"We need to talk," Ingrid said. Standing beside her were the rest of the team aside from Claude and Yuri.

Claude sighed. "Fair enough. What is it that you need to say?"

"We've been thinking about what you two did back at Fort Geller," Ingrid said. "And there's something we need to talk about."

"I don't want to make assumptions," Claude said. "What exactly are you upset about?"

"We are understanding why you two did decide on the choice that you did," Petra said. "When you are being an authority figure, you are not always going to be having the…" she paused, trying to think of the word. "Rare or expensive comfort?"

"Luxury," Ashe supplied helpfully.

"Luxury, of a choice that is good for everyone," Petra continued. "Often you are having several bad choices to choose from, and must be choosing the one you can live with."

"And you realize that what you did wasn't something to be proud of," Felix said. "But there was still one problem."

"What problem?" Yuri asked.

"You acknowledged that you abused Geller and Simon's trust," Ingrid said. "But you didn't just abuse theirs. You abused our trust too. What if you had been caught? That would have put us in the position of having to kill our way out. Plus, sure, we don't die easy, but anything could happen. If you're going to risk all of us like that, don't you think we should get a say?"

"Back in Akkala, an innocent man died because you didn't trust your teammate," Felix added. "Yes, this time it was different. Geller wasn't so innocent, and you didn't try to dodge responsibility for it this time. And maybe in this case none of us could have presented a better option. But it still doesn't seem like you trust your team."

"Hey, that's not true. I trust you," Claude tried to protest.

"Trust goes both ways, Claude," Ashe added. "And I can only guess why you decided to involve Yuri when my stealth skills are better than his. But if you can't even make a case to us that your idea is the best course of action, then maybe you shouldn't do it."

Claude bit his lip. "You're right. The only excuse I can make is that before Hyrule, I had never had a team. I've always made choices like this myself, usually with me being the only one involved. I only involved Yuri because the fewer people who know a secret, the lower the chance of it getting out."

"You'll have to take that chance," Raphael said. "You're part of a team now. Act like it."

"I promise, I won't make a big decision like this again without talking to you guys about it first unless I have to on the spur of the moment," Claude promised.

"Well, it looks like that's that, let's head on to bed," Yuri said. "I'm—"

"Oh, no. You're not off the hook either, wise guy," Hapi said. "Claude's having trouble adjusting to not being a solo act anymore. But what's your excuse?"

Yuri paused. "You're going to think this is patronizing, but it was for your own good."

"Don't give me that sh—" Hapi tried to say, but Yuri cut her off. "You only feel insulted because the only times you've ever killed were in battle. You've never made the choice to kill someone in cold blood like that, and I pray to Sothis and Hylia and every other god and goddess in heaven that you never have to, because I have, and I know that it changes you in a way you can't ever take back. I'm not ashamed of locking you out of the loop. I've done a lot of terrible things, and that is not one of the ones I regret."

"That's not for you to decide, Yuri," Ingrid said. "We don't care if you think it's 'for our own good.' If you want to be the designated person to murder on our behalf, fine. But you don't get to just decide it's in our best interests. You have to convince us it is before you do it. Is that clear?"

Yuri took several seconds to respond. "Yes," he ground out.

"Let's hope so," Ingrid said. "Because otherwise, we'll have to part ways."


"I'm surprised this was that easy," Kronya said.

"Those under the banner of the Boar are not known for ironclad loyalty," Cato said. "Of Nemesis's lords, some serve him out of fear, others because he allows them to do as they please, because they hope someday they might number among the Elites, or because they have been deceived by Epimenides's divine guise. Amador was of the last group, the only one of the four that can truly be called loyal. For the time being. When Epimenides sees no more use for Nemesis, he will turn on him, and his worshippers with him."

"He'll discard a weapon as effective as Nemesis so quickly?" Kronya asked.

"For now, Epimenides's priority is ending Sothis's lineage," Cato said. "But when that is done, he will not allow the Crest of Flames to exist for long. Other Crests can be allowed to persist, but not that one. And even if that were not so, a boar cannot be tamed. Nemesis will not abide a threat to his dominance like the resurgence of the Agarthan Empire."

Cato directed Kronya's eyes to one of Nemesis's banners that had not yet been burned, the stylized head of a wild boar above the Crest of Flames. "It is a fitting symbol, is it not? Powerful, yes, but solitary, mercurial, blindly territorial. He chose a symbol more apt than he knew."

"Or maybe he thinks those traits are good things," Kronya suggested.

"That may be," Cato mused. "But the boar does not ponder its existence, and if my assessment of Nemesis's character is correct, neither does he."

"You're an interesting person, Cato," Kronya said. "I can't imagine there are many Agarthans who would openly fight alongside Seiros."

"Could have gone badly, but I had to do it," Cato said. "There are no lessons to be learned from revisionist history but one: those who don't understand the past are doomed to repeat it. Epimenides doesn't care about the truth of the Agarthan war. The Agarthan Empire had reached its twilight even before they declared war on Sothis. But to him, it was still a shining utopia. If he wins this war, he will try to rebuild it. But even with all his power, he will fail, and it will become something worse than it ever was. Something unspeakable."

"But Seiros is different," Kronya ventured.

"Seiros's memory of Zanado may be more rosy than the truth of it," Cato said. "I can't say for certain. But she isn't blind. She understands that without their goddess, she and her kin cannot return to how it was. She understands the need for a new path forward."

"Still, it must have taken courage to talk to her," Kronya ventured.

Cato shrugged. "At the end of the day, ideology is all we have to define us. If you aren't willing to go to risk everything for what you believe in, you believe in nothing. The worst things you can be are a coward or a hypocrite."

"And what led to you coming up with this ideology?" Kronya asked.

"That I will not tell you," Cato said.


I tried to write a third post-battle conversation here, but it just didn't feel right. To make up for the characterization, next chapter will be told from Linkle's POV.

I don't want to overuse Cato, but I feel it's important to sort of establish his ideology early on, so later I can show just how far he's willing to take it. I promise it will be a decent while before his next bit of waxing philosophical.