Chapter 12: Breakfast with a Side of Cynical Revelations
With a yawn, Emilia got out of bed, rubbing her head. She noticed that neither Subaru nor Patches was in her room, singing to wake her up.
Ah, a peaceful waking up. It's both satisfying… and disappointing... Emilia thought to herself as Subaru entered the room.
"Oh, hey Emilia," Subaru greeted her. "You're awake. I didn't even have to sing."
Emilia sweat dropped as she realized how close she was to enduring that singing again. "Okay… anyways, what's for breakfast?"
"Oh, right. I'm about to make pancakes!" Subaru smiled.
Emilia remembered Subaru talking about Pancakes when they were staying at Riverwood. "I'll head upstairs, and we can eat when you're ready."
As Emilia and Subaru entered the feast hall, the group prepared for breakfast.
"And so after kicking off a cliff, I told him I'd come back to pick his corpse clean of his trinkets, and then left!" Patches laughed, as he finished up his story.
"Wow... and... he deserved it, right?" Erik asked, a bit concerned.
Patches scratched his bald head at that. "Well, he was a cleric, so…"
Seigmeyer tilted his head. "That's... how you punish seemingly greedy people?"
Patches give the onion knight a thumbs-up. "Been doing it for four worlds now!"
Erik raised an eyebrow. "Four worlds?"
"Boletaria, Yharnam, Ashina, and the Lands Between! Four worlds! And now Nirn is my new playground to punish the greedy! Mwahaha!"
"Have you guys heard of those lands?" Erik asked the others.
Aela shook her head. "I certainly have not."
Emilia looked over to the Japanese man. "What about you, Subaru?"
"Patches has told me about them," Subaru said, as he finished making the pancakes. "All of them are apparently overrun with either demons, beasts, ninjas or demi-gods."
"And you haven't been to these lands?" the dirty blond asked.
The nasty-eyed otherworlder shook his head at that. "Nah, I haven't hopped between as many worlds as Patches has. Earth and Nirn are the only worlds I'm familiar with. Even if I had the choice to do so, I wouldn't do it."
"So, you like our world best?" the silver-haired half-elf asked.
Subaru scratched his hair, and gave a funny look. "I… guess…?"
"So, you and Emilia hail from Lugnica?" the resident werewolf asked.
"I mean, that's where I took up residence when I arrived in this world, but I wasn't born here like Emilia was," Subaru answered the ginger-haired woman.
Aela blinked at that answer. "You are... not of this world?"
Subaru gave a sigh. "I thought I already established this…"
"You did?" Siegmeyer asked.
"I mean, the second time I said it was when Erik joined the party, so it makes sense you weren't around for it." Subaru said.
Aela hummed in response. "Well, I suppose you'll have to keep explaining it to new members."
"So I'll sound like a broken record," Subaru sighed.
Solaire shook his head at that. "How unfortunate…"
"How do you even know that reference?!" Subaru asked. "That's directly from Earth!"
"You are not the first otherworlder I have met," the sun-loving knight answered.
Subaru was silent for a few seconds before he drew on a conclusion. "Let me guess… Hoshin?"
Solaire merely chuckled in response.
Erik raised an eyebrow. "Huh. You'd think that more people would believe in the existence of otherworlders with all this evidence…"
Subaru clicked his tongue, and whispered under his breath, "I wouldn't put it past Gwyn to lie about it and say that this world is the only one with life on it."
Unfortunately, everyone else heard him clearly.
"What?!" Solaire exclaimed. "Gwyn wouldn't do that!"
Subaru just gave Solaire a look of pity. "Oh, you poor sweet summer child…"
"What are you speaking of?" the bucket-helmet knight asked.
Emilia started to notice the rising tension, and sought to bring it back down. "Look, there's no need for things to escalate. We don't know Gwyn personally, so we don't know what kind of person he is."
"Oh, I can tell you exactly the kind of person the oh-so great "Lord of Sunlight" is," Subaru hissed, the way he said the title making it sound like it was poison.
Emilia put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Subaru, there's no need for a fight…"
"I'm not picking a fight," Subaru said. "I'm just willing to share the truth with Solaire."
Solaire leaned in and asked, "And what might that "truth" be?"
Subaru clapped his hands together, his voice laced with sarcasm. "Oh boy, where should I start? How about wiping out an entire race of dragons that were simply existing, disowned his firstborn son for protecting one of them, linking the First Flame to keep the current state of the world going, and creating the Undead Curse in the first place?!"
For a few seconds after Subaru was done shouting, there was silence.
Then, the voices began pouring out.
"Wait, what?!"
"Is this true?!"
Emilia looked at her friend in shock. "Subaru...? Did Gwyn really do all that?"
"Gwyn isn't some benevolent god," Subaru said, his face stone cold. "If anything, he's just a man with too much power, doing all he can do to keep it."
Aela looked confused for a few seconds. "Then why do Talos or the other Divines not act?"
"They all have their reasons," the nasty-eyed Undead said. "Gwyn may be an asshole, but he's not stupid. The Divines focus more on Tamriel than they do Ali'rasi, so Gwyn as long as he kept to this continent, he had free reign to do whatever he wanted. As such, the status-quo remains the same."
Solaire fell to the floor in disbelief. "No… it can't be… impossible…"
Erik decided to pitch in. "Also, according to what I can find, the deity, Magnus, made the sun. Not Gwyn."
"Gwyn… didn't make the sun…?" Solaire repeated.
Erik shook his head. "I've never found any record of him doing it."
Solaire felt his whole world falling around him. All he knew was a lie, which threw his personal mission into jeopardy. He had nothing. No goal, no purpose. Was his entire life a waste? Would he go Hollow?
Emilia saw this, and placed a hand on Solaire's shoulder. "Hey, Solaire, it's okay. So, Gwyn isn't the person you thought he was, that doesn't mean you have to change who you are."
Solaire just looked confused. "What? What do you mean?"
"You're still you, and ever since we met, I've seen nothing but a kind hearted person that wants to help out everyone he meets. Even a silver-haired half-elf. You can still be you, and you can still love the sun. And, if you need help finding a new purpose, or if you still want to help people find their "sun", then we'll be with you every step of the way." Emilia said, giving a comforting smile the whole time.
Solaire was silent for a moment, before getting up, and walking out the door.
"I'll make sure nothing happens," Siegmeyer said, following behind him.
"Oh no, did I say something wrong?" Emilia asked.
"No, if anything, you did good," the ginger-haired woman answered.
Subaru sighed. "I know some of you may see me as a dick for doing that, but I think he needed to hear the truth about Gwyn."
"Well, at the very least, Siegmeyer's out there keeping him company…" Erik said.
"Well, assuming the Sunny Boy cheers up, what next?" Patches asked.
"We head out for Winterhold. Subaru, whatever is going on with you, fix it before we head out," Aela said, as she looked towards Subaru.
Subaru ignored the look she was giving him. "Yes, ma'am…"
"Let's head out back, Erik," Aela sighed, grabbing Erik's shoulder.
Erik blushed, as he felt himself get dragged out. "Y-... You... me... alone...?"
"Make sure you use protection!" Patches laughed, before leaving the room himself.
Siegmeyer walked up to his fellow undead, who was sitting on some steps. "Hey… how are you holding up?"
Solaire sighed. "I... do not know…"
Siegmeyer sat down next to him. "Would you like to talk about it?"
"I am... not angry with Subaru. His tone, and the look of his eyes conveyed he was telling the truth... but to hear that the being I had devoted my eternity to was... a fraud... I... feel lost."
"I know that feeling quite well," the onion knight said, patting Solaire's back.
The bucket-helmeted knight looked over to his comrade. "How so?"
"I may be a knight of Catarina, but I… never truly felt like one. I mean, I couldn't even manage a single gate without help from the rest of you! I've always felt… useless. Like I could never do anything."
Solaire looked at the onion knight with surprise. "I have seen you in combat, and I doubt that claim to be true."
"Perhaps. But the moment the Dark Sign appeared on me, I took the opportunity to leave behind my wife and child, all to prove myself worthy of the title," Siegmeyer said.
That was something Solaire didn't know about. "Your wife and child?"
"Yes…" Siegmeyer answered. "My daughter, Sieglinde, I love her. But I can't show my face back home. Not until I prove myself. And even then, it will only be for a mere visit."
Solaire took a moment to process that. "And... you regret leaving them behind?"
The onion knight nodded. "It hurt, and while it may be true that I didn't have much of a choice in the matter, and even if I had no choice, to this day, I still do not regret it."
"What do you mean by a lack of a choice?" Solaire asked.
"The Undead aren't welcome in Caterina," the onion knight explained. "It was only a matter of time before people realized I was no longer aging like normal."
"You have my condolences," the sun-loving knight said.
Siegmeyer shrugged a bit. "Eh, that's enough about me. I came here to console you, after all."
"I… appreciate the sentiment," Solaire said.
"Must be hard. Finding out a lot of what you know is actually a lie…" Seigmeyer said.
"It is…" Solaire said. "I grew up in an orphanage, you know? We didn't have much. Not many clothes, toys, or food. But, what we did have, we were grateful for, and we thanked Lord Gwyn for them. So, when I got older, I immediately signed up with the Warrior of Sunlight covenant, thinking that spreading the good word of Gwyn was the right thing to do. And now…"
"Damn…" Was all Seigmeyer could say.
"Yes… if Subaru was even right about half the things he said, and someone I, and so many others, revered as a god could be someone so awful, what does that make me?"
Seigmeyer thought over it for a moment before answering, "I… I'm not very religious. So, I'm not the right person to ask about this, but if I know anything, it's that you're a good person, Solaire."
"He's right about that."
Both knights turned around to see that Subaru had come out.
"Look, just because you use that bastard's magic doesn't mean you're a bad person, even I use his magic. Hell, I'd say that since you embody the ideals everyone thinks Gwyn lives up to, you're actually better than him." Subaru said with a smile.
"You really think so…?" Solaire asked.
"I know so," Subaru said, giving him a thumbs-up. "I've known plenty of so-called heroes that were just big assholes, and plenty of average joes that had more morals than them. And you, Solitaire, are definitely the latter."
Solaire took a moment to process what Subaru said. Even after their argument, he still went out of his way to help cheer him up.
"I see… thank you, friend." Solaire said, before getting up.
After getting prepared, the group headed to the carriage outside of Whiterun and began to head for Winterhold.
Shortly after leaving, Subaru noticed a confused or concerned expression on Emilia's face, and decided to speak up. "Something on your mind, Emilia?"
"Huh? Oh! Yes, I was wondering… Subaru, you can do magic, right?"
Emilia's question perplexed Subaru. "Yes…? I thought it was pretty obvious."
"Right! Well, I was wondering… how come your magic is so different?" Emilia's question drew the attention of the others as well.
"Simple. It's Soul Magic." Subaru responded with a shrug.
Emilia only looked more confused. "Huh? Soul Magic? Wait, there's different types of magic?"
"Yeah…? You… didn't know?" Erik asked Emilia, surprised that she didn't know that.
"I've been frozen for most of my life, and I didn't get a formal education," Emilia said.
"Okay, then I guess we can do a quick lesson on Magic." Erik said, clapping his hands together.
"First off, there are three main types of Magic. Primal Magic. Soul Magic, and Universal Magic," Subaru explained, "Your Fire/Ice magic and Erik's Water magic both fall under the Primal Magic category. It's mostly an elemental affinity you're born with, that allows you to utilize that element for a variety of uses. The six elements are water, earth, fire, wind, yin, also known as dark, and yang, also known as light. I myself also possess an affinity for Yin. Primal Magic originates from the Od Laguna, the source of Divine Protections and one of the sources of Mana in our world."
Emilia nodded as she followed the explanation.
"Next, we have Universal Magic," Erik began his explanation, "Its origins are from the Divines, specifically Stendarr, who taught the people of Nirn how to use Universal and Primal magic. However, unlike Primal Magic, anyone can learn Universal Magic. You don't have to have an affinity or natural talent for it, even if it does help. Universal Magic, while not as powerful as Primal Magic, is the most versatile form of Magic. Universal Magic also has five smaller categories to it, and spells are assigned to one of them based on its effect. These categories are Destruction, Restoration, Conjuration, Alteration, and Illusion."
"I see!" Emilia said, nodding enthusiastically. "I still don't know what any of them do!"
Erik nodded. "Right. I'll go over them real quickly. Destruction spells are used for combat, utilizing Spark, Frost, Flame or other sources as weapons. Restoration spells revolve around healing and defense, like making barriers. Conjuration spells are summoning magic, allowing you to summon ethereal weapons or monsters to fight for you, and who knows what else. Alteration spells let you… well, alter yourself or something else around you. This can be to give yourself tougher skin, let you breathe underwater, or even make a ball of light to see better. Finally, we have Illusion Magic, which is actually a bit misleading, as it's primary use seems to be affecting people's behavior, making them more afraid, aggressive, or even calm."
It took a minute for Emilia to process everything, but after a minute, she nodded.
"And then we have Soul Magic," Subaru said. "They're magic from Gwyn's pantheon, and it's divided into four groups: Pyromancies, miracles, sorceries, and hexes. Pyromancies are basically this group's fire magic, from fireballs to explosions, created when the Witch of Izalith tried to recreate the First Flame, but failed miserably. They also have to be passed down from teacher to student. Miracles are spells directly from Gwyn, such as healing, lightning, and other holy stuff, and while his most faithful servants usually use them, anyone can, as long as they're built right. Sorceries were created by Seath the Scaleless, and are basically anything that doesn't fall into the previous two categories, such as shooting things, freezing things, weapon creation, and illusions. And hexes are basically a subcategory of sorceries, but taboo, mostly due to the fact that they're the most recent category, right after pyromancies. It's recommended that you don't go into hexes unless you explicitly know what you're doing, like me."
"Okay… I think I got that…" Was all Emilia could say, still trying to process that.
"Any other questions?" Subaru asked.
"Umm… I think that's enough magic lessons for now," Emilia was satisfied with the answers.
"Great, now off to wizard college!" That was the last thing that was said for the rest of the trip.
Authors' Note: A short chapter, but with a lot of juicy substance in it!
And we've got a bunch of lore drops! From Patches having been to multiple different worlds, Gwyn's dickishness, and magic! (It took a while to come up with how the Magic system would work in this combined setting, but we eventually decided to just incorporate all three as separate classifications of Magic based on their Origins and how they work. Please, tell us what you think of how we structured the Magic in this fic.)
5queso: Glad to see that you're liking the pace, along with the amount we have within each chapter, and the twists and turns we have provided in them. Speaking of twists, yeah, Patches has a heart, small as it is. The loot part was also Infinite's idea. Hope you enjoy this chapter, and we'll see you again next time! (I probably could have done the loot part better…)
Kifhjoofff: Sí, nuestro grupo es el equivalente mundial de los Teóricos de Juegos, y Subaru es su FNAF. (Dale algunos capítulos. La verdad será revelada).
And now, for the last bit of shilling…
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Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!
- Ernalore & Infinite the Celestian