and enlisted in the Academy, hoping to become a Praetor of Legio Rosmarinus like his step-brothers.

However, the schism of House Saguntum during the Fall of Luna rained all over his future plans. With his father killed and Victoria as the new heir, Heron decided to cut ties with them and escaped on his corvette, the Aeolus. However, he couldn't remain as an exile for too long. After a couple of months orbiting Earth, Heron was struck by a pang of homesickness and landed on the Mediterranian to resupply and scout around. He came to the Republican forces to seek aid and asylum as a defector, but was captured under the assumption of espionage. He considered the capture as fair and remained obedient and compliant, providing the Republic with the intelligence he gathered. Not long after his capture, the Aeolus was retrieved back by Legio Rosmarinus.

Enprisonment
Heron was held captive in the Cutie Patootie Fluffy Wuffykins II for a whole year until he was up for a parole hearing, overseen by archPraetor Caladus au Grimmus. During the interrogation he responded honestly, but visibly nervous and anxious due to the questions reopening old wounds and bringing unpleasant memories back. After confessing that he would likely not respond to a Gold, the Rose Eris suggested Praetor Tiberius ti Valiander as an overseer. Heron was also suggested to change his name to cut ties completely with the Saguntums.

The Gray Praetor met up with Heron to assess his skills at commanding fleets by proposing a simulation on his dataPad, which Heron solved with a 90% of success, but after an innocent hand gesture from Tiberius that reminded him of the hand movement one of his step-brothers did when he was about to strangle him, Heron backed away in terror and at the verge of a breakdown, still recovering from the previous interrogation. While still on the edge, Tiberius proposed another simulation of a similar difficulty but that required quick responses, but Heron couldn't focus and confessed that he couldn't do it as he watched his simulation ships disappear. Tiberius decided then that he was not ready for war yet and walked out of the room, leaving Heron having his emotional meltdown in peace until he was escorted back to the brig.

Ever since that interrogation, Heron requested paper and pencil to try and solve the simulation on his own and shove it on Tiberius's face next time they met. However, when he was close to the solution of the simulation, is dragged out of his cell to participate on a "therapy" session by Vanius au Arcos. After the teen riled him up and made him realize he was a coward instead of a diplomat and non-confrontational (and that many of his previous issues could have been solved with violence, and also his lifetime purpose of killing Victoria), Heron decided to embrace the behavior the Saguntums forced on him and attacked the younger man. The time in prison and rusty fighting skills left Heron missing every punch and falling face-first to the floor, however, he was willing to keep trying over and over again.

SubPraetor Saguntum, Helsa Squadron
After the meeting Tiberius ti Valiander, having no other options to substitute one of his fallen subPraetors, decides to give Heron another chance after hearing about the results of his therapy with Vanius. He shows up in the Gold's cell to wake him up by pouring water on his head and gives him another simulation to solve. After evaluating the results, the Praetor explains Heron the situation and asks him about if he would freeze mid-battle. Heron, who is just starting to embrace the bellicose nature of Gold, promises not to disappoint him. Tiberius then hands him a subPraetor badge and gives him a torchShip, the Pharaon.

A few days after his release, Heron has taken his time to get to know his officers and try to reach common ground with the ones that aren't pleased with him. One evening, he joins Tiberius in the Merryweather for a whiskey-and-megaburners chat to get to know each other. In the middle of a filosophical talk about their past selves, Heron promises to fix his past mistakes and refuses to let fear and trauma take over his life again and begins his journey to overcome trauma.

As part of this self-improvement journey, and also a strategy to get his crew to trust his word, Heron requests Caladus to update him on the next naval battle in a debriefing because he knows that, if they don't trust their subPraetor, they will trust the Imperator. He also updates the Ash Prince of his choice to keep Saguntum as his name, since Heron plans to be the last one standing and purge the Society loyalists, and the results of his therapy with Vanius. However, Heron prefers to work on himself on his own before letting Arcos be in charge of his improvement again.

The next day, Tiberius ti Valiander gathers together all the subPraetors in the Helsa Squadron to discuss their strategy during the next battle in the Ink.

Appearance
Heron is way shorter than the average Gold and slender like a ballet dancer. He's slightly paler than his step-siblings and his whole body is covered in freckles. His hair is mid-length and light blond, sporting well-kempt loose curls and his soft features give the impression of being permanently sad. He has wandering hands, so his fingers are almost always laced with each other, tapping at stuff or twirling items.

Personality
Reserved and meek, but determinant. Heron is the kind of Gold who prefers to use the razor if it's a case of extreme necessity, favoring planning, scheming and stealth over face-to-face combat, even if he's well capable of harm. He's pretty proud of his lateral thinking. Due to the incessant teasing of his step-siblings, has a tendency to seek the others' approval, often prioritizing their wishes before his own. His step-mother Maria and her children often thought of him as "delusional and that says a lot of nonsense" due to his reformist beliefs.

Only his relatives (and probably Cal after Heron told him that he wanted Victoria's head) know he's pretty vengeful. He's not physically strong as some other Golds, but he eavesdrops for possible weaknesses and ellaborate cruel plans of revenge. After learning about Victoria's lack of trust on carvers, he jabbed a sharpened pencil in her eye.

Abilities and Stats
Razormaster (+6), Stealth (+3), Praetor (+4)

Trivia

 * His favourite book is The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. His own copy is worn out, yellowed and full of pencil anotations.
 * Heron doesn't hate all of his step-siblings equally. He's actually less resentful towards Narcissus, who had stayed countless times to console him after getting beaten up by the Saguntum children. Narcissus also spared Heron from death during the Fall of Luna, much at Victoria's dismay.
 * He has a rosemary branch tattooed on each collar bone.
 * He always carries an iridiscent balisong in his pocket for stimming and, if the situation requires it, stabbing.

Quotes
"' Don't let them know you're absolutely terrified for what awaits in your future and by Jove, don't say anything stupid. Don't stutter. You're a Gold, a Gold does not...'" "'They give you no choice but to turn you into an empty shell and pour their disgusting ideals into you.'""'I have no time for gorydamn games! I've got places to be!'"