Chapter Text
Chapter 36
Crack of Blue
The next morning began the awkward dance, a dance between Parvati and Catherine. Parvati marveled. For two people who had become suddenly awkward with each other, it was amazing how coordinated they had become — with absolutely no communication. Parvati saw Catherine in the lunch line? She suddenly had to go to the bathroom. Catherine saw Parvati coming down the hall from her office? The bulletin board of announcements became something that needed double-checking. There were six days of this. The worst was when they made eye contact with each other. They both wanted something, but were afraid of something else, so they replaced the look of surprise on their faces with — for Catherine, irritation and hostility — for Parvati, simply looking away.
The one time Parvati called out to Catherine, the knight picked up a brochure from the bulletin board. Parvati looked at it. Then she said, “Did you mean to stop teaching immediately?”
“Yes,” said Catherine, though she hadn’t even thought about it.
The frustration on Parvati’s face looked haughty to Catherine. Catherine’s inability to figure out what to say next looked like derision to Parvati.
“Fine,” said Parvati. “Thanks for taking care of him.”
Catherine glared at her, unable to conjure who Parvati meant when she was already occupied with decoding Parvati’s “Fine.” What did she mean Fine? Had Catherine had a choice in this? Wait, did Catherine have a choice when to stop? Because then she didn’t want to stop yet. By the time Catherine came up with all these questions, Parvati had already gone downstairs. Catherine groaned, realized the brochure she was holding was upside down, and cursed herself.
Shamir came out of Captain Jeralt’s office right as Catherine was cursing. “What’s wrong?” she said.
Catherine gave her a Catherine classic: “Nothing!”
During lunch on the fourth day, Seteth saw Catherine look away as Parvati came their way. He asked, “What’s happening between you two?”
Shamir said, “They’re fighting.”
“But you’re supposed to be friends,” said Seteth.
“That’s precisely why they’re fighting.”
“Shamir, shut up,” growled Catherine. Seteth eyed the knight quietly.
The Blue Lions were also not enthused.
“What do you mean she’s no longer teaching?” asked Felix.
Parvati said, “You should ask Catherine.”
“Why aren’t you teaching us?” he asked Catherine.
Catherine said, “You should ask Parvati.”
And in that moment, Felix hated both of them.
Catherine wasn’t the only person Parvati was having a hard time getting a hold of. Ashe was hard to find as well. She had seen him once, the day after he came back, in the lunch line, but Hanneman put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. “Now is not the time.”
Ashe looked miserable, and every day he looked miserable was a day Parvati was as well. She found herself in the Cathedral more and more often, subconsciously seeking him. She knew what it was like to lose her parents. She didn’t want to be alone back then, no matter how much she pushed everyone away. She didn’t want it to be like that for him.
Which is why she found herself wandering into the Four Saints’ room one day, and came upon the Viceroy.
This wasn’t the first time they found each other there. The first time Seteth found Parvati in the Four Saints’ room, he found her staring at the statue of Saint Indech.
“What are you doing?” Seteth had asked. “I’ve never seen you in the Cathedral before.”
She looked over her shoulder at him absently and said, “One of the benefits of being Hinduscuri is that I can go anywhere and pray to anything I want to. I like that idea,” she said, turning back to the statue of his twin brother. “We pay our respects everywhere.”
Seteth was surprised. He said, “You were praying?”
That question pulled her out of her trance. She shook her head no. “Today I came to look at the Saints. I read your volume about him. It was rendered so lovingly it brought me to tears.”
Seteth furrowed his brows. “Why?”
It seemed like Parvati was going to only stare at the statue of his brother, but the sounds of the choir lifted up in the Cathedral again. They had just finished intermission, and the sound of someone’s coughing high notes rose above it all. Parvati and Seteth peeked out of the entrance of the Saints Hall in disbelief. Was that Lorenz? Even the monk in charge of monitoring the room looked like he was considering closing the door.
In fact, that is exactly what he did.
Parvati blinked. “You could do that?”
“One of the privileges the Archbishop affords me.” The tips of the monk’s lips twitched.
Parvati chuckled. She returned her attention to Seteth. “Saint Indech reminds me of my father. Ma was the showy one, dragging me and Baba around all over the continent. My father was gentler in nature. Though he was most prolific of us all, he didn’t have huge ambitions. He was just happy if anyone took even the slightest interest in the things he loved. Then he wouldn’t stop talking your ears off.” She couldn’t stop smiling. “It was my mother who pushed all his books through the publishing process, however. He just could not do it. And she would joke, I wasn’t her biggest accomplishment.” Parvati adopted a low note in her voice as she mimicked, with her hands on her belly, “I carried your stupid book for fourteen years! It’s time it gets — evicted!”
Seteth looked properly scandalized. Parvati laughed at his expression. The monk, dutifully standing in the corner, also started laughing.
Seteth couldn’t help it. He smiled. “You come from a lively crowd, it seems.”
Parvati shook her head. “If I could be even half of what my mother was…” She gave a happy sigh. “You should have seen her. She made people care about a dead language. Ha! If I could write anything worth a damn when it comes to stories — oops! Pardon my Sreng!” Parvati glanced at Seteth, wary he would snap. “If I could write stories, I would write about my parents. They were such…happy people. So cute and perfect. I am lucky to have been born to them.”
“You seem their touching rendition. They must have been happy with you as their child as well.”
Her expression changed. She looked away. “I don’t know. I’m not convinced I was good for them.”
This piqued his interest. “Why?”
“Because of what they gave up for me.” She now regarded the statue of Cichol — of Seteth.
It was a message from deep within his soul when he said this to her. “No parent regrets the sacrifices they make for their child.”
Bitter was her smile. “You wouldn’t know.”
Those words hung between them for a period. At last, she turned and bowed. “Thank you for sharing your work, Viceroy. I understand you better now. Or, at least, you’re less terrifying.”
“I am glad,” said Seteth, surprised to find he meant it. “I am glad to understand you better as well.”
The next time they found each other, it was Parvati who approached the Viceroy.
“Praying to Saint Cethleann?” asked Parvati. “I didn’t imagine her as the one you would consult.”
Seteth shook his head. “No, I’m not praying. I was swearing an oath to…wait, why not?”
Because Parvati imagined someone as severe as him would look for guidance from someone equally severe. She did not say this to him. “Actually, I don’t know anything about Saint Cethleann, so I don’t know why you would pray to her.”
“She is a very special figure to me. That is why I swear my oaths to her likeness. She wished, more than any other, for a peaceful world. I will grant her that wish, at any cost.”
“At any cost…?” Parvati intoned. Everyone here, so ready to pay a cost. What of the prices that shouldn’t be paid, for once? she thought. She appealed silently to Saint Indech. He would understand.
“Praying to Saint Indech?” asked Seteth, seeing her clasped hands.
She said, “This time, I am. I have managed to say too much and too little, all at the same time somehow. I wonder if he might have guidance for me.”
There was something about the smile on his face.
“What?” she said, suddenly doubtful.
“Indech didn’t say much,” said Seteth. “He would not be the one to consult…”
Parvati’s eyes slid over to the next statue. “Macuil?”
“By the Goddess! Even worse.”
She frowned at the Viceroy’s unusually passionate responses. She turned her attention to Saint Cethleann next. “So which Saint should I consult?”
Seteth cleared his throat. “I suppose if these were your only choices…” He spoke as if, out of the Four Saints, there were, in fact, particularly bad choices. He was slightly flushed as he suggested, “Perhaps Saint Cichol would be the best option.”
“Cichol?” Parvati regarded the final statue doubtfully. She truly had no reason to be disinclined to it than any of the others, but…
“I like to think he was the most…prudent,” said Seteth. Then, unprompted, he said “If this is about Ashe, I am certain he would respond with great empathy.”
Parvati was quite startled. It was true, she had come into the Cathedral in search of Ashe, but this… She recalled the things she had just foolishly said in the presence of Lady Edelgard…and to Catherine… She groaned.
Seteth hummed. “By the way, I heard from Catherine that she shared classified information with you. I, of course, expect that to stay private. And be not concerned. We are attending to the matter immediately.”
The very mention of Catherine’s name stung. “I wasn’t concerned,” said Parvati. Seeing Seteth scrutinize her indifference, she explained, “We’ve got people like you and Catherine and Lady Edelgard here, people willing to pay any price to protect…” Her words trailed off. Protect what? She cleared her throat. “In any case, I have no concerns.”
Seteth nodded. “Very well. Then, I am happy to inform you of something that might bring you some cheer. About the Museum…”
Parvati sprinted out of the Saints’ Room the moment Seteth told her. They started construction on the Agarthan Museum! Past the graveyards, past the Treasury, there it would be, the new eastern-most building on the monastery. A beautiful location, with views of the eastern canyon!
The rain ceased and sun just sliced a crack of blue in between the clouds when she saw it: the wood panel constructs already taking form… Two stories high! She gasped, and slowed to a walk to catch her breath. This was…bigger than anything she’d expected! It was supposed to house all the Agarthan artifacts coming from Adrestia…and those were coming in next week. She didn’t anticipate being able to actually have any adequate space to set them apart. She would get to put everything in their glass cases, with little descriptions… She’d thought she’d asked of the Church an indulgence, that she’d be given space only enough to cluster everything together like a piled up antique shop. This was…
She ducked under the door two workers were hauling as all three of them came around a corner. “Hey!” they protested, startled. “Who are you?” But Parvati didn’t hear them. She was a kid all over again. Everything was just like when she in the excavation zones. There was brilliant sun, and Ma and Baba were somewhere else in the excavation site, and there were lots and lots of people everywhere, people yelling at each other and lots of noises, and machinery — machinery being used to freshly build the other machinery that would be strong enough to pull the heaviest artifacts out of the Agarthan site.
Except, here, it wasn’t machinery building machinery — it was people putting doors and floors and walls together to contain all the machinery that Parvati and her parents had found.
“Oh,” Parvati said to herself, seeing that the building was a bit narrower from the eastern side than its adjacent side indicated. So, it would be a narrow museum? She considered it for a moment, then shrugged. At this point, what did it matter? It was going to be her museum! Also, she was no doubt about to get heckled to get out of the construction zone.
She had hardly been shooed out of the construction zone before colliding with someone. Ashe!
“What are you doing here?” they both asked each other.
Parvati told him all about the Agarthan Museum, so filled was she with elation. She told him about how all the shipments had been delayed from Adrestia, and so that the construction was delayed, since the Church had so many things on its plate. But the artifacts were coming and the Museum was happening and she couldn’t believe any of this was real!
“This…is pretty much my dream, actually,” she said to him, so giddy she could barely breathe. “A giant museum — is what I’ve always imagined, with doors that open on their own, and lights that welcome you, and spending days of mine marveling at what those people had at that time — remarkable! — and sharing it with the world! I get to excite people every single day!”
Ashe smiled. “I think your enthusiasm alone would bring them excitement,” he said as they gravitated towards the scenic view of the canyon over the monastery’s eastern walls.
Parvati shook her head. “Oh blasphemy—there’s so much more!” she said. “You would be amazed to imagine...!” She looked at him, then into the canyon, then motioned him to come close as she whispered him secrets. “Ashe…I’ve seen a place with buildings twenty stories tall. What’s remarkable was, that this building was underground. And, even more remarkable — within this building there were moving platforms! They could take you straight from the top to the bottom in less time than you could hold your breath!”
Ashe’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
She was becoming more and more animated as she spoke. “And it was all filled with those lights! The ones in my classroom? You could see into every hallway, and even the platform — in fact! — on the platform, there was a console, and on the console were many many squares, with a number to indicate which floor you wanted. The lights could be made so tiny, they were able to fit these into the little squares the length of your thumb to first knuckle — here — one inch? You press on these little squares, and the square would light up, and then you wait as you feel the platform descending — and the doors opened up, and you were there! On another floor!”
Ashe’s face filled with wonder. “Why did they need twenty stories? Were they storing grain?”
It was Parvati’s turn to look at Ashe, astounded. She stepped away from him for a bit, looking out into the canyon, and put her hands against the walls, trying to steady herself. Her shoulders were shaking.
“Professor? Is something wrong?” Ashe came to lean on the wall beside her, unable to see her expression as she doubled over. That’s when he realized — the strange noise she was making — she was laughing. She was laughing so hard she was holding her stomach.
“Oh Ashe,” she said, wiping her eyes. “You really are one of my favorite persons.” She took a deep breath. “That was a work out for my belly. I needed that. It’s been such an awful bunch of days…” Then she paused, because however her days had been, it was he who had it the worst. “Ashe, how are you?”
He looked back out to the canyon and shrugged. “I checked on my brother and sister, who are living in Castle Gaspard,” he said to her. “Thankfully they're all right. I was worried because they're both so young, but the church in the castle town offered to take them in. That much, at least, is a big relief.”
“I didn’t know you had a brother and sister.”
He nodded. “My little sister’s the one with the foul mouth.”
Parvati chuckled. They watched a wyvern rising out of the canyon, on the other side.
“I would love to ride a wyvern,” said Ashe, gaze completely captured. They watched the wyvern looping the dusty rocks on the other side of the canyon some two hundred feet away, then land on edge of the rocks on its taloned hind legs, before suddenly dropping down into the dark. Parvati had no idea how deep the canyon extended, but they couldn’t see the bottom.
“I heard Seteth has a wyvern,” Ashe said.
Parvati shuddered. “After my last flying escapade…”
“O — Oh!” Ashe said. “I shouldn’t have brought this up.”
Parvati waved a dismissive hand, and wondered if she could squint and see the wyvern caves in the dark abyss. She asked Ashe if he knew that wyverns lived in caves down there, and that to bring out wyverns, one had to go to them with a wyvern. “Unless you know how to Summon,” she said. “I think that’s what Flayn said. How do you Summon them?”
“You call them with magic,” he said. “Different spells bring you different ones. The wyvern decides if it likes your spell.”
Parvati put a hand on her chin. “So you’re saying spells have different signatures that appeal to them…by which means, different spells could be used to stratify what you bring forth…”
“I don’t know if it’s like that. It’s more like — the wyverns smell the magic, and they come to you if they like the smell. It’s very personal to them. It’s unique. These aren’t really calling spells that say ‘I want this type of wyvern’ and you expect a bunch to come forth. The wyverns fight with each other if more than one answers the call.”
Parvati frowned. “Fight each other? Like they have dibs on the person who called?”
Ashe chuckled. “Yes! Like they have ‘dibs’. They’re very territorial.” She kept on frowning, so Ashe added, “Once you’ve connected with a wyvern, the others will know not to answer your call. You’ll get marked.”
Parvati looked warily at him. “What do you mean marked?”
He shook his head. “Nothing painful. It essentially showers you with pheromones.”
“What do you mean ‘showers you with pheromones’? What, do we get peed on like a dog?”
“Ha ha ha ha…well, that’s not entirely inaccurate.”
“What?”
Ashe laughed at her disgust. Parvati shuddered. “Well, I can’t even Summon them, so okay.”
Ashe asked her why not. She explained to him that the people of Duscur did not have what most Fódlani considered “magic.” In fact, quite a few were even allergic to magic, so if they got hurt, one couldn’t use light magic to heal them.
“You mean — if you got hurt, Mercedes and Manuela couldn’t heal you?” he asked.
Parvati shook her head no. “No, I am severely allergic.”
“Wow,” said Ashe. “That’s scary. I suppose when I go to battle…” He was quiet for a moment, lost in thought as his eyes traced the wyvern. “When anybody goes into battle,” he said, “we rely on our healers to heal us.”
“Maybe that’s why you soldiers can go into battle throwing away your lives,” Parvati said. “Because you always think someone will heal them. …You have…so many lives, in that sense, while the Duscuri fear for their one.”
“Does this mean,” said Ashe, “that we can’t heal Dedue?”
“I think I’ve already heard of him being healed before,” said Parvati. “So I think he’s safe.”
“Thank goodness,” said Ashe. He asked about the Blue Lions. “Where are they?”
“Oh!” said Parvati. It was the reason she had some peace and quiet recently — the Blue Lions also had been sent out on mission, with Shamir.
They watched another wyvern fly out from the canyon, this one closer to them, and on its back, a Knight of Seiros. Parvati watched the pair climb up into the sky and spiral. Then, she had an idea.
“Hey, Ashe,” she said, “you want to fly on a wyvern?”