Snyderverse Neptunia Snippets

by Derald Snyder

Snippet 24- Sothis at Garreg Mach

*Byleth's Office*

"So that's the story..." Byleth muttered, looking down at the Sword of the Creator currently resting in his lap. "I knew Sothis was special from the way she could reverse time, but until that fateful court case, I had no idea..."

"Well, hopefully now you can see why I'm more than a little concerned about you wielding that sword," Blanc stated. "Still... you don't seem anything like the bandit king who murdered Sothis in her sleep, so that'll set my mind at ease a bit. By the way... that so-called orphan you took in, is she...?"

"...Yes, that's the same Sothis," Byleth affirmed. "After Miss Nagato was acquitted, Miss Ryghts and the Animenga goddess paid a visit to me and Sothis in my hospital room, and Lady Haruhi used a summoning ritual of sorts to give Sothis a corporeal form..."

"What, what?! What the hell was Haruhi doing there?!" Blanc gasped.

"I don't know the details, but I think she intervened to save John Smith when the operative from 'those who slither in the dark' attempted to take him hostage," Byleth responded.

"Oh, right. That makes sense, I guess. She did seem to have something of a crush on him," Blanc nodded in understanding. "But what did this summoning ritual entail?"

"Well, she said that any second-rate magus could've done it..." Byleth began. "Apparently it was used by mages to summon heroic spirits from history to do battle for them, or something... Anyway, since I've no talent for magic, I finally have a use for my mana reserves, for sustaining Sothis' form."

"So it's drawn from your mana, huh..." Blanc mused. "But even so, Sothis is still a ghost, which means she's not going to age... people are gonna start asking questions after a year or two when she's not growing any taller."

Byleth blinked at that. "...To be honest, Lady Blanc, I hadn't thought that far ahead yet. You have to understand, back when my old man and I were mercenaries, our only thoughts for the future were the next job, and if we had enough to get a meal or buy drinks. Not that I drank that much, mind you..."

"Fair enough," Blanc nodded. "But at least now I've put the idea in your head, so you can start thinking about it in the future..."

"Right, just... please don't tell Rhea or any of the staff about this," Byleth pleaded. "Not yet, anyway..."

"Alright, fine... I'll let you tell them on your own time," Blanc agreed.

*Back with Sothis and Rhea...*

"Cheesy Verona Stew, huh?" Sothis looked down at the bowl in front of her, taking the spoon in hand and taking a bite. "Hmm... I suppose it ranks a few notches above 'passable'."

"Well, Seteth and Flayn both like this, so I thought you would too," Rhea nodded, taking a few bites herself.

"Who are Seteth and Flayn?" Sothis inquired curiously.

"Oh, Seteth is the current headmaster to the military academy," Rhea expounded. "You might say he's almost like a brother to me... and Flayn is his younger sister. In fact, I believe that's her over there." Sothis followed Rhea's pointed finger, seeing a girl with full-bodied light green hair, styled into large curls that framed her face. She was dressed in the standard Garreg Mach student uniform, feasting on what appeared to be some cooked fish.

"That's quite the volume of fish she's consuming, isn't she?" Sothis observed.

"Oh, dear, she was supposed to be watching her diet," Rhea shook her head with a knowing smile. "Ah, and here comes Seteth..." From the opposite entrance came a man with green hair a shade or two darker than Flayn's, with a short trimmed beard but no mustache, dressed in a blue uniform with gold highlights and black boots.

"Flayn, don't you think that is a bit much for you to eat?" Seteth chastised as he walked up to his sister.

"Brother! Oh, ah..." Flayn colored slightly. "I might have grabbed a bit more of the fish than I intended. Perhaps I should store the rest in the refrigerator to be consumed later..."

"That would be a wise decision," Seteth nodded curtly. Turning, he recognized Rhea, making his way over to her... "Ah, Lady Rhea, I wasn't expecting to see you here. I assume your business with Lady Blanc has concluded?"

"Yes, but she wished to speak with Byleth before leaving," Rhea nodded.

"Ah, so Professor Eisner has returned?" Seteth responded. Eyeing Sothis, he inquired, "And who might this be?"

"An orphan that Byleth found and took in while he was teaching in Lowee City," Rhea replied. "Try not to be too surprised, but her name is Sothis."

"Sothis? She share the name of Lowee's founding CPU?" Seteth raised an eyebrow.

"So I've been told. Several times, in fact," Sothis said in an annoyed tone. "I hope none of you start thinking that I am said goddess reincarnated or something!"

"Oh, no, no, of course not," Rhea assured her. "That being said, even though you are still a child, I would hope that you would conduct yourself in a manner that honors your namesake."

"Hmph. You said that the goddess Sothis did not suffer fools gladly, so neither shall I," Sothis proclaimed. "If any of the students here dare to prank me, I shall give it right back to them. An eye for an eye, as they say!"

Seteth could only heave a resigned sigh at this. "I can already tell that this one is going to be quite the handful. I certainly hope the professor knows what he's getting himself into..."

"Well, we should do our best to support him," Rhea said. "Perhaps this is just what he needs to move on from his father's tragic death..."

"Indeed, Jeralt's loss was a heavy blow to us all," Seteth concurred grimly. "I am just glad that Byleth was able to channel his grief into assisting the Guild, instead of foolishly rushing off on his own..."

"So am I, or else I likely wouldn't even be here now," Sothis appended between bites of stew.

"Don't forget to chew," Rhea gently reprimanded. "Anyway, once we're done here, I was going to take her back to Byleth. Surely Lady Blanc should be almost finished speaking with him..." She frowned at the implications.

"Is she telling him the whole truth about Sitri?" Seteth asked concernedly.

"I... I managed to persuade her to leave out a few details," Rhea sighed. "I just hope Byleth doesn't think any less of me for this... he's all I have left now... of her..."

"Perhaps we shouldn't speak of such things in front of this one," Seteth indicated Sothis. "Please, pay no mind to what you just heard. It is... a personal matter for Lady Rhea."

"Whatever," Sothis shrugged, digging back into her cheesy stew.

*Snippet 24- End*

A/N: So, this is the end for now, but I might write another snippet about this in the future... We'll see what happens.