I must be exhausted, because I sleep a full 11 hours through the night. I wake up still feeling tired, and go downstairs to see Morgan playing away at the same RPG I was yesterday. In the kitchen, Robin is typing on his laptop at what sounds like a hundred words per minute while a cup of coffee steams next to him. He doesn't even notice me until I walk up to the table across from him.

"Busy day?" I say.

"Writing up some notes from discussions I've had about policy and infrastructure. Who knew sewer management could be so complicated? Ylisstol has a basic sewer system, but it looks like we're in for an overhaul. The reduction in pestilence from having clean waterways could save thousands of lives. Especially relevant to think about now, even though COVID doesn't primarily spread through water."

"Are you sure you have time to be indulging me in my silly road trips?" I say. "If you need to do more research about matters that will help your people, I can wait until Lucina's rested and then ask her."

"Nonsense. I'm stuck in this world for quite a while, anyway, so I have plenty of free time. Besides, I can't let her take on all the family work herself. Can I get you something to eat for breakfast?"

As before, I insist on making it myself. Robin says he's already eaten, so I make myself bacon and toast. No eggs for me, since they make my carsickness worse. The sweetness of the jam on the toast takes me by surprise. I had forgotten how much sugar is in American food. Hopefully I don't sugar rush and go bouncing off the walls while I'm in the car.

It's strange how quickly I can turn from a war leader to a deadbeat kid in his early 20s in mindset as well as circumstances. Even a week ago, having my main worry be about getting too much energy from sugar would have sounded like a dream come true.

And maybe that's what this is. I don't fully trust Robin in the same way that I do Lucina, but I that relationship has to be built through time. But how long can I afford to stay here if my friends might be locked up as a result of what happens in Fódlan?

I scarf down the food faster than is polite, but Robin doesn't comment. In fact, he doesn't even seem to notice me, as he's gone back to his furious keyboard tapping. He only looks up when I load my plate into the dishwasher and wash off the skillet I used to make my bacon. Salt, sugar, butter… man, is Fódlan food missing out on the good stuff.

Robin says goodbye to Morgan as we walk out. She's so absorbed in her game that I wonder if she even heard us, but after a moment she pauses the game and sets down her controller.

"So you're going on an expedition and you're abandoning me?" she says.

"If that's what you call eight hours of driving, then yes. We're going to see some people Claude knows."

"Oh, old friends?"

"Something like that," I say. "I'll be back soon, so don't worry."

"Well, it's not like I'm waiting on you like one of your American housewives from those old movies or whatever. But if you want to chill and game after you're back, hit me up."

"Sure. And then maybe we can cook something together?"

"Sounds like a plan. We'll shock and awe dad with how amazing our skills are in comparison to his. Oh, and I also found a game where you try to frantically cook meals together."

"We'll see if I'm up for checking it out when I'm back. See you later, Morgan."

She waves goodbye and we continue on our way out. Robin has a separate car from Lucina, and looks like one of the fancy ones with a built-in GPS and a bunch of buttons and features I don't recognize. Though it could be my five-year gap in Earth technology speaking. We're on the road soon, and I note that Robin's driving is slower than Lucina's, which is slower than my parents'. Is he… actually going the speed limit? On the highway, he starts going five to ten miles per hour over, which is still tame.

"It makes me happy to see you and Morgan getting along so well," Robin says. "I'm sure you can tell how much she appreciates having someone her own age around who isn't a parent, and I hope it's been fun for you as well."

I smirk when he specifies "not a parent" following up someone who's around her age. Time travel is a strange beast, but they seem to be rolling with the punches.

"Yeah, I've never really had siblings or close friends either." A pause. "Well, that's not true about friends, but I was always too busy to spend time with them. I met Dimitri and Ashe after I went to Fódlan, and I had to keep up with school in both worlds."

"That sounds impossible. How did you manage it?"

"Being okay with mediocrity and not taking any time to process my emotions."

"Ah. Well, sounds similar to being a war tactician."

"Yeah, it didn't get less busy when I was in charge of the Alliance."

"I've learned it can be good to take things slow when you can. I hope you don't rush back into Fódlan without giving yourself a chance to recharge."

"You are telling me to take things slow?"

"What does that…" he furrows his brow. "Ah, the speed of my research. Well, that's being efficient. I used to do that but also working through meals and going at night until I collapse. Compared to those time, my work now feels like child's play."

I think Robin is one of those people who's way smarter than anyone else, and there's not much I can do to catch up to him in that regard. Again, Linhardt comes to mind, though Robin shows what happens when someone like Linhardt puts his brainpower towards something productive. I can't imagine how much work it must be to try and understand every aspect of policy as well as experts in each field.

It still confuses me that people like him have time for family. Being aromantic, I'm not sure how I feel about marriage, but not falling in love since Dimitri has been more of a necessity than anything else for me so far. Too many messy feelings in war, and I don't have time to be pursuing a relationship.

Over the course of the trip, I pick his mind about what he's planning to apply to Ylisse from the knowledge he's gained on Earth. The two areas he focuses on most are biology and engineering. But of course, engineering relies on physics and incorporates chemistry, while biology can rely on geography, geology, and also chemistry. And then public planning is a whole separate area from those two. He offers to share files with me about plans for improving Ylisse, and I accept. Byleth could have been using this world's knowledge to enrich the lives of people back on their home plane, and instead they used it to stalk people of interest and start a war.

Though I don't know how much I can blame Byleth for that one. After all, Lucina came here before Robin, and it's not like she was sifting through this world's knowledge for improvements to make back in Ylisse.

Early on in our trip, I text Ashe saying that I'm alive and asking if I can visit. It was probably something I should have done last night, but better late than never. He agrees and sounds excited to talk with me. He sends his address that Robin already has, and I tell Robin to pretend like we didn't stalk him.

I also text Dimitri, but there's no response. If he were still using that phone, I'm guessing he would have called me back after seeing that I tried to reach him a couple days back. I'm not sure what that means, but I don't think it's good.

We make decent time to Ashe's place even with Robin's moderate driving speed. I'm surprised to see that Ashe lives in a small house on the outskirts of his town rather than an apartment, but I'm sure it makes sense financially for him since he could outright buy the house and plan to sell it later at the same price instead of throwing rent money down the drain.

Robin has me put on a mask before we approach the doorstep. He explains that masks provide more protection for others than the person wearing it, but that it can't hurt and it's a common courtesy. The weather's decent out, so he raises the possibility of talking maskless outside at a distance where transmission is less likely. After enduring the heat, cold, and grime of military marches, wearing a mask is nothing in comparison.

I go up and ring the doorbell. From my reconnaissance missions in Fódlan, my hearing focuses on the inside of the house without me making the conscious effort. I her shuffling around, and the footsteps don't sound like they belong to a predator. It's stupid to wonder if this world's Ashe is a threat to me, but old habits die hard. I glance over at Robin who seems lost in thought and wonder if he has any baggage from the war that he carries with him.

The door opens, revealing Ashe with a mask on. He opens his arms to hug me, and then hesitates.

"Not the best idea with the pandemic going on," Ashe says, "But it's great to see you, Claude. I thought you were…"

"Yeah, there were times I thought I was dead meat as well," I say.

"Where were you all this time? And why did you have blood all over you on that day five years ago? And why-" He stops himself. "Forgive me. Would you like to come in, or…?"

"My friend Robin here suggested that we talk outside to limit transmission risk," I say. "Is that all right with you?"

"Oh, my apologies for not introducing myself to your friend," Ashe says. To Robin, "I'm Ashe. I went to school with Claude, and I owe him a great debt." He cocks his head. "Well, two, really. I think you saved my life the last time we were together."

"Sounds like quite the story," Robin says. "My name's Robin. I would shake your hand, but…"

Ashe waves a hand. "No worries. I have a few camping chairs. Do you want me to get some for you?"

"I brought some for me and Claude," Robin says. "So you'll only need one for yourself."

News to me. Guess Robin's prepared for everything.

It takes us a few minutes to set up in Ashe's front yard. We stay six feet apart, and all of us keep our masks on to be safe. It's hard to read his expression without being able to see most of his face, but Ashe does seem different than when we knew each other in school. He's mostly the same sweet person, but the way he carries himself now is more confident. I smile under my mask.

I decide to tell Ashe the truth about where I've been and what happened on the day when Thales attacked us. Robin looks surprised when I start going on about what happened in Fódlan, but he doesn't make any comments. Ashe hangs onto my words instead of scoffing in disbelief, which is more than I was expecting right off the bat.

"So that's why you disappeared almost every day at our high school?" Ashe says. "Here I was thinking that you didn't like us much, and here you are saying you were attending another school in another realm."

"Do you believe me about that?"

"I'm not sure I do. But I'm realizing that regardless of what happened to you, I'm glad you're okay. And if you wanted to paint yourself as a savior, creating a fake alternate dimension where you saved our alter egos is not the easiest way to do it. So I don't think you're trying to mislead me anywhere."

"Plus, I did a shitty job at saving people," I say.

"It's something we all deal with," Robin says. "If you ever want to talk with Lucina about ways to deal with the guilt, she's happy to share what's worked for her."

"You seem to be taking this in stride, Robin," Ashe says. "What's your relationship to Claude? Are you from this Fódlan place?"

"Close, but not quite. I was originally from a different dimension entirely. Whether or not you believe that absurd statement is up to you. Claude is close enough to my wife to be her sibling, so I think of him as an honorary sibling in-law."

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter for me whether or not those alternate dimensions are real," Ashe says. "I'm glad you've found your family, Claude. It's been a blessing to live with my brother and sister. They're in high school right now, and I'm basically a stay at home parent."

"Ugh," I say. "Parenting teenagers."

"Hey, I think you would have been easy to parent as a teen," Ashe says. "And my siblings appreciate what I do. We're all planning on applying to college next year, so we can help each other out with applications."

Huh. So you don't need time travel bullshit to have a less traditional family structure. But I guess that's what's left for people like us. Ashe's parents died when he was young, and then his adoptive parents died when he was in high school. And despite it all, he's managing to keep putting one foot in front of the other and drink in life.

This is what I was fighting for. Marianne, Judith, Raphael, Mercedes, Leonie… I'm sorry that I couldn't give you this future you deserved.

"Something up, Claude?" Ashe says.

"I can't beat Byleth. Nobody can. I poured everything I had into keeping you all safe, but it didn't matter in the end."

A pause. "It sounds like you did save some people. Lysithea and Hilda are still alive because you told them to surrender, right?"

I guess that's true. But if they're captured in Fódlan, I don't know what that means for them here. Now that I think about it, I didn't see Ashe at the Battle at Gronder, so the Fódlan version of him must be in Faerghus somewhere. When Byleth marches into his home and starts pillaging, I'm sure Ashe will want to defend it. That means he'll be captured at best and killed at worst. If Earth Ashe has made this connection, he hasn't said anything. I shouldn't worry him about it since there's nothing at this point he can do to change the outcome.

"Still," Robin says. "It must not be easy to live in that world. The portal fantasy stories I've read here on Earth view these fantasy worlds as escapes. You know, Alice finding freedom from classic Victorian society even as she's being pursued by the Red Queen and all. I guess that's what the story is for Byleth, isn't it? A world where they can use their godlike power to enact their will on the world."

"And when you stand against a goddess, what are you supposed to do?" I say. "Though I can't imagine this is what Sothis had in mind. Byleth must have drained her power when they escaped the darkness of Zaharas after Solon banished them."

"And you're sure this isn't a bad dream, Claude?" Ashe says.

"Doesn't match up with hallucination symptoms," I say. "When I go to and return from Fódlan is under my control."

Or maybe that's the way I remember it. Still, I don't think Schizophrenia or other related health conditions could cause me to hallucinate a world that large with rules so consistent.

"There's still a part of me that thinks you're pulling my leg," Ashe says, "But no matter what, I'm glad to see that you're safe and sound. I'll message your socials after you get back home, and we can voice chat if you're interested."

"That sounds great, Ashe. Thanks."

A pause. "I'm assuming you didn't come all the way out here only to see me in person."

"What? You're my friend, Ashe. Of course I want to see you."

"Is there something you want from me, Claude? I'm happy to help."

Money. He thinks I'm desperate and that I want some of the inheritance he received.

"No, nothing like that. I'm also going to see Dimitri. He hasn't responded when I message him, so we need to go find him in person."

Ashe raises an eyebrow. "So you're… stalking him."

"It looks like Dimitri is in quite a bit of trouble," Robin says. "We wanted to check in on him. But yes, we did stalk him."

Did he have to say that last part?

"Does this have to do with something that happened to him in Fódlan?" Ashe says.

Someone's quick on the uptake.

"He was a totally different person," I say. "We thought he was executed, but he returned to fight against the Empire. And his bloodlust… the way he killed those people…"

I shiver and rub my arms. I didn't think I was squeamish about this sort of thing, but seeing what happened to those Adrestian towns and the soldiers at the bridge where Dimitri crossed will stay in my mind until I die.

When I look up at Ashe, I see that he's staring off into the distance with narrowed eyes. I can't tell if he's reminiscing, pondering how much he belives me, or considering getting involved. Maybe all three.

"Well, let me know when you need to head off," Ashe says. "And tell me if you find Dimitri. And how he is. He slipped away from me, Ignatz, and Lysithea five years ago, and none of the authorities could find him. We thought…"

He slaps a hand over his mouth, which still carries the full effect despite the mask over his face.

"You thought what, Ashe?" I say.

But really, don't I already know the answer?

"We thought he went looking for you," Ashe says. "And we thought that he went wherever you were."

They probably thought we were both dead. And I can't blame them one bit.

Robin's able to turn the topic of conversation back to lighter matters, and I get to hear a bunch of stories about Ashe's siblings. His brother is interested in becoming a social worker and is working with the high school to get a food pantry at the school, which reminds me of Ashe stocking our stores with rice, beans, and lentils over winter break. His sister is a programmer and enjoys designing tabletop games, and Ashe says that she wants to develop an indie game with board-game-like elements, and that she has a working prototype already. These kids seem a hell of a lot more talented than I was in high school, but I guess the new generation was always going to build on what we did and surpass us without breaking a sweat. Though maybe I need to stop talking like I'm an old person already at the age of 23.

As we wrap up the conversation and I pile back into Robin's car, I'm left with a nervous feeling in my stomach. If I don't go back to Fódlan and ensure Ashe's safety, he could lose this life he has. Though more than that, being done talking to him means I'm that much closer to meeting Dimitri. What is he going to be like when I see him again? So much has changed and I…

I still love him.

It's a strange thought to creep into my mind after five years in Fódlan, where I had no chemistry with the Dimitri at the monastery. But when I think back to our dance, the way I held him, and… the kiss.

I still love like a nervous teenager. How much of that is due to me being aromantic, and how much is it me lacking the experience? I don't know anyone older who's aromantic to ask about what relationships look like as we get older, so that's another trail I'll have to blaze for myself. Assuming I survive for the next few years, that is. If I'm heading back to Fódlan then I'm not going to bet on my chances. Although, an actual bet on my chances would be a great one, since if I die I don't have to pay them if I lose.

My mind continues fixating on Dimitri for the rest of our drive. By the time Robin parks the car, my heart is nearly in my throat. Why am I more nervous now than when I was staring down Byleth's army at the Battle at Gronder? I understand that my smooth brain doesn't always tell me to do things that make sense, but this is ridiculous. Guess it's similar to that stat that people are more afraid of public speaking than they are of death.

Robin takes the lead as we walk towards the apartment complex, and I'm not sure if it's because he can feel how tense I am or if he's in front because he knows where Dimitri's room is. The apartment building has one of those locked doors that requires a keycard, meaning I have no chance of picking it, but we're able to wait around until someone lets us in. I guess we're young enough that they assume we live here, which reminds me once again that Robin is in his early-mid 20s despite dressing and acting like someone in his 40s. I know he's sweet and amazing and maybe kinda cute, but I'm still not sure why Lucina's drawn to him since they seem so different. Maybe it's just alloromantic people being weird.

When we ride up the elevator, I ask Robin if he had any backup plans in case someone didn't let us in.

"Oh, I could hack into it pretty easily. Those security systems tend to be kinda shitty."

Oh, right. Computer nerds have the power to control the world, and we're all dancing in the palm of their hand. At least according to those sci-fi movies and video games, anyway.

We step out of the elevator onto the sixth floor and Robin whistles with hands in his pocket while he walks down the hall. I've forgotten which room Dimitri is in, but he seems confident about where he's going. He walks up to the door 611, raises a knuckled hand to knock, and then looks back at me.

"You ready, Claude?"

"About as ready as I'll ever be."

Robin knocks on the door. Nothing. Another round of knocks and I hear a grunt from inside.

"Go away."

It's Dimitri's voice, in the same low growl that I heard from him during the Battle at Gronder. I step up to the door.

"Dimitri? It's Claude. I've… missed you."

"I know you're lying. Get out or I'll do something I'm going to regret."

"Dimitri, please. I'm sorry for leaving you, but I'm back now. I want to see your face."

Another grunt, and I hear shuffling inside of the room. The door opens to reveal Dimitri with the same eyepatch and dirty, long hair as in Fódlan. Here, he's wearing a tattered leather jacket. The inside of his apartment is piled with food wrappers and other trash, and it smells like a skunk died inside. Still, the stench is nothing compared to stumbling on a field of corpses, and Robin doesn't react to it either. Good to have another professional at my side.

"I should have known that you'd haunt me as well," Dimitri says.

"Haunt you?"

"And why are you here? Who do you want me to kill?"

"I don't…" How do I respond to that? "I wanted to say hi."

A frown. "You're real after all, aren't you?"

He reaches out towards me. I let my fingers slide over his, and his arm jerks back.

"So it is you." Dimitri's eyes narrow. "I don't care where you've been, Claude. I don't care what you want from me. I have my own mission, and it has nothing to do with you. Go back to wherever you've been hiding for the past five years."

I open my mouth to respond, and he slams the door on me. I hear the clicking of the lock.

"I also talked with Ashe," I say. "We all missed you, Dimitri."

No response. I close my eyes and let out a sigh. This is exactly what I was fearing, but now that it's happened I'm more relieved than anything. Such a strange emotion for the situation. Why can't my feelings ever make sense?

"Does it make me a bad person if I don't feel terrible that the person I care about is suffering?" I say.

"Nobody should tell you that you need to feel a certain way," Robin says. "I assume you're dedicated to supporting him in the ways you can?"

"Of course."

"That's what matters, Claude. I think we'll need to reevaluate our strategy. We can't force him to get help, and he doesn't seem receptive to anything you're saying."

That's true. I bet Robin has some way to barge into this room if he wanted to, and while I don't care about committing a crime like breaking and entering after being wanted for mass murder, marching into his room will only make the situation worse.

"Then I believe our work here is done," Robin says. "Unless there is anything else that demands your attention here?"

"I guess not. Sorry to make you drive all this way."

"I'd say it was well worth it. We got to confirm that someone you care about is alive and that he needs help. I bet I can also piece together what the 'mission' he talked about is with a bit of time."

It's a strange sensation to be with someone who doesn't try to make me feel guilty every time they do something for me. Mom, dad, Hilda… time to leave all of you behind. I have a new family now, and I'm allowed to have basic human needs around them.

#

Long car rides are always weirdly exhausting for me, and by the time I get back I both want to run a lap around the neighborhood and pass out on the bed I've been given. It doesn't help that the bed is nice and soft compared to conditions on military marches. We hear Morgan and Lucina practicing swordplay upstairs when we enter the house.

"Well, I guess this means I have time to research more about Dimitri," Robin says.

"I have an idea of what he might be after," I say, "But I think it's best to let you see what you discover on your own before comparing thoughts."

Robin gets on his computer and starts typing and scrolling away, leaving me alone. What do people normally do when they're not eating, sleeping, or working? I guess doing more research on current affairs can't hurt, but I hate tapping away at my phone. Robin has to take a break from his digging to attend meetings, so Morgan and Lucina are done practicing and showering before he's finished with his research on Dimitri. I'm in the living room surfing the web on my phone when Morgan comes in with wet hair wearing a t-shirt with no bra underneath.

"Hey, Claude. How was your trip?"

"I hate car rides. And the person I love turned from a sweet boy to a man bent on violence and revenge."

"That's rough, buddy."

I raise an eyebrow at her, and when she grins I can tell that she knows the meme she's referencing.

"Anyways, wanna play some more Mario Kart?"

I don't have a reason to say no, so I pass the time by losing every race to Morgan. We also try out that cooking game she mentioned, which is good because it's co-op and bad because I'm still trash at it. Before I know it, dinner is ready and I enter the kitchen to find that Lucina's grilled up hamburgers for us.

"Ugh, the food here is so good," Morgan says. "I don't ever want to go back to Ylisse."

"Well, one of the main differences is the availability of salt," Robin says. "That's honestly a big factor in why I'm considering trying to develop industrial mining in Ylisse. If we can get cheap salt to everyone, food will be much better."

"Not to mention that Europe pillaged half the world in large part for their native foods," Lucina says. "Which is a practice we are certainly not planning on taking back with us."

"Hopefully we can find ways to break down trade route monopolies, though," Robin says. "Anyways, this is as delicious as always. One of these days you'll have to teach me how to use the grill."

"For someone who can take apart a computer and figure out how it works, I'm amazed that a grill is your nemesis," Lucina says.

"Enough of your boring adult talk," Morgan says. "Claude, why don't you tell us some more about what happened today?"

I recount my experiences talking to Ashe and Dimitri. When I mention feeling bad that I wasn't crushed to see Dimitri in such a bad state, Lucina puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Oh, that's not even close to the worst thing that I've seen lovers do," she says. "I was this close to killing Robin after we were married."

Robin smirks. "I didn't think you were going to bring that up."

"What, what?" Morgan says, mouth still full of food.

"Was this on purpose?" I say.

"Uh, yeah," Lucina says. "I think Morgan told you a bit about how Robin had the spirit of an evil, godlike dragon inside of him?"

"Something like that."

"I may or may not have come close to killing him in hopes of taking the dragon down with him."

"Hey mom." Morgan's face goes white. "What the fuck."

"I don't have any hard feelings about it," Robin says. "And hey, she didn't do it. That counts for a lot."

"I'm not sure if I feel better about my actions after hearing that," I say. "Maybe just more confused."

Lucina laughs. "If you ever need more confusing anecdotes, you can talk to me."

"I'll say." Morgan crosses her arms, but then grins after a moment. "But to be fair, dad was pretty sus. Clearly an impostor."

I exchange a glance with Robin and Lucina.

"Sus?" I say. "Impostor?"

"Oh, get with the times." Morgan pauses. "Though you get a pass, Claude, since you've been out of the dimension for the past five years. One of these days I'm going to show you Among Us. If you have online friends who want to play, let me know."

Online gaming might not be a bad way to keep in touch with friends, actually.

"My comedic genius goes unappreciated yet again," Morgan says. "Well thanks for the grub, mom. That was great. Is there enough for me to have seconds?"

There was indeed enough, and I'm continually amazed at how much food Morgan can consume. I guess being high energy all the time requires an equally high caloric intake.

After dinner, I offer to help with cleanup and Lucina chats with me while passing rinsed dishes to load.

"While you were gone, I was thinking about what you might need," she says. "I'm planning to go out and get you a computer and some sets of clothes tomorrow. What else can I get you?"

"Are you sure you're okay buying me a computer?" I say. "I mean, assuming that's your intention. I'm totally fine paying you back once I have the means to as well."

"Gold sells for enough that we have more money than we'll ever need," Lucina says. "Being a princess has some benefits."

"You're a princess?"

"Oh, did I never tell you? Yeah, my dad Chrom's the Exalt of Ylisse. You can ask Robin about him, since they're all buddy-buddy."

Lucina's dad… I've never really thought about her having parents before. She was always so adult-like to me, and having never seen my parents interact with my grandparents I never consider that adults do indeed have parents.

"I'll let you know if there's anything else I need, but right now a laptop and clothes sound great. The computer doesn't have to be anything fancy, and I can either come with for the clothes or tell you my size."

"It's going to be Robin's backup laptop if you decide to go back to Fódlan, and he'll want it to be good enough to use for work." She smirks. "That also means you should delete the porn on it before heading off."

"Not interested in most porn," I say. "Icky power dynamics and all that."

"Damn, no question fazes you, huh?"

I shrug. "Is it different for you? Everything here seems so docile after being in an active warzone, even though I know people are suffering."

"Right. Whenever I think about the concentration camps set up near the border, I…" She exhales. "I wonder if I should be doing more, but all I'm really good at his hitting things with a sword. I've donated a bunch of our money to charities helping refugees, but I don't know if that's enough."

"It's not your responsibility to clean up our messes, either," I say. "It's odd, though. I already miss Fódlan because even though I was against Byleth's god-powers, I could struggle and have at least a chance of shaping the world to make it a better place."

"You defended your classmates and ensured that many of the assailants couldn't hurt anyone again on that day five years ago," Lucina says. "Isn't that worth something to you?"

"You're praising my killing spree of all things?"

"We're all killers here, Claude. We know what wars are like, and we don't begrudge you for fighting."

Maybe that's why I feel at home with Lucina and Robin. Normally I mesh better with other queer people since we have similar perspectives and experiences, and it makes sense that I get a different version of that sensation with other medieval fantasy soldiers. At this point, being Claude von Riegan from the Leicester Alliance is something I can never leave behind.

I don't know what it says about me that being in a house with killers makes me more comfortable, but that night I drift off into a peaceful sleep almost immediately after my head hits the pillow.

#

The next morning, Robin shares his findings with me on Dimitri.

"You went to school with a girl called Edelgard Hresvelg, right?" he says. "She was the one who called Arundel on Rhea."

"Yep. I have a few choice words for her that I'll bring up if they're relevant."

"Seems like Dimitri is plotting to kill her."

"Ah. Well, that lines up with what's going on in Fódlan."

"I don't think it will work, but I can keep tabs on him." Robin frowns. "Are you planning to go back to Fódlan soon?"

Byleth's next move is to conquer the Kingdom by marching into Fhirdiad and unseating Cornelia. Honestly, I don't think there's much I can do to stop them at this point.

"Oh, and unrelated news," Robin says. "Rhea broke out of prison."

I blink. "She what?"

"She was charged and sentenced for covering up sexual assault cases from priests. But there was a prison break involving some of the security guards at the Catholic school who seem to have a powerful backing with the church."

So things are getting spicy. I wonder if this means that Rhea was being held captive and escaped her prison in Enbarr over on Fódlan. I remember that Judith's spies were confident that she was captured and not killed.

"Maybe I can use the events here on Earth to track what's happening over on Fódlan and see if I need to hop over," I say. "I don't want to risk bringing COVID over unless I'm convinced shit is about to go down."

Robin nods. "I'm also in the process of setting up our own COVID tests for our house, so we can cut down a lot of the risk of you bringing the virus over if you do travel back."

"Is there anything you can't do?"

"I'm… not sure how to respond to that. I guess winning at Mario Kart is always beyond my reach."

"If that's your biggest weakness in life, I'd say you're set."

We move on to talk about other household business matters. He also asks if I need anything else, at which I say no. He then inquires about laptops I prefer, and I tell him I don't have a preference. Finally, he brings up the idea that I might want to quarantine in the house if I'm planning to jump back to Fódlan at a moment's notice, which I agree to. It's going to be annoying staying inside day in and day out, but I don't think the luxury of modern American life will wear off that quickly on me.

The days pass into weeks, and I kill time by surfing the web and playing video games with Morgan. Many of my friends are busy, but I also do my best to reconnect with them and chat in zoom calls. Lysithea demands Fódlan updates and tells me how she's pursuing college at an Ivy League university, which doesn't surprise me. Ignatz is glad to hear I'm safe and says he's been working at his parents' small business in rural Washington. The fact that he's not imprisoned on Earth after Byleth captured him is a pleasant surprise. I assume that he was allowed to continue resuming his life in Fódlan after the Alliance was subjugated. I catch up with Dorothea, who talks about wanting to move to LA and break into the acting industry. I believe in her to seize her dreams, especially since she already has a track record as a child star.

I also message Dimitri, but get left on read every time. I consider sending resources on seeking therapy, but if he won't even chat with me I'm guessing that me suggesting counseling will only aggravate him further.

When I talk to Morgan about my friends, she mentions that "Among Us" game again. I go and watch some streamers and youtubers play the game, and it looks fun enough. It's a hidden identities game like Werewolf but set on a spaceship or space colony where the regular crewmates try to figure out who the impostors are while the impostors try to blend in and kill crewmates. And to prevent everyone from grouping together, all crewmates have their own tasks that they need to perform and imposters can sabotage areas of the map that crewmates have to deal with.

Morgan thinks that she can rope her parents into joining us, so with me and her that means we need six more people for a full lobby of ten. Ashe, Ignatz, Dorothea, and Lysithea all agree to join, and Ashe suggests including Ingrid and Annette. He also mentions that Sylvain plays but I can tell he remembers how much Sylvain and I didn't get along, even compared to Ingrid being racist towards me. Also, he says that Annette is down after Mercedes passed and wants to keep herself busy. So no Syvain.

Which means that somehow, we get a full party of ten people playing Among Us semi-consistently. And honestly? It's a blast getting to see everyone again and track their in-game tendencies. Morgan is the one with the most experience and is also the loudest, so she tends to dominate the conversations. Dorothea is the best impostor of the group since nobody can tell when she's lying and she always seems to know how to deflect attention and appear non-suspicious. Annette tunnel-visions on the tasks and ends up getting herself separated from the group and killed early most games, to the point that we make a rule that we have to try not to kill Annette early so that she can enjoy the game too. Ashe and Ignatz are good crewmate players but they both are bad liars and don't usually kill in the most strategic locations as impostor. Ingrid and Lucina are patient and quiet, usually sticking with the group and taking impostor games slow so they can line up the perfect kill. Robin and Lysithea start off struggling but pull out the mad science technology and find little tricks to root out imposters as crewmate and go for unorthodox kills as imposter.

I wonder if Dimitri would have liked this game. Before he… well, maybe it's not too healthy for me to think about that. I do keep checking in on him, and he keeps leaving me on read. I wonder if that's better or worse than him not looking at the messages entirely.

I surprise myself with how I'm able to keep busy when I really have nothing to do. I play through Morgan's RPGs and keep losing to her at Mario Kart. I catch up on the entertainment I missed over the past five years, and watch all the new Marvel movies with Lucina, who surprises me with her passion for superhero media. It all feels like a good dream that I'm about to wake up from.

And then one day, I do. About a month and a half after I first arrived, Robin tells me that Edelgard is rallying against Rhea and the Catholic group sheltering her while Dimitri has started his prowl. He's confident that they're going to confront each other soon. Everyone in the family has been getting tested every other day using the COVID tests Robin obtained, and they all came back negative.

I'm surprised at how quickly I flip the switch and get back in the mindset of being a Fódlan leader given how I spent six weeks essentially being a deadbeat kid in their 20s. I decide to head back to Fódlan a couple hours after Robin breaks the news. I send goodbye messages to all my friends, telling them that I'll be off the grid for an indeterminate amount of time and that I hope they keep playing Among Us with Lucina's family.

After that, it's time to say goodbye to the people who are the first real family I've ever had. Nobody gets all weepy like in the movies when someone leaves for war, which I attribute to everyone in the house being a soldier, but Lucina does hug me and tell me to stay safe in Fódlan. I can tell that she doesn't want me to go, but she doesn't say it. I'm sure she understands what it's like to throw yourself in danger to try and protect the people you care about. After Lucina hugs me, Morgan is next, and while embracing me she tells me about how nice it was to have me around the house and how much more fun I made everything. I don't think I've ever heard someone call me fun before, and I linger on her words as Robin hugs me last. He tells me to return home if possible even for a couple of hours here and there if I have the free time. I think I'll take him up on his offer, since while I eat good Earth food I can also strategize military or political situations with Robin.

And that's it. All my stuff is going to stay here at the house in case I need it again. It's so strange to have a stable place I can fall back on if shit hits the fan. It blows my mind thinking that some people live their whole lives like this. I wonder if they appreciate it.

I go out into the woods near Lucina's house, far enough off any sort of trail that nobody should be around to witness my return. I take a deep breath and clasp my Falchion pendant.

Fódlan, here I come. I wonder if this time will be the last.

Dimitri kinda sus.

Hey, everyone. :) I'm hoping to squeeze in another chapter or two before November hits and I try to write a novel in a month. Honestly sometimes it seems like writing a novel is so much easier than a fanfic because I have way fewer character and it's way shorter (gonna try to keep the novel I write next month to 80k words and this is already 150k).

I changed up some of the Crimson Flower story beats to make sure "Kill every last one of them!" Dimitri could still make an appearance, so we'll hear about more of what went down offscreen next chapter.

Hope you all have a great day! :D