A key of speaking format since I'll be introducing a new method of speech.

" Hello there. " - Speaking

' Hello there. ' - Thinking

' Hello there.' - Sothis speaking/thinking at Byleth

"Captain Jeralt?! It is you! Goodness, it's been ages." The knight had gleefully exclaimed, his enthusiasm made clear for all to hear. Jeralt and Byleth especially. "Don't you recognize me? It's Alois! Your old right-hand man! Well, that's how I always thought of myself anyway. It must've been twenty years ago that you went missing without a trace. But I always knew that you were still alive!"

Jeralt had placed his face into his palm, eyes closed and already exasperated. "You haven't changed a bit, Alois. You're just as loud as ever." He complained as he lifted his hand away from his face. "And drop that 'captain' nonsense. I'm not your captain anymore. These days I'm just a wandering mercenary. One who has work to do and is late enough already. Good-bye, old friend."

Alois blinked before nodding, seeming to accept it. "Right… Good-bye, Captain." But he soon shook his head before exclaiming. "Wait! That isn't how this ends! I insist that you return to the monastery with me!"

"Garreg Mach Monastery… I suppose this was inevitable." Jeralt sighed in resignation as he closed his eyes again.

Alois then turned to Byleth and asked. "And how about you, kid? Are you the captain's child?"

"Of this Captain Jeralt, no. Typically children are aware of who their parents are after all." Byleth replied, which got a laugh out of Alois and a small grimace from Jeralt.

"Great sense of humor, this one. Clearly cut from the same cloth as the captain." Alois laughed before he turned to Jeralt with a curious look. "You mean to tell me that you haven't told her?"

"It's like she said, children are aware of what their parents are. And like I said, I'm not a captain anymore so I felt no need to mention that."

Alois accepted the reasoning with a nod before turning his attention back to Byleth. "That said, I'd love for you to see the monastery too. You will join me, won't you?" He asked, eager to bring her along.

"I'll admit, I have found myself curious. Since Father isn't too fond of telling me his past, then perhaps his past would enjoy showing itself to me." Byleth said, which prompted a sigh from Jeralt.

"What's troubling you, Captain? You aren't about to run off again, are you?" Alois asked upon noticing Jeralt's glum expression.

"Even I wouldn't dare run from the Knights of Seiros. Besides, I'm certain that Byleth would help you drag me back just out of spite, little traitor that she is." Jeralt said, harmlessly grumbling a bit towards his daughter at the end. "That said we'd best get our men and supplies ready to move if we're to get there as soon as possible."

"Am I to assist?" Byleth asked.

"There's no need to worry yourself with all that, besides I'm sure those kids you saved are eager to speak with you, so go hear them out and leave the rest to me." Jeralt waved off.

After saying that, both men walked off. Which left Byleth all on her own. Alone.

'Testing, testing, one, two, three! Can anybody hear me?' A cheery voice asked.

Except that she wasn't as alone as she thought she was.

Of course the only possible explanation for this was Sothis, yet she wasn't asleep or in her 'mindscape'. Perhaps she was more tired than she thought and was feeling drowsy? Then again, she did face nearly dying, being dropped with an obscene amount of crucial information about the future, and seeing time itself reverse before her very eyes. Any of which would be draining for anybody, even one as abnormal as herself. All of which was thanks to the owner of that very same voice that called out to her.

She looked around and tried to locate him based on the direction of his voice, but it was hard to find it when it sounded as if it were in her own head. She was snapped out of her thoughts when the voice appeared again.

'Yes you heard right, and can now see, it's me, Sothis!' The now apparent Sothis said. As soon as her ears heard him, her eyes followed the direction of the sound, now able to follow it, and locked on to him as he floated out of and then above the ground on that strange chair of his, position lounged yet abuzz with cheer. 'Oh don't be too surprised that I'm here, I did just recently stop and rewind time itself after all. And as honored as I am that you're taking the time to feast upon the sight of me with your eyes, people are still looking for you. So you'd best get going now!' He waved her off. Though Byleth remained where she stood.

"Oh." Was all Byleth said, still surprised to see Sothis right in front of her, another sign that he was real yet just as much of a sign that she may be going crazy. Her surprised eyes soon narrowed as she then demanded. "No, what will be going on is you explaining what this is. I thought you were limited to haunting my dreams. Dead, I believe you said."

'Astral Projection!" Sothis exclaimed, but noticing that Byleth's look remained the same he elaborated. "I can project myself out of your mindscape and freely roam the material plane that you exist on. Though, I can't truly experience it, being unable to communicate or physically interact with the world." He finished in the same tone though she noticed that the light in his eyes dimmed a little. Before she could look any further into that, he, along with that chair, went straight through a tree and back to prove his point.

"While you can't interact with the world, does that mean no one else can see you?" Byleth whispered after subtly looking around, making sure that none were within hearing distance.

'Nope. As of now only you can see me due to being my vessel and us being linked. The only others who could notice my presence would be the Nabateans and potentially those who bear Crests. So basically you'd only need to worry about Rhea and she shouldn't be much of an issue.'

"But if you can't interact with the world physically, why aren't you falling through the ground?"

At that Sothis just blinked. 'Woman I'm on a floating chair, I can rise out of the ground just as easily as I can fall through. I wouldn't recommend it though, never dig straight down.'

"You fell straight through the ground before you realized you could float, didn't you?" Byleth crossed her arms. "That explains that entrance of yours."

'I resent that claim, it was merely presentation!'

"Stage accidents are fairly common I believe." Byleth counter, unconvinced. "That explains your presence, but I heard your voice within my head before you appeared to me. How is that?"

'It's also projection!' Sothis answered. 'We're connected, in body, mind, and soul. It's through our link that we can communicate with each other, mentally through projecting our thoughts to each other, which can also be labeled telepathy in a sense. So I'd recommend thinking of me when speaking to me like this, lest you want people thinking that you're crazy, any more than you already are of course.'

"And how-" Byleth was about to ask before she cut herself off. 'Is it really as simple as thinking to speak to you? What if I wanted to keep my thoughts private?' She finished in thought.

'You needn't worry too much about that. I'm only communicating to you in your head when you announce them or have intent to share them with me, to go any deeper would require your consent or brute force from me, something you can be more than able to resist.' Sothis explained.

'This makes things a lot more convenient to deal with now that I don't need to sleep or nearly die to speak with you.' Byleth nodded. 'You just have to haunt my waking and sleeping moments for it.'

'See, you got it, good. Now you really have to get going before those lads think that you're ghosting them.' Sothis urged, pointing at the three lords standing in the distance.

'And how exactly would I be doing that when I'm alive and you're the ghost.'

'You appear before them yet say nothing nor acknowledge them, thus you're ghosting them.' He lectured.

'If that's what ghosting is then you're doing a rather poor job at it.'

'Yes, and you and that blank stare of yours is already out doing me and my loud mouth, now stop putting me out of a job and go talk to those kids already.'

-XXX-

All three of the lords noticed Byleth's arrival, though Edelgard was the first to speak up.

"I appreciate your help back there. Your skill is beyond question." She praised genuinely. "Of course I suppose that is to be fitting considering the legends that you and your father carry. Yours being of the Ashen Demon and your father's being the Blade Breaker, former captain of the Knights of Seiros, with the both of you praised as the strongest fighters to have ever lived. Have I missed anything?"

"No you haven't, though I do find it a bit odd to hear of this seeing as I only just recently learned that he was a captain of that group." Byleth's tone was plain but annoyed underneath it.

"How curious. I'd wager the explanation for that is fascinating indeed." Edelgard said with a mixture of surprise and interest.

"Hey!" Claude waved with a smile and a hand on his hip. "You are coming with us to the monastery, right? Of course you are. I'd love to bend your ear as we travel. As you have already deduced, we're students of the Officers Academy at Garreg Mach Monastery." His cheery expression soon turned sour with his next couple of words. "We were doing some training exercises with a new professor, the esteemed whats-his-face, when these bandits came in and attacked us out of the blue. I definitely got the worst of it though."

With that last statement, both Dimitri and Edelgard turned to glare at Claude, not pleased at his choice of words at all.

"That would be because you ran off." Edelgard narrowed her eyes towards him.

Claude,clearly unfazed from Edelgard's words, nodded and even got his smile back up again. "Too true! I was the first to make a strategic retreat. Everything would've worked out if these two hadn't followed me and ruined everything." He shook his head. "Because of them, every single one of those bandits chased after us. Utterly ridiculous."

"Ah, so that's what you were thinking, Claude. And here I thought you were attempting to follow our professor's lead and act as a decoy for the sake of us all." Dimitri said, neither believing nor happy with his fellow House Leader.

"Their intentions were as clear as day. You will prove a lacking ruler if you cannot see the truth behind a person's words." Edelgard chastised while missing that Dimitri's words weren't truly his thoughts.

"You'll prove a lacking ruler yourself if you look for deceit behind every word and fail to trust those whom you rely on." He replied, chastising her back before adding on. "After all, if you only assume the worst of your allies, you may find yourself surrounded only by enemies when you need them most."

"Which would happen regardless with allies like Claude or teachers like Beorhito. Not to mention that a supposed ally likely was the reason that those bandits were aware of us in the first place." Edelgard said back with more heat in her words than her last. However, before one of them could argue back, Claude interrupted with a comment of his own.

"As much as I'd hate to interrupt a royal debate between their highnesses, I do have a few things I'd like to note for our newcomer here. One, it's quite the wonder how being completely predictable affects one's ability to wield power. Personally, as the embodiment of distrust, I'd say their little exchange smacks of naivete."

"Me? Naive?" Edelgard asked, shifting her aggression from Dimitri to Claude. "Tell me, are you actually incapable of keeping quiet? Or is your lack of self-awareness a condition of some sort?"

"And two, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't compare me to Professor Burrito." Claude half ignoring Edelgard's anger. "At least my 'lack of self-awareness' stems from me being my lovable self, rather than a typical ass kissing noble like that guy."

"In any case, forgive our digression." Dimitri shifted his attention to Byleth. "I must speak with you, if you can spare a moment." Dimitri asked.

"You already were speaking with me and I already gave you all plenty of moments," Byleth said, her first words since the conversation began. Also words which sent a burst of worry through the lords at potentially alienating her. "But I do have plenty to spare at the moment, so speak away." She then continued, much to their relief. With said relief amusing her.

"Of course, though I find that it never hurts to ask. Anyway, I must say that the way you held your ground against the bandits' leader was captivating! You never lost control of the situation," Byleth could hear a faint and distant sound of laughter as Dimitri said his praises. As much as she wanted to tell Sothis off she needed to pay attention, so she grudgingly put that out of her mind, for now, and returned to listening to what Dimitri was saying. "It showed me that I still have much to learn,"

"And that skill is precisely why I must ask you to consider lending your services to the Empire." Edelgard said, butting into the conversation as soon as Dimitri stopped talking. "After all, as the heiress to the Adrestian Empire-"

"Halt, Edelgard. Please allow me to finish my own proposition." Dimitri said, a flicker of annoyance flashing through his face for a moment before returning to his pleasant expression, as he turned back to Byleth and continued. "The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus is in dire need of exceptional individuals like yourself. Please do consider returning to the Kingdom with me. Your father did mention that he had a contract there, did he not? I'll be sure to amend any issues that our situation has caused."

"Whoa there! You two sure are hasty. Trying to recruit someone you just met. Tactless, really." Claude said as he shook his head at the other lords, yet just as eager to get his offer in. "I was personally planning to develop a deep and lasting friendship on our journey back to the monastery before begging for favors. Besides, I do believe that I owe your father a wine cellar."

"And what do you know of fine wine, besides of how best to tamper with it?" Edelgard asked.

"Geez Edelgard, Hubert must be rubbing off on you if poison is the first thought you have towards a drink." Edelgard was riled at the insinuation yet that only caused Claude to widen his grin as he continued. "Anyway, I know my way around a drink but I'll admit that I lack a proper collection of them. Though I hear that Count Gloucester boasts a mighty fine cellar."

"Claude, I sincerely doubt that either Lorenz or his father would appreciate such a thing." Dimitri said.

"Oh think nothing of it, the Alliance is all about helping each other out with stuff. Besides, I'm sure nobles of their stature would understand." Claude nonchalantly brushed off.

"Of course, and surely it's not because you found it amusing to abuse your position of authority." Edelgard criticized.

"Once again Your Highness, you show your naivete. All power is abused, it just differs on how you do it." Edelgard bristled at being called naive again but paused upon hearing the rest of what Claude had to say, something in her eyes shifted as she looked at him.

"Anyhow, like these two demonstrated, it seems there's no time for niceties in this world." Claude falsely lamented as he waved his arm at Edelgard and Dimitri before turning to Byleth with a charming smile. "So, capable stranger, let's get right to it. Where does your allegiance lie?"

Upon the question being asked, all three of the lords had their attention focused solely on Byleth and awaited her response.

'Hmm, to think that one would pledge themselves before someone just because they were born in their land.'

'Nationality is a fine thing, be proud of where you come from if you'd like but remember that nationalism is what gets people killed.' Sothis warned, a brief yet serious air around him. Byleth was confused as to what could've brought such a mood change before she recalled Agartha's and later one of Adrestia's motivations and soon saw his meaning.

'You aren't wrong on that. And even if I cared about such things, I hardly know where I was born to begin with...' Byleth agreed as her thoughts then shifted to ask. 'Where was I born? All Father told me was that I was born in some random village that he forgot the name of. A lie most likely.'

'Yep. You were born where your mother worked, at Garreg Mach Monastery. So you were born in 'neutral' territory. Though, Jeralt does hail from the Kingdom, so you're of Faerghus descent. But if you asked Edelgard for her real thoughts, she'd tell you that those lands belonged to the Empire and were stolen.'

'I see. Then I'll take care to avoid mentioning that with her then. In that case, I shouldn't place too much thought into it when there's such a simple answer.'

"My allegiance lies with my father, Jeralt, and the Jeralt Mercenary Group. If you wish to hire my allegiance, discuss my terms and rates with him." Byleth bluntly answered.

"Huh, I should've expected that a mercenary would be more for gold than nationality." Claude said, a bit surprised as well as disappointed at the unexpected response. Of which the same could be said for Dimitri and Edelgard who were equally hoping for a less neutral answer. Yet Claude recovered and soon continued along. "By the way, as a nation with the wealthiest merchants, the Alliance also has the most gold."

'That boy sure has some speed on him, skipping right to the third stage.'

"Amongst the merchants and nobles themselves, perhaps, but in regards to wealth the nation itself holds, it is quite lacking when compared to the vastness of the Imperial Treasury." Edelgard countered with a smirk and a not so small hint of pride as well in her claim.

"Didn't the Imperial Treasury's vastness become less vast after the Kingdom's Treasury became a thing?" Claude countered back with a grin, throwing the split of both countries at her. Dimitri tensed a little while Edelgard simply frowned and narrowed her eyes.

"All right, that's enough with the small talk. It's time to head back to the monastery!" Alois announced as he walked in, blissfully unaware of the conversation he just prevented from continuing any further.

"Looks like we'll have to pick this up another time." Claude said as he winked at Byleth before walking away along with Dimitri and Edelgard.

'A few deviations, and a bit more hostility, but it mostly went how I expected. Though for some reason I can't help but feel that I had heard that Beorhito guy's name before, though it doesn't matter too much since he never shows his face again after being scared off.' Sothis commented. 'That said, what do you think of them? I said a lot on Edelgard and only a brief few on the other two, but I find that it's better to also get a feel for someone face to face than to solely rely on what you hear from others.'

'Dimitri seems quite sincere, his words about my ability were genuine in their praise, but with what I can sense from him and what you told me, it's clear to me that he is quite troubled and trying hard to remain restrained. Claude seems easy going and relaxed, similar to you in a sense, but unlike you, that charming smile of his doesn't reach his eyes and they're rather distant, fake even, yet very much keen and focused. Edelgard… she's refined and focused, though she was constantly analyzing me, trying to see where I fit in whatever she had envisioned in her mind, yet she's a mixture of Dimitri and Cladue in that she has a distant and guarded front, but I can tell that she carries a sense of …wistfulness behind it.'

'Rather astute of you, pretty much got the gist of them.' Sothis praised, yet his face turned a bit confused. 'Though I do find it strange that you'd compare Claude to myself.'

'It's just that you two share a few noticeable similarities. You and Claude both find joy in joking with others and carry yourselves lightly. Though a major difference between the two of you is in how you hold yourselves. You are far more open and authentic than Claude is.' Byleth clarified.

'You've only seen me interact with you, and since we share the same space of course I'd be a lot more open with you. Besides, we have drastically different backgrounds and gone through different circumstances, mine allowed me to be while his didn't.'

'Ah yes, I see, a child of a Fodlan ex-noble and the King of Almyra and given the hostile history between them, his childhood must have been a difficult one. I have more of an understanding now.'

'And that is the crux of his ambition, of the future he seeks to bring.'

'Like how Edelgard wishes to bring a Fodlan where commoners and nobles are equal, Claude wishes to bring a similar equality between Fodlan and Almyra where the people understand each other. Is that it?'

'Simply put, yes. Similar goals but how they go about it is different, due to circumstances and the actions each is willing to take. Though make no mistake, had Edelgard not started the war, it's just as likely that Claude would've.'

'You make a note of Claude and Edelgard's goals, but what of Dimitri's? He doesn't seem to have a wide scale goal such as they do, that inner darkness of his suggests a more personal motivation for him.'

'All the lad wants is revenge for the Tragedy of Duscar and to be a king like his father before him. Unfortunately, future events cause him to fully or partially fall into his inner darkness and the Kingdom gets screwed over for a time. But I think we've talked enough about all this for now. Now's the time to experience your present rather than to talk of their futures.'

After Sothis' last comment, Byleth increased the speed of her walk as she went off towards the rest of the knights and students. Yet she soon came with another thought, it was one she chose to keep to herself.

'Claude isn't the only one you share similarities with. Like Dimitri and Edelgard, you're holding back a trauma of your own. I have not forgotten that sense of sorrow I've felt from you from our first meeting… Yet now is neither the time nor the place to discuss this, though I will get to the bottom of that as well Sothis…' Byleth dwelled before moving on.

——————

Once the Knights of Seiros and Jeralt's Mercenary Group were finished with their preparations, both were on the move. The Knights along with a few of the Mercenaries to Garreg Mach by walking through the Oghma Mountains while the rest of the Mercenaries were on standby at Remire Village.

The lords were in the middle of their group, Jeralt and Byleth were at the front of their group along with Alois and the knights, and the mercenaries were at the back. Both groups were spaced out so that the lords could have some privacy but close enough to move upon them should an attack occur. After the events of the previous night, the knights didn't want to take any more chances as it was due to luck that a crisis hadn't emerged with the lords, the last remaining heirs at that, nearly facing death.

"Father, I received more of his words." Byleth said, as she and Jeralt were distant enough to speak to each other but close enough to the group to help should they be needed.

"More words? You haven't even taken a nap and he's already back to haunting you?" Jeralt asked, still retaining his gruff exterior but Byleth could tell that he was visibly concerned as well.

"He's haunting me as we speak, he's even listening in on what we're saying. In fact, he's floating right next to me."

'I am in your walls Byleth.' Sothis stated from his chair in the air.

"Addendum, he is in my walls." Byleth restated.

"...That's new." Jeralt narrowed his eyes as he looked in what Byleth's eyes pointed out to be Sothis' direction. He peered into it for a few moments before letting out a sigh and rubbing his temples. "Honestly, I'd want to have that talk just as much as you do. Preferably we'd have the privacy of an empty pub and I could get my lips loose enough to tell you everything and drunk enough to handle whatever else comes out of that gremlin's mouth."

'Ayo what?' Sothis asked, a little dumbfounded.

"I am aware that our current conditions are far from ideal. I doubt that the knights would appreciate hearing of our supposed, though well deserved, heresy." Byleth said with a brief chuckle before her mouth defaulted to a thin line. "We're still having that talk whenever we can, though it'll be an unfortunately sober one."

"Well that's new. Normally you'd be discouraging me from such a thing. Have you finally come around?" Jeralt asked, his eyes lit up with some hope and pride.

"There's a difference between numbing the pain, mildly enjoying a drink, and racking up a tab across Fodlan in the thousands Father." Byleth bluntly said, shutting down that notion.

"Ah, speaking of debts, we got a few nobles in ours. Powerful ones at that." Jeralt said, changing the subject as the hope died within him. "So, what do you think of them so far?"

"... I haven't known them well enough to form a concrete judgment, in fact most of what I know actually comes from my gremlin. But I do have a grasp on them." Byleth reflected.

'I can't believe that's what you're calling me!' Sothis cried out incredulously, though more annoyed than offended.

"Your gremlin, eh?" Jeralt inquired with a raised eyebrow, a teasing grin and his eyes filled with something Byleth couldn't identify but was already annoyed with.

"Yes, he lives in my heart, does he not?" She inquired back with a raised brow of her own, which only emboldened Jeralt and caused Sothis to groan out something about 'undertones'. "Anyway, from what I do know, all I can say is that they seem well enough on the outside and somewhat genuinely as well, but they all are certainly hiding something significant on the inside."

"A seem and an are? Interesting…" Jeralt commented as he got back on topic. "Do you plan on getting involved with them?"

"Would you disapprove?"

"No, no." He said as he shook his head. "Getting an in with any one of them would certainly be a beneficial opportunity for you in all honesty. Just make sure that you're able to get a safe out as well with an in, because those are especially hard to get when it comes to people of their stature."

"Do you have experience in this?"

"Hm, let's just say that there's a reason that I'm not as welcomed in Fhirdiad as I used to be when the late King Lambert was still alive." Jeralt said. Over in the back of the group, Dimitri found his attention caught towards them at the mention of Fhirdiad but his head was suddenly and firmly pointed towards them with the mention of the name Lambert.

"That's new, you never mentioned anything about this." Byleth points out.

'Certainly new to me as well.' Sothis added, joining in her curiosity.

'All the more reason to listen then.' Byleth affirmed.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but I couldn't help myself when I heard you mention Fhirdiad. I hope you don't mind me asking but why is it so?" Dimitri asked after walking over to them.

"It's a bit of a long story that can be best summed up with… you know what, we got some time so I might as well." Jeralt decided after some thought.

"The King and used to be friends of a sort. That started after I first became a captain of the Knights of Seiros. When he heard that a knight formerly of the Kingdom got such a position he invited me to his castle to give his congratulations. A few years later after I started my mercenary company he sought after my services, be it for mercenary work or even for guard detail. In fact I used to guard Queen Ionia when she was pregnant with you Dimitri."

"And I recall seeing you around the palace a few times when I was rather young. When you weren't on a job or on duty, you were with my father… and a rather unhealthy amount of alcohol for the two of you." Dimitri added, both fondly and with concern.

"See father, even the Prince agrees that you have a problem." Byleth pointed out.

"Bah, first Byleth and now you. Kids these days and their lack of appreciation." Jeralt grumbled as he shook his head. "I'll have you know that Lambert could drink with the best of them, even if that Crest of his was technically cheating. Could hold it better than that Rodrigue fellow and Alois too, even after all those years as my squire."

"You drank enough for the both of us, Captain," Alois butted in, who was content to listen to Jeralt's telling of his time out of the Church but spoke up to defend himself. "And someone had to be sober enough to pull your behind out of the pubs before you got kicked out. Especially after Lady Rhea forbade you from charging it to the Church since your tab was rivaling a donation from a noble. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the two of you put a dent in the Kingdom's finances with your drinking habits."

'That tab is older than I am. In addition to how ever long Father has been a knight. How his liver still works I'll never know.' Byleth thought.

'Ah, the joys of being superhuman. Well, I wouldn't know since I'm not one but still, baseline humans get the short end of the stick.'

"I can actually recall Mother and Rodrigue nagging at Father about it. Though he was being chastised he accepted it with a smile. If I recall correctly he mentioned putting that discount you gave him to good use in helping pay towards that, considering that companies of your quality usually charge exorbitant prices."

'Father gave the King a discount? He never gave a noble client a discount.' Byleth thought with some surprise.

"Huh, so that's why my tabs in the Kingdom were so short for a while. Nice to know why." Jeralt commented under his breath. "Anyway I got a bit off track with reminiscing, but that discount actually brings me to the point of this. Following the unfortunate events of Duscur, I came to offer my condolences. A little while after the funeral service, the Prince-Regent Rufus wanted to speak with me."

"And I suppose that whatever Rufus said was the reason that you left so soon." Byleth guessed.

"Yeah. He wanted to hire my services much like Lambert did. And for the sake of it I even offered the same discount I gave for him. But the Regent was rather insistent that since I was from the Kingdom and no longer a Captain of the Knights of Seiros that I'd be obligated to work exclusively for the crown. I told him that I only worked on my own terms. He didn't like that very much."

"Sir Jeralt, I must offer my most sincerest apologies for how my uncle had acted towards you. He had no right to demand such a thing." Dimitri apologized, shock and anger in his eyes at the fact that his uncle would so quickly try to abuse his position and during such a time.

"Oh think nothing of it, his actions aren't yours so don't apologize for him." Jeralt said, waving the Prince's concern off. He then turned to Byleth. "And like I told you kid, an out can be hard when it comes to nobles, no offense to you Dimitri. Or you two as well." Jeralt said after giving Edelgard and Claude a look, having noticed them listening in.

Dimitri was startled at the mention of them, having not noticed them while engaged with the story. Claude caught this and answered his silent question. "You did leave our conversation a bit abruptly and we're just as curious as you are about these two."

Dimitri accepted that and turned to answer Jeralt. "There's none to be taken. I am well aware of how… difficult some of the nobility can be."

"They're also vain, egotistical, elitist, entitled, self-centered, delusional, snobs, jerks-" Claude listed off.

"As much as I agree with you Claude, if we were to go over all the flaws and faults of the average noble we'd be here all day." Edelgard injected before turning to Jeralt. "And you're quite fortunate to find that opportunity to escape, such things can be hard to come by. Be it for a commoner or noble."

"Glad you could understand." Jeralt nodded before finishing up his story. "The reason I was able to leave without much issue was because it was known to those close to the king that Lambert and I were somewhat close and it wouldn't look well for the Regent to be seen acting hostile towards me. But that's enough from me your highness-"

"Please, sir Jeralt, just call me Dimitri. As of now I'm only a student at the Officers Academy, and if you were able to speak my father's name so freely then I'd like for you to do the same for mine as well."

"Well then, Dimitri, it was nice reminiscing but I believe I've said enough to Byleth here about memory lane. I oughta get back to standing on guard." Jeralt said to the student before turning to address his daughter next. "I'll talk to you later kid." And walked off to rejoin the group at the front.

"This is the most that I've gotten from my father about his background by far. He usually isn't as open when talking about it. I think you being here got him to open up about it." Byleth said once Jeralt walked a distance from them.

"I'm glad to have helped, especially after getting to hear of his time in the Kingdom and with my father." Dimitri said. "Speaking of his background, since he was from Faerghus, would you not mind considering picking up where our fathers left off. I'd very much would like to develop such a friendship as they had, not to mention that I'd be happy to pay every bullion of your prices."

"From Faerghus my father may be, I was born in a village whose name my father had forgotten. So of Faerghus descent I may be, I'm not a citizen." Byleth stated blankly, which put a damper on Dimitri's good mood. She then gained a slight smile as she continued on. "That said, I wouldn't be opposed to such a friendship developing between us."

"You seem to be fond of doing that, aren't you?" Dimitri grumbled at her twist of words, but from the smile on his face it seemed that his mood was happier from her next set of words. "Still, I'm glad to hear it, Byleth." Dimitri said. Upon the two of them walking back towards the back of the group, Dimitri noticed that the Monastery was now within their sights. "And since this will be your first time visiting the monastery, I'd be happy to start by showing you around."

A small smile was Byleth's response.

"It really is Fodlan in a nutshell, both the good and the bad." Claude said.

"Like it or not, we'll be there soon enough.

There it is…" Edelgard said, staring intently at the monastery. While many would just chalk it up to her appreciating the place in its beauty, Byleth knew that Edelgard's look possibly held a much more malicious intent. "Garreg Mach Monastery."

Though she must admit, the place does hold a kind of beauty. But more than that, she can feel something from it. And the closer she moves toward it, the stronger the feeling gets ever so slightly. As she turned to look at Sothis, she saw that his eyes, glowing with that familiar green, were fixated at the sight.

--

"Rhea's here." Jeralt pointed out with apprehension as he looked up above, toward the top of the monastery where a woman in a white dress with green hair stood, a different shade from Sothis' yet a similar green. Who looked so much like the woman from her dream with the only differences being the hair in style and color and their general demeanor. But it was clear as day to Byleth that Rhea was indeed the Seiros she had seen in her dreams. Seiros, a warrior filled with hate and sorrow, and Rhea, a serene yet intent peace upon her. Who was also Sothis' daughter, oddly enough.

Both her and her father were gazing at Rhea as much as she was gazing back at them. Yet Byleth could tell that while she was focused on both herself and Jeralt, Rhea's main focus was directly on her. Yet her eyes seemed to be searching beyond her.

-XXX-

XXXXXXXXXX

And that's where I'll end things for now. As much as I hate cliffhangers, I feel that this is the best place to end this part of the chapter at. Yes, part, which makes this part 1 of Chapter 3. As a whole, this would've been about 10k words which is way too long for my liking, especially after pushing 9k last chapter. That, and I didn't want to make you guys wait much longer for an update. Rest easy though, there shouldn't be as much exposition as the last chapter either, though there may be some in both parts.

Sothis is free to roam this Earth though unable to touch anything, yet. Byleth gets to interact with the lords some more, Jeralt tells a story, and surprisingly Dimitri gets a decent chunk of focus. (Three Hopes kinda soured my opinion on Claude a bit while also making me like Dimitri more than I already did. Speaking of which, I'll use some things from Three Hopes, I may change some things, but that's all I'll say on that for now. Also, Shez is dead.) And as the cliffhanger may hint, the first major change is about to happen in the next chapter. Hoo boy.

I'm very much sorry about the wait, 4 months geez. Life and a bit of writer's block got in the way I'm afraid to say, and kinda unfortunate that my beta could only partially look at this since they're rather busy atm (Still big thanks to Sharuru for taking the time to look at some of this). But, to make up for that wait, I'll be releasing part 2 in 1-2 weeks! Or a whole lot sooner at the least, I do want to see what you guys think before uploading it and make changes when needed. Which would make this the fastest update in my history as an author! (To also make up for my longest update thing as an author too, 8 months geez.)