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Gustave knew that, one day, he would be forced to face this. Bethany had brought Annette back into the war, asked for her personal aid on this particular front. The only thing that confused Gustave at this point was who Bethany intended to torture and why. Surely seeing him again would pain Annette as much as it would himself? What point was there in even attempting, since he had long since made up his mind. A conversation with his wayward daughter would not sway him to fight against the Kingdom he had already let down once.
“Father… must you insist on standing against us? Surrender if you must. Flee to the far corners of the continent again if you must. But how can you be so heartless as to look at me and mean to kill me?” Annette asked.
“This is war, Annette. I must do my duty, as a proud knight in Dimitri’s service. And you have chosen your side, meaning to overthrow the Kingdom you call home. How, might I ask, can you look at everything you hold dear and mean to cast it aside?” Gustave asked.
“The world changes, Father. People change. Needs change. I left for Garreg Mach starry-eyed, and what I learned was that the largest and greatest institution in the world was working to keep things the way they are. And I don’t like things the way they are. Faerghus clinging to loyalty to an idol over proper family bonds, the persecution and constant warring with the Almyrans, the insistence of encouraging people to value Crests over their own morals. I have always been taught to deal with problems like this. Edelgard showed me that we don’t have to,” Annette explained.
“Matters such as those are such trifles. You are still young, and do not fully understand why things are that way to begin with. You will come to regret fighting against them,” Gustave warned her. Far from cowing her, Annette rolled her eyes like a petulant teenager rather than the adult she technically was.
“If a society where this passes for normal is in the right, I don’t want to be a member of it. I teach Almyran children now. I love each one of them. They’re all charming and cute and nice. Almyra may be swelteringly hot and a little too rowdy at times, but it’s homely. It’s a better place to live than your idea of Fodlan’s utopia,” Annette snapped.
“Annette… what about your father? If you would turn to me, I would return to you,” Gustave suggested.
“Empty promise. Mercie’s told me so much about men who have gone around claiming themselves as her father. Children in Almyra don’t value their parents as the most important people in the world- to them, what matters are the people who raise them, who teach them. To my Almyran children, I could very well be as important to them as their mother, if not more so. If all you’ve ever done for me is throw me to one side, then perhaps I don’t need you as a father figure any more. Uncle Dominic and Uncle Henry were better dads than you ever were,” Annette told him.
“Then kill me, if that is your opinion,” Gustave said, setting down his axe. Annette blasted him with a powerful wind spell, knocking him on his back, but ultimately not quite killing him.
“Fortunately for you, there’s someone else who wants your head,” Annette told him coolly.
“Less fortunately for you, I’m right here. Never far from my dear Annie,” she said. Gustave looked up, and saw Mercedes von Martritz walk past his child, kissing her on the cheek before standing over him with a fire spell on her fingertips.
“What have I ever done to you, child? If you weren’t so close to Annette, I wouldn’t even know your name. I haven’t even voiced my opinion on your relationship,” Gustave asked.
“Of all the people to not know what I am to Annie, her own father… I guess this is proof enough. Annie is everything to me. She is my best friend, my sister, my wife- well, after the war, of course. It is thanks to her that I have hope, happiness and direction. Her pain is my problem. And the most painful thing she has in her life is you, Gustave. Loyal to a man haunted by his own mind, a traitor to the people who thought the world of you. The world knows me as sweet, but there’s a side of me few get to know. You, Gustave, are next in a single digit number of people who are aware of my dark side… and now, you will stop,” Mercedes said. Gustave did, indeed, notice the change in shape of her eyes, the way her hair broke free of her habit and dangled across a deranged woman’s expression. The Ragnarok spell she drew captured his attention quite thoroughly, as the floor around him suddenly grew warm. And then hot.
“Dimitri will be overjoyed to hear your voice join his family’s. If you have even a shred of dignity, you might try and put a stop to them rather than egging Dimitri on,” Mercedes spat, and the floor lit itself aflame. What was left of Gustave was a pile of ashes, not even a charred corpse for Annette to scare herself with.
“Mercie… do you feel better now?” Annette asked. Mercedes took heavy breaths, Annette’s touch crucial to withdrawing her sinister self back where it belonged.
“It’s still craving more. I expect we’ll have to deal with Felix before we can hope she’s gone for good. But yes… we now have closure on your father. Not the happy ending we hoped for, but better than what I expected,” Mercedes said. Annette pulled Mercedes in for a hug.
“I know you just killed my father… but thanks for stepping in so I didn’t have to,” Annette said. Mercedes stroked her back, ready to care for her.