IN A WAY, IT WAS GOOD TO KNOW THAT HE WAS STILL SELFISH. Though the complete aura of Dimitri was terribly different, that small hint of familiarity was grossly comforting. Felix had much expected such an answer to come from him, and even more expected to hear Dimitri tell him to leave. The tragedy of Rufus’ untimely demise was a shock to the entire kingdom; the word of it spread like wildfire. From the moment the news circulated through Fraldarius territory, Rodrigue was more than busy attempting to prove Dimitri’s innocence. Felix did not know what to believe.
Felix had seen him kill before. He had seen first hand the gross negligence of care that Dimitri could have for someone when they were against him. He had seen the blood splatter and fly, he had seen heads crushed with the prince’s bare hands while he laughed. Felix could do nothing but stand in complete horror, near dropping his sword through limp fingers at the carnage that lay at Dimitri’s feet. All of the blood, all of the lack of remorse that was clear with crimson fingers and wild eyes – a smile that begged and dared for more men to come his way. He was a beast, and he wasn’t going to stop. It was then that Felix had to distance himself – what if Dimitri killed him, too ? What if Felix stood on the other side of his wrath, unintentionally or otherwise ? That blind, feral bloodlust could have turned anyone into an enemy.
Dimitri doesn’t bother to hide it anymore, it seems. Though, his words bleed with ominousity. To the briefest suggestion that Dimitri himself wasn’t alive . . that he wasn’t . . him. Certainly the way that the former prince is acting is nothing like Felix remembers him being, not in the least. But . . who was Felix to say what he should act and sound like nearly five years since seeing him last ? Felix didn’t deserve to know what he was like now . . Felix had been so cruel to him, so distant . . what did he know anyway ?
❝ What the hell are you on about, boar ? You’re not making any damn sense. ❞ He is far more frustrated with his inability to understand rather than Dimitri’s words. He doesn’t understand the meaning of his words – what does he even mean ? Is he so far gone that he doesn’t even know what is going on around him anymore ? Has he become so detached that he thinks of himself more of a walking corpse than a person now ? While he may be presumed dead, it was now shown to Felix he was far from . . or so he may think.
He takes a tentative step forward, and then one more. As much as he doesn’t want to be here – Felix knows that someone had to bring him back. While those people had accused him with every ounce of their beings . . they soon realized that they needed him. Certainly ungrateful and undeserving, but everyone was powerless against Cornelia . . and even moreso against Edelgard’s raging empire that had been knocking on Fraldarius’ doorstep for nearly two years now. There was only one person who could crumble her world – and that was Dimitri.
❝ Stop being stupid. You need to come back. Living in this . . place has obviously made you lose your damn mind even more. I’m not going to stand here and argue with you. We’re going. Now. ❞
🐎 Maybe he could go back. It probably wouldn’t be forever, but their enemy and his enemy were the same. That was why there had been all of those reports of imperial soldiers being slaughtered. Some had even gone missing, but Dimitri knew how that had come to be as well. That had also been his work, though he had thrown those people to the very people he was working with now. As much as it helped their cause and hardly his, at the time he truly hadn’t cared. It wouldn’t get in his way, and it also helped to get them to assist him when he required it. It hadn’t been all that bad to go out of his way for.
After all, nobody else had been out here trying to get him back on his feet. The very people he once trusted should have been able to locate him by now. Why did it take them this long? Why did it take them five years? Back then, that would have hurt. It did hurt. That feeling had faded, instead replaced by apathy. That same apathy was flooding him even now - he had no desire to lead an army. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. Fighting beside them was perhaps manageable, but if Felix hated him back in the Academy days for his strength and blood lust, could he even tolerate it now?
“Were I to refuse you, Felix... would you fight against me? Would you fight against the only person you seem to deem capable of turning your situation around? Even if you did, do you truly believe you could win?” It wasn’t to say he wouldn’t join up with them. That, however, did not mean he could make this easy for Felix. Getting involved with Dimitri was the same as getting involved with Those Who Slither. It meant Faerghus would be fighting under the banner of a man deeply tied to them. If he wasn’t mistaken, that was not the kind of fight and victory Felix or anyone from Farghus was looking for.
Yet somehow, Felix found him here. Perhaps it was the trail of deaths he had left behind from the remaining blood. Before he left this place to fight with those people, he needed to be sure this old friend of his knew exactly what he would be getting into. What he would be getting everyone into. “I’m not so sure you even know where you are. Have you perhaps heard of a group people seem to know as Those Who Slither In The Dark? This is their territory. I’ve been here for quite some time, Felix. I’m sure you can put the pieces together from there. Knowing that... would you really still want me to go back with you? To mix Faerghus up with this group?”
No amount of war would make him shy away. In the past, maybe... but no amount of pain or battle wounds could stop him. The pain from every experiment he’d undergone had been far worse, almost to the point that he could question how he had even survived. If he could survive that, though... he could survive tearing Edelgard’s army to shreds and working his way to where she waited. Leaving with Felix wasn’t a bad idea - it meant he could ensure he would be the one to get rid of her. Regardless, that decision now fell to Felix. Knowing where Dimitri’s allegiance had been for some time now, he could make up his own mind if he was ready for this. If he could swallow any ill feelings and just deal with it to have Dimitri’s strength added to their fighters. “If... you understand what you’re getting yourself and that army into, I will consider allying with you.”
