Chapter 22: Lessons learned

Dimitri's back hit the ground with a thud, the prince rested his hand on his chest where the spell had struck him. It hadn't looked like much, merely a small white orb no bigger than a pea, however it felt like he had been punched. It was certainly the correct decision not to underestimate Goetia.

He had already heard the story from Claude, although he thought that because the Librarian was going to be holding back, they would have a chance.

He couldn't have been more wrong, it actually brought an amused smile to his face after a few moments, that at least his Professor was not an outlier when it came to individuals who were exceptional. It seemed to him as though this Monastery had picked up a habit of bringing in people who were of extraordinary talent.

Letting out a pained groan as he got back up, he saw that Goetia was still regarding him blankly for a few moments. He heard the Professor clear her throat, turning his head to see her addressing the class.

"The dodge was a good idea, but you should assume that they can continue to fire spells in rapid order." Byleth informed him, then turned to the class "That is it for the individual battles, who can tell me who was closest to defeating Goetia?"

"...Is that a trick question?" Sylvain questioned from his seating position at the side of the training area. The boy sporting a black eye and was still holding onto his chest where he, no doubt, had a large bruise forming underneath his clothes.

He was not alone, all of the Blue Lions sported injuries of varying degrees in the shape of bruises or cuts.

Byleth shook her head "Serious question."

The class said nothing, all looking marginally confused before Byleth decided to elaborate her point further "Felix was."

Said boy raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner, his expression soon turned incredulous as he was wondering whether or not the Professor was attempting to mock him or not. When it became obvious that she was being serious, the class turned more thoughtful before Ashe raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"Is it because he threw sand at Goetia's face?" The pale blue haired boy asked in a somewhat timid manner, Byleth soon nodded her head.

"It is important to distract your opponent. Therefore you should use your environment to your advantage. In throwing sand at Goetia, he attempted to distract him to allow for a better attack."

Ingrid frowned, crossing her arms with a disapproving gleam in her eyes "Such tactics are rather underhanded, and dare I say, dishonourable. Should knights really be throwing dirt in their opponents face?"

Felix let out a scoff, causing the blonde haired girl to turn her frown on him, opening her mouth to comment only to be cut off when Goetia himself spoke up.

"I would recommend that you prioritise survival in such situations over personal beliefs." He commented with a blank expression "And had I been a lesser mage of student level calibre, that trick would have been more effective."

Felix stared at Goetia for a few moments before he nodded his head, Ingrid still looked troubled at the idea of using the tactic.

"At the end of the day, you are going to fight." Byleth continued on "It isn't very glamorous. So you should do what you can to survive. Punches, kicks, throwing things. They will all work to keep you alive."

"...I see." Ingrid nodded her head after a few moments, Byleth remained silent before she nodded in response, turning her eyes back over the rest of the class.

"You will be given a brief moment to recover, then you will participate in the group battle." She announced "All of you will work together to try and defeat Goetia, or more accurately, capture what he is protecting."

"Capture?" Dimitri pondered, moving to stand in front of the class "You propose an objective based training game?"

Byleth nodded "Sometimes missions may be aimed at differing objectives. Rescue of important individuals in some cases."

"E-excuse me?" A small voice called out, the class turned to see Flayn stood at the edge of the training ground "I'm not early, am I professor?"

"No." Byleth shook her head "You are on time." she nodded her head back, gesturing for Flayn to walk further into the class "This is Flayn, you will have seen her around the monastery."

"Hello, everyone." Flayn bowed to them in greeting before turning back to Byleth "Is there a reason you called me here, professor?"

"Yes." Byleth nodded, placing her hand on the younger girls shoulder and gently marching her to stand next to Goetia "Flayn is an important member of a local guild-"

"I am?" Flayn blinked in surprise at the sudden declaration.

"-She has been kidnapped for ransom-"

"She has?" Goetia soon followed suit, his brows furrowing slightly at the wording.

"-and is being held captive by Goetia."

"She is?" This time the entire class, Goetia and Flayn, parroted that back to her in similar tones of confusion. Byleth nodded her head.

"What is this?" Sothis whispered into her ear "I thought you were doing team battles against Sparkles?"

'I learned that role play makes students comfortable.'

"Where did you learn this?"

'Manuela says she likes role play to get herself into a good mood.'

Sothis slowly floated away from her host with wide eyes, then floated over to Goetia, the man doing his best to ignore her as she floated towards the side of his head and whispered into his ear "I think she knows less about people than you do...is that concerning?"

Goetia's lip thinned in response, not entirely sure what to make of her question.

"Professor…" Dimitri walked forwards, giving Flayn a small smile before turning his attention back to his teacher "Are we performing a type of...role play activity by chance?"

"Yes."

"We're playing a childrens game?" Felix scoffed "This is your idea of training?"

"Now, Felix." Dimitri stepped forwards "It can act as incentive, think of it as completing an objective, just because it is make believe-"

"I assumed the fact you could not let loose your animalistic traits would be reason enough for you to avoid this type of activity." Felix sneered back at him, Dimtri frowned while Dedue slowly turned his head to stare down at the smaller boy, eyes narrowing in irritation.

"Felix!" Ingrid scolded "Don't speak to his highness like that!"

"I will not apologise for speaking the truth."

Byleth clapped her hands together, interrupting the class before the argument could break out "As I was saying. Flayn will play the role of hostage, while Goetia plays the role of captor."

"Did you know about this, Goetia?" Flayn whispered to the tanned man, he shook his head in response, equally baffled as to where this suggestion even came from in the first place. "I say...it is most exciting, is it not?"

Goetia elected not to answer, whether or not this event was exciting was something he wasn't really able to determine. He could see the logic behind it, and it gave the children a slim possibility of succeeding. They could not defeat him in combat, so defeat him through other methods.

"We will move to the training grounds at the base of the Monastery, you will have to make full use of terrain and other parts of the environment in order to complete your mission and rescue Flayn."

"Professor." Flayn raised her hand "Just out of curiosity, did you ask my brother for permission for this first?"

"...I was supposed to do that?" Byleth turned around, tilting her head and asking in a voice full of childish innocence. Flayn gave a slow nod in response. "Oh." frowning, she cupped her chin "Nevermind, we'll come up with a new plan-"

"Now, now." Flayn interrupted, somewhat eagerly "There's no need for that, I'm sure if we pass along a message to the guards, they can pass it along to my brother and so he can avoid worrying." turning to Goetia, she gave him a wide smile "Is that not right?"

Goetia stared down at her with a blank expression before looking up and back towards Byleth, giving a small shrug of his shoulders in response to her questioning gaze.

"...Alright then." Byleth relented "I will inform the gatekeeper-"

"Harold."

"Harold. Then he can tell Seteth." Byleth affirmed to herself, turning back to the Blue lions "Get ready to move out."

"...Please repeat what you just said." Seteth asked, again, his expression disturbingly blank as Harold removed his helmet to nervously stroke down his hair before placing it back atop his head.

"Professor Eisner told me to inform you that Flayn is helping her with a training activity." The man repeated "She promised that she wouldn't get hurt!" he hastily added on, seeing the darkening expression on the green haired man's face "She just said it was going to be a role playing activity."

Seteth's face, which had slowly been growing more irritated at the news, suddenly shifted into an expression of pure bewilderment "Role play?"

"Yes, Sir." Harold nodded his head, smiling at the sudden lack of pressure "They said that Flayn was going to play the role of hostage, and the Blue Lions would work on different ways to save her."

Seteth frowned in thought, crossing his arms "And the Professor did not think to inform me of this?"

Harold winced "From what Goetia told me, the Professor was happy to find another solution if you weren't happy, but Flayn said that if they made sure to inform you, it would be fine."

Seteth slapped his palm over his face, exhaling loudly as he dragged the hand down, revealing a very tired and very annoyed look. Harold hesitantly backed away from him "And when is the Professor due to ret-...Goetia?"

"Yes."

"Why would Goetia tell you this and not the Professor?"

"He was joining them." Harold innocently replied "The Professor said it was for the training." Seteth's eye twitched before he let out another sigh.

"The time for the Professors return?"

"She said it wouldn't take more than a couple hours."

"...I see." Seteth sighed, waving the man away "Return to your duties."

"Yes, Holy Chamberlain." Harold bowed, his head, turning around and quickly departing from the man's office. Seteth stared at the doorway before his head fell into his hands and he let out a groan of exasperation.

"Seteth? Is something troubling you?" A gentle voice called out from the open door, the man raised his head to see Rhea's concerned face poking through. Quickly sitting up, he shook his head.

"It is nothing, Archbishop." Seteth dismissed "Merely a...case of rebellion." Rhea frowned, raising an eyebrow at the man.

"I am already aware of the situation with Lord Lonato."

"Not him...I mean Flayn."

This time Rhea cracked an almost amused smile in his direction "I see, is there anything I may assist you with?"

"No, I believe I will have words with her when she returns." His face settled into a frown "And with the Professor for being so easily roped into her schemes...She has been looking for an opportunity to explore outside the Monastery for some time, but with recent events…" he trailed off, pinching his brow.

"I am certain that our dear Professor will ensure her safety." Rhea hummed "Although I am curious as to what Flayn has done that upsets you so."

"It appears she has joined the Blue Lions for a minor training outing." Seteth replied "I suppose she is due to begin classes soon and if she decides to join the Blue Lions it would be beneficial to have some manner of classroom relation with her peers...Although I was not made aware as to the specifics of the training beyond 'role play.'" he quoted with a puzzled expression.

Rhea let out a soft giggle in response "I am certain you worry far too much and Flayn, for all her innocence, is hardly helpless."

"I am aware...but she is still." Seteth grimaced and looked away "She is still new to the outside world as of late. I simply want to ensure she is safe."

"And she will be." Rhea reassured "You must simply have faith in the Professor that she will protect the students while they are her and Flayn."

"I suppose…" The green haired man nodded his head in acceptance, although it was barely acceptance at that. His first instinct upon hearing about Flayn's outing had been to sprint over to where they kept the Wyverns and fly out to her.

The only thing that had stopped him from doing so was knowing that he wouldn't be able to do it forever. That and the mountains of paperwork he was having to sort through in the last few days. Lonato's rebellion hadn't been much of a surprise.

What had been, however, was how effective they were. It was frightening to him.

The Garrison near enough the lands of Lonato, numbering nearly six-hundred men had been slaughtered down to nearly a dozen at best. The reports they came back with were frightening as well.

Swords that cut through armour as if it were mere paper. It was eye opening to him, and made him grimly curious if they were using some form of magic sword like the Levin ones but designed to be better at cutting through armour.

More importantly, if that were true, where had Lonato found enough to arm an entire army's worth? They had only informed the students that Lonato had incited a rebellion thus far, the news of the casualties...would come later. Seteth felt a frown forming on his face as he thought of Lonato's adoptive son, Young Ubert, currently studying here. He only hoped the boy would not be too broken by the loss of his family.

Seteth knew all too well what the pain of losing a loved one did, and despite whatever else was occurring with the Lord, it would ultimately be Ashe who suffered for it in the end. Ashe and everyone else.

Goetia and Flayn stood atop the old ruins. The Blue Lions had been led to the ground where the battle of the Eagle and Lion had taken place. The Beast and the Dragon stood just atop the stairs of the dirtied stone, Byleth and the Blue Lions stood just beneath them.

Byleth nodded to Goetia and then turned to the class "You will have the next few hours to find a way to rescue Princess Flayn-" someone, Sylvain, snorted loudly "-from the evil King Goetia-" someone, Sothis, let out a raucous laugh "-you can defeat him if you want, but Flayn is your objective."

The fact she had delivered the instructions in such a monotone voice and blank expression had many of the class pursuing their lips together to avoid a smile of amusement.

"This is pretty exciting." Ashe spoke in a somewhat eager tone "Its like those old stories where a valiant knight rescues a princess!"

"You're braver than I thought Ashe." Sylvain pat the young boy on the back "Isn't even in our class yet and you're already trying to make moves on Seteth's little sister?"

Ashe turned bright red and sputtered, whirling around to face the red haired boy and try and deny the accusation. Sylvain merely whistled, ignoring the arguments entirely.

"Understood Professor." Dimitri nodded to the woman, then turned back to his class "Blue Lions, lets move out so we may better prepare our strategy."

"I was unaware beasts could formulate strategy." Felix quipped. Dedue's eyes narrowed dangerously at the boy, and it was only Dimitri shaking his head at the man which stopped him from trying to do anything.

Goetia sat on the ruin steps with his legs crossed, his expression blank as he stared at the empty field before them. Flayn was sat near him, idly swinging her legs back and forth and looking around "This place is much bigger than I had heard."

"Is it?" Goetia asked in a monotone voice "Must be perspective of those who recount their time here."

"Probably." Flayn nodded along "I haven't actually been out by myself like this before."

"You are not by yourself."

"...I meant without Seteth with me."

"I see." The man replied "He keeps you confined?"

Flayn huffed, crossing her arms "He calls it looking out for my safety. I think he simply worries far too much about me, its actually rather grating at times. I am going to be starting my education at the Monastery soon and he still insists on treating me like a hapless child."

"I see."

"Somehow I do not believe you do." Flayn muttered under her breath, looking back over the field "Do you think we should try to put effort into our roles?"

"What?" Goetia turned to face her with a raised eyebrow, the only evidence of his mild confusion at her question.

"I mean...if I am to play the Princess and you an evil King, then should we not attempt to live up to our roles?" Flayn gave a wide smile "It might be fun!"

"This is a training exercise." Goetia replied with a frown "At what point does fun factor into it?"

"Evil King Goetia!" A voice cried out, Flayn and Goetia slowly turned their heads to see Ashe stroll out of the bush, his voice cracked slightly because of the shout, however he continued to hold an obviously exaggerated pose, pointing his training sword at the beast "I have come to rescue the Princess Flayn!"

Goetia gave a slow blink in response, Flayn could not help the amused chuckle on the verge of escaping her mouth "Y-yes! Come brave knight!" she barely managed to get out through her small fit of laughter "Save me!"

Goetia was still dumbfounded as to what was going on.

Earlier

"That is your plan?" Felix huffed incredulously while leaning against a tree "You must be joking."

"Not at all, Felix." Dimitri shook his head "From our brief conversations, and from what I have heard of him through the Monastery, Goetia is a very literal person. However, I think he may become confused by the unexpected."

"Its not just unexpected." Sylvain smirked "Its crazy. You want someone out there to go out and play a stereotypical knight in shining armour?"

"Yes." Dimitri nodded, staring at the rest of the class "I think it might catch him off guard for a few moments."

"What do we do then?" Annette asked, tilting her head to the side "Launch a surprise attack?"

"Some of us will." Dimitri nodded his head, then looked to the others "Mercedes, you and Annette will sneak around behind him while we keep him distracted."

"Alright/You can count on me!" Annette and Mercedes nodded their heads in affirmation. Dimitri then turned to the others.

"Felix, you and Sylvain will take the left flank, Dedue and myself shall move up the right."

"Whatever/Sure thing." The two replied

"What about myself?" Ashe asked, scratching the back of his head, Ingrid was also somewhat puzzled on what her role would be.

"Ingrid." Dimitri looked to her "The professor allowed you to bring the Pegasus, did she not?"

"Yes…" The girl nodded.

"And you threw the tarp over its wings, correct?"

"I di-" She widened her eyes "Your highness...that is rather deceitful."

"I prefer to think of it as an unexpected advantage." Dimitri replied "And I have decided that Claude may have a point about hiding certain advantages you have over your opponents." turning to Ashe, Dmitri's face turned deadly serious "Ashe, you will have the most important role of all."

"I will?" The boy blinked in surprise.

"Yes."

Present

"It is with my own hands that I shall free her from your terrible prison!" Ashe continued to shout nonsense at him.

Goetia then blinked as he realised what it was. A distraction, adjusting his hearing, he could make out the other students moving into their positions in the bushes on either side of him.

Looking behind him at Flayn, he saw the girl giving him the go-ahead to respond, almost pleading with her eyes to continue the performance. Goetia was under no obligation to do so...except it was in his nature.

He had been a Beast who represented pity...even with that nature virtually gone from him, he would still respond in some variety when spoken to.

Although he felt no compunction to do so, he slowly descended down the steps, fully aware of the other Blue Lions awaiting him.

He reached the bottom of the steps, his eyes never leaving Ashe throughout his brief descent. Standing at the base of the steps, he regarded Ashe blankly for a few moments.

Then a golden orb formed behind his shoulder and shot forth, slamming into Ashe's gut with all the force of a highspeed punch. Ashe widened his eyes as he coughed out, slumping to his knees as Goetia stared down at him.

"Welcome Blue Lions." His enhanced voice echoed out across the field "Now begone."

"Are you sure this was a good idea?" Sothis asked as she floated next to Byleth, the pair having heard the declaration from the man.

"It will be fine."

"If you say so." Sothis shrugged "Although I do hope he holds back, I fear that the young ones might be in some danger if he does not."

"It will be fine." Byleth replied again "Need to learn how to face an unwinnable situation."

The instant the words had left his lips, the Blue lions shot forth from the bushes, all converging on Goetia.

The tanned man narrowed his eyes, there were only five, although Ashe was immobilised at this point, here. So that meant the other three were likely attempting to sneak up near him.

It wasn't exactly a terrible plan, although when used against him it was meaningless.

He clenched his fist. Words past through his lips so quickly they could have barely been registered as a coherent sound before the golden circle formed underneath him.

His left hand lashed outwards, thin string like vines lashed out from the golden circle at his feet, glowing the very same colour as they ensnared the blue lions. Halting their movements in one fell swoop.

"Wha-!?" Several voices called out in surprise as they suddenly found their limbs tightly bound. Goetia withheld a scoff.

They couldn't actually have believed that such a meaningless effort was going to work did they? He would admit that the bizarre performance from the boy had been somewhat outlandish enough to catch him off guard for a moment, but that was all it was.

Certainly not long enough for whatever scheme they crafted to work. His eyes turned skyward as he caught sight of two more. The blonde one and the red haired one.

And the white pegasus, it would appear that his hunch had been correct. Throwing a mere blanket over the wings to hide them from him had been one of the most pathetic attempts at subterfuge he had seen to date. Although if the quality of magi around here were any indication, it was that type of childish, almost pathetic, level of deception that would have fooled them.

He wasn't some mere spellcaster.

All he needed to do was bring them to ground. Small whirlwind shot out from behind him in the direction of the pegasus. The animal let out a whine as it barely avoided the projectile before Goetia sent more to knock it out of the sky.

They wouldn't be harmed, he would ensure they would be caught before they impacted the ground, but that did not mean he would lower his attacks to be any measure of-

His head sharply turned to the side as Mercedes rushed towards him.

The Blue lion watched as a look of pure bewilderment quickly came across Goetia's face. She couldn't blame him, this wasn't exactly the type of plan she could have normally come up with before.

However, she had spoken with Lysithea recently and how the girl had turned one of her failures into an attack. While Mercedes wasn't exactly a violent person, primarily why she enjoyed light magic so much, that didn't mean she was going to leave herself unarmed.

Goetia's face quickly switched back, his lip contorted into a frown, he flicked his wrist at her at the same time she threw her hand forwards.

Sending the small pale practice gem towards Goetia.

With far too much magical energy in it to be safe.

She caught the moment where Goetia's pupils briefly shrunk as the explosion was set off in his face.

A blast of wind hit her in the chest at the same time his head was consumed in the small explosion, she was launched back while he barely flinched at all.

It wasn't enough to stop him. She knew that as the cloud dissipated instantly, a small gust of wind parted to reveal the small glowing square a few inches from his nose which had taken the brunt of the explosion.

Goetia opened his mouth to speak, then stumbled when someone tackled him from behind. He widened his eyes, looking over his shoulder to see Ashe had somehow gotten up from being hit earlier, the boy having literally thrown himself at the former Beast to do what little he could.

Goetia whirled around, his left hand gripped the back of the boys collar, enhancing his strength, the one armed man threw the boy away, over the heads of the other blue lions and roughly onto the grass.

A fireball crashed into a quickly put up shield, he looked back to the sky to see the red haired girl with her hand outstretched and aimed in his direction. He scowled.

The nerve.

He had already been surprised that Mercedes had decided to blow up a gem in his face, not only that, but the boy he had thought incapacitated had launched himself at him and briefly managed to grapple the Beast.

Again and again, he continued to underestimate their ingenuity. It was…

Extraordinarily vexing.

He held his hand out towards them, a faint red cloud began to form in-between his fingers and soon started sparking with black lightning.

Ingrid widened her eyes in alarm and steered the Pegasus down, diving towards the demon and whipping out her training lance pointed at him.

He raised a singular eyebrow.

A frontal assault? What manner of stupidity had claimed her-

Annette poked out from behind her and fired off another spell. Directly towards the containment circle he had put up.

He had used one of the lowest quality containment circles he had available, although it still would have been enough to keep warrior in his prime from moving.

Although it only responded in response to physical strength, it did not respond well to magic.

So when Annettes spell slammed into the circle. It shattered, releasing the four blue lions as the Pegasus shot back up into the sky.

A bluff.

She had bluffed him…

Goetia felt a subtle fire burn within him.

"Very well." He spoke out in a blank voice, clenching his hand as he turned his head down to face the now freed blue lions "I shall respond to force in kind."

AN: Before any of you start wondering about why Goetia's personality does a weird shift.

Remember, the guy is still arrogant as all hell but most of all is that Pity, even when he isn't a proper beast, is still his defining trait.

His personality was an amalgamation of 72 demons gods, therefore even with them gone, he will still respond in a manner which suits the person he is speaking with. Effectively he becomes a mirror to them.

Anyway…

Onto the Next Omake!

Omake: Back Home Again VIII

"Kur Ki Gal Irkalla!" Ereshkigal proclaimed, activating her Noble Phantasm and slamming it into the ground, the expanding field of Tiamat ground to a halt the stones beneath her feet slowly shot upwards, encasing her body and causing her field to halt it advance.

Ritsuka and Mash let out a sigh of relief while Caster, Merlin and Gilgamesh watched the Beast with equally stern expressions.

"It stopped?" Mash blinked in surprise, Ritsuka joined her in letting out a disbelieving laugh.

"Sealing away Beast?" He spun around to the goddess "Ereshkigal, you're amazing!" the blonde goddess gave him a tiny smile as her cheeks dusted red before shaking her head and focusing back onto the Beast.

"Materialising the shrine given to you by Nergal." Gilgamesh commented "Truly fit to be an ace up your sleeve, but…"

"Yeah…" Ereshkigal scowled "That's right, it will only be able to buy us some time. That area of space will attempt to corrupt everything as it expands."

"Merlin?" Ritsuka turned to the Caster "What's Nega-Genesis?"

"The conceptual creation of life." Caster stepped forwards, red eyes staring dispassionately at the Goddess "It is a bounded field which will erase servants. A rejection of the evolutionary history of man. An authority as her role as Primordial mother of life and as a skill as a Beast of Humanity."

"Indeed." Merlin nodded along with the assessment, not even caring he had been interrupted.

"Mash." Gilgamesh turned to the Shielder "To counter that cursed bounded field of hers, we shall need your power." his eyes trailed down to the shield in her hands "That castle of chalk that a certain King sent her heart out for. The materialisation of such a place would be able to rival that thing."

"You're going to have her smash Lord Camelot into that thing?" Ishtar widened her eyes at the king in surprise. Gilgamesh nodded in affirmative.

"But while Mash is defending-"

"Indeed." Merlin nodded "We will need to have someone strike a fatal blow against the her...however as it will reject the existence of Servants-"

"I can enter the field." Caster spoke up, everyone, save Gilgamesh, turned to him in surprise. "If only for a brief time."

"Eh?" Ritsuka gaped at the Caster "But-but you said it would erase Servants!"

"It will." Caster agreed, turning his head to face Ritsuka "But I will be able to last long enough to get to her. With luck, she will be dealt with before I expire."

"Caster-san!?" Mash widened her eyes at him in alarm "But what if you-"

"Mash." Gilgamesh cut them off, slowly turning his head to stare at Caster "Can you survive long enough?"

Caster exhaled, looking over at Gilgamesh "So long as the conditions remain right...I shall survive."

The concept that 'Goetia' had Nega-summon existed. Therefore he did, if only marginally. It would protect him from Nega genesis for a time, but not long. It was only possible in this one instance.

"Then go." Gilgamesh nodded "However, should you fail, I will ensure that not even your soul returns to the throne for this debacle."

Caster snorted in response, sending Gilgamesh a small smile. Gilgamesh inferred the meaning and let out a huff.

"Prepare yourself, Chaldeans." Gilgamesh ordered.

"Caster-san." Mash stepped forwards towards him, reaching her arm out to him "What if you-"

"Mash…" Caster responded in a soft tone of voice, turning to face her with a small gleam in his eyes "This is not a suicide attack. I have no intention of dying just yet."

Despite the situation, Mash and Ritsuka cracked a small smile at the Caster.

The rocks around Tiamat began to crack as the field edged outwards, Caster turned to face it before stepping forwards "I shall be back soon." he responded as he levitated into the air.

"True Name unleashed." Mash intoned "I will stand upon the seat of catastrophe."

The rocks began to explode outwards as Tiamat let loose another cry.

"That which heals all wounds and grudges...Our glorious homeland…" She opened her eyes, raising her shield above her head as the field around Tiamat exploded outwards "Manifest yourself! Lord Camelot!" slamming the shield into the ground, the marble walls of the city soon surrounded them, shielding them from the field.

Caster remained within the field.

His body was immediately wracked with pain as the conceptual field attempted to removed his existence while his skill was attempting to preserve his life.

His body flickered as golden particles began to flake off of him. He did not dawdle, flying forwards towards Tiamat as fast as he could.

He felt his left half go numb, his form already becoming transparent as he got to within a few metres of the goddess.

Then his world turned white.

Goetia looked around. The endless white expanse, the imaginary space prison Tiamat had been sealed in.

His eyes looked down his body. It was still damaged, but he wasn't falling to pieces anymore. Which was good.

He slowly looked up, at the far end her saw her.

Her large curved horns extended from atop her head while the long pale blue braided ponytail extended down her back.

Tiamat wasn't looking at him, her flower shaped eyes were staring at something else.

"I have nurtured many a life." She spoke in a quiet tone "Many a life has loved me."

Goetia slowly advanced towards her, his expression betraying nothing.

"However, my children have used me as a ladder, and they always head to places so far away. I want to love them forever."

"I know." Goetia replied in an equally quiet tone, he let out a sigh "I know."

"I know you do." Tiamat replied, her eyes moved up to look at him for the first time "Was our love...wrong?"

Goetia stared back at her "I...I loved them. Still love them. I always did, those impossible, fierce virtuous little creatures that they are. Your children...I always loved them. Their lives...so spectacular…" he frowned "But they always flicked out too soon...So fast and so fearful at the end."

Tiamat watched him in silence.

"I watched thousands of bright souls expire...the humanity that I could not help but love. I was to be forced to watch them die in such fear." His eyes fell to his remained hand as he stared at his open palm "I know you love them...because I do too. I...I couldn't stand the idea that these little things weren't as great as I thought myself to be. Immortal, free of death and pain, I wanted that for them. I wanted them to see just how beautiful it was to never have to worry about fading away. I would never have to watch as they died…"

He exhaled, clenching his fist and staring at Tiamat.

"But I can't love them...not the way I want to. Perhaps that is why our love is the way it is…" He shrugged "I cannot explain it further...We can't help but love them despite all their faults...but we can't change them...because then they would stop being what we loved to begin with."

"Even if it hurts?"

"...Even if its painful." Goetia nodded "I suppose living as one of them made me understand it a little better. Those little things called human lives." he looked Tiamat in the eyes "I know your children loved you. They always did and you can love them forever...but you can't keep them forever...because then they'll stop being what you loved."

"They never loved you...did they?" Tiamat asked "Not like you loved them…"

Goetia gave her a small smile "No...They did not...and I am happy for that. That they will never experience the love I felt for them is the greatest joy and greatest pain I will ever feel. That is fine though...I love them, now, because even if there is fear at the end...there was such joy in life."

Goetia blinked as he felt something touch his cheek, his eyes focused down onto Tiamat's hand as she wiped away a small tear from him. She gave her fellow Beast a small smile "You poor thing."

"...A pity I suppose…"

The conceptual barrier cracked, shattering into thousands of pieces as Tiamat remained still and silent.

The form of Caster plunged down towards the ground, flickering in and out of solidity.

He stared up at Tiamat as his eyes began to close "...Farewell...Tiamat…" his vision faded to black.

His eyes slowly opened, scrunching his brows as they began to move into focus.

He felt his heart rate quicken as the hollow red orbs of Nightingale stared back at him. There was virtually nothing that gave him pause. Nothing save Nightingale's treatment. He instantly made to leap out of the bed before the Berserker forcefully pushed him back down.

"You are injured. Your continued attempt to move implies there is perhaps brain damage, perhaps a blood clot." She narrowed her eyes as she stared at him "Perhaps I will require to perform surgery on your skull-"

Goetia teleported out of the infirmary then and there.

Falling face first onto the Chaldea command room floor and slowly craning his neck up.

"Caster."

"Romani."

The pair greeted each other as Caster slowly got back to his feet and dusted off his robe "Nightingale?"

"Nightingale."

"...She's going to be looking for you, you know?"

"Yes."

"Its going to get worse."

"I am aware...short term gain Romani. Short term gain." Caster muttered as he slumped into the chair next to the Doctor "...We won?"

"We did." He nodded, patting Caster on the back "You played a big role in that Singularity. I'm...proud of you, Caster."

"...Oh." Goetia blinked "I...I believe that is the first time I have been praised by you…"

Romani cringed "He wasn't that bad was he?"

"...I based myself off him."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"...Oh my…" Romani slumped into his seat "I can see it now…"

"Hm."

"Mash was worried about you, you know?"

"…"

"Waiting in your room for you to wake up for the last few days." He chuckled "It was actually a little cute. Even had to have Nightingale drag her out at one point."

"...I see."

"She does care about you." Romani assured him "She actually says you remind her a bit of a doting brother."

"...That's…" He held his tongue "Thats up to her…"

"We're still decoding the Grail we got from the Singularity." Romani spoke after a few moments "Then...then we'll be going to fight Solomon."

"I know."

"You do?"

"Yes."

"...Really?"

"Romani, what else would we do once we got there?"

"Ah...right, yeah. My bad."

"Inde-"

"CASTER-SAN!?" Mash's voice cried out from the door, the Doctor and Goetia swivelled their chairs around to face her "What are you doing here!? You're suppose to be in the infirmary!"

"I am perfectly-" He was cut off when the rather angry looking Shielder stomped up to him and grabbed his hand, yanking him out of his seat and dragging him towards the door.

"Nightingale-san will be very upset with you." Mash huffed "What are you thinking? Getting out of bed so early!"

Goetia was, at the moment, cursing his E ranked strength.

"Ara?" A melodious voice called out from the corridor as the pair came to a halt. Mash blinked in surprise then seemed to wave at the new arrival.

"Ah!" She smiled "Hello Tiamat-san!"

"Little Mash." The woman nodded to him, then her eyes flickered over to the Caster, who was standing still as a statue with an almost vacant look in his eyes "Ah...hello, again."

"...Greetings." Caster responded in a dull tone of voice, devoid of emotion "I am Caster."

"I'm your...no…" Tiamat titled her head "I'm not your mother...am I?"

"...No."

Tiamat stepped towards him, then pet his cheek "Poor...thing. You never had a mother, did you?"

"…"

"I can be your moth-"

"Nightingale awaits." Goetia walked past her at a speedy pace, almost desperate to get away "Farewell, Tiamat."

"See you soon!" The Alter Ego Servant let out a small laugh as she waved him goodbye.

"That was quite rude, Caster-san!" Mash frowned at him as the pair strode through the hallway "I know she was an enemy...but she did offer to help us by manifesting. She even waited by your bed for a few days!"

Mash didn't understand why Caster only seemed to pale further at that.