middaeg | A meeting [Closed]

Hubert was not prepared.

He'd been downstairs, taking a break from his alchemy study to fetch more coffee when the first overwhelming wave of terror crashed into him—and almost literally as he staggered into the counter, disoriented and shattering his mug, then subsequently to the ground.

The scalding coffee didn't even register in the stunning wake of the panic, his mind racing to find a cause. Did he mix something wrong in his lab? Did a substance contact his skin, or one of his vials leaking? Something aerosolized? It was all Hubert could do for a long moment to sit there, fingers at his pulse as his heart hammered too-rapidly in his chest, struggling to control his breathing in measured breaths. But it worked—marginally, but quickly. It couldn't be one of his poisons if simple breathing exercises helped—

—and then he realized the terror wasn't his. The panic was easier to corral upon that realization. Hubert pulls himself to his feet; the stairs were a bit of a challenge, still a little dizzy with the tachycardia as he was, and some detached part of his mind idly wondered if he should curtail the caffeine if these episodes would be recurring.

He staggers into Edelgard's room, and sure enough... these night terrors again. He'd wondered, when they'd Bonded, if this would pose an issue, but between his perception of her generally darkening when she's asleep, and the lack of incidents in the weeks since, he'd begun to dismiss it.

Hubert takes a seat on the edge of her bed, white shirt heavily splattered with dark stains and removing his gloves in case they did have residue of something alchemical on them.

"Lady Edelgard." His hands touch the sides of her face, feather-light, and his tone even and low and somehow free of the second-hand horror trying to envelop his mind. It's best to be exceedingly gentle, in these situations; normally he would have touched her arm or shoulder, but she'd taken to an unusual sleeping arrangement recently. "You're safe, Lady Edelgard. They cannot harm you anymore—I swear it. I'm right beside you."

Edelgard barely registered his troubles, though strangely the warm coffee strikes her as odd, odd enough to snap out at her as not her own and not a part of the dream. Yet still she remains, thrashing and wriggling as best she can when confined by the blankets, it's a blessing that she isn't on the floor when he arrives and is instead firmly on the center of the bed.

She jerks her head to look at the open door, wild eyed, still panicking right up until she hears his voice. She stops thrashing as much, the bare hands touching her cheeks eliciting a sharp gasp as his words register.

Breathing heavily, not quite panting, Edelgard slowly...slowly...comes out of the jolt, some of her panic receding. Looking at the worried set of his jaw, the lines in his face, she understands just what's happened. He's come running, because...

"...you...felt it didn't you?" she asks, her throat gummy as a lump forms in it, her gaze slightly watery.

He watches the panic fade as its weight lessens on his own mind; as the intensity dies, it's easier to separate it from his own being and hold it at a distance. Hubert could only hope steadiness, more a mental state than an emotion, could project through the Bond just as well.

"I did." Something changes subtly in his eyes and the furrow of his brow as a glint of a deep sadness settles in. "I'd always known it was horrible, but that was... indescribable."

Hubert always was sympathetic to the suffering Edelgard had been forced to endure, and though it was far from the actual experience, this brought with it a whole new—and terrible—understanding.

"It...does not happen often, anymore," Edelgard admits quietly, her voice still not quite it's confident and steady self. "I had thought, perhaps, that they would have ceased entirely with the bonds."

She softly murmurs that last bit, feeling a bit of hope passing just out of reach. Would she never be rid of these? Would it take destroying them finally to remove the hold Those Who Slither in the Dark had over her mind?

Shifting in her blankets, she looks up at Hubert, miserable as can be, but calmer and breathing less erratically now.

"...How bad was it? Did you see, or just feel my emotion?"

She hopes deeply that it was just the feeling, but it is difficult to be sure.

A slight shake of his head as he pulls back his hands, the exchange of magic halting between them. The corner of his mouth raises a hair, as if trying to reassure that almost desperate hope.

"I saw nothing. The... intensity of it caught me completely off-guard; in that first, clueless moment, I thought I was going to die." Hubert chuckles wryly. "I'd just been practicing alchemy, after all. I should have realized sooner what was going on."

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't even a little rattled; Hubert had never felt anything like that in his life, and a new fatigue hung in his chest from the stress of the ordeal, even as short as it was.

...Maybe he really will curb his coffee intake, a little.

"Can you return to sleep?"

"...as did I..."

She can't help the dry witticism, a weak smile quirking her lips up. That was perhaps a touch more morbid than her usual humor, but this was a time for that. Shivering, she scootches awkwardly to sit up with her head against the headboard. Her cocoon is not the most dignified thing to be speaking from.

"I do not know. Just now, no...and I'm not sure I should. Very often, if I have not relaxed some, attempting to sleep just makes them return once I drift off. I do not want to sleep just yet."

Her head perks up, turning slightly...

"...And Corrin is coming our way."

"Is that so?"

Hm. It's been several minutes. He'd have to ask where Corrin lived; if she resided nearby, that would be too slow of a reaction to provide aid if there'd been any real trouble. Hubert impassively watches his liege maneuver around, and thinks better of mentioning it for the time being. Edelgard would ask for assistance if she needed it.

"In that case, I'll leave you to ready yourself. I imagine your Bonded should want to speak with you." Hubert stands to offer his usual prim bow, slipping his gloves back on. "I'll let Corrin in."

"We have a few moments."

Edelgard slips her arms free of the blankets finally, reaching her bare hands out towards the cool night air. She didn't sleep with gloves on, and she knew Hubert, this was not public. She doesn't even seem bothered internally by this, his presence steadying her will.

"I...appreciate you coming as quickly as you did. I am sorry, that I startled you."

She does feel...a little...bad.

"Your hands are red...you should wash them in my basin."

Hubert pauses mid-tug, eyes lowering to his hands and the reddened skin of his wrist peeking between his stained glove and sleeve. Ah. That's right, he'd... just made the coffee, when it happened. No doubt he'd feel that burn and the others soon, in absence of the overwhelming panic and adrenaline.

"It's no fault of your own, Your Majesty."

He would never blame her for things beyond the scope of her control, but Hubert knew better than to phrase it like that. It's one more thing he could lay at the feet of their enemies, this lingering misery. Hubert wanders over to the washstand, gingerly peeling his gloves off again now that he was cognizant of the scalding.

"It's for the best that we discover all ways the Bond will affect us sooner than later. At least, I'll be better prepared to handle any further incidents."

And perhaps restrict his alchemy to when he knew Edelgard was awake. Even if her night terrors were rarer, this could have been far more disastrous had he been in the middle of mixing something, especially given the... nature of the things Hubert tended to work with.

He expects the water to sting, a heavy breath through his nose the only sign of his discomfort. After the initial pain, the cool water left a pleasant sensation, though it highlighted the slight throbbing of the damaged skin. He dries his hands and gently probes the other stains on his shirt, assessing the extent of the scalding.

Edelgard lowers her hands to the bedding, beginning to unwrap bits of it while he takes care of his hands. She feels his pain, dully, a faint throb of annoyance more than any actual physical pain. And she quests out with appreciation, another mental hug, and a touch of concern.

"Yes. I...suppose you are right. It's good that it happened sooner rather than later, I agree."

That said, she still dislikes seeing him hurt. And causing him or Corrin any distress, as this no doubt is going to. Though, her only salve at the moment is words. Simple words, but important to her.

"...Thank you again, Hubert. For your support, and for your friendship."

His motions pause at the touch to his mind. Even two weeks later, it was hardly less strange, but he's learning to take phantom sensations in stride. Her brush of concern was met with something halfway between content and pride, not quite either, and more of that warm regard that was always present in the back of Hubert's mind when he was around her.

"Gladly, Your Majesty. This is nothing."

Truly, war had been far harsher to him. He's dealt with worse than hot liquid during his training at the monastery, or even as a child learning his family's methods. As utterly terrible as the night terror had been, Hubert's grateful for the sort of understanding it bestowed. It was now a trouble he could endure with Edelgard, rather than standing aside, watching her carry it alone like in years prior.

"This is merely part of walking beside you on your path—one more obstacle to overcome."

"Yes...well..."

She can't help but smile, feeling his pride and the burgeoning empathy between the two of them. There was plenty that had transpired between the two of them over the years, but the depth of understanding was totally different. This was a welcome change.

"We'll not be overcoming it this night, I think. And...if you don't mind, Corrin's only a couple of blocks away, so I should dress."

She did not want to greet anyone but Hubert in her cocoon.

Ah, a stronger smile. That was good.

"Of course. Do not feel rushed; I'll assure Corrin that you're unharmed."

Hubert returns the smile with a slighter one of his own, inclining his head in a miniature version of the bow he'd given not to many moments ago. The mage doesn't linger, shutting the door behind him; he's grateful for the chance to soothe his hands—his burns were starting to become sensitive, stinging with every brush of his shirt and the air itself—but he still had that mess to clean up, preferably before Edelgard's other Bonded arrived.

Unlike Hubert, Corrin had not been awake when Edelgard's wave of terror and panic and hit her, but had in fact but contentedly snuggled up in her bed. The influx of new emotions sent her otherwise harmless dream into an absolute tailspin, and a second later she joined it, rolling over off the side of her bed, waking up just as she smacked into the rug that covered the floor of her bedroom.

She groaned softly, the abrupt pain enough to yank her from the foreign terror for at least a few seconds, long enough for part of her to realize it wasn't actually her terror. Since she'd bonded with Edelgard, she'd adjusted (to a certain extent) to the distant emotions of the older woman, had even started to get decent at sorting out where hers began and the others ended. But this was different. Unlike the gentle stream of distant feelings this was like a sudden tsunami. As it grew in intensity she pushed up onto her hands and knees, then knelt back, pressing the palms of her hands into her forehead lightly as she tried to get a handle on it.

And then it started to fade. A little at a time, at least, but slowly. When she trusted her feet she pushed up onto them, stopping only long enough to reach into her closet and tug on a heavy robe over her nightgown before she hurried from the house. Whatever that had been...

Bare feet carried her through the chill fall air, arms wrapped around her waist. It wasn't too long a trip, but she still already felt like she was late somehow, like she'd let herself get lost in the waves of terror for too long. Now they had faded, but she could still feel Edelgard...distant, upset...frustrated?

She pushed the thoughts away as she reached the house and banged on the front door, harder than she actually meant to. She probably looked rather ridiculous, wrapped up in a heavy bathrobe, hair a mass of mess hanging down her back, red eyes bloodshot and a bit worn from tears she hadn't realized she'd cried as the emotions had hit her...

Corrin didn't need to wait long before the door opened, and she certainly wasn't alone in looking ridiculous.

Hubert was without the coat and cape he wore when they'd passingly met in the dream, and his shirt and gloves splattered with coffee stains—relatively freshly, if the aroma was any indication—and angry red skin peered through the gap between his glove and sleeve. The gaunt mage looked exhausted, the seemingly perpetual bags under his eyes a little more pronounced and his eyes sunken, but it didn't touch his rigid posture or mannerisms. His eyes flicked over her disheveled appearance, silently evaluating something, but he gave no other acknowledgement of it.

"Corrin. We were expecting you." The tall man steps aside in a gesture to invite her in, holding the door. "Take a seat. Her Majesty will be down momentarily."

Beyond the foyer was a room with a dimly lit fireplace and several armchairs, and a kitchen visible just beyond that. He'd cleaned up the spill from his own stumble, but pieces of a shattered cup still sat in a neat pile on the counter.

Edited 2019-11-06 04:08 (UTC)

Corrin knew, rationally, that Edelgard lived with Hubert. She'd been told on several occasions and it just made sense given what she knew of their relationship, and yet she was still genuinely shocked when he answered the door. Just because she was so focused on Edelgard that somehow she expected her to be there even though her presence was clearly somewhere above and no where the door.

"Uh," she managed a sound that was almost a word, then swallowed hard to find her voice. She didn't enter though, not for several seconds, mind still racing. When she finally did, Corrin almost barreled past him, bare feet carrying her to the center of the room before she turned quickly, surveying. Her eyes came to rest on Hubert after a few seconds.

"...Is she okay?"

She had no intention of sitting down, frankly. Part of her wanted to go running upstairs but she knew that wouldn't help anything. And finally something else caught her attention.

"Are you okay?" She hadn't noticed the coffee smell, but she spotted the raw skin on his arm.

Hubert was just about to impatiently say something when Corrin rushed in, looking around very much like an anxious small animal. His eyes flicked down to her bare feet briefly, a slight frown creasing his expression as he shut the door.

Points for rushing out with urgency enough only with the bare necessities. On the other hand, it's been raining frequently, and the streets were no doubt muddy.

"Her Majesty is fine, as am I. She's merely dressing." His burns... actually hurt quite a bit more than he expected them to, now that the adrenaline was gone, and every movement of his shirt and gloves brought discomfort. He was determined not to show as much in front of Corrin. "I suppose I should ask you the same question. That must have been quite a run—do you live nearby?"

Edited 2019-11-07 03:19 (UTC)

Corrin's feet were muddy and a bit of a mess, but that was normal for her so she wasn't even noticing it at all. Typically she might have thought to wipe them off before coming inside, but she had been in a hurry! His floor could deal.

She let our a relieved breath when he said Edelgard was alright, reaching up to brush her fingers through her hair, a self-reassuring gesture. "Good. That was..." She didn't even have the words to really describe what it was. Intense? Shocking? Overwhelming? Yes all those worked but they weren't...enough.

"Huh?" His question caught her off-guard, and it took her a second to process it before she shook her head. "Oh, I'm fine. It..." It actually was a bit of a hike, really, but not so much that she was bothered by it. "It wasn't too far." She said. half a lie really.

"A little colder than I might have liked though." She added with a small grin. "Didn't really stop to get dressed." Hence the bathrobe.

"Clearly." A vaguer answer than he would've liked, but it wouldn't be difficult to find out where exactly she lived. Hubert could make a better judgement of her time later.

They both had their own little adventures, judging from Corrin's bloodshot eyes. After a moment of quiet, he directs his attention to the smoldering fire, making a motion with his hand. The logs and embers stirred as if prodded, burning to life. The room immediately grew warmer, even if Hubert's demeanor didn't.

"You should sit. It may be several minutes before Emperor Edelgard is ready." Hubert strode past her and the chairs and into the kitchen to finish sweeping the shards of the cup into the trash. "I suppose a good host would offer you something. Do you require anything?"

He set water to boil, regardless; Hubert expected Edelgard might want tea, after all that.

Corrin's eyes again widened as the fire stoked itself, and she looked from it to him several times before she laughed softly.

"I clearly need to study more," she said to herself, even as she took him up on his offer, moving towards the fire, but rather than sit she went and stood next to it, holding her hands out to warm with them. And to warm her feet, which was just a nice bonus. And less obvious if she was standing, she'd found.

"If you're having something, I wouldn't mind. If not, please don't worry about it!" She called out to him. Now that Edelgard had calmed down and the panic had passed, some of her usual chipperness was returning.

"I doubt anyone wants to manage guests in the middle of the night, so don't worry about me!" She added with a soft laugh.

The same tea as Edelgard, then. Hubert debated making another pot of coffee for himself, but... the lingering ache in his chest was concerning. Perhaps he should considering resting, soon.

He began running water into a bowl.

"Considering the events of the fog, we don't have the luxury to be lax. It's only a matter of time before something else unexpected arises; I'd be a shame if you weren't prepared."

Granted, he himself was studying rather obsessively. The dark mage had been working little exercises into his daily routines, like stoking the fire with his magic. It was unrealistic to expect everyone else to do the same, but if Corrin was to be Edelgard's Bonded, he'd hold her to a stricter standard.

In the flicker firelight, something moved, drawn by the heat. It slunk close to the walls, only deviating to curl lazily around a chair leg.

"Yes, I know," Corrin's response, her tone of voice, even her body language, held the mark of someone who was used to being told things like that. Better study more, better be prepared, who knows what tomorrow would bring. She tried, she did, and she usually was prepared. But she didn't have that obsessive dedication to it that other people did.

"Everything has just been so busy, I study when I can, I just-" She half-turned as she spoke, and cut off with a little startled noise as her eyes fell upon the...

"Is that a snake?!"

Hubert's mouth draws a little further into a disapproving thin line. How many of the Black Eagles had he heard a retort just like it from?

The snake straightens a little from his lazy coil at her exclamation, hood flaring out, startled itself. Otherwise, it didn't move from where it had curled around the chair leg.

"It is. It'd be upsetting if you harmed it."

Hubert emerges from the kitchen with the shallow bowl and a dish towel, holding them out expectantly to Corrin, utterly unconcerned about the cobra in the living room.

"I'd ask you to remove your shoes, but... this will have to do."

He respects Corrin's urgency. He also respects Corrin not tracking mud all over Edelgard's house.

Corrin opened her mouth to respond, and then closed it with a click, because she definitely had not thought the snake was a pet. And yet...it clearly was. She just watched it in uncertain silence for several seconds before she let out a pent-up breath.

"I won't hurt it," she finally managed to say. Well, she'd try not to. As long as it didn't get much closer to her. She didn't have a problem with snakes or anything, but they were generally more of an...outdoor...thing.

She almost didn't realize he had approached, only turning when he finally spoke, and her expression once more turned to one of confusion as she looked at the bowl and dish-towel he was holding out to her. Shoes? What was he...

A quick glanced down at her feet and then at the mud reminded her it wasn't the best night outside. "Oh!" She at least had the decency to look a bit embarrassed as she reached out to take the bowl. "I hadn't realized. Ah...sorry." She moved to sit down so she could rinse off her feet. It was odd, but she couldn't ever remember actually being asked to do that before...maybe it was because people didn't want to ask princesses to wash their feet?

Probably that was it..

[OOC: I'm sorry about how late this is.]

One could ask princesses to do an awful lot if they were involved in their care from a young age.

"It's a mistake that can be rectified." Hubert isn't gracious enough with essential strangers to dismiss it entire. It's too inconsequential to be angry, from a practical standpoint, but he did consider it a mistake.

The cobra's hood folds back in as it lowers itself back to its coil, basking in the stoked fire. The familiar's master observes Corrin for a moment longer before trudging back along to the kitchen. Fatigue sat leaden in his chest, noticeably heavier than it had been prior to the earlier scare.

He returns a few moments later, tea pot in one hand, two cups floating above the other, settling them on a table.

And it's just then that Edelgard arrives, moving down the stairs without an attempt to hide her presence. Even if the bond wasn't going to betray it, she wanted to make it known.

Clad in a sturdy woolen shirt and leggings, she takes in the scene, smiling genially to Hubert and Corrin both.

"Forgive me for rousing the both of you and worrying you both. I...truly should have prepared you better for this eventuality."

Walking right over to the table, she takes up a tea-cup.

"And thank you, Hubert. You know me too well."

Corrin had just about finished cleaning her feet off by the time she felt Edelgard approaching, and she hurried to dry them off before she stood up and turned towards the stairs. Part of her wanted to run over and hug the older girl, it had certainly felt like she needed it, but she managed to resist. If only barely. Fingers twitching faintly at her sides.

"It's okay," was all she said as Edelgard moved over towards them and the table.

"I'm just glad you're alright."

Hubert's mouth crooks up at the corner at her apology—as if he would've been asleep. The mage casually glances over as Corrin rises, but otherwise returns his focus to Edelgard.

"Nothing to forgive, Your Majesty. As I've said, it's no fault of your own; it's merely an aspect of the Bond."

He'd argue that as many times as he'd need to, that her tormented sleep and any adjacent consequences were the result of their lurking enemies. Hubert hasn't forgotten his burns for a moment, and while incredibly minor, there were increasingly difficult to ignore.

"If there is nothing else...?"

Edelgard's attention flitted from Corrin to Hubert, then back. Taking in the scene at a glance, mulling over the vaguely sheepish feelings she'd gotten from Corrin and the slightly irritated ones she'd gotten from Hubert...tells her a couple of things. The first is that this is a terrible first impression.

The second is that there's likely nothing for it, just yet. She'll need to talk to Hubert about Corrin and vice versa later, though. She's sure of that. For now, an explanation is owed.

"Not at the moment. Again, thank you for coming so quickly, and for the tea."

Stepping further into the room, she reaches up and pats his shoulder with real affection.

"Please, see to your burns. And...in future, perhaps see to those before making tea for me."

As she watched Edelgard and Hubert speaking, Corrin had an immediate sense that she was intruding somehow. She was pretty sure she wasn't, but there was something very private about their exchange that made her feel like she shouldn't have been watching it. Hm.

She turned to the table where Hubert had set down the tea cups and tea and instead busied herself with pouring it, because she had to do something and the energy from running here definitely hadn't eased off yet. Plus now her feet felt cold from being washed, so moving around a bit had to help.

Occasionally she glanced at the snake seemingly dozing under the chair, or back over at Hubert and Edelgard, but mostly she just tried to be unobtrusive. And failed.

"Perhaps," he agrees a little cheekily. "I'll take your advice under serious consideration."

Sure he would.

Even two weeks after their Bonding, feeling Edelgard's gratitude and affection as she felt it was no less strange. It still seemed... invasive. Rather than dwelling on it, Hubert focused on the instant; after her pat, he steps back just enough to offer Edelgard a prim bow. Then with a murmured word and a gesture, he was gone in a blink.

He was only showing off, just a little—he did nothing without practical benefit. He'd keep teleporting from room to room (his concentration ~~check~~ permitting) until the spell was as second nature as breathing.

"Please do consider it."

Once Hubert was safely away and bandaging his wound, Edelgard took a seat at the table and reached without hesitation for the cup that Corrin had poured. Her attention, intense as ever, hovered entirely on Corrin's eyes.

"You...deserve an explanation for that. I had hoped it would not be necessary, but I see that it is."

Reaching gingerly across the table, she goes directly for Corrin's hand.

"And I am eternally grateful that you came as swiftly as you did. That means...that means more to me than I can say with mere words. It tells me that I was right, that bonding with you was as wise as I had hoped."

Corrin had seen teleportation magic before, but she wasn't actually looking at them, so from her perspective Hubert just vanished from the corner of her eye like an afterimage. Which was...honestly pretty impressive. She really needed to pay more attention to her magic training.

She looked up when Edelgard sat down, offering her a tentative smile as she moved to pouring her own tea as well. "You don't have to-"

She started to shake her head but was cut off when Edelgard grabbed her hand, glancing at it for a long moment before looking up at her, only half-hearing that compliment. After another second she laughed, a soft, embarrassed, sheepish laugh and shook her head.

"What else could I do, not come? That was..." She trailed off as the laugh faded. The fear and the panic and the terror she had felt? Anyone would have come running, right?

Desperate to lighten the mood, or for something to say, she wasn't sure which, her lips shifted into a more self-depreciating smile.

"I think Hubert would have preferred I hadn't come, though. I got mud everywhere."

"It's only mud."

Edelgard says flatly, somewhat amused, somewhat annoyed with Hubert for that. But at the same time, it's good to know. They can prepare for that, next time. Either with shoes. Or with a mat.

"And he's glad you came. I assure you of that. He...is very protective of me. That's been his duty since we were very small. He is just fussy."

And wrapped up in being who he was. Which she wouldn't change for the world.

"As for the matter at hand...yes. Yes it was probably quite a shock."

Slowly, she retracts her hand and peels her glove off. All the way off, exposing a hand with dozens of small, white scars. All at precise angles, set just so.

"As...this must be."

Part of Corrin wanted to comment on his protectiveness if only because he had a snake but she let it pass. Something to joke about later, maybe.

"It was...certainly one of the more unexpected ways I've woken up, at least." She agreed with a small smile. She drew her hand back as Edelgard removed her glove, her expression narrowing as she saw the scars that littered her skin.

"I...knew," she said softly. "I felt them when we bonded." But feeling them wasn't the same as seeing them, was it. After a handful of breaths she reached out to trace a finger softly across one of them as her red eyes flicked up to meet Edelgard's.

"I'm sorry."

The touch makes her shiver, but not pull away.

"I...said I would explain."

She slowly peels back her sleeve further, revealing more scars, some longer, just as patterned. Her eyes never waver, not from Corrin, but a sense of dread and long, long held back fears fill the bond.

"I told you before that I have a Crest, something important in Fodlan. What I did not say is that I have two...and that the second was not one I was born with."

She allows herself a brief, sad smile.

"The second was implanted in me after...I was..." her voice finally catches, "...I was taken as a child, and...scientists...they did things to me."

Corrin listened to Edelgard in silence, her lips narrowed into a line, her eyes uncertain. She knew whatever had happened was terrible, but it was all a bit beyond her ability to really understand it. Implanting crests? Scientists...basically torturing a child?

Her fingers twitched before moving to trace up along one of edelgard's scars, only a few inches before she drew her hand back with a frown. Her eyes were glassy, on the edge of tears.

"...Why would anyone do that?" She finally asked, even as she moved to sit down right where she was standing, winding up sitting on the edge of the table, facing Edelgard.

"They...I...do not know why they wanted to do it."

She has no clue, she never did. Was it some sort of power play? Or was it an attempt to turn her into a more powerful weapon? Or simply punishment?

"What I do know...is that it worked. It just...I have a second Crest. I was the only one of my siblings to survive the process. The other ten are dead. I was left scarred, physically and emotionally."

She presses her lips into a thin line.

"I sometimes have nightmares. Remembrances of my time in the dark."

Corrin wanted to say she couldn't imagine why someone would do that, but she could remember what Garon had been willing to do for power. But how did making Edelgard stronger benefit people who she would hate? It...made no sense.

And killed all her siblings too.

There were a lot of things she wanted to say, or to ask. How could they get away with murdering so many members of royalty? What did they think would happen afterwards? But none of it felt important right then. It was what Edelgard had nightmares about, but it wasn't what they were talking about.

"I can't imagine you wouldn't after that," she finally said, her finger tracing down Edelgard's arm again, but this time gently taking her hand, squeezing it gently.

"I have never really had a lot of nightmares, so I can't say I really understand, but...whenever you need to talk about them, or not talk about them, I'll be here, okay?"

"I know."

That...actually...she did understand. And accepted. The bond made that much, much simpler than it otherwise would have. She knew how shocking what she was saying could be. But Corrin was handling it better than she'd expected. The brush of fingers against her scars was pleasant in a way, and it helped. She relaxed at the acceptance, and curled her fingers inside the other's grip.

"I know you'll be here...and know that I treasure that knowledge. I understand how distressing my nightmare must have been, but rest assured I trust you to care for me. Generally, there is not much to say. Memories of...pain...but also rats. I think those are the worst ones."

From across the room, a loud thump heralds the arrival of an orange ball of fluff. A tabby, too old to be a kitten, but young enough to be not yet full grown. It patters over to the kitchen and a small bowl, mostly ignoring them. As cats do.

"I hate rats. Because of that. And being alone in the dark. So, I keep cats, and a low burning fire. Tonight was...unusual. I suppose it was overdue. And I apologize again for the worry."

She pauses, a little unsure...and then continues.

"You have no idea how glad I am you came, though."

"Rats," Corrin echoed that, her nose wrinkling, and couldn't quite bring herself to ask anything more specific because how could rats ever be a good thing in a regular dream, let alone a nightmare? She didn't think anyone liked rats.

Then again, she hadn't thought anyone liked snakes, so...who knew?

"Of course I came. And I didn't..." She hesitated. "I didn't see your dream or anything. I just felt what you were feeling. I think." She laughed softly. "Honestly I think I was dreaming and your emotions kind of overwrote everything else in there so it's all very bizarre blur."

Dreaming about other people's emotions was definitely not something she wanted to do a lot, she thought. But she would put up with it for Edelgard. "And I'm glad...you're glad...?" Okay that felt really lame somehow. An embarrassed laugh before she tried to latch onto something else. Okay, okay...cats!

"Cats are probably a good idea," she agreed. "I mean, I assume. I never had pets. I didn't even have my own horse, really." Things like that, she hadn't thought about until she'd been free of Garon's fortress and actually looked at her bizarre childhood with hindsight. "But people I've met with them seem to like them." She added with a little smile.

"Do you have one here?"

"I do."

Edelgard looks across the room at the cat that had just entered, but it's a cat, so it keeps doing it's own thing. She doesn't have a magical link with it or anything, as much as she'd like to. It's comforting to know it's here though.

"I...as much as I hate to pivot back to something heavy, also feel like it's time that I came clean with you about...things you've probably questioned since we started this talk, and things I've alluded to."

She knew that she'd told Corrin that the war had been something she had started. And that it had been to undo the hold the church had on the continent, but...

"The people who...experimented on me...were working with the nobles. A kind of shadow power that lurks in the shadows. Hubert's called them Those Who Slither in the Dark, and it's an apt name. You should understand that in case one of their agents arrives here...that they're very dangerous. If someone that you don't know starts asking questions about Hubert and myself, I am counting on you to say nothing. And to tell me...so that he and I can deal with it."

A meeting [Closed]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject