abraxaslogs | [ OPEN ] split tomorrow from today

Entry tags:

[ OPEN ] split tomorrow from today

Who: Claude and various
When: November + December
Where: Nocwich, Cadens, TBA
What: Catch all for both months
Warnings: None currently, will add/mark as needed

( Open and closed starters in the comments! Also good with prose or brackets and please feel free to wildcard into the open prompts with something else. If you'd prefer plotting first, you can find me at

indech, arboria#1862, or by PM at any time! )

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[ Trading one weapon for another, so to speak, is more than fair in Claude's mind. A benefit of the Horizon, isn't it, getting to learn about what he would've never known existed otherwise? Surely that applies to all of them; if not, at least he and Thancred have this in common.

And it sounds like there's much to ponder there with Thancred's answer regarding magic - aether, he reminds himself, and Claude considers this as they walk. That it might be limited to only a select few resembles what he's heard about other worlds, and it's that knowledge with which he means to keep asking questions. He looks up just in time to catch Thancred's look which he can't read quickly enough to know what it means.

Unfortunate, because he's about to take a step when Thancred asks a question which makes the ground distinctly feel like it tilts beneath his feet. Instead he stops in place and stares at the other, forgetting all about the animal draped around his shoulders or any struggle with it. ]

What?

[ That lone word in response comes out a bit sharper than intended, one Claude wouldn't normally use on someone without actual intent behind it for something beyond it being fueled by genuine surprise. His expression stays even enough it's likely enough of a tell since - he should be walking but he can't quite manage to make himself do that yet.

That Thancred says Byleth and not Teach, Professor, your professor, whatever else any of them might've substituted in there rather than Teach's name has to mean something, and it sends his mind spiraling through possibilities. Edelgard being mentioned is just as important; how could Thancred know about her? One of the others here also talking to him? Or something else?

Only one way to find out. ]

How do you know about them?

[ While Thancred's not entirely certain what manner of reaction he was expecting from Claude, the stunned silence tells a story. Clearly Claude was not aware that Byleth and Edelgard were ever here, which makes sense given that he'd been called to the Free Cities rather than Thorne. The two of them hadn't been here all that long before vanishing, either.

Thancred pauses and turns back to face him. This is hardly a discussion that they should be having while they're carrying bleeding, dead animals out of a forest filled with other predators, so he does think they should continue on sooner rather than later.

He's not cruel enough to leave Claude in that much suspense, however. ]

Both of them were here. We were all summoned to Thorne at the same time. They attended the Summit that took place shortly after, and then disappeared a month or so after that.

[ If memory serves.

Clearly Claude knows them, but what role he played in the war that Edelgard told him about is unclear. She'd mentioned a Dimitri, yes, but no Claude. ]

I must admit, now I'd like to ask you the same, but we would be better served making our way back to the square first. [ Once they are released of these burdens, their catches sold, it will be far easier to find a place to sit down and chat. ]

[ Edelgard and Teach together, and in Thorne. Claude's mind races around that for a few seconds plus the added information of them not being here that long. But when had it been? Thancred mentioning they arrived at the same time doesn't offer him any clues, and - now he has to tell the others. Now he has to tell Petra this, and that thought stands out like a torch above all the others.

The thought of missing Teach aches. Then again, maybe it wasn't even his Byleth at all, and that somehow aches even worse. He's not helping his case here by standing in one place. But crisis management is nothing new to Claude, so when Thancred offers the perfectly reasonable suggestion to get rid of their hunting proceeds first that's enough to snap him back to reality with a fixed smile. ]

What, you don't want to have this conversation while hauling a bunch of extra weight around? Alright, if you insist.

[ Humor solves everything. It's easy enough to sound unaffected and lighthearted as ever in total disregard for the crack in his mask from seconds ago, and Claude walks forward to fall into step with Thancred back to the square. As he'd hoped - because that means someone here will be able to use what they've caught in his usual goal of making it to the hunting grounds - it's not long before they're able to trade for some well-earned coin.

And with it in hand as he absently jingles it, there's nothing to do but to send a curious glance Thancred's way for whatever might come next. ]

I don't know about you, but if you're in no rush to return somewhere else I wouldn't mind finding a tavern for a drink.

[ While Claude is certainly able to affix his mask back into place almost immediately after it slipped, there's no denying the fact that it did slip. Some might have missed it, but not Thancred, and his curiosity is certainly piqued.

He had determined that Edelgard was not like the Emperors of Garlemald that have caused far too much trouble for him and the other Scions back home, but he also knows that when it comes to war there are two sides to every story. He'll be curious to see where Claude lands on everything Edelgard had explained to him when he'd stumbled into her memories.

Thankfully, selling their catches doesn't take much time at all and soon enough they are unburdened by the creatures they'd hunted. When Claude recommends that they find a drink, Thancred doesn't hesitate to nod, tossing up the pouch of coin he just received and then snatching it out of the air. ] Aye, I should be able to afford one or two now.

[ Not that he couldn't before, but details. He leads them through the square to one of the taverns he's visited before, which doubles as a gambling hall. No one is bound to pay them too much attention here, and so he finds them an out of the way table. Someone will no doubt be by soon for their drink orders. ]

Now, if you don't mind, might I ask how you know the two of them?

[ The tavern is a good choice. A smart choice, Claude thinks as he takes a seat and surveys the interior from their table. There's plenty of activity, their table is out of the way - it's nearly as secluded as possible for still being in plain sight where no one will pay them any mind with more interesting things happening around them.

Of course, they aren't here to idle away the hours even with drinks (soon to be) on the table. When Thancred speaks, Claude's attention is back on him in an instant even if it takes an additional second for him to shift his gaze back.

It's a loaded question, and perhaps what makes it all the more loaded is that he hasn't the slightest whether Thancred means it as one or not. Sure, the other man knows Edelgard and Byleth, but: in what capacity? How much of Fodlan had been spoken about between them, and what had been shared compared to what hadn't? Claude's no stranger to walking a fine line between revealing just enough versus too much, but this is the first time he's really had to consider it in something larger than the Free Cities alone. ]

Forgive me for asking you this first before I answer. Can you tell me what Te- Byleth looked like?

[ Possibly not Teach, he has to remind himself, as painful as that is. Claude also doesn't provide any other context to what he'll admit is a Strange Question if Thancred rightfully chooses to volley it back his way. But - it's really the only way he has a chance of narrowing down where Edelgard and Byleth came from, if they even arrived together and he's not just grouped them together as a Fodlan unit, and that may need to play into how he chooses his answers to Thancred. ]

[ It doesn't take long at all for someone to notice them and swing by to take their orders, and Thancred requests some ale. It should be light enough that it will make the conversation slightly less tense without muddling his thought process at all.

Though the question that he's asked before even having his own answered is strange, to say the least. He assumes that this has to do with people being taking from different parts of a timeline, but if that's the case, why not just ask for Byleth's approximated age?

No, something seems additionally off here, but Thancred has no reason to reject answering the question, odd as it might be. ]

She's a few ilms — inches — shorter than me, blue hair, usually wore a rather serious expression. [ He's also noted how Claude almost called her something else, and while he remains at a loss, there's clearly something afoot here. ] Lean, built like a mercenary. Is that what you wanted to know...?

[ Otherwise, he's not sure what he could say. Does Claude want him to describe her assets? Surely not. ]

[ The description is sparse, but it's enough to confirm what he'd expected: the Byleth here was not the one he knows. It brings him no peace as he worries the thought in his mind as it stings all over again. What Thancred's said also doesn't really narrow anything down at all, he realizes too late. Was it Sylvain's Byleth? Or Petra's? Or somehow yet another Byleth entirely?

Can't do anything about that now. Claude has the feeling - because this would be true for him, were the situations reversed - parrying with yet another question in return will be far too evasive. That leaves answering what Thancred's asked with neutrality, as much as can be had, to leave room for questions he's certain will follow. ]

Some years ago, I attended an academy my grandfather sent me to as part of being named his heir to a place called the Leicester Alliance. Edelgard was my fellow student and the princess of a neighboring nation, and the prince of yet another kingdom was also there. There was a war in Fodlan, as you may or may not know. It interrupted our school year, to say the least, and we each returned home to claim our titles.

[ The drinks are delivered and he nods to the server gratefully. It's a brief interruption but it still allows Claude valuable seconds to continue putting together his explanation. No need to reveal everything all at once if he can (mostly) dodge the topic of war for time being. ]

Byleth was a mercenary who was hired as a professor. I know him as a man about my height who taught my house at the academy - the house being other students from the Alliance. But several others from Fodlan know the Byleth you described, and she was also their professor in what they remember. [ Which is confusing enough, but time to make it worse. ] And when I say that she was their professor, I also mean that they lived different things than I did beyond simply that once the war came even though I remember them quite clearly as fellow students from back then.

[ It's a lot of information to take in and process, especially as Thancred tries to draw comparisons between Claude's version of events and what he remembers from Edelgard's own memory and what she'd explained to him about the context of that battle.

However, when Claude explains that the Byleth he knows is a man, Thancred's eyes widen briefly as his thoughts scramble to make it all make sense. ]

Two different timelines, then...? [ He frowns and shakes his head. ] Then this Byleth and Edelgard would have been slightly different versions of the ones you knew. Or... not so slightly, as the case may be.

[ He pauses then to take a long drink from his pint of ale, not that it's going to help make any of this any clearer. ]

During a disturbance with the Singularity, there was an incident where Summoned were seeing scenes from each other's memories. I saw one of Edelgard's, which I believe took place during this war you mentioned. She explained some of the context of the battle, that she was staging a rebellion against the church, and specifically the archbishop.

[ Even after all this time, some of the details are etched into his mind if only because it reminded him so much of the Dragonsong War. ]

Does any of that ring a bell?

At least three, that we know of.

[ Because given what little they do know, it seems prudent to leave the door open for even more possibilities though the very thought of it exhausts him on a level Claude doesn't have the words to describe. He does nod in response to Thancred mentioning slightly different versions since that seems the best way to put it without diving into further and deeper detail than is likely needed.

Instead he absently turns his glass in place where it rests while the other drinks and contemplates what he could say next. There's many options, each of which could shift how the conversation goes depending on what it is that Thancred already knows about the state of Fodlan. What's said next gets Claude to pause, first at the mention of the Summoned seeing memories belonging to someone else - something which sounds like his personal nightmare without accounting for the actual nightmares he'd had after arriving - and then at how the conflict is framed.

It doesn't offer him much information in the way of a date. Was it the day Garreg Mach fell and he stood by a ravine which opened in the earth and watched Teach fall into it? Or something else he hadn't lived? Time for a drink of his own ale before he continues. ]

Yes, it does. It seems one very consistent thing is that in each version of what we've lived, Edelgard always begins the war with the rebellion meant to change the fate of Fodlan. In my time, I ended the war and the Alliance triumphed. In someone else's, Dimitri - the prince of that kingdom - was the one who did. It seems that who Byleth choose to ally with has... some advantages through that.

[ For a lack of anything better to call it; that's his working theory at the moment with all the pieces of their collective histories he's scoured with Sylvain where they've tried to figure out what overlaps and what doesn't. While speaking, his gaze had wandered towards some minor commotion near the front of the tavern, but now Claude turns it back to Thancred. ]

Edelgard isn't alive in my time. Neither is Dimitri.

[ Maybe that also explains some of his initial shock over hearing who had been here before him, anyway. ]

[ At least three. And here Thancred had thought that some of the timeline differences he'd lived through made things complicated. It doesn't hold a candle to what Claude's describing. It's little wonder that he reacted the way that he did, then.

There are some consistencies in the timelines to anchor them, but who Byleth supported is even something that differs, is it? No doubt from Claude's perspective, she (he) had been on his side, though the mention of an Alliance is also new to Thancred.

Though when Claude admits that both Edelgard and Dimitri are dead as far as he's aware, that also explains why he'd been so shocked by this revelation. Thancred doesn't know if those two had been friends to Claude at some point, people he might mourn, but he shoots him a grim look nonetheless, then heaves out a sigh. ]

Well... [ How to explain what else he knows? At this point he might as well come right out and say it. He tilts his head from one side to the other to crack his neck. ] I believe this Dimitri, King Dimitri at the time, stood between Edelgard and her goals. I don't recall you or your Alliance being mentioned, though both Edelgard and Byleth existed in a time after the war had ended. Edelgard was Emperor, with Byleth as her High General, and it seemed they were working on rebuilding Fodlan.

[ What became of Dimitri and Claude for all of that to happen can likely be inferred, though they certainly won't receive all the answers now. Thancred glances down into his half-finished glass of ale. ]

I suppose it's a moot point by now, as they're long gone. Nor do I know if I filled in pieces on your puzzle or made it more complex.

[ At that, he sends Claude an apologetic smile. ]

[ It's not lost on Claude that Dimitri is crowned in what Thancred's saying, something he'd not sure ever came to pass before the nightmare that was Gronder and where Faerghus and its prince fell after the shock of finding out said prince was alive in the first place.

That the Alliance wasn't mentioned - well. That could mean any number of things, but all he can think about is Petra's arrival where she'd been puzzled as to whether Abraxas was where he was going after leaving Derdriu and how he'd been confused as to what she meant about leaving in the middle of the war. Maybe this narrows down where Edelgard and Byleth came from as much as anything else could without being able to ask them for himself. ]

Edelgard was... is rebuilding Fodlan. Hopefully that means she attained her dreams.

[ There's a smile he casts down to his mug but it's on the wan side and every bit as grim as Thancred's earlier look for what he knows happened in his time. A call back and forth over the clash of weapons when it became clear Edelgard wouldn't back down. Don't worry. I'll finish the job for you.

With an inaudible sigh Claude looks up again after running a hand over his beard. ]

If it helps any, I don't think you could possibly make it worse. [ Now there's a grin since that's an understatement, but that's nothing Thancred should feel responsible for in any way. ] There's more differences than just these. I might be from after the war in my time but everyone else here from Fodlan is still well within it, assuming that the time doesn't shift with everyone else that has from what I know. If it does, I suppose that also means there's always the possibility they'll come back.

However, [ with an appraising glance in the other's direction as he picks up his ale to take another sip after putting an unspoken question into his words, ] you don't seem all that surprised by the idea of someone being from different timelines.

It seemed as if she had, yet there was still much work to be done.

[ That's the impression that Thancred received from his talks with both Edelgard and Byleth. He recalls they'd been readying themselves for politically involving themselves in Thorne as well, though none of that came to pass when they'd left as soon as they arrived.

He finds it interesting that despite the fact that they must have been fighting on different sides, Claude still seems to hold some fondness for the idea of Edelgard achieving her goals — in one timeline, at least. It isn't his reality, and in Edelgard's he very well might be dead. It must be such an odd sensation.

It's true that he can't make this much worse, if Claude had already been untangling a mess of timelines. Thancred sends him a sympathetic glance nonetheless, as he can't imagine what he'd be doing in such a situation. Losing sleep over all the potential possibilities, no doubt. ]

Ah. [ He's being called out, is he? He shifts in his seat, crossing one leg over the other under the table. ] Yes, I suppose you're right. The concept exists on my star as well... in a sense. A group of people from the far future learned how to travel back in time to avert a terrible fate. And while they were successful, their own timeline continued on as well, even after they created a new one.

[ So G'raha had explained it to them, at least. Thancred is hardly an expert on such things. ]

[ It is an odd sensation. The war started because of Edelgard's ideals - ones that weren't so far off from his own, except for the bloodshed brought about from it. That part he could never agree with, not even after benefitting from stepping in to turn the tide of the war his way in his own time. As for what happened to him in Edelgard's? Maybe he'll have to ask Petra more about that.

That train of thought can wait since there's only so much he can expect Thancred to provide him in the way of details. This will do for now until he can take it back to the others to see what they know about any such thing or what they might be able to provide from their own histories. He sets his glass down after taking that drink then leans back, content to get comfortable in his seat and maybe hide a smile when it turns out his guess was a solid one after all.

What he's not counting on, though, is what Thancred answers with and that has him sitting up slightly again. ]

They went back in time to change fate?

[ That bears repeating as he considers this and that it didn't change the future, somehow, despite history not being what it was. It feels - familiar, though maybe that's just wishful thinking on his part in how he's been searching for some way to make his own experiences (and differences) make sense. This opens up even more questions he wants to ask, but there's an important one first. ]

Are you... [ slight pause to adjust that question in his mind - ] Which branch in your timeline are you from? If that's the right way to ask.

[ Is there even a right way to ask? That'll have to be close enough. ]

[ There is hardly a right way to ask, not when what the members of Ironworks accomplished had been nigh impossible save for their resilience and determination to make it so. Thancred doubts such a thing will take place again in the history of Etheirys, past or future, and when he considers that it's almost dizzying. It's no surprise that G'raha had taken his role as the Exarch so seriously.

He swirls his ale around in the glass for a moment, but doesn't hesitate when Claude asks his question. Who would have thought they would be having such a deep conversation on their first meeting? Not that this is anything overly personal for Thancred, not like it seemed to be for Claude. Thus, he doesn't mind sharing. ]

From the past. I'm from the timeline that benefited from their efforts and who did not have to watch our star come to some grim end, though other attempts were made on it even after that.

[ In that case, with Meteion, it had been up to Himeka and the rest of the Scions to see it all through. While Thancred has not quite lived through those events just yet, he knows what comes to pass. He knows that they succeed. ]

All is well now, however; you need not worry. [ He lifts up his glass then to take another long drink, finishing off the last of it. ]

[ From the past, Thancred says, and there's a few moments where Claude tries to picture this for himself. What would it be like to have lived those years ago knowing what was coming - and more importantly than that, that it was diverted from happening?

There would have been a smaller war over other things, certainly. Fodlan was (is) too full of ways desperately needing to be changed causing all kinds of tensions which would have led to the inevitable path of conflict. But maybe, if he allows himself to entertain this daydream that has no way of ever coming true, maybe it would've meant more time for talks to occur. For important discussions where bonds could have been forged. For change taking longer than Edelgard's abrupt upheaval being the cause and so much rebuilding needing to happen because of actions on all of their parts. ]

It seems conflict is a constant no matter where we might be. Or for where we might be sent to, now that that's an option none of us knew about before arriving.

[ Abraxas and all of its conflicts are too difficult to overlook - and there being three nations against each other is a familiarity he dislikes every time he remembers that's the case. The smile he flashes Thancred while picking up his glass to finish his own drink is on the wry side. ]

Though anything dealing with Abraxas, at least in what I've witnessed since being brought here, is a topic that's yet even deeper. And it'd require far more drinks, I suppose, given that we were in need of one for this alone.

[ Which could sound a little too close to shutting a door he'd like to leave propped open if anything else, considering it may take some time to build it there. Time, at least, is something they have plenty of. ]

At least there's other weekends in Nocwich for that. Maybe next time I can even buy the drink for you providing hunting goes as successfully as it did today.

Aye, that is one thing that will remain consistent across any star, I imagine.

[ Conflict is unavoidable, given that people will always find something they disagree on to the point that they are willing to fight tooth and nail for their side of the argument. Or because they want power and therefore wish to conquer the other — just as likely, if not more so. There's no need to point out that Abraxas is no different.

Claude acknowledges it all the same, as well as points out that they hardly have the time to get into all that after both a successful hunt and the rather convoluted discussion which followed. It's growing quite late now, he imagines, though it's difficult to tell the passing of time in a place of eternal night. It's been quite the meeting, but he can't say that he regrets it. It hadn't been so bad to think back on Edelgard and Byleth, particularly when he realizes that it's quite likely he'll never see them again.

They hadn't been particularly close, but it's a melancholic sort of feeling all the same.

Nonetheless, he's made a new acquaintance in Claude, and when he suggests a future meeting for another riveting discussion, Thancred smiles and nods to him. ] You drive a hard bargain. I'm quite certain that could be arranged. And while I don't know that the information I provided you helped in any way, hopefully it was of some value to you. [ It allowed the two of them to forge a quick and hopefully solid bond, if nothing else, with such an odd situation to (somewhat) share in common.

With that, Thancred presses to his feet and moves out from around the table. ] I'll be seeing you, then? I should head back before my flatmate gets concerned.

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[ OPEN ] split tomorrow from today

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