Byleth remained in the infirmary for the rest of the day. Although he'd hardly moved, he was exhausted. He did, however, finally clean himself and Moira came in later that day with fresh bedsheets. She asked him how he was and once again he said he was fine. He'd given her that response numerous times over the past few days and each time she'd always carried a frown on her face.

That evening, however, she smiled.

Saturday 26th Great Tree Moon

When Flayn entered the infirmary early that morning, Byleth was once again fast asleep. When Moira entered the room a few hours later with his breakfast, he was still asleep. By the time he awoke, his porridge had cooled, but he felt full of energy. He got up, performed some push ups and then scoffed the food down.

Dudley the gatekeeper bounded up the spiralling steps and burst into the infirmary the moment Seteth gave him permission to do so. He embraced Byleth in a hug and then quizzed him on his health and told him that once he was out of the infirmary they would go fishing.

Flayn entered the infirmary a while later on the pretence that she was delivering something to the nurse. Skipping on the spot, she told Byleth she had cooked him a "wonderful" fish stew that Moira would bring to him later for dinner. When Moira did arrive that evening, she carried not fish stew, but instead, chicken and rice.

'Bless Flayn, but I don't trust her cooking skills,' she said, grinning.

'How much can you learn about me?' Byleth asked. He lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. The moon shone through the window, illuminating the infirmary floor.

'As much as you know about yourself,' Sothis replied. 'Everything we spoke about yesterday might have seemed like a revelation to you, but they were things that you already knew deep down. For example, although you told yourself that you did not care for Lilia, deep down you knew that you did.'

'I started seeing the steps when I was a child… were you always there?'

'I do not know. I cannot remember that far back. I can only go on what your memories tell me. From what you know, it seems likely that I was there from the start, sleeping.'

'So you only know as much about me as I do?'

'Exactly.'

'So you don't know about my crest?'

'Again, only as much as you do. It shall be fascinating to hear what Hanneman has to say once he has finished his analysis.'

Byleth nodded and shuffled underneath his blankets. Outside he heard an owl hoot. 'When I first spoke to you, I was there for what felt like ages, yet when I returned to the infirmary, I knew that only a few seconds had passed.'

'Yes, time is different where I am, I do not know why, but it is.'

'W-When I was younger, I climbed the steps and then fell down them.'

'You did, but I do not know why. It happened at the same time you and Lilia were ambushed, and I believe, just as you do, that the events were interlinked and that what happened there must have caused it to happen.'

'If that were true, then I must have been where you were for a long time, if time is faster in my world, because the ambush was over when I returned to my world.'

'I agree.'

Byleth fell silent for a while. He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again several times, trying to piece together what he was going to say next.

'When I fell down the steps, I felt different, like my desire for life was sucked from me. I stopped fishing and reading and I stopped talking to people. If I wasn't fighting I would just sit and stare into the distance. I really did feel like an empty shell, and I don't think it was simply down to my beliefs.'

'You were never an empty shell. When you fell down the steps, it made it harder for you to connect with your thoughts and feelings, which encouraged you to believe that you were the "Ashen Demon". However, your thoughts and feelings were never truly gone, but instead buried in your subconscious. When you returned to the steps, the force that was holding you down vanished and your thoughts, feelings and worries all bubbled to the surface, causing your panic attacks this week.'

'But why do the steps have that effect on me?'

'What do you think I am going to say, genius?'

'If you knew you would have told me.'

'If I knew I would have told you.'

'You sang in your sleep frequently.'

"In time's flow, see the glow of flames ever burning bright!'

Byleth felt goosebumps ripple on his skin, and Sothis clearly noticed. 'What? You do not like my signing?'

'No.'

'Rude!'

Byleth closed his eyes again. Just as he was starting to fall asleep, the girl spoke again.

'You spent most of your life being afraid of climbing the stone steps. It is most ironic that doing so actually turned out to be a good thing for you.'

Sunday 27th Great Tree Moon

'Ready to go?' Moira asked.

Byleth stood at the window looking out at the amber sky. It'd been another nice day and this time he'd went out into it. He'd ventured into the nearby town before returning and putting himself through some light training. He now stood in his black armour and cloak. He turned to Moira, adjusted the dagger on his belt, and nodded.

Moira smiled, studying him. When she'd first seen him, he'd looked close to his thirties, but now…

He is no more than twenty or twenty-one, she thought. Something had changed in the boy but she couldn't put a finger on what it was exactly.

He's more relaxed… and he carries himself differently somehow.

'Flayn and I cleaned your armour for you.'

'Thank you,' Byleth said. He bowed, 'and thank you for looking after me in my time of need.'

Moira smiled. She shuffled forward, hesitated, and then went forward again and pulled the man known as the Ashen Demon into a tight hug.

'Remember what I said, I am always here,' she said.

'I will.'

She could have said more. She could have apologised for the suffering he'd been through. She could have apologised for how fearful and suspicious she'd been of him at first, but in that moment, she felt like she was doing and saying enough, and she was right, for another smile broke out on Byleth's face.

He couldn't say he'd miss the infirmary, but he'd certainly never forget it.

He looked out from the stone-clad windows in his room. It felt strange to call it his room, but he supposed that as he'd agreed to be a professor again, it was indeed his place for the time being. It felt like his room especially because there'd been a piece of paper pinned to his door when he'd reached it saying, "Welcome back!", signed by his "trusty tour guide."

He went to his bed and sat down. Nerves and voices of doubt all hung in his mind… but so did Sothis.

'One step at a time,' she murmured.

Byleth nodded and promised himself he would do the best he could as a professor.

As he did, Hubert stood outside in the shadows some twenty feet from his room.

He made a promise of his own.