Chapter 54: Solace and Solitude

There was dead silence as Goetia stormed past her, their eyes briefly met and she wondered what sort of expression she had on her face to elicit the disgusted scowl which formed on his own lips before he turned away from her. The sound of him shoving the door with enough force for it to swing wide and crack against the stone wall on the outside managed to jolt her out of her state, watching him vanish around the corridor and his steps receding.

Then came the commentary from the others who were still in the room, a jumble of voices all of which were attempting to make sense of the vague - and rather disturbing - comments that Goetia had just made before his sudden departure.

"Oh shit-"

"Claude!" Dimitri was the first to approach the boy, hissing his name with a mixture of shock and anger as he stalked towards him, roughly grabbing him by the shoulder and flipping him around to face him "What manner of carelessness led you to start asking those questions now?"

"Wh-well I didn't think-"

"You don't think do you, Von Riegan?" Lysithea's voice came next, sounding rather heated and the girl glaring at the boy in shock.

"-How was I supposed to know-"

"-he heck did he mean by-"

"-torming out-"

"-absolute clown that you are-"

"-someone go after him-"

"Silence." Seteth called out, the voices died down as the man raised his hands and gave the group a stern look, his eyes drifting across the faces of each and every one of the students "Gossiping about what was just spoken of here is hardly appropriate." the man punctuated the statement by lowering his arms and dropping his tone "And I expect all of you not to casually announce what was no doubt revealed in a…sudden burst of emotion brought on by stress." he looked around the students "For the time being, you have been given a task by the Archbishop to rescue Cardinal Aelfric and I suggest you focus on that. The matter of Goetia…" he trailed off, looking away from them and making eye contact with her from across the room.

Rhea stared back at him in silence, the rush of emotions hidden beneath a blank mask as the pair locked eyes.

"...The matter of Goetia can be discussed later if he so wishes." Seteth decided on before he looked at Claude with narrowed eyes "And that is not an invitation to begin making rather intrusive inquiries into his personal life which he seems very clearly disturbed over. I shall be very disappointed if such a thing were to continue."

Claude nodded his head before Seteth looked away from him and towards the Ashen Wolves "...You are welcome to remain in the Monastery for the time being, in terms of planning."

"...Thanks for the invitation but I think we'd be more comfortable in Abyss." Yuri replied back with a troubled voice, shaking his head and putting his hands on his hips. "Most of the knights around here still probably aren't too fond of us being above ground and all that." giving a wry smile, he gestured behind him to the others "Would hate to cause an argument."

"...I see." Seteth nodded his head "In that case, I wish you the best of luck in reducing Cardinal Aelfric." he paused "And while I doubt I need to remind you of the importance of his safe return-"

"Elfie means more to us than a title." Hapi interrupted Seteth with a frown, staring at him before she crossed her arms "We'll get him back."

Seteth stared at her for a few seconds of silence before he closed his eyes and nodded his head "I believe you." opening them up again, he allowed his lip to curve into a faint smile "I am glad to see that he has had such a positive impact on your lives." The smile faded "Now if you will excuse me, the Archbishop and I have some important topics to discuss." he sent a look towards Rhea.

Her lips thinned before she gave a single nod and gestured to her study. The students - and Byleth - filtered out of the room, Claude still receiving some harsh words as they departed with even the boy looking more than a little guilty about what had happened. Rhea and Seteth moved further into the room, making for her chambers and stepping in. The Archbishop moved in first, pacing towards the bed as Seteth stormed in behind her.

He didn't slam the door, however the manner in which he closed it was forceful.

There was a thud and a sigh, Rhea turned around to see Seteth resting his forehead against the door.

"...Seteth." Rhea called out to him in a blank tone "I…understand there might be some difficult truths-"

"The Chalice of Beginnings." Seteth cut her off in a curt tone "...Made by Saint Seiros to resurrect the dead." He raised his head up, then turned around to face her. Rhea masked her emotions as Seteth stared at her with an expression of disappointment, tinged with a faint trace of hope "...Is that true?"

Rhea closed her eyes, after what felt like an eternity she nodded her head once "Yes." when her eyes opened, she watched the trace of hope in Seteth's expression evaporate, replaced with shock. "Let me explain-"

"Explain?" Seteth squinted at her, repeating with words with pure incredulity "How can you-you can't explain this, Rhea." throwing his arms up, his face was one of hurt "Th-this is…this is taboo! Worse, this is directly against everything she asked!"

"I couldn't…I…It was just after she passed and I-"

"The dead remain dead." Seteth stressed "That was the one thing that Sothis made us all understand…when Eithleann died I…" he let out a shaky breath, raising his hands to cover his face "...Did the others know?"

Rhea shook her head "...They did not. After the spell failed I…" she looked away "I was ashamed of what I had tried and so…so we took the Chalice and sealed it away. The apostles swore to themselves to never have children so it could never be released."

Seteth dragged his hands down his face and frowned "...Clearly that has not happened. Considering the Chalice of Beginnings was just waved in my face." his eyes narrowed "...What else have you done that I am not aware of?"

Rhea paused, looking up and furrowing her brows "...Do you doubt me further Sete-"

"Don't…" Seteth shook his head at her "Do not attempt this Rhea…what value does Byleth Eisner have to you?"

Rhea noticeably jolted at the mention of her name "The Professor-?"

"Why…I asked myself for weeks after you appointed her." Seteth continued on, pacing in front of her "Daughter of Jeralt or not, she had next to no qualifications and yet without even consulting me you name her to be the newest Professor, a woman barely older than the students herself." he paused "But I allowed it, I had confidence in your decisions as was your right. You are older than I and are of a higher caste…" Seteth then turned to her "...Then there was the Sword of the Creator. A weapon that has not been wielded since Nemesis walked the lands and she did so. Without a Crest Stone."

Rhea pursed her lips, staring Seteth in the eyes.

"But that is impossible." Seteth shook his head "Because the relics do not work without a Crest Stone implanted within them and without the correct Crest, so she shouldn't be able to so much as touch the Sword of the Creator, let alone wield it as she does and when that was revealed to you…" his jaw clenched "...I saw that look of satisfaction in your eyes Rhea. You…you…"

"Seteth." Rhea spoke in a quiet tone "If you continue down this line of inquiry…the answers you find will not be pleasing."

"The answers I am drawing in my head are already displeasing, Rhea." Seteth rebuked her "The implications alone speak of…a grotesque abuse of power." running a hand through his hair, he exhaled heavily "Even going beyond this Rhea…I told you Goetia's information in confidence." his expression turned more scolding "Why-?"

"Seteth." Rhea cut him off, closing her eyes and exhaling "We…will speak of Goetia another time he…" she opened her eyes and stared at Seteth "...Another time."

Seteth frowned at her "His words are-"

"I know…Seteth." She gave a single nod of the head "I know…But another time."

Exhaling, Seteth pinched the bridge of his nose before eventually relenting "Another time then. However we cannot ignore them, you most of all should understand-"

"I do."

"...We will speak of this Chalice when Aelfric has been returned to us." Seteth promised with a stern frown "Everything else I can overlook but this…Rhea, this is a breach of our most sacred tenants and even the command of the Goddess herself." his frown deepened "And they spoke of ghosts guarding the Chalice as well-"

"I had no control over what defences they would establish." Rhea countered with a frown "I…provided the last of the Golems to aid in defending the Chalice and ensuring it would not be discovered."

Seteth grumbled "I did wonder what became of them." He hadn't seen the Golems in centuries and merely assumed that Rhea just never saw the need to create more of them. Then again, there hadn't ever been a threat like Nemesis or his ten elites since then, even during separation of the Kingdom and the creation of the Alliance, there simply had not been a need to create more of them. Although it would appear there were still a few left.

"Then you suggest that the Apostles dabbled in…necromancy?" His lip curled slightly before he shook his head "Regardless, skilled as Goetia might be, it does not explain how they were able to break through the enchantments protecting the Chalice?"

Rhea remained silent. The breach of the defences around the Chalice were as a result of two possible outcomes. Either Goetia was indeed more powerful than either of them had seen thus far - the destruction of the Golems had proven just how capable he actually was - and had been able to break through the defences they had worked up or the presence of Byleth managed to change something in the defences. The Chalice was made to call out to the Goddess and return her to the world.

"...Who can say?" Rhea shrugged her shoulders and answered in a blank tone of voice "...I cannot stop you from pursuing the investigation into the Professor but for the time being I will plead that you do not. Not…not until-"

"Until what, Rhea?" Seteth shook his head, placing his hands on his hips and turning around, resting his hand upon the door handle "I will continue my investigation and I will pray that you have no involvement in this and it was merely a case of goodwill." Rhea remained silent as Seteth opened the door and stepped out back into the main chamber, closing the door behind him with a gentle thud.

Rhea remained alone in the room, turning towards the bed she walked towards it before sitting herself down. Leaning forwards and resting her hands on her knees and staring out across the room at nothing in particular.

"I'm here because they're dead. They're all dead. My race is dead. All that remains is me and I'm condemned to wander the world like this for the rest of my days."

She remained sitting on the bed in silence, still staring out towards nothing as the words played in repeat in her mind. Many other questions flooded her mind in regards to what that statement actually meant. She could easily sense he was nothing at all like the humans of Fodlan but she had dismissed it as him being from another land completely.

She had at times wondered what became of the rest of the world but had focused upon Fodlan, the land where the Goddess had descended, as her priority. The presence of Goetia had confirmed in her mind that there had been others in the world aside from the lands they knew of.

Or at least, there had been.

Everyone you had ever known dead and alone in a land with only strangers left, if nothing else she could understand that feeling.

She wasn't sure what she should feel in regards to the situation, and she doubted the answer would present itself any time soon. Much as she wished it would.

Flayn very much enjoyed waking up bright and early most days of the week, not least of all because it meant that when it came time for breakfast she was usually one of the first ones into the mess hall to eat. She did not especially hate lines, but she didn't exactly enjoy them either.

However, if there was one thing that Flayn would often find somewhat dreary was the lack of company that she could find. She was aware that she would be starting her classes sometime in the future provided there were not any further extenuating circumstances. Waking up early in the morning had its benefits and it had its downsides, another problem was the fact that Seteth was a rather intimidating individual to the other youngsters.

Which - unfortunately - meant that very few were willing to approach her for fear of sparking her 'brothers' wrath. Well, perhaps not all. There were most definitely some who cared very little for her title or familial relations and she was rather grateful for that.

Those she was stood next to as of this moment were some of those in particular.

"Are you certain it is wise to be eating such sweet things so early in the morning?" Flayn could not help but ask as she sat down on the same table as the other two girls, the ginger girl blinked at her before looking down at her 'breakfast' and then blinked once before looking up.

"I…suppose it might be considered rather strange at times." Annette admitted with a slightly abashed look before she shook her head "But it does also contain fruit, so it is healthy." she argued back rather handily.

Flayn and Mercedes looked down at the slice of fruit cake in front of the girl before looking back up at her, the pair of them raising an dubious eyebrow in sync.

"I don't know Annie." Mercedes spoke in a hesitant tone of voice "It seems as though it would be bad for your teeth if you ate too many sweet things." she nodded down at the cake "Even if you have some fruit in there, it's still a lot of sugar for a breakfast."

Annette slumped ever so slightly "You think so too, Mercie?" the girl asked before sighing "I suppose you're probably right, her eyes drifted to the other two before her lips curled into a gentle smile "...I'll trade you a bit for a slice of bread."

"Done." Flayn answered almost immediately, handing over the slice of crusty bread to the ginger girl as she handed back a slice of fruit cake in response. Mercedes gave the pair of them a slightly scolding frown.

"Honestly, you two." She pointed at the pair of them with a shake of the head "You should watch what you're eating, you especially Flayn." The green haired girl blinked in surprise at being called out "You're a growing girl and I'm sure that Seteth has talked to you about the importance of good eating."

Flayn turned to Annette with crinkled brows and found herself rewarded with a simple shrug of the shoulders from the girl with a 'what can you do?' expression on her face, as if this situation was nothing out of the ordinary for the pair of them. While Annette had selected a slice of fruit cake, both Flayn and Mercedes had gone with a few slices of barley loaf bread, buttered on one side with a bowl of some of the reheated stew from the dinner yesterday, kept warm during the night.

"Brother says many things." Flayn responded with in a half smile as she tore off a section of her bread and dunked it in the stew "Some of which are for my benefit."

"He cares very much for you." Mercedes pointed out, Flayn gave a nod of the head as she consumed the helping of bread before turning towards the girl.

"I know that he cares." Flayn replied in an exhausted tone of voice "It is merely that he cares too much at times…I cannot spend my entire time here under his constant supervision, nor can I expect him to forgo his responsibilities in favour of keeping an eye on me." her lips drew themselves into a thin line "It is…somewhat irresponsible of him."

Annette opened her mouth to reply before it slowly closed again, looking down at the table for a half second before looking up "...What's it like to have him there for you?"

Flayn missed the way in which Mercedes' face tightened for a brief moment, opting to instead furrow her brows in a thoughtful expression, pausing mid-tear with her hands still on the bread slice "...What is it like?" she muttered to herself "It is certainly aggravating, I have heard that a great deal of one's youth is spent making mistakes and then learning valuable lessons from them as a result so as to not repeat them and prepare for future conundrums. However, with Seteth around he is almost hampering my ability to even be put in a position where I might make mistakes."

Releasing a sigh, Flayn closed her eyes "I know he means well, truly I do…but I would wish for some independence from him." opening her eyes again, she saw Annette giving her an indiscernible look before her eyes moved past the ginger girl and towards one of the entrances before they widened ever so slightly.

She had never known Goetia to arrive this early, she then narrowed her eyes when she saw that his usual entourage wasn't present with him. Which meant that something had apparently occurred overnight, considering she was certain they were present yesterday.

Then there was his expression. Goetia would usually wear a frown on his face but this one seemed more intense than usual, his shoulders seemed tenser and his eyes looked almost as if they were glowing.

She clearly hadn't been the only one to notice, looking out of the corner of her eye she saw Mercedes give the man a curious expression before her lips drew themselves into a thin line. Flayn's eyes returned to Goetia as he marched towards the counter, exchanging a few words with one of the cooks and then - after a few moments - walked away with a bowl of porridge in his hands.

That was strange.

No matter what time of day it was, Goetia would always be seen eating tomato soup. The only other times Flayn had seen him eat anything else was when someone had actually forced him into doing so. Which meant either Goetia was branching out into the wide culinary world, or there was something that made him crave more than his usual diet.

He hated his body. Crippling weakness that clung to him like a disease, the feeble nature of it that required regular sustenance. He'd wanted to return to his chambers and then seal the doors behind him, unwilling to speak with anyone for the foreseeable future.

However, life - it seemed - was forever cruel to him and he was now reeling from the effects of failing to keep up the required calorie intake that his new body required of him. A simple porridge with some honey would sort it out, presumably. He hadn't ever tried porridge before. He grabbed the wooden utensil in the bowl and then shovelled a mouthful of the gruel into his maw. Chewing it repeatedly before he swallowed.

…

He didn't know if he found it disgusting or pleasant, a sense of taste was still new to him. The somewhat gooey texture of the thick liquid mixed with lumps of oats was odd to say the least, not least of all because it was rather tasteless save for the sprinkling of honey atop it. The mystery of whether or not he enjoyed porridge however could wait for another time.

What absolute stupidity. He cursed himself, he cursed Rhea and he cursed Claude. He cursed everyone he could ever think of for his predicament.

Being lowered to such a state where he was forced to bargain for his own demands, where that pitiful little phantasmal could think herself in such a position that she could speak down to him? The absolute state of him was something that he was still struggling to fully understand but it was growing increasingly humiliating by the day.

Sleeping, eating…digestion. All functions he had never once partaken in his life thus far and now it was impossible to escape them. He remembered a time where he could have waved his hand, less than even a gesture and he would have wiped this stinking academy off the face of the map.

He could have wiped out this entire continent and their thousand year pitiful History with but a mere thought. He couldn't do that anymore, he wasn't even certain he could best the Phantasmal in single combat without extensive preparations beforehand. Doable? Yes. Difficult? Yes.

That was the crux.

It was a challenge.

This pathetic state he was in that someone as low as Rhea could possibly get the impression she could speak down to him as if he were nothing but a mere child. Then came Claude's incessant questioning nature which contained the worst timing possible.

He'd lost control of his emotions and ranted at them, he ranted and opened up ever so slightly about his situation. Stupid mistake that it was, there was no need for them to know and there was no need for him to explode at Claude. He could have simply walked off without saying a word and the boy would have been content to ask a few vague questions and receive equally vague answers.

Instead he had merely ranted about his failures, dredging up that unfortunate encounter and almost outed himself. At the very least he suspected that Claude's suspicions would get worse and he knew very much what humans and their stories were like. He had little doubt that soon everyone in the Monastery would know of the foreigner who came from a distant wasteland.

So great was his turmoil, that he didn't even notice the presence of a phantasmal until it was right on top of him. His eyes snapped towards the direction of the approaching creature. He stared at Flayn with visible irritation, then looked past her to see Mercedes and Annette stood behind her with their trays of food and pointedly looking at the empty chairs at his table.

He stared at them for a moment longer before looking away, giving a grunt and returning to his breakfast. All he had to do was eat it quickly and then leave before they started to speak with him.

"So how has your morning been, Goetia?"

Goetia paused, slowly craning his eyes across the table towards Mercedes, the girl staring at him with a curious expression although hers seemingly held nothing but curiosity in it. A dredge of worry perhaps was present within that as well, some small measure of concern.

He responded to her question with silence for a few moments before his eyes narrowed "...Why are you here?" He directed the question first to Mercedes but the manner in which his eyes soon moved past her and swept across to the other two young women sitting down at the bench opposite and the green haired girl who sat herself down next to him indicated that it wasn't Mercedes alone he was asking.

However, Mercedes was the one who answered him first, the platinum blonde haired girl blinked at him once as she adjusted the tray of bread and stew in front of her ever so slightly so she could rest her arms on the table, blinking she looked up at him and gave a perfectly innocent smile "...I just thought it would be nice to eat together with someone early in the morning is all."

Goetia directed his attention towards Flayn and Annette in a meaningful fashion before returning his sight towards Mercedes, his expression perfectly blank.

Mercedes merely shrugged in response to him "There is never such a thing as too much company and I'm not one to leave someone alone in the morning."

"And if I want to be alone?"

"Then we can just provide some company and nothing more." Mercedes replied casually as she broke off a small portion of her bread roll and dunked it in the stew before eating it "There's nothing saying you have to speak to us."

Goetia's eyes fell on Flayn for a moment before he scoffed and looked back at his porridge.

"So what has your morning been like, Goetia?" Flayn asked, looking towards him out of the corner of her eyes and watching as he briefly halted in bringing the spoon towards his mouth, red eyes flickered in her direction before returning back to his food.

"...Vexing." He merely replied before looking back towards his porridge, then looked back up at Mercedes "Our lessons will resume shortly, Ensure that you have familiarised yourself better with analysis magecraft."

Mercedes blinked at him in surprise before a smile came to her face "Your punishment has been lifted then!" she exclaimed with a jubilant expression "That's wonderful!" she paused when she noticed the utterly blank face on Goetia, the man stared at her in silence for a moment before he looked back down at his porridge and proceeded to stir it around, her expression faltering ever so slightly "Isn't it?"

"Hm." Goetia grunted in response, "That depends on how you view the lessons." he muttered in a disinterested tone of voice. Taking another spoonful into his mouth and quietly swallowing.

Flayn raised an eyebrow at him out of the corner of her eye "I assume my brother was able to convince Archbishop Rhea to lessen your punishment?" she looked around "Is that why the guards aren't around?"

"No." Goetia replied curtly "I merely left them behind and came here for sustenance. After I am done…" he paused, staring at the bowl of food in front of him with a dull look in his eyes "I will likely resume my duties as assistant librarian…" his brows furrowed ever so slightly before he looked up at the ceiling of the hall "...Assistant Librarian." he said the words in a tone utterly devoid of emotion.

Flayn frowned ever so slightly "Are you alright, Goetia? You seem troubled."

"...I've come to a simple realisation." Goetia said, then made no further comments. Simply returning to his food and eating in perfect silence, ignoring any other attempts to get his attention.

The other three eventually came to the conclusion that Goetia was done answering questions, despite that he made no effort to send them away for the duration of the meal nor did he tell them to quieten down during their conversations. He merely sat there, content to be left alone with his own thoughts.

"I-I read those books you recommended to me." He eventually looked up as he neared the end of his porridge, seeing Annette staring at him with a grateful look in her eyes "They helped a lot with magical theory."

He stared at her "...I am certain that Tomas is proud that the literature fulfilled its intended purpose in education then." he looked back down, scooping up the final bit of porridge before he brought it to his mouth and consumed it. Placing the spoon in the now empty bowl and sitting up.

"Did you have any more?" Annette asked in a quick - almost eager - tone of voice as she stared at him, prompting Goetia to pause and look towards her "Just so I can keep going on with the reading-"

"Annie." Mercedes sighed, shaking her head ever so slightly and sending the girl a chiding look "You need to spend less time studying and more time sleeping. You nearly fell asleep in the library again yesterday." Annette flinched, flushing in embarrassment at being outed, more so when Flayn giggled at her predicament.

"The Library has a comprehensive index of works which will be to your benefit." Goetia curtly replied at he returned to his feet, grabbing the bowl with his hand and turning away from them, pausing for a moment "Failing that, Tomas will be easier to consult due to his greater experience with the library." he then left, walking towards the counter near the kitchen and placing the empty bowl atop it before turning away and walking out.

Flayn watched him depart with a frown, her eyes narrowed ever so slightly in suspicion and a hint of concern. There was most definitely something wrong with this situation. Perhaps it was her previous occupation which had affected her, but she - in good conscience - couldn't leave well enough alone. By all rights, Goetia should be more pleased about returning to the way things were before the unfortunate case with the guards, yet he looked more miserable than when he was under scrutiny.

Claude stumbled forwards, raising his hands in surrender and turning around to his assailant, only for the white haired girl to give him another shove in the direction of the corner of the gardens. Claude was finding it mildly impressive how strong Lysithea could be when she was angered by something.

Then again, hatred was a pretty strong incentive for that sort of stuff.

The fact it was Lysithea shoving him rather roughly and not Dimitri who was behind the girl - with hefty frown - made the situation slightly worse.

"Damn, Lysithea!" Claude gave a wry chuckle as he collected himself again "Are we sure you're not related to Dimitri? I think you almost broke something with that last shove."

The look that Lysithea gave him was potent enough that he was convinced she would have slain a Wyvern in a heartbeat if she could shoot flames from her eyes. Dimitri wasn't any better, the boy's frown had curled down further and his eyes were radiating a mixture of disappointment and genuine anger. It was quite an alien look on the boy's face and Claude could safely say he would be perfectly happy if he never saw it again.

"...Alright, alright…" He raised his hands, taking a single step away from Lysithea and exhaling heavily "...You can get it off your chests."

"Get if off my-What was that!?" Lysithea hissed at him in sheer outrage, looking close to giving him another shove "What is it with you!? You just can't leave anything alone and you have to pester people incessantly regardless of whether or not they consent to the questioning!" she paused before her eyes narrowed and she stabbed a finger towards his face "It's worse if they tell you no because you seem to believe it is some manner of challenge and pester them further!"

Claude stared down at the girl with wide eyes as she punctuated each remark by prodding him in the best with her index finger, glaring up at him.

"You-you're a child!" She exclaimed "You're just a child who can't leave well enough alone!"

"...Okay…That's my bad." Claude admitted easily before he looked back up "But come on…Sparkles has been here for months and we know next to nothing about the guy or where he's from. He's been one of the biggest mysteries in this Monastery and suddenly we just get a load of his backstory dumped on us?" he pointed at Dimitri and Lysithea "Don't tell me that either of you aren't swimming with questions about him. He's a Prince!"

"A Prince of a dead land." Dimitri remarked in a dark tone "By his own admission, his people are dead. I will admit my fair share of curiosity towards Goetia but that does not give me the right to demand answers from a man who is clearly disturbed by his past." he marched forwards, reaching out a hand and pulling Lysithea away from Claude and standing between the two of them - partly because she looked ready to resume punching him again - as he stared the boy in the eyes. "However, Goetia is most certainly not a puzzle. He is a man with his own past that is clearly more horrible than we can imagine and I very much assume he does not want to relieve it."

Claude closed his mouth, a guilty look flashing across his face as he looked down "...Alright, yeah…I picked a pretty poor time-"

"There isn't a right time for that line of questioning Claude." Dimitri growled at him, looming over the slightly shorter boy. "If he never wished to discuss his past then there was a good reason for it. Which clearly there was, if Goetia ever wanted to bring up his past then he would have done so."

"But I just can't let that go." Claude stepped back, throwing up his hands "It's just one of those things. I see a question and I need an answer to it. I have to understand what exactly makes something the way it is." he pressed his hands into his chest before pointing off towards the direction of the cathedral "Like what was up with him and the Archbishop? Don't tell me neither of you picked up on that tension." he rubbed his hands over his face "I admit that I messed up but I didn't know anything about Sparkles save what he gave me…then suddenly the Archbishop reveals something like that? I…got ahead of myself."

"You overactive-!" Lysithea hissed at him, stopping when Dimitri raised his hands in front of her, cutting her off. She whirled to look up at him and noticed that his expression was blank as he stared at the younger man.

"...Goetia is a man. Not a mystery." Dimitri replied in a quiet voice "He is not a question for you to answer nor a character in a novel for you to examine. What you have done is beyond the bounds of acceptable behaviour for a noble and while I have long accepted that you are unorthodox as far as nobles go, you always held yourself to a certain standard." he lowered the hand from Lysithea "So what I will advise that you do - as strongly as I can - is that you go and apologise to Goetia from the bottom of your heart and swear to him that you will not intrude on his personal life without his express consent first."

His eyes narrowed "Whether he forgives you, I have no power over but at the very least you might win back some of the respect I have lost for you."

Claude's lips drew themselves into a thin line, the boy's expression unusually serious "...Yeah." he sniffed once, nodding his head "You're right."

"...Good." Dimitri closed his eyes, exhaling and stepping back before opening them again "And yes, I did notice the tension between Goetia and the Archbishop, however I have the sense not to immediately question him about it, nor do I have possession of all the facts to make any manner of statement on the subject. If Goetia wishes to speak on the topic, I will listen." he thinned his lips "I will also have to re-consider how I approach him, given that we are of equal standing."

"...Let's face it, no one is really that surprised by it." Claude remarked with a shrug, then cringed and looked away at the similar looks of annoyance aimed at him.

"If you harass Teacher again…" Lysithea warned before turning around and stomping off, Dimitri remained for a moment before he followed after the young girl, Claude remained behind and watched as the pair departed, reaching up and rubbing his neck while giving a quiet chuckle.

"Quite the scary couple those two make…" He muttered to himself while giving a shake of the head.

Dimitri watched with thinly veiled amusement as Lysithea continued to swear up a storm of grumbled curses all aimed towards Claude and while he was sure the boy definitely deserved some of them for his ill-conceived interrogation, he most certainly did not deserve all of them. That being said, trying to stop her would have been a challenge and a half.

Fortunately for Dimitri, he did consider himself always up for a challenge "I believe cursing Claude's name will do you no good."

Lysithea stopped before she turned around to face him, opening up her mouth to speak before she paused and snapped it shut. Eyes flickering to the side before she gave a begrudging nod "This is perfectly in line with Von Riegan's behaviour as well." she spoke in an irritated tone of voice and Dimitri was willing to agree with the statement, despite the manner in which Goetia had reacted. Nothing Claude did was exactly out of character for him. "I just…he should have-"

"Had more tact for the situation, yes." Dimitri finished with a nod of the head, reaching up and pinching his brow "I will make no attempt to lay claim to fully understanding Claude's character but I suspect few can make that claim either…" the hand lowered to his side while the other rested on his hip "In all honesty, I am more disappointed because he could not see that Goetia was becoming increasingly irate with the questioning, although I suppose for all the love of mysteries he has, there is a problem with picking up on the not so subtle."

"He's a child." Lysithea stressed "For all his claim of maturity he acts younger than I am!"

"There is a certain logic to it." Dimitri defended half-heartedly, although he wasn't in any rush to excuse Claude's behaviour either "It keeps people underestimating him. Although…" he trailed off, shaking his head and looking off "I suppose it has its faults."

"Clearly." Lysithea snarked before she turned around and walked off, Dimitri could already tell what she was planning but at the very least had to confirm it.

"You're going to speak with Goetia, are you not?"

Lysithea paused but didn't answer.

"I would advise against that."

She then whirled around to face him "What? He's been outed and clearly distressed! I should-"

"Do nothing." Dimitri cut her off, shaking his head at her and turning to face her fully "Goetia left quickly and likely desires to be left alone with his thoughts. Even if - if - he was willing to find company, he would most certainly wish to avoid any mention of what was revealed." his expression grew troubled "...Speaking of it…does not help in the least." he muttered as he looked away.

Lysithea opened her mouth before she closed it again, staring down at the ground for what felt like ages before looking up "...Then what?"

"Give him time." Dimitri replied with a sigh, looking back towards her and suddenly looking very, very tired "You need not have him speak of it but being there for him might be enough." he paused "Certainly do not treat him any differently, he will most certainly pick up on it and become annoyed." another pause "He seems rather prideful on that front."

Lysithea stared at him for a half second before her lips drew themselves into a thin line and then nodded once in a begrudging fashion, crossing her arms she then looked away from the older boy. "That…Teacher isn't very emotional." she replied after a few moments of silence "And you are…probably right as well."

"It is nothing to be considered special." Dimitri explained, shaking his head and walking past the younger girl, his expression hidden from her as he continued on further into the Monastery "...Just experience." he muttered under his breath in a quiet tone.

"Ah, young Goetia." Tomas looked up from behind the desk, then furrowed his brows ever so slightly as he peered past the younger man and towards the entrance of the library. He gave an expectant stare towards the doors as they closed, when half a dozen Church guards didn't follow Goetia in, the old man blinked in surprise and looked back at the tanned youth "You are without guard this time?"

"They will be keeping me under scrutiny." Goetia explained as if he was going through the motions, not even looking at the elderly man as he immediately went towards the stack of books that needed to be sorted again, levitating them up and turning around before he walked back towards the shelves "But will no longer be as personally intrusive as they were previously." another pause "I require permission to leave the Monastery for the time being as well, however the disruption to the Library has ended."

Tomas let out a near audible sigh of relief, leaning heavily on the cane in his hands and giving a faint smile "That's fortunate to hear. A library such as this is a place of learning, the students hardly need to see armed guards at every corner, it would make them feel unsafe."

Goetia hummed in response.

"So you will be continuing your duties as previously without issue?" Tomas asked, hobbling around the desk while still staring at the tanned man.

"Yes." Goetia replied, pausing, he then started to stare at one of the books floating just to the left of him "I will be able to…return to my previous duties." he muttered out, looking away from the book and back at the shelf in silence.

He had absolutely no idea what he was doing with his time, he'd never properly addressed the issue before today but ranting at Claude had unveiled the entire issue in full.

He had nothing left.

His Demon Pillars were dead and gone, his temple had been reduced to nothing, his life's work rendered worthless.

And now here he was, stacking shelves with books that meant nothing to him, surrounded by halfwits and creatures. Humans he found so repulsive and an amnesiac Goddess who found herself untrusting of her own zealots.

Goetia's lone arm fell to his side as his eyes continued to stare out at nothing.

Was this really how he was going to spend the rest of his life?

What was it that imbecile Von Riegan suggested? Some manner of hobby? He recalled speaking to Lysithea about the stars.

Stargazing.

A bitter smile worked its way onto his face.

The irony was painful.

Edelgard had dismissed Linhardt back to the classroom, for now there was something else that she needed to speak of. She made her way towards Huberts chambers, she knew he would be there this early in the morning and she needed to make him aware of what she had learned.

Much as she might find Claude's reckless questioning vexing at times, when it wasn't aimed at her it could yield remarkable results. She stopped in front of the door, raising her knuckles and rapping against it several times.

After a few moments, the door opened to reveal Hubert, only half dressed from having clearly only just awoken. The boy gawked at her - the most emotion she had seen in some time - in clear shock and then looked down at the state of his own dress "L-lady Edelgard." he bowed his head "Forgive my current state, had I known you were coming-"

"You are forgiven Hubert." She assured the boy with a wave of the hand, then nodded meaningfully towards the inside of his room. The boy immediately steeled his features and stepped aside, allowing the Princess entry into his room before he quietly shut it behind her. "In truth, this is my own fault for disturbing you so early in the morning, however pressing information has come to my attention."

"I am your humble servant, Lady Edelgard." Hubert replied in a curt tone, swiftly buttoning up the rest of his shirt and straightening it out to look at least part way presentable. "Should you deem the information valuable, I will accept it."

"Good." Edelgard nodded at the words as she turned around to face the dark haired boy, crossing her arms in front of her chest and pursing her lips "You recall our last discussion?"

"Abyss, yes." Hubert nodded his head, features worked into a grim frown "I would once again ask that you include me in further voyages as opposed to simply Linhardt, considering his…issues with remaining conscious."

"Linhardt is more academic and the library in Abyss was better suited for him." Edelgard explained "However, that is not why I am here. The situation has escalated at a rapid rate and there is much that needs to be discussed. Not least of all we now finally have a greater degree of information on Goetia."

Hubert's eyes widened ever so slightly before they narrowed "This information is valid?"

"From his own mouth."

Hubert's face was still sceptical "There is no chance he might have deceived you?" he raised his hand "I mean no offence, Lady Edelgard nor do I believe you one to be easily deceived-"

"I understand." She assured him "With such little information available, it would be wise to assume that he would never be entirely truthful in regards to himself and there are none who could refute any claims he might make." another pause "However, from his tone and the information he spoke of…I have little doubt that this particular piece of information is indeed truthful and lines up with many of our current theories."

Hubert remained silent before he nodded his head "Then we must speak quickly and quietly, it is early morning but the likes of Caspar are early risers. We will not have long to discuss it."

"We will also need them prepared for the day." Edelgard frowned, "We have a sudden mission."

The dark haired boy furrowed his brows before his lips drew themselves into a thin line "Does it relate to Abyss?"

Edelgard nodded.

"I see…" Hubert cupped his chin, giving a thoughtful hum "Your information then, Lady Edelgard?"

AN: Mid-life crisis brought about by actually addressing the problem out loud.

A hell of a thing.

Also Stargazing, hehe.

Omake: Crazy, crazy world.

"Doesn't explain why you walked all the way over to our base camp to get our attention for this."

"Base camp?" Sothis raised her eyebrows at the young man "You're camped out in the woods. It was a single tent in a forest area." she pointed at the three of them "I'm surprised that you haven't an issue with the monsters that live there."

Ritsuka stared back at her for a half moment before he raised both his eyebrows "...Monsters?" he slowly looked towards Goetia "...What does she mean 'monsters'?"

Goetia looked up from his fingernails, giving Ritsuka a blank look "Ah, yes. There is a subspecies of Demonic Beasts that live here. There are also several species of phantasmal beasts which also make their homes within woodland areas."

Ritsuka gaped at him "Wh-what?! Then why did you tell us to live there?"

"It must have slipped my mind."

Da Vinci squinted at him "...Slipped your mind?"

"Yes." Goetia replied, looking back at his hand "How strange, although it is expected given my lineage. Romani Archaman failed to mention he was Solomon, therefore I blame him for this oversight-" an inkpot slowed to a halt just shy of hitting Goetia in the head "How juvenile."

"You wanna talk about juvenile?" Ritsuka scoffed then pointed at the blackboard "What is that?"

"That's why you're here." Byleth informed them, pointing at the board "We need second opinions."

"It's a shipping chart!" Ritsuka exclaimed, throwing his hands up before levelling a bemused frown at Goetia "Is this what you do all day? Set up couples?"

"Every other week." Goetia informed him before frowning "It is actually difficult to continue, there is a great degree of chaos which occurs around the Monastery."

"Most of that is your fault." Sothis blandly pointed out with an unimpressed look upon her face.

"Some are as a result of my actions, yes. But not all." Goetia defended with a brief scowl before it vanished "However, there is much that occurs here that is not of my doing. That instance with the mystic code turning the Archbishop into a 'magical girl' was through no fault of mine-"

"So that's where Ruby went." Ritsuka muttered under his breath, scratching his chin and looking towards Mash "I was starting to wonder what she meant…" realisation came soon after "Wait a second…You're the Demon King threatening maidens?"

Goetia squinted at him "...Half of that sentence is correct."

"Which half?"

Goetia didn't deign that worthy of a response as he turned back to Sothis "There were several other instances that were not my fault. Von Riegan instigated the previous calamity."

"I thought you looked rather attractive in the maid outfit." Sothis cackled, then turned to the dumbstruck expressions on the Chaldean's faces "Especially when he offered himself to the rather large audience."

"...What sort of mad house is this?" Ritsuka asked himself before he cringed, "And that's a mental image I'm not getting out of my head for a while."

"Me neither." Byleth idly commented, although the manner in which she was staring at Goetia out of the corner of her eye in much the same way a cat stared at a mouse left little to the imagination.

Ritsuka chortled, looking towards Da Vinci and Mash who were similarly both amazed and amused by the double meaning.

"I hardly believe you are in a position to complain about strange occurrences." Goetia frowned at the Master, levelling a finger at him "My Clairvoyance revealed that insanity you bungled around in with the Japanese Warlord and Manslayer."

"...Okay, you win that one." Ritsuka admitted with a shrug "GudaGuda is mad but if you're doing stuff that is comparable to GudaGuda, that's an achievement."

"I find myself unwelcoming of such honours." Goetia growled before he turned back to the board "Now then, your opinions on the chart?"

"I don't know any of these people!" Ritsuka pointed at the board "You've just written down a bunch of names and some words next to each oth-" he froze, then squinted at the top two names and read out the writing beneath them "...Catherine and Ashe? Poor choice, she killed his family." he did a double take "Who suggested that?"

Byleth refused to meet his eyes.

"Alright then…Edelgard and Claude. Political marriage. Lots of problems. Hubert." Ritsuka blinked once and looked away "So can Hubert get any elaboration or is that it?"

"It is a sufficient explanation." Goetia merely shrugged "Now then-"

The door behind them slammed open, an irate looking Seteth appeared in the doorway "Goetia!" he snapped, then hoisted up the strange creature in his arms "What have you done now?!"

The room stared at the creature with confusion before the Chaldean's paled.

"Oh…" Mash started.

"...Shit." Ritsuka finished.

"Nobbu!" The small creature who was dressed like Claude cried out.

Goetia slowly craned his head towards Ritsuka and glared at him "...What have you done?"

"Did we leave the lid off the Guda particles again?" The Master asked himself.