Finals are over! It's time to upload!
Byleth: 15
Dimitri: 12
Lone Moon 1176:
First of the Lone Moon:
Byleth awoke in her tent to the loud cry of a creature of some sorts. Gripping her dagger tightly, her eyes darted around her tent, but nothing seemed a miss; her father was still asleep next to her and she couldn't hear any hustling coming from outside her tent. She sat upright a minute, wondering if it had been a dreamed, but besides the occasional dream of a girl sleeping on her throne, she didn't have any dreams. After her heart had settled, she attempted to drift back to sleep, only to hear the same cry again but that time it sounded to be in pain.
She shot upright again and once again the world was stilled. She could hear her pulse rushing in her ears as she once again looked around her tent. Something was wrong and she didn't know what and it left in an incredibly uneasy state. Slowly she crawled over to her father and when she saw his chest rising, relief washed over her, he was fine at least. Poking her head out of her tent she saw Muharib at one end of the campsite as well as another mercenary at the other end, and neither of them seemed to be on alert. She sat back down on her bedroll as she tried to make sense of things. Was she just imagining things? But she never had a sense of imagination, despite Dimitri's best efforts.
Once again, she heard the cry but realized that she wasn't actually hearing it in the normal sense. It was more like she was feeling it from deep within and she felt a sharp pain in her chest for it. She had never been one to turn down a cry for help before, but she had this overwhelming desire to help, whoever it was. It was baffling to her as she had never felt such a strong desire before; it was almost like it wasn't her desire. The sleeping girl in her dreams popped into her mind and she wondered if the girl was the one seeking help.
Pulling her dagger out, from under her pillow she attached it to her belt and then her sword. She was ready to march but didn't know if she should go or not. Glancing at her sleeping father she debated on whether or not to awake him. She had explained to her father the dreams of the girl and he never seemed to know what to make of them. She didn't know how she was going to explain everything she was feeling to him and if he would even believe her.
Deciding that she would at least locate the girl first before deciding to wake her father, she quietly slipped out of her tent. Muharib had been her next point of conflict, should she tell him? He had seemed a bit more receptive to her dreams, but his theories had been too confusing for Byleth to follow. Ultimately, she decided against telling him anything as he needed to remain on guard, but she should at least tell him she was leaving.
Just as she was about to approach him, she felt the cry again. The urgency she felt had her forgetting all about letting Muharib know. As fast as she could she dashed towards the lake, where she was sure the cry was coming from.
Just shy of reaching the lake did it finally dawn on her how foolish her actions were. While it had been over a year since she was last attacked that didn't mean she wasn't a target anymore and she just made herself vulnerable. When she was about to turn around and head back, the sounds of battle could be heard, and curiosity compelled her to look.
Her blood ran cold as soon as she saw people wearing strange robes and masks. Instinctively she took a step back and only became aware of their target, a gigantic lizard creature that she would later describe as a turtle, roared out. Despite everything she had done last year to overcome her fear, it was still there, and it was suffocating. She had turned to run away but only managed to get a few steps away when the creature roared out and she felt it reverberate throughout her body. It felt like something was gripping her heart and she looked back at the creature.
She kept glancing back at the ensuing battle and back to where her mercenary camp was. She should awake her father; she will be safer that way and yet…will that creature survive long enough for her to return? Will her father even be willing to take the risk?
Gritting her teeth, she gave into the pain in her chest and rushed to the edge of the forest. She burst from the thickets and no one had taken noticed of her yet. She could try and sneak up on someone but from all the people around surely someone would notice her. Swearing loudly she gave in and would fight and she casted a small and weak fireball and launched it at the nearest enemy.
She instantly regretted casting the spell as she could tell it wasn't going to do anything. Reason and Faith magic were truly different and trying to use her knowledge of Faith magic to cast Reason spells was counterproductive to each respecting magic. The church had refused to teach her any attack spells and so she had been trying to learn offensive spells from the little lessons she had received from the teacher Lord Rodrigue had hired a few years ago. Conjuring a fireball with the little knowledge she had was impressive but not helpful at that moment.
Just as she feared the fireball did little to no damage, but it did alert everyone to her presence. She stood frozen in place as the fighting stopped so that all could acknowledge her and she once again her the strange term "Fell Star". Soon the order was given to capture her as well as slay the beast.
Returning to her tried and true method, she unsheathed her sword. The first to come at her was a hulking man and she froze. Memories of that night during the Wyvern Moon overwhelmed her. The man coming at her was not the same man as that night, but his build was similar enough. Breathing became all but impossible and her hands shook terribly.
"Move child!" roared a powerful voice and it was enough to break her free of her thoughts and she was able to stumble back just in time to narrowly avoid a powerful jet of water that took out the man as well as several other assailants.
Her eyes darted to where the jet of water had come from and saw the creature drop to one of its knees. Forgetting about her for a moment all the masked villains rushed towards the creature. Gritting her teeth, she clutched her sword in a death grip, and ran towards the creature.
She slashed against the first person she reached, and he dropped to the ground dead with barely a gasp escaping him. Ignoring the blood that splattered across her face, she then ran her sword through the back of the next person she reached, and even more blood splashed across her face. Her face never reflected a single emotion, despite the overwhelming disgust she was feeling at that moment.
She stared down the two people that stopped their assault to face her. "Wait for your opponent," that was what her father had taught her, "wait for them to make the first moment and learn from them". She always followed his advice but that night she didn't. Conjuring another weak fireball, she launched it at her first target, she was going to try and copy what the assassin that attacked Edelgard and Dimitri did but having to deal with two opponents put a wrench in her little plan.
She wasn't able to get very far in her charge before the woman that she had been ignoring charged at her with a dagger. The smaller weapon was easily swatted away by the sword that Byleth wielded. Before the woman could recoil away, the mercenary punched her in the face and knocked her to the ground. With sword raised, Byleth was ready to plunge it into the woman's chest but was stopped by the man tackling her to the ground.
The man had pinned her sword arm to the ground as he sat over her. She was in the same situation as that one night; fear should have gripped her, but it didn't, she just felt numb to the whole situation. He gripped her neck while hers gripped his. He laughed at her weak grip but soon his laughter turned to screams of pain as an all-consuming burning sensation scarred his neck. With him off of her she was able to thrust her sword into his chest, before shoving him aside.
Byleth wasn't given a moment to collet herself, before a dagger pierced her left shoulder but not a peep escaped her. Grabbing the wrist of the woman, she kept her in place as the younger woman's sword returned the favor. The woman's limp body fell away and Byleth stood up and pulled the dagger out of her shoulder and she barely acknowledge the pain.
During her little skirmishes, the sounds of battle had been drowned out and all at once they collided against her. Though she did not like such sounds it at least meant that the battle was still ongoing, and she was delighted to discover that the beast was still fighting strong. Only for a brief moment did she allow a chance for her to collect herself before running towards the creature.
The creature let out a ferocious roar and it halted her in her tracks. It swung its powerful neck and knocked three masked people far into the freezing lake. Several spells were swung at it and it brushed them off as if it was nothing as it slammed its foot down onto one of the mages.
It roared again but that time she pushed through it to attack the nearest mage. With more strength than needed she rammed her sword into the mage's chest, burring her sword to the hilt in the man's body. A small cry left the man along with his life and with indifference she kicked him off of her sword and watched as his body sink beneath the water.
No time was given to her to realize her lack of empathy as she felt an arrow pierce her back. She only allowed for the quietest gasp to escape her before turning to face her new opponent. She was not given the chance to retaliate as the creature had finished off the archer with a massive swing of its neck and the archer flew into the lack.
With the archer gone the battle was officially over and Byleth had no idea what to make of everything. Exhaustion had finally caught up with her and she struggled to remain standing. Soon the horrors of her actions flooded her mind and her sword easily slipped from her fingers as she slowly brought her trembling hands up to her face and the feel of blood was sickening. Being a mercenary meant that she would have to kill, she knew that, but what she didn't know or want was the numbness to it during the heat of battle. She never wanted killing to be that easy to her.
"Sothis," a voice called. Her head shot up and she looked around for the source and yet no one was around, except for the creature that was watching her.
"Are you really Sothis?" the creature asked, and her eyes widened. She had heard him speak during the battle, but she didn't really have the time register to where the voice had come from and despite that she was having a hard time believing it. And the name Sothis, she had never heard it before, but it sounded so familiar to her somehow.
"No," she finally said, when she realized that she was being rude. "My name is Byleth Eisner," she said after bowing. "I do not know who this Sothis is."
The creature narrowed its eyes at her or at least that's what she thought it was doing. "I see," it finally said after a few seconds. "Well then Byleth Eisner. I must thank you for coming to my aid."
"Oh, I didn't really do anything. You did most of the fighting." She could have sworn it was smiling at her, but it was hard to tell. Amongst her exaggerated gestures of denying her usefulness, she became aware of her shoulder injury as well as reminded of the arrow in her back.
"Come here Byleth." She walked over to the creature and it bent over her to grab the arrow on her back and pull it out and because of the unexpectedness and pain of it she screamed out. "Forgive me! I should have informed you of my intentions. I forget humans' hide is not as durable as my kinds."
Trying to hold back whimpers of pain she assured him that she was fine with a few pats to his neck that she could reach. He rested his head on top of hers and she felt the comforting warmth of Faith magic. While it didn't fully heal her wounds, it did help greatly as well as enhance her exhaustion.
"If only my niece Cethleann was here. She would have done a much better job at healing your wounds."
"Oh no, you've done a great job. Thank you so much."
"You are a sweet child."
The two shared a comfortable silence as Byleth washed her face and sword clean. The creature watched as she avoided the bodies that were scattered around. Her attackers always seemed to leave her with more questions and no answers and that didn't sit well as she tried her best to avoid looking at them.
"Are they targeting you as well?" The sudden question caught her off guard for a bit but eventually she nodded. "I see. Well as a show of my thanks I will lend you some of my power." She opened her mouth to protest but he didn't allow her to speak. "Do you have an item that I may bless?" Pouting a little, she held up her sword and dagger as they had been the only things, she had brought with her. "I could use those, but weapons are so prone to breaking." She dug around her jacket's pockets to see if she had forgot something in them and she did, the necklace that Dimitri had given her. "That will do excellently."
She held up the necklace to the creature. Gently, it placed its chin on the necklace, and she feared that it would break it. A comforting warmth was soon emitting form the necklace. She looked at the necklace for a bit before looking back up at the creature.
"I have placed a powerful ward on it. That should help protect you from those assailants." It started to turn its back on her, while she clasped the necklace around her neck. "Now, if you will please excuse me. I have expended much of my energy and would like to rest now."
"Oh yes," she clumsily said, "Thank you very much…um…"
The creature had started to chuckle, and it was just full of surprises to her as she didn't realize such a beast could laugh. "It has been so long since I have last interacted with anyone that it seems I have forgotten my manners. I am Indech."
"Thank you Indech," Byleth said with a bow. Indech gave her a small nod before slipping into the water's depths and vanishing from sight.
Quietly she made her way back to camp as her mind was reeling with everything that had just happened. She had been tempted to believe that everything was a dream until she had heard loud commotions coming from her camp. As fast as she could she rushed into the camp and discovered that everyone was running around in a panic, but she couldn't spot a single enemy.
A collective yell of her name rang out, when she was finally noticed. Her father pushed past everyone to throw his arms around her in a death grip. His face was buried into her shoulder as he cried out a prayer of thanks. It was only then that she realized how cruel she had been for not say anything. Wrapping her arms around him, she had tired to bring him comfort by assuring him that she was fine.
After Jeralt had calmed down some, she was handed off to the medic, in the group, to finish treating her wounds, while everyone else swiftly went about breaking down camp. Within an hour and in the middle of the night the Jeralt mercenaries were on the move, they would not set up camp again until evening came. She had tried to explain everything to her father, which only infuriated him and the others. For the next two months Byleth was not allowed to be alone and it would have been for far longer if that year had been a kind one.
Twentieth of the Lone Moon:
Dimitri was bouncing on the balls of his feet as he looked at all the knights before him. He was about to set off on his first family trip with his new stepmother that wasn't to visit some kingdom's noble's land. While Duscur was said to be a land of no real importance, it was still a place that Dimitri had yet to visit and so that made the trip even more exciting. He wonder if Byleth had ever been there before? He made note to collect as many of the unique flowers that he could find so that he could give them to her.
"Dimitri," his father called as he walked over to him. The young boy teared his eyes away from the knights to look at his father. King Lambert smiled down at his son and roughed up the boy's nicely combed hair. "Are you excited?"
"Yes!" Dimitri practically shouted as he pumped his fists into the air. "It has been so long since we went on a trip!"
King Lambert continued to smile down at his son. "Do not forget we are going there for business."
"That does not mean we cannot have fun, while we are at it." The father messed up his son's hair some more.
The king did notice a particularly important piece of jewelry missing from his son's arm. "Dimitri, where is your bracelet?"
The said boy had to dig around in his pack before he found it and proudly held it up in the air. The father took the bracelet and put it on Dimitri's wrists. Frowning the prince tried to slip it off but his father stopped him.
"What did I say about wearing it?"
"It is too big. I am afraid that it will slip off and I will lose it." King Lambert looked at his son for bit before taking the bracelet and adjusting his son's belt. He slipped the bracelet into the belt and was pleased with himself that the item was staying, but his son was frowning.
"This looks ridiculous," Dimitris said with a pout and gestured to the weird belt, bracelet combo.
"Maybe, but at least the bracelet is on you."
The sound of laughter caused the little family to look up and see Glenn laughing and pointing to the bracelet. He then proceeded to rough up the prince's hair even more, if Dimitri's handmaid could see him then, she would surly throw a fit for having her hard work be destroyed. Huffing out his annoyance, the prince gestured to Glenn to get his silent point across.
"Are you trying to start a new fashion trend?" Glenn teased as he flicked the bracelet. With wide eyes he touched it again and brought his attention to the king, who gave him a small nod. "Where did you guys find such a thing?"
"It seems that even the magically challenged Glenn can see the importance of it," the king said, and Dimitri's pout remained.
"If you are just going to insult me, Your Majesty then maybe I will not go on your little trip," Glenn teased back. He went back to looking at the bracelet and ran his fingers over it. "But seriously where did you guys get such an item?"
"By made it," Dimitri answered.
"She did?!" He crouched low so that he could properly examine the bracelet. "Of course, she did," Dimitri heard the teen mumble, "she is just full of surprises."
"I am sure she will make you one if you ask."
"I do not think she will or at least I am positive that Sir Jeralt would not let her make another one," King Lambert said, and Dimitri's eyes flew to him. "I would not be surprised to learn if she spent a few days in bed with a high fever or maybe even a small coma." Dimitri's eyes widen, he didn't want Byleth to go that far to make him a gift. He was going to have to let her know that the next time he saw her. "She must have expended all her magic at once to make such a gift. She more than likely suffered magic exhaustion afterwards." The father patted his son's head. "So, you better keep that bracelet with you at all times." Dimitri vigorously nodded his head.
"Your Majesty," a knight called right when he arrived at the little group, "we are ready to depart whenever you are."
Harpstring Moon 1176:
Fourth of the Harpstring Moon:
A plate shattered when it collided against the floor and all eyes in the tavern flew to the young woman that dropped it. Shaking, Byleth stared at Muharib with wide yes. Her mouth hung open, but it was far to dry for a word to slip out, even if her mind could form one. The man could no longer look at her and turned his head away, closing his eyes and pressing his lips tightly together.
Shaky hands gripped his shirt and with an incredibly weak force shook him, though he barely moved. Gritting his teeth, he still couldn't bring himself to look at her. The shaking stopped as she leaned against him and he finally moved to lightly wrap his one arm around her, while his other combed through her hair.
Byleth looked at her father, who was stunned into silence. He stared at Muharib but his gaze was unfocused. She reached out to grab him, but he was just to far out of her reach, and he was completely unaware of her attempt. Slowly she brought her arm back to her chest.
"What did you say?" she asked in a meek voice and Muharib's grip on her tightened and his fingers stopped in her hair.
He didn't speak. His throat was tight, and he wasn't sure if he could even speak. The weak grip on his shirt tighten only a little and he knew he would have to repeat those awful words again.
"The kingdom's royal…," he tried to say again but the words were lodged in his throat. It took him a few seconds, but he was able to say the rest, "family is dead."
He wrapped his arms around her to keep her from dropping to the floor. She said no more as she stared at nothing. The vile words echoing in her mind along with Dimitri's innocent face. The pain in her chest was so great that she was sure that everything inside of it was shattered into tiny pieces.
"Not the entire family," one of the tavern's patrons spoke up as he walked over to the little group. "The prince survived. Supposedly, he was the only survivor."
She stared at the stranger for a moment as his words sunk in. In a flash she broke free of Muharib's grip and rushed towards the door. Jeralt broke free from his shock just in time for him to engulfed her from behind in a tight embrace before she could reach the door. She struggled in vain to be free of his grip.
"Let me go!" she screeched.
"Byleth, the kingdom is in chaos!" Jeralt shouted back as he increased his hold on her.
"I have to go!"
"They will not let you see him!"
"Aster…Aster needs…me…" All her fight left her, and he dared to release his hold. She dropped to her knees and a chocked sob finally escaped her. Burring her face into her hands, her body shook with each sob. Despite the intense grief she was feeling, not a single tear slid down her face.
Slowly she awoke to darkness. Staring up at the roof of her inn's room, she tried to recall when she fell asleep, though she suspected that she probably passed out. After awhile she finally pushed herself up and looked around her room, she was alone.
She dragged herself out of her bed and looked out her windows to the empty street below. The little numbness she had been feeling gave away to the intense grief from earlier. Dropping to her knees, she desperately wanted to believe that everything had been a horrible nightmare and she would awake at any moment, but she knew that wouldn't happen.
Eventually she left the room in search for her father and it didn't take long for her to find him and the rest of her mercenary company. They were all sitting around at the inn's tables drinking. They were usually loud and jolly during such times but that time they were quiet and somber.
She wanted to call out to her father and seek his comfort, but King's Lambert's face flashed before her. Sliding down to her knees she muffled the sob that escaped her so she wouldn't disturb anyone. No longer would she get to see the king, and no longer would she get to hear him call her his daughter. Her hands were strongly pressed against her mouth to silent her sobs.
Queen Patricia then flashed before her mind and another sob rocked her body. Arguably she did not know the queen consort very well, but she grew to be incredibly fond of the woman. No longer would she get to feel the nice warmth that blossomed in her chest whenever the queen did her hair or see the effort that she was putting in to get stronger and better. Now who would teach her how to do her hair?
And lastly Dimitri flashed before her. He was all alone now. How could she seek her father's comfort when he couldn't? Rising onto her feet, she found her resolved and rushed back to her room.
Digging into her bag she found a piece of parchment and a small ink well and feather. Hastily she scribbled her note for her father and left it on the little desk, in the room. Trying to escape through the front would be pointless as someone would surly spot her, so she chose to leave through the window. Being on the second floor, meant she had a little fall, but it wouldn't be something she couldn't handle.
Her legs cried out when she hit the ground, but she ignored them as she ran towards the stables.
Twenty-second of the Harpstring Moon:
Byleth had been incredibly cruel to her father's horse and pushed him much to hard. But she had too, she needed to see Dimitri as soon as possible and she couldn't risk her father or his men, catching up to her and dragging her back. It was only when Fhirdiad was in sight that she finally let up on the poor horse.
"Please, I beg of you!" I need to see his royal highness!" Byleth had been begging the two guards that were stationed just outside of the castle's gates for awhile now.
"I am sorry Byleth but you cannot enter. No one can," the more friendly knight had explained as he was the one that was most familiar with her, while the other knight had been glaring at her profusely, but she ignored him. "The castle is on lock down until further notice." The knight leaned towards her and whispered into her ear, "You need to leave. It isn't safe for you here." He pulled back and kept on a neutral expression, despite her staring at him in bewilderment.
Ignoring his warning she tried to push again but he wouldn't have it and finally the other knight stepped in and threatened to throw her in jail. Gritting her teeth, she hopped back on her horse and rode away. She was going to get into the castle, even if she had to trespass and she knew the perfect spot to do so. She rode out of Fhirdiad quickly so that she could ride to her destination swiftly.
When night had descended was when she made her way over to her destination on foot, as she had left her father's horse a bit away so that guards wouldn't find it. The backside of the castle's walls had a bit of space between it and the small forest that surrounded it, except for one lone tree on the back-east side of the castle. Its massive branches expanded over the castle's walls and into the gardens, making it possible for someone to sneak in. An assassin had done just that when she was twelve and she still did know why the tree wasn't cut down then; it mattered little now as it was the perfect assist for her.
There was just one little problem and that was climbing the tree. Its trunk was far to wide for her to wrap her arms around and the closest branch was very much out of her reach even if she jumped. That was her best option to get inside and so she wasn't going to let this little obstacle stop her.
She had never done it before, but she decided that her best option was to run up the wall as much as she could and then kick off of it and hoped that would give her enough height to reach the branch. First attempt went horrible, as she was only able to do two steps before falling. Next attempt went slightly better, but she was still far from her goal. With each try she was slowly getting better, but she knew she needed to hurry, before a patrol could come by. On her tenth attempt she barely managed to grab hold of one of the smaller branches sprouting form the main branch, and fate decided to bless her as the little branch held on long enough for her to grab the main one.
Carefully she climbed the other branches until she reached one of the other branches that extended into the gardens. She hesitated a bit before dropping down as it was a bit higher than she expected but she did it anyway and her legs screamed at her. With the castle in a state of panic, she had expected a lot of guards and yet the section of the gardens, she found herself in, was vacant and it was unsettling to her. Pushing her feelings aside, she kept to the shadows as she made her way over to Dimitri's room.
The castle was deathly silent, and she didn't like it; even in the dead of night, when she was staying in the castle, she could still hear something but now…she feared that this was what castle Fhirdaid would always be like. She had only passed a handful of people on her way to Dimitri's room and that bothered her. Where were all the knights? She was relived to find at least two guards stationed outside her friend's room, even if it proved to be problematic for her.
Slipping into the room just a few doors down, she froze when she heard sounds coming form the bed. Whoever rested int the bed didn't seem to be disturbed by her and she released a quiet sigh of relief as she slowly crept towards the doors that led to the balcony. Once at the doors she glanced back at the bed, to see if she had disturbed the person and thanks to the feint moonlight the filtered in, she could make out that it was a man with blond hair. It was incredibly foolish, she knew that, but she needed to see the man's face to see if maybe, just maybe, it was King Lambert, but she heard the sounds of a woman mumble and then saw the lady's arm drape over the man, did she come to her sense and rushed back to the doors. She wasn't even in King Lambert's room, she needed to come to her sense and face reality.
Once onto the balcony her next challenged presented itself as she was going to have to balcony hop and this time the height wouldn't be something she could brush off if she fell. Standing on the railings she took a deep breath before leaping onto the next one. Her feet landed on the railing and she fell forward with a large crash and she froze. She waited a few minutes to see if anyone would react but when nothing happened, she took another leap of courage onto the next one and had a slightly nicer landing.
Finally, she arrived at her destination and released a shaky breath. She muttered a silent Almyran curse when she discovered that the doors were locked. Unable to do anything else she tapped against the door and quietly called for Dimitri and hoped that he hadn't fallen asleep yet. After a minute of nothing happening, she was about ready to call it quits and just spend the night there, when she could hear the quiet click of the lock, unlocking.
The little smile on her face quickly turned natural when it wasn't Dimitri that opened the door but a dark-skinned boy with white hair that she had never met before. They silently stared at each other. Without ever taking her eyes off of the strange boy she reached for her dagger.
"Dedue? What is wrong?" She could hear Dimitri's voice from just beyond that door and she no longer cared about that boy. Ignoring the boy, she pushed past him and elude his grasps as she rushed inside.
Sitting on his bed was the boy she had been so desperate to see. His eyes widen, when her arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace. He was about to shout her name, but she silenced him by covering her mouth.
"I'm not allowed inside the castle," she said quietly, "if they find me, I'll surely be thrown out."
He pulled her hand away and as his shock gave away, his body began to tremble, and his voice became lost, but she knew what he wanted to say. "I," her own voice started to give, "I just couldn't leave you alone. Not after everything…"
Dimitri gave into his tears and dragged her onto his bed in a tight embrace. He buried his face into her shoulder and released the sob that he had been holding in. Knowing that there were no words that could possibly ease the pain that either of them were feeling, all she could do was just gently rub his back as well as bury her face into his shoulder.
As she listened to his sobs and felt her shoulder grow wet with h tisears, she felt horrible. Despite how much she loved King Lambert she could not shed a single tear for him. What was wrong with her? He deserved all her tears and then some and yet she could not produce a single one. Dimitri had told her that she wasn't emotionally stunted, but this had to be the final proof that she was. She squeezed him harder and offered apologies to King Lambert and Queen Patricia in her heart for not being able to properly mourn for them.
They stayed like that for some time before exhaustion got the better of him and he passed out. Gently she laid him down and tucked him in. She stared at his sleeping face and it was a stab at her heart, but she ignored it as she wiped the tears from his face. She wished she could do more, but she was useless in everything that was emotions.
Finally, she turned her attention onto the other boy, in the room. That entire time he remained rooted in place and was silent. Crawling off the bed, she bowed to the boy. "I am Byleth Eisner." She didn't have much expectations, but she at least expected some kind of reaction. He just stared at her in silence and she struggled to not fidget under his gaze. Briefly she wondered if that was how people must have felt under her gaze, when she was younger.
Figuring that maybe he didn't like bowing, she held out her hand towards him for a handshake. He looked at it and then at her but made no other move. She took a step forward and he took a step back, his once carefully watching eyes took on a frightened look. She immediately halted in her place and brought her arm back to her side.
Instinctively, he took another step back and was now fully in the light from the moon. Bandages covered much of his visible body and she pressed her lips tightly together. Why was he covered in bandages when he was in the castle? Surely, the healers could treat him properly. She glanced back at Dimitri and wondered if he, too, was covered in bandages as she did feel something strange under his tunic.
Looking at the boy, she held up her hands. "I can heal you." Again, he said nothing and just watched her wearily. "Let me treat your wounds." As she took a step forward, he took a step back, so she stopped. "I won't hurt you."
The boy continued to say nothing, and she was starting to wonder if he was mute. Their little one-two step dance ended, when he bumped into the wall. Momentarily they halted before she took another step forward and he threw his hands in front of him and shouted a word she had never heard before. Now it all made sense to her, he didn't say anything because of a language barrier.
The mercenary stopped and held up her hands and waited for the boy to slowly bring down his own. Once, he seemed to be a little calmer, she pointed to herself. "Byleth." She repeated it a few more times before pointing to the sleeping prince. "A-Dimitri." She was surprised at how hard it was to say her friend's name and realized she actually hadn't said his name in over five years. After she was sure that he got the point she pointed to the boy.
It took a moment, but he finally said his name and repeated it, just like how she did. She smiled at him and said his name and he nodded. Hesitantly, he repeated her name and she nodded, and that seemed to calm him some.
"I, Byleth," she pointed to herself, "will heal," she hoped that the glow of her hand will help get the point across, "you, Dedue," she ended it by pointing to him. He pointed to himself and repeated his name and she nodded while repeating what she said.
She took a step forward and he went ridged so she stopped. Tilting her head to the side and then rested it on her knuckles, she tried to figure out a better way to communicate. Eventually she decided it would be better to just show him.
Unsheathing her dagger, she saw the color drain from his face. She gestured wildly to try and communicate she wasn't going to hurt him, but it was going nowhere. In haste she cut her arm to get to her point but accidently cut deeper than she meant to. Besides it stinging more and she would have a little scare from it, but it was alright.
Putting her dagger away she showed the boy her wound, who looked at her horrified. Quickly she covered her wound and channeled Faith magic into it. She had been taught that using Faith magic on oneself was highly taxing, but she didn't think healing such a small wound would be so draining. Taking a second to compose herself, she showed off her arm to Dedue and the horror left his face to be replaced with curiosity.
Once again, she began her small track over to him but this time he didn't have such a strong reaction to it. When she was right in front of him, she noticed that he was taller than her but not by much and wondered how old he was. She pointed to one of his injured arms and hoped he would be willing to give it to her with little coaxing; she smiled when he gave it to her.
She ran her hand over his bandages and gave him an apologetic smile when she noticed him wincing. Without removing the bandages, she could not tell if there were more to his wounds than simple cuts, if there was then there was little, she would be able to do at her current skill level. Wrapping her hands around the wound she channeled her magic into it and was surprised at how tired she became from just healing one arm. She knew she hadn't been taking proper care of herself for the last two weeks but surely, she could heal more than that.
When she pulled her hands away, Dedue quickly went about unwrapping the bandages and revealed the scar from the wound she healed as well as several burns and now she understood her exhaustion. Wounds from magical fire can be healed as all one has to do is remove the magical residue, but natural fire wounds were a different story; they couldn't be treated unless right away. He held up the arm again to her and all she could do was shake her head.
She couldn't really convey anything, but he seemed to have gotten the point and hesitantly handed her his other arm. With her little skills she wasn't able to concentrate her magic onto healing the wounds she could heal, so much of her energy was wasted on healing burns, but that was okay because she could at least help sooth some of his pain for a bit.
Once his arms were done, he removed his tunic to reveal more bandages. She pressed her lips tightly together when she saw the numerous cuts, bruises, and burns that littered his body. She wondered if he had a least had a shield or something as his more vital locations were at least spared such horrible treatment. He had to be in so much pain and yet no one healed him? She glanced back at Dimitri and she feared he was in a similar situation.
Gently, she placed her hands on his chest and waited to see if he would react negatively to her actions, but he didn't. To have the greatest effect for Faith magic was to put one's hands on the wounds but he had so many she didn't even know where to place her hands. Taking a deep breath, she channeled her magic into the whole of his body, to try and get all of his wounds at once, especially to any unseen injuries. Just before she exhausted all of her magic, she stopped but it wasn't enough to stop her from losing consciousness.
Slowly her eyes opened, and she stared up at the roof. A quiet, shout of her nickname didn't register to her but when Dimitri came into view, did her eyes finally focus. She noticed that he was on the verge of tears, so she placed one of her hands gently on his face and he the threw his arms around her in an awkward hug.
"Are you okay?" Dimitri asked and she rubbed his back as best as she could in her position. "Y-you were not waking up and I…" He was unable to finished as a sob ripped through him and he squeezed her tighter.
"I'm sorry. I used a bit too much magic," she explained but it didn't seem to be enough to comfort him.
She continued to rub his back as her eyes looked around the room for the other boy. He had been sitting against the wall with his knees tucked up to his chest, watching them carefully. She beckoned for Dedue to come to her and he did al bit hesitantly. She pointed to his tunic and motioned upwards, and he got the point and lifted it and she was relieved that she was able to treat everything that was in her power, at least.
"T-thank you," Dedue said in a quiet and hesitant voice. His accent had been so thick that she might have not understood him, if she wasn't aware of what he was trying to convey.
"You are welcome," she said slowly, and he nodded though she was sure he didn't really know what that meant. She had to fight Dimitri some what to be able to sit up a little so that she could pat Dedue on the head, and he seemed to like that. "Do you speak Fodlanese?" He just stared at her.
"Dedue only knows the few words that I have taught him," Dimitri said and sniffled a little as he let her go. "Thank you for treating Dedue's wounds. The palace healers refused to do so."
She looked at Dedue, who despite not really understanding what they were saying seemed to understand what point the prince was making and looked away. "And why wouldn't they?"
"Because he is a Duscurian."
She stared at the boy in silence as she didn't know what to make of that information. For two weeks she had been harboring an intense hatred for the people of Duscur and she just helped one, a weak and terrified boy, who could not have been responsible for such a horrible event. A young, Duscur man, despite everything that her friend had experienced was by the prince's side, and it just didn't add up to her. Sitting up she looked between the two boys, still trying to figure out her feelings.
"But…Didn't they…" She was struggling to find the words.
"The people of Duscur are innocent! They are not the monsters that did such a wretched, atrocious thing!" Bawling his fits so tightly that his knuckles turned white and he glared at them with such an intensity that she didn't know he was capable of. She did not like the look in his eyes.
"I believe you," she quickly said before his thoughts could spiral to a place she didn't like.
"Y-you do?" he asked so quietly that it pulled at her heart.
"Of course, I will always believe you." He pulled her into such a tight embrace that he managed to knock the wind out of her. He buried his face into her chest and was trembling. She could sense that he was trying to hold back his tears, though she couldn't understand why. "You can cry. It is alright." He squeezed her tighter but did not cry, and she ran her hand through his hair.
After a few seconds, he gained some control and pulled away to look at her and finally she could properly look into his eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes that reminded her of the sky, were now dull and almost, lifeless. Biting back a sob she pulled him back into her own tight embrace. She rested her head on his as she whispered apology after apology, for not being there. He said nothing but hugged her back.
They stayed liked that for a bit before he pulled back and assured her that she did nothing worthy of apologizing for. Silence engulfed the room as neither of them could find the words to speak, not that they could focus on a thought long enough to even think about taking about it. Her eyes drifted over to Dedue and to the scars on his arms.
"Aster, do you have any untreated wounds?" He flinched and looked away. "Show me." He didn't move and so she called him again with a much more forceful tone.
Fidgeting, he still refused to look at her. "You are still recovering from using too much magic. I will be fine."
Byleth cupped the prince's face and forced him to look at her. His dull eyes were a stab at her heart, but she ignored it to give him a small smile. "I will be fine, so please show me."
Reluctantly he pulled up his tunic and removed his bandages. His back was covered in scars and burns and a rage burned inside her, but she ignored it. Gently, she placed a hand on his back, and he flinched. Though she had little knowledge in this field, she could at least tell that his wounds had only receive normal treatment methods, no healing magic was used.
"Why-" she stopped to better mask her anger, "why did no one use Faith magic on your wounds?"
"By the time, I had arrived at the palace, my wounds have gone so long without it that Cornelia said it would be pointless and a waste of magic to treat them."
She gritted her teeth. It might have been to late to mitigate the scars, but they could have still helped with speeding up the healing process as well as weakening his pain. She took a deep breath to control her anger and said nothing.
"It is alright, By. Do not waste your magic."
Ignoring him, she placed both of her hands onto his back and channeled her remaining magic into him. She would have been fine with spending all of her magic on him but knew that it would only upset him. When someone expends too much magic, it was a slow recovering process, but she knew she was different as it could take her as short as a day to recover, though that was when she was properly taking care of herself. Overestimating herself, she collapsed onto him but managed to remain conscious.
He was about to shout her name, but she managed to stop him by covering his mouth. "I snuck in. I will be in trouble if they find me."
Dimitri pulled her hand away and turned to face her. He was about to complain but she spoke first, "I just used a bit more magic than I was planning. I will be fine." She smiled at him to comfort him, but he frowned instead.
"I told you to not waste your magic!"
"How do you feel?" The frown left his face as realization set it.
"…A lot better." His frown returned when he looked into her tired eyes. "But still!"
"I'm glad." She laid down as she could feel her exhaustion clawing at her. "I just need a little rest. I will be fine, I promise."
Evening had settled in, when she finally awoke. Her body was incredibly stiff as she sat up. She knew she shouldn't cast magic for awhile and hoped that she got all of Dimitri's and Dedue's wounds. Looking around she had discovered that she was alone.
Sitting in the room, she tried to figure out what to do next. She knew she couldn't stay there forever, she needed to get back to her father. She wondered how worried he was and hoped that he was okay. Would he forgive her for running away? Of course, he would, she quickly realized how stupid that thought was. She was starting to miss her father and was feeling guilty for wanting to return to him, when Dimitri couldn't.
The door started to open, and, in a panic, she hid behind the curtains that covered the balcony's doors. It was arguably a terrible hiding spot, but it was the best she could do at such a short noticed. Only when she heard the familiar call of her nickname, did she peak out.
Dimitri had brought her some food. It had been picked at, but she didn't care as her stomach growled out for it. The food was cold but that didn't really matter as she had worse, a lot worse. It didn't take long for her to consume the meal as it had been her first proper meal in two days.
Night had fallen and so it was the perfect time to slip out of the castle; even though she didn't want to leave Dimitri behind. The problem was how was she supposed to bring up the goodbye to her friend as he had been clinging to her, since dinner time. Deciding to just get it over with, she grabbed her bag and stood near the balcony doors. She wasn't ready to leave him but staying would be far to risky.
"No!" Dimitri shouted before she could say anything. He wrapped her in a tight grip, one she couldn't break free from. "Please, do not leave me! I beg of you!"
"Aster, I…," she didn't know how to finish that thought so she just hugged him back. "I'm sorry-" he squeezed her even tighter, causing her to be being unable to breath and thus finish that thought. He quickly realized that he was holding her to tight but only let up a little.
"No," he said weakly and she could feel small drops of tears on her shoulder. "I need you. …Please stay…"
She gripped him as her own voice was no where to be found. She didn't want to leave him, she wanted to stay and alleviate some of his pain, if only a little. But she knew she couldn't stay. She needed to go back to her father and that was causing the guilt to consume her.
Neither his grip, his pleas, or her guilt relented and ultimately, she agreed to stay.
Ugh this chapter is terrible! I hate it! I'm no good a writing this type of stuff…Hopefully my next chapter will be better! Also guess who just realized that she could have been bolding the months? :D
Head cannons:
Byleth's necklace will now greatly boost her resistances as well as prevent her mask assailants from being unable to teleport her far, if they were ever to get their hands on her. It also works as a double edge sword as Faith magic wouldn't be as effective on her, if she has it on her possession.
Magic Exhaustion: So, everyone has a set amount of magic they can use at a give time (think of MP). It is possible for someone to cast more than it is safe for them, but it is highly dangerous, and the person will suffer some great consequences for it. To avoid exhaustion it is highly recommended that mages reserve at least a small amount of their magic to not only avoid exhaustion but as well as to speed up the recovery of their energy.
Depending on the type of magic a person uses depends on what kind of exhaustion they will experience for those that use fire or thunder magic they usually suffer for a high fever for several days.
Those that favor Blizzard or wind spells will go into hypothermia and will need to be constantly monitored for the next few days.
Faith magic usually leaves the person in a deep sleep for a few days.
Dark magic can have several different effects from leaving a person in daze for days to even instant death. It is the one magic that is most advised to not suffer magic exhaustion from.
Recovery for Magic exhaustion: Overcoming the effects is not enough to be able to once again cast magic. It can take a few days before the person has recovered enough of their energy to be able to cast a spell again. Byleth is an incredible exception as she can cast a spell as quickly after a half day of rest (she still suffers the same amount of time for magic exhaustion as everyone else).
Magic Residue: Each spell leaves a residue behind after hitting their target and in order for magic wounds to be healed the Faith magic must wash away the residue and replace it with the Faith magic's. Magic wounds require the most effort from energy from the caster to heal.