ohmyarceus | January - February Test drive

[Dimitri likes the Ruins of Alph... He thinks. It is a difficult thing to say with any true accuracy. The first time he was in their vicinity, after all, well... He was hardly in the best state of mind. In those early months traversing Johto, his memories occasionally blurred together, became meaningless. He would be hard pressed to say he was properly living in that kind of state.]

[But some things still stand out clearly. After all, it was here in the Ruins of Alph that he finally was able to truly connect with Claude - that he began to listen to him instead of treating him like an enemy, a liar. Their "first date" as Claude likes to teasingly call it, although Dimitri thinks that is a bit much. It had just been a bribe, an attempt to distract Claude, at least at first. ]

[And then, perhaps even most importantly... This had been the place where Grant had met Kent, and caught him to bring to Dimitri. Kent, who Dimitri is now well aware is perhaps one of the strongest reasons why he can be as he is now.]

[That is one of the reasons why he is back in the Ruins of Alph, Kent the Munna dozily on his shoulder and braced by one of Dimitri's hands. The other is that one day he'd like to build a home in Johto, or even Kanto, so why not revisit the places they'd all visited once before?]

[Those are his thoughts as he makes his way down to the ruins, looking back idly. He knows this is hardly the ideal place to be near to, especially since he knows Felix is so fond of the beach now, but...]

[On his shoulder, Kent - normally nocturnal as he feasts upon Dimitri's nightmares - actually rouses himself, and raises his little head up in a certain direction with a low murmur of sound. It makes him pause, brow furrowed, before he looks around. This isn't in line with Kent's usual behavior, so what is...]

[For just a brief moment, that distant sight of pale green hair - so much more green than Alph in the winter - makes him think of the Professor, of that patient and hard to read stare. But when he turns his head properly, focuses-]

Lady Rhea?

[So shocked by this particular turn of events, Dimitri doesn't have much of a chance to consider anything else besides that shock.]

[Her reasons for visit are so much more shallow and superficial in comparison. No memories to have made here. No stunning moments to have drawn her interest and beckon her to pay visit time and time again. In her own thoughts, she simply has memories of home. Of a home torn by differing opinions. Incited rebellion. Such things are not uncommon. History is paved with the adversity that comes with leading others, of attempting to keep things at an uneasy peace.

Rhea can only consider her actions to be attempts at guidance and navigation. Perhaps, some might say her efforts to be extreme. She knows well enough she has those who would consider her a hindrance rather than a blessing. In this world, however, such things do not seem to matter. She is far from home, with no knowledge of when or if such a thing ought to ever change. She has expected this time to be granted to her in favour of self-reflection.

...Would she do things any differently? Would she revisit the past and adjust it?

Firmly, before Dimitri's voice breaks into her thoughts, she decides conclusively that she would not. Things have happened as they will. Out of her complete control and she must do all she can to take hold of all that has gone awry and set it to right once more.

His is a voice she recollects. Softer, perhaps. Not as coarse as she might expect. She turns only just enough to cast him a look from head to toe, the blond that crowns his head, the posture, the way he carries himself.]

A familiar face. The first I have seen.

[Even when it's a face that has surely seen better days. A small ralts hides at her skirts and she dips her head to offer it a reassuring nod. Dimitri is not necessarily a man she would consider a foe. But she, once, would have thought that of all of her students. Once. In a memory behind her.]

[The first familiar face she has seen... He wonders how familiar.]

[It has been a long time since he has seen her, from his own point of view. The last time was... when he was much younger, waiting underneath the church for something and never knowing what shape it would take. In the end, it was never holy, never divine - just a messy and earthly betrayal.]

[The realization hits him, then, that this is the first time he has actually thought of Rhea in quite some time. He went straight to Faerghus after the attack on the monastery, and things fell apart so quickly. It was all he could do to survive, to focus on his vengeance as fire that kept his cold and pathetic body going. Why worry or care about some holy woman whose life did nothing to his own? Who he had always felt a wariness towards - for her actions, for the church's influence on his own Kingdom?]

[Some small bit of guilt curls in his chest. People like Seteth had cared for Rhea's existence quite desperately, he knows that much, back when he had been lurking in Garreg Mach like a wraith. Even if he had not cared, they...]

[Dimitri takes in a slow breath, trying to reorganize his own thoughts. Regardless, right now, she is just a woman, here in this world separate from everything she knew. Just like the rest of them were, once upon a time.]

There are... some others from Faerghus here as well. Yet I have seen no other people sworn to the church arrive here before you, Lady Rhea.

[A quiet separation between Faerghus, and the church.]

I take it that you arrive in just... the last month, then?

[She suspects that he, like many others, may have no shortage of questions. If not now, then perhaps sometime in eventuality. She cannot determine what he is thinking by the harsher features of his face, so very different from the ambitious, seemingly bright-eyed stare of his younger counterpart. A younger Dimitri had always seemed eager. Intense, perhaps. If reports were anything to go by. How can she claim to have known any of them particularly well? It's not as though her interactions with them have been so direct.

Either way, she finds it difficult to know better whaever he may hbe thinking. Perhaps very little positive. It is probable that of all people he's expected to see, she is not one of them. Transparent, even, given his initial reaction.

She nods along slowly, no more or less than she was before crossing his path. Given that she'd made no expectations to see anyone from their homeland, or even Almyrans and those outside of Fódlan, she's made no expectations to see anyone akin to Seteth either.]

Recently.

[Rhea confirms for him, deliberately choosing her words carefully.]

Truth be told, I did not anticipate to see any of you here. You are not the only one so caught by surprise.

That... is understandable. This is a strange place, where one never knows when they will arrive until it happens.

[Although it doesn't escape him that her answer was just as vague as some of his own responses... Then again, was it ever different? Dimitri supposes he never truly got to have a one on one conversation with her. Would that have been for the best?]

[It doesn't matter; the past is the past. What he has to do now is deal with the present. There's still too many things he doesn't know in order to make an accurate judgment call, so...]

[Taking a breath to steady himself, Dimitri takes a step closer. One hand goes up to help keep Kent balanced, although it's largely superfluous; a Psychic type like Kent doesn't need such assistance when he mostly floats anyway. The other hand gestures in the direction of where there should be some benches and picnic tables. There is that much here, isn't there...?]

I believe there is much we should talk about. Would you care to sit down?

[Rhea folds her hands together patiently, lingering on his words with some thought. It is, as many things are here, out of her control, it seems. That is not a feeling she is particularly fond of, though to express it would do very little. It would not change her station. It would not change the situation at hand. It would not otherwise alter anything up to the very present, very prominent moment.

...Or any of the others that will follow.

For just some moments, she watches the way he interacts with his munna. One can learn sometimes far more about another without words and merely with observation. Rhea is not so different there either. Sometimes she says more in her silence than she does with the words she chooses to bestow onto others. He gestures some moments after and her eyes follow to where he motions.

Ah. Questions seem to be the way of it. Questions that Rhea knows she is not so... enthused to begin diving into. Or perhaps he will find it in himself to be compassionate and refrain from such curiosities.]

I had intended to pay visit to the ruins. [She admits quietly, but after a moment's consideration, Rhea smiles. Kindly.] That can wait.

[Five years prior, she had failed to make proper time for those under her care. She cannot undo that. She cannot change it. But she can make time for them now, if that is something they desire. Although for some, it may be entirely too late.]

[As always, it is difficult to read her properly as they stand there in silence. He doesn't think she will refuse him, exactly, not when there are not many others from Fodlan who could tell her more about this strange land, but... Well, that doesn't mean he has any idea on what her reply will be either.]

[It feels a bit like being tugged off-balance slightly by the wave - her initial words, the smile, the actual agreement. They almost seem in contrast to each other, somehow, or maybe that is merely his own unease at seeing such an unexpected figure here.]

[Well, it is not as though he can let himself be in that state forever. Dimitri nods, leading her over to one of the picnic tables. Politely, he waits for her to sit down first, as only seems proper.]

[Their titles may not mean anything here, with his own might even on level with hers according to some, but still. It is only polite.]

[He follows soon after, with Kent gently floating down towards the tabletop once Dimitri is seated properly. Unlike his trainer, he doesn't seem particularly bothered at all by the current events. Instead, there's still just that sleepy and calm expression on his face as he tilts his head up to look at Rhea with a kind of idle observation.]

I understand this may be sudden, and difficult to understand at first, but I have a question, Lady Rhea. What was the last thing you remember in Fodlan, before you arrived here...?

[He leads and Rhea follows, still cycling through the potential plethora of questions he may offer in her direction. With some care, she seats herself, and it doesn't take particularly long for her ralts to find way into her lap, where she protectively holds it. She finds her attention lingering between Kent and Dimitri with contemplation. Eventually, it halts on the former and curiously she offers over her hand to the munna with patience that he might get to know her, or acquaint himself at his leisure.

When Dimitri next addresses her, eventually her eyes fall back onto him. A heavily-weighted question for certain, though she supposes there are a great number more that could be more so. A woman never quite so free with her information, she does not feel, even in the present moment, that changing such habits would be beneficial. Although she suspects who she is, what she is, these things in this world may not matter. Perhaps they do not exist at all. There are few ways to determine the truth of things, and surely not ways to do so inconspicuously.]

Well—

[Her head tilts and she thinks before she finds her voice once more.]

Are my memories so important? It would seem you may intend to use them for comparison purpose. I remember you, though not quite like this.

[Not a particularly enlightening answer, he has to say... He supposes that is also not surprising. Even back down in the holy tomb, it seemed as though Rhea kept things close to her chest. Even with the Professor sitting upon that throne, her reaction back then...]

[If he asked her about that, would there be a point? An answer? What if she has not even reached that part of her life yet?]

[He can't let himself get sidetracked.]

They are indeed, Lady Rhea. This place... deals with more than the travel between different lands. People can arrive here from the same place, having spent most of their lives together, and yet recall very different points in those same lives.

For example... One person can come from the start of a war, and another can be from the aftermath.

[He glances back down to Kent, who has taken the time to shift forward just enough to extend his snot for some short sniffs. Perhaps it is mere bias, but he likes to look to his Pokemon to see if things are going well. Kent doesn't seem particularly bothered, or distrustful... But then, Kent doesn't seem bothered by much, often.]

...It has been five years since I last saw you, Lady Rhea, down in the tomb.

[What sort of aftermath lies at the end of whatever the Empire's ultimate goal is? What sort of world does Edelgard hope to create? What sort of future? Little more than to undo all of Rhea's timeless attempts to where she has driven the masses toward.

Mere recollection stirs her. She knows very well of what he speaks. Of how she thought her very heart might burst when Byleth took the throne of her mother. The reflection of that warmth she has, for so long, gone without, despite the presence of Seteth and Flayn at her side. How pieced together will she remain here without them?

Rhea hardly wishes to find out.

The smile she offers to Kent is a subdued one, though no less kind than it has been since crossing fated paths with Dimitri.]

I remember of what you speak. [She confirms for him.] I am here now, am I not? As I have only arrived recently, allow me time before you should think to press me for much more. Regardless, it seems we remember things as they were, the Empire's animosity. A grave betrayal that I never foresaw.

...If I may speak frankly, Lady Rhea, I have pressed you for very little. But very well.

[At least this much is... something. The start of the war is clearly in the past for her. Was she captured? Did she go into hiding? Some other mystery, much like what happened to the Professor?]

[Dimitri doubts he will be the one to get such answers out of her. While he was raised in politics, Rhea is clearly a woman who is not unused to them, if her careful way of speaking is any indication. Perhaps that is something that comes with being the leader of an entire religion]

[He will simply leave that task for Claude, and see if he fares any better. Claude has quite the talent for hammering out secrets, after all, and he is more than persistent enough.]

[Either Claude will get his answers, or Rhea will regret knowing other people. One or the other.]

[For now, Dimitri shakes his head.]

At any rate... How have you been fairing in this place? It is quite unlike Fodlan.

[And it is a hard thing to imagine someone like Rhea making her way through it like he did, or any of them did, before they came to rely on their Pokemon companions. He cannot envision her working on plumbing, or serving drinks at a bar, or...]

[...Hm. He is not sure what it says that he can imagine her taking Felix's way of beating others in battle for money.

[She finds no reason to argue or otherwise counter his sharp response. It is frank, at the very least. She has her own reasons for keeping her information to herself. Much of it, perhaps, is for the sake of maintaining her own restraint. Her other reasons for doing so...

Well. Unnecessary to dive into considering that Dimitri is willing to let it pass for now. That will not work a second time, she suspects. Although she is the archbishop, there will come a time, a day, in which Dimitri and the others will demand answers of her and she will need to have ready a worthy explanation. She cannot simply get away with having none to provide.]

It is very unlike our home. [She agrees with him, a gentle nod provided in his direction.] I am able to make my way as it is necessary, though it seems many have determined that I stand out. I am enjoying travelling, however. That was not something I could have done in Fódlan.

[Not entirely true. She could have, perhaps, if she'd genuinely wanted to. If she'd thought it was safe to do so. If she could have done so without escort.]

No... It is not. That is something I can understand well.

[Even if he had just been the prince of a kingdom, the one who would be its ruler one day, Dimitri knows that he never would have been allowed to wander so freely. That had only become more true with him being the last remaining holder of the Blaiddyd Crest, with his parents having been slaughtered like pigs in the mud. Who could let him go out on his own, lest the same fate befall him?]

[Funny, how that sort of thing had not mattered in the end - whether he went off on his own, or stayed in the Kingdom around those he could apparently trust.]

[Well... It was not as though he trusted most of the people who hung around close to Fhirdiad Castle anyway.]

Still... The woman whose home you awoke in, surely she must have given you a chance of clothing? It may very well not be what you are used to, Lady Rhea, but hopefully it should be serviceable clothing..

Yes, I suspect you very much do understand.

[A prince, after all. Regardless of Rhea's position in the Church of Seiros, she is no princess. No queen. And yet, this is something they can have in common. She wonders, for just some moments, if she had been more inclined to speak of her wants five years prior and then some, if she would have been able to form a better relationship with these students. She feels as if she is only just now getting an opportunity to know them.

...More than official documentation, that is.]

It was offered to me, yes. [Rhea nods with a small smile.] I am afraid that I am partial to my wear. Perhaps in time that will change. For now, however, I find comfort in the things that are familiar.

[Yes. She believes she can get away with allowing such truths to be free of her. Perhaps such things will 'humanise' her.]

If that is what you wish. [It isn't as though he can force anyone into doing anything else.] But if your health were to falter due to the winter chill, there are people who would be upset at such an event.

[~~And Dimitri doesn't want Catherine to murder him~~]

...What drew you to the Ruins of Alph, if I may be so bold as to ask? Simple curiosity? [Since she seems so averse to giving answers, Dimitri supposes he may as well give his own.] Kent is a native to these lands, so I thought perhaps he would like to see them again. It has been over a year... at least, for he and I.

[Kent blinks sleepily once more, making a soft noise of agreement.]

[His words of concerned reminder, which is how she chooses to interpret them, do not go unheeded. Rhea makes a note to perhaps see if there is a way to make something similar to her normal apparel, perhaps just a touch heavier to host her in the cold. He's right, after all. She suspects she has caused him and the others from Fódlan more than a little duress in her absence.

Rhea's attention turns onto his new line of questioning.]

It may sound a little silly for me to say, yet when I heard about the ruins, I thought a little of the Holy Tomb. I had thought coming to pay visit might have allowed me in finding a feeling similar to our homeland.

[In short, Rhea has been looking for something familiar. Something to stabilise herself in an otherwise uncertain world. True solitude is a feeling unfamiliar to her. She has had Seteth and Flayn for longer than most others would know and before them, there were others. And once, there were her brethren. A Rhea on her own does not necessarily know how to proceed on this pathway without the company of those she trusts.]

It sounds as though you and... Kent— [She turns her attention back onto his munna with a fond look.] —are close. You claim it has been over a year since you have come to this place. How long have you been here, Dimitri?

The Holy Tomb... I see. I suppose I can see that, in some ways. Yet, in my experiences, it is something much more different than what lay beneath Garreg Mach.

[Is there anywhere in Johto that would remind him of his own homeland? Of Faerghus? When it comes to the natural parts of the land, yes, but that is not quite the same thing, he thinks. No stone fortresses, no simple villages... Even the small towns have a style that is completely different from what he grew familiar with.]

[And the Ruins of Alph are even stranger and older than all of it. Would some of the truly old and abandoned valleys of Fodlan be comparable? He supposes that is the strongest point.]

[Kent blinks up when attention is focused on him again, making another low murmur of a hum.]

I have been here for... a little over a year. It was only a few months ago that it was that exactly, with my arrival having been in the middle of the autumn months.

[He rests his hand gently along the curve of Kent's body, stroking behind his head gently.] ...It is an amazing place. I would take its knowledge to Faerghus, if I were capable of it.

[Just the medicine alone... That would change so much about his kingdom. At least, so long as they could finish the war.]

[Without a doubt, his observations are on the mark. There's not much here at all that makes her think of Fódlan. It's an entirely fruitless endeavour to attempt finding something that should bind her to home. The Ruins of Alph are... only similar in the way that they are ruins. Beggars cannot be choosers and through no fault of her own, Rhea is not in a position where she can be particular.

Instead, her attention moves from Kent and onto Dimitri, taking in with care and thought the information he chooses to offer her. It is difficult to imagine any of them being missing for a year, though she suspects that it's not like that at all. After all, was it not five years at least in which she has not seen him, or the others? She shakes her head slowly. It's all a little difficult to believe, but impossible to refute given what she's faced with in the present.

This is no fever dream, as much as she might like to claim that it is.]

You seem to think of this place highly. [That's an observation only, though...] It sounds as if you intend to remain here.

It is hardly a choice of mine, Lady Rhea.

[And his desires are more... complex than that. He knows he has a duty to go back to Faerghus, to Fodlan as a whole, because he cannot make up for everything he has done otherwise. He cannot fulfill his promise to Dedue if he stays here.]

[Still... If only he could bring back even a portion of the knowledge in Johto back...]

[That is besides the point, really, and he surveys her as he tries to decide how to explain the bizarre situation that everyone here is in.]

Much like how you found yourself suddenly arriving here... People will often vanish, back to their own homelands, with no rhyme or reason to it. Much like the arrival, the departure is a mystery to those of us brought here. They find themselves right back in the time and place they last recalled.

[Hardly a choice of his and yet she suspects that with or without a choice, Dimitri is not at all clamouring to make his way back to their homeland. She doesn't know how she feels about that. Returning is about all she can think about, but that is purely from a self-centred point. Here, in this place, she has no power, no influence, nothing to sway others with. Here, she is met with a good deal of distrust—something she objectively deserves—and that only emphasises how out of place she is.

If she had to choose, the way forward would be utterly clear.

Her eyes linger on his for several long moments as he clarifies. If she's surprised, it doesn't show in her expression. The only thing she seems to display is a touch of wistfulness in the features of her face.]

I see. I had hoped such things were untrue.

[In this, she has no reason not to believe him. He stands to gain nothing from lulling her with falsehoods.]

It would appear I will have a great deal to learn about how things are in this world. At least, for the time that I will be in it. Perhaps for my sake, such a time will be brief. I am most of value in our world.

[Clamoring to get back home so soon... Not even a trace of interest for the incredible things in this land. Not technology, not people, not the creatures. Not even any of them arrived in this place to start with. Or perhaps her priorities are simply so much stronger than his own.]

[Is that admirable? As he looks across to the serene and carefully kept woman in front of him, Dimitri supposes it is. Many parents wish their children could find a goal in life, and push forward towards it. (As long as it's the right goal, that they approve of, of course.) And yet he wonders if there were any other chance for her.]

[...There are many things he disagrees with her on. With the Church of Seiros on. Small nests of bitterness and anger that dwell in his chest. Still, he also knows what it is like to be shackled to a road.]

Your absence will not be noticed, Lady Rhea. When you are taken back to Fodlan, it will be as if you never left.

...So you could do whatever you liked here, if you had not a chance to do it before.

January - February Test drive

2 - i am throwing off my whole schedule for this because POINTS IT'S THE POPE

Oh no. No matter what this pope might think, she's not worth changing your schedule for. lol

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