The thing's brow furrowed.

'Why… why does it matter that you are here now?'

It, or she, stared off to the side and scratched her chin. 'I feel… horrible… and I do not know why… but'

Then, as if struck by a revelation her eyes widened. 'It means… that I can now… yes…'-

She looked up at Byleth.

'The important thing is that you are here now… because now I can guide you. You can call me… Sothis.'

Her head dropped and her brow furrowed again. 'I was not able to recall my name… until just now, and then just like that, it came to me. How odd. (She started playing with her long hair.) I was also called something else… I was given a title, yet I cannot recall what it was, how frustrating. Yet, it does not matter for now. I have been waiting here for you, waiting for you to climb the stone steps and to come to me. You have certainly taken your time, and have been incredibly noisy and rude, but you are finally here, and now I can help you.'

She looked up at the one called Byleth. Her voice echoed into the darkness for a few moments before it faded, and everything became silent again. Byleth stood, not meeting her gaze. She frowned.

'Well? Do you have anything to say?'

And that's when she saw his mouth moving ever so slightly, mouthing words she couldn't hear. 'Byleth?' she asked again. 'It is most rude to'-

A stone dropped from his hand. She blinked. 'Why'-

Byleth spoke in a choked voice. 'A-Are you going to hurt me?'

Sothis's eyes widened. 'No, I will not hurt you. Did you not hear what I just said? I am'-

Byleth collapsed to his knees and began trembling violently.

'Byleth?'

It was as if he hadn't heard her. He lowered his head into his hands and his trembling worsened. She blinked and a moved a hand to her chest. She looked down at her hand and then back up at Byleth.

'Why are you acting this way? What is wrong with you?'

When he didn't respond, she stepped towards him. His head shot up and he flinched. She scowled.

'Stop being afraid of me! I am not here to hurt you.'

Byleth lowered his head into his hands again. She stared at him and forced herself to untense her brow.

'I apologise, okay? I get cranky when my slumber is disturbed, and it can lead me to saying things that I do not necessarily mean. I am sure you did not mean to be noisy or rude, and I apologise for calling you bile. Stop shaking, you have nothing to fear in me.'

He started to mutter numbers under his breath, counting from one to five. Sothis studied him and then closed her eyes.

'Time to learn a bit more about you.'

She stayed still for a long while, Byleth continuing to count numbers as she did so. As he was about to mutter "five" when he heard something that made him freeze.

A voice screamed from somewhere behind him.

He spun but there was nothing there. The voice had been that of a young boy. That was obvious enough from how it sounded, but Byleth had known immediately, because it was his voice from many years before. He not only recognised his young voice, but he remembered exactly when he'd screamed like that as well. He knew, because he'd only ever screamed once in his entire life. It'd been when he'd seen Sothis for the first time on the stone steps as a child, the night before Alain, Arthur and Lilia were killed in the ambush.

'Your fear of me runs deep… even as a child you were afraid,' Sothis said. 'You have never wanted to climb the stone steps, you have always done so against your will, and doing so terrified you. At first, you tried to tell yourself that you were just having nightmares, but deep down you knew it was all real. You did not understand what was going on, and you did not know what to do. You tried to tell someone about this place… Lilia… her name was…'-

Her eyes were still closed, and so she never saw Byleth flinch.

'… but she died before you had chance to. You then, somehow, fell down the steps before you could reach me. You did not climb them again for many years… until five days ago in the place known as Remire. You have never wanted to climb the steps because you do not want to get to the top, you do not want to reach me because'-

She opened her eyes and stared at Byleth. 'You… you thought I was waiting up here to kill you.'

He finally looked up. He didn't look at her directly but was close to it… as much as his courage would let him.

'I thought you asked if I was going to hurt you because of my anger just now,' she continued, 'but you have thought I have been waiting to kill you most of your life. The noises you made on the steps were not to annoy me. They were the sounds of you trying to escape, of'-

She froze, blinking. Her jaw dropped and it took her a few tries to close it again. 'This horrible feeling in me… this is what you are feeling, it is emanating from you! It is your fear of me. That is why it became more intense in my chest when you collapsed to your knees.'

Byeth's voice came out in almost a whisper. 'W-Who are you?'

'I have told you all that I know. I am Sothis, and I have waited here in slumber at the top of the steps for you to guide you. As you can see, I remember very little. Even recalling my own name was difficult. I am here and I am in your head. I can learn things about you, as I did just now, and, as I have now just remembered, I can also feel what you are feeling as well. Somehow, we are connected, and I know that it is my purpose to help you and to guide you. I apologise for frightening you all these years, but I promise I am here to help you, not hurt you.'

She watched Byleth close his eyes, gulp, and then meet her gaze. He only managed for a few seconds before dropping his head again.

'Y-You won't hurt me?' he whispered.

'No,' she said.

He slumped forward onto his hands and knees. Sothis watched his mouth open and close several times before he finally spoke again.

'C-Can… can I sleep?'

Moira looked into Byleth's terrified eyes.

'I…'-

The boy paused, and Moira waited with bated breath. She continued to rest her hands on his. He fell silent for a long time, to the extent that she wondered whether he was going to say anything else at all. Eventually he did, and what he said surprised her most, despite everything he'd said before.

'I… I need to go to sleep.'

Those few moments were some of the strangest she'd ever experienced. At one moment, he'd been staring at her, almost transfixed, his eyes wide with fear, and then he'd completely changed. He'd went from upright and anxious to slumped and heavy-eyed. At one moment he'd been full of anxious energy and now she thought he looked ready to feint.

'Okay,' she said, giving his hands a gentle squeeze, 'but remember what I said.'

If Byleth had heard her, he didn't show it. He trudged to his bed, slipped under the covers and then fell silent.

She watched him for a while, hearing his breathing gradually slow, and then blew out his candles. By the time she reached the door, she was sure he was fast asleep.

'I… I….'-

Bernadetta wiped her eyes.

'I-I don't w-want to go to class tomorrow.'

Useless, worthless, unmarriageable!

She closed her eyes but was unable to fall asleep.