Chapter Text
Claude wasn’t sure what he was doing here in the Goddess Tower actually. Today would mark that five years have passed since they made a promise to meet here once more during the millennium celebration of Garreg Mach but he wasn’t really holding his breath that any of them would show up.
Especially the Blue Lion students…
It was an adorable child-like promise brought by a careless comment of how, by this time, Dimitri would have already been king of Faerghus so both the Golden Deer and Blue Lion students had pretty much pressured him to promise that he would visit during the celebration so they could see each other.
But now…
It was that blind hope that brought him to the Goddess Tower, he supposed.
But as he watched the sunrise alone in the tower, he wondered if he was simply refusing to face the truth.
That maybe no one was…
His thoughts left him when he heard the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs and his heart began to beat faster.
When he turned around, he had been silently praying to both the Almyran gods and to Fodlan’s goddess that he would see blond hair and clear blue eyes.
His breath hitched and he felt his heart stopped when what he saw was mint hair and light green eyes.
She looked exactly as he remembered.
Seeing her, it almost felt like he was back in the academy five years ago.
His lips curved into a smile as he said what he hoped was a cheerful tone, “You overslept, Teach. Pretty rude to keep a fella waiting like that, wouldn’t you say?”
She stopped a few feet away from him, shrouded in darkness, and stared at him for a few moments before her eyes widened as she asked, “Claude?”
“What’s with that surprised look, my friend?” Claude’s voice cracked at the last word. His feet carried him to her, stopping just a foot away as he asked, “You didn’t really think I-”
“I-” Claude couldn’t bring himself to finish. Instead, he pulled her towards him to the light, to make sure it was truly her and not his eyes playing tricks on him. She truly did look exactly as he had remembered. It was as if time had stopped for her. Unable to stop himself, he pulled her towards his arms and held her tightly. He rested his head on the side of her head as he whispered, “I… I wanted to believe you’re still alive. Even after seeing you fall… I… I…”
His hold on her tightened as he confessed, “Still, I wanted to believe that you were still alive all this time.”
He felt tears fall from his eyes as he felt her wrap an arm around him while her other hand patted his head as she whispered, “It’s okay, Claude. I’m here now.”
It would have been embarrassing for him with how she was treating him like a child but, right now, at this very moment, all that mattered was that she was right here in his arms, warm and breathing.
It took a few minutes before he could finally let her go. She didn’t say anything and simply watched as he quickly wiped his face clean of tears (and snot). He took a deep breath and turned towards the window where the sun was already high up in the sky. His lips curved into a genuine smile as he asked, “Can you feel it?”
His smile grew as he whispered, “A new dawn is finally here.”
“Not just for us though. No.” He turned to face her once more and said, “For all of Fodlan.”
She took a few steps towards the window, staring at the sky. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He felt like he could keep watching her like this and a part of him wanted to. Just watch her and make sure she was really here, beside him…
But he knew he couldn’t. Instead he grinned at her as he asked, “You hungry, Teach? I brought food.”
She opened her eyes and turned to stare at him, tilting her head slightly as he grinned, “Come on. We can talk while we eat.”
Her lips curved into a small smile as she nodded, “Okay. I could eat.”
Not minding the dirt, they both sat on the wall across the window where Claude had placed the basket of food he had brought with him. He placed the basket between them and took off the cloth on top. She grabbed the imported Almyran wine bottle on top and raised an eyebrow at him. He chuckled and shook his head as he defended himself, “Come on, Teach. I’m already 23, you know? I can drink if I want to.”
She stared at the bottle on her hands as she mumbled, “So… five years have really passed.”
He stared at her for a few seconds before finally asking, “Hey, Teach… Where’ve you been these past five years?”
She sighed and placed the bottle on the ground next to the basket. She took out a sweet bread from the basket and leaned back against the wall behind her as she replied, “I think… I think I was sleeping.”
“Sleeping?” He couldn’t keep the amused tone in his voice. He rested against the wall behind him as well and grabbed a sandwich filled with shredded marinated beef and caramelized onions as he commented in a joking manner, “You know, I would say that you’re joking but, then again, you are the goddess of Fodlan. What would I know about how divinity works?”
She took a big bite of her bread with one hand while flicking his ear with her other hand, making him wince at the surprised attack. She nonchalantly reminded him, “Not a goddess, Claude. Stop making stuff up.”
He chuckled as he rubbed his ‘wounded’ ear and replied, “Just because we don’t have confirmation doesn’t mean it’s not real, Teach.”
She sighed at his words but, instead of rebutting him, she asked, “How… how is everyone?”
And wasn’t that the big question?
He took a big bite off his sandwich, mostly to have more time to think of how to answer her and also because he hasn’t eaten anything since his small lunch yesterday.
He believed he owed her the truth. Nothing could be gained by giving her white lies, especially at a time like this.
“I guess we should start from the time you…” He frowned as he said, “... fell asleep.”
“Garreg Mach was lost and we all had to escape. During the confusion, Rhea disappeared and no one has found her body nor has the empire declared that she had been killed so the Knights of Seiros are still searching for her. Because of this, they left the monastery and, well, you can see for yourself what happened during their absence.” He waved towards the window before continuing, “Without the knights to keep the peace, the towns near the monastery are in bad shape too."
“I’m worried about her.” She said before taking a bite off her sweet bread.
“Worried, huh?” He hummed, remembering how both he and Dimitri had been more worried about what the enigmatic archbishop had been planning. He was pretty sure Dimitri would have sliced her head off at even the slightest chance that she meant to do harm to his beloved. He supposed for all the distrust his professor had for the archbishop, it didn’t mean she hated her or wanted harm to befall her. Claude shrugged before saying, “Well, she has always been fond of you but I’m not so sure it would be for the best if she returned as the archbishop. Rather, with her gone…”
He stopped and shook his head as he said, “Eh, nevermind. This could be a dangerous conversation.”
“My grandfather died a few years back so I’ve been leading the Alliance.” He informed her instead. Noticing she had turned to stare at him with a concerned look, he smiled at her as he explained, “It’s okay. He died peacefully in his sleep. It wasn’t anything nefarious or something, just old age.”
He had made a thorough investigation back then to make sure of that.
“But still… to lose someone…” She turned away and devoured the remaining sweet bread in her hands.
He watched her take out a piece of chicken leg without looking in the basket and continued as she ate, “Hilda stayed with me in Castle Riegan for a year but she had to return to Goneril to help her family.”
He didn’t tell her that the reason why Hilda had stayed with him was because he had been a mess after receiving news about Dimitri and Dedue’s supposed deaths. She had been the one to write to Sylvain and had helped him get back on his feet. It was because of her correspondence with Sylvain that they had learned that Dimitri and Dedue could still be alive.
Even now, after Hilda had returned to Goneril territory, he still kept a secret correspondence with Sylvain in hopes of actually getting some kind of good news.
He was sure the servants and soldiers of Castle Riegan assumed something was going on between the two of them but it wasn’t like that.
He and Hilda were partners-in-crime and they supported each other from the start of their greatest mission in Garreg Mach. As such, they both had been close to Dimitri as well as their supposedly dead professor. There was no one in the entire world that could understand their feelings during those dark days than each other.
The servants thought the anemones they had planted and cared for in Castle Riegan was a symbol of their love and they wouldn’t be wrong. It was a symbol of their love for those they thought they had lost. He still remembered the day he held Hilda tight as she cried when the first anemones to bloom had been white with a purple center. Even now, the purple-white anemones bloomed in the courtyard of Castle Riegan and he tended to them every day.
“But she’s fine. She sent me a letter two months ago and it’s pretty much her complaining about how her big brother was being overprotective of her.” Claude said instead, watching her as she finished the chicken leg almost immediately.
He wondered if she had an appetite worth five years.
It was hard to be sure considering everyone knew that the Golden Deer’s professor had a huge appetite and it wasn’t actually surprising to see her in the dining hall eating with her students a lot. Sometimes, even ten times in one day…
“Leonie gathered Jeralt’s mercenaries and started doing mercenary work, mostly in Alliance territories.” Claude explained, seeing her movement freeze at the name of her father.
“How… are they?” She asked softly, throwing the leg bone out of the window like a total barbarian. He was just impressed that she managed to throw that far.
“The mercenaries?” He asked and got a nod from her. He almost wanted to hit himself for forgetting that the mercenaries in Jeralt’s company were also her friends, perhaps the closest thing to a family she had growing up. All of them had been devastated when he had to inform them of her supposed death and Leonie had to look for them for two years and get them together in one mercenary company once more. Recalling Leonie’s last report, he replied, “They’re doing fine. Leonie said they’re fired up and she actually has problems keeping them from overworking themselves.”
He kept the fact that the reason why the mercenaries were working hard was because Leonie’s actual mission had been to find Dimitri and Dedue. The mercenaries were working hard because they believed that they owed it to the supposedly dead Byleth to find the man she loved and keep him safe in her place.
She chuckled softly at that and took out a sandwich with the same filling as his. He watched her try to take a bite but stop before she could, wrinkling her nose before placing the sandwich back to the basket.
He frowned slightly. She had never been a picky eater before. Watching her pick another sweet bread, he thought that maybe she just wanted to eat sweet bread for now. He remembered there was one day where she was just eating Saghret and Cream the entire day so it might be one of those days.
“Marianne has been traveling all over Fodlan as part of a traveling healer corp. They mostly go to places that had been part of a battle or a skirmish and heal everyone in need, no matter which faction they were in.” He explained instead, watching her eat.
“And she’s okay?” She asked worriedly before finishing her second (or was it third?) sweet bread.
He nodded, smiling softly as he remembered Marianne’s last letter, “Yeah, Teach. She’s doing okay.”
He and Hilda had been worried when they had received Marianne’s letter, fearing for the safety of their friend. She had been adamant that she was fine and that this was the best way she could help, not only the people of Fodlan, but in searching for Dimitri as well. The traveling healer corp took her all over Fodlan, even to imperial territory. The monthly letter they received from Marianne only alleviated their concern slightly but it was also clear in her letters that traveling and helping those in need has helped her grow as well.
“Lysithea's with her parents, trying to keep Ordelia territory out of all these.” He waved his hand nonchalantly, “But it’s getting harder and harder as the divide between the pro-Imperial and the anti-Imperial factions in the Alliance is getting clearer.”
“Divide?” She asked before shoving another sweet bread in her mouth.
He glanced at the basket and noticed that it was almost out of sweet breads but remained quiet about that as he replied instead, “Well, I managed to make it seem like the Alliance is still unified and against the empire but House Gloucester had declared that it was part of the empire a few months ago. Because of that, many more nobles are planning to announce their support to the empire as well which will include House Ordelia as their territory is between Gloucester and Hrym. If they announce their neutrality or their support to House Riegan, they’d be swarmed by imperial soldiers from the south and Gloucester knights from the north.”
Her brows furrowed at that and she asked, “What about Lorenz? How is he?”
“Lorenz…” He hummed, finishing his sandwich before answering, “Well, we all know how he is. He’s bound by his honor to obey his father but…”
He grinned at her as he admitted, “He’s been sending me coded messages about any news from the empire he would get and he’s been helpful in keeping everyone safe whenever they had to travel to Gloucester territory.”
“Speaking of people traveling to unfriendly territories, I hired Ignatz and Raphael too. They mostly watch over the alliance territory, including the pro-imperial ones. They keep me updated in the nobles’ movements.” He continued. She hummed as she finished her (he had stopped counting) sweet bread and took another one from the basket while he continued, “They’re doing fine. Their last report was around Edmund territory so I’m thinking they’ll be a little late in joining us.”
He didn’t add that, like Leonie, he had asked Raphael and Ignatz to pursue any lead, no matter how small it was, about Dimitri. Ignatz had even given Leonie a sketch of Dimitri that she could use to ask around. Claude had sent a sketch to Marianne and three more sketches to Sylvain in hopes that it will help their search.
Speaking of which…
“Teach…” He turned to stare at her seriously. She must have felt the severity of what he was going to say and turned as well, staring at him with a stoic expression that he knew hid her concern, “Faerghus… isn’t in a good condition right now.”
Her hands clenched into fists but her face was as emotionless as a doll. It was actually more worrying for him as he wasn’t sure how to proceed but he knew her well enough to know that she needed to hear the entire truth, “It’s been divided into two clear factions. The southern and most of the central kingdom territories have become part of the empire as the Faerghus dukedom under the leadership of the mage Cornelia.”
He noticed that her eyes seemed to shine with recognition at the name and he wondered if Dimitri or someone in Blue Lion had told her about the mage. Still, she remained silent so he continued, “The northern kingdom territories with the Charon and the Galatea territories have banded together to resist them as the Blaiddyd loyalists. Even now, the borders between the two factions are littered with battles and skirmishes. The kingdom is the most dangerous place in Fodlan right now.”
“Blaiddyd loyalists…” She repeated and asked in a calm voice belying the fear in her eyes, “Claude… where’s Dimitri?”
He grimly stared back at her as he informed her, “Cornelia declared that Dimitri was executed four years ago.”
Seeing her pale, he grabbed her arm and hurried added, “But I’ve been in contact with Sylvain! They have confirmed that Dimitri managed to escape with the help of a few men in Duscur and a count from the royal court who incited a riot from both the people in Fhirdiad and the knights in Castle Blaiddyd.”
He felt a pang of pain in his chest as he remembered the day he received that letter. The count who had incited the confusion that helped Dimitri and the men from Duscur escape had been executed as soon as Cornelia had learned of his involvement together with the knights who participated in the riot but did not leave for the northern kingdom territories and chose, instead, to stay in Fhirdiad while his last living relative, his niece who had inherited his title upon his death, was placed under house arrest in Fhirdiad. Claude actually felt worried for the newly dubbed countess when he read about that, remembering that she had been the girl he danced with during the ball. And, if Sylvain’s letters were correct, many more Blaiddyd loyalists were under house arrest or in prison at the moment.
“Dimitri’s alive?” Her voice brought him back to the present and his eyes softened.
“As far as we know, yes, he’s alive but…” His heart ached as the words left his mouth and he saw her pale once more, “We don’t know where he is. Even Dedue is missing. There’s no official search from both the empire and the dukedom so we don’t know if Edelgard truly believed Cornelia’s declaration but we… the Blaiddyd loyalists and the Golden Deers have been looking for him… for both of them.”
While the Blaiddyd loyalists focused their effort in searching Faerghus, Claude focused his in Leicester but none of them were able to get any news at all about Dimitri or Dedue. Claude hoped that they were still together and in hiding, perhaps in Kleiman territory. It was Duscur before it had been called Kleiman territory and Claude was sure Dedue would have an idea where in Kleiman they could hide.
“Teach, I swear to you we won’t stop until we fi-”
He stopped when she suddenly stood, running towards the window. He heard her retch and winced at the sound. He walked towards her and held her hair back as she continued to vomit out the food she had just eaten.
Once she was done, he stepped away, giving her the privacy to clean herself while he looked at the basket. He took out a bottle of water and gave it to her when she walked towards him. She nodded gratefully at him and popped the cork before drinking. She finished the bottle almost immediately and he handed her another bottle from the basket but she shook her head. She placed the bottle on the ground and rubbed her right fingers with her left hand.
He turned to face the window, seeing the sun was almost about to set in a few hours (had they really been talking and eating that long?), once more before turning towards her. She looked pensive, almost like she was lost in her own little world as she covered her right fingers with her left hand, her thumb rubbing her middle and ring fingers. Not that he could blame her. Finding out that the man she loved was missing for five years while she had been asleep would most probably give anyone some kind of guilt even if they know that they couldn’t have controlled it. Reminding her that today was the day of the millennium festival where both their house and the Blue Lion house had promised to meet up would just hurt her even more.
“Hey, Teach…” He called out, making her raise her head to stare at him. She tilted her head as a silent question and he suggested, “Just standing around sounds boring, so why don’t we get in some exercise? Get our mind off things for a while?”
He grinned as he teased, “You must be in bad shape if you’ve been sleeping for five years. It’ll do you good to get your body moving again.”
She raised an eyebrow as she asked, “You want to play a game?”
His grin turned mischievous as he replied vaguely, “Something like that.”
Seeing her narrow her eyes at him, he added quickly, “Look, if you come with me, you’ll understand.”
Knowing that the best way to get her to do what he wanted was to make her not have a choice and make her interested in it, he began to walk out of the tower as he said in a nonchalant manner, “Oh, and don’t forget your weapons, okay?”
“My weapo- Claude!” She called out, following him as he descended the stairs.
“I want to make sure neither your leadership nor your skill with a blade have dulled.” He cut her off, making sure she didn’t have any choice but to follow him.
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Claude-” She stopped as they exited the tower and a gust of wind blew around them.
He grinned as a great shadow blocked out the sun, turning towards her. His grin grew when he saw her jaw slack at the sight of his impressive (if he does say so himself) wyvern riding battalion he had brought with him as they flew on top of them. Seeing his own wyvern land on the ground in front of them, he walked towards the affectionate beast, caressing her head as she nudged his chest before rubbing the side of her face against his cheek. Seeing her approach them, he introduced the two, “Teach, this is… well, Teach.”
She raised an eyebrow at the name as she asked, “You named your wyvern… ‘Teach’?”
“Yup.” He nodded before cooing at his wyvern, “Who’s the cutest? You are, Teach. You’re the cutest.”
The wyvern Teach cooed at him as he scratched the best part of her neck while the other Teach sighed and simply shook her head, already used to the eccentricity of her Golden Deer house. She simply caressed the wyvern’s head, following the path his hands took as she asked, “So, where are we supposed to go again?”
His smile turned into mischievous once more which raised a few of her internal ‘oh-no-one-of-my-fawns-is-going-to-do-something-stupid-again’ alerts. He mounted the wyvern and offered his hand towards her as he said, “Come on, Teach. Best way to travel.”
She took his hand without any hesitation, showing how much she trusted her student, and he pulled her up, making her sit behind him. He grabbed the reins of his wyvern and felt her tighten her hold on his waist as the wyvern flew into the air. His Immortal Corps battalion, wyvern riders proficient in bows that he had hand-picked from different battalions under the anti-Imperial Alliance faction and trained for years immediately flew into formation as they had been trained to do, letting their leader lead them to their destination.
By the time they have reached the abandoned town nearest to the monastery, the sun had already set and the moon’s light was their gentle guide. Thankfully, the abandoned town was littered with torches lighting the streets, obviously set by…
“See those men, Teach?” He asked, pointing at one of the men holding a torch at the middle of what could have been a plaza before the empire laid waste to it, “They’re thieves. Apparently they’re trying to run off with treasure from the monastery.”
Her eyes narrowed at that information and, before Claude could react, she jumped off the wyvern.
“Teach!” He called out, watching as she landed on her feet and rushed the nearest thief. The thief didn’t even know what hit him as she took out her dagger and covered his mouth before slicing his neck.
He heard someone from his battalion whistle but he paid it no attention, his eyes trained at his professor as she used the thief’s shirt to clean her dagger before sheathing it. She took the corpse’s sword, swinging it to test its weight and balance before nodding to herself.
He sighed as he watched her charge the thieves, cutting through their ranks like they were just the training dummies in the training hall.
He heard the sound of a bell coming from somewhere north of the village and he shouted, “Teach! They’ve noticed us!”
She simply slashed diagonally, throwing the blood on her stolen sword at the ground, as she said in an emotionless tone, “Let them come.”
As if summoned by her words, more thieves rushed out of the different abandoned houses and streets. She aimed her sword in front of her as she declared, “If you value your life, drop everything you’ve stolen from the monastery and leave!”
When none of them accepted her mercy, her eyes narrowed as she said, “Fine then. Claude!”
“Got your back, Teach.” He immediately replied, nocking an arrow. His battalion followed his lead and nocked an arrow as well.
The bandits rushed her and he let his arrow fly, immediately followed by the rain of arrows from his battalion. The arrows mercilessly showered the thieves at the rear while his professor showed why she was called the Ashen Demon.
The torches’ light made her shadow dance as she cut and slice all who stood in her path. Blood decorated the abandoned town yet she herself did not have a speck of blood on her. She stabbed the sword right into a thief’s chest, leaving the bloody sword inside the poor man, before taking the spear in his hands which she threw, impaling three incoming men as her Crest of Flames sang in her blood. She dodged an incoming slash from a thief on her right and grabbed the hilt of his sword as she elbowed him right in the neck. The thief gasped and let go of his sword to clutch his neck as he tried to breath and she brought the sword down, slicing him from the shoulder to the stomach.
Meanwhile, Claude and his battalion had to scatter as some of the thieves began sniping them, unable to provide backup to the one being surrounded by thieves. His battalion paired up, ensuring a continuous barrage of arrows as one fired while the other prepared their next shot.
“Claude!” She shouted at him, pointing at the running thieves to her right before grabbing the shield of the corpse next to her feet. She knelt as a sword struck the shield before pushing the shield up. The thief took a few steps back and she slammed the circular edge of the shield right in the man’s face before throwing the shield to an incoming axe wielding thief. The impact of the throw made the man drop his axe which she grabbed in mid-air as she crouched. She twirled while she was crouched, her arms outstretched and letting the axe slice anything surrounding her.
Seeing the fleeing thieves, he shouted at his battalion, “This is gonna get expensive. Collect everything the thieves carried out!”
His battalion fanned out, aiming at the fleeing thieves while Teach kept the other thieves busy.
Three thieves managed to escape his battalion’s arrows and were on their way to freedom using the southeastern exit when a swarm of dark magic created insects appeared around all of them. They screamed as the dark magic assaulted them, covering them from head to toe. Two of them dropped dead while the remaining thief ran blindly as the swarm continue to surround him. He let out a death cry as he was pierced by the lance of a man on a galloping horse.
Claude’s lips curved into a smile as he heard the disdained voice say, “The barbarity is even worse than the rumors.”
Lorenz placed a foot on the shoulder of the thief and pulled his lance out. As the corpse dropped on the ground next to his horse, he declared, “On my honor as a noble, I will expel these ruffians!”
“Ugh. The instant we arrive, we’re neck deep in battle.” Claude’s smile grew as he saw a smaller young woman sitting behind Lorenz. She sighed as she raised the hand holding the Gloucester relic, the glow of a magic circle starting to appear on the twitching tip as she commented, “We should’ve arrived late.”
“How could you say that, Lysithea!” The purple-haired noble scolded his fellow noble as his horse galloped towards the running thieves, “As a fellow noble, it is your duty-”
“Yeah, yeah!” Lysithea turned towards Claude and shouted, “Red Cloth!”
Both Claude and their professor recognized the warning. Seeing the shambled building with a red cloth covering half of its roof, she immediately ran away from the building while Claude ordered the two wyvern riders near the building, “Fall back!”
The wyvern riders flew away from the building. A second later, a magically created moon appeared on top of the building. Dark shadows appeared from behind the moon and enveloped the thieves around it and they all screamed. The magically created moon flashed before disappearing and all the thieves touched by the shadow fell to the ground dead.
“What the hell was that?!” One of the thieves screamed.
“Screw this! I’m outta here!” Another shouted, running towards the southwestern exit. A few more thieves followed him and Claude’s battalion tried to snipe them but they used the buildings to shield themselves from the arrows.
One of the thieves jumped off a barrel but gasped as an axe suddenly slammed against his side. A wyvern flew across the southwestern exit and dropped the body as its rider flicked her axe to remove the blood. The pink-haired wyvern rider grinned at Claude as she greeted, “Hey, Claude! Hope you didn’t wait-”
Her eyes widened as she realized the mint-haired woman fighting at the center for the town, “Over there… Is that the professor?!”
Tears welled up from her eyes and a big smile appeared on her face as she saw Lysithea and Lorenz as well, “And the others?!”
The thieves who tried to use Hilda’s surprise to escape were immediately shot down as Leonie rushed into the town on her horse, bow at the ready.
“Professor!?” Leonie shouted, seeing their supposedly dead professor at the thick of the battle, “You’ve been alive all this time?! Where have you been hiding?!”
Her words were drowned out by the mercenaries’ “KID!”
Before Leonie could stop them, her mercenary group had rushed into battle to support the daughter of their late boss. She sighed and shook her head before saying as she nocked another arrow, “Never mind, talk later!”
The Ashen Demon only nodded at the mercenaries suddenly beside her before aiming the almost broken lance in her grasp towards the center of the clustered thieves in front of her as she ordered, “Break thru!”
“Break!” The mercenaries shouted in unison as they formed into a triangle in front of her before rushing to clustered thieves with the lance wielders in front and with her joining the charge from the back.
“Sword!” She ordered as she dropped the lance she had pilfered from one of the corpses and mercenary to her immediate right threw his sword at her which she caught effortless.
Seeing her lead her father’s mercenary to a charge, Claude turned towards his former classmates as he said, “You finally made it! I suppose virtue still exists in this crazy world after all.”
“You have a lot of explaining to do, Claude!” Lysithea shouted as she jumped off Lorenz’s horse, “You told us the professor was dead!”
“But your explaining must wait until the end of this battle, Claude.” Lorenz added, making the younger woman glare at him, “For now, we must focus all our effort in ensuring that none of these riff raffs escape with those stolen goods!”
Hilda maneuvered her wyvern so that she was right next to Claude as she whispered, “Is it just me or does Lorenz actually look handsome right now?”
He shook his head as he whispered back, “It’s not just you, my sweet Hilda. I think our dear poor Lorenz finally realized what a mirror is used for.”
They both snickered while Leonie shouted at them, “Hey, you two! Would you focus!? They’re trying to escape through the north exit!”
“Lysithea!” They all turned towards her voice where she was in the middle of a heated battle between the thieves and her father’s mercenaries. She aimed her sword at the running thieves as she ordered, “Cut them off!”
Her eyes met Claude’s and he nodded, understanding what she wanted him to do.
“Wha-!” The talented warlock’s eyes widened as she explained in an annoyed frantic voice, “Even with the added range of Thyrsus, I can- Ah!”
Lysithea yelped as Claude’s wyvern bumped into her, making her lose her balance. He placed a hand on her back and on the back of her knees before he lifted her into his wyvern as he said with a wink, “Just prepare your spell. I’ll take you there!”
Lysithea spluttered for a few seconds before groaning, “Ugh! You and the professor are up to your weird tactics again!”
She held Thyrsus in front of the wyvern and closed her eyes as a huge magic circle appear in front of the relic. Claude flew his wyvern on top of the fleeing thieves, easily overtaking them. Once he was by the northern exit, he turned his wyvern around and let it fly above the exit as he said, “Now, Lysithea.”
The white-haired young woman opened her eyes and held the Gloucester relic with her two hands as she aimed it to the ground.
The magic circle flew towards the ground. Once the magic circle slammed against the ground, it shattered like glass. A second later, huge dark spikes erupted from ground, originating where the shards have fallen, managing to skewer one of the thieves while keeping the rest from exiting through the north.
Except two thieves who managed to run towards the exit before the eruption of Lysithea’s spell.
One was taken out by an arrow aimed at the chest while the other screamed as his legs were encased in ice.
Both Claude and Lysithea turned towards the exit and their eyes widened as they saw three figures ran towards them.
“Sorry we’re late, guys!” Raphael said before cheerfully adding as he punched his open palm lightly, “If you guys are fighting, I’ll help out!”
“Today was supposed to be a happy day, but the monastery is in such disrepair…” Ignatz commented from behind Raphael and his eyes shone with determination as he added, "We have so much to chat about but first let’s handle these criminals.”
Right next to Ignatz, Marianne met Claude’s eyes as she said softly, “I’m so glad you’re safe, Claude.”
She looked at the ground as she whispered, “I’m so sorry I couldn’t find him all these years.”
Claude smiled at them and cheerfully replied instead, “Hey, you’re late! Hurry up and help!”
Her eyes widened and she looked up towards the dark-haired man. Seeing his smile, her lips curved into a grateful smile as she nodded, “Mmhm.”
Turning back to the remaining thieves, Claude thought out loud, “Hm, we could split into two groups. If we hit them from the north and south, we can trap their leader in a pincer attack.”
He nodded and turned towards the three, “Raphael, Marianne, Ignatz, you guys take care of the thieves on the northwestern side. Lysithea and I will take care of this side!”
“Got it!” Raphael said while Marianne silently nodded and Ignatz replied, “Okay!”
With the two sides covered, it wasn’t long before they managed to route out the rest of the thieves until all that was left was the leader.
“No, I’m not the one you want!” The leader shouted but Teach paid him no mind, rushing towards him. He held his sword with both hands as he shouted, “Gah! I guess I’ve got no choice.”
Claude watched as she stepped to the side to evade the leader’s lousy attack before slicing his head clean off. As the head rolled away from the body that crumpled to the ground, she slashed her sword in front of her, taking the blood off its blade while not even a speck of blood was on her.
Before anyone could celebrate, Leonie shouted, “Three of them are escaping!”
From the other side of where their professor was, three thieves, each with a sack filled with stolen goods, ran towards the southeastern exit as one of them, who looked a lot like the thief the mint-haired woman just executed, shouted, “Run faster, you idiots!”
“So, he revealed his true identity.” Claude commented before ordering, “Catch him and recover the treasure!”
Unfortunately, they had clustered around the center. The nearest one was Leonie and, even with her horse galloping towards the running thieves, she wasn’t going to be able to stop them from leaving.
That’s when Lysithea placed her hand on his chest, making him blink as he stared at her. Her lips were curved into a smug smirk as she said, “Go get them, leader.”
Claude felt the air in his lungs leave him as the entire world turned to dark. The next thing he knew, he was standing right at the exit with the three thieves rushing towards him with their swords raised as their leader shouted, “Ah, you should yield me a tidy profit!”
Claude evaded the clumsy attacks and nocked an arrow. He shot one right between the eyes but the two remaining thieves charged him before he could nock another arrow. Their leader nicked his left cheek but before the other could stab him, he was cut by a gust of wind from behind Claude. Claude turned around and his eyes widened as he recognized the red-haired and brown-haired woman behind him.
“It’s over, thieves!” Annette shouted as she readied another spell, a magic circle appearing on her raised hand.
He felt the warm magic of a healing spell as his small cut knitted itself together while Mercedes smiled at him, “Oh! I haven’t seen any of you in such a long time! I’m so glad to see you’re alive.”
His lips curved into a smile and he nocked another arrow, aiming at the leader. Annette’s spell caused arrows of lights to appear above the leader, raining down at him in an alarming speed. He managed to evade them just as Claude calculated and shot him right between the eyes.
As the leader and the last of the thieves fell to the ground, the sun began to rise once more.
While his battalion was making sure that there were no stragglers, Claude watched as Jeralt’s mercenaries surround the Golden Deer’s professor, loudly calling her name and patting her on the shoulder or the head. Some even hugged her and twirled her around. All of them were happy to see her and some even cried.
On the other hand, his fellow Golden Deer students were staring at him with varying degrees of anger and confusion.
It was Hilda who spoke first, “Claude, why is the professor alive?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m really, really happy she’s alive but…” The pink-haired woman’s words stopped as she stared at him with pain in her eyes, “You said she died.”
“And we believed you!” Lysithea added, glaring at Claude.
“If you’ve been hiding the Professor this entire time and lied to us…” Leonie’s tone made it clear that she was trying to keep herself from shouting at him as well.
“Please tell us the truth, Claude.” Marianne begged softly, her eyes trained on the ground as she whispered, “If we had known she was alive, if Dimitri had known…”
“Yeah!” Annette nodded, her eyes filled with unshed tears as she said, “If His Highness had known that she was alive then maybe he and Dedue-!”
“That is enough.” Lorenz cut her off yet his tone was soft as he reminded everyone, “We are going on the assumption that Claude did know that the professor was alive all this time. Before we start talking about what ifs, let us first give Claude a chance to explain himself.”
“Lorenz is right.” Mercedes nodded as she agreed.
“But Mercie-”
“Annie, we don’t know anything yet.” Mercedes reminded her best friend, placing a gentle hand on her back as she said, “I know you think that Claude betrayed Dimitri’s trust.”
“All of our trust. But we should give him a chance to explain himself first before we throw all of these accusations.” Mercedes added and no one objected yet she stared at Claude with an open expression as she asked, “Please, Claude, could you tell us the truth?”
At those words, everyone turned to stare at him once more.
He wasn’t sure what he was going to say but he was nonetheless relieved when they all heard her say, “It’s not Claude’s fault.”
Their professor walked towards them, stopping next to Claude. She stared at all of them and smiled softly as she said, “You’ve all grown up.”
“Professor.” Tears fell from Hilda’s eyes and she placed her hands on her mouth to muffle the sound that came out of her lips as she started to weep.
“Professor!” Lysithea ran towards her and threw her arms around the older woman. Teach wasn’t expecting it and took a step back as she tried to stop herself from falling.
The mint-haired woman returned the younger woman’s embrace and rested her cheek against the crown of her head as she whispered, “Please don’t cry, Lysithea.”
“I’m not crying!” The white-haired woman’s voice was muffled by the professor’s impressive chest but everyone could hear her sniffing and see her shoulders tremble.
“Oh, Professor!” Annette joined in, hugging both women as she rested her head on the older woman’s shoulder. She didn’t hide the fact that she was crying as she said, “I’m so happy that you’re alive!”
At the sight of the two women crying, Hilda finally gave in and cried earnestly as she hugged all three women, “I’ve missed you so much, Professor!”
Seeing Marianne crying, Ignatz took her hand gently and dragged her towards their professor. Teach raised her head to smile at them and Ignatz couldn’t stop the tears anymore. Both of them joined in hugging their professor with Marianne between Hilda and Ignatz, pressing against Lysithea’s back. Ignatz sniffed as he said, “Professor, I-I… I’m so glad that you’re alive, Professor.”
Their professor rested her forehead against Marianne’s as the blue-haired woman whispered, “I prayed each day… I prayed to the goddess that you… you… oh, Professor!”
She was momentarily surprised when she felt someone hugged her from behind. Leonie pressed her forehead against the nape of her neck as she whispered, “I have a lot of questions but, right now, I’m just… I… Thank you, Professor. Thank you for being alive.”
“This is absolutely unnec-” Lorenz’ words were cut off as he was squished against his professor’s side right next to Ignatz as Raphael’s huge frame held almost all of them. He hugged them all tightly as he said cheerfully, “It won’t be complete without you, Lorenz! Plus, group hugs are the best, right Professor?”
Their professor chuckled before nodding, smiling at Lorenz who looked away. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around his fellow students as he whispered, “We’re… we’re all glad that you are safe, Professor.”
“Raphael is right. This is a joyous occasion.” Mercedes said, embracing the professor from Annette’s side before turning towards Claude, “And it won’t be complete without the Golden Deer’s house leader, wouldn’t you say?”
He blinked at Mercedes for a few minutes before grinning. Noticing what he was planning, Lorenz warned, “Claude, don’t you dar-!”
“Too late!” Claude shouted before he jumped them from behind, making them yelp as they fell to the ground.
Many of them shouted at Claude but he paid them no mind, staring at Teach who turned to glare at him before she started to laugh. At the sight of their professor laughing, everyone else forgot their annoyance with Claude and joined in as well.
And Claude smiled so brightly for the first time in the past five years.
They stayed on the ground until his battalion came back to inform them they have confirmed that all the thieves have been dealt with. He let his battalion carry the stolen goods back to the monastery while he joined the rest of his friends in walking back instead with the exception of Leonie and Lorenz who rode their horses while Lysithea sat behind Leonie and Marianne sat behind Lorenz. Hilda had pretty much dragged their professor to ride with her on her wyvern while Claude let both Mercedes and Annette ride his. Jeralt’s mercenaries were walking a few feet behind them, giving them privacy by loudly chatting with one another and even an occasional scandalous song that made Marianne blush and Lorenz look at them scandalously while Leonie and their professor chuckle. He even heard someone hum along at one of them but he wasn’t sure if it had been Leonie or the stoic mint-haired woman.
Along the way back to the monastery, Teach explained what has happened in the past five years.
The explanation she gave them was quite similar to what truly happened but removed all the divinity aspect to it.
“So, let me see if I got it right.” There was a hint of skepticism in Leonie’s voice as she summarized what she just heard, “You fell into the cliff and someone found you floating in the river. But you wouldn’t wake up until yesterday so they cared for you this entire time? Is that even possible?”
“Um…” There was a hint of confidence in Marianne’s voice as she explained, “I have seen it happen before. It’s usually due to a heavy blow on the head. The healers I traveled with call it ‘Death’s Sleep’ as all we could do to those who suffer from it is to look after them.”
She lowered her eyes as she recalled, “They would either wake up on their own or die in their sleep.”
Everyone grew silent as they tried to process what the blue-haired woman just explained. A few moments later, Raphael grinned as he said, “Then it’s a good thing the Professor woke up, right?”
“Y-yes!” Ignatz agreed with a nod, smiling at the mint-haired woman, “And just in time for the millennium festival too.”
“Truly this could be nothing else but the goddess’ blessing.” Lorenz commented with a smile. Claude and Teach’s eyes met for a second at the reminder of the vanished goddess.
“We should visit the person who helped you, Professor!” Annette suggested with a smile.
“Oh, yes! We must thank them for caring for our dear professor all this time.” Mercedes added with a nod.
Claude met her eyes for a second once more before she shook her head as she said, “They don’t want anything to do with this war. That’s the only thing they asked of me before I left.”
“I’m not surprised.” Lysithea frowned as she explained, “If they’re near here then they’re in the middle of all three factions. It would be a good thing if the ones who knows they helped you were from the alliance or kingdom but if it was the empire or one of the pro-imperial alliance nobles or nobles from the Faerghus dukedom…”
Lorenz visibly winced at the mention of the pro-imperial alliance nobles but Hilda quickly suggested with a smile, “Then we better win this war soon so we can thank them!”
“Yeah!” Leonie agreed, “Once we win this war, they won’t have to be afraid anymore.”
“We are planning to fight back right, Claude?” Ignatz asked, turning to stare at the leader of the Leicester Alliance. At Ignatz’s question, they all turned to look at the dark-haired duke.
Claude raised his head to stare at the monastery just a few meters away from them as he declared, “We’ll use Garreg Mach as our base of operation.”
He lowered his head to stare at all of this companions as he explained, “After all, the monastery is right in the middle of Fodlan. It’s a critical strategic location.”
“Aren’t we getting a bit ahead of ourselves?” Lorenz asked with a slight frown on his face. He stared at Claude as he reminded him, “The Alliance is in complete disarray.”
“And…” Claude rebutted as he stared back at the purple-haired noble, “As the leader of the Imperial faction on the Alliance, isn’t Count Gloucester, your father, the main cause of that discord?”
“I…” Lorenz didn’t complete his sentence. Instead, he nodded grimly as he agreed, “Yes, that is true.”
“It is inevitable. Our house territory is close to Imperial land, after all.” He explained. His tone was informative, not defensive which mildly surprised a few of their companions, “Had we not consented to vassalage under the Empire, they would have invaded immediately.”
“Naturally.” Claude agreed casually, surprising everyone, most especially Lorenz. His lips curved into a small smile as he clarified, “And, to be clear, I have no problem with your house maintaining its Imperial ties until we’re sufficiently prepared to revolt.”
He turned to stare at everyone as he explained, “The Empire is the cause of the infighting. If we rid ourselves of them, the situation should resolve itself.”
They finally reached the gates to the monastery and Claude stopped before they could enter. Everyone stopped and turned to stare at him as he continued, “That’s why I’m thinking we should make this our base, raise up an army and stir up some trouble for the Empire.”
Raphael was the first to agree, grinning as he said excitedly, “Now you’re talking! Sounds like fun!”
Hilda’s lips curved into a fond smile as she asked, “So then. Mister Leader Man.”
There was a hint of playfulness in her voice as she asked, “Does this mean you intend to rope us into your little scheme?”
“Oh, that’s right! Claude is the leader of the Alliance now.” Annette said out loud, blushing slightly as she said, “Sorry, Claude. I forgot.”
“That’s not really surprising considering the current state of the Alliance.” Lorenz sighed and shook his head as he commented, “If we had a more reliable leader, perhaps the Alliance would not have been divided.”
“Think what you will.” He said to Lorenz seriously before addressing everyone, “All I need to know is if you’re in or you’re out.”
Leonie was the first to reply, dismounting from her horse as she said, “I’m happy to lend a hand.”
Her eyes shone with determination as she explained, “I won’t let those Imperial dogs set foot in Alliance territory! I couldn’t bear it if my village got caught up in the chaos of war.”
At the reminder of her village, Raphael was next to agree, “I’ll fight too! I’ve gotta protect my little sis!”
“I will join as well.” Lysithea said as she jumped off Leonie’s horse. Her face was grim as she explained, “After all, House Ordelia was once dragged into an Imperial revolt. It ruined us.”
Lorenz’s voice was soft as he dismounted, “Ah, of course. I understand your motivation.”
Ignatz was the next to speak up, smiling slightly as he said, “I think a lot of us are all ready to fight back. And…”
Ignatz’s tone was clear as he announced, “It’s time to take responsibility for my own future.”
“I…” Marianne’s voice was soft as she placed her hands together, “I spent these past years seeing the horror this war has brought upon the land. I… I want to help.”
“Would you look at that?” Hilda rested her head against the top of her wyvern’s head as she commented while staring at Marianne while Lorenz helped her dismount from his horse, “Our dear Marianne is all grown up.”
The blue-haired woman blushed as she said, “Please don’t tease me, Hilda.”
“But you’re so cute it’s hard not to.” Hilda cooed before turning towards the man next to Marianne as she asked, “What about you, Lorenz? Are you going to go back home to your scary father or what?”
Lorenz stared at Hilda for a moment before replying, “We cannot rely on Claude’s scheming to lead us to victory.”
“Not to mention…” He turned his gaze at the two women riding the wyvern as he added, “You and the professor tend to agree to Claude’s plan most of the time.”
“Not always.” Hilda pouted, turning towards the woman riding behind her, “Right, Professor?”
“Only when Claude’s plan would actually work.” Their professor defended and both women gave similar smiles at Lorenz as they dismounted Hilda’s wyvern.
Seeing the women’s smiles, Lorenz declared, “Therefore, I will remain. It is my duty to ensure that Claude does not worsen the situation in the Alliance.”
Claude nodded at them before saying, “All of us are fighting for a different reason but we share a common enemy.”
At those words, he turned to stare at the two former Blue Lion students who got off his wyvern with the help of Lorenz and Leonie, “And, of course, it’s a common enemy we share with Faerghus as well.”
“Whether we’re in the Alliance or the Kingdom, we’re all in the same boat.” He said before addressing everyone once more, noticing that Hilda and their professor had walked towards his side, “If we don’t act, the Empire will crush us eventually. I say we stop them before they have the chance!”
“So, Teach…” He stared at her as he asked, “Will you help as well?”
Her light green eyes glanced at the two non-Golden Deer women before she said, “I…”
Before she could continue what she was about to say, someone called out from inside the monastery, “Lord Lorenz!”
They turned towards where the voice had originated and a knight from House Gloucester briskly walked towards them, “Milord, forgive me for intruding but… well, it’s the Knights of Seiros, milord.”
“The Knights of Seiros?” Lorenz repeated, turning his head to glance at Claude who nodded.
“They were bound to show up sooner or later.” The dark-haired duke commented before shrugging, “Well, better not make them wait. Are they in the cathedral?”
“Huh, y-yes, sir.” The knight seemed surprised that Claude knew what was happening already but the duke paid it no mind.
“We better talk to them and find out what they know, right?” He asked and everyone nodded. They began to walk inside but Claude stopped their profesor from joining by grabbing her wrist gently. Only Hilda noticed as she was right next to her so she stopped as well while the mint-haired woman tilted her head silently with a curious expression on her face.
“Sorry, Teach. I just…” He glanced at their comrades who kept on walking, his eyes stopping at Annette and Mercedes who were talking to both Lysithea and Marianne as they walked.
“I know that you’re worried about Dimitri.” He said as he returned his attention to her. He saw her straightened slightly and her face became emotionless once more but he continued, “We all are. Annette and Mercedes didn’t say anything but I’m sure they’re here for a reason other than our promise five years ago.”
“I won’t be surprised if they’re actually here to ask that you come back to Faerghus. With your skills and relationship with Dimitri, the Blaiddyd loyalists would certainly gain much if they got you on their side.” He grimly stated, making Hilda’s eyes widened, before confessing wholeheartedly, “But I truly believe that the best way to finding Dimitri is by taking out the empire first. Once the empire is out of the way, the Faerghus dukedom would lose their imperial support and the Alliance would be in a more stable status to provide aid to the loyalists. Also, once we defeat the empire, it would become easy to conduct a country-wide search for both Dimitri and Dedue.”
“And considering that Rhea has appointed you as her successor, the church will join whichever faction you choose to support.” Claude added, laying everything out in the open, “Whichever faction the church supports would give that faction a moral cause, making it easier to receive support. But, Teach…”
“The empire is the bigger threat in this war. If we don’t strike them soon, they would be able to rally their troops and change their deployments in various territories, including the imperial troops they lent to the Faerghus dukedom.” He knew that his next words would be manipulating her feelings but he also knew that she would understand what he’s trying to say, “The fastest way to find Dimitri is to take down the empire. Without the empire, the dukedom will lose a significant amount of power and Dimitri would be safe from both the dukedom and the empire.”
“And, above all, your knowledge and strength are indispensable if we hope to stand a chance against the Imperial army.” He admitted, his darker green eyes staring straight into her lighter green eyes, “Without you, my schemes are nothing. Just words.”
He let go of her wrist and instead offered his hand to her as his heart ache, remembering the time he had offered the same hand to the man whose name he was now using for his own gain, “Together, we can end this war quickly, Teach. Then we can go search for Dimitri…”
“Together.”
She stared at her for a full minute and Claude wanted to squirm at her stoic expression but managed to stop himself, keeping his eyes trained on her. She raised her hand but didn’t take his, instead to raise it until it was by his cheek.
He winced when she flicked his ear as she said fondly, “Idiot.”
“Really, Teach?” Claude groaned as he rubbed his ear, “I pour my heart out and you insult me?”
Her lips curved into a fond smile and she placed her hand over the hand by his ear as she admitted, “I am worried about Dimitri, that’s true, but you’re still my students. You, Hilda, and everyone in Golden Deer are my fawns. Of course I’ll do everything in my power to help you all.”
She closed her eyes as she said, “As your professor, as your friend…”
She opened her eyes and smiled softly at Claude as she said, “And as your family.”
His lips trembled and he smiled back, “Thank you, Abje.”
“Abje?” She repeated, tilting her head slightly.
He blushed lightly as he explained, “It means ‘sister’.”
“O-oh.” Her lips curved into a pleased smile as she added, “I’ve always wanted a younger sibling.”
Her smile became teasing as she added, “I guess you’ll have to do.”
“Oh, come on, Teach.” He chuckled lightly.
“I’m back to Teach now, am I?” She raised an eyebrow at him.
“Abje is only for special occasions.” He said with a nod.
“This is all so sweet and heartwarming, truly.” Hilda said sweetly and they both turned towards her. She smiled and tilted her head slightly as she commented, “It would have been so much sweeter if we weren’t in the middle of all these rumbles, you know? This place is a mess. We can’t very well make our base in a ruin!”
Hilda sighed and placed her index finger against her cheek as she said, “And repairing it sounds like a lot of work…”
“I wonder if anyone would be willing to help us out with that?” The pink-haired Goneril mused, making both Claude and their professor smile.
“Knowing you, Hilda, I’m sure we’ll find someone soon enough.” Claude commented, making their profesor chuckle.
They did find someone to help with the cleaning up and the monastery was starting to look like its former glory. Many someones, in fact, as Claude and Hilda tagteamed into making the knights feel guilty over leaving Garreg Mach.
And, just as Claude had predicted, the Knights of Seiros immediately bowed down to the Golden Deer’s professor and joined forces with them. He still can’t call them an army though. Not counting the Knights of Seiros and their battalions, they only had his Immortal Corp battalion, Jeralt’s mercenaries, the battalion of Gloucester Knights that accompanied Lorenz and was loyal to him, and the Ordelia Sorcery Co. battalion Lysithea had received from her parents. The two ordered their battalions to stay in the monastery while they checked out the abandoned town to make sure that the monastery was secure. Annette and Mercedes didn’t have any battalions with them but they had sent a letter a week ago addressed to Felix and a magic squadron battalion from the Kingdom arrived in Garreg Mach a day ago together with a letter addressed to their professor.
Curious about the letter, Claude decided to look for Teach later that evening after dinner.
He finally found her in the greenhouse, standing in front of the flowerbed where anemones used to bloom. The anemones have long died out and all of the usable soil were being used to grow fruits and vegetables. Right now, the flowerbed she was standing in front of were growing potatoes and the flowers of these potatoes were blooming. By tomorrow morning, all of these flowers would be removed to ensure that the potato would be larger and healthier.
Claude walked inside the greenhouse and stopped next to the mint-haired woman, turning to face her. She was holding the letter in her hands and was deep in thought. He turned to face the flowers and waited for her to finish. When he saw her turn to face him from the corner of his eyes, he turned as well and asked, “Good news?”
“Not really.” She replied, folding the letter as she explained, “It’s from Rodrigue.”
“Duke Fraldarius?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
She nodded before informing him, “Dimitri introduced us a year… I mean, five years ago. He was like a second father to Dimitri and he cared for Dimitri like a son.”
“What did he have to say?” He asked curiously.
“He apologized for not being able to send reinforcement and he gave me a brief summary on what’s happening in Faerghus at the moment.” She replied, making him blink.
“Really? That’s a bit surprising.” He admitted, rubbing his chin as he commented, “I mean, you two met once and now he’s sending you reports?”
“Well…” She stared at him as she said solemnly, “There is something I need to tell you, Claude.”
“Is it about the Sword of the Creator?” Claude asked, more curious about the letter now that she was trying to change the subject. He let her though as he was also curious why she wasn’t wielding the Sword of the Creator ever since they reunited.
“Hm?” She blinked at him twice before lowering her head to look at her hips, “Oh, right.”
She raised her head to stare at him as she informed him, “I lost it.”
They stared at each other for a few moments.
Before Claude finally repeated loudly in a ludicrous tone, “You lost it?!”
She sighed as she nodded before explaining, “When I woke up, it wasn’t anywhere near me. I asked the man who found me if he saw it but he said no.”
“You lost… the Sword of the Creator?” Claude repeated once more, making her nod silently.
“I need to sit down.” He said before sitting on the ground. He took a deep breath as she sat next to him. He stared at the flowers in front of them as he thought out loud, “It makes sense since you dropped the sword five years ago. It probably drifted away. Best case scenario, one of our allies found it and is keeping it safe. Good case scenario, it’s either lost somewhere no one can find it or in the hands of someone who doesn’t know what it is. Worst case scenario, our enemy has it.”
“You don’t think the empire has it, do you?” She asked, frowning.
“The empire having it would be a bad scenario. We shouldn’t forget about Kronya’s group.” Claude reminded her. He recognized the hate in her eyes at the name of her father’s killer but pressed on, “We know they’re working with Edelgard but we can’t be sure that they’re part of the empire or they’re an altogether different faction that is just working with the empire.”
Claude frowned slightly as he added, “Solon pretty much implied that they were interested in the Sword of the Creator.”
She sighed and turned to face the flowers as well as she said, “I’m sorry, Claude. I…”
She closed her eyes as she admitted, “I didn’t really think of it that much since I woke up. There were just… more important things to think about.”
His eyes softened, understanding what she meant, and he turned his head to stare at her as he whispered, “I’m sorry, Abje.”
She opened her eyes and tilted her head towards him in a silent question which he answered, “I… no, we searched for five years but we still couldn’t find Dimitri. I’m sorry for failing you.”
Her grip on the letter in her hands tightened and she shook her head as she said, “It’s not your fault, Claude. It’s nobody’s fault.”
“But-”
“Dimitri’s alright.” She said with much conviction that it surprised him. She covered her right hand with her left and rubbed the skin where her fingers and palm met with her right thumb as she explained, “He’s strong and he has Dedue with him. Wherever they are, I believe they’re alright.”
She smiled softly at him as she said, “And I also believe that everything’s going to be alright in the end, Claude.”
“Byleth!” They turned towards the entrance and one of Jeralt’s mercenaries rushed inside. He blinked when he saw Claude before saying, “Oh, good. You’re here too!”
“What’s wrong?” Teach’s voice was clear and void of any emotions as she turned to face the older man with a stoic expression on her face.
“Imperial troops are marching right to us.” He explained, “Seteth has ordered us to mobilize so we can intercept them before they can enter the monastery.”
“Okay.” She nodded at the mercenary and began walking out of the greenhouse as she called out, “Let’s go, Claude.”
“Got it, Teach.” He replied as he walked right beside her, leaving the privacy of the greenhouse and into another battlefield.
The defense of Garreg Mach wasn’t really anything to note.
They managed to stop them from entering the monastery and his fire attack had worked due to Raphael and Alois luring the main bulk of the imperial troops to the designated area with their loud (and cheerful) taunts. They were also able to cut off anyone from fleeing by having Catherine and Shamir go around and attack them from behind with Annette and Mercedes acting as their magical support. Catherine took care of the ground units and Mercedes healed her whenever necessary or provided magical support using fire spells while Shamir and Annette obliterated the air units with their arrows and wind spells.
But this also showed them that they were in dire need of more soldiers and supplies. If it took them this many personnels to keep the monastery safe, they would need more if they plan to attack any imperial stronghold while keeping the monastery as their base of operation. Because of this, they decided to ask for reinforcements from House Daphnel. House Daphnel was a member of the anti-imperial faction and he personally knew the head of House Daphnel Judith von Daphnel, also known as the Hero of Daphnel. Annette had also sent a letter addressed to Felix once more but, considering the regular skirmishes the Blaiddyd loyalists had with Cornelia’s Faerghus dukedom, they weren’t really holding their breath for a positive reply from the loyalists.
Judith had agreed to provide them with more soldiers and had suggested they meet up in Ailell, the Valley of Torment. It was a good idea as the valley was between Galatea and Daphnel territories, two well-known anti-imperial territories.
It was also horribly, uncomfortably hot.
Uncomfortable was not even enough to describe what they were all feeling at the moment.
Teach had tried taking off her coat which Annette and Hilda had stopped, much to her annoyance. Claude had jokingly suggested Marianne used Blizzard to bring some cool air which made Seteth scold him for ‘wasting precious resources’.
Annette did cast Wind once and they got a blast of hot air for their troubles which only made everyone grumpier.
It made sense in hindsight since all Wind-type spells used the air around them, so if the air is hot, it would stand to reason that the wind spell would be hot as well.
All-in-all, everyone was certainly in a bad mood when they got ambushed by knights from House Rowe, a known supporter of the Faerghus dukedom.
He wasn’t sure if this meant that the letter Annette had sent was intercepted (possible but doubtful as Claude had personally picked the best messenger from House Riegan), someone in the Blaiddyd loyalists faction was a spy (likely) or someone in House Daphnel was a spy (also likely) or someone in their Alliance army was a spy (also likely).
Regardless of where the information had been leaked, the fact remained that they now had to engage knights from House Rowe in the middle of a valley filled with lava and burning craters they could accidentally stepped on.
The good news was that the craters also stopped the mounted knights from mowing them down with their horses. The bad news was that it stopped their own mounted units as well. They had more flying units than House Rowe but the enemies also had battalions of snipers on their side so they had to proceed with caution.
They decided on splitting their units into two groups and take the leader down with a pincer attack. Claude would lead their flying units around as they would have better mobility and could travel faster.
It would have worked but then House Rowe received reinforcement, blocking Claude’s advancement.
Things began to look dire as they were pinned down by the continuous rain of arrows that their wyverns desperately tried to dodge.
“CYRIL!” He heard Hilda cry out and his eyes widened as he saw Cyril’s wyvern trash in mid-air as arrows skewer its hide.
Cyril’s grip on his wyvern faltered and Claude acted on instinct as he saw the young man start to fall.
His wyvern flew towards the falling boy as fast as it could but the continuous dodging they had to do to not get hit by the arrows kept the wyvern from gaining enough momentum.
Claude could only watch in horror as Cyril began to fall straight into the lava below.
Then a horse came galloping out of nowhere and jumped towards the lava itself while it's rider caught Cyril in his arms.
The horse used the floating rocks in the lava to cross towards the safe ground so quickly that Claude actually had a hard time keeping it in his sights.
Once the horse crossed the lava, it galloped straight towards the snipers and Claude finally caught a clear sight of the rider as he heard Cyril shout, “Ashe?!”
Ashe rushed passed the snipers, aiming his bow into the sky as he fired right into the air once he was in the middle of the snipers who could only dodge away from the lone bow knight.
The tip of the arrow he shot to the sky was glowing brightly and Claude realized that the tip was made of crystal. The glow it emitted was similar to the glow of the lighting crystal Ignatz had used when he had started his study of Reason magic.
A moment later, when Ashe’s horse was far away from the snipers, a rain of arrows fell down on the snipers’ position, decimating them completely as Ashe pulled the reins of his horse, forcing it to stop right in front of Claude.
“Hey, everyone.” The grey-haired knight greeted with a smile, “It’s good to see you all again.”
“Good to se-” Hilda’s wyvern circled on top of Ashe for a moment before landing right in front of him, making Claude’s wyvern flew out of the way, as she asked in a ludicrous tone, “What do you feed your horse?! How was it able to do all that movements?!”
“O-o-oh, that?” Ashe rubbed the back of his head as his cheeks turned pink, “Well, Faerghus has a lot of uneven terrain so we train our horses to be able to cross them as safely as possible. It’s really nothing special.”
Hilda turned to stare at Claude with wide eyes and he knew she was trying to silently ask him just how dangerous was Faerghus’ terrain for their horses doing crazy death-defying stunts in such a speed would be considered ‘nothing special’.
Claude was just wondering if Sylvain had been holding out all these time when he sparred with Lorenz while both of them were mounted.
A moment later, a battalion of bow knights galloped towards them and one of them called out, “Sir Ashe, your orders?”
Ashe’s kind expression became grim as he turned towards his battalion and ordered, “We will be following Duke Riegan’s orders for now! The enemies are members of House Rowe! They have betrayed House Blaiddyd by bowing down to those imperial dogs and we shall make them an example of what happens to those who betray House Blaiddyd!”
“Yes, sir!” The battalion shouted loudly.
Ashe turned back towards Claude and Hilda and smiled once more as he said, “I’ll follow your orders for now, Claude. I’m not as good as the other knights yet but I’ll do my best to help.”
“And we should be going. The professor would most probably be already fighting Gwendal.” Seteth reminded them before turning towards Cyril, “Cyril, Flayn has your wyvern. It’s heavily wounded but she’s sure it will recover.”
“That’s good.” Cyril said as he sighed in relief.
Seteth turned towards Claude as he informed him, “Flayn will return with the wounded if that’s alright with you, Claude?”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea. Also, tell Flayn that she should warn Catherine and Manuela that there may be a spy in the monastery. We don’t know where the leak came from but it would be better if we start having our meetings in a more secure location.” Claude said, making Seteth nod, obviously already had the same conclusion as Claude.
“I will tell her now.” Seteth turned towards Cyril and asked, “Would you like to accompany them back to the monastery, Cyril?”
“No, I’d like to stay and help.” Cyril turned towards Claude and asked, “Maybe I can sit with one of your wyvern riders? I can still use my bow.”
Claude grinned as he said, “Come on, Cyril, hop on. You can back me up.”
The young Almyran’s face shone with determination as he said, “Thanks, Claude. I won’t let you down.”
Claude maneuvered his wyvern so it was right next to Ashe’s horse and Cyril jumped off the horse towards Claude’s wyvern. Once the young man was secured behind him, Claude ordered, “Let’s go!”
By the time they reached Teach, the battle was almost over. He was surprised to see Judith in the midst of the battlefield, attacking Rowe’s greatest knight, Gwendal, together with their professor. The sky was filled with House Rowe’s Pegasus Knights and a lone battalion of Pegasus Knights that weren’t theirs. He saw Ashe and his bow knight battalion rushed to assist the other Pegasus Knights so he assumed they were also part of the reinforcement from the loyalists.
Trusting that Teach had it under control, he and Seteth rushed to aid their Pegasus Knights allies while Hilda supported their ground units.
Amidst the battle, one of the Pegasus Knights impaled an enemy Pegasus Knight that was rushing Claude’s wyvern and both Almyran’s lips curved into a smile when they recognize the rider.
“Hey, Ingrid. You look good.” Claude jokingly said with a wink.
“And you’re the same as always, Claude.” Ingrid chuckled softly, knowing that the dark-haired man was joking. She blinked when she noticed the young man riding behind Claude and said, “Cyril, is that you? By the goddess, you’ve certainly grown!”
“It’s good to see you too, Ingrid.” Cyril replied, smiling at the Pegasus Knight.
“Let’s catch up once we take care of all these party crashers, okay?” Claude casually said, making both of them nod.
“We’ll follow your and the Professor’s orders for now, Claude.” Ingrid said seriously, “Please don’t hesitate to order us.”
“I’ll take you up on that order.” Claude nodded and pointed at the mages supporting Gwendal from the north, “Take your Pegasus Knights and take those mages out from behind. Once Gwendal is oit of the picture, the rest should surrender or retreat. We’ll keep the enemy fliers busy.”
“Understood!” Ingrid nodded and clicked her tongue, ordering her pegasus to move.
As Ingrid flew away from them, Claude couldn’t help but shout, “You look nice with short hair, Ingrid!”
Ingrid laughed and turned around to shout back, “And the beard looks nice on you too, Claude!”
Feeling Cyril staring at him with a disappointed look, he defended, “What? It does look nice.”
Cyril rolled his eyes and said instead, “Let’s finish this first, okay?”
Claude laughed and commented cheerfully, “You need to loosen up a bit, Cyril.”
Instead of replying to him, Cyril ordered the older man’s wyvern.
In Almyran…
Claude was momentarily surprised as the wyvern did as Cyril commanded, turning to stare at the young man. Cyril only raised an eyebrow at him and Claude chuckled before joining the fight once more.
Once Ingrid’s Pegasus Knights had taken care of the mages, Gwendal was easily overpowered by both Judith and their professor.
However, Gwendal refused to surrender even though he was heavily injured, his horse was already gone and the rest of his soldiers that weren’t dead had either retreated or surrendered.
Claude respected the man but he also thought of him as a fool. Looking at the faces of their allies from the kingdom, he realized that they understood why Gwendal would rather choose death than to surrender.
Teach placed her hand on Judith’s shoulder, stopping her from attacking Gwendal once more. Judith turned towards her and she whispered something Claude couldn’t hear but whatever she said made Judith nod at her before sheathing her rapier and stepping back.
The mint-haired woman sheathed her sword as well and ordered, “Ashe, I need to borrow your sword.”
“Yes, Professor!” Ashe’s horse galloped towards her and he presented his sword to her. She took it and Claude could see that it wasn’t just a normal silver sword. He could barely see it from where he was but Ashe and Ingrid had told him before that when a knight was dubbed in Faerghus, they would receive a silver sword with the Faerghus coat of arms on the rain guard. Some knight orders would also have a lion’s or a wolf’s head on the pommel. From where he was standing, he could see that the pommel of Ashe’s sword was a wolf.
Gwendal readied his shield and axe as she walked calmly towards him, “I am Gwendal, the Gray Lion, a knight by the hand of Count Rowe! Do your worst!”
“Gray Lion…” Her voice was cold as she announced, “For betraying House Blaiddyd and aiding the Adestrian Empire, your punishment is death.”
Gwendal placed his shield in front of him and she raised her hand, a magic circle appearing on her palm. Gwendal shouted as lava erupted from the ground he was standing in. He dropped both his shield and sword as he fell on his knees, smoke coming from his burned armor. She stopped right in front of Gwendal and he raised his head to stare at her. She must have said something to him because Claude saw the older knight’s eyes widened before he laughed. He stared at her as he said, “Is that so? Well, there would be no greater death than this then. Go on, do your duty, you-”
He didn’t get to finish what he was going to say as she had sliced his head clean off with one horizontal slash.
And with the death of the Gray Lion, the ambush in Ailell ended with the Alliance army’s victory.
Once they were certain that they were safe for the time being, they were finally able to talk to Judith. He would have liked it more if Judith hadn’t made those little jabs about him but he was still grateful that she had kept her promise in bringing both soldiers and supplies. He was mildly surprised by Judith’s declaration that she would be joining their army and the confirmation that Rhea was in the empire.
But if she was, why hasn’t Edelgard announced it?
To keep the Knights of Seiros from charging straight to Enbarr perhaps?
Once it was decided that she was going with them back to the monastery (she left Daphnel territory to Nader? Seriously?), Ingrid finally spoke, “It’s good to see you again, Professor.”
They all turned to look at both Ingrid and Ashe. Their professor nodded at them as she said, “Thank you for coming to our aid, Ingrid, Ashe.”
“It was the least we can do considering the circumstances.” Ingrid replied as she bowed, “Duke Fraldarius sends his regards and would like to apologize for not being able to provide more support.”
The mint-haired woman shook her head as she said, “It’s okay, Ingrid. I understand. The protection of the borders is important.”
“Does that mean you won’t be coming with us?” Hilda asked from behind their professor with a slight frown.
“As much as it pains me to say but, yes, I’m afraid I cannot come back to the monastery with you.” Ingrid replied sadly at Hilda before turning to face Teach once more as she said, “But please do not hesitate to ask for assistance. We will do everything we can to help in anyway.”
“Thank you, Ingrid.” She nodded and took out a letter from her coat. She handed the letter Ingrid as she said, “Please give this to Rodrigue.”
“Of course, Professor. I will personally give this to Duke Fraldarius.” Ingrid took the letter and placed it inside her chest armor.
“Ingrid might not be able to come back but I’ve been given permission to stay with you.” Ashe said, blushing as he added, “I mean, if you guys are alright with that.”
“Alright with that?” Hilda repeated before giggling, “Oh, Ashe, if it means we get to keep you and your horse, we’ll happily trade Lorenz.”
“I beg your pardon?” Lorenz said scandalously, making everyone laugh.
“Relax, Lorenz, I’m just joking.” Hilda patted her friend’s back before she admitted, “But, in all seriousness, you should have seen how Ashe’s horse moved. I’m sure you’d be impressed.”
Lorenz hummed before turning his attention to Ashe as he asked, “Perhaps we can have a demonstration back in the monastery?”
“Oh, sure.” Ashe nodded as he agreed with a cheerful smile, “I’m sure my battalion would also be interested in seeing the Gloucester knights in action too.”
“Okay, before these two boys start planning their playdate…” Judith cut both of them off and turned to face Claude, “It’s about that Blaiddyd boy you’ve been looking for these past five years.”
Everyone immediately became quiet and turned to stare at Judith. She blinked at the intense reaction but didn’t call it out. Instead, she informed them, “One of our men in House Ordelia heard a rumor that a blond man and a man from Duscur were seen passing through the territory, going south.”
Lorenz’s eyes widened as he said, “South? That would mean…”
“Myrddin.” Claude said grimly, turning to stare at the mint-haired woman who was now staring at him, “He’s going to cross Myrddin to imperial territory.”
With the news (rumors) that Dimitri and Dedue were moving to Gronder Field, everyone was suddenly moving as quickly as they could. Reinforcement from House Daphnel only had a few days of rest before they were being mobilized to the Great Bridge Myrrdin. It was a risky plan but if they wanted to get to Dimitri and Dedue before they cross to imperial territory, they had to act fast.
The plan was simple. Claude had been able to contact Nader and his retainer was able to gather some men to make a few ruckus in the northern part of Gloucester territory. Ingrid was also able to quickly inform the loyalist army and the old Blue Lion students got permission to assist in the operation. They, on the other hand, attacked Gloucester territory from the west, forcing House Gloucester to recall all of their troops from Myrddin just to defend against both attacks.
Once the troops have been recalled, the Alliance army attacked the great bridge before they could call for reinforcement from House Hrym or House Bergliez.
The bridge was defended by a general flying a wyvern. No one really cared that much to know her name as they were all focused on getting Myrddin as soon as possible so they could catch the missing prince and his retainer before they get to imperial territory. Due to the lack of troops from House Gloucester, they were able to take control of half the bridge before Acheron appeared from behind them with some of his troops.
Lorenz was more than happy to take care of Acheron while the rest of them kept pressing forward. Claude was sure their purple-haired friend would enjoy finally removing Acheron from Leicester.
The female general was within their sights when Ferdinand appeared with reinforcement from the empire. He tried to block their path but Lysithea used her anti-cavalry spell to stop him in his tracks and Marianne used her ice spell to keep him immobilized.
No one dared to say anything about how Lysithea’s spell was weaker than usual so it only spooked Ferdinand’s horse.
With Ferdinand immobilized and the rest of the reinforcement taken out by the rain of arrows from Leonie and Ignatz, that only left the wyvern general.
She had the skills to back up her high position but she was simply no match for their professor.
Especially right now where time was of the essence. Even without the Sword of the Creator, she was able to take her down using a silver bow and a few well-placed shots to her wyvern.
Even when her wyvern was down, the general still continued to fight and it seemed like she had no intention to surrender.
It was unfortunate as she had been a strong and talented general but they didn’t have time to give mercy to someone who did not want to yield.
As such, she fell to the professor’s silver sword without a second thought from any of them.
With the fall of the wyvern general, they asked Ferdinand to yield who had refused.
… so they knocked him out instead.
They would reason that he was still the head of House Aegir and, while House Aegir was stripped off their nobility, he was still a valuable political hostage.
The imperial troops who surrendered were sent to Garreg Mach together with Ferdinand. With the news of Myrddin under Alliance control, the loyalists who joined the operation met with them on the bridge.
With Duke Fraldarius of all people…
The duke had asked for permission in staying on the bridge together with a part of the loyalist army to look for their missing prince and his retainer in exchange for an official alliance with Leicester. Claude, of course, accepted the offer.
The next step would be to unite Leicester Alliance and, as such, he had asked Lysithea, Lorenz, Hilda and Marianne to return to their respective territories to talk to the head of their house. The Knights of Seiros had already left with the prisoners to ensure the security of the monastery. He suggested the rest to return as well to check things in the alliance but they had refused, asking instead to remain in Myrddin and help with the search.
He wanted to invite Teach back to Riegan territory but he knew she would refuse. She, of all the people in this bridge, had a reason to stay.
He knew it the moment he saw Duke Fraldarius give House Blaiddyd’s hero relic, Areadbhar, to her.
Claude was sure that something was wrong with Teach. He had been receiving reports from Leonie who stayed behind in Myrddin while he and the rest of the Golden Deer students and Seteth returned to Alliance territory to get everything in order. According to Leonie, she had been getting sick daily and her movements were slower than normal.
Not to mention, more troops from the loyalist army journeyed to Myrddin as well. If they weren’t allied with the loyalists, Claude would actually consider it a ploy to invade the Leicester region. The appearance of House Galatea’s Luin and House Fraldarius’ Aegis shield and Sword of Moralta did not help at all. He was surprised the Lance of Ruin weren’t in the Gautier heir’s hands right now but he read that it was because Margrave Gautier was using it to keep their borders safe from the dukedom with the bare minimal troops.
Once he heard the news, he had tried to get everything in the alliance in order as soon as he could. Nader had managed to get him his albino wyvern, Omar, during that time. Albino wyverns were rare in Fodlan and they were a sign of royalty in Almyra.
Not that the people of Fodlan knew about that…
Omar was gifted to him when he was five years old and they grew up together. He had to leave Omar in Almyra when he was taken in by his grandfather but his childhood friend seemed to remember him well. Which was good as Teach (his wyvern) had just started her first heat cycle and would be incapable of flying for a month or so.
Hopefully, when they finally reunite with Dimitri, he could tell both of them the significant of the albino wyvern and his plans for the future.
When he had managed to get to Myrddin, he heard that she had joined the Blaiddyd loyalists in crossing the bridge and going to Gronder Field a day ago. Thankfully, his wyvern managed to catch up with them before they got to Gronder Field.
Unfortunately, this meant that the Alliance army was a day away from their current location which meant the Alliance army was only Hilda, Cyril, Flayn, Seteth and their battalions. If they counted Leonie, Raphael, Ignatz, Teach and their battalions, it wouldn’t even make up half of their actual number.
He had a bad feeling about this.
And then, when he did meet up with Teach, they informed him that they had gotten reports that Dimitri and Dedue were most probably near Gonder Field by now.
He has no idea what Dimitri was thinking but he sure knew what he was going to say and do once he actually meets up with the dumb prince (unofficially king).
They also received reports that the empire had amassed an army marching to Gronder Field as well, led by Edelgard herself.
Scratch that. Claude knew what Dimitri was thinking but he still didn’t understand why he was doing this.
Word of Teach’s survival should have already reached him. Even if he and Dedue were on the run, they were still in Leicester region. Even if he may have not heard of her survival, he should have at least heard about the Alliance’s movements.
If so, why hasn’t he tried to contact him at the very least?
But they were still a day away from Gronder Field so he should focus on what he could possibly fix and that would be making sure she was alright.
With Gronder Field just a day away, he had to make sure she was alright or he would personally tie her to a horse and have Leonie take her back to Garreg Mach to see Manuela.
He finally found her at night time by the hill overlooking the vast land they would have to travel to get to Gronder Field tomorrow. She was standing next to a lone tree, singing softly. He raised an eyebrow at the two silent Kingdom knights standing guards near her. They bowed at him but did not say anything which he just accepted.
… for now.
He’ll grill Ingrid about them later.
He walked towards her and stopped right behind her, listening to her song. It seemed like it was a short song as she stopped singing soon enough and just started to hum. He listened to her hum for a few moments and waited until the humming started to repeat before he said, “I never heard you sing before.”
She stopped humming and turned to face him. The moonlight gave her an ethereal glow that made him remember that she had received the goddess’ power.
And that worried him.
Because what could possibly affect someone who had the goddess’ power so badly that they would start to get sick?
What if… her mortal body was never meant to keep such power in the first place?
“Rhea sang it to me once.” She admitted, placing her left finger over her right as she rubbed the skin between her fingers and the back of her hand. She turned to stare at the starry sky as she explained, “But I think Sothis made the song. I only heard it once but I can remember it clearly.”
“Are you saying that you can access the goddess’ memories?” He asked as he took a few steps so they were standing side by side.
She shook her head as she clarified, “No. I think… maybe Sothis sang it to me while I was asleep.”
“Oh.” He was a bit disappointed but mostly relieved.
If she had access to the goddess’ memories, what’s to say that those memories weren’t going to affect her negatively in the long run?
“Abje…” He called out as he turned to stare at her. She turned to face him and the moonlight hit her hand, making Claude blink when he realized.
“... Is that… an engagement ring?!” He asked, unable to control his voice, as he stared at the ring on her right ring finger.
He would have mistaken it for one of those rings with a magically infused crystal that augmented the wearer’s physical or magical attributes but the ring on her hand was a silver flared ring with a green gem in the middle. No augmented rings would be that fancy.
She was silent for a few seconds before she replied, “... No…”
“Oh.” He blinked and noticed that she wasn’t meeting his eyes. His eyes widened when he realized that the ring was on her right hand so he asked, “Is that a wedding ring?!”
She remained quiet for a few moments before nodding.
His jaw dropped at that revelation.
It was obvious who she was married to and he would have remembered seeing her wear a ring during their academic days (she didn’t) so the next question would be:
“When did you get married?!”
She raised her head to stare at him as she sheepishly replied, “The night you left us in the greenhouse… before Adrestia attacked…”
“And I wasn’t invited?!” He asked ludicrously.
“We didn’t plan to get married there and then.” She defended with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she explained, “Dimitri gave me a ring and I gave him a ring then Seteth came in looking for me and… well… he saw us exchanging rings and asked if we wanted him to perform a short ceremony.”
She shrugged as she continued, “We agreed because it seemed like the right idea at the time? I mean, it was official and binding since Seteth is a church official but we were planning on marrying again once everything was over.”
“Wow, Abje. I’m hurt. I’m actually really, really hurt.” He commented, making sure that each word was emphasized for maximum damage.
“It was a really short ceremony.” She said with a sheepish smile.
“Uh-huh.” He nodded with a raised eyebrow.
“It was just the three of us.” She added.
He stared at her silently.
“... and Dedue.” She confessed.
“Oh, come on!”
The morning that the loyalist army and the alliance army marched to Gronder Field, Hilda’s wyvern flew right next to him as she said curiously, “You’re unusually fired up today, Claude.”
“Pretty much.” He replied, glancing down where their professor was riding a horse given to her by Duke Fraldarius.
“Can I ask why?” His partner-in-crime asked.
“Well, my dear Hilda, I just found out something and I need to yell at Dimitri about it.” He said vaguely. As much as he wanted to complain to Hilda about it, he didn’t feel like he had the right to actually tell anyone about their professor being secretly married to the missing prince of Faerghus.
… the royal… prince…
Oh, sweet merciful Almyran gods.
Teach was the princess consort of Faerghus!
He almost didn’t hear Hilda’s scandalous (and absolutely romance novel worthy) guess, “... Did he get the Professor pregnant and the real reason why the Professor doesn’t want us to know who had saved her was because she left their child with them?!”
“What? No! I mean, a child?!” He finally turned to stare at Hilda with wide eyes as his brain actually stopped working for a second, already bombarded by the realization that Teach was now royalty and Hilda’s guess only turned everything into a big mush.
“Is there?!” Hilda asked back with wide eyes as well.
“I’m asking you!” Claude could only shout back.
From behind them, Seteth and Cyril sighed and shook their heads while Flayn giggled.
Gronder Field was a nightmare.
There was no other way to describe it.
When they had reached the field, the imperial army was already engaged in a fight with Dimitri and Dedue. Claude could barely see them as they were surrounded by imperial troops which in turn made the loyalists lose sight of the bigger picture and they joined in to aid their liege without any proper plan.
Almost as if they anticipated the loyalists’ fatalistic blind loyalty, the empire sent crest beasts into the field once the loyalists started to charge and Edelgard appeared, wielding the Sword of the Creator of all things.
That’s when everything dissolved into utter chaos.
Claude wasn’t sure where everyone was anymore. The crest beasts that the empire had sent were winged monstrosities. Every beat of their wings caused a small dust storm to appear, causing poor visibility for both sides. He and Cyril managed to stay together but he wasn’t sure where Hilda, Seteth or Flayn were.
He wasn’t even sure where their ground units were as well.
All he could do was follow the red light of a hero relic being used, hoping it was their missing professor or maybe Ingrid with Luin.
If it was Edelgard, he’ll take a shot too but finding his family was more important right now.
Thankfully, the light did come from the hero relic Areadbhar.
But his blood ran cold when he saw that she was surrounded by imperial soldiers with their lances poised to strike her down. A few feet away, he could barely see the carcasses of three crest beasts and he briefly wondered if she had taken those out all by herself.
She was covered in so much blood and he could only hope it wasn’t hers.
She wobbled on her feet and the imperial soldiers charged her.
“Abje!” He shouted as he and Cyril shot down the soldiers from the sky. She rushed the two soldiers in front of her and cleaved them in half using the relic in her hands before falling on her knees.
Thankfully, he and Cyril managed to take down the others before they can get to her. Cyril stayed in the air, keeping watch, while he landed his wyvern right next to her and jumped off, rushing to her side as he shouted, “Abje!”
He knelt next to her and looked her over. She was breathing heavily, holding onto the hero relic in her hands. The blood didn’t seem to be hers.
Except the large wound on her left thigh.
“We need to get you to a healer!” He said worriedly, grabbing her arm.
“No!” She pushed him away and used Areadbhar to push herself back to her feet, “I saw him, Claude! I saw Dimitri!”
“Abje-”
“He was just right there!” She shouted as tears fell from her eyes, “I almost… I almost… If they hadn’t come, I could have gotten to him!”
“I get it, Abje! I’ll go meet with Dimitri myself, okay?” He tried to suggest, grabbing her arm, “Please, Abje. Let Cyril take you to a healer and I’ll find Dimitri myself.”
“No, Claude! I have to see him!” She was hysterical and he felt like his heart would stop as it reminded him of another time where he saw someone dear to him become hysterical as well, “I have to make sure he’s safe! I don’t have any left! I used them all because of them! I used all of my div-”
“CLAUDE!” Cyril’s loud scream was all the warning they got as one of the winged crest beast flew towards them, almost hitting Cyril.
Claude’s wyvern covered them with its wings and he held her in his arms to protect her as a blast of wind hit them, sending dust everywhere.
“We have to go, Abje!” Claude shouted as he pulled her towards his wyvern while Cyril tried to keep the beast’s attention to him.
“No!” She screamed, trying to pull away from Claude as she screamed, “No, Claude! Let me go! He’s right there! He was right there! Dimitri! DIMITRI!”
“I’m sorry, Abje! We need to leave this place and get you healed!”
“I’m fine! I’m fi-” She wasn’t able to finish her sentence as she suddenly retched, vomiting on the ground in front of her.
A few seconds after she finished, she became limp in his arms which caused Claude to panic, “Abje!”
He quickly turned her towards him. She was still breathing but she seemed to have lost consciousness. Her skin was too pale to be healthy and her breathing was too shallow to be normal.
“Damn it.” He cursed and hurriedly got on his wyvern with her in front of him, her legs over his right leg while her back was resting on his left arm and her head was resting on his left shoulder. She held Areadbhar in her grips tight and Claude had to move her hands so that Areadbhar was pressing against her chest and not dangling in the air.
As his wyvern flew towards the sky, Cyril shouted, “I’ll lead this away! Take the professor to safety!”
“Cyril, no!” His shout fell in deaf ears as Cyril’s wyvern flew away from them and the winged crest beast flew after him.
He could hear another pair of monstrous wings growing closer and closer to their position, coming from where she had been pointing. With a heavy heart and frustrated tears daring to fall from his eyes, he turned his wyvern towards the opposite way and flew off.
He wasn’t sure how far he flew or where the hell he was. The dust storms the winged beasts had created made checking for landmarks hard. He was just hoping that he wasn’t flying straight to imperial territory.
Then the dust storm cleared and he could see an army marching towards his direction. The sight of Lorenz’ purple hair and armor finally pushed the tears to fall out of sheer relief.
“Marianne!” He shouted as his wyvern flew towards them as fast as it could. The alliance army stopped their march and Claude landed his wyvern right in front of them.
“Professor!” Lorenz, Lysithea and Marianne shouted when they saw the unconscious woman in Claude’s arms and they rushed towards the two. Claude handed the mint-haired woman to Lorenz who gently laid her on the ground and Marianne knelt to her side, quickly checking her over.
“What in the Goddess’ name is happening, Claude?” Lorenz asked as Lysithea healed Claude’s numerous scraps and bruises while Marianne and her battalion focused on healing their unconscious professor.
Claude took a few deep breaths and saw Judith was now standing beside Lorenz. Claude rubbed the side of his face as he quickly summarized the situation, “Dimitri and Dedue were already fighting the empire when we got here. The loyalist army charged in to save them and we had no choice but to join them. The empire has these winged beasts that cause that dust storm you’re seeing so we couldn’t even see anything, much less properly coordinate with the rest of the army.”
“That’s the barebone of the situation.” Claude concluded before ordering, “Lorenz, Judith, I need you both to divide our army into two but keep them together when you enter the dust storm. The priority right now is to meet up with as much of our allies as possible and take down all the winged beasts so that the dust storm would dissipate.”
He turned towards Lorenz as he ordered, “Lorenz, you’re in charge of the mounted and flying units. Keep the bow, holy and dark knights in the middle while the other knights keep them safe. Use the flyers to scout ahead but keep them together as well and don’t let them stray too far from the main group.”
He got on his wyvern as he continued, “Judith, you take the rest of our units. Keep the magic users and archers in the middle and surround them with our armored and fortress knights. Lysithea, I want you in the middle of the mages and ready your Seraphim whenever you hear the loud beating of wings or feel a strong gust of wind.”
He turned towards Marianne and asked, “Marianne, is she…”
“The Professor is okay.” Marianne informed him, making everyone sigh in relief, “We’ll create a makeshift bed for her to rest in. We believe she’s only exhausted but we’ll cast a thorough diagnostic check once she’s in a bed to be sure.”
“That’s good.” He nodded before he ordered, “I need you and two other battalions of healers to stay here and create a healing station. Anyone gets badly hurt or if any of us finds allies who needs more than a Heal or a Physics, we’ll send them your way.”
“Okay.” Marianne nodded grimly.
“We won’t be able to coordinate properly but a fire spell should still be visible in the dust storm. Use them to keep tabs on each other’s position but always be prepared before using it as it might get the attention of the enemies.” He suggested before adding grimly, “Hopefully, our allies would understand the meaning of them and try to rendezvous with us.”
“And what would you doing, Claude?” Lorenz asked, worry evident in his voice.
His glanced at the unconscious mint-haired woman on the ground, surrounded by healers, before turning his attention to everyone as he declared, “I’m going to find Dimitri and Dedue.”
“That’s reckless.” Judith stated and tried to reason, “Don’t be an idiot, boy. If what you said is true then those boys would be in the middle of the imperial troops. Going in there alone without any backup-”
“I know but it’ll be harder to spot me if I’m alone and…” Claude’s grip on the reins of his wyvern tightened as he said, “I already lost them once five years ago. I’m not going to lose them again just when we finally found them.”
“I’m sick of losing people I care about.” He mumbled before staring at Judith as he said, “I’m sorry, Judith. You’re right, I’m being an idiot but this is one idiotic moment I’m going to follow through to the bitter end.”
“Go, Claude.” Lorenz said with a serious expression on his face. He placed his hand over one of Claude’s clenched fists as he said, “Find His Highness and Dedue for us. We will keep the enemies busy.”
“Yeah. We’ll make such a big ruckus they’ll forget about Dimitri and Dedue!” Lysithea added confidently as she placed her hand over Lorenz.
Marianne placed her hand over Lysithea’s hand as she said softly, “I am worried about Dimitri and Dedue as well but please, Claude, promise me that you’ll stay safe as well.”
Lorenz scoffed before commenting, “It would take more than this pathetic imperial tactic to take out our Master Schemer.”
Lysithea’s eyes widened as she asked in a surprised tone in her voice, “Did you… just compliment Claude?”
Lorenz blushed as he stuttered, “I-I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Marianne giggled and Claude felt tears fall from his eyes once more. He let go of the reins of his wyvern and pulled his three friends to an awkward but genuine group hug, making them all gasp.
“I promise I’ll stay safe so you guys stay safe too, okay?” He whispered at them and they wrapped their arms around him as well.
“Of course. Who do you think you’re talking to, idiot?” Lysithea mumbled.
“It is a noble’s duty to keep all those under his protection safe. I cannot do that if I am not safe myself, wouldn’t you say?” Lorenz replied in an almost haughty tone.
“I’ll stay here and keep everyone safe so don’t worry about me, okay?” Marianne whispered softly.
He tightened his hold on them for a moment and took a deep breath, taking in the smell of tea, cakes and lavender.
He let them go and nodded at them with a determined look on his face. They nodded back at him with the same determination in their eyes and Claude grabbed the reins once more.
His wyvern flew as the alliance army began to march once more.
Together, they entered the dust storm and into the chaos of Gronder Field.
He failed to find Dimitri and Dedue.
The poor visibility of the dust storm hindered his progress and made backtracking to his previous location hard.
The alliance army did manage to take out all the winged beasts and rendezvoused with the loyalist army in the end. Once the dust cleared, the empire started to retreat but Claude was forced to stop his search because his wyvern couldn’t fly anymore, already reached its limit a while back. With a heavy heart, he flew his wyvern back to the healing station Marianne had hastily built.
When he got there, it had become a base of operation for both the alliance and loyalist armies.
As his wyvern landed, he saw her walk towards him, wearing a simple long-sleeved white dress that made her mint-colored hair pop out. He dismounted from his wyvern and shook his head as he closed his eyes, unable to stop the frustrated tears from falling from his eyes. He felt her hand gently wipe his tears away and he opened his eyes once more. She smiled softly at him as she silently cried and pulled him towards her. He held her tightly and he couldn’t stop himself from sobbing as she whispered, “Thank you for doing your best, Claude.”
Reports were still coming in as they try to reorganize their armies and patrols were still sweeping Gronder Field for both survivors and stragglers.
Ashe and his battalion met up with the alliance army quickly once they started sending out the fire spells in the sky. With Ashe’s light crystal arrows, the other loyalists easily rendezvoused with them as well as they recognized the signal.
Everyone was surprised to hear Lorenz actually praise Claude for that idea… especially Claude.
Marianne and the other healers were working hard in healing the injured. The other magic users, including Lysithea and Lorenz, had joined in to help. They found Mercedes and Annette a few hours ago together and they were adamant in helping after getting healed by Marianne.
Felix and Leonie had dragged a wounded Sylvain in as well. It seemed the redhead had taken a blow for the Fraldarius heir but Marianne was sure he would make a full recovery.
Seteth, Flayn and Ingrid managed to band together and created their own flying army during the chaos. They also managed to save Cyril as they had been prioritizing the killing of the flying beasts and had been tracking the frantic beating of the beast’s wings as it tried to catch Cyril’s wyvern.
Ignatz and Raphael were also accounted for and they brought with them a battalion of healers and a lot of wounded allies. It seemed that during the dust storm, Ignatz and Raphael had focused on finding any of their allies when they managed to meet up with a battalion of healers with a heavily wounded commander. Together, they prioritized in getting as many injured allies into their care without alerting the enemies.
They had also received reports that Duke Fraldarius was alive and well, leading a battalion to search Gronger Field in hopes of finding the missing prince.
But no one has heard anything about Hilda.
As the sun began to set, a battered wyvern flew towards their camp. One of their snipers reported it was Hilda and Claude was immediately running towards the site they believed the wyvern would land. Most of their allies were either already resting or were still busy helping out so he was mildly surprised to see Raphael and Felix already waiting for the wyvern to land.
“Dedue!” He barely heard Raphael’s shout as Hilda got off her wyvern, holding an unconscious bleeding Dedue in her arms. Both of them were dirty and full of scrapes and bruises but it was clear that the blood on Hilda’s clothes were coming from the wound on Dedue’s head. Raphael immediately took Dedue from her and rushed him to the healing tent while Felix placed his hands on her shoulders to keep her upright.
She raised her head towards Claude, tears falling from her bloodshot eyes as she sobbed, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Professor…”
Claude turned around and saw the mint-haired woman was behind him, staring at Hilda with a stoic expression.
“Hey!” Felix shouted as the pink-haired woman fell on her knees, crying as she wrapped her arms around herself.
“We couldn’t stop him!” She wailed and Claude felt his blood run cold as dread filled his entire body.
Please…
Please don’t say it.
Hilda…
Don’t.
“He just kept going on and on about how you were being imprisoned in Enbarr and I didn’t get the chance to tell him that you were with us before… before…”
Claude couldn’t breath.
“They swarmed us while we were chasing after Edelgard as she retreated and Dedue took a hit for me. I-I saw him… he… they impaled him with so many lances right in front of us!”
Claude’s vision blurred as Felix held the crying woman in his arms, the dark-haired man’s entire body shaking as tears fell from his eyes as he bit his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.
Then he heard a thud from behind him.
He turned around and his eyes widened as he saw their professor on the ground.
“Abje!”
The entire camp was in chaos. The news of Dimitri’s death and the professor’s fainting caused panic and discord everywhere. It took the combined efforts of Judith, Lorenz, Seteth, Ingrid, and Sylvain to get everyone to calm down enough to return to their duties. The entire camp was still tensed and it felt like a single sound could break everything apart but, for now, they were willing to wait for any official news about the fate of the prince and the professor.
Claude couldn’t join in calming everyone down because he refused to leave the healing tent where Dedue and their professor were staying. They had to transfer them to a private healing tent to keep everyone else from eavesdropping and spreading rumors all over the camp. The healing tent was currently guarded by members of Claude’s Immortal Corps as he knew he could trust them to keep their mouth shut. Marianne was checking the mint-haired woman who remained silent the entire time while Mercedes did the same for the silent man who had regained consciousness just an hour ago.
Claude had one arm wrapped around Hilda’s shoulder as the tired woman trembled slightly while Seteth sat on the chair on his other side.
Marianne’s face was grim as she turned towards Mercedes and whispered something to her. The older woman frowned slightly as Marianne showed her a piece of paper Claude knew she had written after checking their professor over.
He was just about to ask what they were talking about when the flap of the tent opened and Duke Fraldarius rushed inside, walking straight towards the mint-haired woman.
He knelt on one knee in front of her as he asked, “I heard the news and rushed as soon as I could. Are you alright, Your Highness?”
“Your Highness?” Hilda repeated with a hoarse voice, making all of the other women turn towards the kneeling duke.
“You knew?” Claude asked the older man which made them turn towards him instead.
“Knew what, Claude?” His pink-haired comrade asked with a frown.
Rodrigue and Claude stared at one another with wide eyes. That’s when they both realized that, in the heat of the moment, both of them had blurted a secret they had been keeping.
“It’s fine.” The mint-haired woman said, her voice void of any emotions. She raised her head to stare at Hilda as she admitted, “Seteth married me and Dimitri five years ago, the night before Adrestia attacked Garreg Mach. Dedue was there as a witness and Dimitri sent a letter to Rodrigue soon after to inform him about our marriage.”
Seeing Hilda staring at Claude, she added, “Claude only found out a day ago. He wasn’t deliberately hiding it from any of you.”
“That’s why you wanted to scold Dimitri…” The pink-haired Goneril realized and Claude nodded.
At the sound of his name, everyone grew quiet and Marianne covered her mouth to silence her sobbing. Mercedes wrapped her arms around the blue-haired woman while Rodrigue looked at the floor with clenched fists.
Claude watched her raise her head to stare at the ceiling for a moment before closing her eyes. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes once more. She lowered her head and turned around to stare at the quiet white-haired man as she asked, “Dedue… could you tell us what happened?”
At that question, everyone in the tent turned their attention at Dedue as she continued, “Hilda said that Dimitri believed I was in Enbarr? Why?”
Dedue clenched his fists on the bed sheet tightly as he replied, “When we rescued His Highness five years ago, we were ambushed by Cornelia’s men and he was severely injured. A few knights from Fhirdiad helped us escape but we were too far from the northern borders so we hid in Kleiman territory while he healed… It… it took three years…”
“Last year, we heard a rumor from one of Kleiman’s men that Edelgard was keeping a woman with green hair imprisoned in Enbarr.” Dedue explained, his eyes darkening as he remembered, “Five men from Duscur went to Enbarr to gather more information. Only one of them returned. He informed us that he didn’t see any green-haired woman but he did see the emperor. She had the Sword of the Creator with her.”
Seteth’s expression was grim as he realized, “And because Edelgard has the Sword of the Creator with her…”
“Yes.” Dedue nodded before continuing, “His Highness and I, at that time, thought that the green-haired woman in Enbarr was the professor.”
He looked at his lap as he continued, “We left Kleiman territory and tried to get to Enbarr as quickly as we could to save the professor. Arianrhod proved to be too difficult to infiltrate with just the two of us so we traveled to Alliance territory instead. We heard that the Alliance has joined forces with the Church of Seiros and was being led by a green-haired woman but we thought they were talking about the archbishop.”
“His Highness refused my suggestion of meeting with Claude as he wanted to save the professor as soon as possible and decided that the alliance’s actions against the empire would make it easier for us to get into Adestria.” Dedue bowed as he said while his fists trembled against the bed sheet, “It’s my fault that His Highness is dead. If I had been more insistent that we ally ourselves with Leicester, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“It’s not your fault, Dedue.” She said in a monotone voice and everyone stared at her. Her face was blank as a porcelain doll as she reasoned, “You and Dimitri acted based on the information you got and, as his vassal, you were duty-bound to do as he ordered.”
She turned to face Claude as she said, “We need to think about our next step now, Claude.”
“Next step… Professor…” Hilda got up and sat next to her. She placed her hands over her clenched fists as she said gently, “We can think about our next step later, Professor. It’s okay to take the time to grieve…”
She shook her head and replied, “No. I don’t have the luxury to stop now. We need to finish this war as soon as possible.”
“Why?” He asked, staring at her.
Something was wrong. Even if she was grieving about Dimitri’s death and wanted revenge, the way she was acting was too strange.
He saw Marianne and Mercedes lower their heads to stare at the floor and he realized, “Is it connected to your sickness?”
Seeing the blue-haired woman jolt at hearing his last word, he turned towards Marianne and asked, “Marianne, is she sick?”
“Ummm…” His friend refused to meet his eyes and he could feel his blood turning cold once more.
“I’m not sick, Claude.” Her voice cut through the haze that started to swallow him and he turned to stare back at her. She smiled sadly at him and confessed as her voice broke, “I’m pregnant.”
All of them could only stare at her in stunned silence for a few moments. Claude turned towards Marianne and his friend nodded as she confirmed, “The Professor is three months pregnant.”
“Three months.” Claude repeated and his eyes widened.
He reunited with her three months ago.
Before that day…
“It’s Dimitri’s.” He realized, making the mint-haired woman nod.
“Wait. How can it be Dimitri’s?” Hilda asked in a confused tone, “He hasn’t seen the Professor in the past five years, right?”
They stared at one another, having a silent conversation. Claude nodded at her and she nodded back before turning her attention to everyone in the room. She gripped the fabric of her dress tightly as she ordered solemnly, “What I am about to tell you must not leave this room, am I clear?”
Everyone nodded and she explained about her relationship with the goddess and what she believed happened five years ago after she fell off the cliff.
During the entire explanation, Claude saw that everyone was surprised and a bit wary of her words.
Except one.
Once she was done with her explanation, Claude turned his attention towards the only person who wasn’t a bit surprised by all of these and asked, “You know what she’s talking about, don’t you, Seteth?”
Seteth’s expression was grim but thoughtful. He closed his eyes as he confessed, “I cannot say for certain if I am right with my guess on what Rhea had planned for the Professor.”
“But you have an idea.” Claude retorted and pressed, “Even if it’s just an idea, you must have some basis to why that idea could be true.”
He stood and glared at the silent man as he said, “Now isn’t the time to keep such a secret from any of us. She lost five years of her life and deserves to know why.”
“You’re right.” Seteth opened his eyes and stared at her as he said, “I would have liked it if I could have told this to you in private but if you think we can trust the people in this room then I will concede to your decision.”
She glanced at everyone in the room before nodding at Seteth, “I trust them.”
She glanced at Rodrigue before glancing at Claude. That quick eye movement was all Claude needed to know that it wasn’t that she trusted Rodrigue as much as the rest of her students but that she knew that they needed Rodrigue’s loyalty on their side now that… now that all of these are happening.
“Very well.” Seteth sat straight as he explained, “My guess is that your mother was a vessel that Rhea created to host the goddess’ soul.”
He raised his hand to stop everyone from talking all at once and said, “Please let me finish first.”
He stared at them for a moment. When he was sure they weren’t going to interrupt him, he continued, “I cannot be sure how Rhea did it but I am certain that your mother was a vessel. A… body, would perhaps be a better description, that Rhea made. However, the body did not receive the goddess’ soul and instead gained her own. Rhea let her live her life normally and she fell in love with your father. She gave birth to you and… I am only speculating this part but I believe that her body was not meant to give birth to another human being and that you may have been dying when you were born. I believe that whatever Rhea used to give life to your mother she had transferred to you and that ‘something’ was what connected you to the goddess.”
“That’s what I am guessing happened.” Seteth clenched his fists as he added, “As for your lost five years, I am quite sure that you didn’t lose five years. These past five years, your time stopped.”
“My time… stopped?” She repeated in a soft voice.
“Yes.” Seteth nodded as he explained, “You must have been heavily wounded when you fell and… the power you received from the goddess stopped time on you while your body healed. You have not aged nor have your hair had gotten longer. The child you are carrying only started to grow once you woke up as well when everyone in this room knows that you have not been with anyone but Dimitri.”
Everyone grew silent after Seteth’s explanation and the silence lasted for a few moments before the mint-haired woman stood. Hilda was immediately on her feet as she asked, “Professor?”
She took a deep breath before saying, “Our armies are still waiting for news about my… and Dimitri’s situation. For now, Hilda, tell the alliance army that I am fine. Seteth, please say the same to the members of the church who accompanied us. Rodrigue…”
Her eyes darkened as she said, “I need you to gather all the Blaiddyd loyalists in one location. I will make a declaration in a few minutes and… I need your support when I do.”
“Of course, Your Highness.” The duke bowed lowly as he declared, “House Fraldarius is yours to command.”
Claude wondered if he was the only one a bit uneasy by how intense the duke was.
“Thank you, Rodrigue.”
With those orders, Hilda, Rodrigue and Seteth left the tent, leaving her with Claude, Marianne, Mercedes and Dedue.
She turned to face the injured white-haired man. She walked towards him and stopped by the foot of his bed as she said in a calm tone, “Dimitri is dead.”
Dedue gripped the sheet covering his lap tightly as he closed his eyes while she continued, “But I am still alive and I am carrying his child.”
Dedue opened his eyes and stared at her as she walked towards him, “I intend to continue what he has started and make his dream of a kingdom that both the people from Faerghus and Duscur would be proud to call their home a reality.”
She stopped when she was right by his side and offered her hand, “Would you… would you help me make his dream come true, Dedue?”
Dedue’s hand shook as he grasped her hand gently. He bowed as he said, “I will protect you with my life, Your Highness.”
She wrapped an arm around the larger man as she whispered, “Thank you, Dedue.”
"Thank you for staying by his side this whole time." She whispered and held Dedue in her arms for a few moments before she let go and turned towards Claude. Her lips curved into a sad smile as she asked, “You know what I’m thinking, right?”
He nodded, “Yeah. I think we’re thinking the same thing, Teach.”
Her smile turned more amused at the change of nickname as she said, “This is the best way.”
“Yeah…” Claude agreed grimly, “It is.”
She walked towards him and asked, “You’ll have my back right, Claude?”
“Always.” He replied immediately and asked, “You’ll have mine, right?”
Her smile became genuine as she replied, “Always.”
The loyalist army waited on the open field as Rodrigue had asked. A few minutes later, Byleth walked towards them together with Seteth, Dedue and Claude. She still wore a long-sleeved white dress that one of the healers gave her but she had placed a blue coat over it. But what caught everyone’s attention was the hero relic Areadbhar in her hands. She stood in front of them and nodded at Rodrigue while Seteth, Dedue and Claude stood behind her. Rodrigue walked towards them, standing between Seteth and Dedue.
“Five years ago, Seteth, the archbishop’s second-in-command, married me and Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd in secret.” She announced, causing a lot of knights and soldiers to start whispering.
Claude almost wanted to smile when he saw Ashe’s and Ingrid’s open mouth. Sylvain was tapping Felix’ back quickly and repeatedly while the shorter man just stared at her with an open mouth as well. Mercedes had to hold Annette who looked like her feet had given up on her in surprise. He could hear murmurs coming from behind him as well which meant some (if not all) of the alliance army were listening in as well. He could clearly hear Lysithea shouting “We weren’t invited?!”
“I can confirm that the marriage is binding in the eyes of the church and the goddess.” Seteth said firmly and loudly.
“I have witnessed the wedding in person.” Dedue said next.
Rodrigue took out a worn out letter from his coat and said, “I have, in my hand, a letter Prince Dimitri has sent to me that details about his marriage to His Highness, Princess Byleth.”
He took a few steps forward and handed the letter to Gilbert as he said, “Sir Gilbert, as you were once a knight under the service of House Blaiddyd, you recognize the handwriting, yes?”
Gilbert took the letter from Rodrigue and looked it over. His eyes widened for a brief moment before he handed the letter back to the dark-haired man before announcing, “Yes, that is His Highness writing.”
“Thank you, Sir Gilbert.” Rodrigue walked towards Dimitri’s childhood friends and handed the letter to them, “Sylvain of House Gautier, Felix of House Fraldarius and Ingrid of House Galatea, as, His Highness, Prince Dimitri’s childhood friends. Do you recognize his handwriting?”
Sylvain immediately grabbed the letter from the duke’s hand and looked it over while his friends pressed their cheek against his to see the letter as well. Ashe, Annette and Mercedes also pressed themselves to the childhood friend trio to see the letter.
“My beloved Byleth…” Annette squealed as she read.
“Oh my goddess…” Ashe commented with a red face, unable to even utter the words he was reading.
Felix’s lips curled into a frown as he mumbled, “My father does not need to know how the professor’s smile is the greatest thing you have ever seen, you idiot.”
“Oh, Dimitri. I didn’t know you were such a romantic.” Mercedes commented with a soft giggle.
Ingrid smacked Sylvain on the back when the red-haired noble started to giggle, “Don’t laugh, Sylvain!”
“Sorry, sorry!”
Rodrigue cleared his throat, making the Blue Lion students blush out of embarrassment. Sylvain cleared his throat as he said, “I, and the rest of His Highness’ fellow Blue Lion students, can confirm that this is, indeed, His Highness’ handwriting. Right?”
Everyone nodded enthusiastically except Felix who crossed his arms and looked away as he nodded.
“Thank you.” Rodrigue tried to take the letter from Sylvain but Annette quickly took it and hid behind Felix. Felix glared at his father who simply sighed before walking back. He stopped next to the mint-haired woman as he said, “Prince Dimitri is dead.”
The entire field became silent at those words and Claude’s heart ached at seeing his friends lower their heads to hide the tears they’re trying to keep from falling.
“However…” Rodrigue glanced at her and she nodded at him before turning to face the Blaiddyd loyalists once more.
“Two years ago, I reunited with Dimitri in Kleiman territory.” She announced which made everyone start to whisper again.
Claude even heard Leonie’s shout, “What?!”
“He wasn’t fully recovered then so we had to stay in hiding.” She continued, not minding the whispers, “Three months ago, we learned that I was pregnant with his child.”
The whispers immediately stopped and they all stared at her as she continued, “Dimitri left for Enbarr to end this war so that our child could live in peace. I tried to follow them but I lost track of them when we entered Alliance territory. That’s when I joined Leicester Alliance…”
She closed her eyes as she said, “I had hoped with Claude’s help, I could find Dimitri but…”
She opened her eyes and proclaimed in a clear loud voice, “The Adestrian Empire killed my husband! They killed your rightful king!”
She placed her hand over her stomach as she continued, “They killed the father of my child!”
“The Adestrian Empire will not get away with this!” She declared and Claude could see that she was getting to the loyalists, “The dead demands its tribute!”
She raised Areadbhar to the air as she declared, “Our king deserves justice!”
With that, the entire loyalist army shouted their agreement.
She glanced at Seteth who nodded at her before declaring, “The Church of Seiros hereby acknowledges Byleth Blaiddyd as Queen Regent of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus!”
Rodrigue walked in front of her and knelt on one knee. He bowed as he proclaimed, “The king is dead! Long live the queen!”
Claude watched as an entire army knelt as they shouted, “Long live the queen!”
As he stared at the scene before him, he thought that his dream was slowly coming into fruition.
But at what cause?
The entire camp was sent into action soon after that. The Loyalist army began to prepare to travel to Galatea territory and Ingrid had already left to coordinate with their forces back in the northern kingdom territories. The Alliance army has also started to organize their troops. The injured for both the loyalist and alliance army would be transferred to the Great Bridge of Myrrdin while the rest of the Alliance army will push forward to Bergliez territory. While the Loyalist army has lost almost half of its soldiers and knights, the Alliance army only suffered insignificant casualties in Gronder Field due to arriving late as well as Claude’s strategy during the dirt storm. As such, Claude had ordered that the Alliance army push through Bergliez territory while the empire was retreating to Enbarr. He has already sent Flayn back to Garreg Mach to have their reserve forces mobilize while he sent Cyril to Castle Riegan to deliver a letter to Nader with specific instructions on how to proceed.
By the time the sun was rising, the loyalist army was ready to depart and Claude finally caught her in one of the empty healing tents with Dedue, looking over a detailed map of Fodlan that they had placed on the bed. They weren’t really hiding considering there were two knights posted at the entrance of the tent. They were same knights he saw guarding the night he heard her sing so it was pretty much obvious who was inside the tent.
“Hey, Teach.” He greeted, making both of them turn towards him.
She stared at him for a few seconds before turning towards Dedue and saying, “Please give us some privacy, Dedue.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.” Dedue bowed at her before walking out of the tent.
Dedue bowed at him which he returned with a nod and the quiet man left the tent. Claude walked towards the bed with the map and stopped next to her. He scanned the map and commented, “The loyalist army is hugely outnumbered. Not to mention, we have gotten reports that the Death Knight was leading the subjugation of the western kingdom territories.”
“That’s true. But you know the truth about our operation, right?” She asked, turning to stare at him.
He replied grimly, “Turn the people of Faerghus against the pro-imperial nobles by using Dimitri’s death and your child.”
She nodded and turned her attention back at the map. She toppled the red piece set in Castle Blaiddyd as she continued, “We do not have enough manpower to take back Faerghus but by inciting a nation-wide riot, we can launch an attack to Castle Blaiddyd and take out Cornelia. By taking over Castle Blaiddyd, we can retake Fhirdiad and save the imprisoned loyalists.”
“While we take Fort Merceus…” He added.
“The Adestrian Empire cannot defend against two attacks after Gronder Field.” She stated and turned to face him, “If we wait for a month, Fort Merceus would be receiving reinforcement but, if we attack now, they would be too busy trying to help with the retreat.”
He turned to face her as well as he continued, “And with the empire busy with the retreat, they would be unable to send out reinforcements to the dukedom too.”
She nodded and stated, “This is the fastest way to Enbarr.”
“I know… I just…” Claude’s eyes softened as he admitted, “I don’t like the part where we won’t be in the same battle.”
She smiled at him and placed a hand on his cheek as she said, “I’ll be okay, Claude. I promise I won’t strain myself.”
She shrugged as she added nonchalantly, “Considering my current condition, I’m sure I would have a lot of people trying to keep me away from the frontline anyway.”
“Abje…” He stared at her seriously as he asked, “Could you stop pretending?”
She blinked at the request but remained quiet as he continued, “I know you enough to see that you’re just acting. Ever since Dimitri…”
He lowered his eyes as the words would not leave his lips.
“Did you know?” She asked, her voice breaking as she said, “They didn’t find his body.”
His eyes widened and he raised his head to stare at her. Her shoulders were slightly trembling as she told him, “Sylvain just told me about an hour ago. They scoured Gronder Field twice, especially the place Hilda and Dedue said they saw it happen. There was no body.”
“Abje…” He placed a hand on her arm gently.
“He could still be alive, Claude…” She said desperately, “Maybe those soldiers took him. Maybe he managed to get away. Maybe… maybe…”
She lowered her head as she wrapped her arms around herself as she admitted, “I know it’s a long shot. I know it’s wishful thinking but I… I…”
“I have to believe.” She raised her head as tears fall from her eyes, “I have to believe he’s alive and we’ll be together again or else, our child will be left all alone.”
“What… are you talking about?”
“My mother died in childbirth, Claude.” Her lips curved into a sad smile as she reminded him, “And I was never meant to be alive in the first place. What’s to say that whatever happened to my mother will not happen to me? Will not happen to both of us?”
She placed her hands on his chest and gripped the fabric of his clothes tightly as she whispered, “That’s why we need to get to Enbarr and save Rhea as soon as possible. She’s the only one who knows what happened the day I was born. She’s the only person who can save our child…”
“This child…” She rested her forehead against his chest as she whispered, “... is all I have left of Dimitri.”
He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly as he whispered, “I won’t let anything happen to you or your child. We’ll get Rhea out of Enbarr even if I have to infiltrate it all by myself. We’ll get her to talk and we’ll find a way to save both you and your child. I won’t let her sacrifice either of you.”
He pulled away slightly so he could placed his hands on her cheeks and gently tilted her head up. He rested his forehead against hers as he swore softly, “I promise you, Abje. I will protect and raise your child if anything happens to you but-”
His voice was clear and his eyes shone with determination as he continued, “It will never come to that. You and your child? You two are going to be fine. I’ll make sure of it.”
She stared at him for a few seconds with wide eyes before she finally smiled at him softly as she whispered, “Thank you, Claude.”
“There’s nothing to thank me for, Abje. We’re family, remember?” He whispered before grinning as he added, “Besides, I’ll be your child’s favorite uncle and you won’t be able to stop it. I’ll spoil your kid rotten, just you wait.”
She chuckled softly before teasing, “You’ll have to battle Sylvain for that title, I’m afraid.”
“Please.” He scoffed before asking casually, “What does Sylvain have that I don’t?”
“Nicer hair, for a start.” They both turned towards the entrance and saw Sylvain standing by the entrance with a carefree smile, “Sorry to interrupt you, Claude.”
He bowed as he informed them, “We’re ready to depart, Your Majesty.”
“Okay.” She nodded at the red-haired noble before turning to face Claude. She placed her hand on his cheek and said, “I’ll see you later, Claude.”
“Yeah.” He nodded and watched as she walked out of the tent.
Sylvain stepped to the side to let her pass. Instead of following her, the older man turned to face Claude and asked, “Did you know Leonie and Jeralt’s mercenaries would be coming with us?”
“Yeah.” He nodded as he chuckled, “You’ll probably be getting Alois in your ranks too. I’m pretty sure they’ll meet up with you guys.”
Sylvain hummed for a moment before crossing his arms. He tilted his head as he said, “It’s a convincing lie, by the way.”
“What is?” He asked, staring at the red-haired noble who simply shook his head.
“Nothing.” The heir to House Gautier stared at him as he casually said, “We’re loyal to House Blaiddyd and many of us knew about His Highness and the Professor five years ago so it would be easy for us to believe that they have been together in hiding. It’s a wonderful set up for a tragic story, that’s for sure.”
Duke Riegan sighed before asking, “What are you trying to say, Sylvain? I’m sure that people are waiting for you so you should just cut to the chase.”
“I heard you captured Bernadetta.” Sylvain said seriously, making the dark-haired man stare at him for the sudden change of topic.
He nodded as he said, “That’s true. An imperial battalion set fire to the ballista in the middle of Gronder Field when our ground units tried to take it. Bernadetta was still there but we managed to save her. She’s still healing from her burns though.”
“But can she still write?” Sylvain asked which made Claude frown.
“Well, yeah. Her burns were mostly on her legs.” His lips curved into a small frown as he asked, “You’re not planning on asking her to write about this supposed three years gap, are you?”
“You know it’s a good idea. I’ve already laid the foundation five years ago.” The red-haired noble reminded him before explaining casually, “It’ll help tell the ‘truth’ and we can use the profit we gain from it to fund our armies.”
Claude sighed before saying, “I’ll talk to Bernadetta but don’t get your hopes up. She is, technically, our prisoner.”
“Just tell her that you’d imprison her to her old room in the monastery if she does this.” Sylvain suggested with a grin. His next words were said in a serious tone that almost gave Claude whiplash, “I’ll talk to her after the battle too. I think I can get her to work with us… And I want to make sure she’s okay too.”
“That’s fine with me. We’ll be transferring all the prisoners to Garreg Mach anyway.” Claude explained.
“Well, that’s all I wanted to say.” Sylvain’s lips curved into a cheerful smile as he said, “See you later, Duke Riegan.”
“Sylvain.” He called out before the older man could leave the tent. Sylvain turned his head to stare at him and he asked, “Keep her safe.”
The heir’s lips curved into a small smile as he replied, “Claude, if there’s one thing you should know about the people of Faerghus, it’s that we would willingly lay our lives to protect our rulers and…”
His light brown eyes shone with repressed rage as he declared, “... we will burn the entire world to the ground to avenge them.”
Claude watched silently as the heir of House Gautier left the tent. A few moments later, he sighed and turned towards the map. He reached for the blue pieces placed on Gronder Field and picked up a piece, placing it in the middle of the sea of red pieces in Enbarr.
The Alliance army took control of Bergliez territory without any problem. They have heard news that Count Bergliez had been ordered to protect Fort Merceus while the main army retreated to Enbarr by the royal decree of the emperor, thus unintentionally leaving his own territory undefended.
It seemed that the empire did not expect them to continue pushing forward which worked well in their favor. They have managed to secure a supply route by acquiring Hrym territory as well. Due to Viscount Jeritza von Hrym, most commonly known as the Death Knight, being absent in Hrym territory, the retainer trusted with governing said territory surrendered immediately once the news of the Alliance-Loyalist army’s victory over Gronder Field reached Hrym territory. Not only that, the retainer also sent troops and supplies to their army as both a peace-offering and a sign of gratitude. It appeared that the retainer that the Death Knight had left to care for the territory had actually been loyal to the main House Hrym which had tried to join the Alliance years ago. They were unable to defend themselves from the imperial army sent to punish them for trying to defect. All of the members of House Hrym were executed and the Death Knight was placed in charge, granting him the name Hrym via adoption. People of Hrym territory seemed to not have any real loyalty to the Death Knight and many of them were still loyal to the executed House Hrym thus they harbor resentment toward the empire.
A few days later, they received word that the reserved troops stationed at the monastery has finally reached Myrddin. A day after that, Cyril caught up with them in Bergliez territory and confirmed to Claude that Nader has received his message and was preparing what he had requested.
The day before they set out to enact Hilda’s plan (which he had revised a bit), they received word that the entire region of Faerghus was in chaos. Words of Dimitri’s death and that the grieving queen regent was leading the loyalist army while pregnant had enticed a nation-wide riot and the Loyalist army had mobilized their troops to take Fhirdiad. There were rumors that some of the territories under the dukedom had also revolted and the Death Knight was marching to Fhirdiad to support Cornelia.
Everyone was worried about the outcome of the siege but they couldn’t just wait for news. To keep the empire from sending reinforcements to Fhirdiad, they would have to do their part as well.
Also, Claude was hoping that what Dimitri had said five years ago was true as well. They had been talking about the strengths and weaknesses of well known locations in Fodlan (just out of curiosity, of course) and Dimitri had admitted that Fhirdiad would not be able to withstand a siege which was the greatest weakness of the capital city. He had explained that it was due to Fhirdiad’s weakness that the best strategic final line of defense of Fhirdiad was the Tailtean Plains.
The loyalist army’s plan hinged on the accuracy of Dimitri’s information. Claude and his professor believed in that information and decided to attack Fhirdiad with the loyalist army from the north. Either they drove Cornelia out of Fhirdiad or they take her out in Castle Blaiddyd itself. Either way, their plan hinged on Dimitri’s information that Fhirdiad will quickly fall when under siege.
The day they enacted their plan to take over Fort Merceus, they received word that the loyalist army has breached Fhirdiad with the help of the people in Fhirdiad and some of the knights stationed in the capital city and was now fighting Cornelia in Castle Blaiddyd.
On their side, pretending to be imperial soldiers fleeing from the Alliance army worked well. Not only that, they also got the count’s oldest son to leave the fort and engage the small contingency led by Seteth that they took with them to make their ‘escape’ believable while the Alliance army marches to their position.
Everything was going well. Claude had left his comrades to infiltrate from the south and take down the count while he opened the gates to the west to let in their allies so they could create ruckus inside the fort itself.
Then Raphael unintentionally bumped into Caspar and they loudly greeted each other cordially before Caspar remembered that they were in different side.
They had no choice but to engage in combat with Caspar and the enemies inside. With the bulk of the enemies concentrated on their main attack force, Claude managed to get the west gate opened and joined with the second group which also had his wyvern. The second group was made up of Catherine, Shamir and Cyril who joined with the Alliance army. Manuela, Hanneman, and Flayn stayed in Myrddin to oversee the defense of the bridge.
He would have liked it if it had been Nader and his Almyran reinforcements with him right now but they wouldn’t be able to join up with the Alliance army until later.
While the main group kept the bulk of the enemies busy, the western group was able to march further inside without any problem.
They almost got found out by Linhardt and his battalion but the usually lazy man was hurrying towards the southern area, most probably worried about his childhood friend.
Getting to the count became easy with all the ruckus the main group was creating, not to mention the damage Lysithea and Marianne were creating with their magic.
… which Claude had asked to be kept to a minimum as they wanted to make Fort Mercues their next base of operation and they couldn’t do that if it was heavily damaged by two enthusiastics magic users.
The count was quickly taken out by Catherine. It was almost anti-climatic how easily he was defeated. Claude didn’t even have to do anything.
And it was because he wasn’t doing anything that he noticed that mages with pale skin and black clothes were hurriedly running away. It would have been normal had it been during the time their leader was defeated but these mages left even before Catherine had engaged the count to a duel.
Not only that, the mages were the only ones leaving, everybody else were surrendering.
That’s when he remembered Lysithea telling him and their professor that she believed she saw mages dressed in black in Gronder Field. She couldn’t be sure because of the dust storms but she wanted to warn them in case her eyes weren’t just playing tricks on her. She had even informed them about the strange experiments those mages had done to her and both him and the professor had a hunch that those mages were somehow connected to the ones who backed up both the Death Knight when Flayn was kidnapped and Solon in the Sealed Forest.
If they were from the same magic sect as the one who had experimented on Lysithea and the other children from House Ordelia and they were also from the same group that kidnapped Flayn…
His blood went cold as he remembered how Solon had been able to transport their professor to another place and it was only due to the power she had received from the goddess that she managed to return to them.
It was better to be safe than sorry. He had Shamir and Catherine push towards the northern exit with the rest of their group and their prisoners which included the count to block anyone trying to retreat while he and Cyril returned to the main group.
When they had returned to the main group, their announcement that the count had been defeated had most of the soldiers and troops surrendering.
Caspar ran back inside during the entire commotion and Linhardt quickly followed him. They most probably went to check on Caspar’s father and maybe try to free him. Hopefully, Catherine and Shamir would be able to take them down.
He quickly ordered that everyone leave the fort, making it sound like it was a way to declare they have taken the fort to the imperial troops still fighting the alliance army outside but his fellow Golden Deers knew something was up.
Thankfully, they remained silent and followed his orders.
The javelins of light struck Fort Merceus just as their main group had rendezvoused with Alliance army being led by Seteth.
They dropped down from the sky and obliterated almost the entirety of the supposedly impregnable fort.
He would remember the horror on everyone’s face.
… and the fear and recognition in Seteth’s eyes.
No one knew what to think of the javelins of light. Some of the pious members of both the alliance army and the imperial army they had taken as prisoners have started to whisper that those javelins of light were the punishment of the goddess.
A punishment to the empire for killing the husband of the woman she had blessed.
The supposedly lucky Alliance army who left the fort before the javelins had struck only fueled the whispers.
He wasn’t entirely sure if it was really the case but House Varley had surrendered as well and many were saying it was because House Varley has always been pious to the goddess. Regardless if it was fear or their faith, the Alliance army accepted the surrender and the supplies they had offered.
This whole talk of the goddess’ wrath was utter nonsense as far as Claude was concerned and it seemed Seteth had an idea what it was. But the questioning will have to wait until they had regrouped and fortified their defenses.
They decided to return to Bergliez territory for now with their prisoners. Thankfully, the javelins of light struck mostly the central parts of the fort, keeping their army safe as the bulk of their army was outside engaging in a defensive battle against the imperial troops that left the fort earlier and the second group was by the northern exit, away from the damage.
They still searched the ruined fort for any survivors, whether they were from the Alliance or the Empire didn’t matter, and Shamir dragged a wounded Linhardt together with a frantic Caspar. They had survived the javelins but the ceiling fell on top of them. Thankfully, there was a support beam that kept it from burying them but a part of it broke off and fell on Linhardt. It had taken both Caspar and Catherine to lift the debris off him so that Shamir could drag him out.
As such, Marianne and the other healers were hard at work once more. Some of the healers from the empire also helped, too shaken up by the javelins of light to care whether they were healing allies or enemies.
They received news that the retaking of Fhirdiad was a success a day later. Not only that, the rumors of territories under the dukedom revolting had also been true and the loyalists have also taken back Gideon and Mateus territories due to the revolts of House Gideon and House Mateus. The Death Knight was heavily wounded and taken as a prisoner during the battle in Castle Blaiddyd while Cornelia had been executed by the queen regent herself.
This meant that the only part of Faerghus that was under imperial control were Rowe territory which held Arianrhod and Gaspard territory which House Rowe had taken after the death of Lord Lonato and the branding of the late lord’s adopted son and heir to House Gaspard, Ashe Ubert, as a traitor and dissolving his claim to his inheritance by Cornelia.
They had already gotten word that the Kingdom army, as they have now started to call themselves instead of the Loyalist army, was already marching to Rowe using knights from Mateus and Gideon.
Which made said queen regent’s sudden appearance in Bergliez territory a few days later a surprise to everyone.
Claude wasn’t sure what should surprise him more, the fact that she flew to Bergliez territory using Teach or that she only had Dedue (who was also riding a wyvern, much to everyone’s surprise), Ingrid and two battalions of Pegasus Knights with her.
Actually, there was a bigger thing he just had to note first.
“Wow, Teach. You look like Faerghus threw up on you.” He had commented, making Ingrid and Seteth glare at him while the queen regent chuckled.
She was wearing a white chest armor with the crest of Blaiddyd etched on it over a minidress similar to what Pegasus Knights usually wore with white fur on the hem and made of the same hue as Dimitri’s blue cape five years ago. She also wore a cloak that was colored the same hue as the blue in the flag of Faerghus and pinned to the chest armor by two white buttons that was etched with the crest of Blaiddyd. The cloak had puffy furs on the top, white fur covering a bit of the black fur underneath, and white fur at the bottom. When she turned around, he noticed that, of course, the crest of Blaiddyd was sewn into the cloak’s back in white. She wore a black long-sleeved turtle-neck shirt underneath the sleeveless minidress which was protected by white fingerless gauntlets. Her fingers were protected by black leather gloves as well while her legs were covered by plain black winter stockings underneath white armored boots that ends two inches above her knees.
She wore two anemones that was white in color with a purple center on each side of her head and a simple golden crown with a marquise-shaped blue gem on the middle which Hilda would later explain to him was a gem called Winter Tear, a rare gem found in one of the mines in Faerghus’ Sacred Gwenhwyvar that would change it’s color from blue to white depending on how the light hits it. Upon further inspection, he realized that taking in consideration the small black pointed gems on the four sides of the blue gem and the golden three pointed decoration on either side of the gem actually made the crown look like the crest of Blaiddyd.
… again.
“Sorry, Teach. My mistake.” He corrected as he raised an eyebrow, “You look like House Blaiddyd threw up on you.”
“Claude, even if she is our professor, she is still a queen and should be given our utmost respect.” Lorenz chided him before turning towards their professor as he sincerely said, “I apologize for Duke Riegan’s words, Your Majesty. He means no offense.”
The mint-haired woman gave the polite noble an amused smile as she replied, “It’s okay, Lorenz. We all know how Claude is.”
“I feel like I’m being insulted.” The duke of House Riegan deadpanned before sighing and shaking his head, “Well, putting aside your current Blaiddyd heavy attire-”
“I happened to like these clothes.” She commented with a slight pout.
“- let’s go somewhere more private, shall we?” He continued as he ignored her comment, glancing at Seteth as he said, “I’m sure we have a lot to talk about.”
A lot didn’t even cover it, it seemed. While the Alliance army had to deal with the javelins of light, the Kingdom army had to deal with large moving statues and lamps that could summon lightning. Seteth remained silent the entire time but finally spoke when it was only the three of them left in the meeting room. Claude had managed to get everyone out by saying that it was going to be a meeting between the leader of the Alliance (him, sorry, Lorenz), the leader of the Kingdom (her) and the leader of the church (which now fell onto Seteth as she was now the queen regent of the kingdom).
“The javelins and those statues…” He stopped and thought about his next words, “They are… weapons created by a civilization that went against the goddess.”
“This civilization wouldn’t happen to be the one that was punished by the Immaculate One, would it?” Claude asked, making the older man glare at him.
“Yes, they would be the same one punished by the Immaculate One in that book that I had specifically confiscated.” He reminded the duke who shrugged.
“Well, just because you confiscated it doesn’t mean I wasn’t able to read a few pages before then.” He casually said, winking at the Seteth.
“Does that mean that these dark mages have uncovered these weapons?” She asked, resting her cheek against her right knuckles as she added, “Or maybe they’re descendants of that civilization themselves.”
“Unfortunately, I cannot answer that.” Seteth said with a frown, “I admit that I do not know much about these dark mages that Lysithea talk about. However… I believe Rhea will have an idea.”
Claude sighed before commenting, “So, in the end, everything goes back to Rhea.”
“I am truly sorry for not being able to help more.” Seteth said apologetically, “I have been out of touch these past… years and, as such, I’m afraid I have been out of the loop concerning them.”
“It’s okay, Seteth.” She said to the older man before telling both of them, “Our objection remains the same. We must get to Enbarr and take down the empire.”
Both men nod before Seteth asked, “I must ask, Your Majesty, do you plan on joining our operation in Enbarr?”
“Yes.” She nodded at the green-haired man who frowned at her. Sensing what they were going to ask, she explained, “The royal court agreed with my decision. With me here in imperial territory, House Rowe and their allies will not suspect that our army will attack Arianrhod. We will be using the knight orders from House Gideon and House Mateus which will follow the Chevalier Invaincu and the rest of Fhirdiad’s Grand Knight Order while Rodrigue and the members of the new royal court takes care of the kingdom’s business in my absence.”
Claude only had the enthusiastic ramblings of Ashe and Ingrid back in the academy about the knight orders in Fhirdiad. Apparently, there were a lot of knight orders in Fhirdiad with certain specialization and such depending on which house they serve. House Gloucester’s Gloucester Knights were apparently very similar to the Weissvogel Knights of House Weissvogel of the Four Great Houses, mainly relying on lances and horses. House Gautier’s Gautier Knights also rely mostly on lances and horses as well but Ingrid informed him that many of the Gautier Knights were actually Dark Knights as magic was a valuable weapon against the clans of Sreng. House Gaspard’s Gaspard Knights, on the other hand, rely mainly on bows and horses. As such, many knights from the Gaspard Knight Order were bow knights. House Galatea was well known to have the Galatea Pegasus Knight Order and the Pegasus Knight Co battalion they could hire five years ago were apparently newly dubbed Pegasus Knights from Galatea. It was part of their training to aid the church by supporting current students of the officer academy for a year before they could truly be counted as members of House Galatea’s Pegasus Knight Order. House Fraldarius had one of the most unique knight orders as their knights were mostly swordmasters and it was rare to find a Fraldarius knight on horseback which make the current duke being a Holy Knight quite strange. He could never get any of Dimitri’s childhood friends to explain to him why that was but one of the Blue Lion students that was a member of a noble vassal house for House Fraldarius did tell him that the duke started to learn Faith magic after his eldest son had died.
But he was getting off-topic.
All of these knight orders could be ordered by one specific knight: the Chevalier Invaincu of the Grand Knight Order of Fhirdiad. The Chevalier Invaincu was the highest title a knight could receive, second only to both the king’s first knight and the members of the Lionguards, elite knights loyal to House Blaiddyd. Gilbert had apparently been both the first knight of Dimitri’s father and the Chevalier Invaincu before he left and became a Knight of Seiros. He wasn’t sure if he remembered it correctly but he believed he received reports that the current Chevalier Invaincu was a commoner who held the moniker of the White Knight of Faerghus because he had a white steed and wore white light armor into battle.
“Not to mention, we all know I have to be here to represent the kingdom and…” Her voice brought him back to the conversation and he watched her as she lowered her head before she said, “He… might be in Enbarr.”
Both men turned to look at each other before they turned their attention back at the woman in front of them. Seteth’s voice was clear yet kind as he said, “Byleth, every one of us hopes that Dimitri is still alive but…”
“I know.” She cut him off as she raised her head to stare back, “I know it’s a long shot but I would like to believe nonetheless.”
“We also need to save Rhea.” She reminded them, causing Seteth to nod solemnly.
“For now, let’s focus on what is in front of us.” She said, ending that part of their conversation, and took over the conversation, “Now then, let’s talk about how we can take Enbarr as quickly as possible.”
Claude wasn’t lying when he said that it took a lot of resolve to keep the people in Enbarr even after knowing they were coming and it would hinder their progress but a quick glance at the Golden Deer professor was all he needed to know that the older woman already had an idea on how to circumvent Edelgard’s human walls. By the time they have reached the gates of Enbarr, the queen had received reports that the subjugation of Arianrhod had been successful and they were now sending reinforcements to Enbarr. He wasn’t sure if they would get here in time as they plan on capturing Enbarr in two days. Maybe three days, max.
How?
Well.
It was a tactic everyone in the Golden Deer knew that the professor was fond of.
She called it ‘Stride and Warp Attack’.
Her students called it ‘Suicide Run’.
Claude was actually surprised no one outside their house (and the Blue Lion house) didn't know about it.
Then again. It was a tactic that was so reckless people didn't really want others to know about it for various reasons (which was the reason why Claude had put his foot down in using it during the Battle of Eagle and Lion).
For this battle, Ignatz was the one who took the battalion with the Stride gambit and they casted Stride on Lysithea, Ingrid, Lorenz, Flayn and Claude. Immediately after that, Lysithea warped Ingrid to the farthest point she knew she could run after. While the entire imperial army was still surprised by the sudden appearance of a lone Pegasus Knight in the middle of their territory, Claude quickly performed a dance to revitalize Lysithea (he was still pretty sure that the supposed ‘ceremonial dance’ and ‘ceremonial attire’ necessary for the revitalization spell to work was just someone’s big joke to make fun of the mostly serious people of Fodlan) and Lysithea rushed towards Ingrid, followed by Lorenz. Lysithea warped Ingrid once more the second her hand touched Ingrid’s pegasus and Flayn immediately cast Rescue on Lysithea, teleporting her on Lorenz’ horse, just behind him. Once she was securely behind him, Lorenz’ horse galloped back to their defensive line and Ingrid flew straight to Hubert while everyone was still wondering what the hell was happening.
News of Hubert’s demise was soon heard all over the enemy line, causing much confusion and chaos that the Alliance army used to easily overpower the rest of them.
A part of Claude wondered if they could have spared Hubert had they overpowered him with their numbers instead of making Ingrid take him down but he highly doubt the loyal retainer would surrender. That would also mean having to advance their entire army which would, in turn, cause them heavier casualties and most definitely collateral damage which was just unacceptable.
“I must admit, this does leave a bitter taste in my mouth.” Lorenz commented with a frown after the battle.
“I think it was a brilliant plan. We managed to win without doing that much work.” Hilda retorted before turning towards their professor as she asked with a sweet smile, “Right, Professor?”
“Your Majesty.” The purple-haired noble corrected which just made his pink-haired friend waved her hand dismissively.
Their professor turned to face the Gloucester heir and tilted her head as she deadpanned, “I’m pregnant.”
Lorenz’ cheeks reddened and the silent man from Duscur glared at him from behind the pregnant woman as he stuttered, “O-of course, I did not mean that Her Majesty would be in the front line nor was I trying to imply that a valiant battle is more important than Her Majesty's health-”
She turned away from the stuttering purple-haired man and the giggling pink-haired woman but Claude chuckled softly when he saw the impish smile on her face.
They left the subjugation of the capital city to Judith for the Alliance army and the members of the Church of Seiros served as her support while the Golden Deers with Dedue and Ingrid infiltrate the imperial palace. The Almyran gods must have been smiling upon him as Nader also came with the Almyran soldiers. Everyone was a bit wary of the Almyrans but his friends and the queen regent trusted Claude’s scheme so they had accepted the Almyran support. He hoped by the end of this war, the people of Fodlan would see that the Almyrans weren’t the barbarians they thought of them.
They entered the imperial palace during the evening and the dark mages that Lysithea and Seteth talked about were inside the imperial palace to no one’s surprise.
With crest beasts...
He wasn’t sure if it was a good strategy or not to keep crest beasts inside an important building such as the imperial palace but to each their own, he supposed.
The dark mages had a dangerous spell at their disposal that made advancing too far without backup fatal and the crest beasts had tough hides that made them capable of taking a lot of damage without faltering. Claude and Raphael had to stay in the middle with their professor and Dedue to keep the attention on them while the rest split into two groups to take out the dark mages. Thankfully, Ignatz seemed to have taken out the leader of the mysterious dark mages as they soon retreated once they heard the news of their leader’s death.
The retreat confirmed Claude’s theory that they weren’t officially part of the empire and was a separate group altogether. The dangerous spell they had in their repertoire was also very similar to Solon’s dark magic which made it all the more likely that they were part of Solon and Kronya’s group.
No one was surprised when their professor rushed into the throne room with Dedue and Ingrid following closely behind her but that didn’t mean any of them had agreed to her decision. He wanted to follow her quickly but he had been dueling Petra in the air.
He was a bit awed at how unnecessarily large the imperial palace’s floors were that they could easily fly their wyvern in the air without accidentally hitting any of the people on the ground. Sure, the pillars and walls limited their movements but they could easily use it to shield themselves as well.
He managed to subdue Petra by shooting her wyvern, causing her to fall to the floor. He had already calculated the distance between her current position and the floor below so he knew she should be incapacitated but she’d survive.
She saw Lorenz holding an unconscious and battered Dorothea in his arms and he ordered all of them to enter the throne room.
The imperial palace’s throne room was a long hallway and, as Claude had suspected, all of the enemies other than Edelgard had already been taken out. He ordered everyone to keep a defensive line in front of the doors. It was the only entrance to the throne room which meant all of their enemies would have to get through the door if they wanted to enter the throne room.
Hopefully, the huge crest beasts wouldn’t be able to enter the throne room as well. Those monsters would have to break down the walls just to enter and he was hoping that the imperial palace was made of sturdy walls.
While his friends focused their attention in keeping a defensive line, he flew his wyvern to the end of the throne room.
He arrived in time to see Edelgard on her knees while the queen regent of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus stood before her. In the mint-haired woman’s hand was Areadbhar, the hero relic of House Blaiddyd, and she stared at the white-haired woman with a stoic expression while Edelgard breathed heavily as she used the Sword of the Creator to keep herself upright.
Dedue was a few feet behind his liege, shield and axe at the ready in case the emperor tried anything while Ingrid was above Dedue, ready to use Luin to impale their enemy at her majesty’s command.
Claude flew closer and stopped right next to Ingrid in time to hear Edelgard speak her next words.
“My teacher…” She raised her head to stare at the stoic woman as she said breathlessly, “Claim your victory.”
The older woman closed her eyes as the emperor continued with a clear voice, “Strike me down. You must!”
“Even now…” Edelgard continued, groaning at the pain she was feeling, “... across this land, people are killing each other.”
He saw his professor’s grip on Areadbhar tightened at those words.
“If you do not act now, this conflict…” The kneeling woman gasped for breath, “... will go on forever.”
Light green eyes opened as the white-haired woman said, “Your path lies across my grave.”
She stared at the woman standing in front of her as she said in a gentle voice, “It is time for you to find the courage to walk it.”
“If I…” She lowered her head as she continued, “... must fall… Let it be by your hand.”
The queen regent silently walked up to the kneeling emperor and raised Areadbhar into the air.
“I wanted…” Edelgard raised her head to smile softly at her, “... to walk with you…”
She stared at the smiling woman for a moment before saying coldly, “I don’t even know you.”
Edelgard’s eyes widened and her smile fell as she opened her mouth.
But the only sound Claude heard was the sound of Areadbhar slicing the emperor’s head off. He watched her take the Sword of the Creator from the dead emperor’s grip before turning towards them. She raised her head and said in a clear calm tone, “Let’s go. We have a battle to end.”
Both Ingrid and Dedue bowed as they replied, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Her eyes met Claude’s and he nodded silently.
The three of them followed the widowed queen out of the throne room, never looking back.
With the Sword of the Creator back in her hands, most of the imperial troops believed them when they had announced that the emperor was dead. Those who did not were easily subdued by their army.
The dawn of a new day heralded the fall of the great Adrestian Empire to the combined might of the Alliance and Kingdom armies.
He found her at the balcony overlooking Enbarr in the imperial palace as the sun began to set, sitting on the floor as she held Areadbhar on her lap. Dedue was standing by the door leading to the balcony and he simply nodded silently at Claude as he passed him by. Their army was ensuring the order in Enbarr while Lorenz, Judith and Seteth were implementing his orders which would hopefully finally bring peace in all of Fodlan.
He sat next to her and watched the sunset silently.
“He’s not here.” She said softly after a few moments of silence.
He could tell her that there was still a chance. They still haven’t found Rhea and Enbarr was a huge city. The imperial palace also had a huge underground facility that they apparently used as a dungeon. Lysithea had paled at the sight of one of the rooms which made Claude believe that it had been used for something more than just a dungeon.
But he couldn’t give her false hope now.
“I’m sorry, Abje.” Those words were all he could offer her and it frustrated him how powerless he was in all of these.
She shook her head before she said, “It’s not your fault, Claude. There are some things in this world that we cannot change.”
She closed her eyes and tightened her grip on Areadbhar as she whispered, “Even if we have the power of a goddess on our side.”
He placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her towards him, resting their temples together. She opened her eyes and stared at the setting sun as she reminded him, “We’re not done yet, Claude.”
“Yeah.” He whispered back.
She slightly pulled away from him so she could turn to face him before she stated, “I’m going to return to Faerghus and take over as queen regent in Dimitri’s place until our child is of age to take the throne.”
“Faerghus would be lucky to have you as their queen.” He commented gently as he turned to face her. Seeing her stoic expression, he frowned slightly as he asked, “Is that what you want?”
She chuckled mirthlessly before replying with a sad smile, “What I want…”
She sighed and turned to face the setting sun once more as she confessed, “What my heart truly desired died that day in Gronder Field.”
“But I can still make his dream a reality.” She continued as her smile became melancholic, “A kingdom that everyone would be proud to call their homeland, nobles and commoners alike, to those with blood from Faerghus and Duscur could live in peace.”
She placed her hand on her stomach as she continued, “A kingdom that this child could lead to a future of peace…”
He stared at her for a few moments before turning his attention towards the sun as it slowly disappear from their view, “I never told you my dream, have I?”
She turned towards him and he smiled softly as he confessed, “I dream of a peaceful land where we can go to a marketplace and see people from all over the world shopping and talking with one another. A noisy marketplace filled with laughter and shops from all over the world. People from Almyra, Fodlan, Dagda, Morfis, Brigid and Duscur walking and shopping peacefully. A land with no borders…”
He stopped when he noticed that tears were falling from her eyes. Her lips curved into a soft smile as she whispered, “Dimitri would have loved to see your dream come true, Claude.”
His voice cracked as he whispered back, “I know.”
As Enbarr welcomes the moon and the stars, two people held one another as they finally had the time to cry over the loss of her beloved and his brother.
Judith found them the next day and was kind enough not to say anything about their puffy red eyes.
Then they were moving once more as they learned about those who slither in the dark (which was a long name in Claude’s opinion but he let it passed since there were more pressing things that needed their attention) and the location of Rhea from the letter Hubert left behind.
He was a bit relieved that there were more things to do so they won’t have time to dwell on the confirmation of their worst nightmare from Hubert’s letter.
Hubert had clarified that the rumors of the empire keeping Dimitri imprisoned in Enbarr was false. As far as he and his liege knew, Dimitri had died in Gronder Field.
So it was with a heavy heart that they met up with the recently rescued archbishop. Rhea had been a bit weak and Claude knew that she would have been in a worse shape had they been slower in ending this war. She had answered all of their questions about those who slither in the dark and confirmed Seteth’s guess that they were descendants of the people punished by the goddess for daring to go against her.
… But he wasn’t sure if it was completely true as a vengeful goddess seemed to be at odds with how the mint-haired woman had described the goddess she knew as Sothis.
However, most of Rhea’s explanation made sense and, if his guess was correct, the children of the goddess that Rhea was talking about wasn’t just her but was also Seteth and Flayn. It wasn’t that much of a stretch considering Flayn was actually a bad liar. He felt no malice in the archbishop’s deception so he supposed she had lied to keep the two safe.
He was even more surprised that not a lot of people had the same guess as him.
With Rhea’s explanation, they decided to march into Shambala as soon as possible before any of those Slitherers (he was getting tired of calling them ‘those who slither in the dark’, it was too long) decided to use those javelins of light once more. Ingrid has already left to meet up with the kingdom army with their queen’s orders to meet them on Myrddin instead. They would have to rely on the kingdom army as their attacking force because the alliance army had to remain in Enbarr to ensure that the transition of power would go smoothly while the Church of Seiros had to return to the monastery to prepare the prisoners and ensure the security of Garreg Mach in case things went south in Shambala. This would also mean that Judith would have to remain to represent both the kingdom and the alliance until Duke Fraldarius get to Enbarr to represent the kingdom. He had already given her his instructions about how to proceed. He was sure that Duke Fraldarius would agree to his terms and conditions. The queen had also left Areadbhar in Judith’s care so she may give it to Duke Fraldarius for safekeeping on her students’ insistence that the Sword of the Creator’s longer range was better for her in her current situation. Nader and the Almyran soldiers would also be joining them as it was on the way back to Almyra anyway or so Nader nonchalantly explained.
He wasn’t fooling anyone.
Shambala wasn’t some sort of underground castle.
It was an entire city with strange technology the likes no one in Fodlan or Almyra has ever seen.
And it was also filled with those huge moving statues and those lamps that summoned lightning that had hindered the kingdom army in Fhirdiad.
The good thing was the Kingdom army had experience with both of them and they already had tactics in place that kept their casualties to a minimum and also made their advancement quicker and easier. Those shared training sessions also made it easy for the Golden Deers to fall back to the habit of supporting their Blue Lion partner and coordinate with them without the need of Claude’s or their professor’s orders.
Speaking of the mint-haired woman, he wasn’t sure it was the right call to let a weakened archbishop and a pregnant queen regent into the battlefield but said queen regent had promised to stay in the rear with the archbishop who would not accept no for an answer. He had placed Leonie and Annette to guard her because he knew Leonie will make sure no harm will fall before her and would physically restrain her if the mercenary found it necessary and Annette had both faith and reason spells in her arsenal to support them while also having those cute puppy-dog eyes that made anyone feel guilty for trying to do something she didn’t approve.
With the Kingdom army leading the advance (and he was seriously worried about how they view battles and their lives as no one in their right mind would order their horse to charge into one of those lightning summoning lamps while it was summoning lightning, Sylvain!), they managed to corner Thales who looked like he was the leader of the Slitherers.
Then their enemies received reinforcement from the west and everything went to hell.
He doesn’t know if he wanted to believe Rhea when she said that the man holding a corrupted version of the Sword of the Creator is really Nemesis but it was hard to argue with her when the white-haired man was screaming “Seiros!” as he charged the weakened archbishop.
Their attacks barely made a dent on the dark shield surrounding the supposed to be dead Nemesis (no, seriously, why was he still alive???) and the other reinforcements was really getting on Claude’s nerves.
He could see that the one leading the reinforcement was the Dark Knight wearing a black wolf helmet. He wasn’t even sure if he was even a Dark Knight as his mount wasn’t a horse but a griffon.
So, apparently, griffons were really a thing here in Fodlan.
Good to know that one of his questions from his academic days was now answered.
Thankfully, the griffon this Dark Knight was riding had broken wings so it remained on the ground.
“Fraldarius, remove him from my sight!” The Dark Knight ordered as he pointed the dark relic that looked exactly like Areadbhar at Claude, his voice distorted by his wolf helmet.
The Falcon Knight silently flew towards him and his wyvern had to quickly dodge the quick sword strike from the female knight.
Up close, he could see the crest of Fraldarius etched on her chest armor and on the glowing dark Aegis shield she had on her left forearm which was evidence enough for him.
So, apparently, not only was Nemesis alive, the ten elites were too.
And if the books about the ten elites he had read were correct, that meant that the one giving the order was the hero Blaiddyd.
Claude had no time to think as he maneuvered his wyvern to fly straight to the griffon riding Dark Knight with Fraldarius chasing after him.
He almost didn’t see the flash of mint-colored hair that was moving towards Blaiddyd position as well.
He should have expected her to have the same idea as him.
Blaiddyd was the only one who had spoken among the ten elites and he was giving the orders which meant he was the leader. If they take him out, they would cripple the other elites.
He was still going to scold her for getting into the middle of the battle when she promised everyone she wouldn’t. Then he would let Leonie and Annette have a turn with her as those two were probably worried sick by now for losing sight of her.
His wyvern dove to the ground, causing Blaiddyd’s griffon to screech and rear up. He used the distraction to shoot an arrow at the Dark Knight which the man sliced in half with his lance.
Leaving him open for the Sword of the Creator to detach its blades and strike him from his right side, taking out his griffon in the process.
With a speed that was completely inhuman, Blaiddyd evaded the blades and the Sword of the Creator only managed to knock his helmet off.
Claude’s eyes widened and all he could manage to choke out was “Dimitri?”
Underneath the wolf helmet was definitely Dimitri. He had managed to get a glimpse of him during the chaos in Gronder Field before the dust storm destroyed their visibility.
It was definitely Dimitri.
But something was wrong.
The blue hue of his right eye was darker, reminding him of the deep sea.
And he was glaring at Claude with hatred in his eyes.
“Claude!” He growled and his wyvern tried to fly away from the angry…
Was it really Dimitri?
He was too focused on Dimitri that he did not see Fraldarius fly towards him and strike his wyvern. His wyvern staggered in mid-air and Claude lost his grip on his wyvern’s reins. He fell on the floor with a loud thud. He felt a few of his ribs break and all he could do was try to get up as the falcon knight chased his wyvern above him. He felt a strong hand grip his neck and lift him until his feet could no longer touch the floor underneath. He began to gasp for breath as he felt the hand squeezed his neck.
“Dimitri! Stop!” He heard her cry out but could barely see her as she ran towards the man choking him and grab his other arm, “That’s Claude!”
“He’s a traitor!” Dimitri (was it really him?) growled, “He took you away from me!”
What…?
“What are you talking about?!” She shouted as she tried to pull him away from Claude.
He could barely breath and he could feel his fingers digging through his skin.
“That’s right.” Thales’ voice agreed from behind Dimitri, “He took the woman you love away from you, hid her all these years while you grieved her death.”
“Wha-” Her eyes widened as she realized what had happened. She stepped forward so she was between Claude and Dimitri as she said, “They’re lying, Dimitri! Claude never hid me! We’ve been looking for you all this time!”
“Look at her.” Thales’ voice was gentle and pitying, “The Riegan traitor has messed with her mind, made her believe that she loved him instead of you.”
“No. No, Dimitri! Listen to me!” She begged but stopped when she heard Claude cough as Dimitri began to squeeze hard. She placed both her hands on Dimitri’s cheeks as she said with desperation etched in each of her words, “Dimitri, that’s Claude! Don’t you remember? You use to worry that he’ll make a mistake and drink a poison that would be too much for him! You told me that you think he’s great at scheming but he sucks at being a matchmaker!”
Claude felt the fingers around his neck loosened, letting Claude breathe better. She caressed Dimitri’s cheeks with her thumbs as she continued to try to get to him, “Remember that night after the mock battle? Remember how he ate so much food you feared we would throw up later?”
“Claude would never take me away from you, you know that!” She reasoned as tears fell from her eyes, “He’s your brother! Our brother!”
The blond-haired man stared at Claude with his mismatched eyes for a few seconds before he closed his eyes as Claude felt the hand gripping his neck tremble. Dimitri dropped the dark-haired man on the ground and let go of the dark Areadbhar in his other hand before he clutched his head as he fell on his knees with a groan. She immediately went on her knees as she called out, “Dimitri!”
Claude coughed as he tried to get up, watching as the mint-haired woman caressed her husband’s cheeks as she whispered, “It’s really, you. Oh, Dimitri. It is really you, right?”
He was about to walk towards them when he heard the Sword of the Creator sing but that didn’t make sense when-
“Abje!” He screamed as he saw the detached blades of the dark Sword of the Creator fly straight towards the kneeling woman.
“Byleth!” Dimitri seemed to have reacted on instinct, holding his beloved in his arms and using his body to protect her. The detached blades of the Sword of the Creator hit the back of his armor before returning to Nemesis who was walking towards him while he dragged a bleeding Rhea by the hair. The blond man continued to hold his beloved in his arms as he glared at the ancient man. Dimitri’s voice was deeper and rougher as he growled, “Nemesis, you dare attack my wife?! Know your place, cur!”
“Your wife?” Nemesis’ voice was distorted by the dark shield surrounding him, “Blaiddyd, your wife is dead, remember?”
Dimitri’s body froze as the fake king threw Rhea on the floor in front of them as he reminded him, “Seiros killed her in the name of their false goddess, don’t you remember?”
Rhea groaned and tried to get up but her eyes widened when she saw Dimitri, uttering in pain, “Blai…ddyd…?”
“I am…” Dimitri clutched his head and groaned in pain, “My name is…”
“Dimitri!” His beloved placed her hands on his cheeks while Nemesis chuckled.
“I see. You dare take the form of his murdered wife to mess with his head.” Nemesis raised his dark Sword of the Creator as he said, “I shall cut through your illusion, false goddess.”
She raised her Sword of the Creator and blocked his strike. An arrow shot at his dark shield, making him turn towards Claude who was already nocking another arrow.
“Foolish boy. Do you really think that would hurt me?” Nemesis asked in an almost amused tone.
“No.” Claude’s lips curved into a smirk as he added, “But made you look.”
Before Nemesis could react, a wall of ice sprouted between him and the wielder of the true Sword of the Creator.
A hail of arrows from Ignatz, Ashe and Leonie rained down on him, barely denting his shield while the ground erupted into an explosive gush of lava and dark spikes. From behind the three Bow Knights, Mercedes and Lysithea were already reading another spell as a new magic circle appeared on the tip of their magic wands while Marianne kept her magic wand aimed at the ice-covered trail leading to the wall of ice protecting their allies from Nemesis.
“Your Majesty!” Sylvain shouted the same time Lorenz called out, “Claude!”
Their horses galloped towards them and Lorenz shouted, “We must go. The rest are keeping the elites busy but we need to create a defensive line and get Lady Rhea to one of our healers.”
“Your Majesty, are you alr-” Sylvain’s eyes widened as he recognized the man in her arms, “Di-Dimitri?”
“I understand now.” Dimitri whispered in a low gruff voice as he raised his head. He placed his hand on her cheek and rested his forehead against hers, “I love you, my beloved.”
“I love you too, Dima.” She replied immediately, leaning against the warmth of his palm, as confusion and worry warred in her eyes.
“And that is all that matters.” He said cryptically before he grabbed the dark Areadbhar he had dropped. He stood and turned his head towards Marianne as he ordered, “Remove the wall, Maurice.”
Her eyes widened at the name and she lost her concentration. The wall of ice shattered and fell like snow as Dimitri declared, “It doesn’t matter who I am. I am a Blaiddyd, a wolf of winter.”
The dark relic glowed and twitched in his grasp as he growled, “And we shall rip apart any who dare harm our family!”
He aimed the corrupted Areadbhar at Nemesis as he declared in a deep voice, “By attacking the woman I love, your soul shall burn in the eternal flames, Nemesis.”
“Fraldarius! Gautier!” He ordered and Sylvain’s jaw dropped as the Great Knight that he swore had been fighting Felix and Hilda suddenly galloped towards Nemesis while the Falcon Knight that had been chasing Claude’s wyvern swooped down on the other side. They struck Nemesis’ dark shield and it began to crack.
Dimitri glared at the wielder of the dark Sword of the Creator as he tapped the end of the dark relic to the floor.
At the sound of the lance relic hitting the floor, the dark shield surrounding the King of Liberation shattered.
“Wha-what’s happening?” Hilda asked as the rest of their group finally caught up to them, “We were fighting these really strong enemies then they just stopped and run towards you guy-”
Her eyes widened and tears began to fall from her eyes as she stuttered, “Di-Dimitri?”
“Your Highness!” Dedue called out, his eyes widening at the sight of his liege.
He turned towards his friends and gave them a small smile as he said, “We shall talk later. For now…”
He turned to glare at Thales who had been silently watching the entire thing and growled, “You shall suffer the same fate as Nemesis for messing with my mind and making me hurt my family.”
“Kill every last one of them.” He growled as he tapped the end of the dark Areadbhar to the floor once more.
At that command, all of the ten elites began to attack the Slitherers, much to everyone’s confusion.
Claude was the first to recover as he got up and ordered, “Everyone, focus on making sure none of them get out of here! Subdue them or take them down, just make sure they stay down!”
“Okay!” The Golden Deers said while others simply nodded before returning to the fight.
“Your Highness.” Dedue called out and Claude noticed that the Blue Lions remained by their side.
Dimitri offered his hand towards Byleth who had remained kneeling the entire time. She took his hand and let him pull her up gently before he turned to face his subjects, “Support the elites. Kill them all.”
The Blue Lions turned towards their queen who nodded as she added, “We’ll take care of Nemesis.”
She turned towards Dedue and Mercedes and ordered, “Take care of Rhea.”
“As you command, Your Majesty.” Dedue bowed before he took Rhea in his arms and ran with Mercedes following him towards one of the corners that he could hide Rhea in while Mercedes looked after her wounds. The rest of the Blue Lion rushed to support their Golden Deer comrades while the three remained to face Nemesis.
Nemesis stared at them before chuckling. He raised his Dark Sword of the Creator as he said, “You think you three can defeat me? Ignorant fools!”
Claude chuckled as he twirled an arrow between his fingers before he nonchalantly said, “I think that was a challenge. Wouldn’t you say, Teach? Dimitri?”
Both of them nodded as they readied themselves. Claude nocked an arrow and aimed it at the white-haired man as he said, “Here’s something you should know, oh great king of liberation. Our royal couple?”
Both of them charged Nemesis and Claude fired his arrow as he declared, “They really hate to lose!”
Nemesis detached the blades of his Sword of the Creator and sliced the arrow aimed at his heart. The original Sword of the Creator sang as its own detached blade met its corrupted counterpart, causing its owner to stagger. The dark Areadbhar pierced through Nemesis’ shoulder and the man howled in anger, using his other hand to punch the blond king.
Dimitri pulled his dark relic as he crouched, evading the punch directed at him, and Claude’s next arrow pierced their enemy’s fist while the Sword of the Creator sang once more, forcing Nemesis to take a step back to evade the detached blades. Their attack didn’t let up as Dimitri quickly blasted a spark of lighting at Nemesis while his beloved bombarded their enemy with quick bursts of fire. As their magical barrage kept their enemy busy, Claude’s relic glowed with an eerie red light as he aimed an arrow to the ceiling. The red glow engulfed the arrow and he shot it into the air. The arrow shattered right on top of Nemesis and the broken pieces turned into arrows of light that rained down on the false king. Nemesis growled and aimed the corrupted Sword of the Creator to take Claude’s head.
Claude dodged out of the way and Nemesis paid the price of letting his anger get the best of him. He felt the detached blades of the original Sword of the Creator wrap around his arm and, as he turned to glare at the wielder, Dimitri moved to his blind spot and sliced his head clean off with one slash from the dark relic in his hands.
The duke sighed in relief as the liberation king’s corpse fell to the ground as its head rolled away from it. He walked towards the royal couple and asked, “Think he’s dead now?”
His professor flicked her hand and a magic circle appeared by her palm before the floor around the corpse and its head burst as lava erupted, burning all of the remains. Both men turned to stare at the overkill and she shrugged as she said, “Just making sure…”
Claude and Dimitri turned to stare at each other before they both chuckled. The dark-haired man smiled as he opened his mouth-
“Claude, look out!” He heard Hilda’s frantic scream before he felt someone push him so hard he fell and skidded away from them.
“Dimitri!” He heard the queen scream and his eyes widened as he saw Dimitri get thrown across the floor by a blast of dark magic, his body slamming against one of the walls before falling on the floor. The wall broke and debris fell on top of him.
“Thales!” She screamed in rage and the Sword of the Creator glowed red as she whipped its detached blades towards the caster. Thales dodged the slice but the Sword of the Creator stopped in mid-air, vibrating menacingly before it frenziedly danced around Thales, cutting and slicing in fury.
The pieces of Thales’ body fell to the floor in a bloody mess but neither of them cared as they rushed towards where Dimitri had fell.
“Dimitri!” They both cried out as they quickly removed the pieces of debris pinning him. They held him in their arms as he slowly opened his eyes. His hair and his deathly pale face were drenched in his own blood and his dark armor could not hide the damage he had sustained from both Thales’ attack and the pieces of debris that fell on him.
He turned to look at Claude as he asked weakly, “Are you… hurt?”
“No. I’m okay.” Claude replied immediately as his voice cracked, “Dammit, Dimitri, you idiot!”
The injured man chuckled softly, groaning as the movement aggravated his wounds. He smiled at him as he said weakly, “I know. I just… I wanted to protect you.”
“Not like this!” Claude shouted as tears began to fall from his eyes, “Not at the expense of your life! You idiot!”
“Sorry.” He mumbled before turning towards the woman crying on his other side, “My beloved… I… I missed you so much.”
She sobbed as she took his hand and held it as she whispered, “I miss you too, Dima. Not a single day passed by that I didn’t think of you.”
Claude placed his hand on top of theirs as he added, “You have a lot of days to make up for, Dimitri! You hear me? We’re not letting you off the hook so easily!”
She chuckled as her tears continued to fall, “Claude’s right! You made us look for you for a long time!”
Dimitri’s lips curved into a sad smile as he whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Seeing his eyes start to drop, Claude begged, “Nononono. Don’t close your eyes! Just hang on, Dimitri!”
He turned around and shouted, “Marianne! Merce-”
His eyes widened as he saw that elite ten were standing in front of them. From behind them, their comrades could only stare in horror and despair, unable to move forward.
One of the elites, a Gremory, knelt in front of them and placed her hand on Dimitri’s leg. The injured man’s breath hitched but his head rolled to the side, resting his forehead on his beloved’s bosoms as his eyes began to close.
Claude wasn’t sure but he might have seen the elite’s mouth move from behind her veil but no sound came out. He saw a dark mist move from the elite’s hand towards Dimitri. Claude wasn’t sure how he could explain it but the mist didn’t feel like harmful. It almost felt… soothing? The other elites surrounded them and knelt as well. They placed a hand on Dimitri’s legs and the same dark mist moved from their hand towards the dying man. Fraldarius and Gautier, who had knelt beside the two of them, placed their hand on Dimitri’s shoulders in an almost reverent manner. The more the dark mist transferred to the king, the more the elite’s body began to fade.
The Gremory was the first to completely fade, followed by the other elites by Dimitri’s legs. As each elite began to fade, color slowly began to return on Dimitri’s face.
When the last elite faded, Dimitri’s eyes opened and he gasped for breath, surprising both of them. Tears fell from his eyes as he whispered in a deep broken voice, “Thank you, my friends.”
After uttering those words, his eyes closed once more.
“Dimitri!”
With the death of Thales, the rest of the Slitherers (which he finally learned from Seteth was called Agarthians) were easily routed by their army. They could not be sure if that was the last of them but, at the very least, it would be safe to assume that they managed to take out the majority of them.
They had decided to retreat to Castle Goneril as it was nearest. No one knew if the leak came from someone working in Castle Goneril or if it came from one of the soldiers of the kingdom army, all they knew was word had gotten out that Dimitri was alive.
Dimitri rested for an entire day before he said he was alright which worried them all. Rhea, even though she was worse off than any of them, asked that she be left with Dimitri alone so they may talk. They refused, of course, so they made a compromise. Rhea could talk to Dimitri as long as he, Dedue and the Golden Deer professor were in the room. They had promised to remain quiet and Claude regretted making such a promise considering what the two had talked about as each passing sentence leaving their lips made Claude want to ask a hundred questions.
Rhea had tried to confirm that the man they had saved was really Dimitri. She was unsure how the Slitherers were able to do it but, according to her, they either took his corpse or his dying body back to Shambala and used the hero Blaiddyd to either resurrect or save him. The dark blue right eye Dimitri now had and that he hid so that no one would ask any questions was the same color as Blaiddyd’s eyes which meant the Slitherers may have either fused them together or they had used parts of Blaiddyd’s body to replace the broken parts of Dimitri’s body.
Rhea was more inclined to believe that they had fused both Dimitri and Blaiddyd together. It would also account for the moments of confusion Dimitri would have, calling people by their last name (except Marianne who he could call ‘Maurice’) and his sometimes hostile attitude towards Rhea whenever he would call her ‘Seiros’. It would also account for the strange fragmented memories Dimitri would sometimes remember about his ancestor that he would confusingly think of his own for a few moments.
But Dimitri was doing okay, much to everyone’s surprise. He even overheard him confess to his wife that he could no longer hear the voices of the dead (Claude didn’t even know he could hear them) and it was now replaced by flashes of memories that didn’t belong to him. He was getting better at distinguishing which memory was his and which was his ancestor’s immediately. It helped that everyone was supportive and understanding, happy to have him back safe and sound.
Staying in Castle Goneril with his closest friends from both Golden Deer and Blue Lion made Claude feel like he was back in the academy five years ago. Back to a time where everything was simple and hopeful…
But he never forgot that the future waits for no one.
Dimitri found him tending the anemone flower bed in the inner courtyard of Castle Goneril. He had found the flower bed by accident and the sight of the white anemones with a purple center made him remembered those dark days in Castle Riegan. He could only suspect that Hilda had planted these anemones herself when she had returned to Castle Goneril. His heart ached at the thought of his best friend planting and taking care of a flower bed all by herself. He had been planning on just looking at them but he couldn’t help but notice that the maintenance of the flowers weren’t up to his standards.
Or, he should say, up to his and Hilda’s standards.
He couldn’t blame Hilda though. She hadn’t been back in Goneril since they all reunited five months ago (was it just been five months? It felt like eight months…) so these anemones were being cared for by people who didn’t know how he and Hilda cared for them.
The blond-haired man didn’t say anything at first, simply taking off his dark blue coat and rolling his sleeves before he crouched next to Claude and began to tend the flowers as well. A quick glance behind them was all Claude needed to see that Dedue was standing a few feet away, having a clear view of them but giving them privacy at the same time. They remained silent for a few minutes before Dimitri whispered, “She’s pregnant.”
He wasn’t sure if the older man was freaking out or trying to tell him about it so he didn’t glance at him as he said nonchalantly, “Yup. It’s yours, by the way.”
Dimitri chuckled softly before replying, “Yes. They explained that to me.”
Hearing the word ‘they’, Claude finally turned to stare at him as he asked, “What did Rhea say?”
Dimitri’s smile disappeared as he replied, “She doesn’t believe what happened to Byleth’s mother would happen to her. At the very least, she believed that the goddess would protect her.”
He raised an eyebrow as he asked, “And what do you two believe?”
“I…” The older man closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes and lowered his head to stare at the anemone in front of him as he replied, “I believe in Byleth. She agreed with Rhea that Sothis wouldn’t let anything happen to our child so I will believe in this goddess of hers.”
Claude couldn’t help but snort before he said, “Careful, your majesty. It would mean trouble if people hear the king of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus talk like that.”
Dimitri turned to face his close friend and raised an eyebrow as he retorted, “Well, according to Rodrigue, I would not be the king of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus but the king of the United Kingdom of Fodlan.”
Claude grinned as he asked back, “Oh, did he tell you that?”
Dimitri’s brows furrowed as he asked, “What are you scheming, Claude?”
The dark-haired man blinked innocently at him as he asked back, “What makes you think I’m scheming anything?”
The blond-haired man rolled his eyes before he listed, “Let’s see, where do I begin? Apparently, you got the five ruling lords of Leicester Alliance to agree in becoming part of Faerghus and Riegan territory is currently being ruled by one of the vassal houses under House Riegan without any need to get your approval over any decision they make. The houses that were under Adrestia have started to swore fealty to House Blaiddyd, even the ones that are closer to Alliance territory. Not to mention, the head of House Daphnel has also sworn her house to mine even though House Daphnel’s relationship with the Kingdom has been problematic since House Galatea defected to Faerghus.”
“Okay, okay.” He waved his hand dismissively, stopping Dimitri from continuing his report (he really wasn’t in the mood to hear about all the political ongoings of Fodlan at the moment). He sighed before he admitted, “I’m leaving Fodlan.”
“What?!” Dimitri’s eye widened but he didn’t say anything else when Claude raised his hand to stop him.
“I have unfinished business to take care of outside of Fodlan.” He said vaguely yet his next words were filled with conviction and determination, “For the sake of my dream… of our dream, I have to leave for a while.”
Dimitri stared at him for a few seconds before he asked in a thoughtful tone, “This business outside of Fodlan… would be in Almyra, wouldn’t it?”
“Maybe.” Claude replied vaguely with an impish smile.
His close friend stared at him for a few moments before he sighed in resignation. Instead of stopping him, he only asked in a slightly resigned tone, “Claude, please tell me you’re not planning on overthrowing the current royal family of Almyra then leave me and my queen to take care of everything.”
Claude couldn’t help but laugh out loud at that. He started wheezing and his ribs started to hurt as the very thought of overthrowing his own family was such an absurd and hilarious thought that he couldn’t help becoming hysterical over it. Dimitri frowned at his friend’s antics and emphasized, “I’m serious, Claude. I’m already imagining the amount of paperwork we would have to take care of to ensure the peace here in Fodlan and I am having nightmares about it. Please don’t conquer any other nation for Fodlan. Just drafting the treaty for any conquered nation would kill us.”
Claude shook his head and tried to stop his laughter enough to say something. Seeing Dimitri’s serious expression, he snorted and began to laugh once more. His laughter must have summoned her because the blond king’s face turned into one of pure relief as he saw her, “My beloved. Please talk to your brother and tell him not to conquer Almyra in our name.”
She raised an eyebrow at the strange request but dutifully ordered in the same tone she used to tell any of her students to not run inside the classroom (which happened more often than it should in Golden Deers), “Claude, don’t conquer or liberate any countries in the name of House Blaiddyd, Fodlan or any other names you might think of that will be linked back to us.”
Claude’s laughter began anew at the specific order, knowing that she learned to do such a thing because Claude (and Hilda) liked bypassing her orders or instructions using the loopholes in the words she would use, while she turned towards her husband and commented, “He’s your brother too.”
“If he’s scheming, he’s yours.” Dimitri clarified which made her cross her arms.
“Oh? And when would he be yours?” She challenged.
He shrugged as he replied, “Any time he’s matchmaking, I suppose.”
“Well then, I suppose he will be bringing shame to House Blaiddyd with his atrocious matchmaking skills.” She deadpanned which only made the king chuckle.
“Hey!” Claude finally managed to stop laughing so he could defend himself, “I got you two together, didn’t I?”
They both turned towards him and shrugged as they deadpanned, “You had help.”
Claude pouted and stood so he could stare at both of them as he asked, “Oh, I get it. This is the whole ‘tease your little brother’ thing people do, isn’t it?”
Dimitri stood as well, taking with him one Anemone from the flower bed. The royal couple replied in unison, “No, this is just the usual ‘tease Claude’ thing we always do.”
He glared at them for a few seconds before the three of them began to laugh.
He watched Dimitri place the anemone behind her ear and his lips curved into a soft smile as he saw the love in their eyes as they held hands. Grinning, he jumped at them and wrapped his arms around them, making them yelp.
He held them close as he promised, “I’ll make our dream come true so…”
He closed his eyes as he asked, “Wait for me, okay?”
He felt their arms around him and he relaxed as they embraced him, his heart soaring as he heard them whisper.
“We’ll keep doing what we can here as well to make our dream come true so do what you must, Claude.”
“And once everything’s done, come back to us, okay?”
“Yeah.” He tightened his hold on them, “I promise.”
Archbishop Rhea officially crowned Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd and Byleth Eisner-Blaiddyd as the first king and queen of the United Kingdom of Fodlan a week later in Garreg Mach. Everyone from Golden Deer and Blue Lion were there to celebrate and congratulate the royal couple. The celebration lasted the entire day and night, filled with laughter and cheering as well as drunken singing and dancing.
The next day, Claude von Riegan left Fodlan.
The next months were hectic as Fodlan started to heal from the five year long war. King Dimitri and Queen Byleth were once more wedded in Castle Blaiddyd and was officiated by the archbishop, more as a formality as their previous wedding five years ago was already binding in the eyes of the Church of Seiros. Wedding the royal couple was the last act Archbishop Rhea did before stepping down. She was replaced by her second-in-command Seteth and his ‘sister’, Flayn, who started to usher in reforms within the church.
King Dimitri and Queen Byleth ruled Fodlan as equals and it was not unheard of to hear the two argue over certain problems plaguing Fodlan yet everyone would attest to the fact that none of their arguments ever left the council room. Outside the council room, they remained devoted to one another and they would often be seen tending the anemone garden together in Castle Blaiddyd. The royal couple focused on rebuilding Fodlan and providing relief for those who had suffered greatly during the war, most especially those who had been orphaned during and after the war.
Eight months later, the royal couple was blessed with a son who bore a major crest of Blaiddyd. The crown prince was named Lambert Jeralt Eisner-Blaiddyd and all of Fodlan celebrated the day of his birth.
The next week, the king of Almyra himself visited Castle Blaiddyd with a mountain of gifts for baby Lamb (a nickname that stuck after Lysithea had joked about how the baby was more of a lamb than a piglet as Felix commented).
The royal couple could only stare at the unnecessary amount of gifts as the new king of Almyra reminded them with a grin, “Well? Didn’t I tell you I’d spoil your child rotten?”
The royal couple turned to grimace at each other, knowing the Almyran king well enough to know that this was his passive-aggressive way of punishing them for not inviting him to their wedding.
… Again.
***Lore and Information For This 2nd Part***
The Wyvern Teach
Claude’s wyvern’s name is based on eisneRiegan’s name for his wyvern. It’s a joke between us that Claude named his wyvern ‘Teach’ which everyone teases him about (his Barbarossa wyvern is named ‘Omar’ though because of Joe Zieja’s video) but they don’t know that Dimitri’s horse is actually named ‘Byleth’ (Marianne and Dedue are the only people who knew about the horse’s name) and Dimitri is always flustered when someone asks what’s the name of his horse. (No one found out but Sylvain had joked it was named after Byleth and no one believed him… while Dimitri almost had a heart attack)
Light Crystals
A common tool used in the School of Sorcery to help students focus when they are just starting. It is made from the same crystal a lot of magic wands used to amplify their user’s magical proficiency and might. Once a magic user lit up the crystal, the crystal will glow until either the user turns it off (this is part of the student’s training in the School of Sorcery to practice control) or a specific time has passed (the duration depends on how large the crystal is, similar to the warming crystal). In the story, Ignatz received the light crystal he used when he was starting out from Lorenz who had been a student in the School of Sorcery before. Ashe, being a bow knight, did not activate the crystal itself. Instead it was activated beforehand. Due to the common poor visibility in Faerghus caused by harsh snow storms (more common in the northern and central kingdom territories) or heavy fog (more common in the southern kingdom territories), bow knight scouts would keep a small supply of arrows with a light crystal tip (sharpened to a shape of an arrow tip to ensure accuracy) which they would use to signal their position to their comrades. The light would pierce through snow storms and fog. However, the light will also give away their position to their enemies so caution is a must. Just taking out one arrow with the light crystal and nocking it will give enough time for an enemy sniper to take out the scout, making it dangerous to the scout and should only be used in dire circumstances. (Other than bow knights, Faerghus’ knight orders uses Pegasus Knights and Dark Knights as scouts as well, depending on where the knight order originated)
Faerghus and Sieges (spoilers for CF route)
Due to the cold rugged lands, Faerghus has never been rich in resources. The fact that the death of King Lambert Egitte Blaiddyd has led to minor revolts of small lords trying to gain more power and banditry becoming a norm has also negatively affected the resources each territory could procure. Faerghus is not in a good state to actually defend themselves from invaders once Arianrhod to the south, Galatea to the east or Gautier to the west is captured. This is why Dimitri held his final stand in Tailtean Plains in CF route as the only way to stop Adrestia from marching to Fhirdiad was to take the main force down via a pincer attack with the Church of Seiros as Fhirdiad cannot withstand a siege due to limited resources. In Wilted Sunflower (shameless plug!), the wounded are sent to Castle Fraldarius as the castle is more secure and troops can easily retreat to Gautier territory or to the western coast. The terrain in the northern territories are also harsher and would have given the empire a hard time, giving the kingdom troops advantage over their enemies, especially during the colder seasons. Retreating to the northern territories and consolidating Faerghus’ military to defend the northern borders might have been the most logical step but Dimitri was blinded by his desire to kill Edelgard and, instead, took a final stand in Tailtean Plains with the Church of Seiros. It is also due to the fact that prolonged battles are highly inadvisable in Faerghus that most of their tactics are meant to finish a battle swiftly and why crest bearers and hero relics are truly necessary to Faerghus.
Class Change
Byleth’s ‘class change’ is heavily inspired by both Dimitri’s Great Lord class and the Pegasus Knight class (mainly so she would wear a flowing dress that would hide her body). Here’s a link to how it looks like . It would either be called “Queen Regent” or “Winter Anemone” (I haven’t really thought about it) and its class skill is “Long Live the Queen” (grants +5 avo and +5 crit to any unit adjacent to her during enemy turn). It’s an unmounted class that has access to magic and grants bonuses to lance, bow, and authority.
Warp Attack, Gambits and Dance
It is possible to end Hubert’s stage in 1 turn by using Stride->Lysithea warps flier attacker->Dancer dances Lysithea -> Lysithea moves and warps flier attacker again -> Flier moves to Hubert’s position and one shot him.
Gambits are the battalion’s special attack (or their signature attack) and are either weapon based (example: Fusillade), item based (example: Poison tactic) or magic based (example: Group ice magic). Stride is a magic based gambit as it enhances their allies’ (and horses) stamina so they could travel longer distances without needing a break. Magic based gambits are usually either spells with greater area of effect (group ice magic) or complicated spells that needs multiple casters to work (Stride).
The Dancer’s Dance command is actually a type of magic that rejuvenates the target’s stamina. An advanced version of this magic will also augment the target’s physical and magical prowess momentarily.
“Where’s Claude’s Speech?”
Claude made the speech to keep Nemesis distracted so Byleth could deal the final blow. This was not necessary in this fic because he knew that the royal couple just needed a few seconds to take Nemesis down which he gave by making Nemesis focus his attention on him.
Timeline and Shambala
The Alliance army advanced faster in this fic than in canon due to a lot of factors which were mentioned in the fic. Because of this, both the empire and the slitherers had to change their tactics as well. Death Knight remained in Faerghus instead of going to Fort Merceus because of the Loyalist/Kingdom army’s attack, for example. Nemesis being woken intentionally in Shambala was due to the sudden attack of the Kingdom Army with Claude and the others while a lot of their high ranking members were already dead (Cornelia) or missing (Maison), forcing their hand. Dimitri had been deployed as Blaiddyd as well to control the ten elites as well as support Nemesis (but Thales also ordered it because he was sadistic). The shield that surrounds Nemesis weakens each time an elite dies in the game, so in this fic the shield is actually maintained by the ten elites. By declaring Nemesis as his enemy, Fraldarius and Gautier broke the shield protecting him immediately as he was no longer under the protection of the ten elites by the orders of their leader, Blaiddyd (Dimitri). They also brought the ten elites so that the elites would be able to kill Nemesis in case the liberation king turned against them as they had more control over the ten elites than Nemesis.
Crest Effect on Pregnancy
Not much is known about the effect of a baby’s crest during pregnancy but it has been noted that a long pregnancy could mean the child they would bear would have a major crest. Byleth’s situation is also a special case as she has the progenitor god’s powers inside her. It is not known what effects this would have on their children at the end of this fic but one of them is the fact that they can actually hear Sothis’ voice as well.