#saviorfell

          intelligent eyes. cold eyes. calculating eyes. she listens to his words, words that found their way through from the darkest recesses of his mind. they are not words of much sentiment, and, yet, that is everything of what they hold. they are honest, but they are guarded. they are true, but they hide. lips set into a thin line, a hand rests against the side of her head. and then ...

          there is emotion in intellect. there is a warmth piercing through the cold, tiny embers that glow in the dim light of her gaze. there is concern in calculation, a formerly worrisome thing now welcomed by the professor. they are words from the heart, still beating in there somewhere, and, yet, she finds it hard to locate the source. its pulsing is weak, it struggles beneath the burden of the past. whatever is there, whatever is not. lips part to form some semblance of a response, a hand leaves her side to find a place upon the other’s shoulder.

          a rare gesture from her. was it, too, something rare for him to receive ?

          ❛ and, still, you have not yet broken, dimitri. despite it all ... here you stand. ❜

          bylette knows of what she speaks, and, yet, she could not be any more clueless. this territory she now found herself lost in---this meeting of the irrational with the rational, this persistent uncertainty---could she ever hope to navigate her way through it ? or could she only hope to remain at a loss, unable to provide ... did she even need to give a thing ? perhaps not, perhaps not ... but a true teacher did not allow students to shoulder such burdens without guidance.

          ❛ I promise you ... one day you will have that comfort of which you seek. and perhaps then ... then---some softness, some happiness will be of service to you. ❜

                   the harsh pretense of bitter environment , of what once stood as a unifying emblem ruined & spited . byleth , in truth , found little attachment despite what dwelled within her . of the great - dragon that lay dormant , yet devoured & controlled all those in her hand , she could only find disdain ; distrust , anger perhaps , though most definitely an everlasting will to never allow such a thing to rise again . 

                   ——————   𝐔𝐍𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐃     /     always accepting .

she is weak against the assault ,     pinned in place by calloused     &.     gentle hands upon her cheeks   ———   the very hands that knew only a lifetime of pain     &.     darkness .     but he holds her with such gentleness     &.     care ,     it was as if these hands did not know the weight of the legendary spear areadbhar or the lives it took .     as though he was never groomed for war     &.     death by the circumstances of life     &.     they likened to a wild beast because of it . 

none of that was evident in the way he holds her .     or in the way his lips leave sparks of warmth blossoming upon her skin ,     breathing life into her with each kiss given .     this was not the wild boar rumour claimed him to be .     this was not the man that tore across battlefields with vengeance burning in his heart .     

this was simply dimitri   ———   the true dimitri . 

         her dimitri .

she falls into him as the onslaught of kisses continues ,     laughing as though this was her happiest moment   ———   &.     it was ,     just as every moment by his side was her happiest .       she grins ,     her cheeks glowing with her joy     &.     she stands up on tiptoes to press her own kiss upon his nose .

         &.     this time it was .

there is a crash of porcelain as a bowl of hot water is dropped ,     its echo drawing the eyes of everyone around her ,     but alina notices neither them or the scolding of her legs as her eyes fall upon his wounded form .     he’s draped over another soldier ,     his spear still in hand     &.     more blood     &.     dirt on him than skin .     she’s running to him before the thought even occurs to her ,     her arms reaching for him as if that alone could hold him together a little while longer .

“     d - dimitri   ———   dimitri !     ”          she calls to him ,     her voice a broken sob as trembling fingers reach for his face ,     brushing back his hair     &.     stroking his cheeks . 

                       “     my love . . .     ”

                        ——————   𝐇𝐎𝐙𝐈𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒     /     accepting .

“     . . .     can you blame me ?     ”          her voice is quiet ,     uncharacteristically solemn as she stares off into the distance ,     watching as the last rays of sun bathed the blood soaked earth in its golden rays   ———   a final goodbye to lives upon the battlefield .     she didn’t know how long she’d been standing there ,     minutes     &.     hours blending as one since the battle began     &.     it was only now ,     as the sounds of a camp readying for nightfall drowned out the lasting echoes of battle cries     &.     dying soldiers ,     did time slowly begin to flow as it should .     

at least until it all resumed once again come morning .

but this was the place alina chose to be .     she had made the choice to follow dimitri knowing full well where it would lead her   ———   what horrors she would see   ———   &.     it was here she chose to stay no matter how her heart cried out .     she was a healer ,     she went where the injured were ,     where she was needed the most     &.     there was nowhere she was needed more than on a battlefield .       

yet that was not the true reason why she followed him here ,     what truly motivated her to step upon crimson drenched battlefields     &.     if she allowed herself to be honest ,     it had very little to do with her duty to the injured .

it was for him .     it was for her selfish desire to stay by his side .

alina could not forget the day dimitri appeared in her life again ,     hands dripping with the blood of the bodies he’d slain     &.     yet no one looked more dead inside than he did .     gone was the hopeful boy she’d met at the academy ,     a boy so gentle     &.     kind killed by unknown circumstances .     only a hollow     &.     broken man remained ,     hellbent on his crusade for vengeance     &.     it was for that man alina chose follow on this path of carnage .     if only to help him see the light before he was lost to her forever .

for that reason alone she would walk into a thousand battlefields .

the sun completes its descent     &.     with one last mournful glance across the field ,     alina finally turns to face the man at her side .     she smiles despite herself ,     despite the horrors of war ,     but she could not bring it to its full brightness ,     not when grief still hung heavy upon her shoulders     &.     turned eyes that once resembled a lilac sunrise into stormy clouds of grey .     but for him she would smile ,     for him she would try     &.     bring warmth back into his life .

her footsteps hurry ,     her fast pace turning into a near sprint as she takes off down the hall ,     letting the spread of rumours guide her way .     the very rumours that pulled her from her work when she heard the frantic monster in the monastery drift past her door .     she let instinct take over     &.     carry her to where she was needed .

but it was no monster waiting in the empty lobby .

the face ,     although smeared with blood ,     was like seeing a ghost from the past   ———   only it was no long the face of the boy she remembered .     she takes a dazed step closer into the room ,     hesitant ,     as though she’s not conscious of the step she’s taken     &.     stumbles as her foot connects with something firm beneath her .     it breaks her from her daze     &.     it’s then she notices the bodies   ———   so many bodies littering the ground ,     all of them surrounding the man in the middle .     the realisation is like a slap to the face     &.     all she can do is stare ,     wide eyed with horror as his name is like a choked sob upon her lips .

                        “     d - dimitri . . .      ”  

“     you got me in the pouring rain     &.     then i feel you hesitate .     ”