#this has been a bit of a growth day for hector tbh

[blackjackkent]

Aw, we get a long rest cutscene with Shadowheart. It seems to take place outside the camp so I'm going to assume this is happening before Hector goes to bed for the drabble I just wrote.

This seems to be some sort of Selunite churchyard; I'm not sure where in the city this is supposed to be, but I do love that she and Hector apparently came there together. The only scenario I can think of where this would happen is that she asked him to come with her, because I don't think he would have, like, followed her.

So he comes with her and just kind of stands there and watches as she wanders around, waiting until she's ready to speak.

"It doesn't look like anyone's been here in a while," she says thoughtfully after a while. "Perhaps people lost faith. Or forgot about it."

He raises one shoulder in a slight shrug. He has not lost faith. But he cannot speak for the people of the city, who all seem to come at the world from a darker angle.

"I wanted to come here," she goes on after a little while. "To see if I felt anything that I hadn't done before. Now that I know what I know. Now that I know what I am."

He nods slowly. "You've turned from Shar," he points out gently. "Doesn't necessarily oblige you to come here and embrace Selune." He has pointed this out to her before - that after what she has been through, her obligation is to herself, before it is to any goddess, even the one he serves.

"True," she agrees. "But too much freedom can be frightening. Lonely. There's a reason why so many are eager to bow..." Her eyes squeeze shut and she looks away from him, her fists clenching at her sides. "I had my family, for too short a moment. Now they're gone... by my hand..."

He listens quietly, moving to lean his weight against a nearby plinth. As often before, his role here is not to convince her of anything, but merely to listen, to let her work her own thoughts out.

Say nothing.

He waits. And to his surprise... tears well in her eyes, and after so much pain, so much suffering... he finally sees her cry.

Her shoulders hunch and she buries her face in her hands, her whole body starting to shake with sobs. All the reality of the last twenty-four hours is suddenly crashing in on her and he feels a surge of tremendous grief and compassion for her that makes his heart ache.

Embrace her.

Neither of them has ever seemed remotely interested in a hug before, and yet the movement feels utterly instinctive, automatic, as if he would never even consider doing otherwise. He wraps his arms tightly around her, pulls her in against his chest, and after a moment's hesitation he feels her grip him back, her fingers digging into his shirt as if clinging on to avoid being swept away by a tidal wave.

Her face presses into his shoulder and she weeps bitterly with exhaustion and grief. And he holds her, and rocks his weight slightly side to side, mumbling an inarticulate sound of wordless comfort. And in spite of how terrible the events that brought them here, he feels tremendously gratified to have been asked to stand with her now.

From the guarded fear with which he first knew her, through the wary support with which he has followed her crisis of faith... they have finally come to rest, equals. Born siblings in the Selunite faith, but followers of very different paths, each feeling their way through the dark, each faced with questions in the real world that they never expected in their sheltered life before. And he realizes in this moment how terribly proud of her he is - and, almost to his surprise, that in her there are seeds of the sense of family that he thought he lost when he was pulled from the monastery.

He's not sure how long they stand there, but eventually they draw back almost with one mind, just as the embrace began. She wipes at her eyes, looking simultaneously embarrassed and grateful, and turns away abruptly, looking back at the statue of Selune behind them.

"What's next?" he asks softly, taking a step back and lacing his hands behind his back.

She draws a breath and lets it out slowly. It's still a little shaky, but the deep, heartrending sobs have eased, and she looks calmer for having had the moment of release. "We carry on," she answers. "It's all we can do. I'll... follow in a while. But I think I want to stay here a little longer, firstly. This place isn't familiar, but it's peaceful."

He smiles slightly to himself and nods at her back. After waiting a moment to be sure she has nothing else to say, he turns and walks away, back to camp, leaving her to the Moonmaiden's silent presence.

[unearthlytwilight]

EDIT: THIS IS ON AN OLD SAVE. SOME STATS/SUPPORTS MAY DIFFER FROM THE NEW SAVE

wait, this map has promoted generics? oh god oh fu-

Eliwood totally aced "rousing speeches" class. like, this is motivating as hell and it's in a side chapter

so... this is a weird chapter. breakable walls augh. doors and chests augh. Kishuna magic sealing augh. it's best to pick your units wisely. or you could do what I did and grind Guy here lol

the objective says defeat all enemy units but that's sort of a lie? Kishuna will nope outta here as soon as you open the door to the boss room or attack him, even if it's your turn. that also gets rid of the enemies in his boss room and spawns reinforcements, so. be prepared for that.

with that out of the way, let's begin the chapter!

Heath I really want you to gain speed. also res again??

Rebecca you are a menace and I'm a little scared

Guy gained strength?!? alert the media

Eliwood's been doing pretty well

Hector's been pretty good as well. Lyn just sucks ig

Rebecca's last level as an archer! I'll promote her when I want to use her. that might be soon. hint hint

...gonna have to energy ring you, I think. that's ok. I love you, you dork *shakes him*

and chapter end! supports obtained this map:

- Hector + Matthew C

- Heath + Legault C

- Eliwood + Ninian B

i'll go over them in the follow up, you know the drill

Eliwood asks what the heck that was all about, but Pent just says "idk man stuff's weird". that is not an explanation

guess getting her B with Eliwood was good timing

anyway, they leave. ...I guess they found a way out somehow? maybe when Kishuna left, some of the walls he made fell down?? idk gaiden chapters in this game are sort of like that. *cough* 19xx *cough*

the heroes meet Athos and backstory dump. The Eight Legends were a group of heroes that led humanity to victory against the dragons. the dragons moved to another country or something idk

Hector calls Athos "old man" a lot, and Athos asks them if they're prepared, saying that it'll be hard and they can't turn back now.

respect

Athos says OK, they have to find the Shrine of Seals. it's in Bern but only the royal family knows where exactly it is. luckily Pent and Louise are Etrurian nobility and are in a position to help

item get: Afa's Drops! increases all growths by 5%

anyway, Athos teleports everyone to Pherae. Castle Pherae, in fact

did not mean to interrupt your grieving. our bad. anyway Eliwood pops up and they chat for a bit

this got me a little tbh

the next day...

it's getting real. next time: supports from 22x!