freckledarcher | [Victory Road IC Inbox]

Hey, Ashe. You have some time to chat anytime soon? I've got some things to fill you in on, and honestly I've been putting them off for long enough as it is.

Hi, Claude. Sure, I have some time to talk. Let me know where you want to meet and I'll see you there.

Well, uh...how to put this delicately? Is there anywhere you'd particularly like to receive some really big news? I'd recommend somewhere with a comfortable chair, personally.

[Oh, this sounded much more serious than he thought.]

Hmm, let's see this sound like we should go somewhere kind of private

I know! Um, there's a nice little cafe with really comfortable chairs. There's a place towards the back where I like to go with Ky after going to the beach. We can go there, but if it's something really private then we can find a lounge. They have a room we could rent and it's comfortable there.

I suppose it doesn't have to be really private, considering the stuff I'm going to say really doesn't mean anything to anyone who's not from Fodlan...but at the same time, I'm so used to keeping my business private that I think I'd prefer the rented room. I can cover the cost, for the record, since this is on my invitation.

Really? Okay, if you don't mind covering the costs I can meet you there in a few minutes. Should I leave Ky behind or bring him with me?

[Ashe became very curious about what Claude wanted to tell him. It had to be very important for him to take him aside to let him know.]

Of course I don't mind! Like I said, my invitation.

As for Ky, go with whichever option suits you best; I don't mind either way. See you there!

[And, indeed, Claude precedes Ashe to the cafe, if only so he can arrange for the private room ahead of time. When Ashe arrives, he'll get beckoned back to the room where Claude is already seated. He raises a hand in friendly greeting.] Hey, Ashe! Glad you could make it. And sorry for the weird request of asking you out here in the first place.

[After things were settled with Claude, Ashe worked things out with Ky who agreed too stay with him, but would be in his pokeball during the meeting. With Ky in his pokeball, Ashe walked over to the cafe. He walked to the back room and raised his hand back in greeting.]

Hi Claude! Oh, it wasn't a problem I have much more time in this world. [Ashe took a seat across from Claude.]

That's alright, what did you want to tell me?

Well...honestly, it's kind of a weird subject to launch into. Let's start with establishing a basic frame of reference, shall we? [Claude leans forward, folding his arms on the table.] What's the last thing you remember from back home? The last major event, you could say. Like, reuniting with Dimitri, or the last big battle you fought in. Some of what I need to explain is tied up with the war, so I want to know where your memories of the war's timeline extend to...and, I guess, what version of that timeline. Lysithea remembers Teach choosing the Golden Deer to teach back at Garreg Mach, for instance, while I remember Teach choosing your house instead...so it seems like some of us remember versions of events that are completely different from each other.

Let's see, I do remember Byleth choosing the Blue Lions. The last big thing I remember is going back to Gronder Field to fight. Before I was sent here we won the battle at Gronder Field. [A very bittersweet battle as he remembered when they originally had the Eagle and Lion battle which didn't end with him shooting off so many arrows he had to wrap his fingers in order to make anything.] We returned to the monastery, I was going to sharpen my arrows when Mercedes told me to go to bed instead. When I woke up I was here.

[Different timelines? Well, that's certainly interesting. After coming to this world and seeing a completely different time he doesn't doubt a lot of things anymore.]

What happened in your timeline, Claude?

Basically the same things you do, as far as your memories go - fighting at Gronder Field, and the Kingdom army winning the day. [He smiles, a touch thinly.] With me and the Alliance army withdrawing to lick wounds that I really wish we hadn't needed to take, but...well, you know what Dimitri was like. I couldn't reason with him then, despite my best efforts.

The thing is, my memories go on for awhile after that. Into events that might be in your future, Ashe. Or maybe you'll have a different version of events, who knows? But after Gronder...well, Dimitri recovered himself at last. Even more back to his old self than the Dimitri here has managed. The Kingdom army went on to retake Fhirdiad, oust Cornelia, and bring the warring nobles of the Kingdom to heel as a result.

Not that Edelgard was just sitting on her hands during all of this. The Kingdom winning the day at Gronder made her nervous, is how I read it. And she knew any partnership between the Alliance and the Kingdom would be disastrous for her - in fact, it'd put our forces on par with hers. But it would've been pointless to throw herself at the Kingdom right after it'd shown itself to be stronger than she anticipated. So naturally, where would she turn? The Alliance. We'd just suffered a loss, too, and if she could get us under her thumb, she'd have an overwhelming advantage. And she definitely couldn't trust anything I might have been up to, in any case, so all the more reason to crush me and snatch the Alliance.

The thing is, I anticipated her. I sent a request to Dimitri for aid, and then I drew the attacking Imperial forces deep into Derdriu. When Dimitri answered my call, all the Kingdom had to do was come in behind them; they were trapped between my forces and the sea on one side, and the Kingdom army on the other. Classic pincer maneuver. A resounding Imperial defeat, and a joint victory for the Alliance and the Kingdom.

[Claude rests his chin on his hand.] But really, this wasn't to give you a play-by-play of the war. This was just leading up to the first major thing I needed to explain about my timeline. See, after Dimitri came to my rescue, and saved the city and the people of Derdriu...I dissolved the Leicester Alliance. I formally reunified us with the Kingdom, and gave all our lands, resources, soldiers, everything over to Dimitri and Kingdom rule. I even managed to talk the entire Alliance council into unanimous agreement, which was kind of like relocating a mountain with a shovel. I knew full well that only a united country could stand against Edelgard and the Empire, and neither the Kingdom or the Alliance alone could have done it. But after five years of careful neutrality on the part of the Alliance, I had plenty to bolster the Kingdom with, so I handed all of it over and stepped down as Duke Riegan.

[He studies Ashe briefly.] That last bit, and why I never even considered trying to unite Fodlan myself rather than handing it off to Dimitri...that ties into my other major piece of news. But I'll give you a minute, if you need to come to grips with the dissolution of a country. [His lips quirk.] Or the idea of your own country suddenly becoming a lot bigger...and your king having a lot more responsibility on his shoulders.

[Well, that was a lot of information at once. He was glad that Dimitri got better that was something he worried about even since they entered this new world. Oh wait, if the Kingdom was going through changes then he would have more things to do with Lonato's land. He would handle that when he went back home, for now he still had to process the new information. Having the alliance's aid would be helpful since one of the last conversations he had before coming to this new world was figuring out how they could handle the food, supplies, men, etc., Oh, the former alliance's aid still was helpful.

Dimitri did have a lot to work with, though he had many people around him that could help handle the noble side of things. There were times Ashe had to remember that he technically owned Lonato's land and could be a leader there if he wanted to. Besides, Dimitri would have the help necessary for this new change.]

That's a lot to work with. I understand that in your timeline the position of the kingdom has changed in our favor. So now that you've stepped down as Duke Riegan what else happened?

Well, as for the war...I don't really know what happened after that, because once I stepped down as duke, I left Fodlan. A little of that was practicality - it helped encourage everyone, Kingdom and Alliance alike, to look to Dimitri and only Dimitri as their leader, instead of me hanging around confusing things as a guy who had been a leader up until just recently. But I'll admit, that was more a convenient side effect than the point.

The simple fact of the matter is that I needed to go home. I am the grandson of the former Duke Riegan, despite all the suspicions around me cropping up out of nowhere...what, was it almost seven years ago now? Man, time flies. [He shakes his head.] But that's not all I am. On my father's side...I'm Almyran. In fact, on my father's side...I was a prince of Almyra. One of many, admittedly, but despite being the youngest, my father chose me as his successor.

I had to go home to Almyra because...well, I'd been tied up in Fodlan's affairs for long enough. My grandfather begged me to be his heir, and I was able to play that role for awhile to keep the council wolves at bay, but I always had a prior commitment. So once I could set down my grandfather's mantle without having brought shame on that side of my family, once I didn't have to worry about the Alliance imploding with noble squabbling and selfishness...I could finally go home and start leading my country. I went home, and I became king.

[He studies Ashe.] So that's the other big secret. I was an Almyran prince when you knew me back at Garreg Mach, and I'm the king of Almyra as I sit here now. I'd barely been two weeks on the throne before I wound up here. It really seems like life doesn't want to let me put my plans for my country into effect, huh?

[Ashe sat back while he processed all the information. He certainly knew more noble people than he imagined. He didn't imagine Claude would tell him something this important even if it filled in the blanks for the rumors back at school then again during the war. Dimitri told them that Claude helped so he didn't think much of it. Well, it helped him understand how it was possible for Claude to help them when they needed it. He didn't know much about Almyra, only things that he's read in books back in the library or heard from word of mouth, this information wasn't in any book that's for sure.

Ashe turned back to Claude while he messed with the end of his hoodie.]

It does seem like a lot of forces stopping you at the moment. I'm sure in time life will let you put your plans into action.

[Ashe didn't mean to come off as awkward, but he still froze around nobility.]

Um, should I call you a different name now?

Edited 2021-08-15 07:34 (UTC)

[Claude chuckles.] I mean, technically, you could. My real name's Khalid. Claude's just a name I adopted based on a Riegan ancestor of mine. [He rests his elbow on the table, and his chin on his hand.] And it's not like I'm not proud of my Almyran identity, or my Almyran name, no matter what people might think of them. But at the same time...all the best memories I've made in my life have been made while I was Claude. I don't mind staying Claude with the people who've only known me as that.

I don't need you to do anything differently, Ashe. I just wanted you to know the same things I've shared with the others, because you deserve to know as much as any of them. Taking the throne back home...it meant I was past the point of needing to keep these secrets anymore. I wasn't that thrilled when I wound up here and got dumped back into them. I want to be able to be who I really am with you guys, finally. And to do it with all of you, not just some of you.

[Victory Road IC Inbox]

SOMETIME AFTER EVERYONE RECONVENES, DATE TBD, late afternoon

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