All This Time

The Carnage

Dimitri was dead.

Even as Claude kneeled above his corpse, desperately trying to shake the blonde prince awake, Dimitri didn't move. Claude cursed, pulling the dagger from Dimitri's body, blood spilling from the wound. Claude flinched as Hilda touched his shoulder, a look of concern on her face. Claude looked up desperately.

"Lysithea, can you try to heal him!? We can't
lose him, we can't-"

"Claude, I don't think-" Lysithea tried to reason with him, but the Alliance leader wasn't in the mood to compromise.

"Just try-!"

"Claude, he's dead!" Lysithea snapped, a distraught look on her face. She looked away as Claude stared at her menacingly, his green eyes narrowed.

"He'd just turned up alive after all this time!" Claude exclaimed, unable to accept his death. "He wouldn't just die, we need him-"

"My love," His Teach knelt down and wrapped her small arms around his body. Claude didn't realize had been shuddering until she soothed him to stop. "He's...He's gone."

"This...this...damn war!" Claude was absolutely enraged. She remained silent, only holding onto his shoulders. Claude was still panting and seething with anger, even through her presence. While he was known for never getting angry, all the needless and pointless death was getting into his head. He closed his eyes as his Teach rubbed his back soothingly. "This is hell..."

His Teach pulled him up, intertwining their fingers instead as she held him. They headed back towards their base in complete silence, scanning the carnage before them.

The troops looked awful.

There were so many injuries, and Marianne could only heal so many people. Her, Flayn, and Lysithea were all working together to treat the injuries, but even still, fire raged around the base. Bodies were laid all over the ground, with incredibly loud cries of pain from those who hadn't expired yet.

This is so wrong.

"We shouldn't have even needed to fight the Kingdom," Claude tightened his grip on her hand, irritated with the unnecessary amount of blood spent. "If I hadn't hesitated...maybe all of this could have been avoided...if I had killed Edelgard back in the Holy Tomb, or even today, I could have saved so many lives..."

"...She's a monster," His Teach said softly, trying to soothe him by rubbing her thumb over his hand. "But she was your peer. It shouldn't be easy to kill her."

"If I was stronger, I'd be able to. Dimitri had no problem killing those who stand in his way."

"Oh? And look at where he is now," She reminded him sternly. The mention of his death stung, but she had a very good point. "Claude, don't you dare say that. I love you for being yourself...and you're not a ruthless killer. I don't want to kill the others, but if it comes down to it..."

"...We killed Bernadetta," Claude admitted, a downcast look haunting his face. "I tried to reason with her, but she wouldn't back down...she died pointlessly..."

"Bernadetta..." His Teach took a deep breath, startled at his sudden outburst. Neither of them had very many memories with her, but just the thought of killing her was disgusting. She was always so meek and shy, never wanting to fight, and the reality that they'd killed someone so innocent was harsh. They'd managed to avoid killing Ashe, but some people just wouldn't stand down. "...I killed Mercedes."

"All of this death is just pointless," Claude cursed. He had remembered the devout follower of the Church of Seiros. Claude knew that Mercedes had a good soul...and now... "Oh, why, Mercedes...Why won't they just stand down...?"

"For the same reason we won't stop fighting..."

"She believes... believed...in her cause," Claude sighed, resigned. He hated the fact that everyone needed to resort to violence first, even people like Mercedes and Bernadetta. "Teach...maybe...do you think...that if she had joined our Golden Deer, she would be here with us right now?"

"It's impossible to tell," His Teach responded, not wanting to ponder on an impossible scenario. "All we can do now is fight."

"We shouldn't have to fight," Claude grit his teeth, extremely irritated with their circumstances. "Why isn't anyone willing to talk? Why does everyone just assume everything has to be solved with bloodshed?"

His Teach didn't respond, she only laid her hand on his and embraced him in a hug. He took the hint, and just watched the setting around him burn in silence. The embers crackled around them as the healers rushed to nurse people back to health.

"Professor, Claude!" Dorothea came running up to them with a distraught look on her face. Claude disentangled himself from his Teach, standing up as Dorothea shouted. "I...I saw Petra..."

"She's...she's not dead, is she?" Claude didn't think he could handle the news of another person dying. To his relief, Dorothea shook her head from side to side.

"No," Dorothea responded, but a frown crept onto her face. "But when we started fighting against her, she...well...she left. She just ran. The Empire forces were trying to coerce her back, but they couldn't catch up with her."

"That's...Interesting," Claude mused, running a hand through his dark hair. "Well, she was a hostage, wasn't she? Maybe Edelgard was forcing her to remain."

"Do you think she's safe?" Dorothea's bottom lip trembled in fear at the thought of her close friend dying. "If she's not, it will be all my fault. Maybe if I hadn't started attacking the Empire forces, she'd be here..."

"I'm sure she's safe. She's strong," Claude promised her. "Don't worry about her, Dorothea."

"...Claude, Dorothea, we need to move out of here," His Teach pulled herself upwards, grasping onto his arm. She pointed at the inferno that was only growing larger. Claude nodded.

"Alright. Everyone, let's move."

Together, the two of them hobbled out of danger while Dorothea helped the injured out of harms way. Once they were a safe distance away from everyone, Claude collapsed into his Teach's arms. He crumpled into her, almost knocking her over as the toll of the day overtook him. She held him up, murmuring soothing words to him as he quivered in her embrace.

"I love you," She whispered into his ear as she slowly lowered them both to the ground. "I love you so much..."

"I love you too, Teach," He responded softly, sitting up to kiss her. The horrors of the world around them melted away as he immersed himself in the embrace. All he could think of was her soft lips as the fire, screams, and death disappeared. "Thank you for keeping me strong..."

His Teach shook her head from side to side, caressing his cheeks with her gentle hands. She pulled away slightly, nuzzling her nose against him.

"I didn't do anything, Claude. You were strong on your own."