Sylvain wasn't ready to face Ingrid or the girls. So he used the excuse that Ingrid would want to know how Dimitri was doing to differ going to the dining hall. Instead, he headed to the infirmary and found a scene of utter chaos.
Lady Rhea, according to a distressed Cyril, had collapsed in the Audience Chamber. Seteth and Flayn had cleared the room and locked the doors, refusing to let anyone else inside. It was into this situation that Dedue and Mercedes had rushed in with Dimitri. The prince's condition galvanised Manuela and she and Mercedes were now in the infirmary.
So that's where Sylvain headed and found Dedue, Mercedes, Professor Byleth and Professor Manuela having a discussion just outside the infirmary.
"As a graduate of the Fhirdiad school of sorcery, Mercedes, you should know that Dimitri is already dead," Manuela was saying.
"Only if we do not get him the antidote within the first half an hour," Mercedes was insisting, "Are you saying you don't have the antidote?"
"That's exactly what I am saying," Manuela replied, "The king of snakes is rare enough that the antidote is not kept in stock this far south. There is nothing we can do except grant him a merciful death before the venom melts him from the inside and gives him an agonising one."
"I refuse to accept this! There must be something you can do!" insisted Dedue.
"Unless you can stop time, there is nothing I can do," replied Manuela.
"Very well," replied Byleth in her matter-of-fact tone, "I will stop time. You find a way to a way to save Dimitri," then she walked into the room.
Curiosity made him run so that he could look inside the infirmary. He was just in time to see Byleth drape herself over Dimitri and then the room went dark. Sylvain reached out his hand but met unseen resistance as he tried to extend past the doorway into the room.
"Goddess," Mercedes exclaimed.
"That might not be far from the truth," commented Hanneman, who seemed to have been listening in through the open door of the office, as being in front of the infirmary also meant being in front of Hanneman's office.
"The professor has the crest of flames," he continued, "There are some old texts that mentioned that the goddess had power over time. It could be that she can use her crest to exert some control over time. It's fascinating, I need to study this!"
Hanneman turned and rushed to his desk, oblivious to the disgusted looks Dedue was shooting him. Sylvain was trying to remind himself that Hanneman had no connection to Dimitri and was not wrong to prioritise what he cared about. But he still had to resist saying something mean and unnecessary.
Mercedes brought their attention and discussion back to the issue at hand, "Professor Manuela, the time has stopped for Dimitri, so let's go extract the snake's stomach and brew the antidote!"
"Is the antidote easy to make?" asked Sylvain.
"I, right," Manuela took a moment to recover herself, "To answer your question, Sylvain. No, the antidote for the King of Snakes venom has to be brewed over twelve hours and involves using multiple potion-making techniques and extremely careful titration and distillation. It's a gruelling process and that's why brewing the antidote is part of the final potions examination at the Fhirdiad School of Sorcery. However, only a small number of students ever produce a usable antidote. Most are given a pass if they manage to finish the brewing process, which in itself is an achievement."
"In my year," Mercedes interjected, "Annette managed to produce a perfect antidote. Lorenz and mine were considered usable but needed to be administered in higher concentrations."
"You kids did better than me, I finish and passed but my antidote was not considered usable," replied Manuela, "Also, that was over twenty years ago. I haven't had to use many of the techniques necessary to brew the antidotes in years, if ever. I am not sure I can manage it."
"You don't have to manage it," replied Dedue, "Annette, Lorenz, and Mercedes can brew the antidote."
"Yes, yes you are right," replied Manuela, "In fact, to be safe, we should gather the other recent graduates of the School of Sorcery. Ingredients are not a limitation as only a small amount of the stomach enzyme is needed for each batch of the antidote. That's one of the other reasons it is used for the potions exam. One dead snake can supply enough material for hundreds of students. The school only needs to fund an expedition every few years to gather materials. So I would ask anyone who wants to try their hand at brewing to make the antidote and hopefully, we'll get a usable potion in twelve hours time."
"I'll go get Annette, she should be in the dining hall, I'll find Lorenz after," Sylvain volunteered.
"I'll go find my old friend Constance in Abyss," replied Mercedes, "She also graduated from the School of Sorcery and is a deft hand at potions!"
"Dedue, I know this is a lot to ask of you but please, please go tell Felix," replied Sylvain, "He needs to know but I… he needs to know and it'll be better coming from you."
Dedue looked uncertain, "Felix and I, we are not friends," he pointed out.
"That's why I am asking you," replied Sylvain, "He might be honest with you in a way he can't if it's me or Ingrid."
"Very well," replied Dedue and with that, the three of them headed off to find the people they needed to on.
On route to the dining hall, Sylvain passed Gustava but he refused to answer his questions. Only encouraging the old night to go to the infirmary without delay. Once he got to the dining hall, he blurted it out, "Dimitri's dying," he told Annette and Ingrid as soon as he was close enough, "The snake was venomous, the venom is melting his insides!"
"What?" It was Claude, "What are you talking about?"
"King of Snakes," Sylvain said, "The snake was the King of Snakes!"
Annette burst into tears, "He's dead! He's dead! I didn't recognise it but if it's," she sobbed louder, "He's dead!"
"What? What is going on? What is a King of Snakes?" demanded Ingrid.
"The King of Snakes is a rare but extremely deadly beast that lives in the far north of Fodlan," Lorenz explained seriously, "The snakes eat anything, including each other. So its venom is deadly to itself as well as others. Perhaps because of this, the venom has a delayed reaction time. It takes at least half an hour, sometimes longer to activate. Once it does, however, venom slowly but painfully liquifies the innards of the snake's prey. Once the process starts, there is no way to stop it. The prey dies withering in agony while giving off a horrible smell. It's by the smell that the snake finds pretty that might have gotten away from it. As the insides of the King of Snake's pray melts, it also neutralises the venom, making the body safe for consumption."
Lorenz closed his eyes and solemnly declared, "If Dimitri has been bitten by the King of Snake, all we can do is grant him a…"
"The professor stopped time," Sylvain interjected, "I don't know how but she's given us a chance to save his Highness. Please, you and Annette, please go see Manuela. She's organising a brewing session for the King of Snakes anti-venom. Please!"
"I, of course," Lorenz agreed readily and headed out the hall.
"I'll go too," Claude added, "I might not look it but I am pretty good at brewing antidotes. I might be able to help," he followed Lorenz and Marianne joined them without a word.
"Alexi, you have stayed with Uncle Sylvain and Aunt Ingrid for a bit," Annette said.
"But Uncle Sylvain doesn't want us!" Alexi whined.
"Enough with this nonsense," Sylvain snapped, losing his patience was probably not a good idea but he needed Annette brewing potions at the moment, "Girls, Alexi, I don't know who told you what or what's going on in your little heads but I love you and I definitely want you. Now I need you three to be good because his High… his Majesty is in a lot of trouble and he needs Annette!"
The girls, who had been very good and very quiet, now moved. Demeter reached for Alexi, "I'll watch Alexi, you go Aunty Annette."
Annette surrendered Alexi to Demeter and headed out. But no one moved towards Sylvain. Instead, Violet hid behind Ingrid as Demeter moved to stand beside her. Clearly, no one believed a word that came out of Sylvain's mouth.
He sighed, "Let's get some food!" he said, forcing a smile on his face.
"How can you think about eating at a time like this?" demanded Ingrid.
"Wow! We are in trouble if you aren't thinking about food!"
"Sylvain!"
Sylvain signed again, "Listen, Ingrid, we are probably the two most useless people at the moment. We can't do anything for Dimtri or the others. Maybe in a bit, we can help with keeping the potions brewers hydrated and fed as they spend twelve hours making what sounds like a really finicky antidote. But for now, let's just keep the kids entertained."
"Yes, yes, your right," admitted Ingrid, "Come girls," she said as she took Alexi from Demeter, "Let's eat and then we can figure out how to make ourselves useful!"
Kids are resilient, something Sylvain remembered all too well from his own less than perfect childhood. So it wasn't a surprise when the girls and Alexi seemed to forget their troubles over food and babbled to Ingrid about random things as they ate. It made Sylvain feel strangely detached and nostalgic at the same time.
"I like this soup," said Violet, "What is it, mummy?"
"It's Onion Gratin Soup," replied Ingrid, "I never had anything like this until I got here," she noted, "But you girls must have eaten this before? Gautier has more food than Galatea."
"I don't think I ever had this soup before," replied Violet, "Papa likes the fish and bean soup. So we haven't been eating that a lot since…"
"Since I died?"
The random comment shocked Sylvain out of his odd mood, "Wait, what?"
"That's why future you don't want the girls, Sylvain," snapped Ingrid, "I am dead and clearly you have better things to do than raise our little girls."
"Aren't you jumping to conclusions here?" Sylvain bit back.
"Girls, what's the name of your father's new lover?" she asked calmly.
"Lady Edith," replied Demeter, "She was our governess, but after mummy died. She became papa's lover because she said she could give papa crest bearing children. Her grandmother was Esa or something like that. Apparently, girls from that family always make crest bearing children."
Ingrid was giving Sylvain a smug look but Sylvain could see a hole a mile wide in the story, "Girls, if what you are saying is true, then why was this girl working as a governess?"
"Huh?"
"If a woman could guarantee crest bearing kids, then wouldn't she have lots of suitors?" he reasoned.
The girls stared at him blankly. Sylvain switched tacts, "Who is the Gautier heir?"
"Our oldest brother Alex," replied Violet.
"Alex doesn't have a crest," Sylvain guessed, "So how come his Majesty is letting him be the heir?"
"Alex has a big gearwork horse!" said Alexi, "It goes so fast! And can fire big missiles! It jumps so high! Papa says that the gearwork horsies are better than swords and that's why I am going to grow up to be a gearwork knight!"
Nothing that came out of Alexi's mouth made a lot of sense. But Sylvain was smart enough to gather that new weapons had been invented that may well have rendered relics obsolete, "So these gearwork horses," he began.
"Seiðjárn," Demeter supplied, "There are lots of different kinds! Alex has the gearwork horse. Hugo has gearwork pegasus. I want a gearwork pegasus too!"
"Okay, so these gearwork Seiðjárn are better than relics, so that explains why this Lady Edith was working as a governess, even if she was telling to the truth about guaranteeing crest-bearing children. It doesn't matter! Your brothers are more than strong enough to defend Gautier against the Sreng and so Lady Edith and her crest-bearing womb are worthless! She ticked you too!"
"But she said," started Demeter.
"She was lying," Sylvain said definitely.
"But you," Demeter tried to continue.
"Might be having a hard time without your Ingrid here," he pulled Ingrid to him and thankfully she let herself be pulled against him without resistance, "But I would be very annoyed and angry when I find out the lies this Lady Edith has been telling you, girls!"
Demeter fell silent. Violet spoke up but it was clear her thoughts had been running in a completely different direction, "Papa, why would Alex fight Alina's people?"
"Huh?"
"Who is Alina?" wondered Ingrid.
"Alex's betho-betho…"
"Betrothed," offered Sylvain.
"Yes, Alina is the princess of the Sreng and she's going to marry Alex. So why would Alex fight her people?" wondered Violet.
Of all the things that happened since he work-up this morning, it was the revelation that in the future, the heir to house Gautier was set to marry the princess of the Sreng that broke Sylvain's brain. He simply did not know how to process what seemed at present to be a near impossibility.
"I am sure Alina is a lovely girl who will never give Alex reason to turn against her and her people," Ingrid offered, "But it is always good to know that Fearghus has the strength to defend itself if necessary. The King of Lion needs his claws!"
"Good save," Sylvain whispered.
"Don't get too comfortable," replied Ingrid, "I haven't forgotten that in the future, you replace me with the girls' governess!"
Sylvain knew when not to poke the bear. So instead, he went and got even more food for Ingrid and the girls. A busy mouth was a mouth not chewing him out and that was good enough for now!
By the time they finished eating, the word of Dimitri's conditions, as well as that of Rhea, has begun to circulate within the monastery. Ashe interrupted them mid desert, distressed and demanding to know what was happening. Sylvain gave him a brief summary and sent him to find Dedue for details.
He probably shouldn't be piling work on Dedue but Dedue probably could do with the comforting distracting of Ashe. He and Ingrid did, however, deal directly with any Kingdom knights or other Blue Lion house students who came asking questions. Confirming that there was an emergency but assuring that it was being handled and effectively telling them to mind their own business for now.
"How do you think Felix is taking it?" Ingrid wondered.
"He's either demolishing the training yard or crying…" Sylvain trailed off as suddenly, Felix himself made an appearance.
It was clear he had been crying. Without a word he picked up Alexi, "Papa?"
He nuzzled the little boy as he walked out of the dining hall. "Felix?" Ingrid called but Felix ignored her.
"Hey girls, do you like horses? Why don't I take you to the stables?" suggested Sylvain.
"Yay!"
"I am going to check on his Majesty but then I'll join you."
"Okay, Mummy!" the girls said in unison.
The girls were natural with the horses but that's to be expected given they were descendants of Gautier, after all. Sylvain stood and watch as the girls brushed his horse and talked to the gelding endlessly. He never thought he was the fatherly type but he could get used to this.
Boom!
Sylvain covered his ears, "Girls," he couldn't hear his own voice, so certainly the girl could not hear him either. He rushed forward and pulled them away from the horses who were going crazy from the sudden boom.
He pulled them out of the stable. Violet was saying something and pointing to something to the side. Sylvain's hearing hadn't returned yet. But there was nothing wrong with his eyesight so he turned and was greeted by the sight of a middle-aged, red-haired, red-beared man, kissing Ingrid!
Author's Note: Unfortunately due to the limitations of this site, I can't show the art that goes with this chapter easily. Have look at my profile for a link to my Tumblr which has the art! You can also search for Felia who is the artist who did the commission for me!
As for inserting Seiðjárn from Fire Emblem Heroes into Fodlan, well Hanneman's ending says that his research resulted in magical tools that could be used even without the aid of crests. Plus we see that both Rhea and the Agatheans had the ability to create advanced constructs. So assuming that Fodlan goes through a bit of a renaissance as knowledge suppressed by Rhea and hoarded by the TWSITD are made available to the masses at the end of the war, it's actually not that farfetched to assume that Fodlan changed a lot in the 15 years post-war.
Plus, Seiðjárn + FE3H characters just looks cool! See this concept of Dimitri as a Seiðjárn knight from Flamingopuuuunch