perhaps petra and lysithea for the rarepair suggestions?
Thank you for answering the call!!
--
In the end, Petra had to carry Lysithea off the ship, ignoring her half hearted objections that she was okay and could walk perfectly fine thank you. It had been a long ride to Bridgid. As much as Petra yearned to show her dear one all that the island had to offer, Lysithea would benefit greatly from a little rest just now.
"I'm not a child," Lysithea mumbled into Petra's shoulder.
"I never thought of you as a child," Petra agreed. "I want to help you because you are precious to me, and because you're being sick of the sea."
"It's 'sea sick'. And I'm fine now. I haven't throw up in a while."
Petra grimaced. "That is being because you have not eaten in a while."
Lysithea squirmed in Petra's grasp. "Put me down, please."
"Not until we are reaching my bed," Petra said. At the word 'bed', Lysithea's face turned bright red. Petra stopped in the doorway of her grandfather's home. "Lysithea? Are you needing a basin again?"
"N-No! Just-- don't say stuff like that in public!"
Confusion tilted Petra's head until the phrasing caught up with her. "Ah! That is not my meaning! Not until you are well."
Lysithea covered her burning face with both hands. "I said not in public!"
Giggling, Petra carried Lysithea all the way to her room, nodding to a few friendly faces they passed in the hall. She should really see her grandfather first, but Lysithea took priority. Her grandfather would understand once Petra explained.
The bedroom was exactly as Petra left it. She took a moment to savor being home before making her way to the bed. There, she set Lysithea down and began taking off her clothes. Lysithea's cheeks were still pink so Petra held back anymore teasing-- implications aside, Lysithea needed a change. Her current outfit was soaked through with sweat from her sickness, and the skirt of her dress was stained.
"I embarrassed you," Lysithea said suddenly.
Petra, kneeling on the floor to undo Lysithea's boots, looked up at her. "When are you embarrassing me?"
"On the ship. I embarrassed you in front of your people. I missed my opportunity to make a good first impression. That's why you wanted to get me up here so fast."
Lysithea looked very child like now-- pouting at the woven carpet with tears in her eyes. But Petra couldn't find it in her to be amused in the slightest. She stood up, placed her hands on Lysithea's shoulders, and kissed her forehead.
"I am wanting you up here to care for you," Petra said. "I don't like seeing you in pain. It is reminding me of the war." With a sniff, Lysithea hugged Petra around the waist. Petra buried her face in Lysithea's hair, hugging her back and rubbing circles between her shoulders blades.
They stayed that way until Lysithea's breathing eased. With a final squeeze, Petra pulled away, putting on a small smile for her dear one. Lysithea could only manage a lip twitch in return. "You should go see your grandfather. Tell him we got here okay," Lysithea said, voice still rough.
"I will. And I will be getting you soup."
"And water?"
Petra kissed her forehead. "And water. Something small and sweet too, maybe."
Lysithea's expression relaxed at that. As Petra left, Lysithea finished kicking off her boots and lay down on the bed, letting out a sigh as her head hit the pillow. Petra resolved to greet her grandfather and gather food from the kitchen as quick as she could manage.
Uhh so this was more like "Wouldn't this be a fun thought?" rather than a fleshed out story idea. I'm sorry if that's disappointing. It was also half propelled by the vision of Sylvain in Sothis' outfit draped sideways on her throne... Give me a second.
Okay so.
This is a Blue Lion route story that starts post-timeskip where Byleth uses the power of the Divine Pulse in battle, either near Sylvain or to save Sylvain or something to do with him (unclear). But Something happens and time gets wonky. When Byleth becomes aware of things again, she's back at the beginning of the game having that weird Sothis dream in Remire Village.
Only it's not Sothis this time, it's Sylvain.
Sylvain is pretty smug about the whole thing. He hates the Goddess' influence on the world, with crests and all, and he thinks that with the same tools he can make things right/better.
The story would start off as a typical time travel story-- a bit lighthearted, Sylvain seeing things from Byleth's perspective and finding out things he couldn't have known about before (Byleth nearly dying to save Edelgard, having no idea how to teach, how much Seteth does NOT trust her, etc), changing little things about the timeline with knowledge from the future, some light bickering.
Then around the time Miklan gets the Lance of Ruin, Sylvain tries to change things in a Big Way and the timeline gets totally screwy. I'm not sure what triggers this-- something like Sylvain tries to give Miklan a Crest before he uses the Lance so it doesn't transform him? It would be an overuse of power so great that the balance of the world is upset/things get so chaotic that Sylvain and Byleth get stuck in that throne room trying to fix things.
Another version of this is Sylvain becoming more and more unstable until they reach the point where Byleth is trapped in the darkness of Zahras. Byleth explains to Sylvain how she escaped last time, and Sylvain is hit with the realization that even being a Goddess didn't give Sothis Ultimate Power and now he's stuck in the same predicament.
Ultimately, the story would be about Byleth understanding Sylvain's internal struggle (like an extreme version of their support chain), and how it's futile to try and change the past because in the end, the world will be warped in a way you not longer recognize.
There are lots of things I got stuck on in trying to make this a readable story. If Sylvain has taken over the role of Sothis, then where's Sothis? If Sylvain is in Byleth's head, is there a pre-timeskip Sylvain in the Blue Lions too? And how does this end-- Do Sylvain and Byleth just get shunted back into the future where they left off? Or have things changed in little ways to reflect the journey they just went on?
It's technically an abandoned WIP at this point but I'm glad it caught your interest! It's a fun doc to got back to when I want to jot down another thought. Or bask in the Sylvain-in-Sothis'-outfit vibes :3
