Chapter 58: Problem Solving 101 with Sothis and Hyperion
Immediately after Epimenides' teleportation. Alternate Fodlan, outskirts of Garreg Mach.
The ominous light was hard to miss. It appeared only a short distance away from the Monastery Town. Its pale purple hue bathed the whole mountain in its colour. No one missed the occurrence, even if many had no idea what it was.
Others, however…
"Dear," I said with dissatisfaction in my voice, "I believe we have uninvited guests."
"How rude of them to interrupt us," responded Sothis with a frown.
I was none too pleased either. The both of us had just taken a break from our research into tomes and we had been fooling around a little. We had just gotten to the good part, too. Neither of us liked having to break it off because of unexpected work. Alas, that was how it turned out.
"Rude indeed. Let's go greet them and make our displeasure known," I said sagely.
She huffed as she adjusted her dress. "We can teach them proper manners while we're at it."
I laughed a little while getting my own clothes back in order. "Well, they couldn't have known they'd interrupt us, so let's cut them some slack. Not too much, though. I'm a bit miffed."
She shook her head and sighed. "At least they spared us the effort of tracking them down."
"That they did," I said. "It does change our plan for dealing with them a little. Can you erect and hold the barriers on the fly?"
I was talking about our way of dealing with Epimenides. The many had a supremely annoying teleportation ability that somehow circumvented the usual methods of blocking Warp-type spells. We had developed an alternate method of preventing that, but it required the combination of two simultaneously cast barriers. I was unsure whether Sothis could keep them both maintained without prior preparation.
She smirked at me and answered, "It won't be a problem at all. I made some very interesting discoveries today. One of them will ensure the stability of the barriers. All I need is a functioning tome."
She took one from the table where we had laid out several of them. It was new, even if it was only of middling quality. It appeared that she did not need anything fancier than that. It told me that she was confident in her plan.
Her expectant look fell on me. "Chop chop, Hyperion. We're burning daylight."
I laughed and complied. The two of us exited the house in the Monastery Town we had been occupying, now donning our armours. The street we stepped onto was full of panicking townsfolk who were running around like headless chickens. Granted, they had just seen an army teleport inside the defences meant to protect them, but it was inconvenient for us. We had some trouble getting through the crowd.
We managed to get out of the town after a few minutes of squeezing past the townsfolk. By then, the Agarthan host we had expected to see was already on a direct course towards the town. While the positioning was not quite ideal and would result in some collateral damage to the buildings, the timing was near perfect.
Sothis wasted no time opening the tome she had taken from our study table. Said tome began to glow a blinding white after only a short moment. The first barrier was deployed almost instantly. The second would probably take some time to deploy. That was the price of casting two continuous spells simultaneously.
The barrier that was already up now was the most important of the two. It prevented magically generated spatial distortions from affecting anything outside its field of influence. So, while it did not supress the ability to cast Warp and Rescue, never mind Epimenides' teleportation ability, it prevented their use for the purposes of leaving the barrier field. It was the centre piece of our strategy to deal with the man.
Of course, there was a weakness to the barrier. There was nothing stopping anyone from teleporting right to the edge of the barrier and then walking through it unhindered. That was the limitation of such a powerful effect.
The second barrier existed to mitigate this problem. It was designed to prevent sentient and/or living beings from physically crossing its threshold. When overlayed with the first barrier, it created a trap that required substantial power to overcome. And while our enemies did possess that power, they were incapable of focussing it when there was a distraction.
That distraction was myself, naturally. First, I had to keep the enemy occupied until Sothis' second barrier was cast, and then I had to keep them busy enough to prevent a concentration of firepower. Fortunately, the battle had not yet begun, and so the cliché-laden tradition of pre-battle trash talk found its place in my arsenal.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the man who sold his soul to the Devil and his little clown troupe. Please excuse my irritated mood, but the abruptness of your visit has led to the interruption of an activity I am quite fond of. Now then, what leads you to our temporary abode?" I asked.
"The Fell Star's demise," said Epimenides bluntly.
I chuckled. "Oh dear, I think you've set yourself a lofty goal there. Do you have even the slightest idea what sort of power you're up against?" I asked.
Epimenides scoffed. "She was killed before. It can be done again."
"You killed a comatose husk, and even then, it didn't stick," I replied coldly. "But that was to be expected. You knew full-well, as you know now, that Sothis at her full power is far beyond you."
"I freely acknowledge that," admitted Epimenides. "That is why we are here. To slay the Beast before it can regain its power." His gaze left me and focussed on the armoured form of my beloved. "It cannot hide behind you forever. A lone man, even one of your substantial power, will not last long against the full might of the Agarthans."
In that moment, the second barrier descended on the field. The trap was now ready to be sprung.
I chuckled again. It developed into full-blown, demented laughter. Admittedly, there was a desire to be dramatic in me, and I let it play out, but it had the intended effect on my opponents. I had recaptured everyone's attention.
"Now, that's just precious!" I exclaimed. "Have the centuries addled your mind? You're so focussed on Sothis that you don't even see the threat in front of your eyes. How amusing. You should be less worried about Sothis and instead be far more concerned with me."
Once more playing up the dramatics, I unleashed my power. Light and fire enveloped my body as I spread my wings.
"What are you?" demanded Epimenides as he tensed. It appeared I was making him nervous.
I felt only too happy to answer that. "I am many things, but to you, I am the instrument of your demise. Did you think your ritual sacrifice would be without consequences? That your torment of Sothis would be tolerated with impunity? The Gods are angry, and one of their own has come to punish you for your transgressions."
None of these statements were false, although they were not as connected as I made them seem. A bit of embellishment and deception was customary for such events, though.
"What a farce," commented Thales.
The man had been silent so far, but he was clearly displeased. My first impression of him was that he was just as contemptible here as he was in the other timeline. While that was lamentable to an extent, it also made him a great example. He had spoken out of turn, after all.
"Shut up," I said.
A bolt of light pierced his skull before he could to anything. He fell dead to the floor.
My gaze turned back towards Epimenides, and I asked, "Do you usually allow apes to speak for you?"
Epimenides scoffed. "Of course not. He was sim-"
He vanished. In that same instant, a sword smashed into my AT field from behind. It was a clever move, but it was one I had anticipated. Instant teleportation was a neat trick, but if the opponent knew about it, a lot of the surprise factor was lost.
"A valiant attempt," I said, "But ultimately fruitless."
The flames that enveloped me turned purple as I transformed them into Brigidian curse fire. Then, I forced them outwards, drowning the field in the cursed flames. I was unharmed, naturally, and so was Sothis. She was a Goddess of Fire, after all, and she stood outside the barrier field besides. The Agarthans, however, were not so lucky. The vast majority of their forces melted away in seconds, succumbing to the hungry grasp of the fire I had unleashed. The savvier of their number and their most powerful had enough sense to protect themselves with powerful, overlayed Wards and other defensive magic. They and a few of the Titanus war machines survived the conflagration.
Among the survivors was Epimenides. He looked a bit singed, but he had made it behind the protective spells of the remaining "Sages" of Agartha. I had expected nothing less from him. I had cleared the field of the peanut gallery. The spectral douchebag had not been the intended target.
For him and the competent remnant of his little army, I resorted to other methods. Knowing that curse fire was less effective, I went back to using light. Instead of shooting bolts of it like I had against Thales, I enveloped my one-handed war hammer with it. From the weapon's top spike now protruded a blade of light. I swung the hammer and extended the blade mid-swing. Again, some defensive magic held, but most shield spells were shattered or pierced, and their casters were slashed apart. I repeated the action a few times, fending off counterattacks with my AT field along the way. By the end of it, there were only three people left who could consistently block or evade my attacks.
The survivors consisted of Epimenides, which was unsurprising, and two women. I suspected they were Pittacus and Bias, but I had only ever seen the generic Gremory character model Three Houses had of them. I had never seen them in reality, so I could not be sure. I would also not be asking.
Admittedly, I was tempted to continue our conversation for drama's sake, but I had promised myself long ago that I would refrain from trash-talking in the midst of battle. It served no purpose and would only distract me. It also had a negative impact on enemy morale to appear as a silent behemoth, I hoped.
Speculations aside, I decided to up the ante now. The purple flames returned, and then turned into the distinctive reddish-black of my personal divine power. This was no mere human magic like Brigidian curse fire. No, these were the cursed flames of the Lord of the Underworld. They were harmful even to divine entities.
So, I flooded the inside of the barriers with these flames. They charred the ground and cursed it simultaneously as they raced across it. The raging inferno consumed everything it touched, even the ash of the previous fire. Naturally, the two Agarthan women stood no chance. They were burned to a crisp and then into nothingness within a fraction of a second. The only part of the field that was untouched was the section closest to Sothis, which I had not burned so as to not endanger her.
It was there that the wounded form of Epimenides lay. He had escaped the hungry flames, but even the proximity to them had done a number on him. After all, even outside the barrier buildings were either halfway melted or on fire from the residual heat alone. The man himself did not look much better.
I took advantage of his debilitated state and flung a rope of power at him. I had already demonstrated my powers of light and fire today, and now it was time to use the aspect of the soul for offense rather than only to generate an AT field. The rope was primarily made of my soul-based powers, though there was a fraction of hard light in it as well. As the rope wrapped itself around Epimenides, it thus also captured his soul, not just his physical form. Even his teleportation ability would not allow him to escape my grasp.
The battle was over now. My self-imposed rule allowed me to talk again, and so I did. However, I did so not entirely in personal capacity. Neutralising Epimenides was a task given to Sothis and me by a higher power, after all.
"Now, to pass judgement," I said.
Epimenides stared at me. His face was contorted from the pain and anger he felt. His current helplessness also played a role, I assumed. I stared right back at him.
"Pending the approval of my fellow judge, I shall now sentence you. For the crimes committed against the inhabitants of this world, including mass ritual sacrifice of the unwilling, I hereby sentence you to death, effective immediately after this judgement. Furthermore, for crimes committed against the sanctity of the soul and for conspiring with the Enemy, I remand your soul into the custody of the prosecutor of the Last Judgement, effective immediately on the execution of your death sentence," I told him.
Sothis looked at me, then at Epimenides. She said, "I approve of the judgement and second it."
With that, I unceremoniously ended his life by ramming the back pike of my one-handed war hammer into his skull. Now all that remained was to wait for the second part of the sentence to be carried out.
To be honest, I had no idea if something special would happen. Metatron was busy, so I had invoked someone else, but I was unsure if my judgement was important enough to warrant his attention.
A shiver went down my spine just then. I could not see it, but I felt something pluck Epimenides' soul right out of my rope's grasp. The presence was oppressive, dangerous and utterly deadly.
"The prisoner has been received. Your mission has been accomplished. Expect retrieval within two weeks," I heard a voice say.
The sensation passed. Sothis and I were now alone in a field of ash next to a burning town.
"What was that? I've never felt such a thing before," asked Sothis.
"That was quite possibly Samael. Pray that you never meet him in his official capacity," I answered. I would elaborate in the future, but right now there were more pressing matters. "Before we debate him, though, we should probably help put out the fires. We can discuss our everything else later."
She nodded, and we went to work.
A few days later. Fodlan's Locket.
While our main goal in this version of Fodlan had been accomplished, there were a few more things to take care of. We were not here to solve every problem the people here had, of course, but there were some errands we could run while we were still around. One of those was to continue our exchanges with the local version of Sothis.
To that end, we had to seek her out. Fortunately, we knew were she was. The main battle of the Almyran invasion had not taken place yet as the army was still a day or two away from the fortress. Until this mess was concluded, this world's Byleth and Sothis would be here. As such, we had beelined for the fortress with all haste.
Our entrance had taken many people by surprise. It was not every day that winged people landed in the middle of a fortress under siege while claiming to come by on a visit. Fortunately, there were those who knew who we were.
"Why are you here?" asked Byleth.
She looked… frazzled, for lack of a better term. This contrasted with her expressionless face. There was something in her eyes that I could not quite identify. Was it relief? Hope? I did not know, but I did not think it was something negative. However, where there was relief, there had to have been tension first.
"We have finished our main business in Fodlan," answered my Sothis. "While we're waiting for transport, we have decided to complete a few projects and check up on a few people."
I continued, "And since you're a friend – or so I'd like to think, at least – we've decided to check up on you and your passenger."
If I had not had practice spotting such signs from the Byleth back home, I would have missed the flinch on this one. That was suspicious. It suggested that there was tension between her and her Sothis. Considering that they shared a body, this reaction spelled trouble.
Indeed, Byleth seemed slightly nervous, which mean that she was just short of a breakdown. "Can you do that now?" she asked.
I looked at my beloved and received a worried look in return. My eyes found Byleth's again. "We can. Let's find some privacy."
She proceeded to lead us with hurried steps. We followed swiftly, entering the fortress barracks in her tracks. Only a short while later, we came upon a separate room, likely Byleth's quarters, where we stopped.
The door practically flew open from the swiftness of her movements. She gestured at us to enter quickly. We did so, closing the door behind us.
She headed straight for the bed and laid down on it. The blatantly expectant look on her face left no doubt as to hat she wanted form us.
"Right. You seem in a hurry, so we won't dally and dive right in. Is that alright with you?" I asked Byleth.
She nodded and braced herself. My beloved and I sat down on the edge of the bed and touched her head without further ado. Our descent into her mindscape began immediately.
Immediately after. Byleth's mindscape.
The Sothis of this world felt the intrusion into the mental space of her host. She was not unsettled, however. She knew who it was, and she hoped they would help her solve her problem.
Said problem was her host's unwillingness to communicate. Ever since they had left the Monastery, Byleth had refused to enter her mindscape or answer her calls. Sothis was worried about this, for it deprived her of the chance to clear up any misunderstandings that may have arisen.
When the visitors finally appeared, the severity of the situation revealed itself to her. Her host had appeared with them, and she was hiding behind them. The young woman had come to fear her, which saddened her to a great degree. It was time to fix this.
"Greetings," she said.
"Hello," greeted her counterpart back.
"Good morning," said Hyperion, completely disregarding that it was afternoon.
Sothis disregarded the wrongness of the statement in turn. The man her other self had fallen in love with was an incorrigible man-child at times. He had a decently sharp mind despite this, however. It was no skin off her back either. It was not her who would have to deal with him for the rest of eternity. For the limited time he was here, she would endure his quirks.
So, she simply inclined her head and said, "I see you have brought my host along. That is good. She has been avoiding me for quite some time. I believe that this was caused by a misunderstanding I wish to resolve as soon as possible."
"Ah, the miscommunication issue," commented Hyperion. He chuckled a bit and went on, "My family are experts at that. I can't number the times my parents argued with each other about one thing or another without realising that they were both of the same opinion. Is this situation similar?"
Sothis shook her head and said, "No. It is far more serious, I would say. My dear host seems to be under the impression that I wish to enslave her."
Byleth almost imperceptibly shifted. She was nervous about this. This meeting would have been dangerous for her if Sothis had actually wanted to make her fears true and managed to convince the other two to aid her. The mercenary was probably close to panicking.
"Yes, that is a very serious misunderstanding indeed," said the foreign Sothis grimly.
Hyperion hummed before he spoke up, "Well, let's get working on this. How did this come about?" He turned to Byleth and said, "Your perspective first."
And so Byleth told him. She recounted how Sothis had told her to leave Jeralt's mercenaries, separate from Jeralt and act as an extension of Sothis' will. She told him of her fear that Sothis could take over her body if the Goddess so desired. It was probably the longest string of words she had ever put together without pause.
Throughout it all, the three others listened attentively to her. It was enlightening, to say the least.
"Well, we can clear up one point immediately. Without a soul parasite, nobody can take over your body without consent," pointed out Hyperion. "Even with you bearing your Sothis' heart within you, that would only allow her to forcibly take you over for a few minutes at most."
That did not calm Byleth as much as he had intended. "That's still too much," she said.
"We shall get back to that later," said Sothis' foreign counterpart. "Let's hear the other side of the story and deliberate on what to do afterwards.
The local Sothis inclined her head and explained herself, "I should explain first that I am a military woman. I have spent almost all of my waking hours on the earth fighting in battle and commanding troops. In the war that I fought, there were only subordinates and enemies. As such, I am used to having my commands followed by those who are not fighting against me. This is faulty thinking in the current situation, I realise, but habits are hard to break. Despite the latter circumstance, I apologise profusely, Byleth. I have wanted to do so ever since our last talk, once I had realised that what I had said to you was not appropriate."
To punctuate he apology, she bowed deeply to Byleth, who was still hiding behind the two others.
"I'm unsure whether I can accept that apology or not," said Byleth.
"My plans are not set in stone," replied Sothis, "We can delay our trip to Sreng and Lake Teutates. I long to see my family again, but I that was no reason for me to decide to tear you away from yours. I was wrong to do so."
There was a short and uncomfortable silence before Byleth spoke, "That sounds… agreeable. I don't know if I can trust you, though."
Sothis frowned. From an outside perspective, her host was right. Trusting someone who had the ability to take control of one's body, even if only briefly, was foolish without guarantees. The problem was that she had no idea how to make such guarantees. Mere words would not suffice.
"How can I convince you that I do not wish to take you over? Would an oath from me help?" she asked.
Her host answered quickly, "That's not enough."
"It could be," interjected Hyperion.
Her counterpart's face lit up. "That's right. Your crown may be the solution to the problem."
At the question looks Byleth and the local Sothis gave her, she elaborated, "it was quenched in the waters of the Styx dung the forging process. It inherited the oath-binding abilities of the Styx."
"What does that mean?" asked Byleth.
Hyperion answered, "It means that any oath sworn in the presence of the crown while it is active is binding. Breaking such an oath usually kills the offender. The punishment for immortals is… worse."
Sothis was surprised at this. "I thought Gods were merely deprived of Ambrosia and would have their worship cut off in that event."
"Thereby resulting in a coma. Yes, those are the rules here, and were the rules back home," said Hyperion. "The new rules are far less forgiving, however. Immortals were always so prone to break their oaths that the rules for oaths were eventually changed. These days, breaking an oath sworn on the Styx, depending on the severity of the beach, can mean a medium-term stay in Tartarus. And since my crown was made back home, it's the rules of back home that apply."
Sothis shuddered. That was a serious incentive not to do so. But it was the path to the guarantee she was seeking. "In that case, I am prepared to swear such an oath. The wording would need to be precise, however."
Byleth considered this for a bit. Then, she said, "That would be alright."
The next few minutes were spent discussing the exact wording and the stipulations of the oath. Everyone wanted it to be simple to understand and adhere to. There was also the consideration that it potentially could have been used to hurt Sothis. This led to concessions from both sides. By the end of it, everyone was more or less satisfied.
"Alright then," began Hyperion, "Let's get this show on the road.
His crown began to shine, signifying its activation, and he said, "Sothis, Goddess of this Fodlan, I shall receive your oath."
Sothis's face was neutral as she spoke, "On the condition that I shall receive an oath adhering to my stipulations in return, I hereby swear this: I shall not take over my host's body for any reason but to protect her from death or severe injury, or to protect those she cares about in the same fashion, or to protect those I care about in the same fashion. I shall never take over her body for any prolonged period of time, relinquishing control as soon as the danger has been determined to have passed both by her and myself. I shall never seek to harm her or those she cares about unless it is to protect myself and those I care about, and shall use the minimal force required to do so."
A weight settled on her, although it disappeared shortly thereafter. It was the sign that the oath had taken hold.
Hyperion now turned to Byleth and said, "Byleth, host of Sothis' heart and soul, I shall receive your oath."
The young woman in question nodded and said, "So long as Sothis follows her oath, I swear this: I will allow Sothis to take control of my body under the conditions of her own oath. I will listen to and honestly consider her advice. I will not antagonise those she cares about unless they threaten me or those I care about. I will not actively work against her unless it threatens me or those dear to me."
She, too, felt the weight of the oath settle on her. Subsequently, the glow of Hyperion's crown faded. Both host and guest were now bound to each other.
"Now that the formalities are done with, let's talk about why Sothis and I are here," said Hyperion. "My Sothis, to be specific" he added after a second.
Sothis looked at her counterpart and asked, "Do you see no issue with him calling you his?"
That drew the laughter of the foreign Sothis. She answered, "Certainly not. Being his is a dream come true for me. It's an expression of love, and I do like the slight possessiveness that comes with it. It makes me feel wanted. You may feel different about it, but that's alright. You and I are not identical."
"We also plan to make it official on Samhain. She'll be mine and I'll be hers," elaborated Hyperion, "Though we really should get back to other official matters."
"I'm sorry for ignoring you segue, my dear, but all is fair in love and war… and girl talk. I rarely get the opportunity," replied the foreign Sothis.
"Which makes a passable segue for what I was going to mention, my beloved. War is indeed on the horizon, and if your local twin here is not smart about it, it's going to be a devastating one," retorted Hyperion with a flat tone.
That got Byleth's interest fast. "What do you mean?" she asked.
The only man in the "room" answered, "We kicked the asses of the Agarthan leadership and a good portion of their armed forces. That doesn't mean they're done, though. Depending on how the operation in Fhirdiad went, Cleobulus may still be roaming free, so the snake isn't decapitated just yet. Plus, if you don't resolve Edelgard's beef with the Church of Seiros, she may just decide to declare war on it too. Methinks that a few international conferences and some reforms are in order. Byleth here may even have to become Archbishop."
She stared at him with wide eyes. "What?"
Hyperion's future wife added, "It is a good idea. Most of the issues people have with the Church of Seiros find their origin in Rhea. They think her too secretive, aloof and scheming. A new face to lead the Church right as the Goddess returns sounds like a change that would be accepted. Your window of opportunity is small, but you could definitely mend many of the rifts that have developed if you go through with this. Combine this with the common enemy the Agarthans represent, and you have a chance at stability and long-lasting peace between the three primary powers in Fodlan."
Sothis hummed and rubbed her chin. "It is a worthwhile consideration."
"But I don't know anything about Church doctrine!" protested Byleth.
"Even better, then. It ensures you don't carry old biases and that you are, in essence, the prophet of the Goddess," said Hyperion. "Believe me when Is say that I dislike this whole worship thing, not to mention stupid cults that could crop up, but if you don't take control of it now, you'll never get it."
"I don't want to be Archbishop. I'm just a mercenary," insisted Byleth.
The foreign Sothis countered her statement, "You're a woman of common birth, and thus representative for the common people. That alone will make you popular. Furthermore, you will be the Archbishop in times of reform. It is you and my counterpart who will decide what the office of Archbishop shall entail. You will shape the position; not the other way around."
"It's also the best way of preventing the coming war from escalating," added Hyperion. "I don't know about you, but one huge war is enough for me. If I can keep the one in your world from becoming the shitshow ours is, then I will."
"I agree," said Sothis. She turned to her host and continued, "I urge you to consider this option. It is the best way to restore peace to Fodlan in a timely manner."
Byleth suppressed the urge to grimace. She had just sworn to consider any advice the Goddess gave her.
Naturally, she was disinclined to assume a position of authority. She had been a leader of mercenaries, yes, but always subordinate to Jeralt. Even when one dismissed the latter, leading mercenaries was not the same as leading the Church and all its administration. On the other hand, if she accepted the position, she would have the chance to secure peace and settle down with her father. She was keenly aware that being a mercenary was dangerous, and she had gained a certain fear of losing her father recently. If she became Archbishop, there was the option of bringing in the company as part of the Knights of Seiros and having them posted at Garreg Mach. It sounded selfish, however, even in her head. Still, the safety of her only family member alone was worth taking the job despite the trouble it would bring.
She let out a defeated sigh. "Very well. I'll do it, but you will help me," she said to the local Sothis.
The Goddess in question nodded. "Naturally. If you are to serve as my mouthpiece, you deserve my support. I will share the burden of fixing my daughter's mistakes with you, rest assured."
"Okay," replied Byleth.
"One of the things you will have to tackle first are Crests. They're the source of the majority of the social problems caused by the Church of Seiros and its mentality. We have no definite solution back home just yet," mentioned Hyperion.
Sothis scrunched up he eyebrows. "How can that be a problem? Dragon Signs would be an immediate solution to it," she said.
Her counterpart looked at her strangely and asked, "You have Dragon Signs? Hyperion knew they could exist, but they do not in our timeline."
The local Sothis was surprised to hear this. "This is perplexing to me. They are rather easy to make and gift to chosen individuals. I have done so thousands of times."
"Does that mean it doesn't involve a blood transfusion ritual or a blood reconstruction surgery like it does with Crests?" asked Hyperion.
Sothis shook her head, although she made a note to check up on Crest-bearing individuals. Blood reconstructions surgeries were dangerous. To her interlocutor, she said, "No, it does not. I most often bestowed Dragon Signs in response to prayers. Of course, they are weaker than Crests and are not passed down to the recipient's children, but they can be handed out en masse. It was how I empowered my troops during the first war with Agartha."
Hyperion and his intended looked at each other, as if debating silently with each other. The woman of the two then asked, "Would you be willing to teach us the process? We'll teach you some spells like Reveal in turn."
"Of course. I am more than willing to do so for all the help you have provided me with," replied Sothis, "Although I am perplexed as to why your paramour would wish to learn. He is not a dragon and is thus unable to bestow Dragon Signs."
Hyperion commented, "I thought if knew the process, I could make signs of my own. I know how to hand out blessings, so that's a beginning, but Dragon Signs are a bit more… specific."
"Hmm… Dragon Signs are a form of blessing," said Sothis, "But you are correct. They are a modification of a general blessing. Less powerful, more specific, and able to be mass-produced; you will find that your blessings are restricted to a few hundred people or entities at most."
The other version of herself smiled at that. "Excellent! Shall we start, then?"
"If it's okay with you, Byleth. It's your time we're using here," said Hyperion to the lone human of the group.
Byleth gave a nod of affirmation. "I have a few hours until I'm needed on the ramparts."
"Then let us get to it," said Sothis. "We should be able to finish before my host is needed if we hurry."
A week and a half later. Garreg Mach, Holy Tomb.
Time had flown by as we had finished our projects. We had made enough progress with tomes to develop our own eventually, even if ours would not be of great quality for some time. I had also finished a few alchemical doodads I had initially wanted to use against Epimenides, and instead left them to Byleth. Sothis had learned to make Dragon Signs almost immediately on top of it, and I was making progress on my end as well. Our achievements may not have been numerous, but they were momentous.
It was a bit of a shame that I would have to put my tinkering with the Dragon Signs on hold. Getting back home and fixing the mess there was a higher priority.
Speaking of getting back home, it was about time for our retrieval. For the purpose of doing this out of sight of the public, we had gone to the Holy Tomb. Aside from leaving instructions for the local Sothis on how to activate and operate all the systems I had discovered back in our timeline, this was the only reason for coming here. It was just the most convenient place to get picked up.
That said, no specific time had ever been given. As a consequence, Sothis and I had spent half a day in this place so far with nothing to do but wait. We had danced for a little, which had been nice, but it had lost its appeal fast due to the location. A tomb was not a place that engendered fun. Hopefully, we would be retrieved before boredom set in.
As if one cue, a beam of golden light showed up in the middle of the cavernous space that was the holy Tomb. Out of it stepped the familiar form of Metatron, a smile on his face. It looked suspiciously mischievous.
"Fear not," he said.
I gave him a blank stare. "Have you been waiting for us to get bored just so you can drop in at the right time and to spout the most generic line an angel could?"
"Precisely!" he answered. "I have to make use of my day off somehow."
That was a surprise to me. To Sothis as well, it seemed. She asked, "Aren't you terribly busy on the warfront?"
"Technically, yes, but Samael agreed to cover for me today and has Azrael running his affairs instead. He seemed pleased that you involved him," answered Metatron.
"That's not something I was expecting. Still, congrats on the mini-vacation," I said.
"Thank you," replied the angel with a pleased smile.
Sothis was all smiles as well. She said, "Does that mean you will come along for a bit instead of simply pointing in the direction of our destination?"
Metatron nodded and answered, "Correct. I have not yet seen your particular iteration of the Underworld, where we shall be going. I'm curious."
"What about Sothis' Heaven?" I asked out of curiosity.
"It's still an adjunct to Heaven itself, so I've seen it a few times, as well as the countless different versions of it across different worlds and timelines," answered Metatron. "For this reason, and because the living are barred from entering the main section of Heaven, we will go by route of the Underworld."
I accepted that answer. Sothis seemed to do so as well. It made sense to me.
"So, when and were will we leave?" asked Sothis. "As fond as I am of conversation with you, we do have duties to return to."
"You're not wrong." Metatron pointed to the beam of light he had come out of and said, "This is our transport. Follow me."
He stepped back into the light, and we went after him.
As it turned out, it was more of an obfuscating doorway than anything else, because when we stepped out, we ended up in a dimly lit corridor. There was no distinguishing feature in sight, apart from a series of numbers that spanned its entire length. At least, I presumed as much. I could see neither beginning nor end of the corridor. It was probably due to a combination of its length and poor visibility. The beam of light was not even around anymore to illuminate the place.
"This isn't what I expected," I said. "I mean, I wasn't really expecting to see some sort of overengineered cosmic bridge, but I thought we'd end up someplace more… imposing than this."
Metatron hummed and said, "Most methods of moving sideways through time, as you call it, are dreadfully boring. The paths mostly just denote the specific timeline. You can see its numerical designation on the wall."
"That is pretty dull," commented Sothis.
"Let's best get on with it, then. Which direction are we going?" I asked.
Metatron gestured at us to follow him and started walking. "Come along," he said, "We have some time for your performance review while we walk."
"We passed, didn't we?" asked Sothis.
"You did," he confirmed, "But getting into more detail is rarely a mistake in these things."
I snorted. That sounded exactly like something I would have said to irritate friends with my pedantic nonsense, although I very much doubted that this was his intention. "Go on then," I said.
The angel was only too happy to do so. "The good news is that you did well. You fulfilled the goal you were given without endangering the overall well-being of that world. There were some bonus points allotted to you for the help you provided to a few particular individuals, specifically Sothis' local counterpart as well as the local version of Byleth. Your actions have also increased the chances for a de-escalation of international tensions after the war with Agartha."
It sounded like a good review so far, but there was more. Metatron continued, "There were, however, some issues. Your way of tackling the Agarthan issue was lacking in terms of non-violent conflict resolution. Furthermore, you have provided only partial help in the handling of the consequences of the conflict with Epimenides. Considering that you took at least some measures to not let these things spiral out of control, they fortunately did not detract too much from you score."
I nodded along before asking, "So, final verdict?"
"About 78% of the reasonable ideal," answered Metatron, "Which is a respectable result for first-timers. You'll be happy to not that neither of you were put on notice, and will therefore be trusted with the power and authority vested in you."
Sothis looked pleased as she heard this. "That is good news indeed. We shall see to it that our performance improves with experience."
"I second the sentiment. I'll have to learn a bit more about administration and command, but I'll do my best to improve myself at fulfilling my responsibilities," I said.
Metatron smiled and replied, "Excellent. I look forward to your future exploits. For now, however, I will point out that we have arrived."
We looked at him, then at our environment. We were no longer in the corridor. Instead, we were in a far-off region of the Underworld I had never been in. The only reason I know that this was indeed the Underworld was that I felt my connection to these lands. This mean that we actually were back home.
"How did we not notice?" asked Sothis.
"Consider it a security measure of meta-temporal travel. One can only pass the corridors between timelines when one does not pay attention to the beginning or the process of the journey," answered Metatron. "Your performance review was a wonderful distraction."
"Interesting…. Well, in any case, now that we're here, and you have a free day, why don't I show you around the Palace City? I just need to hit up my connection to the Sigil of the Underworld, and we're good to go," I proposed.
"A splendid idea," said Sothis. "Are you up for it, Metatron?"
"I would love to," said the angel with a smile.
With our plan of action decided, I called upon the Sigil. It deposited us in the central spire of the city, from which we then went about starting the tour. We visited the many facilities of the city and spoke with some of the residents about various topics. It turned into a lively day.
Naturally, included among the activities we partook in was to greet the council that had governed the Underworld in my absence. I promised them to debrief them in the evening and commended them on their work before we went on. They would receive a vacation for their efforts.
Sadly, however, Metatron's own vacation came to a close towards the evening hours. Sothis and I bid him farewell and invited him to come visit us again when he had some time. He left shortly before sundown.
That left my beloved and I with the briefing with my council. Technically, Sothis was not part of the ruling authority of the Underworld just yet, but it was natural to include her. She was my significant other, for one, and Fodlan was primarily her business anyway. The information we received was thus pertinent for us both. It painted the picture of a dire situation.
We decided to postpone the planning of pertinent responses for the next day and to gather some more information instead. We did this by going to the source, which meant answering prayers. It was a duty both Sothis and I actually liked a lot. It helped people, and we got more personal news than just dry information.
When we felt a prayer from a known source, we responded together. It turned out to be Ingrid. She seemed tense, with frayed nerves and uncertainty. She asked for help and advice. I thus went for the obvious solution to worries of that calibre and induced some levity to the situation.
"We'll get right on that. That's right; we're back, bitches!"
Sothis let out a sigh and gave me a reproachful look. I simply grinned back at her.
Time to get back to business.
AN: Hello there, dear readers. Welcome to another chapter of Headmates. This time, it's the end of the Three Hopes arc.
Epimenides was mostly dealt with by Hyperion for two reasons. First, Hyperion is the new kid on the block when it comes to divinity. He had to prove that he had what it takes to use his power responsibly. After all, just nuking Shambhala with a firestorm and laser bombardment would have dealt with Epimenides and the Sages just as well as the method he employed in the chapter. Only, many, many innocents would have died in the crossfire. Second, Sothis will get her time to shine in the primary timeline. Fodlan is her turf after all.
There was also conflict resolution between the Sothis of the Three Hopes timeline and her Byleth. While I doubt that too many of you were truly invested in the subplot due to its short-lived nature, I hope you still enjoyed it. Hyperion and his Sothis even got a few goodies out of it.
And finally, the two return home, and after a day's vacation, they prepare for the problems that have arisen in their absence. How they'll deal with the Nemesis problem will be a matter for next time.
I hope to see you again then, my dear readers. In the meantime, have my thanks for the follows, favourites and reviews you have left. I'm happy for your continued support.
Until next time. Stay happy and healthy, everyone!