[How many days had it been, since they had woken up to a dead world and an equally dead sky? Byleth wasn't quite sure. Ever since they had been compelled to wander beneath the roots of the tree, trapped within this chamber, Byleth had slowly began a spiral he struggled to pull himself out of. Hours blurred into minutes into maybe-days, and it was all he could do to keep his feet moving, as if continuously walking would help him outpace the increasingly loud voices nipping at his heels.
Byleth was not one to second-guess his decisions. He was decisive, albeit cautious, but he had dedicated himself to his quest to return home. To return home. But... was it Fódlan he wanted, or was it just Jeralt? He was just one man, Yima could fish his shard out of the Timestream and then-
But what about Shez? he aggressively reminded himself. Alois? The Claude and Dimitri of his world?
What about them? the voices purred back. Shez betrayed you once, remember? Who knows if it'll happen again. And would you really sacrifice Jeralt to maybe have your world back - world rife with war and lies, or go with the certainty of saving Jeralt?
It was an endless cycle of this, and it consumed Byleth's focus and attention to the point that he was barely aware of the going ons around him - of who was standing in the way of his increasingly agitated pacing. Case in point: he very nearly barrelled head on into Hayame, narrowly stuttering to a halt before he did so. The fact he didn't spot a towering centaur until he was practically right next to her alarmed him.]
Oh- ah. Hayame... apologies...
[To say he sounded and looked frazzled would be a gross understatement.]
HAYAME [CLOSED]
Byleth was not one to second-guess his decisions. He was decisive, albeit cautious, but he had dedicated himself to his quest to return home. To return home. But... was it Fódlan he wanted, or was it just Jeralt? He was just one man, Yima could fish his shard out of the Timestream and then-
But what about Shez? he aggressively reminded himself. Alois? The Claude and Dimitri of his world?
What about them? the voices purred back. Shez betrayed you once, remember? Who knows if it'll happen again. And would you really sacrifice Jeralt to maybe have your world back - world rife with war and lies, or go with the certainty of saving Jeralt?
It was an endless cycle of this, and it consumed Byleth's focus and attention to the point that he was barely aware of the going ons around him - of who was standing in the way of his increasingly agitated pacing. Case in point: he very nearly barrelled head on into Hayame, narrowly stuttering to a halt before he did so. The fact he didn't spot a towering centaur until he was practically right next to her alarmed him.]
Oh- ah. Hayame... apologies...
[To say he sounded and looked frazzled would be a gross understatement.]