Rhajat was a woman of her word. While she struggled a bit, she managed to create a good luck talisman for Ashe. All she had to do was find him and deliver it. After some searching, she found him in the cathedral. He seemed to have more color on his face than last time. He looked like he was doing better than last time, which did make her smile a bit.
She quietly walked towards him. "Hey." She greeted.
Ashe turned around and smiled. "Hi Rhajat." He didn't seem as tense as he was last time. He then looked her up and down. "Huh, I see you've changed your uniform."
"Mhm." She was now wearing a purple cape like article on her shoulder, not too different from the other house leaders. There were also a few holes in her sleeves and gold accessories not too dissimilar to her casual wear. "Yeah, Forrest made it for me. Anyway... are you holding up okay?" She asked with concern.
Ashe's smile faded, his expression becoming a bit more neutral. "Y-yes. I'm doing fine." He didn't seem to be lying, but it was still clearly affecting him.
Rhajat nodded in response. "That's good. Well... here." Rhajat put her hands out, revealing the talisman. "It should make things a bit better. It'll increase your luck going forward. Who knows, maybe it'll save you in battle."
Ashe looked a bit surprised. "What's this for? Not that I'm complaining, but we haven't really spoken much..."
Rhajat realized that it did probably look a bit odd to him. But she didn't falter. "I just... wanted to help you feel a bit better." She started blushing.
Ashe perked up. "That's... very kind of you Rhajat." He took the talisman, and placed it in his pocket. "Thank you, I appreciate this a lot."
Rhajat nodded. "Don't mention it. We've both got to get around to our missions though. So I'll see you around."
"Right, stay safe yourself Rhajat!" Ashe said cheerfully.
Rhajat smiled at him and left. She needed to find her professor and get ready for the mission. She was at least glad that she could help out Ashe. They weren't really friends, but Rhajat didn't want anyone to suffer as badly as he was. Even if her mind knew the truth, it didn't help that her heart felt a bit responsible for what happened. Regardless, she needed to focus on the task at hand.
Byleth walked out of the room with Rhea, and quickly came across Rhajat.
Rhajat had overheard the conversation between them. "So we're going to the kingdom?"
Byleth nodded in confirmation.
"Hm. This Miklan has a hero's relic. This will be difficult." Rhajat noted. She was a bit nervous, as aside from the time in abyss with Balthus, she had never fought someone with a hero's relic. And even then, he mentioned it didn't technically count as one. She wasn't sure if that meant that the lance of ruin was going to be even harder to stop.
"Having my sword might help." Byleth looked down at it. "Like Seteth said, the sword of the creator can stop any relic."
"I do remember hearing that." While Rhajat was still not sure how Byleth could use it, she had no choice but to trust in her. "Well we'll be counting on you."
Byleth nodded again. "Of course. I won't let anything happen to you all."
Rhajat wasn't sure where that confidence came from, but she supposed potentially having the literal goddess inside of herself played a part. "Right. I believe Professor Hannerman was looking for you. You should probably meet up with him."
"Alright, I'll do that. afterwards we'll set out for the kingdom." Byleth proceeded to walk off to find her coworker, leaving Rhajat.
"You could probably use your powers more efficiently. I doubt our enemies are going to retreat." Azura said. She wasn't the biggest fan of killing her enemies, but she understood that there were times it was necessary.
"That's true." Rhajat agreed. "Those bastards won't know what hit them." She started giggling softly, before returning to her classroom to wait for Byleth.
Later, after a bit of a trek, the class found themselves in front of a giant black tower. It ominously stood tall in front of them.
"This must be the place." Rhajat said. Upon further inspection, she noticed the beginnings of a storm.
"So Miklan must be inside..." Shiro added. "Let's take this asshole down!"
Corrin nodded in agreement. "Right."
Gilbert stepped closer to the rest of the class. "This won't be easy. This tower was designed for surveillance as well as defense. This area was actually the site of a massive battle several hundred years ago when invasions from the north were at their peak."
"That's right, you're from the kingdom..." Rhajat remembered.
"I left my home long ago. If you have any questions about the mission, I'd be happy to answer them." Gilbert offered.
"Do you know anything about our target Miklan?" Byleth asked.
"House Gautier has always placed great importance on whether or not someone bears a Crest. Margrave Gautier has two sons. A Crest never manifested for his eldest. It's not hard to imagine why he left and wound up in this sort of life."
"And the younger one is Sylvain... maybe it's good he doesn't have to see this..." Rhajat hadn't talked to him much, and given what she had seen and heard of him she wasn't sure if she had any intention of changing that, but she still felt bad for him.
"Oh don't worry too much dearie." Camilla added. "The two weren't particularly close. I don't know all the details, but he doesn't seem to be too upset."
"How did you know that?" Corrin asked with a tilt of the head.
"Oh, he came onto me and we talked a bit." She explained. "I mentioned our next mission and he told me about that."
"Damn, cold." Asugi noted. "Something really messed up must have happened between them..." Asugi was a bit curious about what that was.
"Yeah..." Corrin agreed. "I've seen how close my family is and... uh never mind. Point is, I know siblings fight and all, but to be so indifferent on whether they live or die..." Corrin found herself a bit conflicted.
"Anyway, we should get going." Rhajat told everyone. "If this place is as hard to get into as Gilbert says, we shouldn't wait around."
"Man, this place is so tall..." Velouria complained.
"I mean, it IS a tower." Caeldori replied.
The class continued their trek up the building, which was quieter than any of them would have expected. They expected the entire place to be filled with bandits. They held their weapons close and kept their guards up just in case. They wouldn't be shocked if someone were to attack them from nowhere. Byleth at the very least had divine pulse if that went south, unbeknownst to the students. But considering that she didn't know what to expect, she'd rather keep her uses up.
This got Byleth thinking about the abilities Rhajat showed off during their time in abyss. The water magic seemed powerful, but it wasn't something she was familiar with. She wondered if it had something to do with Lethe, and it just wasn't common in Fodlan. Sothis had a feeling that it might go a bit deeper than that though.
"I would ask Rhajat about that now, but it's probably better to do it when the other students aren't around." She mumbled to Sothis.
"Indeed." Sothis agreed. "I am still rather curious myself."
Byleth and Sothis couldn't help but wonder if there was some other bit of common Fodlan knowledge that'd push them in the right direction. It felt as if they were asking the wrong questions, but they also didn't know what the right questions were. They didn't want to risk telling the wrong person, which could put them in a bad spot. However, the idea that the truth was staring them in the face was also frustrating to Sothis.
"You seem a bit annoyed Sothis." Byleth told her, feeling her emotions.
"I just wish we knew more." She said. "I so desperately wish to know my origins..."
"We'll find them, don't worry." Byleth reassured. She wouldn't rest until she found out about Sothis. Not just for her, but it also may answer some questions about Byleth herself. However, she was more concerned about helping her small friend.
"Thank you..." Sothis said. "I... do appreciate that. Then again, I suppose it's the least you can do considering all the help I've given you."
"I suppose so. Thank you Sothis." Byleth replied genuinely.
"Hm, it's always nice when you show respect."
"Everything okay Professor?" Forrest asked. "You're lagging behind a bit."
Byleth hadn't noticed that until Forrest pointed it out. She supposed it was good so she could talk to Sothis without the others noticing. She was a bit too focused on the conversation it seemed.
"Don't grow complacent Byleth." Sothis scolded.
"I'm fine, thank you for asking." Byleth replied.
Forrest smiled at her. He then looked her up and down with a thoughtful look on his face. Before Byleth could question it, he spoke up. "You know, I really like your style. I consider myself confident, I love my fashion sense, but I don't think I could wear that. You rock it."
Byleth nodded in response. "Thank you. I never really... thought much about my outfit. It's just my clothing."
"Wow, I'm a bit envious." Forrest admitted. "I'm always thinking about how to look as cute as I can."
"Huh." Byleth seemed a bit surprised. "You always look so effortlessly adorable Forrest." While it wasn't something Byleth thought about a lot for herself, she knew cute when she saw it.
Forrest smiled, his cheeks turning a bit red. "Well thank you! I'm happy that you think so!" Forrest was absolutely aware how cute he was, confidence wasn't something foreign to him. However, it didn't make being told that his efforts were paying off any less special.
Byleth nodded, glad that he was happy. "Just being honest."
"But anyway, we should catch up with the others, come on!" Forrest grabbed her wrist and pulled her up to the rest of the class.
"There you are, Professor!" Selkie exclaimed.
Caeldori looked towards Byleth. "Are you feeling okay? We need you at 100% for the mission."
Byleth nodded. "Yes, thank you for your concern."
"Your students seem to care about you too, Byleth." Sothis said teasingly.
"Hm... I guess so." She responded under her breath. She was glad that the feeling seemed to be mutual, considering that she enjoyed being the teacher to the dragons.
After a bit more walking, the party came across a bunch of thieves who seemed to have been waiting for them. They weren't quite at the top of the tower, but they figured Miklan would be waiting for them.
"The enemy is close by." Gilbert warned everyone.
"We're almost done, let's clean up this trash!" Rhajat exclaimed.
Caeldori was the first to move, as she dashed forward on her pegasus. Two axe using rogues ran towards her. Caeldori dodged one, but the other knew where she would dodge to and smashed her with his weapon. Forrest rushed over to her side and shot a fireball at one of the rouges right before healing her. Shiro arrived and stabbed at the other. Rhajat shot a water ball into the air, and it rained down onto the opposition. It didn't seem to hurt, but it did seem to make them more sluggish. One rouge lifted his axe, but Byleth grabbed his wrist with her sword. She swung him at the other rogue, and Forrest finished them off with a fireball.
"You seem to have good synergy." Gilbert complimented.
"Thank you." Byleth replied.
The team progressed forward, but before they could find any more opponents, they heard something from behind.
"The captain's in trouble, hurry up you fools!"
"Enemies approach from the lower floors! Watch the rear flank!" Gilbert exclaimed as he turned around to take them on. "Allow me to handle these ruffians. The rest of you move on."
"You sure you'll be okay?" Corrin asked.
"Leave it to an old pro." Gilbert remarked before running off.
"Hm, well I can't let him have all the fun." Camilla said before she flew off behind him.
There was a sword user guarding a chest, who ran towards them. On the other side was a mage who was also coming. Selkie ran towards the mage and took a magic hit. She didn't look any worse for wear, she then proceeded to grab them between her teeth and shake her head as if she were a dog. She threw them into the air, then donkey kicked them away. Velouria managed to block an attack from a sword user, then took the sword and threw it away. The rogue stared at her for a few seconds, before Velouria grabbed him and threw him into a pillar. She followed up with a slice of her claws, sending him flying away.
Asugi walked towards the chest and lock picked it, revealing an armorslayer. "Hm, not bad."
"Should we head back to check on Gilbert and Camilla?" Shiro asked.
"Leave it to me!" Selkie exclaimed. She turned around and ran back to check on their allies. The rest of the team walked forward, seemingly in a safe spot. Forrest checked for wounds, but everyone seemed to be holding up well. Before they reached the next opponent, Selkie had returned.
"They're still fighting, but they told me to come back!" She explained.
"Damn, they're troopers." Rhajat said impressed.
"If they're holding the line back there, we can't afford to wait. Let's go." Caeldori suggested.
Up ahead of them was a mage and a sword wielding rogue.
"I'll take this one!" Asugi brandished his shuriken and threw it at the mage. It landed in the mages arm, making him wince in pain. The sword approached him, but Corrin dashed to Asugi's side and blocked a sword swing with her own. She kicked him in his stomach, knocking the air out of him. Asugi sliced upward on the mage defeating him, and Corrin jump slashed the enemy, defeating them as well.
"We're nearing the top it seems." Rhajat noted.
Byleth noticed two archers up ahead. "Caeldori, send your pegasus off." She commanded.
Caeldori nodded and did as told. As they inched closer, an axe charged for them as the archers started firing. Forrest shot two bits of magic at him, and Shiro jumped and threw his lance at the axe, stopping them in their tracks before they fell over. Byleth started swinging her sword around to block the arrows, while Forrest, Corrin, and Rhajat tried to pick them off with magic. Eventually, they went down like all the rest. With only a few enemies standing between them and Miklan, they steeled themselves.
Caeldori called her pegasus back, and she flew towards the axe and two swords. Rhajat blasted water onto the floor making them stumble. Caeldori flew around the three of them and took shots at them. Corrin transformed and tackled all three, knocking them away.
They could see Miklan staring them down, waiting for them to approach. He had a deep scowl on his face. He also was taunting the group by gesturing for them to come closer with the lance. Guarding him were two axes and two archers. Just like Miklan, they were ready to fight.
Both axe users rushed them. Forrest was hit by one before he could react, and the other hit Byleth. Byleth managed to take the hit better, and retaliated with her sword. Rhajat shot magic at the other, hoping to get the attention off of Forrest. He healed with a vulnerary thanks to the opening.
Asugi prepared his shuriken and jumped into the air. "Piece of cake!" He exclaimed before throwing it at the perfect spot to instantly defeat the rogue. Shiro stabbed at the other, but the remaining rogue managed to dodge. He retaliated with an axe swing that Shiro dodged as well. Corrin ran up to them and attacked with her sword, making contact this time. She attempted to attack again, but an archer shot an arrow into her arm. She winced in pain, but Forrest healed her.
Velouria ran towards the axe wielder and sliced at him. With him distracted, Selkie ran past everyone and went for the archers. Byleth ran after her to make sure she'd be okay, given how close she was getting to Miklan. Rhajat pulled out her lance and encased it in ice, then slammed it against the rogue, defeating them.
Selkie was hit by a few arrows, but managed to tackle one of the archers. Byleth shot magic at the other, then followed up with her sword. She ran closer to the archer and sliced at them, while Selkie rolled into the other archer. The archer barely held on, but Caeldori flew into the fray with her lance and finished it off. She then quickly charged towards the other, and finished them too, leaving only Miklan.
"So, you think you can take the lance from me, huh? I'll kill you... I'll kill every last one of you!" He exclaimed.
Miklan spun the lance and immediately went for Selkie. She was knocked away, and Caeldori rushed to her side to cover her. Miklan winced in pain before he rushed to follow up, but was blown away by an attack from Rhajat. Forrest ran towards Selkie and quickly healed her. Selkie looked up and grinned at Miklan before running back to him. He aimed his spear and got ready, but was interrupted by a slice of Byleth's sword. Selkie grabbed him with her teeth and threw him. As he recovered, Asugi ran up to him and sliced him with his shuriken, but wasn't fast enough to dodge a counter attack. Miklan stabbed him, prompting Asugi to stagger, holding his side in pain. He pulled back his lance to follow up, but Velouria embraced Asugi and took the hit for him. The lance pierced her back, causing her to cringe in pain. Shiro and Byleth both ran towards Miklan, the former stabbing him and the latter slicing his back. Forrest ran towards the duo and healed them both while the others had Miklan distracted.
"Don't be so stupid Asugi!" Velouria complained.
"Sorry... Thanks for the save." He said sheepishly.
"You were both pretty reckless..." Forrest reprimanded.
Miklan spun with his lance in order to get some heat off of himself. Corrin stabbed him in the front while Rhajat shot magic into his back. Miklan fell down onto one knee, he then stood back up while breathing heavily. He smirked. "Not bad for your kind... A bunch of spoiled rotten children."
Suddenly, the stone inside the lance started glowing. Black energy started coming out of it and started wrapping itself around Miklan. "What the hell!?" The dark energy kept covering up his body before it fully engulfed him. The black energy grew until it started taking shape. A large claw was the first to form. It slammed into the ground. Then a large tail, then the rest of the body, revealing some sort of dragon-like beast. It roared as saliva fell from his mouth.
"What... what the hell!?" Rhajat exclaimed. She noticed the similarity between it and the worm they fought. She wondered if that beast was also once human. "Is this because of the crest stone!? ...I can't say I was fond of him, but we can't leave him like this, let's end this quickly!"
It was then that Gilbert and Camilla caught up with the others. Gilbert stared at the monster in shock while Camilla gasped.
"We need all the help we can get!" Corrin yelled at them.
"Do you see those barriers? We need to destroy those." Byleth explained.
She pulled out her sword and wrapped it around the beast's mouth. The beast pulled and shook, but Byleth dug in her heels.
Selkie dashed towards the monster and started attacking one of the barriers. The beast lifted his claw, and slammed it down. Selkie nearly dodged it, but he managed to catch her tail. He escaped Byleth's grasp and started charging a fireball. Velouria jumped in and punched the monster's foot, making him lift it. Selkie quickly scurried off, and Velouria jumped away as well. The beast released his fireball at Velouria, but Caeldori took the hit. She nearly flew off her pegasus, not expecting it to hit as hard as it did.
After some healing, Forrest and Corrin shot magic at the barrier that Selkie damaged. Rhajat sent water into the sky that fell on top of him. While it didn't do any damage, it did soften him up. Asugi shot his shuriken to do a bit of damage as well as debuffing the enemy. The monster shot another blast that was destroyed by Shiro's spear. He then threw it at the barrier, nearly breaking it, then Camilla flew into the fight and slammed her axe down on the monster.
The beast howled in pain before attempting to slam Camilla with his claw. Gilbert lifted his lance under him, causing the monster to slam down onto it and lift its paw back up. Camilla blasted it with thunder magic, as Rhajat closed in on it with a frozen lance. The monster seemed to nearly fall, before standing back up seemingly ready to go for another round with any damage done to its barrier healed.
"Ugh, seriously!?" Rhajat complained.
Corrin transformed into a dragon and spun her tail into the beast's face. She then faced her back towards the ground and slammed herself onto the monster's other claw, and his other barrier in the front. Camilla slammed her axe down on his claw again, and Shiro stabbed it as well. The beast started to prepare another fireball, this time at Shiro. Rhajat shot the ball with her own magic, making it explode. Shiro was pushed back, but unharmed, while the monster took a bit of damage.
Forrest shot his magic at the monster while Selkie and Velouria tackled him. The monster lost his footing, and Caeldori took advantage of the opportunity to strike, ruining its balance further. Asugi fired his Shuriken, and the monster fell onto its side. It was still conscious, but they were making progress.
Gilbert stabbed the barrier while Byleth swung her sword at it. The barrier vanished, leaving the monster dazed on his side. Everyone started attacking, from physical strikes to magical strikes, the beast's health was dropping fast. Just when he seemed to be down for the count, he stood up once again.
"How many times are you gonna do that!?" Shiro exclaimed in frustration.
The beast looked upward and started charging again. It released the attack, launching a bunch of fire balls into the air. The fire rained down, and started landing on the party. Everyone took damage from the attack, putting them all in a bad position. Byleth knew that Forrest couldn't heal everyone. While it was possible to get out of this situation, she wasn't sure if she wanted to take that risk. She felt she had no choice but to use divine pulse.
The beast looked upward and started charging again. Byleth ran closer to the monster and wrapped her sword around his mouth again. However, he dodged it seemingly learning from the last time she tried that. The attack launched, and the team were put back in the same position.
"What a waste..." She lamented. She wondered if she should try again, but she wasn't sure what else she could do to stop the attack. She guessed she could go back even further, but it'd also undo a bit of their progress, and she didn't know how much further they had to go.
Regardless, Forrest drank a vulnerary and attempted to heal everyone as fast as he could. Byleth slashed her whip sword at the monster in an attempt to distract him while he healed everyone. The monster bit at Byleth, but she managed to dodge the attack. She kicked the monster in the nose, making him angrier. She then swiped upward, causing more damage. The monster smacked his head into Byleth, sending her flying away. She managed to regain her balance before landing. She then started running back to him to keep up the pressure.
The first thing the beast did with the opening was firing an attack Rhajat's way. Forrest hadn't gotten around to helping her yet. Before it could make contact though, Corrin ran to Rhajat's side. She transformed and jumped in the way of the attack, pushing them both back. Corrin hadn't been healed yet either, so she barely hung on. It was as if time itself came to a crawl as Rhajat watched Corrin take a hit meant for her. She untransformed, lying on top of Rhajat who was holding her up.
"Corrin!" Rhajat exclaimed.
"Rhajat..." Corrin replied. "Are... you okay?"
"Who cares, what about you!?" She asked frantically.
"I'll... be okay. Keep fighting." Corrin forced out.
Rhajat took a deep breath. "Right... You better not die on me." she placed Corrin on the ground before staring at the monster. The monster began to charge another attack, and blasted it at Rhajat. Suddenly, she was encased in a sort of shell, and once it subsided she was once again in her dragon form.
"Let's do it Rhajat, I'm with you." Azura said.
Rhajat inhaled and started breathing blue fire on the monster. The monster tried walking through the flames, but eventually all four barriers succumbed. The monster was stunned, and Rhajat rushed him. She dug her claws into the monster's side as she flew by, then turned around and did so on the other side. She flew behind the monster and put her claws into the tail, then ran them through its back. She flew higher up, and her body became encased in water. She dive bombed towards the monster, the closer she got the more intense the waves became. She landed on the monster's head, smashing it into the ground. He came to and started quickly shooting at Rhajat. One of the attacks hit Rhajat, pushing her back.
Rhajat shot fireballs at the other projectiles, creating dust that made it difficult to see. Despite that, Rhajat knew where her target was. She once again flew to the tail and dug her claws into it. But instead of running it through, she gripped it and started flapping her wings as hard as she could. She flew into the air and spun him, then dropped the beast. It quickly fell down to the ground, landing on its back. Rhajat flew in front of her allies, turned her back to them, and flapped her wings again. Waves of water started flowing towards the enemy and engulfed him. He was swept off onto a lower floor, and Rhajat wasted no time in catching up. Before he hit the ground, Rhajat landed under him and started breathing fire on him again, destroying his barrier once more.
She moved out of the way and allowed him to hit the ground. She grabbed him by the stomach and started running him vertically into the wall. When she reached the top again, she let him go, and he flew off. She flew upward and over him, then dive bombed him again. She kept moving faster as the two of them descended, and they both crashed into the ground, leaving a crater and making the entire building shake. Point blank on the enemy, she started breathing fire on him again.
She kept going until she ran out of breath, but she wasn't satisfied. She had to kill him either way, but she wasn't going to let someone who hurt Corrin to such a degree get away with it. She started circling around the enemy, water started building up. It rose and rose, creating a small typhoon. The monster was flung around inside of it, hitting the interior over and over again. She then flew past him, digging her claws into him once more slicing at him every time she flew by. The darkness surrounding the monster appeared again, and started leaving its body, leaving only Miklan and the lance. They both fell down and hit the ground, Miklan showing no more signs of life. Rhajat flew downward towards Corrin and returned to her human form. No one could take their eyes off of her. There was a bit of a tense silence, but Rhajat didn't care. All she cared about was whether or not Corrin was okay. She couldn't handle the idea of anyone, especially Corrin, dying on her watch.
"Corrin, Corrin are you okay!?" Rhajat asked.
"She'll be fine, Rhajat." Forrest spoke up. "She just needs some time to rest, that was a pretty heavy blow she took."
Camilla eyed Rhajat intently, which the latter didn't notice. She then smiled. "She's a keeper." She thought to herself.
Gilbert looked up at the corpse and the weapon. "Goddess... The beast is gone, yet Miklan and the Lance remain."
"We won in the end." Asugi noted. "We should get out of here." Asugi walked over to Rhajat and crouched down. "You heard him. She'll be fine. Let's go."
Rhajat looked up at him. She hesitated, then nodded.
The return to the monastery was a bit quiet, as far as Rhajat was concerned. While Shiro was gushing about how they managed to pull off a win, and Forrest was a bit concerned about Miklan's transformation, Rhajat was more worried about Corrin. She was being carried by Camilla who also insisted that she was fine. Yet, Rhajat couldn't help but worry. She found herself filled with anger, not just at Miklan for hurting her, but at herself for letting it happen. She felt that if she wasn't fine, it was on her head. And she wasn't sure if she could handle that.
"Corrin... please be okay."
She wasn't sure why this was bothering her so much. She knew that if any of her friends were hurt she'd be upset, but the feelings in her heart felt different. The worry she was feeling, despite the evidence to the contrary, was abnormal. She supposed it could just be because she was blaming herself. Regardless, all she could do was wait.
Once they arrived at the monastery, Byleth immediately left to report to Rhea.
Asugi put his hand on Rhajat's shoulder and smiled. "Come on Rhajat, take it easy. We won, and Corrin will be fine."
"I guess..." Rhajat mumbled.
"The important thing is that we all made it out okay." He began. "Plus, you kicked some serious ass."
Normally the idea would fill Rhajat with glee, but she wasn't in the best mood at the moment. "I just... needed revenge for hurting her..."
"Ha, just another reminder to never get on your bad side." Asugi snarked. "You know, Corrin's pretty damn lucky."
Rhajat raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
Asugi smiled softly. "To have a friend like you. You make it so obvious how much you care about her."
Rhajat started blushing as her eyes widened. She looked away in embarrassment. "I... yeah..."
"You care about all of us, I know. But Corrin seems special..." Asugi started rubbing his chin in thought.
Rhajat looked at him in confusion. "Special... how?"
Asugi shrugged. "You'd know more than me. It's just, the way you look at her seems different from how you look at the rest of us."
Rhajat looked even more confused, then looked like she was lost in thought. She supposed Asugi was right. Corrin was special to her, she made her happy, she made her heart race, seeing her smile filled her with euphoria. She wanted to say it had something to do with her promise to protect her smile, to make sure she was always happy. She knew it was because she never wanted to see her sad again, but she wasn't sure why that bothered her so much. It wasn't the first time she'd seen someone sad, and wouldn't be the last. She knew it had something to do with how kind Corrin was, but even then she figured there had to be something more than that.
Suddenly, she started blushing again, and her eyes widened once more in realization. She placed her hands on her cheeks. "I... I need to go. See you later Asugi."
She quickly walked away, nearly running. Asugi tilted his head. "Did she... seriously not know? I was teasing her..."
To Rhajat, it was so obvious in hindsight. The only explanation for why she felt so strange around Corrin. She loved her, and not just as a friend. She wanted to be more than friends. She wasn't sure how Corrin felt, but right now it didn't matter. What mattered is that Corrin has done so much for her. She saved her life, and she'd been a great friend to her. She owed her her life in return.
Rhajat found herself back in the classroom. She was a bit surprised she had never thought of it before. It all made sense to her now. She knew she needed to let her know that her life wasn't just her's anymore. It was also Corrin's. She'd do anything for the one she loved. She then sighed. She wasn't sure if it was right to love Corrin. She wasn't sure if she deserved to love Corrin. However, there wasn't much she could do about it. All she could do was ride it out.
"Rhajat?"
The house leader looked up and saw her teacher walking in. "Professor... are you done talking with Lady Rhea?"
Byleth nodded.
"I see..." Rhajat's head was still a bit messed up, but she couldn't really talk to Byleth about it. She figured she wouldn't know what to do, and she didn't want to give her another student relationship issue to worry about right after the problem with Corrin and Shiro was resolved. She decided to talk about something else that was on her mind. "That Miklan... what happened was because he was crestless, and had that lance."
"Yeah, that seems to be the case." Byleth only really knew that after talking to Rhea, she supposed Rhajat caught on quickly.
"I can get the logic that people want crests. They seem powerful. But Miklan... he lost everything because of his lack of it. That doesn't seem fair..." Rhajat still didn't like him, but he only ended up the way he did because of his lack of crest.
"No one deserves to end up like that." Byleth said.
Rhajat grunted in agreement. "Why are these damn things more valuable than actual lives? Lethe is far from a utopia but... I'm glad I grew up there and not here." Rhajat thought back to what Edelgard asked her, about crests. She still wasn't sure why she was asked that, but she wouldn't have been shocked if she was envious of her having to grow up without them.
"They're descended from Sothis..." Byleth mumbled.
"I can't help but wonder why I'd... do this. Then again, I suppose past me had no way of knowing how they'd end up..." Sothis mused.
"Right. Don't blame yourself." Byleth reassured.
"If I may ask Professor..." Rhajat began. "Has Sothis regained any memories?" She at least assumed she was suffering from amnesia if they were looking for information about her.
"Well, Sothis?" Byleth asked.
"Mm... not particularly but... I feel the idea that I'm the goddess herself is starting to sound more... believable I suppose. I have no inkling if that's due to me thinking about it, or memories resurfacing..." Sothis explained.
"She said not really, but she feels that she actually could be the goddess." Byleth paraphrased.
"I see..." Rhajat still wasn't sure what to make of her professor housing the goddess of Fodlan. Though she supposed it wasn't too different from her own situation. "If there's anything I can do to help, let me know." Rhajat admittedly still felt guilty about what happened, so she supposed the least she could do is support the two in their endeavor.
"Thank you. I'll be sure to let you know if we think of anything."
Rhajat nodded before walking off. At the very least it distracted her from thinking about her crush on Corrin. Things at the monastery were getting more and more complicated, and she wasn't sure if she could handle it all. Despite that, she was going to do everything she could.
