[ There is no reality in which Yuri will forgo a little teasing. It distracts from the overwhelming nature of everything, at least in theory. He remembers how dazed he was by it all and how what he was made immediately aware of is so far from the whole of it. ]

It's...going to sound strange. [ He'll preface with that. ] The others have somehow been here longer than you or I have. They're safe, but— hold on, let's take care of you here.

[ Yuri spares a moment to concentrate his magic, lifting a hand to flick a cleansing spell Shez's way. A burst of glittering light quickly relieves him of the dirt, leaving one intact and uninjured Shez as far as Yuri can see. ]

There now, that's better.

[ He's getting some real mileage out of creative applications for what Marianne taught him, in this place. ]

Now then. It's said time passes differently here than at home. Byleth's here — was for months before I came. I don't doubt his account. [ Byleth is, or was, the only one from their Fódlan before Yuri wound up here. ] The others...well.

[ He trails off. How does he explain that Dimitri and Claude are from some reality in which they had never met Shez? It still sounds surreal to him. Schoolteacher Byleth. A five year war, one in which their king had lost himself and had to find his way back. ]