Chapter 28: The Time of Retaliation
Goetia had only just disappeared in a flash of light before Rhea had even realised what had actually happened. She had been sensing the gradual increase in magical energy for some time. It had been primarily a background nuisance initially, similar to whenever she presumed the man would use his magic for some simple purpose.
However, it had sharply risen in intensity within a few minutes prior to her arrival. She had initially thought he was to attempt something now that everyone of major skill was out of the Church, but when she barged into the library to see the broken table and his unusually still form, she suspected something was wrong.
Then when he turned to face her, she only caught a glimpse of it before he spoke and vanished. It was barely restrained but she knew what it was.
Anger.
She knew the emotion well enough to recognise the sight of it, however who it was aimed at wasn't clear.
She hadn't had enough time to question him on it either. She knew teleportation spells which could take a person great distances, she had used them herself on many occasion. This was not one of those. It eclipsed it.
Goetia had teleported somewhere in a fit of rage, and she suspected it wouldn't be long before she found out quite where.
Anger like that tended to leave a large impact on something and especially from someone of the magical power of her newest librarian. She frowned in thought.
'Just this once.' She thought to herself in minor puzzlement 'Such an odd thing to say.'
Although the only answer to it she could think of was…
Her features flattened out, save the slight curling of her lip. It appears he might have gotten involved in the end. She had no doubt it had nothing to do with the Goddess, however.
But…
There had been a feeling, for some time. An odd sense of deja vu which repeatedly struck her whenever she found herself sitting down in her room. As if she had been repeating the gesture before without realising it.
Her lips pursed.
Something was going on that she wasn't entirely aware of.
And she was going to find out what it was.
The back of his fist slammed into the charging knights breastplate, a spurt of blood escaped the breaths of his visor as his steel armour caved inwards from the blow, the knight was instantly slammed onto his back and went limp.
The other knights balked at the display, Lemegeton scoffed before turning back to the focus of his-
Something clipped off the back of his head, a frown came to his face as he heard a clink of metal hitting the ground. He turned and looked down, seeing the dented arrowhead of the projectile before looking up at the Cliffside, his eyes scanned the many Archer's lining the rock face, they landed on the woman who was dressed differently.
Short cut indigo hair, the woman locked eyes with him although she didn't look perturbed at him suffering no injuries from the arrow.
Indeed, having seen him cave a man's armour in with his bare hands, Shamir couldn't exactly say she was surprised that he was able to shrug off an arrow to the back. Although that didn't do much to alleviate her growing apprehension when he slowly raised his hand in her direction.
When the tips of his fingers glowed bright red and crimson lightning crackled between them, she knew she was in trouble.
"Down!" She cried out to the other archer's while jumping away from her original position, in hopes of avoiding his attack.
Lemegeton grunted when another tower knight barrelled into him, slamming their shield into his chest and causing him to stumble backwards slightly. The spell shot forth from his fingers and went wide, the beam of energy arced upwards. Completely missing the woman but still cleaving through the rock face, the areas upon impact glowed a brilliant orange from the intense heat before they crumbled and sections of the cliff face collapsed onto the main road.
Unfortunate that they collapsed onto the column of militia but he wasn't going to grieve for them. Not completely. He had already anticipated that sacrifices would have to be made, therefore he could accept the deaths as long as his goal was met in the end.
It didn't let him distract himself from his current condition. His hand which had been stretched slammed down into the top of the knights shoulder, the sickening crack and screaming of steel indicated the damage which had been done.
The man dropped to one knee, shield and spear falling from his grip as he cradled his left arm, hanging limply from his shoulder. The pauldron had been dented so far inwards that it had curved upwards like a crooked smile, no doubt his injuries were quite severe.
Not that he would have to worry about them.
Lemegeton backhanded the man, sending him face first into the ground before clamping his right hand around the back of the armour and his left hand around the man's right thigh. The cloaked man raised the knight into the air, the man flailing wildly before he rocketed him downwards.
Directly onto his waiting knee.
Several knights recoiled in shock as the screams went silent, completely overshadowed by the cry as steel was bent in ways it should never have been. To say nothing for the man's spine. The disposal of his body was no more glamorous. As he returned to his feet, still holding the body of the knight, he released a grunt as he hurled the corpse away from him. The full plate suite of heavy armour which would have weighed more than three men was tossed through the air as if it were a sack of potatoes before disappearing over the edge of the cliff and vanishing into the fog below.
Lemegeton brought their hands up and began to dust down their cloak with a disturbing amount of casualness. "Hmm…" they hummed for a few moments "I do not recall being this brutal before...must be a sign of growth." they muttered before turning their attention back to the two that mattered.
Jeralt was nursing his side, still breathing heavily from where he had been punched hard enough to break several ribs. Seteth was faring no better, while he was still standing, his face was covered in bruises and left leg was shaking slightly.
Alois was face down on the ground, he's received a kick to the chest and hadn't gotten up since.
"It is best I put an end to this charad-" The figure boasted, taking a single step forwards before they paused. Their head snapped behind them so fast it was a miracle they didn't tear their own body apart. "...What?" they spoke in a hushed tone, a degree of surprise in their voice which slowly bled into worry.
Their hands disappeared back beneath their cloak, sending one final glance towards Seteth and Jeralt. They growled in annoyance before their red eyes glowed contemptuously on the former "To think such a thing…"
He couldn't remain. He wasn't sure what had just appeared on the opposite end of the battlefield, near Lonato, but he could tell it was powerful.
Not as powerful as they were, but it was still far too early for a confrontation. There was a nagging whisper in the back of their mind at the familiarity of this feeling, but he couldn't tell if it was the Host body or his own instincts that were warning him of this.
For all he knew 'The Immaculate one' had come herself to deal with this insurrection. It wouldn't be within her expected behaviour, but he wasn't going to take that risk. Not yet.
They remained silent for a few more moments before they released a snarl, soon vanishing in a sudden burst of light. Seteth blinked in shock as the battle raged on around them, now firmly within the Knights advantage.
While the chaos had obscured them from proper co-ordination, the removal of the fog meant they could now receive proper support from their archers and their wyvern riders. Although Seteth figured that his time on this particular battlefield was over, he fell onto his good knee and panted, sending a glance over to Alois.
Concern flooded his body as he dragged himself over to the man, gripping his armour and flipping him over. His hands went to his neck to check for a pulse, for a few moments he felt dread creep through his system before he could feel the faint pulse of their life. He allowed himself a breath of relief "Get him to the healers!" he barked out at the closest knights, who weren't currently marching against the berserker's "Now!"
He wasn't sure why the man had left so suddenly, he could only feel as though it spelt bad news for them in the future. But for now, he was glad he wasn't going to have to continue fighting them.
Lysithea felt her vision weaken as she stared at the sword embedded in her chest, her hands weakly moved towards it with what little strength they could muster. They clasped themselves around the blade and she promptly winced as she felt it cut into her fingers.
She could vaguely hear muffled shouts, her eyes sliding to her side as she watched Ashe struggle with Lonato for a few moments before the lord flipped the boy onto his back, soon kneeling atop him and raining blows onto his body.
The man was shouting words she couldn't quite make out…
When was it becoming so hard to keep her eyes open? It wasn't always like that?
Then she released, if she had been able, a bitter snort. It made sense, she was dying. She had always imagine it would happen when she was young but not this young. She had accepted her short life…
But that didn't make her any less afraid.
She wasn't going to be able to graduate from the Officers academy.
She'd never be able to prove that she had earned her place through sheer hard work rather than crests.
Although…
'Having you die such a simple death after investing my time in you would be a pity.'
She found herself more fearful that she'd let her Teacher down. She'd never be able to prove to him that she was just as capable of learning his advanced magic as anyone else form his home…
And here she was, about to die on a mountain top because she was careless.
She could imagine his disappointment in her when he found out.
She didn't have to imagine hard, apparently, because she could just about make out his face in front of her. His sole hand reaching towards her.
Fitting that she should see his disappointment before she died.
Darkness consumed her.
While Lysithea was experiencing her, presumed final moments, Ashe kept hold of Lonato's waist. The boy clung to him for dear life as he attempted to tackle the man over, although it was met with little success.
The air escaped his lungs violently in a bloodied cough when Lonato slammed his knee upwards into his ribs, his leather armour doing virtually nothing to stop the impact which took him off his feet for a second. His grip weakened and Lonato capitalised on this, grabbing Ashe by his sides and throwing him onto his back.
Ashe heaved as his body painfully collided with the stone path, he attempted to get back up only to have Lonato's fist slam into his chin, his head cracked against the ground from the impact.
"I take you and your siblings in-"
The fist struck again.
"-I treat you as my own-"
And again.
"-Christophe treats you as his own!"
And again.
"And this is how you repay me!?"
And again.
"How you repay Christophe's memory!?"
His bloodied gauntlet slammed into Ashe's face again, his already broken nose exploded and left a string of blood leading from the boys face to his fist. He cocked it back again, his expression torn between rage and genuine pain "And you still defend the Church!?"
"F-fath…" Ashe attempted to feebly free himself of Lonato's grip with one hand while his other shakily reached towards the older man. Lonato stared at the outstretched limb for a few moments, his expression faltering for a split second before it hardened.
He slapped the hand away and then slammed his fist into Ashe's face, the boy's head jerking to the side as he spat out several teeth and a small puddle of blood "You made your choice Ashe." he coldly remarked, drawing his fist back again.
"L-Lonato!" A pained gasp reached his ears, he paused mid-punch and slowly looked up to see Catherine staring at him "Stop! I'm the one who turned Christophe over to the Church!" she hissed out in pain as she nursed her shoulder "Just stop!"
Lonato snarled at her "It wasn't enough that you take one son from me, but two!?" his expression warped into one of fury "Turning him against me...were you that desperate to hurt me so badly?"
"Christophe made his choice…" Catherine replied in a cold tone, parroting his earlier words "And you're making yours to beat your own son to death."
"...You killed my son and stole another from me." Lonato replied icily "I've already mourned one son...I can mourn one more."
"That I was forced to come here myself truly angered me."
Lonato paused at the voice before something seemingly gripped his body and he found himself sailing through the air. Roughly crashed face first into the ground with enough force to blast the air out of his lungs, he coughed heavily as he tried to rise.
"I had expected something greater than this, its pathetic on every conceivable level!"
"Its so far beneath my notice that I should not have been required to come here at all!"
"So why? Why!?"
A flash of light appeared next to Lysithea.
Combat between the knights and Lonato's sane rebels died down at the sudden appearance, standing above the injured girl was a man in a long brown robe, tanned skin and hair which seemed to glisten like the stars.
He stared down at her, almost trembling before he leaned down towards her with his single arm outstretched. His hand gripped the hilt of the sword and ripped it clean from her body, tossing it away before he placed his palm on the wound. His hand glowed for several seconds before he withdrew it.
"Why am I even here?" The man spoke, although his voice had dropped several octaves into a menacing echo which barely sounded human. The blue lions, those who were conscious, gulped in recognition of the tone. Goetia had used it during their training, but only as an announcement. There was no emotion in it at the time…
This was different.
Dimitri knew anger, he knew murderous rage better than most, or so he felt. Felix knew the signs too, he had seen it in the boar prince.
Which was why the pair of them agreed that Goetia's anger seemed to outclass the Princes.
"I invested a great deal of effort in these children. My students." Goetia growled out, soon turning around to face the group in front of him. His eyes burning a brilliant red "I even agreed to remain out of the conflict with the full intention of abiding by that agreement...that I am here now means you have made a liar of me."
Goetia's feet slowly left the ground as he floated into the sky, hand clenching repeatedly "So I had expected something worth this price I paid...yet I don't find a single aspect threatening about any of you...You thought you could challenge the Church with this!? That you could upheave Fodlan's central social pillar with this!? You would have required an army…" His burning red eyes fell away from the mob and towards Lonato, the Lord found himself frozen under the intense glare "But you couldn't even manage that could you? The best you could assemble was a pathetic band of swine herds and apple pickers, arm them with trinkets and throw them away like trash? This was your grand plan for revenge?"
Goetia exhaled "Pitiful. You've merely thrown them to their own graves."
"Lord Lonato!" The knights who had been fighting the Church and students broke away from them and rushed to the defence of their Lord, none made a move to stop them. Still rooted in spot from the sheer presence that Goetia exuded, their instincts telling them that not doing anything was the safest things for you.
"That's right! This pathetic display has always been the staple of you humans!" Goetia sneered down disdainfully at them "Even in the most desperate of situations you still ignorantly march on with that fear of death!" his hand reached out towards them and clenched.
A sudden blade of wind burst from his fist, shooting vertically towards the closest knight and striking him head on, where it continued through him and split him in half before carving a line through the ground.
The other knights froze as the remains of their comrade fell to the ground.
"Lord Lonato of the Gaspard Region!" Goetia called out "Your rebellion has been most amusing! You fought all this way to claim justice for your son, and it will all be rendered worthless!" his expression changed into a monstrous grin "Your end will be utterly pathetic!"
He snapped his fingers, a ring of glowing golden orbs came into existence just behind his body. They soon started to spin, eventually moving so fast that it became a ring of light behind him "I thank you...this emotion of genuine rage is most invigorating! Allow me to demonstrate my appreciation!" the golden beams of light soon bean to shoot forth from the ring, striking down the knights instantly and carving burning lines through the ground.
Men screamed and attempted to protect themselves with their shields, not that it did them much good. The superheated beams of magical energy sliced through their shields as easily as it did their armour, their bodies carved into burning chunks all the while avoiding the Church soldiers and the students.
One thing became perfectly apparent to them, however, Goetia had entirely missed Lord Lonato. Although there was the general feeling that it wasn't done by mistake.
Byleth found herself staring at the brief and brutal carnage with a growing degree of concern, Goetia appeared to be taking far too much joy out of it. More than that, his sudden appearance was a great shock to her as well. Sothis had also gone quiet the moment he had arrived, further testament that something was wrong.
When the final beam split the last man in half, Goetia gradually lowered himself to the ground. His grin fading away into a sneer before he turned his head to stare at Lonato "Anger such as this...this purity of it is a new emotion for me. I've felt it before but never this intense...so I will release this feeling as best I can." his next words chilled everyone to the bone "So I'm going to beat you to death."
That seemed to spur Lonato into action, if only for the man to shoot to his feet and level an accusatory finger in Goetia's direction, his expression fearful as he stared at the man "D-demon!"
Goetia stared at the man for scarcely a few seconds before he released an amused scoff, then accelerated towards him. Lonato raised his arms to guard his head, only for Goetia's first punch to fracture the bones in them, forcing his back to slam into the rock face.
The one armed man pulled his fist back before launching another punch towards him, Lonato ducked low as the punch collided with the rock, and his glowing first promptly punched a hole through the space where his head had been. Goetia's red eyes flicked down to him and he pulled his hand downwards, ripping it free of the ride of the mountain and slamming it into Lonato's cheek.
The old man was knocked to the ground, heavily dazed but soon scrambling to get up.
Goetia kicked him in the gut with enough force to dent his armour inwards, Lonato was launched back into the cliff face where Goetia loomed over him, pulling his fist back and readying his next punch. The man was still coughing from the impact when Goetia landed a savage haymaker, instantly shattering his nose and breaking his front teeth.
The man was knocked onto his side when Goetia landed another punch on his face, the smile on his face never fading as he pummelled away. The sounds of the fist striking against the man's face soon stopped sounding like beating a solid object and quickly dissolved into a far more disturbing wet sound. Goetia continued on, regardless.
This burning rage he felt was mostly directed at himself for even being here at the first place, but also towards this man. Goetia had dismissed him as virtually irrelevant, he was supposed to have been dealt with easily. So who was he to cause him this level of annoyance?
The moment he had seen the state Lysithea was in, he had fallen into genuine anger. It was liberating almost. He had this freedom. It wasn't anger born of pity or arrogance...it was just pure anger.
He was going to kill Lonato purely for the satisfaction it would bring him. He was fairly certain the man was dead already, considering he barely looked human anymore. His face was unrecognisable and he'd long since stopped moving. That didn't stop him though, he continued to punch the man a few more times before he stopped.
Pulling his crimson soaked fist away from the remains of the man's head, Goetia stared at it for a few moments. Breathing heavily as he stared at it and then back at the corpse. The smile which had been on his face slowly disappeared, being replaced with his trademark impassive look as he got to his feet.
He flicked his hand, sending the bits of Lonato's face stuck to his knuckles to the floor. He inhaled and then exhaled calmly before turning away from the corpse and moving over to where Lysithea was, he crouched down in front of her, staring at her for a few moments.
The wound had healed and she would recover. Soon as well.
His eyes moved away from her and towards the body near her, oddly enough they were still breathing, despite the mess they were in. He recognised the mop of dirty blue hair as belonging to the Blue Lion boy...Ashe.
Goetia sighed. He had already healed Lysithea...he might as well while he was here.
"възстановявам" He muttered, swiping his hand over the boys face. His skin ever so slowly righting itself as the spell went to work fixing the damage to him. It wouldn't regrow his teeth though, but there were other spells which could do that. Regardless, the Ashe boy would live as well.
Slowly straightening themselves out, Goetia turned his gaze onto the remaining humans before him.
Their eyes all held a degree of fear in them, most being openly disturbed by his display. He looked at the bodies and then to the remains of Lonato before back to them. He looked down at Catherine, the woman staring up at him with wide eyes, clearly unsure what to make of him.
Goetia looked past her towards Byleth.
The pair stared at eachother for a few moments, he noticed Sothis wasn't there with her but dismissed it. Clenching his jaw, he slowly began to walk forwards, the way that Byleth flinched ever so slightly gave him pause. It clearly wasn't out of fear, more of an instinctive reaction.
But that wasn't stopping the small flicker of...something that went through his body in response to that.
"...Gather up the remainder of the children, ensure they aren't wounded. I will work my way back to the lines of the Church and deal with the remainder of the rebels." He spoke, his voice emotionless, then began walking. Briefly waving his hand in Byleth's direction, the woman felt relief spread through her side as the wound she had been dealt healed over in seconds.
As he walked, the students gave him a wide birth as he made his way back up the path, his casual pace continued as he moved past the students and knights. As he did so, he briefly locked eyes with Dimitri.
Unlike the others, Dimitri was regarding him with a strange expression. It wasn't one of fear...more intrigue.
Moving past the leader of the Blue Lions, he made eye contact with Claude.
Claude...Claude was the most difficult to discern. The boy held a blank expression as Goetia walked past him, he could still feel the boys eyes on his back as he made his way up the path.
They watched Goetia casually stroll away from them in complete silence for a few moments.
"...Holy shit." Sylvain whispered out, eyes darting over to Lonato's unmoving body and then to the corpses of the knights "...that's what he's like when he's angry?"
"It...would appear so." Dimitri muttered under his breath, then turned to look back at his teacher "Professor!" he called out in worry as he rushed over to the woman "Are you alright? How bad?"
"Fine…" she pulled her hand away to reveal the blood, but lack of a wound. Dimitri stared at it in amazement before he let out a small chuckle.
"It would appear Goetia is full of surprises."
"Yes...who knew we'd have a Demonic Boar to contend with as well." Came Felix's dry comment, earning a frown from everyone near him, but none contested it. It as difficult to, considering the display they had just been party too.
"Ashe!" A worried cry brought Dimitri and Byleths attention to the boy in question and were surprised to see Petra kneeling over him in concern "The wounds are doing a heal...I mean healing." she muttered then nodded "It appears that Ashe will be recover."
"Recovering." Claude corrected, although he lacked any brevity in his tone as he quickly moved to Lysithea, placing his hand on her neck before letting out a sigh of relief "Seems that Lysithea will be doing some of that as well…" he looked over his shoulder towards Lonato "...I'm going to assume he's dead."
"I'd say so." Catherine replied, still nursing her shoulder "Wish he'd healed me but I've had injuries like this before…" her eyes fell on Lonato's unmoving form "...Not how I'd thought he'd go." she sniffed, then shook her head "Anyone else wounded?" she asked out loud.
"Raph took a hit." Ignatz called out, pointing towards the large boy with a large gash in his shirt "Although the bleeding has slowed down...it doesn't look that deep either but I can't tell."
"Hey kid!" Catherine called out to the larger boy "Can you still see?"
"Y-yeah?" Raphael called back, slightly confused.
"You'll probably be fine then." Catherine grunted "Anyone know healing magic?"
"I do." Marianne raised her hand, quickly gathering the meaning behind Catherine request "Ah! I'll get right on it…"
"Make sure everyone can walk...Then we'll follow after the mage." She grunted as she got to her feet, sending one final glance towards Lonato's body before she grimaced "Just...prepare your stomachs just in case."
The warning was well received, judging by the grim nods she got in return.
Goetia barely looked in their directions as they were cut down, beams of golden power lanced through their bodies with ease.
It was easy.
It was also pathetic...wasteful.
All these lives put to an end for some pitiful reason that would have mattered for barely twenty more years. But apparently it wasn't good enough for them. So now he was here.
He was here...cleaning up the mess of humanity. The pathetic existence of this rebellion which wasn't to do with bettering the country. It was an act of vengeance which would claim the lives of a majority of the Gaspard population. It wasn't worth it. It didn't make sense to him, even now.
He could empathise the with decision, of course. A meaningless battle fought for some petty reason. But that didn't mean it made sense to him. It was insane, it was vexing…
It was so very human.
Maybe that's what troubled him the most. Not because of their actions, they were well within line of what he should have been expecting them to do. Lonato fighting for vengeance against the death of his son was somewhat understandable. But even if he won, it would have been a pyrrhic victory. He must have known that…
He would have called it an act of stupidity…
Except he had just beaten the man to death with his bare hand...and he wasn't sure what had motivated him to do that. He could probably tell on some basic level, but the reason currently illuded him.
He had gone because he wouldn't be like Solomon. Apathetic in the face of suffering he was aware of...he wouldn't be like that man. So he had already determined himself to kill Lonato's rebels.
However the second he had seen Lysithea...he just felt something wash over him. That anger.
He was aggrieved, of course. He had invested a great deal of effort into her teaching and for her to die like that would have been a pity. So yes, he had eventually saved her.
But it didn't explain his reaction...He wasn't sure how the possibility of Lysithea's death could have incensed that display from him. He'd known anger before, but not like that. There was something refreshing about the new sensation.
But why?
Seteth had been expecting a great many things by the end of this day, but what he hadn't been expecting was Goetia's sudden appearance. The man had carved a bloody swathe through the remnants of Lonato's forces as he had made his way towards them.
What had disturbed Seteth was how non pulsed the man looked, although he supposed he might have been good at hiding his emotions. It would have been an odd trait for a mage to have but somehow he could see Goetia doing something like that.
Although he did notice the blood splatters on the man's robe and on his single hand.
And when an injured Catherine and students came up the same path as Goetia, all looking equally grim faced. He imagined something must have happened. Especially considering the state some of them were in.
He'd immediately called for the healers, but Catherine had assured him that Goetia had already seen to Lysithea, Ashe's and the Professor's injuries. Although she seemed a little irritated he hadn't done the same for her.
"So when did he arrive?" Seteth eventually asked, the woman paused and stared at him in slight confusion.
"The mage?"
"Yes, Goetia." Seteth nodded, his voice inquisitive.
"Well he-" The cracking sound was soon followed by the woman letting out a gasp of pain as Seteth snapped her shoulder back into place. The woman hissed, clutching her arm before glaring at him "Really!?"
"It is best if you were relaxed, I needed to distract you so I could-"
"I know how it works!" She snapped at him, still wincing at the injury "Could have waited until after I told you the stupid story!"
"I don't know." Shamirs dry voice came from the entrance to the tent "I'd say it worked out well enough."
"Easy for you to say." Catherine grumbled "Fine...wasn't long after Lonato stabbed the white haired girl...started...wailing on Ashe."
Seteth frowned "Lonato did?"
"...Hm." Catherine nodded "...Didn't think he'd do that...he was...he was actually gonna do it too? He was gonna beat his own kid to death…" she released a bitter laugh "He was saying it was all Ashe's fault this was happening too. Blaming his own kid for his treason...then he started blaming the Church again."
"And...the Goetia showed up?" Seteth inquired, the woman grimaced.
"Yeah then he showed up." She replied "Was some disembodied voice at first. Then Lonato goes flying into the side of the path. Then he just appears in a flash of light...heals up Lysithea and turns around to face the rebels." she shivered "He just...I don't know...he was just insulting them one moment." she swallowed and then shrugged "Next moment he's cutting them all down with spells...laughing the whole time too."
"It would explain...Lonato's shape." Catherine released a snort at that, causing Seteth and Shamir to look at her oddly "What?" they had both seen the state the body had been in, if it hadn't been for the students saying they'd seen Goetia kill him they wouldn't have been able to identify it.
"Oh he used magic on Lonato all right." She shook her head "The magic of anger and your fists...well, in his case his fist."
Seteth blinked at her before her words set in "He...he beat Lonato to death?"
"And then some. I think he was dead after the first few punches to his face, then well...guess the mage had some anger issues or something."
That was putting it lightly.
"So how'd you get banged up." Catherine asked "Lonato had some fancy magic sword and some armour, you encounter something like that too?"
Seteth grimaced "No...in truth we don't even know who he is. They left the battle for some purpose. Although they never pulled a weapon on us."
"Not like he needed one." Shamir commented "Caved in someone's helmet with a single punch."
Catherine's eyes went wide in shock "You're kidding!"
"I'm afraid not." The green haired man grimly responded "We lost nearly a dozen knights to him."
"Any idea who he was?"
"I sent men to see if they could track down Lonato's supplies. With luck, there will be some information there which may yet shed light on this mysterious individual."
"No offence...but I've had my fill of magically powered freaks for one day."
Seteth's lip curled.
He had as well.
Chapter 29: The Ride home
He remained silent as he walked alongside cart, occasionally glancing towards it before returning his eyes to the road. The horse drawn wagon carrying back the injured knights who would require greater effort to heal than simple spells and vulunerary's.
Lysithea and Ashe were amongst them as well, but that was due to them being exhausted, his healing of the pair had used up much of the energy within their bodies to speed up their recovery rate. Lysithea was in worse shape because of the stab wound, but she would make a full recovery.
That…
Goetia frowned as his mind drifted back to his student. That was something he wasn't entirely certain how he should feel about. She would survive and he felt, perhaps, relief at her continued existence. Although he found it increasingly difficult to discern whether it was relief that she was safe, or relief that his time in teaching her would not go to waste. Either way, it was relief he felt.
And he wasn't sure which of the two reasons was the main one for this emotion. That had been another thing, the feeling of anger.
He had felt anger of course, it was not as if it was a completely new experience for him. But it had always been anger born on pity, that was his base nature so that was what defined all other emotions he had felt. This anger had been different, almost base in nature. A primal urge to lash out at everything that he held negative feelings towards and simply tear it to pieces.
He had done so with Lonato, going so far as to beat the man to death in response to this new feeling.
What perhaps puzzled him was the sheer ease at which he succumbed to it. Logically, it would have made more sense to simply kill Lonato with a simple spell and be done with this entire sordid affair. That was not what he had done, Goetia felt as though simply killing the man as simply as that was almost unacceptable. That he would not have allowed anything less than brutalising him.
A desire to commit to the act of retribution with his bare hand.
It was...not too dissimilar to how he felt when he was confronted with Solomon. That primal rage born of his hatred for the Kings indolence and the desire to put an end to him with his own two hands.
Was this hatred what all humans had the capacity to feel? The simple ease of brutality. He had witnessed it many times in history but actually experiencing it was another matter entirely.
It was almost...intoxicating.
He became aware of a presence stalking up behind him, this was a new one. It was not Von Riegan's half hearted measures at stealth nor was it Byleth's causal approach. This was practised and quite skilled for an ordinary human, he dared say it was almost on par with a low ranked presence concealment skill. Although whoever it was, they were still human and hiding their presence from him without the mystical nature attached to the Assassin class made it near impossible to catch him by surprise.
"Can I help you?" He called out, turning his head slightly to look over his shoulder at the one approaching him. He recognised her, but only because he had spotted her from a distance. Occasionally she had interacted with Seteth, the woman with indigo hair.
She raised an eyebrow at him, eyes shining with intrigue "You heard me?"
"I felt you." He replied back "I do not know you either, we have never met."
"No, we haven't." She responded in a curt tone "Shamir."
"Goetia."
"I've heard."
"I'm sure." He replied in a disinterested tone of voice as he looked back to the front "You have business with me?"
"A question." Shamir remarked, smoothly falling into step next to him but not turning to look at him as they walked. "I saw what you did to the rebel army as you made your way to the front lines."
He didn't respond beyond a grunt of acknowledgement.
"I noticed you weren't part of Catherine's group to attack." She went on "She said you teleported in."
"I did."
"Any reason why?"
"Why did I suddenly arrive, or why was a I not present for the entirety of the battle?"
"Both."
He scoffed "My student was in danger, so I intervened." he replied with, managing not to sound defensive or even ashamed at the admission Shamir raised an eyebrow in questioning, still awaiting for the second part of the answer "As for your latter point, I simply felt no need nor desire to intervene."
She had to blink at that, this time turning her head to stare at him with narrowed eye "A lot of knights are dead."
"They are, I believe Seteth estimates it to be around the three hundred mark." He paused for a few moments "However those are simply causalities, I believe perhaps a third will recover with healing."
"They're wouldn't be that many dead if you had been here from the start."
"Aside from the fact that I am an assistant librarian and not a warrior." He began with in an almost tired tone of voice, as if he were annoyed at having to explain himself "I had no interest in becoming involved. Even if I had offered my help, do you truly believe the Church Knights would have accepted the aid of a 'Pagan Sorcerer'"
Shamir would have liked to say 'yes' because accepting the help of someone as obviously powerful as Goetia would have been the smart thing to do. Although knowing how overly zealous some of the Church knights were in their treatment of non-believers and foreigners, especially her apprentice, she couldn't say for certain. It was possible that Seteth would have fully accepted Goetia's help, but Seteth was only one man and he seemed reasonable. She wasn't sure Catherine would have, she didn't personally have a problem with the Knight, but she knew how stubborn Catherine could be.
"And yet you're here." She pointed out instead, Goetia stared at her silently for a few moments before he nodded his head.
"Indeed I am." He replied "However, I did not intervene until I had reason, the Church means nothing to me nor do the issues that the people of Fodlan have with them. Lonato's personal grievances with the Church and their resolution, were not mine to solve." red eyes soon narrowed and looked away from her and to the cart of the injured "However, I had a vested interest of sorts...when it became threatened I became involved to protect it."
She couldn't argue with that reason, not getting involved in something you had no part in was an entirely fair position to take.
"This an isolated incident?" She eventually asked, noticing how Goetia tensed for a few moments before he fell into a thoughtful silence. His eyebrows knitted slightly as he appeared to turn contemplative before he eventually responded.
"Possibly." Although he didn't sound all that convinced by his own answer. She wouldn't fault him either way, he wasn't paid enough to do this sort of work to begin with and he held no fanatical loyalty to the Church.
She supposed he was a bit like her in that regard. Only a bit, however.
Shamir had parted from his side around the halfway mark on their return journey, he hadn't expected anyone else to accost him on his way back. The last person he had expected was for Dimitri himself to appear next to him, although given what the boy had witnessed he supposed some there would be some questions and offers of-
"How...do you hide it so well?" Was the first question of of Dimitri's mouth, his voice slightly hushed so as to not disturb the other knights as they walked past them. Goetia frowned in response to the question.
"...Hide what?"
"When you arrived." Dimitri's expression tightened slightly "You were furious, I daresay I have rarely seen a display like it. Although I do notice it was not until Lysithea and the Professor were injured that you appeared." he went on before shaking his head, dismissing the thoughts "Forgive me, I have pried. But...I must ask are you always so...physical with your anger?"
Was he?
That was an odd question. He thought back to all the times he had felt anger in any true capacity, his times when he grew angry out of pity. There were times he hadn't been able to do anything with his anger but stew in it, that feeling of burning disappointment.
However, when there had been times when he could actually do something. His thoughts drifted to his final confrontation with Chaldea at the Temple.
To Fujimaru Ritsuka.
The boy who he couldn't kill...despite how much he wanted to at the time. He would have ripped the child apart with his bare hands, he had tried to.
Was he always so physical with his anger?
"Perhaps." He admitted after a few moments "However...that display was new to me." he went on, his lips curling into a small frown "It was...easier than I thought."
"Yes...it is." Dimitri replied in a somewhat distant tone "I do not know how well it has been hidden before Goetia...but if I might impart some advice." the Prince paused, looking for any evidence that his conversation partner would deny his request. When he received none, he went on "I will not beget you your anger...however I only ask how it might make you appear to others."
Goetia's eyes slowly drifted to the Prince "Felix refers to you as a boar." Dimitri flinched slightly, soon nodding his head "I see."
"I only ask that you show restraint." Dimitri requested, with a non-judgemental smile "If not for yourself, then for those whose opinions matter to you." a flash of guilt entered his eyes "It can be hard to alter the images that some craft of you in their minds."
'How dare you.' Was the singular thought that went through Goetia's mind in that one instant 'How dare. You think me affected by the opinions of humans? Who but hours ago were fully willing to butcher each other for a difference in theological perspective?'
His thoughts were vicious and well concealed, so much so that his blank face seemed to be an answer for Dimitri. Who nodded and stepped away from him "I only ask that you think on it, Goetia."
He turned and left as the man snapped his attention back to the front, his lips pursuing. The opinions of humans? What a laughable notion. And the opinion of these in particular was not something he wished himself to be in the good graces of. He didn't want to be of a negative opinion of them either but that was purely so he could avoid unnecessary trouble.
Provided they did nothing to him he couldn't care less what they thought of him.
Even Lysithea's opinion did not…
…
…What of Lysithea's opinion? What of Byleth's? The woman had flinched when she saw him after his killing of Lonato but it was simply an act of caution rather than being genuinely afraid of him.
However, what reason would she have to be cautious? They had already been confirmed as allies of a sort, so why would she flinch as his arrival and subsequent quelling of the rebels?
And why did her reaction irritate him?
Yes, it was somewhat annoying that she had reacted in such a way to his appearance, it would have been more logical for her to simply greet him and ask to be healed. There was no need for such a fearful reaction from her.
It was, in some small part, her own fault for his irritation towards her…
So why was he irritated with himself as well?
What an odd feeling?
And what an ugly one as well.
His lip curled into a subtle scowl, he hated this uncertainty within himself. This directionless feeling, it was so simple when he was greater than this. His anger could be justified in every possible way, all his choices and actions had their meaning behind them.
What possible meaning was there in his actions here?
Byleth remained silent as she watched Dimitri part from Goetia's side and make his way back towards his classmates, the Blue Lions taking up the front end of the student column with her as its leader. She and Dimitri locked eyes for a few moments, the boy gave her a quick nod of the head and flashed one of his smiles before ducking away and falling into step with Claude and Edelgard.
Her eyes drifted away from them and back to Goetia, an odd emotion welling up inside her person. She was a mercenary, she had seen some things that might have been considered odd, although with a ghost living inside her head her own perception of odd had been radically altered.
However, seeing the rather sudden and brutal display of Goetia had been a memorable thing for her. She'd always known in some capacity that he was a talented mage but she didn't quite know to what extent. What had caught her by surprise was his manner of speech and his entire way of being during the 'fight'. Goetia was normally reserved when it came to his emotions, rarely displaying anything more than a slight twitch of his lips at any situation.
Well, that wasn't entirely true. He had gotten angry with Sothis when the two had fallen into another of their bickering matches. But he hadn't gotten physical or even raised his voice, there had been a quiet anger about him but it had faded just as quickly as it had come about. She hadn't seem him get angry at anything like that before, and didn't think she would again.
Until now. It was...frightening. It wasn't the display of power or even his words which were disturbing to her. No, it was simply how easy he had arrived and done everything. How easy he had controlled his expression and gone from killing with a rabid smile, to healing with a blank face to just going back to killing with a sense of casual indifference.
It made her wonder if this was how people sometimes saw her, an expression of total apathy as they cut down hundreds with all the effort of going for a morning stroll.
"Because he isn't human." She jolted at Sothis voice, darting her eyes upwards to see the girl floating beside her head, her eyes fixed on Goetia's back and narrowed with intensity "I was not sure until just now, his aura had been different but he let slip what he was for a few moments." Sothis turned and stared down at Byleth with an intensity that she hadn't seen from the girl before "He isn't human, he wears the form of one easily enough, but he isn't one."
"That sounded like an insult." Byleth replied in her head, her own frown growing in size at Sothis's words. She had always been called a demon as a moniker but it didn't make her one, it just made her a little different.
"I didn't mean it that way, dunce." Sothis snapped at her before quickly clenching her jaw and sighing heavily "...I meant it in a literal way. I am not sure what he is, but he is not human or at the very least not completely human...how strange." she frowned "I feel as though that should come as a greater surprise to me."
It came as a surprise to her...then she stopped and thought about it.
"Have you noticed Goetia always says 'you humans'?" She asked the girl inside her head, Sothis paused for a few moments before her eyes slowly widened in realisation and then trailed away from hers to lock onto the back of Goetia.
"Yes...Now that you mention it…" Sothis muttered out under her breath "He does always say something like that...doesn't he?" brows furrowing together, Sothis brought her left hand under her chin and cupped it, giving a thoughtful hum as she did so "However, this brings us to another question. If Goetia is not human...then what is he?"
Byleth blinked, looking away from Sothis and to Goetia. That was certainly a good question for her. If Goetia was not human, or at least not completely human then what exactly was he?
The return to the Monastery was an unusually dour affair, despite having claimed victory the Church losses had been considerable and the realisation that the rebels had been little more than drugged up crazies had left a bad taste in everyone's mouths.
Goetia had kept his silence as he passed through the front gate of the Church, however he soon paused as he felt a pair of eyes on him. His vision climbed up the front of the battlements so find that Rhea was staring down at him, the phantasmals eyes were narrowed at him in a curious manner before he released a small huff and continued on his way.
He didn't exactly want to speak with anyone at the moment, so he settled with following Manuela to the makeshift camp for the wounded.
"Mercedes." The girl jolted at being called out, turning to see Goetia staring at her "If you would come with me." with that said, he walked off in the direction of the wounded. Mercedes blinked in surprise for a few moments before she followed after him.
"Yes, Goetia?" She hesitantly asked as she closed the distance between the two of them "Was there something you needed?"
"The aftermath of the insurrection has provided us with an opportunity." He replied in his usual blank tone, her eyebrows furrowed and she felt a small frown come to her face as the clinical tone he used to describe the situation "I will be applying minor forms of healing magecraft on the wounded to stabilise their condition and mend their broken bones." he saw her eyes widen in realisation before she slowly nodded.
"You want me to watch?" She tilted her head in a questioning manner, he nodded once.
"Ashe, as you are aware, has lost several teeth." He paused when she saw her minor flinch "As such the spell I will use will facilitate the growth of new ones."
She almost gaped at him "You're...going to grow him teeth?"
"It will not be instantaneous." He corrected her "And it is simply tricking his body into believing that what he has lost were his first set rather than his second. However, the process will be faster than usual. He will have grown a new set within two weeks." another pause "Perhaps two and a half."
"Ah...I see." She gave a smile in his direction "That's very kind of you."
The look she got in response indicated that he didn't quite believe, or understand, her reasoning behind the sentence before shaking his head "Lysithea has been stabilised as best she can, I will need to better understand the extent of her bodies damage…" he trailed off before looking to Mercedes "How competent are you with your structural grasping?"
"I...can understand the wooden cube but a person…" She trailed off with a mild look of embarrassment "I'm not sure...I don't want to mess it up."
"It will not be detrimental to her health." He dismissed "I will be there to double check whatever issues her body is experiencing. Any oversights you make will be discovered by me."
"Thank you." She gave a light bow of her head "I'm sorry for being a little useless."
"Your own weakness is nothing to apologise over." Goetia replied with a frown "I would only find it offensive if you were aware of it and did nothing to correct it." he turned away from her and continued on his way through the monastery "That you at least attempt such things is...commendable in its own right."
Mercedes giggled softly before giving him an almost chiding look "You aren't all that used to giving out compliments, are you?"
"I give praise when it is deserved." He responded sharply "It is simply a matter of finding few things worthy of my compliments."
She raised an eyebrow and gave a small hum reminiscent of how a parent would give a hum in reply to the rantings of a child. Goetia found he very much disliked that attitude, his lip curling slightly but he made no reply. There was minor irritation there at best and nothing truly worth getting angry over.
Try as she might to correct herself, the girl would always be ignorant as to the extent to what his perfection had been. To receive any form of blessing from him while he had been a true Beast was a testament to the individual in question.
It was hardly his fault that there were so few of them.
"We must speak." Were the first words out of Seteth's mouth the moment he entered the inner sanctum of the meeting room, Rhea looked to him with a slightly raised eyebrow before seeing the intensity, as well as anxiety, in his eyes before she steeled her expression.
"Leave us." She said to the guards, the armoured individuals wasted little time in nodding their heads and quickly departing the room. Leaving Seteth and Rhea alone. "You seem troubled by something, although I trust you were successful in-"
"Goetia arrived, I'm sure you are aware." He cut her off, she blinked in surprise at his tone before slowly nodding her head.
"I was present when he departed." She replied, seeing a flash of surprise in his eyes "He was releasing quite the potent beacon of magical energy for some time before his departure, he made a small mess in the library as well. Upon my entering he disappeared in a teleportation spell."
"That matches with what the students told me." Seteth grimaced "...Lord Lonato is dead, Goetia killed him along with a good portion of the army."
"...Alone?"
"In truth, the moment the fog lifted we were already on our way to claim victory, Goetia's actions merely secured it." He paused for a few moments "However, that is not what worries me."
"Oh?" She knit her brows together and her mouth curled into an inquisitive frown "What else is there to speak of?"
"There was another person of interest present at the battle, they too were capable of teleportation." He paused when he saw Rhea raise an eyebrow in surprise. Teleportation spells were nothing too rare, but it still took a mage of high competence to use one on another person let along on themselves "They appeared to have some minor form of control over the rebels even in their…" he grimaced at the word "...Present condition."
"...You believe they are the person behind this?"
"Individual." Seteth corrected "As a person...no, I do not believe they were completely human. They were far too strong and...their eyes were different."
"Different?"
"Red, with black cross shaped pupils." He shook his head at her question "No, that was all I saw of them. They wore a cloak which hid away much of their features."
"I see." Rhea nodded, a troubled look on her face "I understand how this concerns you, if this is an individual capable of instigating a conflict of this scale, then they represent a clear and present danger to the Church. I will see to it that our knights are made aware of-"
"There was one other thing." Seteth cut her off again, looking about the room suspiciously before slowly closing the distance and their voice dropping into a whisper "They referred to me as a Phantasmal."
Rhea slowly raised an eyebrow at him in questioning "I...That word is not familiar to me."
"No. Nor was it to me until recently." He clenched his jaw "...Goetia told me it was a method of identification for the strongest of the Demonic Beasts."
Rhea's expression blanked immediately before her eyes widened "They knew-"
"I believe so." Seteth nodded gravely "And I have heard none besides Goetia refer to the Demonic Beasts with such a word. However….it might have a broader definition to simply the Demonic Beasts."
"This individual...you believe they come from the same place as Goetia?"
"It is a strong possibility." Seteth nodded his head "The sudden appearance of Goetia coincides with the sudden disappearance of the individual. Whether or not the pair know each other is not something I can fully account for-"
"But there is a connection." Rhea surmised, her expression quickly falling into a scowl as she paced away from Seteth and towards the window "...It brings about the question as to whether they were aware of what you were prior to the first meeting or if they could see through your form."
"...They wanted Jeralt." Rhea stiffened slightly "Rhea...They claimed Jeralt had something of importance to them, something that he has in common with myself."
"...For now it does not matter." Rhea curtly replied, turning around "Goetia has yet to display any signs of aggression towards the Church in any way we can exploit, and we have no evidence that he was affiliated with this new force aside from a single word." she bit her lip in thought for a few moments "However...his close relation with our newest professor…" she murmured under her breath "Keep a closer eye on Goetia. Ensure that he is watched at all times and discover what else can fall under the definition of 'Phantasmal' without drawing attention to yourself."
"You are asking me to spy on him?" Seteth replied with a mild frown.
"Did you not also do the same with our professor even after I asked that you place your trust in me?" She replied with an empty smile, Seteth flinched at the look, Rhea locked eyes with him for a few moments before some life returned to her smile and she let out a light sigh "I am not angry Seteth. You were simply looking out for the safety of Flayn, although your lack of faith in me was hurtful. I am not calling for an inquisition into his behaviour...simply using this as an opportunity to learn more about him so that we may understand if his place is truly within the Monastery."
"...Very well." Seteth eventually replied "If that is what you believe is best. However, I do not believe he means as much harm as you might believe."
"Oh?" Rhea tilted her head to the side in intrigue "In what way?"
"From what the students told me, although I have yet to gather all the testimony, was that Goetia did not appear until after Lysithea von Ordelia and Ashe Ubert were injured."
"So...that is what he meant." Rhea let out a soft chuckle "Yes, I believe that he in some way cares for his young students, that much I am sure of."
"There was one other matter, Lord Lonato's personal messages were recovered as well, we hoped they might shed some light on who this mysterious benefactor was." He bowed his head "I am having them sent to my office, should I discover anything at all-"
"I trust you implicitly, Seteth." Rhea assured him with a raised hand "If anything should arise, I am sure you shall deal with it in a timely manner and keep me informed."
"Of course, Archbishop." He bowed once again before opening the door to the chambers and departing.
"So who are you...Goetia?" Rhea murmured to herself as she paced about the room "To get so close to the Goddess vessel." her eyes narrowed "And what do you intend?"
"Unless you can regrow teeth, stand aside." Goetia growled at the nearby Cleric.
"This boy is currently injured and we are doing our best to heal him." The obstinate man replied with a dismissive scowl "You are given free reign in the Monastery Archive by the grace of the Archbishop, but I will not stand by and let you cast your heathen magic on this young man."
Mercedes eyes darted between the two as Goetia took a single step closer, she found her breath hitching as the possibility of a confrontation grew.
"My 'heathen magics'-" Goetia spat out the phrase with no small amount of disdain "-are the only reason the boy is not yet dead, and I was not asking for permission to heal him. I was telling you."
"Try it foreigner." The Cleric hissed at him "If his condition was as easily healed by one such as yourself then it must not have been as bad as you claim."
Dead silence followed in the wake of the statement. A cold dread soon started to spread which affected all but the man who had instigated Goetia's sudden personality change. The argument now drawing a small crowd to them, all of whom kept their distance from the pair and watched with an increasing sense of nervousness.
"...What?"
"I said-"
"Hey, hey!" Catherine's voice broke through the rapidly tensing crowd as she came to the front "What's all this…" she trailed off as she caught sight of Goetia and the Blue Lions girl in a stand-off with one of the Clerics, the man standing in front of Ashe's prone body and blocking the path to it "What's going on here?" she demanded, noticing the aura of hostility that Goetia radiated, matched by the dismissive sneer on the Cleric.
"Knightess Catherine." The man's tone did a complete one eighty and became more respectful "I was simply explaining to...Archivist Goetia." he sent a small glare towards the tanned man "That his place is better suited in fulfilling his duties and leaving the act of healing the wounded to those with the skills to do so."
She stared at the man with raised eyebrows, he clearly wasn't aware of all the stories circulating about Goetia at the moment. Not that she didn't blame him, she probably wouldn't have believed them either if she hadn't seen it herself.
Her expression flattened out before turning to Goetia "And you?"
Sending one final glare towards the man, Goetia turned to her with a casual look about him "I was explaining to this oaf-" the man bristled at the comment and looked close to going red in the face "-that Ashe's condition, and the loss of his teeth, can be better healed by myself than the current medical staff."
Catherine frowned, slowly turning her head down to look at Ashe, the boy's face had been healed by Goetia earlier however there was still heavy bruising along his cheeks and nose and she knew for a face the boy had lost several teeth. She bit her lip before slowly looking back to Goetia "...You can heal his teeth?"
"Knightess Cather-"
"Shut up." She snapped at him, then turned to Goetia "His teeth. Yes or no."
"Yes."
"Get on it then." She gestured to Ashe, Goetia grunted once then pushed past the Cleric, the man looked just about ready to explode even as Mercedes offered him a small apology for Goetia's behaviour and crouched alongside him.
"Knightess Catherine." The man grit his teeth "I must protest, our staff are more than capable of handling-"
"You have any idea how close you just came to dying?" She growled at him in a low breath, when the man gave no answer she went on "Because I watched him cut down a fifty men with fancy spells in around a minute and that was after he threw a man in full plate armour around like a sack of potatoes." the man's complexion slowly paled "You want to insult him to his face like that? Fine. But not now and certainly not when your stupidity can get everyone around you killed."
"I-" He sputtered then shakily nodded his head, slinking off towards one of the wounded soldiers, coincidentally located at the opposite end of the wounded camp.
Catherine watched him depart with a frown before slowly turning her head towards Goetia and the poofy haired girl as they crouched by Ashe's side, the man explaining something to her while gesturing to the boy.
If it were any other time, she probably would have agreed that having a mage from Goddess knows where performing mysterious magic on one of the Churches own was not something to be encouraged.
Her eyes trailed down to Ashe as she grimaced slightly before shaking her head, moving off through the camp.
This wasn't one of those times.
"The origin of the spell is European, specifically Britain" Goetia explained "Many early magi believed that the usage of teeth would work as warding to prevent the Fae from entering their homes and making off with children." he shrugged "It was a useful, if mostly useless art now. With the Fae gone, the spell warding is pointless and the spell is useful for little more than growing teeth." he looked up at Mercedes surprised expression "Teeth would only act as a barrier for so long and if you had done something foolish enough to earn the ire of the Fae then it was best you had a steady supply of teeth available to you."
Mercedes furrowed her brows, then chuckled "You keep speaking as if the Fae like fairies."
"You have them here as well?" He blinked then clicked his tongue in realisation "Ah, yes. You also use the phrase 'fairy tales' therefore it is correct to assume that you have such things as well."
The girl's expression remained strained "You speak as if they exist."
"The do." He answered her immediately, her eyes went wide and her shoulders slumped "Some are more benign than others, some were brutal enough that it warranted the creation of spells such as these." he went on "Usually they resides within the forests but there were different sects and clans of Fae, their inner politics aren't relevant to the spells but it is best if some minor form of the history is understood."
"Fairy's...are real?"
"Fae." Goetia corrected "Calling them fairy's would be a grand insult to them...and would likely lead to a painful death in some cases." he grimaced slightly. The Fang clans in particular were some of the more brutal of the faeries, although their philosophy was a simple one and they rarely interacted with humans, if at all.
"I have gotten off topic." The man went on, ignoring Mercedes shocked silence at the revelation that faeries were a real thing "It is a spell based in old Gaelic, meant to revitalise the body and instigate the growth of new teeth." his hand went over to Ashe's face "Fiaclan. Rugadh. A-rithist." he intoned, Mercedes watched as a brief flash of light erupted from his hand over Ashe's face before nothing further happened.
She stared at him for a few seconds before looking up "Was...was that it?"
"Were you expecting something grander?" Goetia raised an eyebrow "Regardless, this was the Scottish Gaelic abbreviation of the worlds. Fiaclan meaning 'Teeth.' Rugadh meaning 'Born' and A-rithist meaning 'Again'." he looked to her "A simple spell when done correctly but with the disappearance of most of the Fae from those who knew of it, the spell fell out of practice and was forgotten. The last family to still practice the spell died out over a century ago."
"That's a shame." Mercedes lamented "It seems to me like being able to regrow teeth would have been useful."
"Its uses were limited and overlooked." Goetia dismissed, moving his hand towards Ashe's chest "He has several cracked ribs." he quickly stated "However there is no damage to his internal organs, he will recover swiftly." he muttered a brief incantation under his breath before standing up "Come, we will move onto Lysithea and you will practice your examination."
"Right." Mercedes nodded "I won't let you down!"
The pair swiftly moved through the red of the camp, the mop of white hair of Lysithea was easy enough to spot and soon they managed to shoo away the cleric tending to her, the woman having seen Goetia's argument with the man from earlier and none too eager to try and start another one.
"Remember." Goetia spoke as he crouched down, Mercedes getting onto her knee's and looming over Lysithea, pressing her palm against the girls forehead and closing her eyes "Examination, you are to analyse the body structure and locate any major sources of damage. I will investigate after you."
Mercedes nodded her head, a glowing light hummed from her palm and flowed into Lysithea. Mercedes remained silent for a few moments before her expression became strained and she began to exert more effort.
Goetia watched the development with a small frown as Mercedes seemingly struggled before removing her hand.
The girl eventually took her hand off Lysithea and frowned "Sorry...Its weird. Maybe its because I've never done this before I don't know what I'm looking at."
Goetia stared at her for a few moments then pressed his own hand over to same section, activating the spell and taking read of her body.
Mercedes watched as Goetia's expression slowly blanked out, the man removed his hand from Lysithea and slowly returned to his feet. "The stab wound has been fully healed and she has no other discernable injuries. It is likely that this is because you have never attempted the spell on another human before that you were left confused." he explained to her "It will be corrected in time." he gestured away from the girl "It would be best that we move onto other patients, you will show me what you have learned of the graphs I procured for you."
Mercedes nodded, gracefully rising to her feet and moving away.
In doing so, she completely missed Goetia's hand falling limply to his side before it clenched into a fist. His red eyes darted back to Lysithea and his expression contorted into a scowl before he looked away.
Why did he always find them? Those humans with lives like this? Mash Kyrielight, life designed by man and destined to end be used by them until it expired.
And Lysithea…
Whose additional Crest was so unnatural and forced that it was killing her. It was no surprise Mercedes had no knowledge of what she was looking at, Lysithea's entire body was in open revolt against her current second Crest.
He knew she had two Crests, alongside Edelgard but he had assumed that their loss of hair pigment was because their bodies were simply channelling more magical energy than they could handle. There was nothing ostensibly fatal about such things it was simply nothing more than a physical side effect.
This was not that, Lysithea's existence was similar to Mash in that the second Crest had been forcibly implanted in her. She was 'gifted' two crests at the cost of a majority of her lifespan. She would last a little longer than ten more years, perhaps less, before she would eventually perish.
Again, he was reminded of the futility of it all.
He had saved her life today.
Just so she could die in pain and weakness in the future.
A bitter smirk worked its way onto his face.
It really was so very pointless in the end...wasn't it?