The last few days had been an absolute living nightmare for him. He felt a gnawing hollowness that he couldn’t explain, like something inside him had been ripped out and left to fester. He barely slept, and when he did, the nightmares jolted him awake, drenched in cold sweat. His hygiene had gone to shit; even the simple act of showering felt like too much effort.

He fucked up. He fucked up really bad.

If someone were to ask him why he’d tried to do what he did to her now, he wouldn’t be able to give an answer. He didn’t even know himself. And maybe that was the worst part of it all, because he never dwelled on regrets. He wasn’t the kind of person to second-guess his choices or care about the fallout. But now? Now it haunted him.

He was self-absorbed being the one people listened to or never stood up to, the minute he stopped having that respect, he took it out on and blamed Serena. Despite everything he’d done, despite every cruel thing he’d put her through, despite every vile thing he said to her, she saved him.

The bruises on his arms from the kidnappers' grip had faded, but the shame was stained permanently. He’d relive every single moment in the dead of night, his stomach twisting in knots as his mind churned with guilt and confusion while remembering the exact turn of events. The bags under his eyes deepened with every sleepless night, his usual swagger replaced by a slouch.

Part of him had debated ending it all now and just offing himself; what was even the point of living? He was no longer the Whitney that people were afraid of, the Whitney that got his way just by glaring at someone. Most of all, he now had to live with the overwhelming guilt of putting Serena in harm's way like that. The worst part of that is that through all of this, he realized he's in love with her - so in love with her that he can't even begin to think of how he can fix this mistake.

...So why live?

Serena, of course. That was the answer. It was the only answer he really needed right now, if it got him up, then it was all that was needed for right now. And that's when his eyes conveniently meet with a certain stuffed rabbit, it was something he was given a long time ago from a girl he used to know and probably the thing he's taken the most care of outside of any pets over the years. Call it a gut feeling, but something was telling him this rabbit was a lot more important now than ever.

He got out his phone and texted Serena; it was a simple 'Meet me at the park.', but it wasn't followed up by him calling her a slut; instead, a follow up message was sent: 'Please.'

She didn't respond, and that was about what he expected. He expected her to hate him now, god knows he hates himself more than ever before now - but that didn't stop him from still going to the park.

Because he hasn't eaten the last few days, he definitely lost a bit of weight - not a horrible amount, but enough for his current clothing to be a little baggier on him than they were before. He was wearing a hoodie that, ironically, Serena had gifted him with baggy sweatpants - more or less showing the depression dressed him more than he did.

It started to rain; not heavily yet, but a definite drizzle. It was shortly after the rain started that Serena actually showed up, which caused Whitney to stand up from the bench he slouched on and stare at her; it was weird how seeing her suddenly gave him these weird butterflies in his stomach that he never noticed before. It was as if a lot of that depression went away the minute he saw her.

But then...she was the first one to speak, and what she said was - "you won't have to deal with me much longer.”

It'd been several years since someone had visited Aeaea besides her Nymphs, and that man was one of the most stubborn people she'd ever met. After he and his crew spent time here, the thought was that was the last she'd ever hear of him - but unfortunately, it appears she was wrong.

The world seemed to turn upside down for her on this particular day; it wasn't often that the greater Gods would come to Aeaea, but suddenly the water lining the shores had shifted violently and the entire island began to shake. It didn't take a prophet to know that if the ocean became angered, it was often that Poseidon was near; and lo and behold, in he came to her abode. He was obviously furious, the look on his face scared all of the Nymphs into corners.

...Yet what he did next surprised her most. He begged her to help the woman in his arms, he'd already healed her, but she obviously needed more than even a God's powers; it got to a point where Poseidon of all beings nearly bent the knee to her for her aid; she could practically see tears welling in his eyes. The one he wanted to help? Calypso, she knew this girl, not very well given her seclusion - but she knew of the girl nonetheless. Seeing Poseidon's desperation, Circe agrees to help however she can without anything in return. After leaving Calypso in her care, Poseidon is quick to return to the ocean.

Regardless, she didn't have time to think about much else - she immediately had her Nymphs tending to Calypso alongside her and fetching any ingredients found outside her palace. After a grueling three days of restless conjuring, she was finally able to get Calypso in a stable condition. Once she dismisses the Nymphs, Circe sits at Calypso's bedside; generously, she has given the girl her (Circe's) bed to rest in.

He had to give it to these Asgardians, this forge of theirs was massive. He still preferred his own back on Olympus, but this was the only one he'd ever seen that could give him a run for his money; but since he was having to use this one, this may as well be considered his for the time being. It seemed like the dwarves who originally ran it were more than willing to let him take over, but that was probably thanks to Odin giving him special permission.

Either way, it'd been a few months now since he set up shop here. Hermes managed to sneak by Olympus and bring back most of his tools and leftover materials, so he combined them with the ones here and created basically a brand new forge; and he's been working ever since, creating weapons and armor like he'd never made before, amplifying existing weapons and armor for the other Olympians, anything he could do here.

One of the dwarves that was helping (or overseeing) here had let him know that there was a particular Goddess looking for him, so he sets aside his hammer and steps away from the heat of the forge. Once he steps out, he's immediately met with a woman taller than him. To call her beautiful would've been underselling it. Odin had told her about him?

This was definitely an...adjustment, to say the least. Being forcefully brought back into the fray at the behest of others, all because multiple realms were on the verge of collapse and a war was raging on. Worst of all, he's been put in charge of seeing to it all these young ones were properly prepared strategically. Some of them were related to Gods he knew, some of them were completely unknown to him; but at the end of the day, he was here having to serve as an instructor.

It's not been all bad though. Most of them are actually great conversationalists, and if nothing else, it's been nice to tell them of some of his exploits. There are a few that he's not been too sure on how to interact with though - and as if on queue, one of them approaches him.

「I'm more afraid of what your father is going to say when he finds out about this.」 ..Ah, wait -

Awkwardly, Odysseus rubs the crook of his neck and lets out a heavy sigh. He'd forgotten - as far as anyone knew, Poseidon was gone.

...To be approached in the hall this way was unexpected. He knew Katherine was here, but he'd been doing his best to avoid prolonged conversation with her. Not because he wanted to, but because he thought it was for the best; to begin with, he had thought she wasn't the same Katherine he knew... It was bizarre to think that somehow, that woman would have left her room all on her own..

He'd thought acting as if he had no memory of the time he spent with her would spare her from approaching him; thinking it for the best not to get involved with him again, even if it only made his heart ache. Especially when he was also trying to convince himself that this isn't the same Katherine he knew, just this timeline's version of her.

Unfortunately, it would seem a certain Saber of Red who also retained his memories happened to strike up a conversation with her and slip that Amakusa had remembered everything after all. So now he was in this situation, with her calling out to him from behind and him having to decide whether or not he was going to keep walking or finally converse with her.

He chooses the latter, almost bittersweetly.

The Ruler wears a smile once he turns around to face, but it was somewhat forced even if it's impossible to tell with him. It's not that he wasn't happy to see her; those words... "old friend", maybe this was a Katherine who didn't advance a relationship with him? All the more reason to have avoided her..

And yet, one look at her was all it took for him. Her clothes weren't all too different from her usual style, and she really didn't look like she'd aged a day at all. She was still... the most beautiful woman he'd ever met. Ah...how painful.

He'd been staring absentmindedly out the window for pretty much the entire morning. For no particular reason, today was just an irritatingly boring day... Or maybe he was just tired? Whatever the reason didn't matter, he just didn't pay any attention in today's lesson. Heck, he didn't even mess with Riddle yet; but that guy was gone the minute Floyd even looked in his direction.

It seemed like he only needed to blink and suddenly the lesson was over, which was really weird. Not that it was a big deal to him. The only person that could really sway his attention was Krahe, which ends up being exactly what happens.

The minute he spots her coming up to his seat as he stands up, he gives a slow blink and begins to walk out of the room with her. This is one of the first times he'd specifically chosen to walk along with her out of class, huh.. He wasn't really thinking about that until now.

Curiously, his head cocks to the side when she suddenly gives him that 'good kid' comment. But it seems to make him happy, because now he's wearing a dumb toothy grin on his face.

「 Haah... 'Ya think so? 」

As they continue to walk down the hall, he folds his arms behind his head and practically rocks on his heels with each step he takes. Being called that felt kinda nice! Even if he was only choosing to be that way right now.

“You flatter me for thinking I am the cause of some kind of change for you.” 

One of these conversations again. It seemed like Clara had a habit of blaming them any time they were around, and getting into arguments with them. The arguments never lasted, it seemed she knew it was pointless to continue and just wanted to keep jabbing at them - whether it was in hopes of causing them some sort of pained reaction or guilty conscience was unknown, but she had to have known it wasn’t working. 

Maou takes a breath and steps toward Clara, staring down at her. They were unsure why, but there was a bit of a... nostalgic pain of sorts, not for the words she spoke, but just simply looking at her was giving them that feeling. How odd. Nevertheless, they wouldn’t make this feeling apparent - simply looking at her the way they always have. 

“You think things were fine until I arrived? Foolish. You were nothing but a lost girl being used for her body and unknowing mind. You may think you knew everything, but you didn’t. The Holy Grail does not bring humans back to life - incarnation only works on Servants. Omnipotent it may be in name, even that has its limits. You were going to be used as a summoning tool and killed without guarantee that your death would even hold meaning.” Taking a breath, Maou shakes their head and lowers their form so that they are eye level with Clara. 

“Perhaps your issue is that we got off on the wrong foot still. I will not apologize for the way we met. I’ve respected your view for too long now, girl.” It is then that Maou reaches to take hold of Clara’s sides and raise her up, pinning her against the closest wall. “I have allowed the others to take control more and simply slumbered away doing nothing but exactly that - all because I am aware of your view of me. But that needs to change, otherwise you will not see the end of this War if we cannot cooperate. Maybe you want that; I am capable of surviving this War without being tied to a Master, so if you want to off yourself to be done with it, I won’t intervene.” Their grip tightens when Clara clearly begins to struggle back, but they let out an exasperated sigh as their gaze drops to the floor beneath them.

For the first time, she was the one to make him become speechless during their entire time spent after she had taken responsibility for overseeing the remainder of his time in Hisui. And it was out of nowhere, by a campfire no less. After she says that, the only sounds heard were the crackling of the fire and the ambience of wild Pokemon out at night. He had thought she was talking to her own Pokemon, but his eyes meet with hers and it was evident she referred directly to him when speaking.

In his head, he could hear a quiet yet content murmur from Giratina, causing him to reach to the back of his neck and place his palm against it; the hair practically stood on his skin from that alone. Giratina saw her the same way he did, so in a way, it perceived what she said in a similar fashion. 

Still, after continuing to stare in silence, he finally breaks it (although reluctantly).