ethereal moon logs (closed)

[snowslip]

Who: Marianne + friends
Where: Around Aldrip
What: Catching up
Warnings:
Will tag if they come up!


[ ooc: I'm easing out of hiatus and will be doing closed threads this month. If you'd like to plot feel free to PM or reach out at ahlyo! ]

Comments

[feintofhart]

[ Claude hadn't expected Marianne to be cruel upon hearing about this. He hadn't expected her to be bigoted either; he knows her well enough to know that her reaction will be far beyond the snide, taunting voices he's so familiar with, that any betrayal and despair she'd feel would be due to his own deceit, or due to the long, violent conflict between their nations. It's worse in the Alliance than it is anywhere else. How could it not be? His classmates have spent their whole lives sending their men to fight at the border. Some, like Hilda, even saw their own family doing the same. But Marianne has always been civil to Cyril in a way that others weren't always, so he'd at least had some idea as to what to expect.

Perhaps he should have expected her turn towards compassion instead, but he didn't. For a moment he just blinks at her, astonished by that immediate takeaway. His immediate instinct is to swat it off, deflect with a smile, do you really think something like that could really bother me? They're not totally wrong, you know!

He bites it back. ]

That's right. Even though I was raised in Almyra, I belong to Fódlan as much as I belong to Almyra... or maybe I should say, they belong to me.

[ He doesn't belong. He's not sure if he would even if he was as full-blooded as the next person. It may be some part of his own character just as much as it's his upbringing and bloodline. ]

It doesn't get to me so much anymore, you know. More than anything else, it just stokes the fires of my motivation to change it. If everyone could just open their minds, I know things could be better.

[ He hesitates. There's one last thing. They're all-in now. This, of all things, is probably the greatest deception of all, a royal dipping his fingers into two separate plums. ]

And I'm in the position to change it, you see. I'm not just half Almyran. [ He clears his throat. ] I'm technically the Almyran prince. An Almyran prince. The youngest of many. [ He winces, hearing how trepidacious his own voice sounds in his throat, filled with strained jollity. ] My mother has never done anything by half-measures.

[snowslip]

[ Marianne's eyes widen at Claude's admission and she brings a hand over her heart. She may have already had an inking about his origins after the maze, but this fact takes her unexpected. Not just an Almyran, but an Almyran prince. A member of the royal family. In Fódlan. At the head of the Leicester army. She feels her head spin again. ]

Claude... you're full of surprises today.

[ She manages a weak and breathless laugh. It makes sense the more she thinks about it. The way he comported himself wasn't that of a commoner, and no normal Almyran could make his way across the Throat and into one of the highest seats of power. What would the Alliance have thought? If he didn't keep a secret, he would never be accepted. Scorned, cast out, or worse, she knows well the fear of persecution. When she looks at him now and hears his voice strain to stay cheerful, she realizes the terrible weight he's had to carry. ]

I promise I won't tell anyone what you've told me. Here nor in Fódlan.

[ For what little it's worth, she can reassure him of that. In truth, she doesn't know what to think of Almyra, but Claude...they'd studied together, fought a war together, even navigated a new world together. Learning his shocking background doesn't negate their time together, nor does it change the heart she sees in him. Marianne manages a smile. ]

Peace feels like a far off thing. I hadn't even considered it possible, but maybe you're just the person to make it happen.

[feintofhart]

[ Claude lets out a slow breath. To his credit, it barely trembles. Just a little, at the end, hands itching, eyes wandering. Despite Marianne's seemingly easy acceptance, it's hard for him not to feel as though he's made some sort of grievous error. He's spent so many years keeping this secret -- he didn't know he was still capable of telling the truth. He'd spent so long terrified at the very prospect. What would Lorenz have done? Cast him out, seized the Alliance for his own? What would Hilda have done, upon realizing it was Claude's people who thrust her people, her brother, into life-threatening peril again and again? What would meek, devout Ignatz have done, knowing how distant Claude was to the goddess he worshipped? What would Lysithea have done, realizing that her already unsteady territory, her already strained parents, were following an outsider into the unknown?

Perhaps if he were to tell anyone first, it would have always been Marianne. Or perhaps it's because she's the only one here. He has no true answer to that. In his heart, he knows that there's as equal a likelihood that he would take this secret to his grave. For now, he's glad he didn't, even if he wasn't expecting Marianne's kind answer. ]

I appreciate your discretion. And your faith in me. Truly, that's all I want. Peace between our people -- more than just peace, but cooperation, a way for us to join hands and make the world better for both of us. There's so much we could learn from each other, if only we let go of these old conflicts we've carried on for far too long. But it's not something I can focus on until the war is won.

[ It's daunting to consider that if he has his way, winning the war won't be his greatest effort. It's just the first step in what he knows will be a lifelong journey. With his piece said, though, he hesitates, then speaks again. ]

Does it not... worry you? To have an Almyran at the head of your governance? I don't think most people would react the way you just did.

[snowslip]

It's unheard of to be sure.

[ Marianne's hand comes over her heart as she searches her feelings. An Almyran at the head of a Fódlan army is a strange thought indeed, but discovering his origins doesn't change what she knows of Claude's character. ]

I think...perhaps I'd feel differently if you were a stranger to me, but after all that we've been through, all the qualities of a leader I've seen in you— you have my confidence, Claude.

[ She speaks quietly but with certainty. Almyra and Fódlan had been at odds as long as she lived. She never imagined it could be any other way. Now that he's opened her mind to the idea, why couldn't it be another way? It won't be easy, but it's something to work towards. ]

I can't say I know much about Almyra. Will you tell me about your homeland sometime?

[feintofhart]

Then... the only thing I can do is thank you, [ Claude says earnestly. He takes a moment to study himself. He feels strange, outside of his body in a way unusual for him, the frantic patter of panic having smoothed out to something new, something different now that his greatest secret has been spoken aloud and he finds himself no worse off for it. No, on the contrary -- he's better for it, an eventuality he'd never dared so much as imagine. He feels a little lighter now. Buoyed by the power of a belief that isn't put in some figment of himself he's pretending to be, but himself, the first time he's been wholly himself in years.

He wouldn't find the same luck with anyone else, he knows. But he'll cherish the gift that he's been given, here and now. He smiles at her. ]

I'd love to tell you about it. And this wouldn't be for many, many years, once the work is done, but someday? I'd love to show it to you too. It's a beautiful country. You'd love it. [ His eyes crinkle at the corners. ] Believe it or not, we're well known for our animal sanctuaries. I'll take you there one day.

[snowslip]

[ Marianne returns his smile. The man before her is the same Claude she knows but something is different, it feels. Perhaps it's the weight off his chest or his smile that looks unlike the one's she's seen before. She's spent too much time lost in herself, looking in instead of out at the people around her. Quietly, Marianne resolves not to shy away from meeting his eyes, determined to get to truly know him after all their time together. If Claude is brave enough not to hide himself away, then she can't either. ]

I would like that. To see the land Zaffy calls home...it's a dream we can work towards.

[ Her hands move to pour the tea for them that has become over-steeped. He's right it may take a long, long time to accomplish, but it doesn't feel impossible. ]