C Support
Jill: Um…
Lethe: Can I help you?
Jill: I, I have a q-question. Is that all right?
Lethe: It depends on what you’re going to ask.
Jill: Why don’t half-bree… No, that’s not right… Why don’t the laguz use weapons?
Lethe: …We laguz are born ready to fight. Weapons are something that you powerless beorc created to counter our claws. We have no use for them.
Jill: I, I see…
Lethe: Is that all you wanted to ask?
Jill: Um…no. There’s more. Why do you detest us… humans so much?
Lethe: That’s a good question. But I would hear you answer first. Why do you beorc hate the laguz?
Jill: It’s because the half-bree… The laguz are our enemy.
Lethe: Enemy…? If that’s the case, we hate you, too. As we hate all our enemies. We’re done here.
Jill: Wait…
B Support
Jill: Le…Lethe?
Lethe: Oh, look what the cat dragged in… It’s you again.
Jill: Jill… My name is…Jill.
Lethe: Fine. Jill. What brings you here today? More stupid questions?
Jill: I’ve been thinking about things, and I haven’t been able to figure out… See, in Daein we were taught that you attack humans indiscriminately and without mercy. That you are just savage animals.
Lethe: Laguz attacking humans? Grrrrawl! What garbage! We dislike even the company of humans and want nothing to do with them. Even mauling you would be…unpleasant.
Jill: But in Daein, everyone believes that to be the truth! That’s why… That’s why I never questioned it. But when I saw you fight beside Ike and other humans on the South Sea, I knew that something was wrong. You were so different from what I imagined! Ever since I was young, they filled my head with tales of your terrible claws and teeth… But you stand on two legs. And you talk… You even make jokes! …Sometimes… You’re much closer to us than a beast!
Lethe: So glad to hear it.
Jill: I wonder why humans and sub-humans started fighting in the first place? Maybe we’re just destined for war.
Lethe: Well, I don’t know much about that. It’s not for me to say if the goddess made us a certain way or if we’re just two races that don’t like each other very much. But I know that Gallia, Phoenicis, and Kilvas all have a reason to hate humans.
Jill: W-what reason?
Lethe: …Are you serious? I take it humans aren’t interested in passing history down to their children… …Typical. All right… Centuries ago, when Begnion was still a monarchy, the only countries were Begnion and Goldoa. Goldoa was as it is today: a reclusive nation inhabited only by dragon tribes. All the other laguz lived in Begnion with the humans.
Jill: Humans and sub-humans used to live together in Begnion?! I had no idea…
Lethe: A human was named as the first king, although the laguz’s superior strength led us to rule more often than not. Despite the harmony that most felt about this arrangement, the senators wanted nothing to do with it. In the name of the “apostle,” they claimed that only a human could be the true ruler of Begnion…and started a civil war. Like blind, mewling kittens, the laguz kings underestimated the situation… We never had a chance. Caught by surprise, my brothers suffered defeat after defeat in the face of superior human weapons and magic. …That was the start of long, dark days… The start of laguz slavery.
Jill: …
Lethe: After nearly 200 years, a small number of enslaved laguz managed to escape their human captors in Begnion. The beast tribes fled to the mountains and unexplored forest areas–places where humans were loathe to tread. The bird tribes, on the other hand, escaped to the distant southern islands. This is how our laguz kingdoms began. It took another eighty years, and the blood of many brother laguz, until we were formally recognized as nations. This is why we fight. Why we hate. Humans don’t want former slaves to have countries and be treated as equals. Laguz carry the shame of the past deep in their hearts, and struggle still for the freedom that you take for granted. This is the true history of Tellius… No wonder humans would bury it.
Jill: I don’t know wh–
Lethe: What to say? Idiot! Think! Think about what I have said. Think about what you have seen with your eyes and heard with your ears. If you don’t even have the guts to do that, never show yourself in my presence again!
Jill: Um…all right…
A Support
Lethe: …
Jill: Oh, Lethe! I thought about what you said, and I deci–
Lethe: I hear the dragon knight we fought in Talrega was your father. Why? Why did you stay with us? Choosing a band of mercenaries over your own father?
Jill: …Fate works in strange ways. Had I not known about Commander Ike and the mercenaries… Had I not known about you laguz… I’m sure I would be with Daein even now. Taking pride in my work as Daein soldier and offering my life for Ashnard. I wouldn’t have hesitated to smite you all. But now I have learned the truth…
Lethe: …And?
Jill: This isn’t like the time I chased your ship from Port Toha, hoping to win fame and approval from my father. When I joined you, I acted on my own accord. For the first time. I chose what I thought was a righteous path. Even if my decision forced me to face my own father… It’s too late to change things now. That’s why… I’m here.
Lethe: Will you…shake my hand, Jill?
Jill: Wha…?
Lethe: I have heard of a huma…a beorc custom where the shaking and holding of hands shows friendship. …I…understand you, now. I empathize with your choice and admire the strength it took to make it.
Jill: Lethe… Uh… Yes. Of course. Please, let us shake.
Lethe: If we listen to each other and are willing to compromise… I know the beorc and laguz can come to live with each other. I’m sure of it.