I wasn't the only one thinking it. The sooner it was said, the sooner she could explain herself and we could work to prove or disprove her innocence. I'm sorry for the stress I put her through and I think if it had all gone wrong... I would be even more sorry. But I would do it again. Differently... but certainly again.
(Words that aren't spoken lightly. Each word, heavy and solemn because he understands the meaning of it all. He'd made his decision that day and he'd considered the consequences.
Someone innocent could have died. He would lose trust from others. Regardless, he would show a part of him that he'd kept hidden from people here.
A calculating tactician, one willing to make sacrifices and do whatever it takes to accomplish a goal he's kept to himself.)
... You aren't the only one using another name here. "Claude" is a dashing name in Fodlan. New mothers can't pass it up. It's even a popular choice for fake names. And if a stranger were to come bearing that name acting like he belonged, no one would ever doubt he was one of them.
That's what I forgot but I was able to remember it. I didn't kill Raven but after the trial and everything... I remembered my name. That doesn't make me a different person. And it doesn't change how I was before. I just have a name for that other part of me, now.
I am "Claude" and "Khalid." Heir to House Riegan and the prince of a faraway land. Someone who charges ahead but also runsaway. I'm a soldier and a tactician. A noble and schemer. A protector and a killer. A student with much to learn but someone who has already learned heavy lessons.
So the answer to your question... is both. I'm both the person you think I am and someone no one will ever know.
(It's a good thing Chiron is blind, Claude thinks. Because he doesn't have to see the way Claude's smile disappears, how the light in his eyes seems to go out, and all that's left is a darkness that had been hidden behind who knows how many masks and layers.)
[And for a moment... that is all he says. Chiron has never been moved easily into emotions, and that hasn't changed now, either. He allowed "Claude" his chance to speak, and now the centaur stands quiet to digest it all.]
How harsh life has been to you.
[Musing, and not exactly with a note of sympathy. It's only a comment of truth as Chiron sees it - you do not become all of these things without being forged by the fires, as it were. Another stretch of silence, and then he rouses himself back to life, shoulders straightening]
Very well. Whatever name you decide suits you at the moment, you are familiar enough to me, and my ears did not perceive any lies.
[...]
Son of House Riegan, you were close to Raven, then?
(No, there weren't any lies. Not this time around as he just... waits. Like a student called up to a teacher, confessing to the trouble he's been at for who knows how long. And now, he stands, not nearly as proud as he's been before.
He's really let Chiron down, hasn't he? And it's this awareness that causes him to shift some, one hand reaching for his arm and just... tugging at his own sleeve.)
I didn't lie.
(Not this time.)
... I was. Like attracts like and all that. As I said before, we even spoke the day before he died.
[Naturally it is up to Claude -- Riegan -- if he wants to divulge the information, but Chiron will still ask all the same, not quite realizing his tone has caused any distress in the other.
Sometimes he is very much a teacher addressing a student and little else]
[... Chiron cannot see Claude, but his eyes still... soften slightly, as if there is some part of his words that have reached a more private core of the centaur]
Yes, I did see him briefly, and there was much unrecognizable to him.
[... Voice more accommodating, and he nods briefly]
I do not think you were wrong to tell him to value himself. No matter his fate, I hope those are words he took to heart.
[The arrows belonged to him since the beginning, but Chiron kept them hostage for his own whims. It's hardly heroic or worthy of praise, and Chiron decides not to excuse the conduct, even if he had his reasons]
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no subject
(Words that aren't spoken lightly. Each word, heavy and solemn because he understands the meaning of it all. He'd made his decision that day and he'd considered the consequences.
Someone innocent could have died.
He would lose trust from others.
Regardless, he would show a part of him that he'd kept hidden from people here.
A calculating tactician, one willing to make sacrifices and do whatever it takes to accomplish a goal he's kept to himself.)
... You aren't the only one using another name here. "Claude" is a dashing name in Fodlan. New mothers can't pass it up. It's even a popular choice for fake names. And if a stranger were to come bearing that name acting like he belonged, no one would ever doubt he was one of them.
That's what I forgot but I was able to remember it. I didn't kill Raven but after the trial and everything... I remembered my name. That doesn't make me a different person. And it doesn't change how I was before. I just have a name for that other part of me, now.
I am "Claude" and "Khalid." Heir to House Riegan and the prince of a faraway land. Someone who charges ahead but also runsaway. I'm a soldier and a tactician. A noble and schemer. A protector and a killer. A student with much to learn but someone who has already learned heavy lessons.
So the answer to your question... is both. I'm both the person you think I am and someone no one will ever know.
(It's a good thing Chiron is blind, Claude thinks. Because he doesn't have to see the way Claude's smile disappears, how the light in his eyes seems to go out, and all that's left is a darkness that had been hidden behind who knows how many masks and layers.)
no subject
[And for a moment... that is all he says. Chiron has never been moved easily into emotions, and that hasn't changed now, either. He allowed "Claude" his chance to speak, and now the centaur stands quiet to digest it all.]
How harsh life has been to you.
[Musing, and not exactly with a note of sympathy. It's only a comment of truth as Chiron sees it - you do not become all of these things without being forged by the fires, as it were. Another stretch of silence, and then he rouses himself back to life, shoulders straightening]
Very well. Whatever name you decide suits you at the moment, you are familiar enough to me, and my ears did not perceive any lies.
[...]
Son of House Riegan, you were close to Raven, then?
no subject
He's really let Chiron down, hasn't he? And it's this awareness that causes him to shift some, one hand reaching for his arm and just... tugging at his own sleeve.)
I didn't lie.
(Not this time.)
... I was. Like attracts like and all that. As I said before, we even spoke the day before he died.
no subject
[Naturally it is up to Claude -- Riegan -- if he wants to divulge the information, but Chiron will still ask all the same, not quite realizing his tone has caused any distress in the other.
Sometimes he is very much a teacher addressing a student and little else]
no subject
(Of course, there was more but that's the part that stands out to him the most now.)
Did you see him after he changed? His eyes... were like a dead man walking. There wasn't any will. I wanted him to value his life.
(Some good that did, given where they are now.)
no subject
Yes, I did see him briefly, and there was much unrecognizable to him.
[... Voice more accommodating, and he nods briefly]
I do not think you were wrong to tell him to value himself. No matter his fate, I hope those are words he took to heart.
no subject
Quietly,)
I hope so, too.
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As I mentioned, you could very well make them again yourself, but if they have sentimental value... I have no right to keep them from you.
no subject
He's relieved and he reaches out for the arrows. Carefully, as if they were made of glass and could break at any moment, he takes them, r)
Thank you, Teach... Chiron.
(He holds them delicately,)
I owe you for this.
no subject
[The arrows belonged to him since the beginning, but Chiron kept them hostage for his own whims. It's hardly heroic or worthy of praise, and Chiron decides not to excuse the conduct, even if he had his reasons]