"Gah…" For being asleep within this stupid dream again, he was very groggy right about now. Probably from the headache the last bounty had caused, rushing them deep into the forest and all, but should sleep not be where he rests? It was too early for this shit…

As he stood up in his standard gear he normally wore during the day once again, coated through darkness with a tall altar before him- Wait a minute. Didn't the war on the wet plains come first? Why was he here already?

Regardless, the girl upon the emerald throne once again awoke from her own slumber the moment he laid his eyes on her. It was clockwork at this point, and he didn't like it one bit.

She lazily rubbed her eyes with her left fist. Check.

She gave a totally-not-subtle yawn with her head thrown back. Check.

As soon as she opened her eyes again, she immediately noticed him before the stairs. Check.

Was it wrong he didn't want a single one of those things to happen?

"Oh my," Oh boy, here we go. "What could have brought you here?"

Normally, he'd simply let this play out as it usually did; she wants to know who he is, why he's here, only to fall asleep and mention some weird stuff about it being 'about time to begin'. A couple changes here and there, but it played out basically the same every time.

You know what? No.

"Beer, fatigue, sheer fucking will."

The girl raised an eyebrow at his answer, almost shocked. Or was she shocked? Don't know, don't care.

"In that order?" The girl wondered.

All he could do was sigh. "I don't even know anymore." He confessed.

The girl yawned again. "You seem to be just as out of it as I."

He responded with a small nod.

The girl leaned forward from what he assumed to be an incredibly uncomfortable seat. "What even are you, anyway?"

He decided to be honest with her as he could barely manage. "A demon."

She leered in response. "Do not try to jest me, mortal."

After slowly blinking for a few seconds, he realised his choice of words. "Oh, sorry sorry sorry," He muttered. "Ashen Demon." When his correction didn't quench her glare, he scratched his head. "Are we not discussing titles?"

All she did was quietly groan and rub her face into her open palms. "Why would he be called Ashen Demon?" She muttered to herself. "What kind of a title is that?!" She quickly recomposed herself and turned back towards the strange man before her. "Either way, a mortal like yourself has a name, yes? Let's hear it."

He sighed again, as if he'd heard this one before. "Byleth." He was fairly certain she already knew that.

She was thrown for a loop there. 'Byleth?' She thought. 'As in, alternate to Beleth, a ruler of hell itself?'

She leaned back forward. "Is that truly your given name?" She accused, unconvinced he simply tried to play on with the whole demon thing.

"You're not the first to ask me that," Byleth affirmed. "I'm certain Jeralt regrets naming me that by now." He didn't speak that last bit too loudly.

The girl shrugged. "It matters not, Byleth," She admitted. "A name is but a calling to yourself, nothing more." She suddenly leaned forward. "Oh, while we're on the topic of your origins, you must possess a date of birth too, yes? By which day under which moon were you born?"

Okay, that one Byleth knew like the back of his hand. "The twentieth of the Horsebow Moon." He answered swift as the wind. It was the one part of his origin he even remembered, after all.

Once again, the girl was in shock. "Truly?!" She cried. "Not only do you have the given name of a general of hell's depths, but we even share the same date of birth!" She laid back in her...rather uncomfortable looking throne. "Surprise after surprise..."

Byleth was confused. Did...did she really nor remember the last time she said that? Or the time before that…? Was this some broken sword that kept slipping from its sheath, no matter how many times you throw it into the fiery forge? Was she trying to mock him?! Did she have any clue whatsoever as to how many times- oh no. Oh hell no, she is not going back to sleep after all that again.

"How *YAWN* familiar…" She muttered, sleep enveloping her as the darkness had already done. "Like this has...happened before…" Another yawn.

Byleth was internally seething. 'YOU THINK!?" His head hollered, tongue almost collaborating.

"It is almost time to...begin…" And with that, the girl was asleep. And no doubt, he'd wake up in a couple minutes from his father as the two marched on to whatever job they'd gotten. AGAIN.

This was what, the four hundredth time now? He wakes up in some altar of sorts to some barefoot midget sitting atop it, got asked for his life story, only for her to fall asleep before he could even tell her he had nothing to talk about!

He really needed to get a better sword. Or maybe the sheath was loose? Yeah, he probably needed to clear his head a bit more.

"Hey. Time to wake up." There it is.