Seriocity

The final bell for the day tolled and Elga left his classroom, wiping his brow. He was definitely struggling more than a little bit at this point. He had a study group with Hubert, Ferdinand, and Petra, but even so... he felt so stupid for not having focused his education on what he'd be doing on Garreg Mach. He really felt like such a dumbass. He'd been so focused on making political alliances, learning how court worked, and his own change that he hadn't worried about his education at all. But without anybody to help support him...it wasn't like it was a high priority for him. He met up with Hubert who offered a soft smile. "Shall we head to the library, my lord?" He nodded. "Let's go." They started off toward the library where Petra, Ferdinand, and Dimitri waited. He wasn't expecting Dimitri to be there but...it was nice to see a face even if he didn't remember anything about his time in the kingdom. "Good afternoon." He offered a bow to the small group. "Ferdinand said you're struggling with the topics at hand and that I might be able to help?" Dimitri asked. Elgar rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. Let's just say education wasn't my primary focus once my siblings died." He still didn't really want to talk about the Slitherers to anybody. He didn't necessarily trust Dimitri right away despite their history. Dimitri had known Edelgard, not Elgar and there was a big difference between the two of them. Edelgard was soft, easily manipulated, and unable to protect herself. Eglar was nothing like that. He hoped he had been able to kill her off effectively. It was disgusting just how he used to behave... But part of it was the fact that Anselma had attempted to keep him as a girl, refusing to accept she had a son instead of a daughter. Why she felt that way, he wasn't really sure. But it had definitely been a culprit in why he continued to act so soft and gentle. Dimitri nodded and they found a quiet corner in the library. They started going through the day's homework and Elgar obviously struggled a lot. He had written stuff down but there were a lot of question marks and general questions in his notebook. Ferdinand proved to be quite helpful as was Dimitri. They also helped Hubert as well since he was struggling a bit in second year, and most of them had had the topics covered in previous education. Even Petra was more aware of Fodlan's history than Elgar was which was...definitely embarrassing. But she'd said she'd been locked up by Duke Gerth so she probably had nothing better to do than study a lot of the time… He blinked when he heard the bell again. "Ah, it's time for dinner," Hubert said. Elgar nodded and stood, packing all his books away. "Will you be joining us, Prince Dimitri?" He shook his head. "I can't just leave the Lions alone all the time... I don't mind helping El with h--is studies after classes, but I should eat dinner with them, then spar in the evenings. If you'd ever like to spar, El, just let me know, okay?" Elgar nodded. "All right. For now, I'll keep it within the Black Eagles most likely." He needed to learn the strengths and weaknesses of his classmates above all else first. Though Morgan and Lucina more than intrigued him. He'd never met foreigners like that before. Morgan was confident and Lucina was as well to some degree... She was softer, but there was obviously still steel behind her. But Morgan was pure steel as far as he was concerned. There were no discernable weaknesses in the man's mental armor as far as he could see. Just what was their story? All he knew was that they had grown up in war. But it wasn't necessarily his place to dig into their backstory either. "Let's go then." Ferdinand smiled brilliantly and held a thumb up, pointing at himself. Elgar nodded and followed behind Ferdinand, heading to the dining hall. "Would you like to spar after dinner, Your Highness?" "MIght not be a bad idea honestly. I'll just warn you now, I'm a lot stronger than I appear." He used all of his strength to his advantage. Why not drive somebody back with crushing blows when possible. Of course, there was still finesse to the way he fought. He really just used his strength to augment his fighting style and to take opponents off guard when possible. Ferdinand really had no idea what he was getting into with a spar against him. "And perhaps we shall spar as well?" Petra asked. Elgar nodded. "All right." He blinked. "Would you have learned how to fight in Brigid's style?" He wasn't sure how long she'd been in Adrestia. If she'd been in Brigid long enough to learn at least some basics of a Brigid style of combat, he would be very interested to learn how she fought. Having more than one combat style at someone's disposal was very useful and would help keep the upper hand on the opponent. Elgar had trained with the Adrestian knights, so he had a very typical Adrestian way of fighting. Ferdinand probably wouldn't be too far behind in that regard. They were both Adrestian nobility so they would probably be relatively evenly matched, well, assuming how much combat training Ferdinand had gotten… "Some yes, before I was taken. Though much of my style is influenced by Adrestian ones." Well, that was sad. He wasn't too surprised though. If someone was raised more in one nation than another, then yeah, that made sense. "Still, you could teach me what you do remember. I'd be interested in learning." He offered a smile to Petra which made her smile brightly in return. They headed down to the training grounds which were decently full. Dimitri and the other Lions were in one corner with some of the Golden Deer in another. He didn't see any of the Iris Warblers, though. Though if Morgan was indeed as skilled as he appeared, they didn't really need to train... He'd be able to take pretty much anyone in the school out that was Rhea or Seteth. He wasn't sure how they'd stack up against the Knights of Seiros, but he was pretty sure the two siblings could give the Knights a run for their money. For the next while, they ran through their paces. Ferdinand was pretty fierce with his lance and Petra had just enough of the Brigid style in her to prove to be difficult for Elgar. Though he did win his fair share of matches by striking decisive blows with his overwhelming amount of strength. It pushed Ferdinand and Petra to their limit, also cracking the wooden weapons. Yeesh. These things were terrible... Then again, he was used to battering the wooden practice weapons at this point. The instructors in Enbarr had moved him to dulled steel several years ago, so yeah, the weapons were better able to withstand the force of his strikes. "I say, you are quite the impressive fighter and that strength of yours...! You are definitely a challenge I must live up to!" Ferdinand said. "No, you stop right there. I don't need a rival or anything of the like. Stop it now before this gets out of hand." Elgar folded his arms and looked at Ferdinand sternly. No, he wasn't going to stand for anything like that. He really did not have the time nor energy to deal with that. Ferdinand didn't seem like a chip off old daddy's block, but he definitely had his head up his ass. "But--" "No, Ferdinand. That's final. I have enough on my plate to deal with between lessons, study group, and everything else. If you can put time and energy into a rivalry, you can put that elsewhere into something actually productive. You'll be my Prime Minister one day and I don't need you constantly challenging me like that. Do something that's actually worth your time and effort like figuring out how to help Adrestia, not some stupid, childish rivalry." He didn't have the time nor attention span to be willing to entertain Ferdinand's stupid rivalry. Best to nip it in the bud now. "But every Emperor should have someone to help them better themselves!" "Yes, and there are ways to do that in a constructive manner. Just telling me you'll beat me is not constructive in the slightest. If you have constructive criticism, then yes, that's fine. But this? This is not constructive. You're already helping me better myself by being my sparring partner and being in my study group. I don't need you to have some stupid rivalry. Do you understand?" There Was no room for foolishness like this. None. He just could not stand someone attempting to one-up him in such a juvenile manner. He was already helping him. "Yes, Your Highness... I-I understand." He looked crestfallen, but Elgar didn't entirely care. Elgar just did not have time for any of that sort of nonsense. "Were you not perhaps a bit harsh?" Petra asked, obviously concerned about Ferdinand. "If Ferdinand can't stand up to the slightest bit of criticism from his future Emperor, then he won't stand a ghost of a chance in court. I've been in court the past several years. They're brutal, unrelenting, and vicious. If some light criticism from the future Emperor is enough to upset you, then you have no place in court. You'll be eaten alive." He kept his arms folded. No, Ferdinand wouldn't survive in court if something like this was enough to get him down. Seriously, there was nothing else that he could do. The Adrestian court was brutal. He had plenty of allies that would help him with his takeover, but he would need the support of someone like Morgan to fully pull off his desired coup... But he didn't feel like he could trust the mysterious man yet. He would need to tell Rhea, though, and that would probably be enough to tip the scales in his favor... The Church's central power and authority would be more than enough to make it clear that such an insurrection wasn't good enough. But he had also learned from his father's mistakes. He'd give back power to the provincial lords that his father had taken. No, trying to consolidate power like that had been a massive mistake on his father's part. He didn't understand why he'd try to do that... Yes, the Emperor should hold authority, but that much power wasn't good for anybody to have. And he couldn't go making enemies of Count Bergliez either. The man controlled most of the Empire's wheat. That would be a recipe for disaster. As long as he could replace Duke Aegir and Marquis Vestra, he would count it a win. He hated to let off the rest of the Seven so easily, but there was only so much he could do realistically. He had allies, but he would make enemies as well... The court was ever in flux, ever struggling, ever trying to gain power and foothold… "Anyway, it's starting to get late. We'd probably do well to get some rest," Elgar said. It was getting to be close to dusk so they would need to get ready for bed. He was thankful for Ferdinand's support on the front of the study group and being a sparring partner, but the rivalry was something he could not and would not stand for. If Ferdinand brought it up again, he would make his thoughts known very clear again. Hopefully he had nipped it in the bud before it got too far. He could get behind the sentiment but not the execution. He was dedicated to improving himself, but someone trying to constantly one up him? That wasn't productive in the slightest. "Very well, Your Highness. I shall see you in the morning!" Ferdinand bowed and left. "I as well. Have a good night, Your Highness." Petra offered a smile before bowing and trotting off toward her dorm. Elgar let out a breath and his shoulders dropped a bit. It was hard to keep up the mask of a ruler. But he had to. He had to be strong. He was the only person that could take over the Empire and lead it into greatness. He had cousins that were alive, sure, but trying to hadn the throne over to one of them... It'd be messy and politics were messy enough already. He wasn't sure how Adrestia or the Church would handle someone not of the main Hresvelg line trying to take over the throne would go. There was always the chance of civil war. Plus, with the Slitherers mucking about… "Shall we go to bed, my lord?" Hubert asked. Elgar nodded. "Let's head that way." He frowned. "Though... I will tell you what transpired after I returned from Fhirdiad once we get to our dorm." He felt bad that Hubert would have to hear this. Once again, he'd probably blame himself for not being able to protect him. Even though Hubert was literally brainwashed and memory wiped into believing he was a servant at the time. There wasn't really much Hubert could've done about it… They headed back to the dorm where Elgar sat in a chair and slumped in it. He was no-nonsense but he had definitely gone hard into Ferdinand. but something like that would keep cropping up if not addressed as soon as humanly possible. Ferdinand definitely didn't seem like a chip off old daddy's block, but even so... He hoped he would gain Ferdinand's support and confidence in due time. He was a good man, or so it seemed on first glance. He didn't seem to have any of Duke Aegir's power hungry designs and mentalities which was...definitely good. But he still needed time to truly see Ferdinand for who he was. After a couple minutes of rest, Elgar let out a breath and stood up, switching over to his night clothes and settling into bed. He was really not used to interacting with people like this. On a very surface level he was. Making alliances that would hopefully pan out and work in his favor should nobody offer the people better deals. With him away for a year, he had no real way of knowing if his alliances would be shifted or not. But he needed to come to Garreg Mach in order to form new alliances, possibly make ones with international members. Morgan definitely seemed like the kind of man that he would make an alliance with but...it was hard to read him. Claude was definitely someone. There was something up with him since he wasn't the usual Foldan shade of milky white. Neither was Morgan. And Dimitri wore his heart on his shoulder from what little he'd seen. So, so much to process and not enough time to do so. Hubert settled on the edge of the bed. "So what happened to you after you returned from Fhirdiad, my lord?" he asked quietly. Elgar sighed. "To put it simply, remember the conversation we had with the archbishop?" Hubert nodded. "That's what's happened. There's a shadowy organisation that played into Adrestia. They kidnapped me and all my siblings, trying to force us to have the Crest of Flames through terrible, terrible experiments that were essentially torture." Hubert frowned. "The Crest of Flames? Is that not the Goddess' own Crest?" He nodded. "It is...and they succeeded unfortunately. I can feel it. My life has been drastically shortened by what they did to me." He closed his eyes, the cries and screams of his siblings bouncing through his head. He shivered and wrapped his arms around himself. No matter what, he would never be able to get rid of those screams, those cries of anguish, despair, and pain. He at least didn't remember much at all about the experiments themselves... His mind had essentially shut down. He blinked when he felt arms around him and looked up at Hubert. The man gave a gentle smile. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you, my lord. Are there any culprits behind it?" "Duke Aegir and your own father. Your father was literally the one to hand me over to the Slitherers. He took me from my bed down to the lowest parts of the dungeons." He could at least remember that much. Marquis Vestra and Duke Aegir would have to go once he started his purge of the Adrestian court. He could not and would not tolerate their presence. He wanted to go after all the Seven, but again... He couldn't go after Count Bergliez without potentially major repercussions on Adrestia as a whole. If he just got Aegir and Vestra, then he would count the purge successful. He hoped he would include Duke Gerth as well... He had betrayed Juliane and abetted in regicide by choosing the path he had. Juliane... he missed her so much, but she was likely dead by now. “What a repugnant individual. I always knew my father was terrible but this cements it… Traitor to House Hresvelg.” Hubert made a face. Elgar could only agree with that assessment. The man was nothing but a traitor and deserved to die. He understood the political follies that his own father, the current Emperor, had made and why they had caused the Insurrection, but even so… He wasn’t sure how his classmates would react if he went after their parents. Especially Ferdinand. He didn’t want to lose Ferdinand’s support. He didn’t know enough about Ferdinand to know if he was going to make a good ally or not. He seemed loyal to Adrestia but even so… Politics weren’t fun and he hated the fact that he had to deal with them. “I definitely agree with that. How about we head to bed now?” He sighed. He remembered getting a good night’s sleep for the first time in…a very, verylong time the previous night. He hoped it wasn’t just some fluke. Maybe Hubert’s presence had driven away the nightmares… He couldn’t be sure, not until he got the result to repeat numerous times. “Very well, my lord.” After they finished getting ready, they curled up in bed and closed their eyes. Elgar unintentionally snuggled into Hubert as close as he could. He’d been starved of touch far too long… He wanted nothing more than to be this close with somebody, but he knew it would never happen. He would arrange his own marriage if needed. He just couldn’tallow himself to be married off to one born a man. The thought of sex, let alone pregnancy, terrified him to no end…