Byleth's Sorrow

Inevitability

Byleth sat atop a horse as it trotted down the road. He had heard rumors of a Demonic Beast, but much larger and grander than any seen before. He knew well what-or who, it was- Indech, one of the Four Saints. If anyone could help him find a cure for Rhea, it was the Saints. 

As he rode through the countryside, he recalled the events of a couple weeks ago. Jeralt had attempted to speak with Byleth, but Rhea dismissed him, something Byleth would be always grateful for, and had to forcibly remove him from the Audience Chamber. She then apologized to Byleth, and asked how he was. He said he was fine, but that his fire would need a place to stay as well. Rhea looked confused, but granted Byleth a furnace he could leave the fire in while on missions. The fire had burned brighter for being remembered.

A smile graced his face as he thought of the fire. Maybe it seemed weird, but the fire had been sustained on Byleth's magic for months. It had been Byleth's only companion for months. And this was its first time being away from Byleth's magic, so of course he was worried!

Maybe he was just insane. He would be lying if the he said the possibility of that was low.

After a few hours of riding, he reached Lake Teutates. He dismounted and dove into the water, using magic to create a small bubble of air around him. It wouldn't last long, only about ten minutes, but Byleth could simply bring more air from above into his bubble. He settled near the bottom of the lake, in front of Indech, and sat there.

After a few minutes, Indech decided to speak. "Who are you?" He asked, his voice deep and booming.

Byleth answered without pause, "I am Byleth, the incarnation of Sothis."

Indech flinched back in surprise, but moved close immediately after to smell Byleth. "Yes... I can sense her power within you. Her blood runs through your veins."

Byleth explained the situation. Indech was stumped. "I have never had problems with degeneration." He admitted. "I still have many centuries left before I could even begin to worry."

After careful prodding, Indech admitted to having a theory. That maybe, if Serios was cleansed somehow, it could slow or even reverse her degeneration. Byleth thanked him and left, after promising him to visit again, and to try to bring his niece Cethleann as well.

He reached the monastery and immediately ran to the room that held his fire. When he got there, he immediately saw that there was a crowd of students around his fire. It looked like they were... talking to it? His eye twitched. They had better not be bothering it... He thought ominously.

-----------------------------------------------------Line Break-------------------------------------------------------------

Dimitri sighed. Felix was in trouble again for picking another fight. With Sylvain.  He wondered how much more of this he could take. Suddenly, Annette burst in through the door, ran up to Dimitri, and pulled him out of the Training Grounds, rambling, "Ohmygoddessyouhavetocomeseethisit'ssomekindofmagicfireandClaudetoldmetogetyouan-"

Dimitri wrenched himself out of her (surprisingly strong) grasp,  and said, "Annette! Calm down! What's wrong?"

Annette took a few breaths before continuing. "Claude found some magic fire thing, and he told me to get you. It's really cool!" She added.

Dimitri sighed again. This really wasn't a good day for him. He nodded anyways.

"Great!" Annette beamed. She lead him to a room on the second floor, empty except Claude, a few students, and now Dimitri as well, huddled around a fire.

"Hey," Claude greeted. 

"What is the meaning of this?" Dimitri asked. "Why am I eve-"

"-Just check it out, it's pretty cool." Claude interrupted. He turned his head to the fire. "Hey, has anyone ever told you how great you are at warming people up?" Dimitri stared in great befuddlement. Was Claude... complimenting a fireplace?

And to his even greater shock, the fire jumped. It went from orange to beet-red in a second, and flared up almost an entire foot.

Caspar whistled. "That's the highest anyone's ever gotten it. Good job, Claude!"

Claude grinned. "Well, y'know, I try."

Dimitri stared, his mouth still on the floor. "H-ho-how-"

Claude shrugged. "No idea. Mercedes found out, and decided to tell me. Edelgard's coming too."

Dimitri, the poor soul, was still trying to comprehend what was happening.

He really wasn't sure how much more he could take.

---------------------------------------------------------Line Break---------------------------------------------------------

Byleth growled, pushing his way through the students. He heard Claude saying, "-nd then the guard went, 'Actually, I was  a knight.'" He began cackling, and some of the students had to hide their chuckles. The fire started shaking, tendrils of fire moving in directions that would be impossible for normal fire.

Byleth reached the fire, and, ignoring the gasps of the lords, scooped it up in his arms and marched out, cooing to it softly.

The lords stood stock-still in shock of seeing the Ashen Demon just pick up a fire and walk out with it like it was his child. Which, considering how much of his magic his spent on it and how long he sustained it, wasn't too far from the truth.