#probably a bit ooc for seteth though

[tuinendraws]

S T U

[illusionsofdreaming]

Tomorrow’s Another Day - Claude Imagine

Here we are guys! First FE3H Imagine on this blog!

Notes: Can’t forget our author notes can we? This imagine is based on the ending we get if Byleth and Claude gets married. It’s written in a genderneutral perspective but I could’ve slipped up somewhere, so please tell me if you spot any weird things. I believe it got a bit wordy and OOC towards the end but I’ll let you guys judge for yourself. Enjoy!

Ft: Claude (well, and some other characters)

It was disheartening that the scene before you was familiar. Not six years ago, you had watched from the walls of a different fortress as waves of black crested over hills, slowly but surely surging closer. If you listened closely, you believed you could hear the thundering march of the invading army.

“Has everyone in the citadel been evacuated?”

“All but a few stragglers remain which the knights are rounding up and evacuating now.” Seteth approached the balcony, arms crossed behind his back as he frowned at the scene. “_________, you should fall back as well.”

You breathed in slowly, thumbing the metal band on your finger. “I can’t.” It was an oversight on your part. If only you had noticed the signs earlier, perhaps they wouldn’t have made it this close to the capital.

Seteth’s hand landed on your shoulder, drawing your attention away from the invading forces. “_________, it’s foolish to blame yourself. You’ve been handling a lot since the war ended.”

You shook your head, releasing the breath in your chest. “That’s not an excuse. I let my guard down, I should have sent out forces to sweep for remaining enemies. It was arrogant of me to assume that Those Who Slither in the Dark would let go of their aggression once Thales is gone.”

He probably would’ve seen this coming.

Seteth grunted in disapproval. “You give yourself too little credit. You have worked tirelessly to stabilize and reform a newly unified country. Was the last few months of peace not borne of your efforts and hard work?”

A messenger soldier opened the doors before you could reply. “Your majesty, the enemies’ forces are almost to the first gate, the knights are waiting for your orders!”

“Tell them to prepare for battle, I will be joining them shortly.”

The soldier bowed and left and you turned to follow but Seteth stood in your way, arms crossed with serious frown on his face. “As the new leader of Fódlan, you should not endanger yourself and place yourself on the frontlines.”

You did not waver under Seteth’s gaze. “You know their real objective is me.”

“Which is even more reason why you should be leaving with the civilians to someplace safe.”

You shook your head. “Seteth, you know they will follow no matter where I go, So long as I continue to draw breath and wield the power of the goddess, they will continue to hate all that I represent.” You touched the hilt of your sword, feeling it glow warm by your side.

“I can’t abandon the people here.” You said even though you both knew that’s not the only reason you’re not leaving this citadel behind. You looked upwards towards the sky as you allowed a grim smile to grace your face. “If I must battle them once and for all, I’d rather do it on my terms and on the field I set.”

There was a pause of silence and you could hear how carefully he chose his next words. “Is there really nothing I can say to change your mind?”

You turned the metal band on your finger slowly until the beautiful emerald set in the middle caught the fading sunlight. You met his eyes sadly. “I’m afraid not. Sorry.”

Seteth sighed and shook his head. “Then I suppose I must stay with you, someone has to watch your back, it wouldn’t do well for the leader of the newly united Fódlan to fall so early in their reign.”

You smiled. “Thank you Seteth.”

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

After so many months of living in Derdriu, you knew the walls and defenses of the city like the back of your hand. You believed you had everything under control until one of the four main gates protecting the city was sprung open from within and now the inner town was flooded with Those Who Slither in the Dark and rebel Imperial soldiers.

There’s a traitor in our midst.

The thought stung, although not so much from the idea of betrayal itself but the fact you hadn’t caught on earlier. You who had witnessed their abilities to shift forms in the past, should have thought of measures to check for spies in your company.

Idiot, idiot, idiot! You could almost hear Sothis’ voice reprimand you in your head.

The opened gate had trapped you and your group of former students and colleagues away from the main force who were stationed at the main gate. Despite your insistence, they were all too stubborn to leave you behind, even as the situation gradually turned from bad to worse. Although battle trained experts in their own rights, not even you or your friends were immune to the dangers of exhaustion.

Something in your chest snapped painfully as you returned to the flow of time to deflect the blade of an assassin from reaching Hilda’s back and Ignatz' arrow found its home in the confused attacker's neck not a second later.  Too many close calls, too many do-overs. You’re barely keeping everyone alive and if the pain in your chest meant anything, you’re starting to suspect that you’re reaching your limit on how many times you can turn back time.

“Fall back!” You yelled, grasping your chest as another wave of pain washed over you. The others looked pained to give ground but obeyed your orders nonetheless. There’s still a slim chance of turning this around if everyone could retreat and regroup, buying enough time for the main force to turn around and join up. Unfortunately, you weren't the only ones who realised as much.

“Don’t let the Fell Star escape!”

You turned to block a heavy strike from the side, grimly meeting haunting empty eyes and pale skin. With a grunt of effort, you sent the Agarthan flying only to have your path blocked by another. Snapping your wrist, the Sword of the Creator lashed through the air like a striking serpent, felling several soldiers and bought you enough time to retreat into a different street as you unbalanced a pile of crates to block the road behind you.

Then it happened.

Seteth’s voice which had been constant over the chaos of battle as he called directions from the air, suddenly cut off with a pained cry. Your gaze immediately snapped up to see the man’s shocked expression and the sight of black feathers protruding from his chest stopped your heart entirely. Time seemed to slow as you watched with horror as he pitched forward and off his wyvern. Instinctively you reached for the power deep within you only to be incapacitated by pain like no other that had you screaming and crashing onto your knees. Gasping through the agony, you struggled to clear the dark spots from your vision but you had already lost sight of your comrade, unable to ascertain his fate.

A loud crash told you your enemies had successfully cleared your earlier blockage and not a moment later, a blast of dark magic caught you in the chest and sent you flying across the pavement, your sword skidding away. Over the roaring in your ears, you could hear the desperate yells of your friends trying to reach you but you knew there wouldn’t be time as a shadow fell over you.

“End of the line Fell one.”

Despite that every nerve in your body felt like they were on fire, you lifted your gaze resolutely, showing no fear even as their arm drew back for the killing blow.

I tried my best. You thought, squinting at the blinding shine of the sun behind the axe as it reached the height of its swing. You thumbed the metal band on your finger. I had hoped to see you one more time but it seems...

The axe fell.

Blood splattered across the pavement.

There was a choked noise of disbelief as you and the enemy stared almost uncomprehending at the red tipped steel that jutted out their neck. They fell with a crash, landing next to their fallen axe and revealed the street behind, littered with the bodies of his companions, similarly riddled with arrows.

“________?”

He had his back to the sun, casting his features in the shadows but that form and that bow was unmistakable. It was as if your thoughts had summoned him back.

It can’t be.

He knelt before you, paying no mind to the blood that stained his uniform, concern clear on his face as a gloved hand held your chin. “Are you hurt?”

Your thoughts reeled with the unexpected turn of events. Something at the back of your throat clamped up and stung with the beginning of tears although you’re not sure why. When his gaze turned a little worried you realised you have yet to respond, still muted by the emotions and words stuck in your throat, you could only manage a small shake of your head.

Relief was apparent in his eyes as he managed a fond chuckle, “Still trying to see what I’m scheming huh?” His expression softened as he released your chin, “It’s alright now, we’ll take over from here. You’ve done extremely well holding out so long. It’s about time I pull my weight around here don’t you think?”

His gaze travelled past your shoulders as he addressed someone behind you. “Take them to the infirmary and have only the best check ________, the rest of you follow me. It’s time to show these invaders the exit.”

Your world spun sickeningly as you were picked up from the ground, the contact and movement sent fresh waves of pain through your body that nearly drove you into unconsciousness. You’ve long reached your limits several divine pulses ago but still you stubbornly clung on even as darkness crept in from the sides, your fingers latched onto his sleeve as he was turning to leave.

He must have seen something in your expression as he turned back and cupped your face, a thumb wiped gently across your cheek. “It’s alright. I’ll be back.”

“...”

“I promise.” Gently, he uncurled your fingers from his sleeve and lifted them to his lips, pressing a light kiss on your ring.

You could’ve imagined it, the glimmer of something in his eyes before he turned away. The resounding war cry that followed him as he mounted his wyvern and took to the skies, thundered through the air and resonated throughout the city.

It was the sound of salvation and it followed you into darkness.

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

It was a slow crawl back to the land of consciousness and it didn’t help that you had always struggled to wake from the grasps of sleep. Still your slowly waking mind was teased with the annoying sound of paper crinkling in the background, a soft, incessant nuisance that refused to let you fall back into the relaxing dreamy state. You burrowed into the softness beside you hoping to escape from the distraction, but the sound only got obnoxiously louder. Having had enough, you opened your eyes and was met with the sight of a familiar profile.

An incredibly, annoying, amused smile tilted his lips. “Good morning Sunshine, it didn’t take five years this time, I’d call that progress.” He flipped a page in his book, deliberately not meeting your irked gaze. You’re not even sure why you’re surprised to find that your bed’s been overtaken by a haphazard mess of books, parchment and maps, still it definitely did not help with your dwindling patience. Your hand shot out from beneath the blankets and grabbed hold of his ear in an unforgiving grasp.

“Ow-ow-ow-ow! C-careful! I’ve only got two of these-ow ow ow-” Claude yelped as you twisted his ear, his book falling to the ground with a thump as he hastily shifted sideways to follow your punishing grip. You released him a moment later, having scooted up to a semi-lean against the headboard.

“What are you doing?” Your voice was raspy from sleep and exhaustion as you shoved some of the books weighing down the blankets by your legs to the floor.

“Dutifully staying by the bedside of my injured partner and taking care of them,” he grimaced, one hand rubbing his sore ear as the other reached to the side to grab a glass of water you hadn’t noticed before and handed it to you. You took light sips as you glanced around you, noting the contents of some of the parchments.

“You’re avoiding politics.” you concluded.

“That too.” He grinned, eyes sparkling as he took your glass and set it aside.

“They told me that you might wake today,” he took your hand in his as his finger ran lightly over the ring on your finger. “I just wanted to make sure I’m by your side when you do.”

You were silent as you watched him twist the metal band.

“Three days.” He said softly, eyes still trained on the hand he held. “We couldn’t figure out the nature of the spell you were hit with. None of our mages have seen the like of it. Your muscles were spasming and the medics were worried you could lapse into seizure any time and they weren’t sure your overtaxed body would be able to handle it if you did.”

You processed this information with chilling detachment. It hadn’t felt that long in the darkness so you hadn’t realised how close to death you had been. Perhaps it was for the best that others assumed your symptoms were caused by the dark spell, Sothis’ power was much more dangerous than you’d expected. You tightened your hold on around his hand and felt when Claude released the breath he held in.

“Seteth-”

“Is alive and well.” He reassured you, finally looking up with a smile as he reached to push a lock of hair behind your ear. “The arrow had just missed the important organs but it broke his sternum. He’s in a lot of pain, a little bruised but otherwise fine. The others are safe as well.”

You nodded, sinking down in relief and leaning against the warmth of his shoulder. Perhaps it’s because of your weakened state, you still felt a little dazed, like everything was moving too fast and too slow at the same time. “What’s this?” Your finger brushed against a discoloured patch on his chin, which you realised a second later, was a fading bruise.

Claude blinked in surprise, his hand coming up to rub against the spot. “Ah,” he laughed, “Flayn.”

Your eyebrows rose in surprise. “Flayn?”

Claude grimaced, scratching his scruff. “I got quite the dressing down when I went to check on Seteth and the others, they all had something they wanted to say about my tardy return.”

You wanted to ask what exactly did they have to say that warranted him being punched in the face when he sat up abruptly, gently pulling you up as well as he held your gaze. “I heard everything from Seteth. Everything you’ve done, everything you’ve achieved and everything you’ve endured during this time. The others wouldn’t understand why I had to leave when I did but with you it’s different..” his voice softened.  

“_________, I know I asked a lot of you and I know it’s been hard. My schemes and tricks would’ve amounted to nothing without you... This dream of mine, if it weren’t for everything you’ve done here,” his voice broke with his emotions as he smiled in wonderment. “I don’t know where I’ll be right now.”

You looked into his eyes and reached to swipe the tears from the corners, prompting light chuckles from Claude. “I’ve never had any passions nor dreams of my own. It’s because I love you, that I wish to see yours come true.” You admitted softly.

Clauded breathed out in a huff, his head dropping forward and his forehead bumped yours lightly as he reached up to hold your hand in his. “________... Thank you for everything.”

You were surprised to find tears welling up in your eyes and his smile was kind as he brushed them off your cheeks in return. He tugged you closer and you allowed it, resting against his chest as your tears fell harder and faster. The room lapsed into a comfortable silence as you shared the tender moment together, finally within each other’s arms.

“I’ve never stopped thinking about you.” he admitted after a while. “Everything I did reminded me of how much I wanted to bring you there. I wanted to show you the foods, the sights and the people. I was impatient for the day I could finally meet you again but to think I’d almost lost you...” he breathed in slowly. “Those few days by your bedside were the most agonizing days I’ve been through. If I’d lost you, I don’t think I could go on.” He buried his face into your shoulder.

“That’s why it’s enough, ________.” he rumbled, “My grand dreams are finally in reach thanks to you but it’ll mean nothing at all if you’re not here beside me to witness its fruition. So promise me, you’ll think of yourself. Keep yourself safe, for me and for everyone else, ________.”

You thought of all the civilians who wanted nothing but peace. You thought about your friends and colleagues who refused to leave your side even when all seems lost. You thought about all the battles and heartbreak you’ve been through to reach this stage. You thought about the ring you wore on your finger and the promise it held. You placed your hand over his and his hand on your lap immediately turned over to lace your fingers together. “I promise.” You agreed.

He pressed a grateful kiss by your cheek as he squeezed your hand. “I’m sorry for leaving you alone for so long.” He lifted your linked hands and you found yourself blinking back another fresh wave of tears when you recognised the silver ring on his finger. “I’m back now, from now on, let’s walk this path together.”