Chapter 63: It's lonely atop a mountain.
The knight stared down at the papers before them, giving them a cursory glance before looking back up at the woman before him in the usual outfit of the clergy around Garreg Mach. He stared at her for a few moments in silence before nodding his head and handing the parchment back towards the ginger woman "Everything with the seal seems to be in order, Ma'am. Welcome to Garreg Mach."
The ginger haired girl returned his welcome with a smile that seemed a little too wide for his personal liking but sometimes people could be overly friendly "My thanks." she responded with, holding the sealed letter out in front of herself "Having heard so much about this place during my life, to be here now is almost…unreal."
"Never been before?" The knight responded with a hint of surprise, giving the woman a puzzled stare for a few moments before he dismissed it "I suppose not everyone can make the journey here if they have other responsibilities…" he realised with a shrug of his shoulders before he stepped aside. "You should head on over to the medical tent, although Advisor Seteth is still recovering, he is still available to be talked with." he turned around and pointed across the town "A lot of the guards are camped near it, it'll be the large green tent just to the west of here. Can't miss it."
The ginger girl nodded once, her hazel coloured eyes staring just past the man and not quite matching his gaze "I shall do just that. You have been truly helpful, sir."
"Just doing my job, Ma'am." The man responded back with a wave of his hand before he returned his gaze to the main road and went back to staring out at nothing.
The ginger girl maintained her smile for a few seconds as she walked past him before it dropped off into a lifeless stare. Her eyes flickered across the town as she walked through the streets. The sights of the children running around, the sounds of people making merry and the general noise of the daily life of the people living here.
It was revolting.
They were loud, they smelled and they were all around primitives.
She stopped as some of the young crossed in front of her, kicking around some ball that was fashioned from dead animal skin. It was a testament to her skill that she didn't spit on the beasts there and then for daring to walk before her. Quite how Thales or Solon could stand to be in the presence of these vile animals, let alone before the direct children of the hated one was something she could never understand.
Perhaps it was a difference in patience?
It vexed her to think of it as such but Solon had always complained about her lacking it. Then again, Solon was one of the old guards who liked to 'wait and see' when it came to everything. Myson said as much in his private grumblings about the man.
Still, there was little more she could do about it now than simply go along with the plan. Much as she might personally dislike it.
She paused, noticing some of the guards talking to some of the citizens and stopping them in their tracks, she stared a moment longer as she watched the knights dismiss the hapless peasants and clearly look somewhat irritated by a lack of something before they took notice of her. Internally, she prepared herself as they moved towards her.
"Excuse us, Sister…?"
"Wiebke." She responded with a polite smile and a tilt of the head before her expression shifted into one of innocent confusion "Is there something the matter?"
"That depends." The knight to the right responded "Have you seen a man with tanned skin, red eyes and long glowing golden hair?" he gestured up to his own head, as if he felt the need to inform her further of what hair was. The stupid creature that he was.
"I…cannot say that I have." She replied to them, making an effort not to just kill them on the spot for asking her something so utterly stupid. They had to have been mocking her, that type of person sounded like something a drug addled fool might concoct. "Although I have only just arrived, I feel as though such a person would be hard to miss."
"You would think so but…" The knight next to the man - a woman - trailed off with an irritated sigh before she turned to her peer "Another dead end. This is getting us nowhere."
"You heard our orders." The man grumbled before waving the ginger woman before him away "Thank you for your time, Sister Wiebke." he paused for a moment before realising something "You said you had only just arrived?"
He spoke before she could get away, fighting back the twitch of her eye as she smiled back and nodded once "Indeed. It is my first time visiting this Monastery."
"Ah, well…you picked an interesting time to do so but perhaps that is merely the way of the Goddess." He said so with a light chuckle, shaking his head.
She wanted to punch in his teeth for that remark.
"But we'll leave you be now." He nodded to his partner "Come, Ciara. Let's go."
"Yes, sir." The knightess nodded her head and followed after the man, grumbling quietly to herself as she walked "Damn foreigners causing all this trouble…"
She personally ignored it, listening to beasts complain about excotic beasts was a novel concept but that's all it was. Like watching rats pick off slightly different coloured rats, perhaps it was some important thing for them but it felt ultimately pointless to her. Still, at the very least watching them kill each other for stupid reasons made for passing entertainment.
Resuming her walk through the town, she ventured in the direction she had been told to go in. Maybe when she got to the tent she could internally look at the injured animals and laugh to herself later. She'd been informed of the rampage by something but the details weren't even known to her, their new benefactor had kept it all quite silent.
Once again though, it didn't matter to her as long as they got rid of the vile surface dwellers.
She soon spied the large green tent, a great deal of knights were situated around it acting as guards or patrolling. Some spared her a glance as she walked towards them but none actually approached her, they had no reason too. After all, she was another one of them. There was nothing suspicious about a fellow Goddess devotee wishing well upon her injured brethren and for their swiftest recovery.
…
By Zaharas. Those words were toxic almost to think in her head.
This was the sort of thing she had hoped to avoid by posing as a student, but that plan had all but gone out of the window.
Raised voices were the first thing that could be heard, even across the central point of the city through the hallways. Heads turned towards the muffled voices.
Kronya frowned to herself before rising to her feet, with an irritated grumble she made her way in the direction of Thales chamber. Clearly something had happened that had the old man freaking out, and if he was irritated it meant that Solon had messed up.
A faint smirk came to her face, or their new benefactor had gotten too cocky and had done something to warrant the ire of their leader. That was an appealing thought, that giant meatsuit wearing freak always acted as though they were the most important in the room and not simply leaching off the skills of their betters.
It was when she passed by Myson, that she noticed the grim face he was wearing. She slowed down ever so slightly and frowned at the sight before she turned towards the closed doors in front of her and strained her ears to actually hear what the shouting was about.
"-ct of utter incompetence! I made my instructions perfectly clear if I was to allow this observation into the Monastery-" The voice of leme-whoever shouted out, thoroughly incensed and easily breaking through the boundary of the door. Kronya slowed herself to a halt and stared at the door.
Thales' voice came next.
"You? This was our plan before you even slithered in here! We can achieve it without you! Your presence here was never anything more than an act of charity on our part and you dare to infer that you allow anything!?"
"The very fact you continue to draw breath right now is because I allow it. Do not mistake your survival for anything else." The freak responded back a second later, their voice an audible hiss. There must have been something more to it because Kronya felt as though her very bones were shaking as each word was spoken and they weren't even being directed at her.
"I have given you leeway in the past because I was confident enough that you could manage such a simple task as observation. The information regarding the divine Demi-Servant was marginally useful, as was the location of the vault."
There was a pause, no sound could be heard.
Then there was a thud, something like a hammer striking meat which had both Kronya and Myson flinch at the noise. Soon followed by a gasp, a soundless cry that couldn't have been a result from anything other than someone taking a very heavy blow to the gut.
"And it is not until I discover the presence of Sitri rampaging across the monastery like a crazed beast that I am to discover the existence of the librarian!? You were aware not just of this lone incident but of repeated attacks!? The demonic beast that was trained and then dispatched to wipe out that motley band of children as a test was killed not by them, but by the librarian!?"
Thales coughed out repeatedly "You-"
"Then once again, the attack I aided with Lonato was personally defeated by him again!? We stood upon the same battlefield and were separated by a mere hundred metres!"
Another meaty strike, followed by a crash and the shattering of glass.
"And still this was kept from me!? Because you believed what!?" The voice roared anger filtering through every single word, stomping noises inferred that leme-whatever was taking heavy footsteps across the room "That you were somehow better than he was!? You!? You are little more than cave dwellers benefiting from the technology of those your betters a hundred times over! You somehow believed you could achieve anything with him wandering the land apparently aiding the locals!?"
Another pause before the voice spoke again.
"Your survival right now, is dependent on me. Understand this simple fact. From now on, I shall decide what information is or is not important for me to learn. Should you ever decide to keep being ill informed again, I shall personally see to it that you learn the full extent of what underestimating your opponent shall do to you."
There was a final slam before the door in front of them slid open, both Kronya and Myson stiffened when the cloaked figure stepped out of the room and into the hallway with them. The head shifted in their direction, glowing cross shaped pupils danced between the pair before landing on Kronya herself.
"...Prepare yourself for the change. The plan has been altered, you will no longer pose as a student." The creature stated with absolute surety, so much so that the words didn't register in her mind for a moment. When they did, her expression cycled through several emotions before landing on indignation.
"Wha-according to who?" She snapped, pointing at them and forgetting what had occurred moments prior "I was supposed to infiltrate as a student-"
"Who had been missing for a year and miraculously recovered?" The creature almost sneered at the very mention of the plan in disgust "If by some miracle the upper echelons of the Monastery were not dubious, then others most certainly would be. No…The attack provides you with a different method of entry."
Before Kronya could speak again, Myson raised his hand in front of her and silenced whatever argument she had on her throat. "An alternative entry?"
The eyes of the creature shifted to him "Having heard of the attack and understanding of the plight of the Church and the loss of so many faithful. Lord Volkhard von Arundel dispatched an up and coming cleric from his own lands to the Monastery to aid in the restoration of their numbers."
Myson lowered his hand and nodded again slowly "I see."
"What!?" Kronya couldn't help but cry out in disgust "Bad enough I was to mingle with those mongrels but you want me to prance around with those degenerate beasts and sing the praises of-"
"This is your plan I am altering to ensure its success." Lemegeton explained without raising their voice. "Your own personal opinions did not factor into the original and they matter even less now." they gestured to Myson "See to it that the process is complete and she is sent on her way."
They resumed their march forwards, heading through the hallway towards the pair before they paused for a moment "...See to it that Thales recovers as well. Impress upon him the importance of this subject and that it would be in his own best interest for the continuation of this partnership that he not incur my wrath again."
Without waiting for a reply, they stomped past the pair in the corridor, pushing through the middle of them and disappearing further down the path.
Myson watched Lemegeton depart without a word before he turned back towards the still open door which led to Thales personal study. The man remained silent as he gazed into the maw of the open room, catching a glimpse of an arm poking just beyond the edge of the doorframe and the shattered remnants of study materials littering around them.
"...Find Odesse and have him take Thales away for healing. Then join me in the preparation chambers."
Kronya all but gaped at him in shock "Y-you're going to take commands from that-"
"I shall and you should as well, for the time being." Myson replied in his ever present cold voice as he turned and stared down at her "Considering I know of nothing that can harm them and Thales is frequently speaking that no cost is too great to put an end to the beasts." he jerked his head to the room "He is merely paying the cost."
Kronya's teeth grinded together before she released an indignant scoff and turned around, stomping her way towards Odesse's chambers to retrieve him.
Now she had to put up with this annoyance, smiling and singing the hymns of false Gods and their pets.
Not that she would have likely been able to avoid that as a student but her recent escape from captivity would have at least granted her some method of leeway when it came to active participation with other students.
There was one silver lining though, she had been able to kill that annoying red haired girl she was originally going to mimic. There had been something cathartic about watching the life drain from her eyes but it was a token victory.
As she entered the tent of the wounded, she could already spy where her target was within seconds. It was hard not to, that accursed green hair was known to all Agarthans. Whatever pleasure she took in seeing him as a resident of the injury tent was sapped away when she noticed him all but devoid of actual wounds.
Next to the man with a stubbly green goatee and shoulder length green hair was a shorter girl, equally green coloured hair which extended past her shoulders all the way to just above her hips and dressed in a pale white robe stained with blood.
The two appeared to be engaged in some manner of debate as she approached, her ears already picking up the words exchanged between the two of them.
"-nd I have said as much, Flayn." The man spoke in a stern tone as he stared across at the girl from his seated position on his bed. His arms crossed in front of his toned chest and his expression set in a light frown. "As long as I can speak and move, I can resume my duties as advisor to the Archbishop, which seems to be the greater priority right now."
"And I have told you that trying to move before you are fully healed will only worsen your wounds." Flayn countered back, gesturing to him "You are still in need of extended rest to make sure you are back at your-"
"While I appreciate you are taking your duty as a nurse as seriously as Manuela…" Seteth interrupted, raising the flat of his hand towards the young girl "I must tell you that I am still needed elsewhere and I will not lie in this bed while I am needed. That is simply the way it must be Flayn. The workings of the Monastery do not cease to require oversight because I happen to be unwell."
"You are not merely unwell! You are injured and there are many who can perform your service while you rest. None will begrudge you the need to recuperate after your ordeal."
"It is not something-" Seteth cut himself off as he caught sight of Kronya from the corner of his eye, the disguised woman jolted one to simulate surprise as the man shifted his attention towards her. Flayn did so as well, though her gaze harboured a slight hint of irritation as she could deduce enough about her presence here to mean it inferred work. "Is there something I can aid you with, Sister?"
"I was told to report to Seteth?" Kronya responded in an innocent tone before looking between the two of them "I hope I have not interrupted."
"You have not." Seteth spoke before Flayn could, furrowing his brows slightly at her "I confess…I do not recognise you."
"I arrived today." She explained swiftly, "My name is Wiebke." Once she introduced herself, Kronya approached and raised the sealed letter towards Seteth. The green haired man looked down at it for a moment before he extended his own hand and gently took it from her.
As he turned it around, he looked at the wax seal upon it and raised an eyebrow "Lord Arundel sent you?"
Kronya nodded her head.
"Hmmm." Twisting the letter around, Seteth delicately opened up the envelope that contained it before reaching inside and removing the contents, flipping them open and giving them a cursory read. His eyes flickered from side to side as he scanned the document before slowly nodding to himself. "This is most unorthodox…" he spoke again after a moment.
Kronya remained silent as he did so.
"However, it is true we are short staffed and the training of new clerics will take some time." He slowly admitted, lowering the paper and turning to face her once again "This says you worked within Lord Arundels personal library as a scribe as well?"
Though she smiled, Kronya was internally screaming. That blasted idiot, a scribe? She never so much as glanced at the books they kept around Shambala.
"I did." Kronya replied after a moment, still smiling and noticing the irritated frown that Flayn's face now sported. The annoyance of the young looking animal almost made her smile more genuine, if only because she was clearly doing something. Then she remembered that the annoyance was born of concern and the good feelings died.
"I see…Tomas had sent a letter earlier telling me that he lost some of his staff in the Demonic Beast attack and with Goetia still missing…" He muttered that last part quietly to himself before shaking his head and turning his attention back to the girl "Sister Wiebke, take this letter and head towards the Monastery. Find directions for the library and report to Tomas, should anyone challenge your passage tell them you were sent by me. If they doubt your words, then show them the seal of Lord Arundel. That will mark you as at least a figure of importance until I arrive."
"Thank you, Sir Seteth." She nodded her head, retreating back and ignoring the way in her tongue felt like lead as she spoke politely to the man.
With that said, she swiftly departed the tent full of the wounded and back out into the open world. An ever so slight grimace on her face as she turned and slowly craned her head upwards towards the Monastery itself. The contents of the letter meant she would likely find herself working alongside Solon, which while not a problem in itself, did mean she would have to speak with him.
Solon and some of the older of the group had the vexing habit of looking down upon her and the other younger Agarthans for some reason, consistently treating them as little more than tools every now and again. Myson was certainly better than most but the simple fact was they were all too arrogant for having achieved very little in the grand scheme of things.
With a subtle sigh, she prepared herself to make the ascent towards the home of their enemy, hoping she wouldn't actually have to spend much longer speaking with them but that was a grim inevitability. Moving through the town once again, she elected to ignore everyone who crossed her path. She was always bound to end up in that Monastery anyway, the means and the method might have changed but the end result hadn't.
There was an issue from the location though, if she worked alongside Solon then she wasn't going to learn anything that he didn't already know, less as he was more ingratiated in the Monastery than she would be, making him more liable to get proper intel. It begged the question of why she would even be working in the library to begin with if she wasn't actually going to get anything they could use out of it.
At least if she was a student she might have been able to learn more.
There was little sense in complaining about it now and there was no one she could actually complain about it too. Solon would likely ignore her or demand she just work to assist him and Thales was still recovering from the pummelling he had received. Her bored eyes fell once again upon the path leading up to the Monastery.
Why did they even have to build it so high up anyway?
Kronya was scowling openly by this point, she figured she was halfway up the mountain that the Monastery lay at the top of and it was frankly ridiculous. The path would twist and turn on the ascent but on the whole it was just one long inclination up a flat slope.
There weren't even any guards dotted about, at the very least they had remembered to actually put down some stones to make a path rather than just clear some mud. Animals they might have been but at least they had some intelligence to them. Some.
She paused, breathing through her mouth to refill her lungs as she gave an annoyed sigh and looked back up once again. She could see the spires of the Monastery further up past the twists and turns of the terrain before her, moving in between the hills and slopes of the mountain. With a click of her tongue, she proceeded forwards once again.
"I did not think you would make the ascent up to the Monastery without a carriage, Tomas."
Kronya found herself pausing for a second time, still staring forwards but this time furrowing her brows ever so slightly as she turned her head to the right and stared off to one of the off branches near the main path leading to a slight outcrop. She found herself staring, or rather transfixed, by the sight of glowing golden hair which flowed almost like a waterfall from the back of someone's head.
The longer she found herself looking at it, the more peculiar she found the sight itself as the hair almost seemed to ripple and shift minutely. Raising her left hand up, she pursed her lips as she failed to detect any sort of breeze whatsoever. Which meant that the hair was moving almost entirely on its own, not something the average person would have been able to tell and it was likely only because the owner of the hair was sitting down and not moving that she likely even noticed at all.
It was then that the man's words caught up with her, she frowned at him and took a moment longer to examine him as best she could when staring at his back.
He was seated upon a wooden chair - or rather the cracked remnants of one, the backrest had been ripped in half and splintered which meant leaning back was more liable to end up with you impaling yourself than getting comfortable - with what looked like a blanket draped over his body.
Her eyes darted to the side when she noticed the contraption next to him.
It was a crude telescope. Her lips parted ever so slightly in confusion, she hadn't thought they had made telescopes yet. Sure, they had some range finders in the Church, Solon had informed them of that, but it was limited to defensive artillery and not something that was widely available to the continent just yet.
So why did this strange looking individual have one?
"Do you intend to stare at me all day, Tomas?" He called out again, her body jolted and she turned her attention from the device and back to the man who still hadn't turned to face her.
"I believe you have gotten me confused with someone else." Kronya responded slowly "To my knowledge, Tomas still remains within the Monastery. I was sent there to meet with him."
Whether it was her words or the fact it was a woman speaking, the man's posture shifted ever so slightly and he angled himself to look over his left shoulder and straight towards her.
Kronya stilled as a dull red eye stared straight at her, almost as though he was gazing through her very being and judging her.
"Hmmm." Giving a single hum, the man then turned back around "I see. Another one."
That got Kronya's attention, her balance shifted slightly and she turned her whole body to stare at the back of the man. "Excuse me?"
The man continued to gaze out across the outcrop and overlook the town, saying nothing to her in response as she waited for an answer. After it became clear he wasn't going to speak further to her, she clicked her tongue silently and turned away from him "I shall pass along your greetings to Tomas, you two seem close."
"Not as close as you, I suspect."
"...Do you mean to imply something?"
"What is your race called?" She froze. "I never made an inquiry to Tomas and now that you are here, I can at least answer that much."
"...I think you are mistaken about something." Kronya spoke slowly, even as she adjusted her posture once again and prepared to rush towards the back of the man. She could be upon him fast enough before he could react and get him in a chokehold, once that was done she could snap his neck easily.
"If I am mistaken, why are you preparing to kill me?"
Kronya's expression froze for a split second before her eyes narrowed and her lips drew themselves into thin lines. Her hands opened and closed before she rolled her shoulders, looking left and right for any sign of someone coming. Even shifting her attention skywards to see if anyone was looking down on her.
When she saw no one, she turned her attention back to the man who was still seated and not gazing at her.
"Hmmm." Another bored hum from the man "...Not that it matters. You can continue on your path to the Monastery. Do what you will, I care not."
"I don't think so." Kronya spoke slowly as she prepared to advance "If you think I'm going to let an animal like you-" she paused, cutting herself and stumbling back when she noticed the chair was now empty. The man had been there one moment and simply gone the next, there was nothing to indicate he had moved at all.
She stilled when something grabbed the back of her neck and wrapped around her throat, before she could even try to dislodge it her body locked up. Her limbs failed to respond to her and she found she couldn't so much as open her mouth to make a single noise.
Her eyes could still move though, widening as far as they could and rapidly darting around to try and get some view of what was going on behind her. She internally shivered, the hairs on her body snapping up as it felt like something washed through her entire being. Every inch of her felt as though it was being looked at, not a single thing was kept private or concealed and it penetrated every single portion, even going through the disguise she wore.
"Hmmm?" That same hum once again, this time sounding slightly intrigued "Oh. A central core which accumulates the knowledge of the host. A drive that acts as both a power source and a repository of intelligence and personality. I see…That is why it is older than your body, if only by a few decades."
Kronya was screaming inside as she still couldn't move, the hand that was locked around her let go and she all but flung herself forwards and turned around "You-"
Red eyes flashed "Forget."
Goetia watched as the disguised girl continued her walk up the path towards the Monastery, not even once registering his presence. Not that she had reason to.
Turning back around, he moved towards the seat and placed himself back down once again. Inclining his body forwards ever so slightly in order to avoid being cut by the shards of broken chair behind him. He returned his focus to gazing upon the town below and the sky in the distance.
It would likely be sun down in a few hours and at that point in time he could actually use his telescope, he'd only broken the bounded field around him in order to question what he had assumed was Tomas. He didn't know why but he just felt the need to ask why the old man would do something such as that.
Then it turned out to be an entirely different individual altogether, which meant more were arriving at the Monastery for whatever reason. Not that he was going to look into it further, he already got the information he needed, more or less.
"You weren't this bold before."
His lips thinned at the voice.
"Tomas was at the Monastery for months and you barely made an effort to ask about his origins in private, why did you ask now?"
He gave no response.
"Do you even know why?"
"Why are you still here?" Goetia muttered to himself "And why would you even care?"
"According to you, I never cared about anything."
"You didn't." Goetia growled back "You cared for nothing, you loved nothing, you hated nothing. You are…Nothing." he didn't give the hallucination the courtesy of a glance "Nothing but cruelty who gazed dispassionately upon the world. Wise King? What a sick joke."
Solomon didn't reply to him, instead turning to the side and gazing out across the horizon in much the same way as Goetia who sat beside him.
"Was it perhaps some small amount of concern for why this new individual was here? You could have uncovered her objective in seconds."
"If I cared." Goetia scoffed, "Why should I care?"
"If I truly cared for nothing, then how can I possibly answer that question?" Solomon responded in that ever present blank tone of his "It would be akin to asking a blind man how he feels towards colours, or how a fish should feel about flying." the man turned his head to stare down at Goetia "Solomon apparently does not care for things, so why do you ask me."
A harsh snort erupted from Goetia "So much for wisdom." he all but sneered before his expression tapered off back into nothing. "It was just a whim. I didn't know anything about their race, but now I do. They aren't dragons."
Solomon stared down at him "What are you going to do with this information?"
"Nothing." Goetia answered, "I have no reason to do anything."
"And if they mean harm?"
"The suffering of others does me no harm." Goetia replied in a cold voice as he turned and gave the man an empty smile "Aren't you proud Solomon? I'm becoming the creation you wanted me to be. Gazing dispassionately upon humanity without lifting a finger to aid them." the smile vanished and he turned back. "...Maybe they will call me wise for this."
"...I am not Solomon."
"Hmph." Goetia gave an incredulous grunt "If that is what you claim-"
"And neither are you."
Goetia's face turned blank, shifting to look back at the hallucination and finding himself gazing at nothing but empty space. His face warped into an ugly frown before he looked away with a click of the tongue, clenching his jaw and grinding his teeth.
Sothis and Byleth stared at one another from within the darkness, the two continued to gaze into each other's eyes as darkness surrounded them.
After what felt like an eternity to her, Sothis exhaled and looked skywards "I do not believe this is working." she spoke in a slightly exasperated tone of voice, slumping back into her throne and drumming her fingers along the arm rests in annoyance. The Goddess' lip curled into a slight frown as she stared up into the blackness.
Byleth frowned at the Goddess' words "How do you know?"
"Because I feel no change." Sothis sighed, her right hand coming off the arm rests and being held in front of the Goddesses face, the deity merely looked at the limb with a dispassionate gaze as she flexed the fingers before dropping it back down onto her throne with a gentle thud that echoed around the pair. "This is…complicated."
"You're still thinking about it then."
Sothis closed her eyes and took in a long breath "Perhaps the mental faculties of humans and Gods are different that you are not aware of every detail that occurs. While within your body, I am aware of every single action that takes place around you." her eyes opened back up and she stared down at Byleth "I can feel the blood flowing through my-no, your veins. The silence within your chest, the gentle touch of the wind upon your skin, the flutterings of your hair as you move, the warmth of the sun and the strain of your muscles…It is exhilarating and almost overwhelming."
The Goddess paused for a moment, pursing her lips "I was not aware of it before, or perhaps I was merely too concerned with other issues to become aware of it but now that I am…I cannot cease that connection with the planet. With everything…" her brows furrowed as she leaned forwards "You cannot imagine that…even with a portion of my power and I am certain of it."
She was right about that, Byleth figured. She herself could feel most of those things but she couldn't feel her own blood or listen to her own heartbeat, or lack thereof, without even trying. That just seemed rather absurd to her.
"It might seem absurd to you, but such a thing is as simple to me as breathing might be to humans." Sothis dryly retorted as she interlocked her fingers together and rested them on her lap "Perhaps this was what he meant when discussing the grandeur of a Goddess…I truly am above you, aren't I?"
Byleth raised an eyebrow at her.
Sothis thinned her lips "I mean humans in general." she clarified "I knew that I had skills that you lacked and a certain sense of…superiority but I could not truly understand it until now." her left hand came away and rested on her cheek, tapping away as she furrowed her brows in thought "And this was merely through your senses…I struggle to imagine what I would have been like in my old form…I wonder…"
Byleth tilted her head and shrugged "Maybe more?"
"More." Sothis murmured "Yes, more…but more what? More aware of the very planet itself or more aware of my own superiority over humans? It is an odd thing…to gaze at another being and understand that you are simply better than them. Not just as a different race but as an individual you are simply superior."
Byleth inclined her head back "You mean like looking at ants?" the woman asked with her usual blank tone, then thinned her lips "I don't think that is normal."
"Of course it is not." Sothis sighed "I am comparing beings that can walk and talk, can build and grow with mere insects. Yet despite all of that, I understand that I am simply…better." her hand fell back onto the arm rest and pushed off, sending the girl floating upwards "I see more of the world than you could ever dream and as Goetia said, I am perhaps at a mere fragment of my former strength…I cannot help but wonder something, and perhaps fear this answer as well."
Byleth raised an eyebrow in questioning.
"If I feel this way about humans as I exit with but a sliver of my divinity…" She looked down at Byleth with an expression that almost looked fearful "How did I see you when I retained my entire being? While you are not an equal to me physically, I regard your opinion with a degree of importance…I regard all humans with a degree of importance but is that because I now walk amongst you…or because weakness has granted me a new perspective."
The woman below her shrugged her shoulders "I don't know how to answer those questions. I haven't experienced something like that."
Sothis rolled her eyes "Obviously." she looked back down at Byleth "However, the longer I remain, the more I fear I understand how he sees the world."
"Who?"
"Goetia. We both suspect him to have once been something akin to a God, or perhaps he was a God and now finds himself in a state similar to my own." Sothis expression shifted to become thoughtful again. "The longer I remain in your body, the more I become aware that I am better than you and I begin to wonder…Is this how Goetia sees humanity?" she reached her right hand towards Byleth as if to grasp her "Does he spend every second gazing at you and seeing beings that are lesser than him?"
Before Byleth could answer, Sothis did.
"Because if so, that is more reason to leave your body swiftly and rid myself of this perspective."
The girl blinked "How so?"
"Because to stand atop everyone and gaze down at everything and find it wanting. To look upon another being and know for a fact that you are superior to them…is tragically lonely in my eyes." Sothis explained, closing her eyes "As you shall never be able to find yourself with an equal. It is terribly lonely to be the only one atop a mountain."
Byleth stared at Sothis "But now that you know about this, will you be able to forget it?"
Sothis looked back down at Byleth, opening her eyes up and showing her brief confusion at the words.
"If you know about being better than everyone, will you ever be able to forget that feeling?" Byleth clarified.
"Perhaps I can make peace with it." Sothis responded "We are entirely different beings, you and I. Perhaps there are some things that you are superior to me at." she paused for a moment before a ghost of a smile flickered across her face "Such as possessing a physical body for one. Without that, I shall cease being superior to you in one aspect and without that body…I shall revert to being Sothis. The voice in your head who provides you with strength and nothing else."
"Won't you miss having a body though?" Byleth asked before pausing to realise what she was saying "Not an invitation to take mine." she added on.
Sothis gave her a deadpan look before a sigh emerged from her lips "I suspect some small part of me will likely miss that sense of superiority but I will be able to temper it. Nor do I have an intention to take your body again." she shivered ever so slightly "Eating is still something that I disagree with immensely."
Sothis then paused, her expression cycled through several emotions before it landed on understanding. Her eyes rolled "So that's what he meant, is it?"
Byleth blinked.
"Like breathing, something that no longer becomes a conscious effort on my part." she raised her hands and stared at them "Except I am aware of everything that goes on, aren't I? As long as I remain in this body, in your body, everything about the world is unveiled to me." her hand slowly pointed towards Byleth's chest "Including the strain right there, like a subtle tension around the muscle."
The woman slowly shifted her attention down to her chest and stared at it for a few moments before she raised her eyes back up, her left hand was raised and moved upwards until it rested in between her breasts "You mean my heart?"
"Yes…Where my Divine Core resides, as Goetia would no doubt put it." Sothis chuckled as she slowly floated downwards until she was at eye level with Byleth "My influence expands out of it and I have been raising my power towards you as a result…except it is not just my power flooding your body, it is me as well."
"You possessing me."
"Quite so." Sothis allowed a faint smirk to dance across her features "So that is how it was…Like a hand filling out a glove, my spirit - my mind - has slotted itself within your body. To restore you…" She sighed "I merely need to recede the gift, to retract the hand from the glove."
"So you were overthinking it."
Sothis did glare at Byleth that time, her lips working into a tense frown "...No…I just so happened to overlook the solution. I did not overthink it."
Byleth nodded her head several times before she replied again, "That's another thing humans are better at than you."
Sothis eye twitched "You…" she sighed and raised her right hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose "You just insist upon vexing me, do you not…" she lowered the hand back to her side, but not before twitching her lip upwards "Still though, to find some weakness within me even as I possess your body. I suppose I'm still not quite that superior then, are you?"
Byleth shrugged "Everyone has a weakness. I just remembered that Goetia said your physical body was probably destroyed."
"...What a grim reminder." Sothis exhaled "And yes…You don't need to bring up the sword again." she closed her eyes "Now then…Let us see how we shall go about this…"
Eyes with a faint green hue to them opened wide, the owner stared up at the ceiling of their room before their body slowly rose up until it found itself at a ninety degree angle. To others this would have placed an extreme strain on their core muscles. Not to her though, she had exercised them more than enough times for this to be a trivial feat.
Byleth raised up her right hand, once again thoroughly under her control, and tightened it into a fist before loosening it once again and shifting her gaze to the other one. Everything felt right, if a little numb. As if she had just woken back up from a long sleep. It was a subtle sensation but present enough that she was aware of it.
"Ah-ha!" Sothis exclaimed behind her, the floating Goddess manifesting in the air before her and grinning "As expected, once I determined the problem it was a simple solution."
"You were still overthinking it." Byleth dryly responded while still gazing down at her hands, rolling her shoulders she rested the flat of her palms against the bed and twisted her body to the side to send her legs over the edge of it and placed her feet on the ground. She could feel Sothis' irritated stare being aimed her way, but that was something that was more routine than anything else.
"If you are capable of making smart statements, then I suppose you are once again in full control of your body and feeling quite well?" Sothis inquired with a hint of concern underlying her otherwise annoyed voice.
Byleth nodded her head and looked up as she pushed herself back to her feet, staggering a bit before finding her balance once again. "What about you?"
"I am once again deprived of feeling." Sothis replied with "And I am purely limited to your senses." she paused for a moment before giving a pleased exhalation of 'air' "And I had never thought to be more grateful to these circumstances. Parading around in your body has its benefits and its drawbacks." she crossed her arms over her chest "However, our situation is back to how it once was. This pleases me."
Byleth reached up, grabbing her hair and pulling it to be just in front of her eyes. Staring at the still pale green colour with a dull look before her eyes drifted back towards Sothis and stared at her expectantly.
"...Perhaps there have been a few permanent alterations." Sothis responded with after a minute "But odd hair colours shouldn't be too bizarre for humans, there are several rather colourful individuals around this academy, are there not? The class led by the white haired girl has a youth with green hair as well, do they not?"
"I wasn't born with green hair." Byleth pointed out "How do I explain it?"
Sothis shrugged "I do not have the answers to every question you can pose to me."
Byleth thinned her lips before turning her attention towards the door and advancing on it "Should speak to the Archbishop."
Sothis raised an eyebrow "Why?"
"Tell her I'm back." Byleth explained as she opened the door and stepped outside "...And visit my father." she added on after a few moments of silence.
That time, Sothis did smile "A rather apt suggestion, he has been quite concerned about you in his own…somewhat violent way." the Goddess responded with "I trust seeing you back to your old self might do him some good. Then there are the students whom neither one of you has seen in almost four days now."
Byleth hummed to herself as she walked through the hallway, approaching the doors to Rhea's private room and resting her hand upon the handle, pushing it open and stepping inside.
"Archbishop?" Byleth called out, looking around the room with her expression blank.
"...Ah." Sothis made a noise, Byleth turned towards her and then found her staring towards the centre of the room. The mercenary turned her head in the direction the Goddess was gazing and similarly paused when she noticed that the bed Goetia had been resting in was empty. "That is likely some problem."
"Hmmm." Byleth nodded her head, then turned back around and paused when she saw Rhea standing at the entrance to the door.
"Moth-" Rhea cut herself off, her expression shifting into a more forlorn one "I mean Sothis-"
Byleth stared blankly at her, prompting Rhea to pause as she noticed the distinct lack of an expression. Her eyes widened slightly.
"Professor?"
The woman in question nodded her head.
"I see…Then the Goddess has relinquished her hold on you." Rhea closed her eyes, nodding her head and stepping into the room "If that is her choice." her eyes opened back up "I suspect this only occurred recently then."
Another nod of the head before she jerked it backwards "Where?"
Rhea's lips thinned "...I do not know." she replied after a moment hesitation "It was after your…Sothis meeting with him that I returned to find this chamber empty, the guards are out searching for him but have yet to discover his whereabouts. He had been spotted several hours ago mingling within the town at the base of the Monastery - collecting something from the blacksmith - before vanishing once again."
Byleth grunted before she walked forwards.
"Professor!" Rhea raised her hand, stopping Byleth. Her mask cracked and she showed her faint desperation "Before you go out and search for him…might you visit Jeralt first? I…he has…" her eyes turned downcast "I believe it would do him some good to see you are yourself again."
"...I was going to." Byleth responded with, Rhea looking back up and nodding once to the Professor as her lips allowed a faint smile to form on them. As Byleth walked past, she paused for a few moments "...Did you do this to me?"
Rhea was silent "...Yes." she responded with after a few moments of silence "If you have any questions…I will answer them." the woman continued on "Truthfully. I believe that…You are owed as much."
Sothis stared at the back of Rhea, then thinned her lips and looked down at her own chest. There was something she felt when around the woman in this state, though there was a large degree of distrust she could feel that she was at least being truthful when she promised answers.
"Really?" Harold looked down at the girl in surprise "Are you sure? But don't you have other responsibilities to-"
"I understand that much but it seems as though my advice is being ignored rather frequently." Flayn responded with, placing her hands on her hips and giving a long sigh "Especially since Goetia had given me his word that he would return to his bed and rest…" shaking her head once again, she looked back up "I can do little for Seteth, given how stubborn he is."
Harold debated whether or not agreeing with her was the best thing he could do.
"However, I expected more from Goetia. He seemed to be rather sensible and I would never have imagined him as one to put off his own care." Her expression shifted "Especially since he is still missing, if what you say is true…I fear as though his cavalier attitude might have landed him in some manner of trouble."
The Knight Sargeant remained silent for a moment before he sighed, reaching up and scratching the side of his cheek as he stared down at Flayn "I take it you aren't going to accept a no for an answer?"
He got a determined stare in response.
"Heh. I suppose you and your father are quite alike then." He smiled at her and lowered his hand "Still, I'm not going to turn away volunteers though. We've already got a few knights asking around if they've seen him but nothing yet. I was going to go out and ask some of the students if they wanted to help as well."
"I suspect many might leap at the opportunity once they learn what has transpired." Flayn remarked with a nod of the head "It appears everyone has become rather prone to ignoring their best interests as of late but…" she paused for a moment "...You speak with Goetia, do you not?"
"I like to think I'm his friend, yes."
"Ah, that is good." Flayn smiled up at him before her face shifted to be more concerned "Has he seemed…different to you, when you last saw him?"
"Different…" Harold repeated, placing his right hand on his hip and frowning in thought "I…suppose?" he shrugged his shoulders slightly "Sorry, Goetia isn't the most expressive at the best of times."
"That much is true." Flayn admitted, as it stood you could hardly tell when Goetia was upset and when he was happy. At least ordinarily. Just before this all started when Goetia was in the cafeteria, there was something about him that seemed off to her and Seteth had all but confirmed it when he warned her to push him.
All of which held nothing on his encounter with her earlier in the day, his questions were odd and his posture seemed distant. As though he wasn't quiet in the moment.
"Well then, I shall begin my search." Flayn jutted out her chin and nodded her head "Rest assured, I shall do everything in my power to bring Goetia back." There was a pause "After which I shall give him a stern talking to about the trouble he has caused everyone, especially himself with waltzing around in nothing but a blanket and some underwear."
Harold stared down at the young girl, his lips in a half smile before he slowly shook his head. The way in which Flayn was speaking was almost as if she was older than she looked. Then again, she was Seteth's daughter so it made sense that she would be rather more mature than her peers.
"Well, you should probably take one of the students with you, just in case." Harold added, "Rather than a knight."
"...Hmmm. You might be correct." Flayn remarked, tapping her finger on her chin in thought before snapping her fingers "I shall take the Ordelia girl! She is Goetia's student, therefore she might know where he would be hiding!" another pause "And she will also be able to drill some sense into him, I would imagine."
Harold just shrugged his shoulders "If you say so, I'd join you but…" he trailed off, gesturing around himself.
"I understand." Flayn gave a solemn nod of her head "You have duties elsewhere, do not worry. When we find Goetia, I shall pass along your best wishes to him Mr…?"
"...Don't worry." Harold shook his head, giving her an amused smile "If you just say Gatekeeper, he'll understand."
"Are you sure?" Flayn tilted her head.
"It's easier to remember, I've found so far."
"...If you say so."
AN: Kronya makes an appearance and the Goetia search party begins.
In other news, I have recovered from my illness. Nasty cold but I'm back to full strength.
Also yes, Goetia is just sitting on a hill waiting for night time.
Omake: There's an entire swamp in my boot.
Ritsuka looked around, his hands on his hips and his face somewhat blank.
Goetia matched his expression almost perfectly, doing much the same amount of movement in addition to this.
"...So…What have we found so far, guys?" The Master asked for a moment, looking over his shoulders at the 'B-Team' and closing his eyes as he noticed half of them weren't even paying attention. Instead content to glare at one another or similarly staring at their surroundings with no small degree of boredom.
"Don't bother, Fujimaru Ritsuka." Goetia dryly spoke "I have recently learned that as far as Beasts go, I remain the single most competent one thus far."
"Shut up daddy issues!" Draco scoffed from behind him, Goetia's eye twitched at the comment "Your entire plan got foiled by someone showing up and quitting existence!"
"You got bested by Chaldea and then immediately went running to them as an Alter-Ego in order to avoid dying like a coward." Goetia responded back, not even turning around to face Draco "So keep your smart comments to yourself, whore."
"Outstanding." Ritsuka sighed to himself as he reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose, turning to his side and looking down as something nudged his ankle. Finding himself staring at Fou as the white animal looked up at him and tilted their head. "Yeah…I know little guy."
"Oh? Are you becoming stressed with the current situation?" The Master closed his eyes once again as someone looked in towards him from the side "I can offer a shoulder as support for you, if you wish. Such a thing is trivial for a Servant."
"No." Ritsuka raised his hand, looking towards the voice and opening his eyes once again and showcasing a rather strained expression "But thanks for the offer…I think." he added on at the end before turning back around and facing the location in front of them "Seriously though? This of all places?"
"A library?" Kama commented as she floated forwards, looking around with a dull look in her eyes and a thin line playing across her lips "Well, it's certainly spacious." she waved a hand around lazily "A little boring as well, I'm sure someone would find something interesting to do in here…"
"NFF offers a wide variety of-"
"Shut up." Goetia snapped at Koyanskaya before she could even finish the sentence she was making. The woman's lips drew themselves into an annoyed frown aimed at the one armed man as he ventured further into the room. "Your business model is a scam and you're a liar down to your core."
"...How rude." Koyanskaya placed a hand on her chest in mock pain. "I will have you know that NFF ensures only the finest quality for its goods and products to ensure repeat purchases from its customers."
"I'd rather patented Da Vinci products if I'm being honest." Ritsuka responded with as he walked past Goetia and looked around the library, staring at the shelves and the benches before turning back to Goetia and raising an eyebrow "Well?"
"Someone has been here recently, there are still vague remnants of their magical energy although it has been intermingled with the Holy Grail they no doubt possess." He frowned ever so slightly "Determining the identity of the owner might be troublesome."
"Awwww. Does the big bad Beast have a little trouble using his magic spells he's so famous for he even named himself after-"
A book flew from the shelf and struck Draco in the back of the head with a thud. The blonde haired woman flattened her features instantly and glared at Goetia, the man returned the obvious hostility with a completely blank expression.
"Don't start a fight in the library of all places." Ritsuka warned as he continued to gaze across the room before he sighed again and looked back to Goetia "So this is working up to be a dead end, is it?"
"Yes." Goetia turned back to face Ritsuka "As it stands, there is little we can deduce from this location beyond the current owner of the Holy Grail was here at some point before they departed. We can likely track the trail they leave behind as they venture through the Monastery and academy however, that would be our most prudent course of-"
Draco smashed a chair over the top of his head, silencing him and smacking his face into the ground.
"...Wonderful." Ritsuka closed his eyes, reaching up and palming his face "That's just wonderful…"
"What?" Draco scoffed, dropping the chair leg in her hand atop Goetia's back "He was asking for it."
Goetia's head slowly turned towards Draco from his position on the ground.
"See?" Kama nodded her head at the two of them before facing Ritsuka with an all too pleased expression as she noticed his thoroughly miserable face "I told you someone would get some interest from this place."
Da Vinci sighed as she looked over to face Mash "You're worrying too much."
"Am I?" Mash frowned ever so slightly "But leaving Senpai alone with all of those…"
"Don't worry, Fou is with him." Da Vinci assured the Shielder, reaching up and patting her on the shoulder "I'm sure he can take of our resident protagonist…Probably."
"Probably?!"
"Most definitely!"
"You seem rather concerned for your friend's safety." Seteth commented from next to them giving a mildly concerned look "Should I be worried about the company he is currently keeping?"
Da Vinci and Mash looked between one another for a few moments before returning their gazes back to Seteth.
"Nope!" Da Vinci beamed at him "Not at all!"
"...I see." Seteth didn't look particularly convinced at her words but also didn't look willing to press them further "In any case, you seem to be concerned for this, Ritsuka Fujimaru's safety beyond that of simple friendship?" he raised an eyebrow at the pair of them "Do you work in a more professional capacity?" nodding his head towards Mash's attire he spoke again "You are a knight of some variety, are you not?"
"Hmm? Ah, yes." Mash nodded her head and smiled "Senpai is my Master."
"...Excuse me?"
"I am his Servant."
Seteth gave another blink "I…believe we might be experiencing something akin to a cultural misunderstanding." he replied slowly "When you say 'Master' and 'Servant' do you mean in the capacity of a noble?"
"Hmmm? Senpai isn't a noble though…"
"He isn't….But he is your Master?"
"Yes."
Seteth opened his mouth and then closed it again "...Master. What do you do for him?"
"Normally whatever Senpai commands."
"...I see." Seteth turned away from the pair of them and gazed at nothing in particular. "...Were you always his Servant?"
"No, but I cannot imagine not being Senapi's Servant. Even though I didn't have much choice in the matter…" Mash trailed off as she noticed Da Vinci making gestures for her to stop talking, then noticed Seteth leaning forwards with his head in his hands.
"Ummm…" The Shielder tilted her head "Did I say something wrong?"