#gal writes

I'm finally gonna start posting my Hubert/Byleth fanfic I've been having peculating in the back of my mind for years! This is gonna be a long fic as I go through the entire game from Hubert's perspective,

As Calla, Phynna, and Luan are discovered to be in the books of Xeo, Nagyish, and Selthdra respectfully Nadarr starts making a hypothesis. They have already been branded by those gods, but what of himself and Yuni? He considers looking for his book, but quickly tosses the thought aside. The text in all these books are gibberish to him and the wraiths in this library only seem to heed the direction of Calla. He didn't particularly want Call reading through his life story. Instead he'd request Yuni's book to confirm his thoughts.

Before her book can even arrive, however, Calla reveals his name is already in the book of Orox. He freezes in the middle of his musings, taking this information in. He is not yet branded, yet his life is already in the page's of a god's book. Well. That confirms things, yet raises other troubling thoughts.

No time to comb through those thoughts, however. This place was literally killing them. All except Calla, of course. If they stayed any longer they might not ever be able to leave. He suggested a few more books for them to "check out" and then urged them to make their exit. When Calla revealed she could now simply portal them anywhere some discussion is had about what to do with their boat transport friend before ultimately they decide on taking Calla's gateway and letting poor Polly know through dreams after.

Deciding not to heed his advice (of course) Calla takes them directly to Fenton's bedroom. Nadarr ignores his annoyance by taking a look through a suspiciously old book there. Nothing that interesting aside from the fact that it exists. When they leave to find Fenton himself they instead have to explain themselves to the guard. Ah good, more distractions to occupy himself with.

After explaining the situation as much as they'd want to, getting room and food, and also having Calla through the other books they obtained they can finally make plans for their next time. Yes, good, plans.

As time stretches on and everyone finally settles down to rest the weight of what is happening finally settles on Nadarr. He needs to confront all these thoughts he's been ignoring, both deliberately and not.

He had been assuming that these marks appearing on their numbers were simply proof of godly blessings, not proof of being the gods themselves. Obviously skimming through the books of the six showed that they are not physically, mentally, or spiritually the same people, but they hold the role and title all the same. This changes things. If he was mandated as the God of Fire and Secrets even without a brand then there was no running from it. He already was the god, he just hadn't know it yet.

If he was a god of this world why would this world then allow him to leave?

All this time he had been trying to find a way to get back home and to his life. Being blessed by a deity in one place shouldn't stop him from returning to his point of origin. Yet if he is a god of this new place then he didn't see much reason for the powers that brought him here to let him walk away from it. He was brought in to fill a role, a role that only changes upon his death. Either stay and be the god, or die and let someone else do it. Either way, he wasn't going home.

Of course this could all just be cynical thinking, but when you spend as much time as he did nosing in on things you tend to prepare for the worst. This revelation meant he needed to start making peace with living the rest of his life here, that there might not actually be any escape.

It wasn't the worst outcome, this world wasn't any worse than his old one, but it was still a shock to think of everything he had ever known would be out of reach. No seeing people or places from his old life, no continuing any plans he had in motion.

He almost wanted to blame everything on reading that darn book, but that was useless. It was merely the gateway that lead him here, it was not the cause of his situation. His birth was already recorded in Orox's book. He was doomed to end up here from the start.

As he was beginning to silently panic about all this his hand started to burn. The pain did nothing to calm his nerves as he looked down and saw the sigil of Orox glaring up at him from his left palm. Oh, just perfect! If his fate hadn't already been sealed it certainly was now!

Before he could spiral any further a wave of calm washed over him. He knew enough to know this wasn't himself calming down and he glanced up to see Calla watching him. Ah, probably some bardic magic then. He hadn't heard her playing any music though. Oh well, it didn't matter much. His tense muscled relaxed and he slumped a bit. Things were fine. He didn't need to worry.

Thinking about it, if their original plan to go home did indeed prove ineffective then he now had another avenue he could pursue. Go back to the land of the dead with Call and have her open another gateway, this time to his actual home. He felt so stupid for not thinking of this at the time, but circumstances being what they were he could forgive himself. Slowly having your life force drained away did not make for good brain power. Still, this plan was not all that appealing.

For one he'd have to ask Calla for her assistance and actually get it. Having to rely on someone else always rubbed him the wrong way, and he also just didn't like her all that much. For two it wasn't certain that she'd even be able to get him where he wanted to go, having not been to the places he had been. For three the powers that be might still just stop him from taking that route.

For the foreseeable future he figured he should just keep going along with the plan they had. Collect the relics and then sit on the chairs. If that didn't work then they'd just try the next thing. If that didn't work... well... Being a god might not be that bad.

Most people have the misconception that humans are an easy pet to raise, given their adaptable nature. What is most forgotten is that they are social creatures. You NEED to have multiple humans so they get healthy socialization. They are also prone to anxiety and depression if their needs aren't met, so be attentive!

Broadly speaking males are furrier than females, and the females will have larger fat deposits on their thoraxes. This is only the general rule, so be sure to double check with your vet! Humans are notoriously hard to breed in captivity unless you are a trained breeder, so most assume they are safe having a male and female together, but if they aren't properly fixed pregnancy can still occur. If you don't want little babies popping up keep a careful eye on your pets if you get differing sexes.

Speaking of babies, if you do end up with any be sure to be in contact with your vet or a local breeder. Human babies are very fragile and must be with the parents for an incredibly long time. Since they are social creatures humans will raise young together even if the baby isn't theirs. They all, also, will grow despondent if you take the baby away. This is why it is best to let trained breeders deal with them, because their stock of parents will be prepared for their offspring to be taken away eventually. Home breeders will soon discover that even if they wait for the healthy age to take offspring away it will still cause distress to both parent and child.

Regarding diet humans are omnivores so they have a wide array of options. Their digestive system has a hard time breaking down plant matter with high cellulose. They might be able to eat it, but they won't gain any nutrition, so stick to plants that are easier to break down. It is also highly suggested that if you want to give them any meat to cook it beforehand to avoid infections. You can also buy kibble for humans, but be sure to read the label and that there isn't a high concentration of chalk to bulk it up. Some humans have a propensity for being picky eaters, so just experiment until you find a diet they like! It is recommended to feed them three meals a day.

For their environment it is suggested they have a warm living space. If you don't live somewhere warm or you can't get a heater then fear not! Humans can live in colder environments as well, you just need to purchase some little sweaters for them. Unlike some other pets they are pretty chill with getting dressed up and even sometimes enjoy the experience. Just make sure the material is comfortable for them, as Humans have weak skin that can easily be damaged. Even without clothes special attention should be paid to their skin. Regular bathing is suggested, as is lotions or humidifiers if their environment is too dry. Grooming is also highly recommended for their fur, as it will continuously grow. Some breeders sell human hair to be made into textiles.

Humans are easily bored so be prepared to buy plenty of toys for them. You may have heard that humans are great pets for the active, but this is also a bit of a misconception. Some pets love exploring the great outdoors and doing activities with their owners, but just as often there humans that much prefer to stay indoors and relax. Find humans that best fit your lifestyle and if you end up getting one that doesn't live up to your expectations know that you can always find another one. Remember, you need multiple humans for their own happiness!

When owning humans be prepared for your home to no longer be quiet, they are quite vocal creatures. They will often communicate with each other and can make a variety of noises. You may have seen videos are humans "talking" with their owners, but they are only copying the sounds they hear. Having an actual conversation is impossible, but studies have shown that they can communicate simple ideas like wanting food or their favorite toy with their owners.

Going on with their mental capabilities they are extremely smart. If there are places you don't want your human to go or things to get into invest in good locks. Simple latches won't deter them and especially curious humans have been known to break through barricades. They also learn schedules easily so they may cause mischief when they know you won't be around, or they'll remind you EXACTLY when feeding time is. They can easily be taught tricks and it is recommended they learn a variety of commands both for keeping them well behaved and for enrichment purposes.

A fun fact about humans that most don't know is that they have more color receptors in their eyes than we do. As such they can differentiate between colors better than we can so they can more easily pick out difference between objects. Some organizations are starting to use humans to help in their work since we can't tell the difference without analyzing them, while humans can separate the desired objects out at a glance. So if you notice your human having a preference between two things that are the same it might ACTUALLY look different to them!

Tappy had been running around most of her afternoon and evening. The quiet, furry man had prepared a list of foods for her and she was absolutely going to impress him! Whether he was testing her or was honestly just that hungry she would prove that no one was a better hostess than Tappy Foamstrap! She grabbed her Surface World Cooking book, raided her pantry, called in a few favors, and set to work in the kitchen.

Never before had she been so excited. She finally had actual customers from the surface! Every couple of minutes she would check to see if any of them had come back yet. So eager was she to show off the absolute feast she had prepared! When her intended target finally arrived she proudly ushered him to a table and began piling it with dishes (she had been keeping everything hidden in the back so the locals didn't try eating any of it). In her excitement to feed her guest she almost missed a new face looking around.

When her eyes finally took in the half-orc she froze. Oh he was cute. Obviously not a traditional gnome hunk, but no one ever said her tastes were traditional. She made a beeline towards he and excitedly introduced herself. She tried to primp herself as she welcomed him to her inn. He was friendly, that was a good sign. Selthand was his name.

Oh she felt so self-conscious. She so wanted to make a good impression on him. She practically melted when he agreed to share tales of his adventures with her. None of her other guests had bothered to when she asked! He truly was just so nice. Not only had he been through so many exciting things but there was also this mysterious air about him. She could pick up that he had lied to her about some of his past. That just made him all the more tantalizing!

While she was idly wondering what it felt like to kiss someone with tusks Selthand directed her attention behind him. Her dreamy smile fell when she finally took notice of the gelatinous cube in the hall. Her immediate sense of fright was quickly discarded as Selthand introduced it as his friend Glabbagool. Gosh, he was just so cool! Who else could claim to be friends with oozes? O.K., maybe insane people. She hoped he wasn't insane.

Unfortunately not once in their whole interaction had Selthand reciprocated any of her flirtation. She wasn't sure if he was just a nice guy who didn't want to shoot her down or if maybe she'd been too subtle. She had been too nervous to be especially forward, but he had proven to be so friendly and nice maybe next time she'd up the ante a bit. After all, she didn't know how long they'd be staying in Blingdenstone. She didn't want to miss out on her chance just because she got cold feet.

Sia didn’t know what she wanted to do with herself anymore. They were back on the surface, Master Orlerieni was dead, King Iirod Bilviera had been returned to his wife, she had basically come full circle and was back to her very original goal: find someone to teach her magic. Did she really even need to now, though? With the kingdom of Bilviera gone she didn’t know where to go next to find a teacher, and over the course of her adventure she had grown fairly adept at controlling her magic. She wasn’t a master yet though.

Erol had asked her, before that final encounter with Gregor (or Prince Dragomir, as some were calling him), where she planned to go, the surface or the Underdark? She had told him she wasn’t sure. She had thought she wanted to return to the surface, that where where she had grown up and where her father was. Yet the Underdark was where the Ds’Eers lived and honestly? Her time with them was the first time she felt like she belonged anywhere. Not to mention Erol clearly had no love for the surface.

He never said anything when they did come to the surface with all the refugees. He had remained by her side through everything. If she decided she was going to remain up here he would probably continue to stay with her, and that was a huge comfort, but even if he never said so she could see how uncomfortable he was. Could she do that to her most loyal ally? Could she turn her back on the sunshine and everything on the surface to make him happy?

Sia asked Erol to braid her hair. It felt nice to have him brush her hair and twist it into fancy designs. It was comforting. She would figure out what to do eventually. For now she just wanted to sit and enjoy a moment of peace.

The peaceful moment didn’t come as when he began to brush her hair they both blinked into the now familiar realm. It was the same as ever, beautiful carvings and paintings lit by a rosy, early morning glow from the large windows. There was, however, one dramatic difference. A shining figure was in the room with them. Hanali Celanil, Lady Goldheart. Sia stood in the presence of a god and she found herself shocked silent.

The elven goddess of love and beauty smiled at them and asked Erol if he had named “it” yet. Sia turned to look at her butler. “It”? What was “it”? What was going on? Erol looked annoyed and asked what the point of any of this was. The goddess laughed, like beautiful chimes.

“If you name it and give ownership to me I will give you something you want.”

Her eyes fell on Sia at the second “you”. Sia blinked. Her? What did this god intend to give her in exchange for whatever she wanted from Erol? She turned once more to her butler and found his normally disdainful expression had softened into a more somber one as he looked back at her. What was going on in his head right now? 

He looked back at Lady Goldheart and said, “World’s Best Butler”.

This felt extremely significant, but Sia didn’t have time to think about it as the goddess laughed and lifted her hand. Everything went dark for Sia.

She felt someone shaking her and heard her name being called. She opened her eyes as she took a deep breath. Wait. She could feel it, she wasn’t just going through the motions for effect, she was breathing. Erol was kneeling by her and staring down at her panicked. In a rush Sia sat up and looked at her hands. If she was breathing then could it be?

Her hands showed no signs of the doll joints she had become accustomed to, but even more shocking than that was their color. Dark gray, similar to Erol’s own skin color. Her newly regained breath caught in her throat.

Erol wrapped her in a tight hug and after a shocked moment Sia wrapped her arms around him as well. It was wonderful. She squeezed him as tight as she could, afraid that if she didn’t she’d lose everything. He was there, he was real, she was alive.

“I need a mirror.” she said after a moment. Erol helped her to her feet and lead her over to the wash basin. Sia blinked at her reflection in the mirror.

The same purple eyes peered back at her, but they seemed to shine even more brightly against her darker skin. She looked the same, but so different. Her gray hair was now a glistening white and her ears stretched out longer. She leaned in close to her reflection, head slightly turned, and traced the outer rim of one ear with her finger. Then she faced the mirror fully again and pressed against the backside of both ears, bending them forward. A shaky laugh left her.

She pressed a palm against her cheek and relished at the press of flesh. Her smile grew wider as she squished her face between both hands and giggled. She was a real, living person again. She was a full-blooded drow. Whipping around she beamed at Erol, almost manic.

“Erol! I’m a drow!” she squealed. Then she grabbed his hands and began jumping up and down. “I’m alive and I’m a drow! A real drow!”

She dropped his hands and ran to the center of the room, throwing her arms out and spinning in place. She continued to laugh as she twirled around. Never before had she felt such pure joy. This was amazing! This was wonderful!

Suddenly she stopped spinning. A thought had struck her. She ran over to her bag of holding and shoved her arm inside. Quickly she ripped out an envelope. She stared at her father’s name written on the front and then grinned at Erol. The envelope caught fire in her fingers as she stared at him. Her eyes flicked back to her hand as the flames ate away at the letter she had painstakingly written. She turned her hand and dumped the few motes of ash she had caught as the letter finally disappeared.

What need did she have pining for the affection of her human father who had shunted her off? She wasn’t even partly human anymore! She was free. There were others she had in her life now. People who wanted to spend time with her.

She hugged Erol again.

“Let’s return to the Underdark.”

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Of course saying she wanted to go back to the Underdark and actually getting there was two different things. They got back to the surface thanks to Gregor using that awful demon door, but he only had ownership of it for a week. The week had now passed so the only way back was to find some other magical means, or spend months getting there by foot.

Sia was feeling restless. She wanted to know how the Ds’Eers were doing. She wanted to get her life back on track. She was getting annoyed at the sunshine she used to adore. Becoming a full-blooded drow had its drawbacks. Luckily in a few weeks an answer arrived for her travel dilemma.

She was walking in town when suddenly a giant owl flew up to her. She was startled by the creature, but it was quickly evident that it was being affectionate and not hostile. Before she could wrap her head around this development she saw a familiar figure.

“FOB!” she cried out as she threw herself at her friend. Hugging him tightly she said, “You’re alright! You’re back to normal!” Then she suddenly pulled herself away at arms length and stared at him sternly. 

“You’re a stupid idiot! What were you thinking running up to that vampire?! You should have just stayed in the box with me!”

Having caused quite the scene there was now a small crowd gathered around her and Sia finally took them all in. There was the owl, a human girl, some fishy red girl, and a woman in a cloak. After introductions were given something tickled in the back of Sia’s mind. Something important. She asked the woman some questions and then she realized what it was.

She reached into her bag of holding and pulled out the huge spell tome. Offering it to the woman she felt her heart swell. There! Another task complete! Giving her old master’s gift to his long lost former apprentice! Who was apparently his daughter! Cool!

It was great to catch up with Fob and tell him all about how she came back to life as a drow. She was really excited that she would age at the same rate as him. She also liked showing off her new looks. Didn’t he think her eyes looked prettier now? She felt prettier!

Then Nerie, Master Orlerieni’s daughter, explained that she had taken on this group as her own apprentices in magic. She extended the offer to Sia. Sia was shocked for a moment before breaking out into an exuberant “YES!”. This was all she could have wanted! New friends, new master, why wouldn’t she agree?

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Sia stared down at the spider necklace in her hands, thumb slowly tracing the gem set eyes. She had had this necklace her whole life, the only thing she had of her mother’s. When she had been old enough to understand she began to wear it every day. When her powers manifested she used the necklace as a focus for her abilities. She had so many feelings tied to this piece of jewelry. Now, though, it made her uneasy.

She hadn’t been aware that it was a holy symbol for the evil goddess Lolth. That was why Erol had so readily attached himself to her, thinking she had the favor of his god. She hadn’t really cared even after she found out, but her experience with another goddess was making her rethink things.

She hadn’t ever been particularly religious in her life. The gods existed, but their whims were of no concern to her. Now, though, now she knew she did have a god’s favor. Lady Goldheart had taken an interest in her. Sia had no idea why, but it was true. She was the one to have given her the construct body, she must have been the one to write that letter that had made her feel so safe and loved, and then she had fully resurrected her as a true drow.

How could she not feel indebted to her after all that? She literally owed her her life. Sia felt weird about wearing a different god’s holy symbol after all that.

When she had been younger she used to imagine all sorts of stories about who her mother was. Since she left this gift for her she must have loved her and hated leaving her behind! Her mother bust have been an astonishing beauty who immediately entranced her father. The two fell madly in love, but they knew they could never be together since she was a drow. When she found out she was pregnant she decided it would be better to leave their child on the surface instead of forcing her to live in the Underdark. It must have broken her heart to leave her behind, leaving only a necklace as proof of her love!

She had given up on the rosy outlook of her father. It was probably time to give up on her mother as well. As little time she had spent with her father she had at least spent some. Her mother was a complete non-entity, only existing in the stories she built herself. A small part of her had to admit that her excitement to explore the Underdark might have been the hope of learning anything about her mother. She was lucky enough to even find Master Orlerieni, it was ridiculous to have thought she’d find out anything about a woman she didn’t eve know the name of.

Randal followed Escher up to the fourth floor. He was fairly certain following this strange man to be alone in his room wouldn’t lead to him dying. Strahd said no harm would come to them, he had a job for them to do, and if this guy did anything then Strahd would probably punish him. On the other hand this could go sour in a completely different way. He could start hitting on Randal.

He could handle it if it came to that, though. Being mildly uncomfortable was basically his neutral setting since arriving in Barovia. Putting up with that would be easy if it meant he could get any more information. Already he was being allowed into parts of the castle he had been barred from. He did his best to keep a mental map of where Gertruda had lead him earlier and where Escher was leading him now.

When they finally got to Escher’s room Randal immediately noticed that there was no bed. Two loveseats, but no bed. Internally Randal couldn’t help but be disappointed. No matter what happened here he wasn’t going to sleep in a bed like the others. Either he’d be sleeping on a loveseat or. . . Not sleeping at all.

He sat down on one of the loveseats and Escher joined him. Then Escher started complaining about how Strahd had been ignoring him and he had been feeling sooo lonely. This was cool, Randal was fine. If he could pretend to care about Gerturda and her problems he could pretend to care about Escher and his. He listened and nodded, thankful for all the whine he had been drinking because it was making it easier to deal with this drivel.

He tried to ask Escher questions about Strahd. What was he normally up to? Anything he seemed particularly bothered by? What was Escher’s relation to him exactly? Unfortunately his charisma failed him (probably a little too much wine) and Escher wasn’t very forthcoming with details. He continued to blather away about things Randal didn’t really care about and putting his hand on Randal’s knee or shoulder.

Randal had to finally admit to himself that this whole plan had been a bust. He wasn’t going to get anything useful out of this. He still remained attentive to Escher’s woes, however, because he felt like it would never do wrong to have someone on Strahd’s side who liked him. That’s why he had put up with Gertruda (partly, but also because deep down he felt bad for her). He let Escher be as flirtatious as he wanted, even brushing his own hand against his a couple times and a smile here and there as they talked. Keep up the act, just keep up the act for the night. Man, how much wine had he drunk at this point?