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Claude stood at the bottom of the Goddess Tower as the music from the ball wafted softly throughout the monastery. He glanced back at the building where the festivities were taking place, and he could imagine what sorts of trouble his fellow deer were up to. For a second, Claude longed to join them once more, but the thought of seeing a certain prince brought a small frown to his face, and the temptation soon passed. With a sigh, he began to walk up the tower, hoping to find a moment of peace.
As he walked up the tall steps, Claude briefly recalled the legend surrounding the tower. Supposedly, if you went to the top with a lover, the Goddess would grant you your wish. It was an absurd legend, but one that was popular amongst the students. Claude hoped he wouldn’t run into any horny couples since Seteth had banned the students from entering the tower. The House Leaders were given more leniency when it came to the rules, so it was entirely possible Edelgard could be at the top with whoever she fancied. Or perhaps Dimitri…
Dimitri…
Ah , what a jerk…
Somehow, Claude had managed to convince Edelgard to dance with him, much to his amusement. Though he was no expert when it came to Fodlan dances, ballroom dancing was simple enough, and all night he had managed not to make a fool of himself. And Edelgard proved to be a good dance partner even though there were moments where she was stiff. Still, since he had been able to convince the ice queen to dance with him, Claude was certain Dimitri would not object to dancing with him.
Which is why Claude was more than a bit surprised when Dimitri huffed and gave him an exasperated look.
“Don’t be absurd, Claude…” Dimitri sighed.
It took Claude a moment to recover his easygoing smile, and he chuckled as he gave Dimitri a shrug.
“Suit yourself, your Princeliness,” Claude said with a wave, trying to ignore the small hurt he felt. Fine, if Dimitri didn’t want to dance with him, then what did he care? There were plenty of other people who would love to dance with him.
Claude tried to shake the memory from his mind. It wasn’t a big deal if Dimitri didn’t want to dance with him. Claude didn’t care. He didn’t . Claude barely wanted to dance with Dimitri anyway…
When Claude suddenly tripped forward, he was snapped out of his thoughts. He landed hard , but not on the steps…
Beneath him lay a body.
Claude immediately stood up, stepping backwards, but his foot landed on…another body?! Claude pressed against the tower wall, trying to make out the shapes in the dim lighting. There were bodies all over the steps. How had Claude missed them?!
“What the…” Claude muttered as he leaned forward, examining the bodies more closely. They appeared to be soldiers, each seemingly skewered by a powerful weapon. Where the hell had they come from? And why were they here?
The sound of shuffling up ahead caught Claude’s attention, and he immediately reached for his dagger. Whatever had killed these soldiers was still in the tower…Claude was sure of it.
The smart decision would be to retreat and search for Professor Byleth. Who knew what sort of dangerous creature could be at the top of the tower? But something compelled him to keep going…so he did.
Claude kept his dagger close to his chest and went up the steps as quietly as he could, making sure not to step on any more bodies. It was unnerving how many there were.
At long last, Claude reached the top of the tower. He took a moment to catch his breath, letting his vision adjust to the moonlight pouring into the tower. For a moment, Claude saw nothing.
“You…” said a voice that made his blood run cold.
Out of the shadows, came a tall imposing figure. The figure’s long blond messy hair nearly covered his eyepatch and his icy blue eye. The cloak he wore made him appear larger than he already was, and the black armor he adorned made him look as if he was ready for war. The figure pointed his lance towards Claude, and Claude immediately took a step back.
“Have you come to haunt me too?” The figure whispered with barely concealed rage. Claude didn’t know what to say to that. Frankly, he was at a loss for words. Who on earth was this man? What was he doing in the tower? Did he kill all of those soldiers? So many questions ran through Claude’s mind that he noticed a second too late that the figure had begun to move.
The figure was surprisingly fast despite his size, and soon Claude found himself slammed against the wall with the figure’s claws wrapped around his throat. The dagger is accidentally dropped, much to his horror. Claude let out a gasp, trying to breathe, but the man tightened his grip, and Claude’s air was cut off.
“Why are you here? Why now?” The man snarled, leaning so close that their noses bump against each other. Claude weakly grasped the man’s hands, trying to loosen his grip to no avail. “You’re supposed to be alive, so why are you haunting me, Claude?”
Claude’s eyes widened. How did this man know his name?
“W-Who…?” Claude struggled, “are…you…?”
“Don’t play games with me,” The man threatened, squeezing Claude’s neck.
“I’m…not…” Claude whispered, “P-Please…let’s…talk…?”
The man studied Claude for a long moment, and Claude could feel himself on the brink of passing out. But, finally, the man let go. Claude practically collapsed to his knees, coughing as he took in precious precious air.
Claude stiffened when he felt the man’s claw in his hair, gripping and pulling as the other hand forced Claude’s chin up. The man whispered, “What is this…? You feel…different. Solid…why…?”
He had no idea what the man was going on about. But Claude knew one thing for certain.
“You know me…”
“Is that some sort of joke?” The man narrowed his eye, as if Claude said something utterly ridiculous. He let go of Claude and began to walk away.
“Who are you?” Claude questioned again, stumbling to his feet.
“A beast. A wretched creature. But you’re supposed to know that already, if you’re haunting me,” The man scowled, looking back.
“Haunting? Hate to break it to you, but I’m not dead. At least…” Claude quickly inspected himself, “I hope I’m not.”
“Liar. You expect me to believe that you, Claude von Riegan, have suddenly appeared before me looking as you did five years ago? Absurd.”
“Five years ago…?” Claude repeated, dumbfounded, “What are you talking about?”
The man scowled and approached Claude once more. This time, Claude didn’t back away. The more he spoke to this man, the more…familiar he felt.
“Who…are you…?” Claude asked once more. Slowly, he reached out a hand towards the man, but the man quickly grabbed his wrist to stop him, giving Claude a painful squeeze.
“If you’re not a hallucination, then you must be an imperial spy sent to kill me.”
“What?” Claude exclaimed, “No…what? I just came up here to get some peace and quiet from the ball, not…whatever crazy thing this is.”
“The ball…” The man huffed, “More lies. I ought to kill you and be done with this.”
“Ow, ow, ow…hey…” Claude winced when the man squeezed his wrist again, “Surely there’s a more peaceful solution to this…?”
The man growled, and for a moment Claude believed he was going to have to fight, but soon the man let go of Claude’s wrist and headed towards the stairs.
“I’ve had enough of this.”
Claude watched the man leave, and he let out a sigh of relief. He looked out the opening of the tower, watching the clouds slowly cover the moon. From up here, Claude could no longer hear the music from the ball. He took a deep breath, steeling himself. Then he picked up his dagger from the floor and headed down the stairs to follow the man. Claude made sure to stay quiet and keep his distance so the man didn’t notice him. He took care not to step on the bodies while the man paid them no mind.
Finally, Claude made it to the bottom of the tower. He could see the man up ahead, and he continued to follow at a distance. As he did so, Claude noticed that he still couldn’t hear the music from the ball. Odd. Had the ball ended already? Claude hadn’t been gone that long.
And the buildings…they looked…damaged…withered. How? They were just fine when Claude had arrived at the tower. Something strange was going on, and Claude had a feeling that the mysterious stranger had answers, even if he was clearly dangerous.
“Stop following me,” the man suddenly snarled. Claude stopped in his tracks, keeping his distance.
“You still haven’t answered any of my questions,” Claude called out, “Who are you? Why do you know me? And what the hell happened here?”
“Tricks. All of it. You’re just a trick…” The man said, gripping his hair. He kept walking.
“You can’t ignore me forever!” Claude huffed, “And where are you going anyway?”
“To clear my head…get rid of rats…” The man grumbled. Oh sure . That was the one question that man would answer. This was getting annoying.
Maybe Claude should stop following the man and find literally anyone else. They might have more useful answers than whatever this cryptic man had to say. But still, for whatever reason, Claude felt compelled to follow the man, so he did.
The more Claude followed the man towards the outskirts of the monastery, the more damaged the monastery looked. And there didn’t seem to be another soul nearby. It was as if Claude had accidentally stepped into a strange alternative universe. Maybe he had. Or maybe Claude had tripped up the steps and hit his head hard. He could be dreaming for all he knew.
The man finally stopped in the middle of the ruins, gripping his lance tightly. Claude stopped a few yards away, wondering what the man would do now. Claude’s ears perked up when he heard the sound of footsteps against gravel. The man grinned deviously.
“Rats…”
Suddenly, bandits appeared out of the rubble, weapons raised. Claude raised his dagger automatically. Crap! They were definitely outnumbered, and Claude didn’t have his bow or even a sword with him. A strategic retreat was definitely the best choice, and Claude quickly searched for an escape.
The man, on the other hand, appeared almost eager. As soon as a bandit approached, he quickly skewered them, much to everyone’s shock. Immediately, all the attention was on the man, and Cladue was able to find a hiding spot in the ruins. Claude watched as the man killed the bandits without any mercy, his wide grin never faltering. Fear began to grow as the man continued to kill. It was not that long ago that the man had his claws wrapped around Claude’s neck. Seeing this, Claude knew that the man could and would have killed him eagerly. And that…upset Claude. Why? Why did it upset Claude to see this stranger kill with glee? Claude didn’t understand it.
Finally, it appeared that the man had killed all the bandits. The man dropped his lance, panting as he looked up at the night sky. As Claude slowly got out of his hiding spot, he suddenly noticed that there was one more bandit left. And the man hadn’t noticed him.
Without thinking, Claude began to run as the bandit’s dagger glinted in the moonlight. Claude ran as fast as he could. The man had just begun to turn around as Claude took the blow meant for him.
The bandit was surprised as he buried the dagger in Claude’s stomach. Claude coughed blood as he fell to the ground, his vision blurring as he saw the man look down at him with wide eyes. The man lets out a howl, and soon the bandit is killed with the rest of his brethren.
Claude weakly pressed his hands against the dagger, knowing it was useless. The man is soon on his knees beside Claude, picking up Claude with surprising gentleness. Claude groaned weakly as the man held him in his arms. He looked…distraught. A far cry from the delighted look he had while killing those men.
“Claude…?” The man whispered.
As Claude’s vision continued to blur, Claude finally knew who held him.
“Dimitri…” Claude muttered, “Is that…really you…?”
“Don’t…don’t try to speak…” Dimitri said, uselessly pressing his hand next to Claude’s.
“Dimitri…” Claude repeated. His vision was beginning to darken.
“Claude, please…you can’t…you can’t join them too…please don’t go…I can’t handle another…”
Dimitri tightened his hold as Claude’s body went limp in his arms.
“...aude. Cl…Claude…”
Claude’s eyes slowly opened as he heard a voice call his name. The blurry figure above him held Claude tightly as he came to his senses.
“Claude! Thank the goddess you’re awake. Can you hear me?”
His vision finally cleared, and Claude saw Dimitri’s normal worried face looking down at him. Dimitri brushed a strand of hair behind Claude’s ear, “Are you alright?”
“Where…am I…?” Claude groaned, trying to sit up. Dimitri quickly supported Claude.
“At the Goddess Tower. When I came here, I found you passed out on the floor. Do you remember what happened?”
Claude closed his eyes, trying to remember. But it all soon faded away, like an important dream you desperately wanted to keep.
“Not really…” Claude sighed, giving up on trying to remember. Claude began to slump, and Dimitri brought him closer to his chest. “What were you doing up here anyway…? Bringing a girl, I assume?”
Dimitri glared at Claude’s attempt to joke, his cheeks heating up slightly.
“Of course not,” Dimitri huffed, “...I confess I was searching for you.”
“Oh? Why’s that?” Claude tilted his head, confused.
“It…occured to me that perhaps you were being earnest when you asked me to dance. I had assumed you were making a joke and acted in a rude manner. I apologize for my behavior…”
Claude blinked, surprised, “No big deal. Why don’t we go have that dance now?”
“Absolutely not. I’m taking you to Professor Manuela so she can examine you.”
Dimitri scooped Claude up as he stood up, looking rather serious. He began to head towards the stairs as Claude wrapped his arms around Dimitri’s neck to support himself.
“I’m fine ! I probably had too much to drink. Come on, you owe me a dance!”
“Claude, we really ought to get you looked at! It could be serious…”
The two bickered as they went down the stairs, with neither close to relenting. When they got to the bottom, Claude looked up at the Goddess Tower, as if trying to remember something.
“Claude?”
“Hm? Oh, it’s nothing. Let’s get Professor Manuela to tell you that I’m fine so we can tear up that dance floor!”
Dimitri sighed, giving Claude a small smile.
“Very well…”
And then they leave the Goddess Tower behind together.