The Missing Stone

Lakeside

"It's possible."

But at Gronder Field, he said he would "allow her to choose her own death"-

"...You are the densest person I've ever known in my two thousand years of existence," Mao blinks, staring at the ceiling with an amused wistful expression.

Mildred's ears droop in embarrassment. Is that bad?

"It depends," Chester grits out, his glare sharper than Mildred's daggers. Mao doesn't seem to care while Aelura stares at her with straight face.

Depends on what?

"Whatever," Aelura says, interjecting Mao who snaps her mouth shut. "The point is that Dimitri said he would 'atone for his sins', which in my opinion is unnecessary for some-" A fake cough. "Byleth-" Cough. "Ahem, don't you think he's been acting differently lately?"

"He kissed me..." he sighs dreamily, doing a little happy spin before setting her down and running off.

I guess... it's better than always trying to murder everyone that comes within his vicinity.

Mao throws her hands up before disappearing, obviously frustrated. Mildred's shoulders hunch.

I'm sorry.

"No no, it's fine," Chester soothes, patting her on the shoulder. "But you do know what this means, right?"

A truce...?

"Finally!" Aelura yells, flat on her back on the ground. Mildred isn't even sure how she got there. "After nearly a lifetime of waiting, this war can finally be over! But the weddings will take forever getting here with the way people are acting-" Cough. "Byleth-" Cough. "Ahem, goodbye, I have to make sure Mao isn't internally destroying anything."

Mildred blinks. An entire lifetime?

"She's just exaggerating," Chester explains. "But it does make you wonder. How are we going to ask for a truce between the nations?"

"Maybe you should ask him yourself!" Mao shouts, sounding very far away. Chester actually growls before disappearing too. Mildred sits at the table, stares at the adjacent wall and shivers. Like sparkly flames down her spine. She sighs, stretches and moves to leave when someone nearly runs into her.

"Gah!" It's a young man with round rimmed glasses dressed in green that matches the grassy fields in Mildred's dreams. "I'm so sorry-" As he brushes himself off and looks up to properly acknowledge who he had run into, his eyes widen and his mouth drops, agape in surprise...or perhaps awe?

Mildred blinks at him before realizing. She smiles shyly before holding out a hand for him to shake. "I'm Mildred," she says, and truthfully she's getting quite tired of introducing herself. Maybe it is easier as a cat...

"I-I'm Ignatz!" He stammers out, shaking her hand enthusiastically. "A-Are you...?"

"Am I...?"

"Um, this might come off as rude, and I apologize in advance! But what are you?"

Mildred's ears flatten self consciously, eyes glassy. I don't know.

What am I?

"You're a friend," Aelura chimes.

"You're a survivor," Mao cheers.

"You're a fighter," Chester encourages.

"...I'm an amnesiac," Mildred says instead, surprising both Ignatz and the spirits. "I don't remember a lot..." Ignatz laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his head.