[ If there's anyone who can understand, it's Byleth. He's not going to judge in the least. He just worries at the edge of a napkin with his fingers as he considers the rather bland answer. ]
[Mmm... which parts to tell him, that is the question isn't it?]
Working a little here and there, learning how a lot of this tech stuff works. Has anyone shown you the Opalink yet? You can look up pretty much anything with it.
[Important information here. He may not have all the answers but he knows how to find them and that's the important part.]
Wherever you feel is significant, though I suppose the war is really the diving moment isn't it? I would like to hear about how things went with my teaching your class as well, though. If there is something to note, I want to know it.
[Claude sighs, stares down at the table and tries to order his thoughts a little better.]
I've done some comparisons so I think the school year played out... mostly the same for everyone. Chasing down those bandits in the red canyon after the mock battle, [and he ticks off a count on his fingers. ] The whole deal with the Western Church supposedly wanting to kill Rhea but you got the Sword of the creator instead and that weirded everyone out. Rhea being... mmm suspiciously trusting of you. I mean, now I know why but at the time?
[He shakes his head, ticks off another point. The fact that the whole plot started with Lonato hardly even registers for him. Sorry Ashe.]
Everything leading up to the Battle of the Eagle and Lion was pretty messy, Sylvain's brother, Flayn going missing, the Death Knight ridiculousness... We won though! Had a big feast after...
[For a moment he trails off, refocusing on Byleth instead of the distant look as he recounts things from his memory. There's a brief, soft smile on his face, fond and proud and shuttered away after a fleeting moment.]
Think that was the first time I really saw you smile.
It all fell apart after that. The refugees from Remire, the things the Agarthans did to Tomas and Monica and those people too... The dance was... so stupid now, looking back on it. I understand why Seteth and Rhea wanted to maintain that normalcy but I think it just made... losing the Captain that much harder on everyone.
[He forgets himself for a moment, reaching over to gently squeeze his teacher's hand. The promise of synchronicity sparks between them and Claude's eyes go wide. He tries to jerk his hand back almost as soon as the touch starts, a momentary flicker of sharp, sour fear spilling across before he breaks the contact.]
I- s-sorry. You, uh... you let me see his journal, you know. It made everything else make so much more sense too. Your hair, the changes, the sword.... Seteth found it before you did, y'know? He was so mad at Rhea.
[ Byleth takes it all in, passing a gloved finger over the glass of water in front of him and watching the condensation drip away.
The mention of Jeralt always brings back the dull pain though, Byleth is easily drawn away from the sad memory when Claude reaches out and takes his hand. When he jerks away, Byleth extends his further, offering it openly again. ]
It's okay. [ Again, he smiles, softer this time. ]
Thank you for telling me. [ There's even tiny chuckle. ] Seteth wasn't terribly fond of me for a long time, I recall.
What of you, Claude? What were your feelings on everything?
Can you blame him? You were incredibly suspicious. [Even more suspicious than him which was great because it drew attention away from him.
He just sort of looks at Byleth's offered hand for a long moment, jade eyes flicking from his hand up to his face and back. Does he have it in him to deny Teach again? His fingers twitch where they rest on the table, clearly wanting to reach out to him... But he doesn't move. Doesn't take his hand but also doesn't move his own from the space of counter between them.]
Oh it was certainly enlightening. But... I dunno that's probably when I started really getting suspicious not of the Church as a whole but specifically Rhea.
Was I? [ He shrugs, he only knows how to be himself. Though Rhea's treatment of him was certainly strange, that much was true. ] I guess, perhaps the circumstances of my hiring were... odd.
[ He just leaves his hand there, a silent offer, not bothered by the hesitation. It is Claude after all. ]
She was definitely the epicenter of many things. There are so many questions I have yet to answer. I intended to have a good long talk with her, but... well. Here I am.
[Claude just blinks over at him for a moment startled and dumbstruck for a moment. Surely... surely he knew everything Claude did. Probably more, even. ]
[ He knows a few answers, but none of them really satisfy. ]
I know what was done to me, what Rhea is, but there's a lot of details that I need that simply aren't recorded anywhere. I guess I am... something new.
Claude scoots a little closer, reaches out, finally, to take Byleth's hand. He's nervous, of course, about what the synchrony might reveal but... but Byleth needs -deserves- his support on this.]
[ He doesn't know the extent of the whole ordeal, no. It just wasn't a conversation that was ever had. A lot of questions he doesn't even know he's supposed to be asking. ]
[Claude looks utterly nonplussed, voice deadpan and just side-eyeing Byleth for a moment. Then he sighs again, weary and strained, fingers squeezing the professor's lightly.
There's a little needling doubt and uncertainty that bleeds through their contact but the overwhelming feeling, even stronger than the background hum of fear and caution is just... exhaustion. Sure, physically he's fine, hell even mentally he's pretty okay but he was already strained to a breaking point and then Those Who Slither were added on top of everything and the months dragged on and he had finally, finally gotten to go home and-
He'd been so relieved to lay down all those masks and, sure, politically things were still shit at home but he could be himself... mostly? More, anyway. Then being here? different timelines? All of this madness. It was more than he could bear some days. The kind of bone deep exhaustion from being utterly overwhelmed for so long that being asked for just one more thing, no matter how simple it is, is enough to make the mask crack. He hasn't cried in years but in that moment, for just a breath, all he wanted to do is just lay down and-
What?
Grieve all the things he could have done and lives he could have saved and the person he could have been if he was just able to set all of this down for one godsforsaken moment.]
Teach... she's a lot more than just a dragon. She- She's Seiros, she's millennia old, she's a liar, a manipulator, willing to do anything to get what she wants. She's absolutely insane...
[Gods forgive him, he should be trying to lay this all out so much more gently than this but he just doesn't have it in him, not again, not after the layers and layers of horrifying lies they'd uncovered over months and months and everything just constantly went deeper, got worse. A wound in Fodlan that the 4 saints had allowed to fester while Seiros itched and scratched and clawed at it again and again so it would never heal.]
You said you know what was done to you? What do you think she did?
[ Well. There it is. Claude has no reason to lie to him, and as clever and scheming as he was, Byleth trusted him. After his massive gamble on Dimitri turning an army around to come to his rescue, he really couldn't afford not to trust him.
He passes a thumb over Claude's fingers thoughtfully. ]
Ah. That... makes a lot of sense, actually. It accounts for a lot of- of everything.
[ He takes a deep breath. ]
My father said that she did something to me at birth. That I didn't cry or laugh, and I have come to realize that much of my life I have been... abnormal. Then there were the dreams, about Sothis. The Goddess, Sothis.
I don't really know how else to explain it other than that we shared a body, and that we still do, to some extent. She merged with me.
If what you said about Rhea is correct, then it stands to reason she had intended it to be that way.
You really don't know anything beyond what was in your dad's journal?
[Byleth... that was years ago. How have you not asked even once what else... Claude slumps forward against the table a little, shaking his head then propping it up with his hand on his cheek like carrying the weight of it all is too much.
Isn't it?]
... If you didn't even know who they are- [Because clearly Seteth and Flayn are included in the "being dragons" thing.] how in the hells did she explain Those Who Slither? Or Nemesis... or even the relics in general?
[ Byleth sags a little. He's not a terribly apt detective, but when Claude lays it out like that, he does feel pretty foolish for not pressing more. ]
She-
Ah. She didn't. [ And he had been so caught up in everything he simply put the conversation off, over and over again. Maybe she intended it that way. ]
It sounds like perhaps there's a lot you could tell me.
[He remembers snapping at her that the time for lies and secrets was passed but he never imagined that Teach wouldn't have pushed if he hadn't been there, if he hadn't already put together so many pieces.
Surely he wouldn't have just.......
but he did.]
Oh... [Claude sighs again, glances up, brightens when he sees the waitress finally coming with an absolutely ridiculous amount of food on the tray.] Oh thank gods.
Thank you~ [Warm and cheerful and helping the waitress arrange baskets and plates and just stealing one of those cheese sticks from Byleth right now and-] Actually, Miss, could we get a couple of drinks too? A South Side and...
[He glances at Byleth, gaze flicking up to his seafoam hair and shaking his head a little.] A Long Island.
[ Why does he get the feeling that Claude is disappointed in him? It's kind of a weird feeling actually, but it really is a glaring mistake now that he's really sat down to think about it.
The waitress arrives and Claude orders something for him. Odd sounding, but he trusts.
The vaguely distant anxiety doesn't really stop him from eating, despite the hint of worry on his face. When food comes, he doesn't waste time. ]
I admit, it was foolish of me. [ He finally says, taking a brief moment. ] To allow myself to get swept up in everything and not pressing. I can make no excuses for myself.
[Claude tries to push a little bit of reassurance through the bond before he finally breaks it because... well. Food. And all of this is finger foods. Sandwiches and fried goodies and he has a mouthful of onion tangles when Byleth says his piece.
He shakes his head a little, wiping greasy fingers off before touching Byleth's arm again. Not his hand, no reason to interrupt his ability to shovel food in his face.]
Okay... I'm gonna try to make this as concise as possible. Which is still gonna be... a lot.
[A pause, drinks slid onto the table and he grins at the waitress before sliding Byleth's over to him. On heavy swig of his to fortify himself against the sheer magnitude of all of this bullshit again.]
Right. So. Sothis created her children, a race of dragons. Nabateans, they're- killable but maybe they'll never actually die of old age? Who knows at this point. The point was to help guide humans, y'know back when we were uneducated and uncivilized. Problem is you make people smart and then they get greedy.
The Agarthans started rebelling. I think they were human once? But Hubert would be more likely to know that information. They created the Javelins of Light, destroyed just about everything, Sothis essentially hit the reset button and she blew so much power doing that she had to go into hibernation, right? That's kind of what Nabateans do? Which makes you sleeping at the bottom of a ravine for 5 years make a lot more sense.
The Agarthans were able to kill her while she was asleep. That's... how they made the Sword of the Creator. It's... her. Judging by how it looks and works? Uh... [A hesitation until he's sure Byleth doesn't have anything in his mouth to choke on.] It's probably her spine.
For someone to be able to wield it without going all Black Beast they had to share her blood. But giving a human her blood sort of killed a lot of them. Probably a huge amount of them considering how much death they caused doing experiments on the Hresvelg children. Which is how Nemesis -not a king, just a bandit and an asshole- got the crest of Flames. So they have this jerk using the Goddess' power to go around murdering more Nabateans. And they repeat the process.
What? 10- er 12? Times. -The Elites, Maurice, and Ernest.- They were bandits mostly, a bunch of thugs and idiots like Pallardo or Miklan but they suddenly had the power of gods, or close enough, Of course they were power hungry. The Agarthans -Those Who Slither in the Dark if you hadn't realized that yet- only encouraged that. So they raised a damn army and Seiros managed to put them down but not before the Red Canyon, not before they slaughtered most of her family.
With her mother.
I still can't get my head around how sick that is.
So pretty much the Church's story was all bullshit. They probably couldn't hunt down all of the Elites' children and make sure the bloodlines were wiped out or bring themselves to kill a bunch of innocent kids because their families were awful. So they gave Nemesis and the Elites a little bit of a heroic spin and carried on as best they could. Rhea built the Church, Seteth and Flayn helped her bring everyone to peace again. I mean Indech and Macuil too but they're both disgusted with us now so who knows when they abandoned humanity.
Somewhere along the way, after Flayn went into hibernation and her mom was killed and stuff... I don't think she'd have started this much crazy if she hadn't been alone surrounded by us short lived humans. But she was so desperate to bring her mom back that she started doing the same damn thing the Agarthans had done. Weird blood experiments to try to create a new vessel for Sothis. She took the crest stone out of the Sword and started stuffing it in some random clerics and shit?
After a few centuries she lucked out and the last failed attempt at a vessel fell in love with a powerful warrior that had Nabatean blood. Remember that whole, Jeralt took a hit for her, saved her life and almost died in the process? Yeah she gave him her blood.
I think... I'm pretty sure your dad was a lot older than anyone suspected. So you were born with almost half Nabatean blood? And she took the crest stone out of your mom and put it in you. To save you. Because that's what your mom wanted, supposedly.
And it finally worked. You were a real vessel alright. But you merged with Sothis and you were still you and Rhea was hoping Mom was gonna be the dominant personality there, I promise you that. That's why that whole Revelation thing even happened. Meanwhile she's over here so hung up on getting mommy back that she never once looked deeper into some of the strings the Agarthans were pulling to prep the whole damned continent for war.
If anything she played into their hands. Letting them get involved in the Western Church and assassinating Lambert and experimenting on Edelgard and Lysithea and driving Edelgard so damned crazy that she'd work with them. It worked out, in the long run. It let Hubert determine Shambhala's location. I'm... not sure how you guys got that information? But that's why the Empire was so unstoppable. I mean, you've seen what the Javelins of Light can do. Never mind that they'd been planning and setting up for this for centuries.
Why the hells Edelgard thought she was going to be able to turn on them and actually accomplish anything I have no idea. Especially not after decimating her army fighting everyone under the sun.
[And that's the part that infuriates him, the part that makes him thunk his head down into his hands. It was so reckless and stupid and Edelgard had just talked to someone they could have saved so much heartache.]
Hopefully that... uh... clears up some of the gaps on your end?
[So that sort of devolved more into a rant towards the end there and he looks a little embarrassed about just how long he's been talking but uh... there you go Teach. Have fun processing that.]
[ Beyond a certain point, Byleth can only listen. There's no way Claude would simply make all of this up, and he wouldn't joke about it either. He just. It's a lot. A lot. So much.
When he gets to the parts about Sothis's spine, he feels sick. Actually sick. Pressing the ball of his hand against his forehead as Claude continues and he tries to parse everything.
Halfway through he turned his hand over to hold Claude's, without even noticing, and he was probably squeezing all the blood out of it by the end. Slowly, as Claude wraps up, he takes a deep, shuddering breath. Clearly he's shaken. It takes a lot to do that.
He reaches for the drink that had been left for him and simply chugs it down before setting the glass back down with a soft clack. ]
Thank you. Claude. That...
[ Ah. It's a Bright Spot he feels... anxiety. ]
That explains quite a bit. I'm afraid I don't think I'll be finishing the food, so you should take it.
[Claude returns that grip on his hand, untroubled by the tingling in his fingers from the pressure. As much as synchrony makes him nervous seeing Teach so visibly affected by it all is strange and makes him scoot a little closer to the other man. His fingers stroke the back of the professor's hand and Claude looks up to catch the waitress' eye, gesturing for another round.
It'll take a few of these to really impact him, if his calculations are correct.]
Teach... [Worried, anxious, eager to help but not knowing how, not knowing how much had already happened. So he gives Byleth's hand another squeeze, trying to reassure him.] I know, it's a mess. But we did it. We defeated Those Who Slither and Nemesis and Fodlan is united now... Your Sovereign Majesty~
[The title is a little nudge, another attempt at softening the weight of it all.]
[ He sighs, appreciating the contact. He never used to crave it before the monastery, before teaching and starting to care. Now it feels comforting. He never really even needed comfort much before, either.
The title does manage a soft smile from him, a little chuff of amusement. ]
Thank you. I know that's a lot to go through, even just learning about it is trying. I can't imagine living through it in real time.
You no longer have to bear the weight of this alone, though.
Huhm. Very like Hubert to be that thorough. At least he had a backup plan.
Still, I'm sorry that all of that fell on your shoulders. I hope I was- rather. I hope the Byleth you knew was supportive at least.
[ The next round of drinks comes, and he wastes no time in downing the second one. It's sweet, it tastes good. He doesn't really consider the alcohol content. How much could there really be? ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: Boyleth
Date: 2021-03-03 02:58 am (UTC)What have you been doing since you got here?
[ Specific it shall be. ]
no subject
Date: 2021-03-03 03:16 am (UTC)Working a little here and there, learning how a lot of this tech stuff works. Has anyone shown you the Opalink yet? You can look up pretty much anything with it.
[Important information here. He may not have all the answers but he knows how to find them and that's the important part.]
no subject
Date: 2021-03-03 02:04 pm (UTC)[ He's been running around trying to find his flock instead of... anything else. Checking in on everyone, feeding them, on and on. ]
Claude, would you mind telling me your version of events back in Fodlan? I will relate my own in as much detail as you like as well.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-06 03:31 pm (UTC)Do you want to start back in academy or after Edelgard declared war?
no subject
Date: 2021-03-06 11:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-03-07 02:59 am (UTC)I've done some comparisons so I think the school year played out... mostly the same for everyone. Chasing down those bandits in the red canyon after the mock battle, [and he ticks off a count on his fingers. ] The whole deal with the Western Church supposedly wanting to kill Rhea but you got the Sword of the creator instead and that weirded everyone out. Rhea being... mmm suspiciously trusting of you. I mean, now I know why but at the time?
[He shakes his head, ticks off another point. The fact that the whole plot started with Lonato hardly even registers for him. Sorry Ashe.]
Everything leading up to the Battle of the Eagle and Lion was pretty messy, Sylvain's brother, Flayn going missing, the Death Knight ridiculousness... We won though! Had a big feast after...
[For a moment he trails off, refocusing on Byleth instead of the distant look as he recounts things from his memory. There's a brief, soft smile on his face, fond and proud and shuttered away after a fleeting moment.]
Think that was the first time I really saw you smile.
It all fell apart after that. The refugees from Remire, the things the Agarthans did to Tomas and Monica and those people too... The dance was... so stupid now, looking back on it. I understand why Seteth and Rhea wanted to maintain that normalcy but I think it just made... losing the Captain that much harder on everyone.
[He forgets himself for a moment, reaching over to gently squeeze his teacher's hand. The promise of synchronicity sparks between them and Claude's eyes go wide. He tries to jerk his hand back almost as soon as the touch starts, a momentary flicker of sharp, sour fear spilling across before he breaks the contact.]
I- s-sorry. You, uh... you let me see his journal, you know. It made everything else make so much more sense too. Your hair, the changes, the sword.... Seteth found it before you did, y'know? He was so mad at Rhea.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-07 08:14 pm (UTC)The mention of Jeralt always brings back the dull pain though, Byleth is easily drawn away from the sad memory when Claude reaches out and takes his hand. When he jerks away, Byleth extends his further, offering it openly again. ]
It's okay. [ Again, he smiles, softer this time. ]
Thank you for telling me. [ There's even tiny chuckle. ] Seteth wasn't terribly fond of me for a long time, I recall.
What of you, Claude? What were your feelings on everything?
no subject
Date: 2021-03-09 03:09 pm (UTC)He just sort of looks at Byleth's offered hand for a long moment, jade eyes flicking from his hand up to his face and back. Does he have it in him to deny Teach again? His fingers twitch where they rest on the table, clearly wanting to reach out to him... But he doesn't move. Doesn't take his hand but also doesn't move his own from the space of counter between them.]
Oh it was certainly enlightening. But... I dunno that's probably when I started really getting suspicious not of the Church as a whole but specifically Rhea.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-09 03:40 pm (UTC)[ He just leaves his hand there, a silent offer, not bothered by the hesitation. It is Claude after all. ]
She was definitely the epicenter of many things. There are so many questions I have yet to answer. I intended to have a good long talk with her, but... well. Here I am.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-10 12:55 am (UTC)[Claude just blinks over at him for a moment startled and dumbstruck for a moment. Surely... surely he knew everything Claude did. Probably more, even. ]
What... sorts of questions?
no subject
Date: 2021-03-10 01:34 am (UTC)[ He knows a few answers, but none of them really satisfy. ]
I know what was done to me, what Rhea is, but there's a lot of details that I need that simply aren't recorded anywhere. I guess I am... something new.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-10 01:44 am (UTC)WELP
Claude scoots a little closer, reaches out, finally, to take Byleth's hand. He's nervous, of course, about what the synchrony might reveal but... but Byleth needs -deserves- his support on this.]
You know what Rhea is? Are you sure about that?
no subject
Date: 2021-03-10 01:54 am (UTC)[ He doesn't know the extent of the whole ordeal, no. It just wasn't a conversation that was ever had. A lot of questions he doesn't even know he's supposed to be asking. ]
no subject
Date: 2021-03-10 03:31 am (UTC)[Claude looks utterly nonplussed, voice deadpan and just side-eyeing Byleth for a moment. Then he sighs again, weary and strained, fingers squeezing the professor's lightly.
There's a little needling doubt and uncertainty that bleeds through their contact but the overwhelming feeling, even stronger than the background hum of fear and caution is just... exhaustion. Sure, physically he's fine, hell even mentally he's pretty okay but he was already strained to a breaking point and then Those Who Slither were added on top of everything and the months dragged on and he had finally, finally gotten to go home and-
He'd been so relieved to lay down all those masks and, sure, politically things were still shit at home but he could be himself... mostly? More, anyway. Then being here? different timelines? All of this madness. It was more than he could bear some days. The kind of bone deep exhaustion from being utterly overwhelmed for so long that being asked for just one more thing, no matter how simple it is, is enough to make the mask crack. He hasn't cried in years but in that moment, for just a breath, all he wanted to do is just lay down and-
What?
Grieve all the things he could have done and lives he could have saved and the person he could have been if he was just able to set all of this down for one godsforsaken moment.]
Teach... she's a lot more than just a dragon. She- She's Seiros, she's millennia old, she's a liar, a manipulator, willing to do anything to get what she wants. She's absolutely insane...
[Gods forgive him, he should be trying to lay this all out so much more gently than this but he just doesn't have it in him, not again, not after the layers and layers of horrifying lies they'd uncovered over months and months and everything just constantly went deeper, got worse. A wound in Fodlan that the 4 saints had allowed to fester while Seiros itched and scratched and clawed at it again and again so it would never heal.]
You said you know what was done to you? What do you think she did?
no subject
Date: 2021-03-10 04:22 am (UTC)He passes a thumb over Claude's fingers thoughtfully. ]
Ah. That... makes a lot of sense, actually. It accounts for a lot of- of everything.
[ He takes a deep breath. ]
My father said that she did something to me at birth. That I didn't cry or laugh, and I have come to realize that much of my life I have been... abnormal. Then there were the dreams, about Sothis. The Goddess, Sothis.
I don't really know how else to explain it other than that we shared a body, and that we still do, to some extent. She merged with me.
If what you said about Rhea is correct, then it stands to reason she had intended it to be that way.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-11 12:14 am (UTC)[Byleth... that was years ago. How have you not asked even once what else... Claude slumps forward against the table a little, shaking his head then propping it up with his hand on his cheek like carrying the weight of it all is too much.
Isn't it?]
... If you didn't even know who they are- [Because clearly Seteth and Flayn are included in the "being dragons" thing.] how in the hells did she explain Those Who Slither? Or Nemesis... or even the relics in general?
no subject
Date: 2021-03-11 12:44 am (UTC)She-
Ah. She didn't. [ And he had been so caught up in everything he simply put the conversation off, over and over again. Maybe she intended it that way. ]
It sounds like perhaps there's a lot you could tell me.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-12 01:46 am (UTC)[He remembers snapping at her that the time for lies and secrets was passed but he never imagined that Teach wouldn't have pushed if he hadn't been there, if he hadn't already put together so many pieces.
Surely he wouldn't have just.......
but he did.]
Oh... [Claude sighs again, glances up, brightens when he sees the waitress finally coming with an absolutely ridiculous amount of food on the tray.] Oh thank gods.
Thank you~ [Warm and cheerful and helping the waitress arrange baskets and plates and just stealing one of those cheese sticks from Byleth right now and-] Actually, Miss, could we get a couple of drinks too? A South Side and...
[He glances at Byleth, gaze flicking up to his seafoam hair and shaking his head a little.] A Long Island.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-13 07:59 am (UTC)The waitress arrives and Claude orders something for him. Odd sounding, but he trusts.
The vaguely distant anxiety doesn't really stop him from eating, despite the hint of worry on his face. When food comes, he doesn't waste time. ]
I admit, it was foolish of me. [ He finally says, taking a brief moment. ] To allow myself to get swept up in everything and not pressing. I can make no excuses for myself.
Y'all keep me honest here he has so many pieces from so many places.
Date: 2021-03-14 01:40 am (UTC)He shakes his head a little, wiping greasy fingers off before touching Byleth's arm again. Not his hand, no reason to interrupt his ability to shovel food in his face.]
Okay... I'm gonna try to make this as concise as possible. Which is still gonna be... a lot.
[A pause, drinks slid onto the table and he grins at the waitress before sliding Byleth's over to him. On heavy swig of his to fortify himself against the sheer magnitude of all of this bullshit again.]
Right. So. Sothis created her children, a race of dragons. Nabateans, they're- killable but maybe they'll never actually die of old age? Who knows at this point. The point was to help guide humans, y'know back when we were uneducated and uncivilized. Problem is you make people smart and then they get greedy.
The Agarthans started rebelling. I think they were human once? But Hubert would be more likely to know that information. They created the Javelins of Light, destroyed just about everything, Sothis essentially hit the reset button and she blew so much power doing that she had to go into hibernation, right? That's kind of what Nabateans do? Which makes you sleeping at the bottom of a ravine for 5 years make a lot more sense.
The Agarthans were able to kill her while she was asleep. That's... how they made the Sword of the Creator. It's... her. Judging by how it looks and works? Uh... [A hesitation until he's sure Byleth doesn't have anything in his mouth to choke on.] It's probably her spine.
For someone to be able to wield it without going all Black Beast they had to share her blood. But giving a human her blood sort of killed a lot of them. Probably a huge amount of them considering how much death they caused doing experiments on the Hresvelg children. Which is how Nemesis -not a king, just a bandit and an asshole- got the crest of Flames. So they have this jerk using the Goddess' power to go around murdering more Nabateans. And they repeat the process.
What? 10- er 12? Times. -The Elites, Maurice, and Ernest.- They were bandits mostly, a bunch of thugs and idiots like Pallardo or Miklan but they suddenly had the power of gods, or close enough, Of course they were power hungry. The Agarthans -Those Who Slither in the Dark if you hadn't realized that yet- only encouraged that. So they raised a damn army and Seiros managed to put them down but not before the Red Canyon, not before they slaughtered most of her family.
With her mother.
I still can't get my head around how sick that is.
So pretty much the Church's story was all bullshit. They probably couldn't hunt down all of the Elites' children and make sure the bloodlines were wiped out or bring themselves to kill a bunch of innocent kids because their families were awful. So they gave Nemesis and the Elites a little bit of a heroic spin and carried on as best they could. Rhea built the Church, Seteth and Flayn helped her bring everyone to peace again. I mean Indech and Macuil too but they're both disgusted with us now so who knows when they abandoned humanity.
Somewhere along the way, after Flayn went into hibernation and her mom was killed and stuff... I don't think she'd have started this much crazy if she hadn't been alone surrounded by us short lived humans. But she was so desperate to bring her mom back that she started doing the same damn thing the Agarthans had done. Weird blood experiments to try to create a new vessel for Sothis. She took the crest stone out of the Sword and started stuffing it in some random clerics and shit?
After a few centuries she lucked out and the last failed attempt at a vessel fell in love with a powerful warrior that had Nabatean blood. Remember that whole, Jeralt took a hit for her, saved her life and almost died in the process? Yeah she gave him her blood.
I think... I'm pretty sure your dad was a lot older than anyone suspected. So you were born with almost half Nabatean blood? And she took the crest stone out of your mom and put it in you. To save you. Because that's what your mom wanted, supposedly.
And it finally worked. You were a real vessel alright. But you merged with Sothis and you were still you and Rhea was hoping Mom was gonna be the dominant personality there, I promise you that. That's why that whole Revelation thing even happened. Meanwhile she's over here so hung up on getting mommy back that she never once looked deeper into some of the strings the Agarthans were pulling to prep the whole damned continent for war.
If anything she played into their hands. Letting them get involved in the Western Church and assassinating Lambert and experimenting on Edelgard and Lysithea and driving Edelgard so damned crazy that she'd work with them. It worked out, in the long run. It let Hubert determine Shambhala's location. I'm... not sure how you guys got that information? But that's why the Empire was so unstoppable. I mean, you've seen what the Javelins of Light can do. Never mind that they'd been planning and setting up for this for centuries.
Why the hells Edelgard thought she was going to be able to turn on them and actually accomplish anything I have no idea. Especially not after decimating her army fighting everyone under the sun.
[And that's the part that infuriates him, the part that makes him thunk his head down into his hands. It was so reckless and stupid and Edelgard had just talked to someone they could have saved so much heartache.]
Hopefully that... uh... clears up some of the gaps on your end?
[So that sort of devolved more into a rant towards the end there and he looks a little embarrassed about just how long he's been talking but uh... there you go Teach. Have fun processing that.]
I have to applaud you for this because holy shit wow
Date: 2021-03-14 11:13 pm (UTC)When he gets to the parts about Sothis's spine, he feels sick. Actually sick. Pressing the ball of his hand against his forehead as Claude continues and he tries to parse everything.
Halfway through he turned his hand over to hold Claude's, without even noticing, and he was probably squeezing all the blood out of it by the end. Slowly, as Claude wraps up, he takes a deep, shuddering breath. Clearly he's shaken. It takes a lot to do that.
He reaches for the drink that had been left for him and simply chugs it down before setting the glass back down with a soft clack. ]
Thank you. Claude. That...
[ Ah. It's a Bright Spot he feels... anxiety. ]
That explains quite a bit. I'm afraid I don't think I'll be finishing the food, so you should take it.
He has many biases so I didn't want to just handwave it >>;;;
Date: 2021-03-15 07:06 pm (UTC)It'll take a few of these to really impact him, if his calculations are correct.]
Teach... [Worried, anxious, eager to help but not knowing how, not knowing how much had already happened. So he gives Byleth's hand another squeeze, trying to reassure him.] I know, it's a mess. But we did it. We defeated Those Who Slither and Nemesis and Fodlan is united now... Your Sovereign Majesty~
[The title is a little nudge, another attempt at softening the weight of it all.]
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Date: 2021-03-16 02:24 am (UTC)The title does manage a soft smile from him, a little chuff of amusement. ]
Thank you. I know that's a lot to go through, even just learning about it is trying. I can't imagine living through it in real time.
You no longer have to bear the weight of this alone, though.
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Date: 2021-03-16 03:43 am (UTC)Believe it or not... most of that was all dropped on us after we took Enbarr.
[His own huff of amusement, a strange little twist of respect and affection that might surprise Byleth.]
Hubert left us the location of Shambhala in a letter... y'know, just in case we won.
It was a rough month.
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Date: 2021-03-17 02:59 am (UTC)Still, I'm sorry that all of that fell on your shoulders. I hope I was- rather. I hope the Byleth you knew was supportive at least.
[ The next round of drinks comes, and he wastes no time in downing the second one. It's sweet, it tastes good. He doesn't really consider the alcohol content. How much could there really be? ]
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