Santos pioneered many unique magical theorems and techniques in his various writings. Now that I've scrawled through it and compiled it into a proper, I've dubbed it 'The Third Element'. His previous title was terrible, and shall not be mentioned. Even today, I use much of the information from his experiments as the seeds of thought to crafting my own theorems. Just wish I could ask him what he did that day. None of his research denotes anything that depicted the magical anomalies that transpired that fateful day. A mystery I still look to unravel.


Lysithea

Adrestia formally surrendered two days after the battle of Gronder. While the first day was nearly a stalemate, the next day was a complete massacre. With Dagda's unique magical pylons to absorb the pillars of destructive light, the Adrestians and remaining Agarthans couldn't match the sheer numbers of the Fodlan Alliance.

I was not present at the battle as I focused my attention on consoling Seiros and searching through Santo's belongings. I wanted answers. I needed them. Unfortunately, he had decidedly traveled light, as most of his research remained on the Veiled Eminence. Only a few basic belongings and his personal journal and some other tomes.

After the battle and chaos, celebrations broke out amongst the various camps. I pointedly chose not to attend anything, as there were still anomalies afoot. Macuil and Kronya had all but vanished after the battle with Sothal. Macuil's departure was expected. Kronya's is...problematic, at the very least.

I hear the tent flap open, quick, and deliberate footsteps on the soft ground. "Lysithea, you do know it is rather rude to plunder the doctor's belongings in such a brusque manner," Constance says, the disapproval evident in her voice. "I'd hoped you would have waited at least a day or two after Santos' cremation before such scandalous behavior."

Seems Constance got my message to help me, though I'm not surprised she has a bit of an attitude. I know it's hardly proper, but I need answers before Seiros hides anything important, and Constance while quite beholden to rules and tradition, is more than willing to bend when knowledge is dangling in front of her. I would have turned to Yuri first due to his inclination to not caring about the procedure, but I needed someone who is well versed in magic. Plus, I haven't been able to reach him since returning last night. He's been particularly busy from what I've heard.

"Did Seiros follow you, or suspect anything?" I ask. I sit on the cot and gesture to the pile of books. "And that's what I've found so far. You'll have to read for me, but tell me everything you find."

Constance clears her throat and walks over to the small pile. "Of course, I am quite interested in our professor's private research. His letters of insight were always interesting, though he did have a habit to keep certain details to himself."

"Just search for anything that might relate to what happened two days ago. Anything relating to Sothis, the Nabateans, Agarthans- you get the gist," I instruct as I lay down on the cot. My body still feels terrible, even after seeing the healers. Deep tissue damage and exhaustion are never easy to deal with. It's as if Santos' lectures are on repeat in my head telling me the obvious about human anatomy and its relation to healing magic once again.

"Such curious entries," Constance whispers with a sense of awe and wonder. Her magical aura fluctuates slightly.

"Something of note already?"

"Not in what you were interested," Constance notes, deflating my excitement slightly. "It's more of his ramblings, much like what we read through on the ship during our travel to Morfis, but with more recent entries over the years. Namely, lot's of complaining about politics and-" Constance's aura becomes erratic and rebounds wildly as she pauses, "I'm just going to skip over these more descriptive parts."

"Are they about magic or-"

"No!" Constance quickly says. Too quickly. The only other thing it could be would be...ah. She must be at the sections in Dagda where Santos became extremely involved with our resident Nabatean. Santos was never someone extremely open about his relationship, but all of us over in Dagda figured it out quickly. Except for Felix; poor guy had to have Kronya explain it to him why Santos showed up late to a training one day. Wish I could have seen how red his face became because his aura was erratic for the rest of the day.

"You can spare me the details, Constance," I say, dismissively waving my hand. "The information we need is probably near the back."

"When did you become so blase about the finer details of intimacy?" Constance asks; a bitter confusion lacing her words. "Doesn't it make you at least slightly uncomfortable?"

This is where I'd roll my eyes if I still had them. "Not particularly. I understand how sex works, and when you can detect the specific aura fluctuations when someone has become aroused nearly three rooms over you kinda have to get over that relatively quickly."

"You poor thing."

"It's more like a pitch I can tune out now," I respond, flexing my hands idly in boredom. "When your vision relies on identifying magical signatures, it's less about what you can see and more about what you can ignore. How's progress?"

"Fine, starting to get into more of his theorems, though his handwriting here is strange. It's in a different langauge that I don't recognize. Not to mention his penmanship is ghastly," Constance laments. "By the way, are you worried about Seiros coming by?"

Another language? Crap, he really was paranoid. I know he spoke some other langauge, but he never wanted to share details. It only came out when he was angry or surprised, but even then he avoided every attempt I've tried to broach the subject with him. Said it was a reminder of his past, and something he wanted to keep for himself.

"Seiros will be away for a bit, as she's dispersing Santos' ashes. I believe she's going to Zanado," I reply. I can feel a headache starting to build as I'm wondering how we can decipher his native tongue. "I volunteered to watch their tent while she was away. She should be back in a day or two."

"That's all well and fine, Lysithea," Constance says. "But, everything here in the book is in Adrestian standard except his magical theories. I can get the gist of some of it by analyzing his arithmetic, but the specific details are unknown to me."

"Well, that is unfortunate-"

I hear the tent flap rustle wildly, and a familiar presence enters the room paired with some slightly heavy breathing. "Ah, there you guys are," Balthus gasps, making other various sounds of exertion. "Boss is doing something wild, asked for some security back up."

Back-up for what? It's not like Yuri to ask for help.

"And what praytell is the matter, my dear Balthus? If you haven't noticed, Lysithea and I are in the middle of important scholarly research-"

"It's a bloody coup on Big Red," Balthus tensely whispers. Did Yuri pull one over Edelgard? He did promise that he'd make sure she'd get her comeuppance during the feast, but this is something beyond my expectations. I expected him to rob her or something. Not try and strip her of an entire army.

I hop off the bed and straighten my robes hastily. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

If anybody is going to see Edelgard take a dive, you can bet on the Goddess that I want to be there to see it happen.


Tailing Balthus with Constance not too far behind, we raced to the center of the joint camp. Balthus does well in paving the way through the large swathes of soldiers surrounding Claude's basecamp. I can feel the anxiety and tension in thousands of various magical signatures all meshing up against one another, like a sea of frenetic anemone.

Yesterday evening was full of funerals after accepting the surrender, and not even a day later everyone is back to conniving politicking and courtly drama. I think I'm starting to understand the meaning of 'evil never sleeps'. As soon as the evil god is gone, it's not even a week before we're at each other's throat again. Part of me thinks Sothal had a point, though I try to ignore that pernicious thought.

"Important people! Coming through! Make a path people!" Balthus commands as he paves the way to Claude's joint war room tent. Larger than any other makeshift building here, it's relatively impressive that they even brought in support beams for the covering. It's roughly the size of a large cabin, minus the usual amenities.

I hold onto the back of Balthus' shirt as we breach the threshold of the tent, the metallic sound of weapons moving apart signifying the strict security that Claude has setup. The murmurs from the surrounding troops fade away as the shouting from inside the tent now becomes palpable and coherent. Sounds mostly like Edelgard, and she is pissed given how shrill her voice sounds.

"I should have you hanged, drawn, and quartered for this stunt!" Edelgard shouts, her usual composed voice cracking. She sounds desperate.

"On who's authority? Yours?" I hear Yuri snarky reply. "That's adorable. All I did was help you get an army, and now that it's ran its course considering Claude is planning to dissolve the empire, I told them they could go home."

I lean over to Constance. "Who's all here exactly? The crowd outside is muddling my senses," I whisper into her ear.

"The usual faction lords," Constance whispers back. "Claude, Judith, Nader, Lord Fraldarius, Edelgard, King Getafe, Catherine, Yuri, and us. Also, Hapi is here." I focus my senses and nod to her. Alright, I think I've got a beat on where everyone is at.

I nod and step up to the war table, reaching out to feel it as I settle in between Yuri and King Getafe. Now that I'm closer, I can sense Yuri's energy is cool and smooth; no urgency whatsoever while Getafe seems highly amused. Makes sense considering he is the least interested in what happens to Adrestia out of all the factions.

"Lady Edelgard," Rodrigue says, his voice hoarse and weary. "While I understand your concerns and frustration, nobody can argue with the treaty that has been created. It went through the joint commission here, and your minister of information signed off on it."

I hear Getafe rap his knuckles against the hardwood war table. "Besides, what did you expect when you conscripted a mercenary army, Lady Edelgard? Perhaps you got too caught up in lofty goals while on the frontlines that you forgot that wars are truly won in conference rooms with a pen?" Getafe chuckles lightly, his Dagdan accent hardly traceable. He's certainly enjoying himself, and considering how cutthroat Dagdan politics are, I'm not surprised. He's probably having a field day watching all the Fodlan officials fumble about.

"It's more than that," Edelgard counters. "It's about you all deciding here and now to unmake Adrestia as a country. What of the common folk?"

"I'm sure they'll persevere, just as when you outlawed the worship of Sothis," Catherine says, with an edge to her voice. "They'll have their homes and land, but the structure will be reformed under Claude. We must all adapt to these strange times."

"And what if I refuse?" Edelgard challenges. I can sense the anger practically radiating off the woman. "What then? Shall you all hunt me down like savage animals?"

"Edelgard-" Yuri starts, but clams up and puts his hands up as Edelgard shoots him a nasty look.

"Alright, I think it's time I said something," Claude places his hands on his hips and I can feel the man scan the room. "All present parties have consented to the treaties, though you do have my sympathies, Edelgard. I think it's fit to see Yuri punished for his actions of betraying your trust. Yuri?"

"Yes, Claude?"

"For your devious acts of unsanctioned behavior, I sentence you to be my advisor. The term is for the rest of your life to be in service to the new Alliance of Fodlan," I can almost perfectly imagine Claude smirk as he pauses, "With no possibility of parole."

"Oh, well isn't that a shame," Yuri overdramatically laments. "Looks like I'm an indentured servant now, Edie. Nice going."

"This is all some kind of joke to you all, isn't it?" Edelgard hisses.

"Not at all," Claude quickly replies. "We'd just rather not have another war on our hands after this rather tense conflict. People are tired and ready for peace, and we finally have it. The groups present have elected me to be High King, surprisingly, as I think I'm hardly qualified," I can feel Claude's aura tighten and coil as he lowers his voice into a more serious tone, "But I'm willing to do what I must to maintain the peace for everyone here. I'd rather work with you, not against you. Can you work with us for a brighter future, together?"

A heavy silence dominates the room as everyone waits on Edelgard's answer. I hear her draw in a quick and sharp breath. "You'd still have the Church of Seiros in Fodlan?"

"Yes. People need something to believe in, granted Lady Seiros has agreed to leave Fodlan," Claude warmly states. "C'mon, it'll be fun. Think about what we could achieve together."

"I-" Edelgard's voice hitches, "I-no. I can't. This isn't my vision for Fodlan."

"I understand," Claude quietly says. He clears his voice, holding a bearing and clear tone. "Then let it be known, that Edelgard von Hresvelg shall be exiled from Fodlan and is recognized by the Alliance of Fodlan as to having no claims to rulership with the termination of the Adrestian empire. Take the next few days to get your affairs in order, and I will organize an escort for you. Balthus, mind following her and getting some other troops to help her out?"

Edelgard's aura ricochets wildly inside and around her, but she remains quiet as she steps away from the table and toward the exit, with the oily aura of Hubert close behind and Balthus not too far behind him. I breathe out a sigh of relief, as that ended a bit more cordially than I had expected. I nearly thought she would try to jump across the table and duel Claude on the spot for the crown. Though, I can't help but be skeptical about Edelgard actually leaving. She's suffered a huge political embarrassment, and I doubt someone as strong-willed as her will simply just take it.

"Well isn't this entertaining! Do you all do this every time you have a war?" Getafe says in almost a teasing fashion. "You'll need to invite me more often if this is the precedent for Fodlan politics!"

"Watch your tongue, Dagdan," Judith of House Daphnel warns. Quite impressive that Claude managed to get such a noble legend to back him, not even mentioning all of Almyra.

Getafe nudges me in the side, leaning toward me. "I like that one," he whispers to me. I hear him turn back to the main group of the table. "While we are making announcements, I have one of my own. While it is tragic that I've lost the esteemed Archmage Capetillo in recent events, I'd like to declare his appointed successor as depicted in his writ of succession," He pauses and I can feel the young king's eyes on me, "Lysithea of House Ordelia is hereby named Eastern Archmage of Dagda, and liaison of the Dagdan empire to the new Alliance of Fodlan."

I can't help but gasp at the sudden revelation.

"What?" Is all I'm able to mumble out. Me Archmage? But how? Why? What?

"Nice job, Cupcake," I hear Hapi shout from the rear of the tent. "I'm sure you didn't see that one coming, cause I sure didn't."

The table groans at Hapi's poor attempt at congratulating me, but they applaud regardless. My cheeks feel warm and I turn away slightly, trying to hide my face. Santos' last gift to me was to give me the chunk of an empire to oversee and all the magical research I could ask for. What a way to escape civic duty; by passing it on to your apprentice.

And yet, I can't help but pride as King Getafe pats me on the back and the applause continues. We've saved the world, but now we can focus on saving individuals. The next challenge has just begun.

[End of Part VI: Creeping Dusk]