(Clear)
"You, I can understand," Jeralt sighs as he points at Robin's slumped figure. "But why'd you have to drag my daughter into this?"
Robin groans in response, his head shaking a little.
"Answer my question, damn it!" My father slams his bottle of rum onto the bartop with a loud thump. "It's not funny at all."
"Do you…" Robin hic-ups. "...see me laughing?"
He gives Jeralt a stern look.
"We both know you're not drunk so stop pretending," Jeralt sighs and shakes his head. "You still didn't answer my question."
"Right…" Robin groans as he raises his head and rolls his amber eyes. "Would you believe me if I said that Byleth followed me of her own volition?"
"No—er, actually…" Jeralt has to stop his rant to quietly think about…something. I'm not sure what it is exactly.
It's probably you.
Nonsense.
"If I hadn't come back to the monastery…" Jeralt finally admits. "I probably would have thought you a liar. But now…"
He shrugs with an amused expression on his face.
"By's no longer such a little gosling," Jeralt chuckles.
"I am not a gosling," I refute. This is true, for I am a demon instead. (I don't think I will ever understand you…)
"The hell you weren't!" I never knew that father could laugh that loudly. "You practically followed Robin around like you were his blood!"
I give Robin a questioning look. He moans in…pain(?) and slumps back forward.
"He has a point, By…" Is what he finally says, the words muffled slightly by his coat.
"So, By," Father finally turns back to me. "Why'd you come here?"
"I followed Robin because I was bored," I reply truthfully. The day was over, and I don't have anything else to do other than train with Robin. Robin was not at the training field, so I went to find him. And here we were, at Anna's bar. Today's a Monday night, so thankfully there weren't too many people to share the alcohol with.
"Oh come on, By," Jeralt groans. "I might not be the best parent around—"
Robin snorts in amusement.
"—but even you should be able to develop a hobby that you could spend time on, right?" Jeralt shoots Robin the stink eyes, to which Robin turns his head and smiles thinly. "Oh, weren't you into carving when you were a teen? Where'd all that passion go?"
"Robin suggested I do it. He thought it was impressive, and I wanted to impress him," I shrug. For some reason, when Robin praises me, my heart would beat faster I would get really happy. At least I think that feeling is happiness.
(I still don't understand how you are this dense)
"Robin…?" Jeralt gives Robin the same look that he gave him during the meeting with Rhea when we first came here. "What have you been doing?"
"Nothing!" Robin groans "I swear it! I truthfully haven't been doing anything with your daughter!"
"What about back then?"
"You did not just suggest that I'm a paedophile!" Robin recoils in rage and disgust. What does paedophile even mean? I…haven't ever heard of the term. (I really don't want to explain that term to you…)
I never asked you, Sothis. But if you say that, I'll just go and ask Robin. He said the word, so he should know what it means.
(Yeah…sure…)
"Alright, alright," Jeralt sighs. "No need to yell."
"Then don't give me one," Robin sighs and goes back to slumping forward into his arms.
"Tough day?"
"You can say that again…" Robin shakes his head.
"I'll spot you through if you tell me," Jeralt puts a couple of coins on the counter.
"We all know that you don't even pay all your own tabs," Robin lifts his head to give Jeralt that look. "But fine. Don't come crying back to me if Anna repossesses your horse."
Jeralt shrugs as he flags down an Anna.
"Another round of brandy!"
"Right away!"
"How many shots have you drunk anyway, Robin?" Jeralt chuckles as he turns towards the tired mage.
"Sixteen," Robin sniffs.
"Excuse me?"
"Sixteen," Robin repeats with the same dead eyes. "Sixteen shots of 60 per cent brandy. Got a problem?"
"Yes? How is your liver not dead yet?"
"Alchemy and Black Magic," Robin waves him off. "I thought we went over this already."
"We did," Jeralt nods. "I still haven't understood how though."
"Just know that I'm not drunk and I can handle way more than this," Robin proves his point a couple of seconds later when he downs another two shots.
"Goddess! What happened to you?" Jeralt flinches as Robin goes for a third shot.
"Well, remember that sped-up course that I decided I would do?"
"I remember you being disappointed when you had to can it the first time," Jeralt chuckles. "Having second thoughts?"
"I didn't know they were this bad," Robin uses the Archaenan word for emphasis. Thankfully, Jeralt understands a bit of the language, so he isn't too confused.
"How bad?"
"Caspar didn't understand the concept of squad cohesion," I supply, causing Robin to groan and slam his head into the table from the memory. Jeralt stares at me with a confused and concerned look on his face.
"Please tell me you're joking…" Jeralt clasps his hands together and puts them on the table. "Please tell me…"
"She's not…" Robin picks his head back up from the table with a nasty bruise on his forehead. Of course, with the rate at which he heals, that bruise will probably be gone by tomorrow morning. "That's not even the worse of it."
"What is?" Jeralt raises an eyebrow.
"Bernadetta's…everything, really," Robin leans back on his stool and folds his arms over his chest. "Trying to teach her anything is like trying to teach a skittish rabbit how to use a sword."
That metaphor is a bit too correct for my liking…Bernadetta certainly acts like a skittish rabbit. That actually gave me an idea, which I pitched to Robin later.
"That sounds really rough," Jeralt nods in agreement as he sips more of his brandy. "Doesn't tell me why you're this stressed."
"They're the best and brightest of Fodlan, Jeralt," Robin makes a face that screams 'think before you talk, please' at Jeralt. "If Ferdinand can't understand the purpose that a reserve has, how is he going to understand basic economic policy?"
"To be fair," Jeralt shrugs. "The Church handles most of the economic institutions like the bank and merchant guilds."
That causes Robin to stop his rant for a moment.
"Hold on—" Robin's brows are scrunched together. "How? Why?"
"By having all central banks report to the church, and to protect the currency from foreign powers," Jeralt explains. "Albinea tried to mess with our currency in around the 600s and almost caused an artificial famine."
"Well," Robin sighs. "Doesn't that scream economic incompetence…"
"Let's get back on topic," Jeralt chuckles as Robin downs his seventh shot. (I still don't understand how that man can drink that much! How! Tell me!)
"Right…" Robin sighs. "The main thing is I can see so much potential in them! They're all great students in their own way! Despite her taking criticism in all the wrong ways, Bernadetta is a genius when it comes to incorporating new information into her life! Dorothea is a bright lady who can come up with creative solutions to all sorts of problems if she stopped coming up with creative ways to get into guy's pants!"
Robin slams his shot glass on the table.
"And don't even get me started on Caspar and Ferdinand! Those two are the worst and best of them all!" Robin groans and he somehow leans back further on his stool without falling off or moving his legs to balance. How much middle-body strength does he have?
"Do go on?" Jeralt smiles slyly.
"Right! Let's start with Ferdinand because he drives me less crazy. He is smart, there is no doubt about it. But! But! He's more stubborn than a brick-headed bull!" Robin bites his lip in frustration. "Trying to get him to internalise new information is like trying to mix water and oil in a jar! You're trying to learn here, not get validation for yourself! When you're wrong, you're wrong! Own it like a man and admit it! Stop trying to find excuses for why you're right! You're not!"
He groans and starts to pull at his hair.
"Seriously! I don't understand how a man could be this smart and so stupid at the same time! It's infuriating, you know?" Robin lets out a cry of anguish. "I try to teach him one thing, he gets it, but then completely disregards it! It's almost as if he doesn't want to learn anything!
"And Caspar is just dumb! No, not stupid!" Robin continues with a fire in his eyes that I have never seen before. "Just dumb! He has the capability to understand, just not the prior knowledge to do so! I have to start from scratch if I want him to learn anything! What were the previous teachers doing? They don't know basic tactics nor do they understand the importance of such things!"
"And then we have Hubert!" Robin slams his fist into the table. "I don't know if he even wants to learn. If you want to listen, stay here. If you don't, leave! It's that simple! He also doesn't realise that I have had 4000 years of Khadein, Dohlren, and Plegian dark magic shoved unwillingly into my brain so I can see what you're trying to accomplish with that little spell and I can probably make it seventeen times more efficient if you could get your head out of your own ass and listen!"
"Dorothea isn't much better in that regard either…" Robin's fury is slowly dying down. "I swear, she spends more time in the sheets with random men than she does on her essays, and it shows. She's got a great voice too! What a waste, really. Sure, she's not as good as Azura or Shigure are, but she's still good enough that she could easily become a sword dancer or a singer in an army."
"And what about the Princess?" Jeralt snorts lightly. "What do you think about her?"
"Princess von Hresvelg?" Robin lifts his head up to ponder that question. "That's…a difficult question to answer, and not because there's too much to say, which is surprising considering the rest of her class. Rather, I feel as if she's waiting for me to do something…she obviously wants to talk to me, but she's holding herself back."
Robin takes another shot. How many is he at already? I'm starting to get concerned.
"It's sort of creepy…" Robin nods his head in agreement with his own words. "Those judgemental eyes remind me of Maribelle too much…brrr, I still get chills when I think of her face…"
Robin then appears to have forgotten where he was as his eyes get that faraway look once again.
"Where was I…" That look, thankfully, disappears as quickly as it came. "Oh right, ranting about my students' inability to utilise their potential. Bernadetta has to be next! Jeralt?"
"Er—yes?" Jeralt blinks as Robin suddenly stares at him.
"Remind me to drag Bernadetta von Varsley out of bed tomorrow morning if she doesn't show up to class,"
"Hold on!" Jeralt's head whips around to stare at the white-haired mage in shock. "Is that—are you allowed to do that?"
"Seteth said it was fine," Robin shrugs. "I swear to N—I swear, such a bright student and excellent learner that Bernadetta, wasted every day cooped up in her room overwatering cacti! She can't even do that! You're supposed to leave them be! You're overwatering them, that's why they keep turning yellow!"
Robin groans as he takes another shot. That's like…what, his nineteenth shot? How is he…
"The only three people who are even worth praising without putting enough asterisks to fill the night sky are Linhardt, Petra, and Lysithea…" Robin nods to himself.
"Really," Jeralt raises an eyebrow in curiosity. "Petra and Lysithea I can understand; the former is a wicked huntress and the latter is almost as much of a workaholic as you are. But Linhardt, really?"
"You'd think not," Robin agrees."But once you get him hooked on something he never lets it go. I've managed to get him hooked on strategy. That boy had made more progress than my daughter had in her first week. Then again, Morgan was more focused on not spontaneously turning into a dragon when she saw me injured, which took a lot of her time."
Robin's rant ends with him discarding the shot glass entirely and taking a swig of the brandy on the bartop.
"Robin," I pat him on the back. "You should slow down."
"No!" He bites back, causing Sothis to flinch in my mind. "It's my emotions, I get to choose how I deal with them! And I choose massive amounts of alcohol!"
That is not a good idea!
"I know!" Robin snorts. "But it's the best one that I have right now unless you're a certified therapist!"
"Who—I…" Jeralt looks at the two of us with confusion on his face.
"Right…shut up, please, Gremlin," Robin rolls his eyes. "He can't even hear you."
Robin says the last couple of words in Archaenan, which I quickly translate into my mind for Sothis. Jeralt might know some Archaenan, but not enough to understand.
What do you even— ugh!
Sothis seems annoyed. (Seems? Annoyed? I was furious! Beyond furious, even!)
"You know what," Jeralt downs another shot of brandy. "I'm not even going to ask about…whatever that was. You two seem to have it covered anyway."
You bet we have it covered!
"Anyhow," Jeralt sighs as he puts down his shot glass. "I hope you've gotten rid of most of your unsavoury emotions."
"Most of them," Robin grumbles as he finishes the remainder of his bottle. "What do you need?"
"Some alone time with my dau—"
"Say no more," Robin rises from his seat and slaps Jeralt on the back, hard. "I've been egging you to spend more time with By since she was a teenager. If you finally want to get your act together and start being a dad now, I'm not going to judge."
Jeralt winces as Robin slaps a couple of golden coins onto the bartop. I stare in quiet confusion as Robin leaves and Jeralt sighs.
"Father?"
"Yes?"
"Why?"
"The question I want to be answered is why you only use one-word statements with me," Jeralt grumbles.
I frown at him.
"Fine, fine," He sighs. "As you, and honestly probably Robin as well, figured out, this isn't actually about you. I've had my chance to be a good parent, and I blew it. I'd rather not try and start over now."
Jeralt suddenly waves over at the table closest to the bar that we are sitting at.
"Well, Princess? What do you think?" He chuckles.
To my surprise, Edelgard and—is that the entire class? And why are Felix and Ingrid here too?
And how did they manage to get—oh Ingrid dragged her out. I see.
"Well that was certainly…enlightening," Edelgard nods.
"Yeah, for sure," Caspar nods. "Did not know the Professor drank so much. I mean, sheesh! That's like four whole bottles of brandy. And that stuff isn't weak at all!"
"That does put into perspective why he smells like alcohol though…" Ferdinand notices. "It is truly unbecoming—"
"Now now, Ferdinand, before you finish that sentence," Father wags his finger as if Ferdinand was a young puppy who just did something naughty. "Put yourself in his position for a moment."
"As a professor of the academy? I don't understand why he would care so much about us then," Ferdinand frowns. "Sure, professors should care for us, but why he goes so far I don't understand."
"No…" It's Ingrid who speaks up. "Sir Jeralt, how much of Professor Robin's past do you know?"
"Most that he cares to share. Why?"
"Ferdinand, I do not think that you should look at Professor Robin in such a way," Although Jeralt looked extremely confused when asking Ingrid his question, she instead turns towards Ferdinand with a frown on her face.
"Er—what do you mean, Ingrid?" Ferdinand looks just as confused as Jeralt is.
"Robin is thinking like a commander is," I supply. "He always said he expects the skills that he teaches to be used practically."
"By…uh…" Father coughs into his fist. "I think that was because we were mercenaries…that's why he said everything he teaches you will be used."
I blink and turn my head back towards Jeralt.
"No, I remember the Professor saying something of the sort to me as well," Linhardt scratches his chin, backing me up. "Something like…Though I hate it, I believe everything I am teaching you now will eventually have to be used."
I nod my head vigorously. That is exactly what Robin told me when we were going through swordplay!
"What was the Professor teaching you, Linhardt?" Ferdinand blinks in surprise.
"Logistics," The green-haired man in question shrugs. "Timetables, bureaucracy, and other stuff that would help run an army and nation."
"Really," Jeralt groans. "Did you like them?"
"They were quite enlightening," Linhardt nods. "It was surprising seeing the degree of efficiency that Professor Robin achieved in his planning. He seems more like a quartermaster than a tactician, honestly."
"You don't have to remind me…" Jeralt groans some more as he slams his head into the table. Everyone except me seems a bit worried. I know he's fine. Robin has smacked his head with a large rock and yet he's still ok. A little bit of head bashing won't do him in. (I— Should I be worried?) "He kept hounding me after he joined about keeping track of supplies and war material. The only thing I did for two months straight was recording what I had in my convoy…"
I snicker a bit. I remember that time. Father was incredibly annoyed but he couldn't complain. The warehouse tent was incredibly messy after all.
"Still," Jeralt nods. "I hope that was to your liking, Princess. Robin's not an easy person to trick into saying his true feeling, you know? And even now, I doubt that every ounce of nuance was expressed correctly."
Edelgard nods in agreement while the rest of the class nods sheepishly.
"Hearing our strengths and weaknesses through him was certainly… eye-opening," Edelgard comments.
"Eye-opening indeed…" Hubert sighs. "I did not know that the Professor would be able to realise such…private information so quickly. This situation must be… rectified as soon as possible."
This prompts Jeralt to snicker a little. I am suddenly reminded of that one Alymran person during our contract with Holst who tried to trick Robin. I am also suddenly giggling silently.
Hubert seems to notice our sudden amusement and frowns.
"What is the matter, Sir Jeralt, Professor Eisner?" He says in his usual suspicious-yet-professional voice. "What is so amusing?"
"You just sound so much like a person that we…By, what was her name again? The one that we ended up recruiting because of how hilariously Robin beat him?" Jeralt pursues his lips together as he struggles to not laugh. "Acrai? Al Croi?"
"I think her name is Alraayi," I shrug. I never liked the woman, even if Robin found her rather easy to be around. That is because the first thing she tried to do was silence Robin after he accidentally stumbled on some shady dealings that the Almyran was doing. Even if Robin's said that it's aquam sub ponte. I have no idea what water under a bridge has to do with this, but I still don't trust her.
"Right! Alraayi! Robin stumbled on her dealing in illegal quantities of Spirit Dust, you know how the church is about that stuff, not important to the story," Jeralt grins. "So, considering that Alraayi is a damn good dark mage, what does she do? She tries to blast Robin with a whole deluge of spells. He didn't even know what was going on and he started to dodge miasmas thrown at him."
Jeralt takes a sip of brandy before continuing on.
"Obviously, Robin's too good for that to even phase him, and so Alraayi decided to try again sometime later with a poisoned cut. Robin has some seriously powerful detox abilities, so that didn't work. Finally, Alraayi ran out of options and decided to try and stab Robin. That…" Jeralt snorts. "Well, I think you all know how that turned out. I only found out after Robin got a confession out of the poor girl and decided to take her on. She's six years dry now, and my second-best mage."
This seems to shut Hubert up.
"So, Hubert, something to keep in mind, eh?" Father takes another sip of brandy before groaning. "Damn! How does he drink so much? I can feel the hangover already!"
Hubert's skin tone pales by a couple of shades.
"I'm booooooooooooooooooooooored!" I don't recognize that voice. Who is that? Why are they in Robin's room? Wait, that's my room as well! Is Robin in there? I don't know! I must find out!
"Mae, you know we shouldn't be doing this…" A different, much more masculine voice sighs. "Robin's going to be mad if he finds out…"
"Stop being such a spoil-sport, Boey!" The more feminine voice, now named Mae, huffs. "He won't find out!"
"He will if you keep yelling this loudly!" Boey snaps back. "Now, please, just go back into your Einherjar card, please! We don't want anyone else to find us out!"
"What in Duma's—What are you two doing!" A third, more mature and male voice appears and scolds Mae and Boey.
At this point, my curiosity peaks and I decide to go in.
I open the door, not knowing what to expect.
Well, I did not expect this.
Standing in front of a book which has tens, no, hundreds of cards placed within it are three people.
The first and only female is a purple-pink-haired girl dressed in what appears to be a mage's garb with her hair in twin tails.
The shorter of the two males is a white-haired mage with tanned skin. He is clutching his head in his arms when I stepped in and is looking at me with a panicked expression.
The third person is an older man wearing a set of immaculate cavalier armour. He seems to be older than Father is, with naturally occurring white hair due to age.
I suspect that the girl is Mae and that the tanned boy is Boey. (Well, obviously!)
"Er—Uh—" Boey is the first person who realises my appearance in the room. "Oh, Mila's sake! Look at what you've done, Mae! Now there's a witness!"
"Oh—Oh no…" Mae swings her head around to look at me, batting Boey with her twintails. "Um…Sir Mycen, what do we do?"
"Gah! Hair! Hair in my mouth! Bleh!" Boey coughs as his face contorts into a mask of disgust. "Mae! Be careful next time! Please!"
"Ah! Boey! I'm sorry!" Mae suddenly swings her head back around, unwittingly batting Boey in the face again. "I didn't mean to do that!"
"Then stop—Gah! More hair!—Stop turning your head around! At least let me—" Boey quickly steps away from Mae, spitting and sputtering all the while. "There! Now what do we do!"
"I—I don't know! Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?" Mae retorts.
"What! You got us into this mess!"
"Hey!"
The two mages start to bicker again, and the older man, who I assume to be this 'Sir Mycen' person, sighs deeply and turns towards me with an apologetic look on his face.
"I apologize for my…colleagues' actions. I hope you can keep this a secret from the Chuch," He sighs.
I nod in agreement. I don't think that Rhea would like…whatever this is. She is a very…traditionalist person. Seteth might be intrigued, but I don't think Robin would want the Church to take his stuff.
"So…uh…who are you?" I don't ever recall Robin ever talking about a 'Mycen' before. He talked a lot about a 'Frederick' that fits the aura that this 'Mycen' is giving off, but never a 'Mycen'. Sothis can back me up on this. (Oh, now you're calling on me? Well…I suppose I haven't ever heard that insufferable man talking about a Mycen before.)
"Oh, my apologies," The man clad in crimson and gold bows slightly. "My name is Mycen of Rigel. This is Boey and Mae Novilentia of Novis."
"Byleth Eisner," I bow slightly. "—should I say, Byleth Eisner of Fodlan?"
I don't know the customs that Mycen has, so I try my best to introduce myself to him. Fortunately, instead of getting angry, he simply laughs.
"There's no need for that, milady," Mycen chuckles a little. "Sir Robin has told me enough about you that there is truly no need to stand ceremony. And if my colleagues would stop bickering for long enough for us to explain things, I believe that we can answer any questions you might have, Miss Eisner."
Mycen directs the last statement to both me and the two bickering mages behind him. While Mae doesn't seem to catch any of his words, Boey does and decides to shut up, much to Mae's surprise.
"So…what are you?" I raise an eyebrow as I realise that I can still sort of see the desk behind Mycen. He seems…shimmery, almost as if he was a ghost. "You don't seem…alive?"
"As perceptive as Robin said," Mycen nods with a smile. "You are correct in that assumption. We can no longer be considered among the living."
"So you're…ghosts?"
"Er—not quite," It's Boey who speaks up. "We're Einherjar, a collection of memories and skills from when we were alive manifested into a humanoid form. While we technically aren't ghosts, the formation is quite similar in many respects."
"Also, I don't think Boey's brain would compute being turned into a ghost, considering the state of his pants after our first encounter with the undead," Mae giggles as Boey flushes a shade of red.
"Oh, you're one to talk, Mae. I do remember an extremely loud scream after one bit you," Boey rolls his eyes.
"Hey! That's a completely appropriate reaction to getting bitten! What if I turned into a zombie? Huh? What would you do then?"
"Didn't Celica already tell you what the bonewalkers were?" Boey sighs. "You even asked her if you'd be turned into one if you got bitten. She told you " no " three times, and yet you still panicked."
"I think that's enough back and forth…" Mycen shakes his head, and the two mages are silenced. "Is there anything else, Miss Eisner?"
I frown. There aren't really many questions that I want to ask, but…
Well, since they're ghosts and Sothis is basically a ghost—
I am not a ghost! I am not!
—I might as well ask them what they know about ghosts.
"I have to ask, but there is a ghost in my head that says she's not a ghost but is there anything that any of you know?" I ask.
This seems to be a touchy subject as all three Einherjar are suddenly on edge, with Mycen hiding his readiness the most.
I'm just confused why they're like this.
Oh great. Now they think you're crazy.
"Damn, Robin's not here…" Boey clicks his tongue in annoyance. "He's more experienced at finding possession than I am."
Wait, possession?
I am not possessing anyone you white-haired buffoon! I do not wish to be trapped with this boulder of a girl!
"Wait, wasn't there another Einherjar that was possessed before?" Mae suddenly speaks up. "Why don't we ask him?"
"Right! We can!"
"Er—What was his name again? Lion? Leon?" Mae starts to flip through the book on the table while I sat there with a confused expression on my face.
"His name is Lyon," Mycen sighs. "And stop looking in the Elibe section; he's from Magvel."
Mycen gently takes the book out of Mae's hand and quickly finds the page where Lyon's Einherjar card is held.
It doesn't take long before Mycen grabs a card from the book. Weirdly enough, the second he touches it, the card disappears into mist.
I stare at Mycen for a little while, not knowing what to say. Did he just destroy one of Robin's possessions? Should I be mad? Should I tell Robin? Should I yell at Mycen?
That is until another mage appears to the side of Mycen clad in purple robes and sporting long, luscious lavender hair. Hey, alliteration! (Why are you so excited about that…?) The mage seems very confused about why he is here now.
"Er—Sir Mycen…what did you call me for?"
"Lord Lyon," Mycen does a slight bow. "I called you here to check on our summoner's friend, Byleth Eisner, who has stated that she has heard voices in her head."
"Has she…?" Lyon frowns and stares at me with his eyes. "What is the voice saying?"
"A lot of meaningless things," I shrug. I do not believe that Sothis gives good advice. (Hey! You take that back right now! I give wonderful advice, you just don't like to follow it!)
It's funny that she says this now because she already said something similar earlier. (I said it because you said you wouldn't write it down!)
That's uncalled for! You would have died if I didn't intervene, you know!
"I would have been fine," I frown and turn towards where Sothis is currently floating around. "I had a spell already readied."
I—well—This… my point still stands!
"It doesn't," I told my arms over my chest. "You did not save me, and you do not get to claim—"
I suddenly stop as I realise that Lyon is chuckling.
I ask him why he is doing so.
"Because I do not believe you are being possessed if you are arguing so nonchalantly with the person who is supposed to be possessing you," Lyon explains. "My arguments with Formantiis were more shouting matches accompanied with screaming rather than a little petty argument like this."
Mycen seems content with this and nods his head, while Boey and Mae look unconvinced.
Sir—er, Lord—wait no, you got deposed so still, Sir? What honorifics do I use?" It's good to know that even they have trouble with noble stuff.
"It's fine, Boey," Lyon smiles slightly. "There's not really any point in using correct honorifics anymore, is there? We both have already died…some more gruesomely than others…"
"Alright, that's fair…" Boey nods his head. "Sir Lyon, are you sure about this? Berkut's corruption was slow as well, and I don't like the similarities that I see here."
"I understand, but for the time being I believe it will be alright," Lyon nods. "I'll ask Robin—er, the summoner if it would be fine if those of us who have been possessed before routinely check on her."
"Yeah, that'll be a good idea," Boey agrees. "Thank Mila Robin is—"
"LADY MAE PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR EINHERJAR CARD THEY CAN HEAR YOU OUTSIDE!" Just as Boey said Robin's name, the mage in question bursts into the room with an angry yet disappointed look on his face.
"Huh. Speak of Duma and he shall appear," Mycen shrugs.
It took Robin nearly half an hour to assuage Boey and Mae's fears and for the four Einherjar to return to their cards. By that time, dinner service had already ended so Robin went and borrowed the kitchen again to cook.
"I swear to Naga above and Grima below, I could not believe those two were the same Boey and Mae from the Valentiad when I first met them…" Robin shakes his head as he hands me a plate of chicken risotto. I generally enjoy Robin's food, and today is no different.
"They are?" I frown. I hadn't connected the dots, but they did say that they were collections of memories and experiences given humanoid form, so I suppose that could be true.
"Yup," Robin sighs. "Those two are the same priests of Mila who followed Celica out of Novis and to Zofia Castle. The Valentiad gave them a massive glow-up, eh?"
I nod in agreement.
"It said that they argued a lot, but I didn't expect a lot to be like that…" I sigh. It was at this moment (With my help! Do include that!) that I realised that the 'Sir Mycen' was probably the 'General Mycen' that served with Alm and ended up becoming the 'Ironguard Chancellor' of the One Kingdom of Valentia.
"Can you image those two getting married and having seven children?" Robin chuckles. "I had a teenage one and even then she was a headache and a half to handle. I can't imagine having seven little versions of yourself running around, causing havoc."
I nod, not knowing what to say.
The Purple Mage is giving off uncle vibes today, isn't he?
What are uncle vibes? What are vibes?
I—How do I explain this to you…
Should I ask Robin?
Don't! Please don't!
"What Sothis doesn't realise," Robin snorts. "Is that I can hear her. Remember?"
O—Oh…right…uh…sorry?
"Don't worry about it," Robin snorts in amusement with a slight smile appearing on his lips. "I am an uncle, so saying that I act like one isn't too off from the truth."
Sothis nods furiously before disappearing into green sparks. I wonder why…
(Look, I don't want to get on Robin's bad side, alright? I saw what he can do!)
Alright, that's fair. But why didn't you realise earlier?
(I—urgh! Just keep writing in that stupid journal of yours! I'm going to sleep…)
I can hear her snoring.
Oh, she's actually asleep. I'm honestly surprised; she would usually immediately wake up if I said she snores.
After Sothis's disappearance, I suddenly had a thought appear in my head.
"Robin,"
"Yes?"
"The Einherjar seem close to you. Why is that?"
Robin's eyes mist up again and he sighs.
"It's a long story, and one that is quite painful for me to tell you at the moment but…" Robin bites his lip hard enough for a little speck of crimson to be visible. I wince. "If you really want to hear it…"
I shrug.
"Don't give me that look, By," Robin rolls his eyes. "Fine…I can hear Kiran telling me to talk to someone about my sorrows, and I probably need to get it off my chest eventually."
He takes a deep and slightly shaky breath before smirking sadly at the table.
"I…well, after the second time I died, Naga sent me to the Mystical Kingdoms: Hoshido, Nohr, and Valla. I had just rescued my son, a long story for a different time, from the remnants of Grima's power. Again, a long story for a different time," Robin shakes his head every time I raise my eyebrows at something incredulous that he says. "That experience had nearly broken me, and I entered a state that Kiran described as 'Chronic Depression'. Of course, I had a duty to fulfil, and I could not abandon my duty just yet. To…lessen my sorrows, I summoned the Einherjar version of Tiki and apologized as much as I could to her. It was a…confusing experience, for the both of us."
Robin seems to smile fondly at the mention of his wife's name. I…don't understand how exactly that works, but I go along with it.
"This was before Queen Mikoto found me, of course," Robin laughs. "A confusing experience, one and all. Still, I found that the Einherjar were good conversationalists, even the ones who are…usually remembered as less than savoury people to be around, such as Arvis."
Robin leans back slightly and chuckles.
"I have other Einherjar, you know? Not just these. I have most of the Heroes of the War of Valla as Einherjar cards, and they certainly are fun to be around," Robin's gaze seems to rest on one of his bags. "It's…been a long time since…"
I started to feel even more confused, and Robin stopped talking to wallow in his own memories.
The rest of tonight passed without much excitement. Robin disappeared sometime in the evening to go…somewhere. I don't pay it much mind.
AN: Hello there! Acardia here!
This week: Robin drinks enough to put anyone else in a shallow grave, Byleth bullies Sothis, and Jeralt is shown to be a sneaky little knight. Also, cameos from previous Fire Emblem characters! Einherjar!
I'm probably not going to include very many Einherjar as characters in the story unless they directly impact either Robin's mental health or Robin's philosophy (For example, Corrin would have helped Robin get out of his depression while Queen Mikoto's philosophy would have refined Robin's personal Philosophy on war and peace, which means that I'll probably have those two show up at some time)
Speaking of Fates, how do guys feel about putting the Mystical Kingdoms on the map with the other continents of Fire Emblem or should I add them as an outrealm? I look forward to your ideas.
That's all from me!
Acardia out!