[Byleth listened quietly and studied the memories Claude offered him. Physically, Teach looked the same as him, mint-green hair and all. He even wore the same clothes - not even being a professor at Garreg Mach had changed that. But he wore his expressions easier. He looked more approachable, more human, more normal... the person Byleth wished he could be. But he didn't seem alien. He still seemed like a mercenary, and not some political powerhouse changing the trajectory of Fódlan's future.
His feelings were mixed - or, maybe it'd be more accurate to say that he wasn't sure how to feel? When he had first arrived in this world, he'd been repulsed by Teach - by the thought that out there was an idealised version of him that he struggled to match up to, that Claude and Dimitri expected from him, even if subconsciously. It wasn't as if those feelings have gone, but...
...it was a good template to work from, wasn't it? Byleth had moulded himself to be whatever Jeralt had wanted him to be, but that mould wasn't working here. The Root Chamber, how easily he had thrown himself at Sothis's feet, desperate for guidance, for someone to point and say 'this is what we will do'... in retrospect, it made him realise how weak he still was, how he hadn't grown at all since he made that declaration at the masquerade to be better. He had to stop just drifting with the waves and figure out who and what he needed to be, because the Byleth he'd been under Jeralt wasn't feasible here.
If this world was a trap as Sothis suspected, then it wasn't as simple as playing along until he managed to find a way back home to Jeralt. He'd have to be proactive, he'd have to be- he'd need to be someone like Teach, who helped Claude put an end to a multi-generational war between two nations.]
Do you think I should be more like him? If he aided you in crafting peace between Fódlan and Almyra, wouldn't he be more useful here?
no subject
His feelings were mixed - or, maybe it'd be more accurate to say that he wasn't sure how to feel? When he had first arrived in this world, he'd been repulsed by Teach - by the thought that out there was an idealised version of him that he struggled to match up to, that Claude and Dimitri expected from him, even if subconsciously. It wasn't as if those feelings have gone, but...
...it was a good template to work from, wasn't it? Byleth had moulded himself to be whatever Jeralt had wanted him to be, but that mould wasn't working here. The Root Chamber, how easily he had thrown himself at Sothis's feet, desperate for guidance, for someone to point and say 'this is what we will do'... in retrospect, it made him realise how weak he still was, how he hadn't grown at all since he made that declaration at the masquerade to be better. He had to stop just drifting with the waves and figure out who and what he needed to be, because the Byleth he'd been under Jeralt wasn't feasible here.
If this world was a trap as Sothis suspected, then it wasn't as simple as playing along until he managed to find a way back home to Jeralt. He'd have to be proactive, he'd have to be- he'd need to be someone like Teach, who helped Claude put an end to a multi-generational war between two nations.]
Do you think I should be more like him? If he aided you in crafting peace between Fódlan and Almyra, wouldn't he be more useful here?