Claude skipped lightly down the steps, the air around him growing colder, and smelling almost dank as he delved deeper into the building.
They called it Abyss. The name was almost frightening, but Claude whistled one of his favourite childhood tunes as he descended, his eyes adjusting to the darkness, trying his hardest not to let himself grow frightened.
It was his birthday; a day he'd expected to be full of jokes and celebrations, partying and laughter. Instead, he'd been... disappointed. There was no other word for it. Not only had his birthday fallen on a day of lectures which he'd had to sit through, but nobody had really seemed to... care.
Stepping out of his dorm in the morning, Claude had almost expected to be bombarded by well-wishes; his friends had been chattering about his birthday seemingly all month, jabbering about what to get him, and how they'd celebrate, and how it was unfortunate that he'd have to spend his special day in lectures.
Yet, instead, nobody had spoken. A few students had said hello as normal, but even his fellow Deer classmates had merely given him their usual smiles. It was as if they'd all forgotten.
"Hey," Claude had said to Marianne, watching her drift past him in the corridor.
"Oh, hello, Claude," she'd responded, returning her gaze to her shoes immediately as she'd walked.
"Is there anything special going on today?" he'd prompted. "Any events, or occasions, or…?"
Marianne had glanced up at him through anxious eyes. "Um… I shall be changing Dorte's shoes today…?"
Claude had felt his stomach sink at her words. While he could understand the forgetfulness of Raphael and Hilda, he'd expected Marianne at least to have remembered. Alas, he'd been mistaken.
The rest of the day had followed suit. No acknowledgements, no gifts - nothing.
Claude was reminded of his Name Days back in Almyra. Spending them feeling so alone, despite being surrounded by family. He recalled opening gifts that seemed empty and hollow - the ones from his half-siblings feeling more like they were trying to one-up him than treat him - and how, after the gift-opening ceremony was over, he'd been stuffed into some uncomfortable outfit and forced to sit at a table in the hall where a feast would be held in his honour. Those feasts were never truly for him, though - he knew that. They were to establish more connections, engage in politics - they were infinitely more for his parents, and the attending lords and ladies.
Claude sighed. Somehow, this Name Day felt like that. Almost like he was being ignored.
He'd tried to shake off the feeling all day - he knew nobody was entitled to his time, and that they were all busy, with their own responsibilities, but... it hurt.
He just hoped that his luck was about to change. Hilda had not forgotten about him, at least; granted, it had taken her all day to remember that she'd gotten a gift for him, but that was just her style.
"Oh, your birthday present! I left it down in Abyss!" Hilda had pouted at him over dinner. "Will you meet me down there just before bed? I can't carry it out all on my own."
While inside he'd been elated - positively thrilled that somebody had remembered - Claude had narrowed his eyes at the girl. "I know your game."
Hilda had given him an exasperated look. "What's my game, then, Claude?"
Abyss was well-known for its library; a room full of books that had been shunned from Garreg Mach's main library for one reason or another. Since its discovery, Claude had mentioned his intrigue on numerous occasions. He wondered what could be within these tomes that was so sinful they'd been banished - what secrets had been stowed away, and what knowledge had been deemed too unsanitary for general consumption. He'd wanted to get his hands on those books for so long.
And, each time he'd brought this up, Hilda had dismissed him.
Until now. She'd invited him down into the depths of Abyss alone - into the place he'd been whining about for weeks - to give him a gift?
Claude had almost laughed when he'd heard. More like spending a night in the Abyss library! he'd wanted to crow at her. Oh, she was so not-subtle. No matter what her gift was, though, he was content. At least he had one.
As he reached the bottom of the steps into the cold, dark Abyss, his boots made soft scuffing noises upon the stone bricks at his feet. He called out to her.
"Alright, Hilda! What do you have for me?"
He was met with silence, and with blackness. Beyond the couple of dim torches at the bottom of the staircase throwing out dregs of amber light, he couldn't see at all.
It was quiet. Eerily so. Claude took a delicate couple of footsteps into the open expanse of the hallway, seeing deep black shadows out of the corners of his eyes. His skin begun to crawl; he hadn't expected this. He felt almost like he was being watched. Just as he was about to call out again, however, he heard a hushed whisper.
"Okay! Now!"
And before he knew it, seemingly fifty torches seemed to be lit at once before his eyes, searing his retinas and forcing his eyelids closed before his ears were hit by the tumultuous cry of:
"Surprise!"
Claude felt himself jump out of his skin - felt his hand dart to his back, as he had done so many times before in ambush battles, to grab at a bow that was not there-
But when his vision returned, he saw all of his friends standing before him. Every Golden Deer member, some of his friends from the Lions and Eagles, and even a couple of Abyssians he recognised gave him claps and waves, shouting their good wishes at him.
"Happy birthday, Claude!" he heard them all cry at once, and he could not resist bearing his teeth in the widest of smiles.
"Aww, guys!" His heart was so warm. "What's this!?"
"Your celebration! For your birthday!" Raphael bellowed, a plateful of food in one hand.
"It was all Hilda's idea!" Leonie joined in, striking a muscle pose.
Amongst the masses of bodies - it seemed like a hundred people were crammed into this hallway - Claude had no problem picking out the figure of his best friend. Hilda's rosy hair glowed beneath the light of the torch she stood by as she gave him the largest of smiles.
He pointed at her with both arms, chest bubbling over with elation. "You!"
"Me!" she called back in a singsong voice, drawing laughs from the other partygoers.
"Oh, guys, thanks! You really didn't have to!" Claude called out. Yet, in his head, he was relieved. He'd been a little down all day - feared that he was being ignored, or forgotten. Of course not, he thought. I have the best friends.
Claude looked around. Hilda approached him, dressed in a pretty velvet dress, while Marianne clung to her arm, garbed in similar attire. In fact, now that Claude noticed, he saw that everybody had changed from their regular clothes into something much nicer. "You really let me come down here in my academy uniform!?' he called out to her, hearing laughs from around him.
Hilda skipped to his side. "We just love making a fool out of you!" And she gave him a wink. As the rest of the partygoers began to start talking once more, filling the dank corridor with hearty chatter and liveliness, Lysithea joined them, beginning to speak to Marianne.
Everybody looked happy. Smiles lit up every face he saw: even of shy little Marianne, whose lips were slightly curled at the corners. Hilda detached herself from her sky-haired friend and gestured to one side of the hallway, where a few tables lined the wall. Claude saw plates of food piled atop it, and nodded heartily; dinner had not been long ago, but nothing was more fun than gorging oneself at a party.
As they reached the table, finding themselves out of earshot of the rest of the crowd, however, Hilda's face grew stern. "For real, though," she said, making sure the two of them weren't going to be overheard. "Thank you, Claude. For everything."
A heat began to warm Claude's cheeks. "Hilda?" he asked. "You're being so sincere."
"Jokes aside," she said, her voice earnest. "You've been a fantastic friend over these last few years. And a great leader, too."
Claude sensed that she was being serious. He nodded, heart warm, and placed a hand upon her arm. "Thank you," he replied, with equal sincerity.
Hilda put her hands upon her hips and blew a large breath from out of pursed lips. "Well, glad that's over with. Happy birthday, and stuff. Shall we party?"
"I'd love to," Claude smiled. He grabbed a plate, filled it with all sorts of snacks, and made the rounds of his party.
Stepping back into the crowds, he was grabbed by Raphael's huge hand. The man tried to speak, but through a mouthful of what looked to be chicken, his words were unintelligible.
"I think he's trying to tell you about the gifts," Ignatz seemed to materialise beside Claude now, and gestured with his head towards another table, in pride of place at the centre of the room. Gifts - some wrapped, some not - were stacked in a pile atop it.
"Oh, no," he breathed. "Oh, you really didn't have to—"
"Nonsense!" Lysithea was here now. "You're the best House Leader we could ask for. You deserve every bit of this."
Almost reluctantly - he hardly deserved all of this - Claude was led over to the table, where the crowds of partygoers had convened to watch him open the sea of gifts overflowing upon the dark oak.
"You should be opening mine first." A voice sounded behind him, and when Claude turned, he found Petra. She held out a present to him - very small, and wrapped in yellow silk.
"Aw, Petra," Claude said, accepting the gift graciously. "You didn't have to-!"
"I wanted to. You will be finding them useful."
He smiled, and began to unwrap them. Inside, he found a pair of gloves: supple black leather, but with a strange rough material upon the fingertips and the top of the palm.
As if sensing his confusion, Petra spoke. "They are having extra grip - to help you climb the trees better."
Happiness danced in Claude's heart. "They… give me great joy." He gave her a smile, his chest tight. Petra returned it.
"Alright, you two. Me next!" Leonie pushed her way through the crowd and pointed to a large box upon the table. "There's mine! The big one!"
Inside, Claude found a beautiful new quiver for his arrows. He was then swamped - everybody wanting him to open their gift nex. Claude received tea, home-made cookies, ornaments, arrowheads… Ignatz had painted a stunning portrait of a deer standing before a sunset, while he received a fantastic piece of poetry from Bernadetta, with an apology note attached of why she did not attend the party itself.
Claude found himself almost overwhelmed. So many celebrations in his honour - so many people at his party, and so, so many gifts. He had never received this many, and it threatened to make him dizzy. Somehow managing to slip away from the crowd of people, Claude intended on stealing some more food from the buffet to give himself a break, but another sight caught his attention.
By the drinks table, one person stood alone, delicately sipping from a cup with their elbows resting upon the rough-hewn wood. Claude hadn't seen them all night; they hadn't made an appearance to give him a corny speech, nor fawned over the gift they'd bought him. Claude smiled as he approached, though, recognising the soft, delicate lilac hair anywhere.
"Yuri," he said once he reached them.
Claude had always appreciated Yuri. While the two hadn't spoken much, he always found that nothing ever really needed to be said. The two understood one another - seemed to be able to communicate through mere facial expressions alone. They both had secrets - had parts of their past that they would keep hidden - and they both respected that.
"Toast?" was Yuri 's only suggestion, breaking the silence and holding up the cup in their hand.
Claude raised his own, and they clinked together quietly over the noises of chattering around them. "Cheers!" Claude said.
Yuri smiled, nodded, and spoke quietly. "Happy birthday, Khalid."