Part 2: Crimson Wind

Imperial Year 1185 (5 years after the events of Part 1)

My job as Alliance leader is a headache and a half, but at least it gives me the opportunity to soar through the sky like a bird. The wind whips past my face as I hold onto my wyvern's reins. I should have known that I loved being up in the sky this much after Lucina took me to an amusement park once and I kept going on the rides where I got flung around through the air.

I try not to think about how I'll never be able to see her again.

Instead, I focus on my actual job, which is scouting the Empire's movements. Through the skies I can slip into their territory unnoticed, and right now I'm deep past enemy lines. My father's friend Nader and his wyvern squadron from Almyra are helping me keep tabs on the border while I do reconnaissance further in. I need the practice, and the Empire's air force is essentially nonexistent. We could conduct raids if we wanted to, but I'm not about to bring Edelgard's wrath down on us if we can help it. Better to hold our wyvern squadrons over her head as a threat, knowing that we'll make her bleed every step of the way if she goes after us or the Kingdom.

"All right, Omar," I say to my wyvern. "Let's see what's going on below."

I pull down on the reins, and he takes a nosedive. The free-fall is my favorite part of flying, and it's not because of the adrenaline. When I'm diving through the air, I feel peaceful. All I can focus on is me, the land, and the sky. I need more of those moments in my life. I yank up at the reins when I can see the ground clearly and have Omar maintain a steady glide.

Today's mission is going to be special because I'm surveying the territory where Garreg Mach is.

When I see a large bandit camp in some old ruins, I wonder if I'm in the wrong place. But there's no reason to think that this place should be safe from crime now that the Knights of Seiros are out searching for Rhea. If the Empire abandoned the area, it's far enough from both Enbarr and the front lines that it's the perfect place for thieves to hide from the authorities.

And then I see the monastery. After the battle five years ago when I was teleported back to Fódlan, I didn't pay attention to what the monastery looked like since I was trying to evade Imperial forces on my way to Deridru in the Alliance while I was wounded and exhausted. But I can't imagine that it was this bad when the battle finished. Parts of the walls and even the building have crumbled, making Garreg Mach look like century-old ruins rather than what had been Fódlan's central building five years ago.

Marianne… I'm sorry I couldn't save you.

An idea enters my mind. It's a stupid, terrible thought, but I can't deny that I'm curious. Besides, today's supposed to be the Millennium Festival. I don't see anyone celebrating, but maybe there are people I can help at the monastery itself who are trying to find a ray of light in this dark world. Besides, with Omar at my side I can make a getaway anytime I need to.

I circle around the monastery a few times to make sure there are no Imperial soldiers patrolling before landing at the front steps.

"You know what to do, buddy," I say as I hop off Omar. "Raise a racket if you see anything suspicious."

I look into his large, reptilian eye and pat him on the snout. I like to think that he understands the gist of what I'm saying, even if he can't speak our language.

"Good boy," I say. "Remind me to give you extra treats when we get back."

I ascend the steps of Garreg Mach using the stealth movements my parents taught me so many years ago. I can't hear myself walking, which is a good sign. It's difficult to dodge all the rubble, but I manage to make my way to the monastery entrance.

And inside, light shines through a hole in the ceiling and illuminates a lone person. It's the last person I expected to see, but in a way I'm not surprised to find them here now.

I draw my bow and take a shot at Byleth.

Divine Pulse. The world goes grey and rewinds to when I'm halfway up the stairs. Shit. All I've done is alerted Byleth and the Empire to my scouting patterns.

"Long time no see, Claude." Byleth emerges at the top of the stairs. "Figures that the first student I meet after I took that fall was you."

I have my hand on my bow, but Byleth makes no move to draw their Sword of the Creator.

"What were you doing all this time?" I say.

"Sleeping."

I snort. "Are you expecting anyone to buy that?"

"You've seen weirder from me, haven't you?"

They have a point. Being in a coma for five years is less odd than having the powers of the goddess awaken to cut out of an alternate dimension.

"I'm glad to see that you're still alive," Byleth says.

"Even after you killed Marianne?"

"I…" They look away. "I couldn't risk it. I wasn't going to make it in time unless I rewinded to soon after the fight started and beelined for her. Which could change the battle enough that another student might be in danger."

"'Could' this, 'might' that," I say. "Bullshit. You let her die. You could have saved her and you chose not to."

"I suppose you're right. This responsibility on my shoulders isn't one I asked for. Even with Sothis' powers, I can only use Divine Pulse so often. Which means I can't save everyone. How am I supposed to choose, Claude?"

"The way to avoid this situation is by not starting a continent-wide war."

"Edelgard was bent on declaring war from the moment she set foot on Garreg Mach. It became a question not of whether to start a conflict, but which side to pick. Do I go with the side upholding institutional oppression, or the side challenging it?"

"You go with the side that doesn't conquer, destroy, and subjugate," I say.

"Looks like we'll have to agree to disagree." Byleth stares up at the sky. "What's happened to you in the past five years?"

"I still hate you."

They look back at me. "Hm?"

"Dimitri's dead because of you."

"Ah." They sound regretful, but not surprised. "What happened?"

"It was your forces. A Kingdom noble named Cornelia imprisoned and executed Dimitri for supposedly killing his uncle. I understood the truth when I discovered that she was an Imperial operative."

"Edelgard promised that we were going to turn on them and their kind," Byleth says. "Did she keep her end of the deal?"

"The Empire is enemies with Cornelia's Kingdom, but they haven't made any moves to attack."

Which is mostly my fault, so I don't push the issue.

"I'm sorry about Dimitri," Byleth says.

"Your apologies don't mean anything. Not after you spent months telling me to take care of him back on Earth only to cause his death."

"Is that why you're here instead of there?" they say. "To get revenge on me?"

"That's one reason. But the main one is that I'm stuck in Fódlan."

"Your charm doesn't work anymore?"

"Not after Thales blasted me a second time."

Byleth frowns. "When did that happen?"

"There was an attack on Earth that mirrored your assault on Garreg Mach. I found Marianne's body covered in blood in her own bathroom and heard gunshots when I reported it to Rhea."

"Thales… he's our real enemy. If you were willing to join forces-"

"Not going to happen. The Alliance will never accept Imperial overlords."

In reality, many of the Alliance houses want exactly that, but I'm not about to tip the secret of how fragile we are. Surely Hubert at least has figured it out. And yeah, siding with Edelgard eventually might be the best choice for my people, but if I must yield I want to force a deal that's good for the Alliance. That means I have to pose as a threat for as long as possible.

"A shame," Byleth says. "It sounds like you've been through a lot."

I gnaw on the inside of my mouth. I don't want Byleth to play therapist for me. What will actually keep the Alliance stable is their severed head hanging from a pike. But with Divine Pulse they have the ability to turn any act of aggression back onto me. And as strong as I've become over the past five years, I don't think I can match up to the Ashen Demon herself.

"I know we have to be enemies now," Byleth says, "But with me at the helm of the Black Eagle Strike Force, the war will be over soon one way or another."

I take a deep breath. Byleth's right that Edelgard will have the confidence to invade if she has Byleth as her tactician, and we're going to be the first target so that we can't send raids across the border the moment they set foot in the Kingdom.

And to be fair, this will bring Edelgard out to the front lines. If we kill her, the Empire falls into chaos with no heir.

"Perhaps that is for the best," I say. "A few more showdowns to decide the fate of Fódlan instead of dragging this war out any longer."

"On that note," Byleth glances past the far end of the monastery, "I have a favor to ask of you."

"Why should I help my enemy?"

"Two reasons. First, I'll be in your debt. You want me to get your charm working again? With the powers granted to me by the goddess, I'm sure I can find a way to cleanse whatever Thales did to it."

"It's not supposed to be a transportation charm, you know."

"I'll find a way. Second, I know you care about the Black Eagles students not named Hubert or Edelgard. And they could be in danger right now."

"I thought you didn't know anything about the outside world," I say.

"This is me putting two and two together. My students promised to meet me at the monastery on this day."

I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Edelgard could show up at any moment and put her new shiny axe Aymr in my skull.

"I asked around and it sounds like this area is Imperial territory, but that Garreg Mach isn't where most of the troops are being held. So when my students return, they'll be passing through a thieves' den."

Right. There's that big one I saw while I was flying here.

"You help me clear them out, and I'll owe you big time," Byleth tells me. "What do you say?"

Despite Byleth's betrayal, I don't think they've ever lied to me in a malicious way. Withheld information from me, yes. Lied with the intention of protecting me, yes. But they never tried to use or manipulate me. And if I help them out with this simple task, they'll be in my debt.

You know what? Fuck it. We're going to give crazy a try. Our chances of winning the war are slim to begin with now that Byleth is back in action, so might as well make sure they're fond of us and don't go hard on my people in case they do win.

"You have to promise not to let me die while we're fighting bandits together, okay?" I say.

"Promise. I'll use Divine Pulse to save you if I must."

I exhale through my nose. I know this is a stupid idea. Hell, Byleth could shoot me in the back right when I start fighting bandits for them. But I can't deny that I'm curious to see if their skills have rusted away at all in sleep. Assuming I do survive, I could carry valuable intel back to the Alliance.

Guess I'm going to fight alongside Byleth one last time.

#

We arrive at the thieves' den together, and there are a lot of bandits there. When fighting with them five years ago, I learned that Byleth has two modes. First is to charge in and dismantle the opposition before they can react. The second is to lure enemies into places where they're outnumbered and then crushing them with superior numbers.

Byleth goes with the second strategy to start, hiding in wooded areas for cover and engaging one enemy at a time. I provide cover fire from the air atop Omar with my relic bow Failnaught while examining Byleth's movements. It doesn't look like their beauty sleep has slowed them down at all. They do take a couple of cuts that stick because we don't have a healer with us, but not enough to put them in serious danger of dropping.

Which is good, because I'm not sure what I'd decide if they were about to go down and I had the choice between saving them and leaving them to die.

After Byleth takes out a few enemies, I hear commotion from both north and south. I fly up to get a better view and see Caspar slamming gauntleted fists into some bandits up north with magical support from Dorothea while Petra weaves in and out of battle on a wyvern down south. I shout at everyone to group up in the middle, and it doesn't take long for us to reconvene.

"Claude?" Dorothea looks up at me while healing Byleth. "Why did you decide to join us now of all times?"

"I'm here to keep you safe, and then I'm bailing," I say. "Teach here says they'll owe me one, and they'd better make it count."

"Where are the rest of you?" Byleth says. "Don't tell me…"

The three Black Eagles students exchange glances.

"We got separated from Lin, Ferdie, and Bern when we encountered some bandits a while back," Dorothea says. "Edie and Hubie needed to attend some official empire business first."

Byleth swears under their breath. "Let's try to dispose of these bandits quickly so that we can go looking for them."

"Sure," Caspar says. "But after that you need to explain where you've been all this time."

Byleth grunts and starts giving orders. The Black Eagles students fall into formation and go where directed, asking no questions. It looks like some things haven't changed much in the past five years.

We advance further into the thieves' den and Byleth's orders keep us out of serious harm. I'd forgotten how safe I feel when fighting alongside them. Some of the bandits try to escape with the valuables they've stolen, and Byleth targets them first. Ruthless and effective, same as always.

Eventually I hear more signs of fighting and Byleth sends me to check it out before I can take the initiative to do so myself. I fly up and over the thieves' camp to the far side and see Linhardt, Ferdinand, and Bernadetta fighting against a group of bandits. Seriously, how many of these bandits are there and why are they all so willing to fight to the death?

I fly towards them, and Bernadetta lets out a scream.

"It's… it's… we're all going to die!"

"No need to fear," Lindhardt says, yawning. "We all die eventually. Oh hello, Claude."

"You." Ferdinand keeps his axe raised while he looks at me. "What is the Alliance leader doing here?"

"Saving your asses," I say. "The rest of your classmates are on the other side of the fight. Byleth's with them. Let's try to cut a path through."

"How do we know that you are not leading us into a trap?"

"Stay here if you want," I say. "Your deaths won't be on my hands."

"You can do this, Bernie," Bernadetta says. "If you can get out of your room, you can fight these bandits with your bare hands if you need to."

"Coming?" I say.

"Yeah, yeah." Linhardt yawns again. "Just… give me a moment to take a nap."

I roll my eyes and start shooting at the bandits between them and Byleth's group. Most of them stand their ground, perhaps because Byleth did try to target the ones who fled. The poor fools.

For all their complaining and questioning, the Black Eagles I'm with follow my lead and fight off the thieves that come their way. Eventually, we manage to regroup with Byleth. No casualties.

"Professor," Bernadetta says. "You're really alive."

"Takes more than a dragon to kill me." Byleth smirks. "Thanks for the help, Claude. Let's go for the leader."

Byleth keeps us together as we advance towards the center of the camp. After taking out the thieves who charge us, we pile attacks onto the leader before he can even raise his blade in defense.

I had forgotten how easy fights were with Byleth on our side.

As I glance around the room, Byleth walks up to the body and examines it. Their head jerks over, and I follow their gaze to see people outside the gate of the central headquarters building running towards the exit of the ruins. One of them looks like the leader we killed.

"We only took out a decoy," Byleth says. "Claude, can I trust you to take the shot?"

"Can do."

I fly up through the broken ceiling and take my aim. Failnaught is difficult to draw, but years of practice make the motion natural. When I loose the arrow, I can tell that it's going to fly true. It soars through the air and slams into the leader's chest. He crumples to the ground after that single hit.

"I think our work is done here. Good job, Omar."

I give him a pat on the snout and direct him back down to the ground. I have him land, but I don't dismount. If any of the Black Eagles students decide that the war will be easier with the Alliance Leader gone, I need to be able to make a quick retreat.

"Glad to see that everyone's safe and sound," Dorothea says. "So now can we talk about what is going on?"

"Well, I've been sleeping for the past five years," Byleth says, "So the rest of you know more than I do."

"And why is Claude here?" Caspar says. "Not that they ask me about this stuff, but isn't he our enemy right now?"

"You know, that's a good question," I say. "I happened to be in the area and Byleth roped me into this mess."

"You just happened to be in Empire territory?" Linhardt says. "I can't tell whether Byleth's excuse or yours makes less sense."

"I was sneaking across your borders to scout, okay?" I reply. "And Byleth genuinely doesn't seem to know anything that's happened in the last five years. They didn't even know that you all were responsible for Dimitri's execution."

"Hey, I didn't even know that Cornelia woman," Caspar says. "And we turned on her eventually because she's one of the bad guys. You know, working with Solon and Kronya."

Cornelia is part of Those Who Slither in the Dark? I'll keep that in the back of my mind.

"Edie and Hubie were the only ones who might have known," Dorothea says, "And I'm not sure our accomplices in the Kingdom shared all the information with them."

At the end of the day, it all goes back to Edelgard. I suppose it's too much to hope that the universe throws me a bone by having her fall sick and die.

"Speaking of which, Her Imperial Majesty and His Insufferable Spymaster should be on the way," Linhardt says. "So you may want to make your presence scarce, Claude."

"Good idea. Catch y'all later, hopefully not on the battlefield."

I snap the reins and guide Omar up. He takes off the ground.

"Wait," Ferdinand says. "Just a moment before you go."

I have Omar hover above the ground, out of melee weapon reach.

"As a noble, I believe in showing gratitude when it is due," Ferdinand says. "So… thank you for talking me through what to do when we were at the monastery. It won't stop me from fighting the Alliance if duty commands me, but-"

"I get it. You're welcome, Ferdinand. Let's all try to make it through this, okay?"

A series of nods from everyone except Byleth, who looks deep in thought. I try not to linger on that. I take a deep breath and direct Omar up into the sky. Before long, I'm soaring with the clouds, and the world below is distant enough that my worries melt away.

What a surreal day.

I always thought that Crimson Flower should have a nice "Reunion at Dawn" moment because seeing your students come onto the battlefield one by one with timeskip designs and new battle lines was one of the most memorable parts of the game to me. It's a bit trickier to pull off logistically since people fighting in the Imperial army logically wouldn't be separated and Garreg Mach isn't really that far away from the front lines in Crimson Flower like it is in other routes, but I did my best.

And writing this chapter really drove home for me how weird it must be to see Byleth again after five years when they've been presumed dead. But now they're back and ready to continue the plot... we'll see what that means for Claude.

Notes:

-Part 2 is titled "Crimson Wind." This is a mashup of "Crimson Flower" (Edelgard's route) and "Verdant Wind" (Claude's route)

-As far as I could tell, Claude's wyvern has no canonical name. A reddit thread said that people in Joe Zieja's (Claude's voice actor) discord called the wyvern Omar as a nod to Joe's friend who helped him perform parkour stunts that FE characters use in battle animations (great video btw), so I'll be doing the same.