The trip through the Monastery was uneventful, after that. The three students that had accompanied them had eventually split off, leaving Jeralt to lead them around. The man seemed to know exactly where they were heading, as he didn't even stop once to ask for directions.
Finally, they arrived at their destination. They walked in the room, a grand, circular audience chamber by the looks of it. In the back, two figures stood. One, a man with green hair, and a severe look on his face, only growing when he spotted Emiya himself.
The other was a woman, with a lighter shade of green hair, wearing an embroidered dress of black and gold. She was, objectively, beautiful. But that wasn't what Emiya focused on. It was how she felt.
No matter how much you could warp a form, no matter how small it may be, you couldn't hide what she was.
A Dragon.
He was tempted to shoot her right there and then. No good came from Phantasmals disguising as normal humans.
"Welcome, to Garreg Mach Monastery," the man said first, "I am Seteth, advisor to Lady Rhea."
"It's been a long while, Jeralt." The woman spoke with a kind smile towards the blonde. The blonde didn't seem fazed at all.
"Lady Rhea." He nodded towards her, "Much has happened over the years."
"So I see." Her eyes wandered to the shorter of the two that came with Jeralt, holding undisguised interest, "The joy of fatherhood has blessed you, has it not?"
"Yes," Jeralt nodded to the green haired woman, "I wish I could tell you of her mother, but I'm afraid we lost her many years ago due to illness."
Rhea took on a more somber look at the mercenary, "My condolences. I did not mean to open up old wounds." She sounded sincere enough that Emiya had a hard time deciphering if she really was, "But please, enough of that. What of you? I heard of your exploits from Alois, but he never mentioned your name." She had turned to the blue haired girl as she continued.
"Byleth." The girl in question took a moment to bow down to her waist, something that Seteth approved of, judging by his nod.
"A fine name indeed." Rhea continued to smile, but even that had turned just a bit wary as she turned to look at Emiya, "And you? Alois mentioned that you had assisted in the rescue, but he failed to mention any details."
"I'm nobody important." Emiya shrugged, but remained ready to strike her down should the need arise. He could plainly see the distrust in her eyes, and dragons were nothing if not temperamental in his experiences, "Just a nameless Archer."
Rhea stared at him for just a moment longer. Emiya slowly started to place his hands in his preferred shooting position, before Rhea nodded, "Then you have my thanks, nameless Archer. And you as well, Byleth, Jeralt. I greatly appreciate your efforts in saving those three." She trailed off expectedly, to which Jeralt gave a sigh.
"Let me guess, you're going to ask me to join the Knights of Seiros? I won't say I won't join, but…" A glance towards Byleth was all that was needed to confirm what he was thinking. Emiya scoffed. Jeralt was adamant, it seemed to him, to coddle his new Master.
"Your indecision stings, but it is not unexpected." She smiled sadly at Jeralt, before looking back towards Emiya, "My invitation extends to you as well, nameless Archer, as an extension of my gratitude."
Emiya barked out a laugh, "No thanks. I have no interest in joining your little cult."
Seteth stepped forward as anger swelled on his face, "Now see here-"
"Seteth, please." Rhea held out an arm to stop the man. Good. Had he attacked Emiya, the Archer would've cut him down where he stood, "Archer, why is it that you refer to us as a cult?" Her voice was now devoid of the kindness that she had before.
Emiya shrugged, "Your existence itself."
"I'm…afraid I don't understand."
"It's simple, isn't it?" Emiya motioned to Jeralt, who alongside with Byleth, was tensely watching the exchange, "I don't know anything about your country, or the religion you practice, but if your little organization has an entire military behind it, then that's nothing more than a way to force your own beliefs onto those that may not want it."
Now, Rhea actively frowned at him, "The Church does no such thing. The people are free to believe what they want."
"Do they really?" Emiya goaded, "You say you do, but all I can see are people being told what they should believe. What you think they should believe. Then, an implicit threat of violence should they go against you."
"Lady Rhea would never let such a thing happen!"
"She doesn't need to. The people you've indoctrinated already believe so." Emiya turned to leave, "You may not have set out to create a cult, but you've done so already." He walked towards the exit. Before leaving, he looked behind him towards Byleth and called out, "Find me when you're done, will you?"
"Com-"
The rest of the words were muffled behind the shut door.
The Archer was strange.
It was a thought that shamefully wouldn't leave Dimitri's thoughts. The man had assisted them in battle, injured as he was. But, as he watched the man stalk through the hallways of Garreg Mach, drawing eyes with his imposing figure, the thought continued to grate at him.
Dimitri stamped down on his suspicions. It would not do to look at a comrade in arms in such a negative light.
"Your Highness?"
"Ah, Dedue." Dimitri started at the voice, "Apologies, I let my mind wander. What was it you were saying?"
"I was merely asking if you were feeling alright after your ordeal." Dedue frowned as he stared at the blonde, "I suppose that was a foolish question. Shall I escort you to your quarters so that you may rest?"
"No need, no need." He waved off the worry from the white haired man, "Really, I was just lost in thought for a moment. It won't happen again."
"Of course, I apologize for the question." Dedue nodded.
"My friend," Dimitri frowned as he stared at the Archer unknowingly intimidating those he came across, "Is it just me, or is there something...familiar with that man?" He saw from the corner of his eye when his companion looked towards the Archer.
"I cannot say that I do." Dedue frowned as the man turned and stared directly at them. With a smirk, the Archer turned and left, off to who knows where, "Why is such a man even in Garreg Mach?"
Dimitri was startled at Dedue's comment. The polite, if quiet, Duscuri usually didn't speak out against anyone. To have him do so was strange, but oddly made him chuckle out loud. Said man looked at him in confusion.
"It's nothing, my friend." Dimitri stifled his laughter, "It's just humbling to see you express your sentiments like this."
The other man's eyes widened a fraction, "I apologize once more, I-" Dimitri waved him off, smile still present on his face.
It was there that he realized just what it was that bothered him about the Archer. And apparently, what bothered his most loyal companion as well.
He was perhaps the polar of Dedue.
The man had no loyalty to anyone, was condescending to the highest degree, completely rude to people he had just met, and was overall someone that his instincts told him to stay away from.
But it was the similarities that threw him off even more so than the differences. Had the Archer's skin just be a shade lighter, his hair just a tad longer, then him and Dedue would almost be a mirror image.
It was unnerving.
Regardless, Dimitri would not think of this too much. So long as the man didn't do anything untoward, he would treat him as he would any of his comrades.
…
Byleth's day passed in a blur. Meeting with so many people in just the span of a few hours was taxing on someone who was used to a more quiet setting. She would take a battlefield over this any day.
What's more, she had been basically shoved into the role of a professor, despite having no formal education. It was all the more nerve wracking to realize that the three individuals she'd fought with were that important in their positions.
While it was, in hindsight, obvious with all of the talk the three did, it was still a shock to realize that she'd now be teaching them.
Thankfully, or at least she hoped, she had both Hanneman and Manula to ask for advice should she need it.
She had already spoken to everyone she needed to, and was supposed to come back to the audience chamber to finalize her role. That is, she'd spoken to everyone she needed to according to the archbishop.
The blood red marks on her hand spoke otherwise.
"Oh, you're here." The dark skinned man spoke dispassionately, as he leaned near a windowsill nonchalantly.
"What are these?" Byleth didn't waste any time. They hadn't any privacy during the trip to the monastery, but now? She needed answers. Answers that the infuriating man in front of her most likely had.
"Command Seals, a mark of our roles as Master," He motioned to her, "and her humble Servant." He bowed mockingly.
"Humble is not the word I would use to describe him."
She held back from showing her surprise as the voice in her head spoke. Sothis, she said her name was. Byleth had had a dream of her on the day that the three students came into their camp. Then, she heard her voice once more during the bandit attack, just as the leader was about to strike her down.
She had offered Byleth a chance to rewrite time itself. To turn back the events so that Byleth wouldn't have to die for Edelgard. It was a deal that Byleth would've taken, had it not been for Archer.
Whatever he did to the bandit leader was more than enough to make the use of time alteration moot.
But had the side effect of having Sothis constantly complain about him whenever she wasn't tired.
More than once, Byleth questioned her own sanity.
"What does being a Master and Servant entail?"
Archer shrugged as she stared at him, "You provide me with mana, I kill anything you throw me against."
"Mana?" He had mentioned it before, but she still didn't know what mana was, let alone how to provide it. Archer frowned at her, and stared at her with unnervingly steel-colored eyes.
"How is it that you don't know what mana is?" Archer asked, "I know for a fact that magecraft exists here."
"We know of spells, but we don't use 'mana' for them."
"That's…" Archer looked the most frustrated that she'd seen him, to Sothis' delight if her laughter was anything to go by.
"Fine, I'll accept it for now." The man shrugged before his smirk returned in full, "At any rate, if you don't know what mana is, then you don't have to worry about it. Just know that you're providing me a healthy amount."
Byleth nodded, frown still on her face, "Why are you still here?" It was the second most important question that she had. The man was clearly not a fan of Garreg Mach, nor was he entirely welcome here with his comments towards the archbishop.
While the 'contract' they had was a likely reason, someone of his undeniable skill should be able to find a new 'Master' easily enough. He had, essentially, no good reason to stick around.
"Call it curiosity and leave it at that." He snorted, "I have a feeling that you're going to be involved in some shit, and I've got a front row seat to it. Why would I give it up now?"
He walked away, his form shimmering in blue particles, before disappearing. To anyone else, they would think that he used some invisibility spell, but for Byleth, she somehow knew he hadn't. She somehow knew that he had astralized, and that he was still there, watching her.
It was unnerving and terrifying at the same time.
A man like Archer was not someone to care for anyone. Having him watch over her like this, with no one but her the wiser, was more dangerous than trying to wrestle a bear empty handed.
Unfortunately, it didn't seem like she had a choice.
She walked back towards the audience chamber, unsatisfied with any of the answers she had been given. In time, she'd find out more, but for now, she had a meeting with Rhea.
Commissioned by: Oliver vasquez
A/N: If you like what I do and want to support me, check out my P-atreon at P-atreon•com(slash)Almistyor.
Thank you to my newest patron: Tassimo.
And a special thanks to: Oliver vazquez, brutalcrab and Tassimo. Thank you for all the support.