Chapter Text
Prologue
An Introduction to The Most Unpleasant of Reptiles
Or
How Dimitri Died
Dimitri had never given much thought to how his life would end.
He was human, and a simple one at that. He could not tell the future, nor could he choose it. If he could have, he would’ve chosen the location to be a soft bed, perhaps 50 years from now, surrounded by family. He would’ve chosen something painless and gentle. He would’ve chosen a hospital, even, to be a dying old man in.
Anything but this.
Soft skin and easily torn muscle tendons barely kept him together as he lay in the filthy sewer drain. Cold rain water mixed with city trash seeped through his clothes and stuck to his skin. He lifted his head to keep his injured right eye from being infected with the mold emboldened water. His head pounded with every small movement he took.
There were no cars to save him. He wondered how the Agarthans managed that, to hold off traffic on an entire street in Fhirdiad. Even the streetlights above him were turned off, covering him a blanket of darkness. Golden eyes flashed out at him from the alleyways like cats.
They were human once. They were just like him, once. They were what he could become, if he tried. Magical, pale skinned, rats living underground. Thales was a reflection of what humanity could become if they were determined enough.
“Poor little boy,” a hiss, through sharpened teeth, followed by soft footsteps against the sidewalk, “Where’s your dragon now? That thing won’t come for you.”
That thing was the love of his life. That thing was in his future, by his side in his much preferred death. She would be young and beautiful forever, of course, while he would wrinkle over the years like a prune. He found himself more content with that option than ever.
It was for that, the future that awaited him, that he rolled over onto his side and began pushing himself up from the ground. His muscles screamed, his eyesight blurred, his skull pounded. Warm blood painted his cheek down from his right eye. The world around him turned and twisted until his arm gave out and he found himself face first on the cobblestone street once more. It was the older part of Fhirdiad, where the buildings told stories, where the streets were made of mismatched stones and would tear up the shocks of any car driving over them. The Agarthans made their homes where they had always lived: in the past.
“Byleth,” it was a whisper into the ground, as he attempted to push himself up once more, “Byleth.”
“Calling for her, little human? She won’t come.”
Why wouldn’t she? He scowled at the thought of them hurting her, as he knew they wished to. He half wished that she wouldn’t come to find him, not with their ill intent towards her and her kind. He lifted his head to look at the figure standing above him.
Thales was old, older than Byleth. He wore a long, black jacket, with slicked back hair and golden eyes. He leaned forward with one leather boot and crushed Dimitri’s fingers underneath it.
He cried out in pain. There was nobody around to hear him, nobody that was human. Gritting his teeth, he shut his mouth and tried to ignore the feeling of his broken fingers underneath Thales’ foot.
“You shouldn’t know about this,” the non-human nightmare whispered, leaning down. The puddle of dirty sewer water that gathered in the excess of the road rippled with his movement as he took another step towards Dimitri. “Thus, you must die. If we get your kind involved, then…”
Then they would be threatened. The Nabateans weren’t enough to threaten them, but the humans were. Dimitri was simply a loose end that must be tied.
Byleth had tried to warn him of her world. She had told him so clearly, that there were scary things in Fodlan. There were inhuman, terrifying forces. There were self made Gods, and they had no mercy left to give.
He had stepped into this world so willingly. He had followed her, a devout believer who kept at her heels wherever she went. He didn’t regret an instant of it.
He was happy to simply know her. If he would have to die for this decision, he was glad it involved knowing Byleth. Knowing her, loving her, living for her. He never thought that love would be so strong.
What would his father think? What would Patricia and Edelgard think? Would they be fed a story of how he was mugged in the old district, stabbed for his wallet? Would the Agarthans launch their attack after his death? Would he be the catalyst for humanity’s destruction?
Dimitri opened his mouth to force out a final breath. His head kept pounding, as his vision began to fade to black. He only had a few more seconds before his concussion and broken bones would overtake him.
His voice was so strained that it did not even sound like him anymore, “Stay away from Byleth.”
Thales tilted his head, and he smiled. He looked down at Dimitri on the ground as if he were a child that had simply skinned his knee, rather than a half dead human who was in too deep.
“I’ll be sure to give her your regards.”
He lifted another foot, this time aimed for his head. One more hit, and his concussion would be the end of him. Dimitri shut his good eye, his left one. His right eye was numb against the pain the rest of his body felt, though he could taste the iron of his own blood on his lips and tongue.
This was the end, and for what? He never thought he would die at 19, simply because he fell in love. He didn’t feel as if she was wrong, either. Byleth could never be wrong, especially not for him.
He did not hear the sound of footsteps approaching on the wet sidewalk. He did not hear the ragged gasps, or the sharp noise of a sword unsheathing from a scabbard. He did not hear the scream, or the growl, or the whirl of modern day magic around his ears.
He closed his good eye, and the world plunged into darkness.