DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Kingdom Hearts nor Fire Emblem Three Houses characters, Square Enix, Nintendo, and Disney are the owners.

RedRat8: You gonna figure this soon.

Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: Effectively, this is the Lonato chapter and this is going to be as you say for what is about to happen there. And this is going to change Sora's perspective towards the church, and so Byleth's and Ashe's as well.

/

CHAPTER 15 – AMBUSH AND SHOCKING TRUTHS

Monday 6/30 Garland Moon – Magdred Way

The Black Eagles and the guest from the Blue Lions House, Ashe Duran, headed to Magdred to confront and take down Lonato, Ashe's adoptive father.

Ashe was more than determined to persuade his father to surrender so he could he at least locked away in a dungeon instead.

That wasn't going to be an easy mission for everyone as they were heading for the stronghold.

"No matter how powerful our enemies may be, there is no need to worry so long as we're with Catherine, the mighty wielder of Thunderbolt." Said Hubert dryly looking at the woman.

"Thunderbolt?" Byleth made a question curiously.

"You don't know? Well, I shall explain you this, professor, my weapon is called Thunderbolt. It's one of the Heroes' Relics." Catherine stated what her sword was about. "A long, long time ago, the goddess bestowed divine weapons upon 10 heroes, which were passed down to their descendants. Anyways, there won't be any chance to play around with it Thunderbolt for today, our mission is to clean up the aftermath, not to fight, guys."

"Still… One must wonder why Lord Lonato would incite such a reckless rebellion." Hubert was intrigued by the man's mysterious motives.

"Do you all know about the Tragedy of Duscur?" Catherine inquired them, making them intrigued as well.

"Duscur? What happened there?" Sora wanted to know the events from that day.

"I don't know much about it." Byleth admitted not having full knowledge about it.

"I remember it well, it was a devastating incident, after all." Edelgard tried to explain to them about what happened back then. "Roughly four years ago, the king of Faerghus was murdered by the people of Duscur, was it not?

"To put it simply, yes. But there's something else, they had accomplices within the kingdom as well." Catherine proceeded to explain them further. "Lord Lonato's son, Christophe, was one of them, so he was headed over to the church for execution."

Those words made Ashe shiver run down his spine and Sora as well upon figuring out the real purpose of the church teachings.

"No… This can't be…!" said Ashe visibly frightened by those words.

"Ashe…" Sora tried to talk to him. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"He-He's… He's my brother, Sora! I can't believe what I just heard…!" Ashe stated with tears running down his cheeks. "Why didn't anyone tell me this? Why?"

"The church executes criminals?" Byleth interrogated Catherine upon hearing their anguishes, particularly Ashe's.

"Speaking from the church's perspective, we simply passed judgment according to the teachings of the kingdom, which was in chaos." The female soldier clarified the judgment's principles. "Whatever the truth behind that incident may be, Lord Lonato has harbored resentment to the church since."

"Report! The enemy is approaching! We can't avoid them!" a church soldier warned them from the enemies' incoming presence. "Their numbers are far greatly than we predicted. They used the fog to slip past the knights' perimeter!"

"Damn… Byleth, change of plans. Everyone, prepare for battle!" Catherine commanded them to be ready for the upcoming battle.

With reluctance, Sora and everyone else headed to the fogged zone to face the hostiles lurking between some places, as the visibility was null, everyone had to stick together and watch each other's back.

"It's impossible to tell where the enemy might be… or how many of them there are." Byleth gave her students some advises to survive. "The enemy could be trying to surround us, but they shouldn't have enough soldiers to form a tight circle."

"How do we deal with them? The fog isn't letting us have a clear view." Sora made a question while watching their surroundings.

"I have only one tip for ya guys, take down anyone who breaks through the dog and let's push through!" Catherine replied with emotion on her face.

Just as they were walking through the fog, a metallic smell covered the place and reached everyone's noses.

"That smell… It's a blood smell, looks like the battle has already started within the fog…" Edelgard had noticed that everyone were fighting already before they arrived.

"They have? Then we gotta be careful with everybody." Sora summoned his keyblade while watching each other's backs.

Everyone proceeded with caution dealing with few militias coming out through the fog and shielded and ducked in the shrubs to avoid getting hit by the archers, while Ferdinand and the others went deal with more militias getting in their way.

"Ashe, could you shoot up those guys?" Byleth gave him instructions to clear them up. "Yes." The boy nodded yes complying with her orders.

Ashe put out his bow and along with Bernadetta, who reluctantly stood up and did the same thing.

"Come on, we can do this." He cheered and incited her to take them down together.

"Ye-Yes…" the girl affirmed with some stutter in her voice. The two shot their respective arrows to take down the archers and clear the area.

And then they found a dark mage lurking in one of the shrubs.

"I won't let you anywhere near Lord Lonato!" said the dark mage upon seeing Sora, and the girls.

"Try to stop us if you can!" Sora challenged him before casting a spell. "Freeze!"

Edelgard, Dorothea and Byleth also joined in and together they started to battle the dark mage while he was stunned, but not for long.

The dark mage casted some dark spells to try to repel the team but Sora guarded and protected them from the attack. "Dorothea, cast the thunder spell!"

"Got it! Take that!" Dorothea casted the thunder spell on the dark mage to injure him.

Byleth didn't waste any time to give the mage a brutal swing across his torax, ending his life in the process.

With that, the fog dissipated and they all had a crystal clear view around the place, and then they finally found man whom were looking for…

"Cassandra…" said the most wanted man, Lonato, who looked at Catherine with a deep grudge in his voice… "Thunderjail Cassandra! It was your wretched zealotry that killed my son!"

"My name is Catherine. I'm a knight who serves the church of Seiros." She clarified who she was and her occupation. Indirectly revealing her true colors.

"What the…?" Sora was shocked upon hearing this disturbing statement. "What in the world has he just said?" He looked not only at Lonato in disbelief, but at Catherine in the same manner.

"No… Lonato! Please stop it! We can have a talk without fighting!" Ashe tried to plead his adoptive father, but he seemed too stubborn and stern to back off.

"Stand down Ashe… I must kill these evil-doers by any means necessary!" Lonato was not willing to stop on his intend to carry out his rebellion.

"Lonato! Is that true that Catherine killed my brother?! Please, answer me!" Ashe demanded to know the truth.

"Yes! She and that she-fox did it! The church did indeed execute Christophe!" Lonato affirmed sternly, leading to understand, at least a bit his father's reasons to do so.

"No… it can't be…" Ashe felt his anger towards Catherine growing up and Sora felt the same, just not as much as him. "My brother… My brother Christophe was murdered!"

"Even if all that's true, dragging the townsfolk into a fight like this isn't right!" Sora tried to persuade him to surrender.

"If that's how you truly feel, then turn your weapon on me!" Lonato challenged the keyblade wielder to a battle, who was hesitating to step in the battle.

"Sora… Let me face my father… I'm very sad that everything has to end like this…" Ashe made a request while making one step to the front to get ready to face his father.

"Ashe…" Sora looked sad having to see the father and son about to kill each other.

"I'm sorry…" said Byleth placing a hand on his shoulder showing the same concern, there was no way back between the two.

There were nothing they all could do to persuade Lord Lonato to stop on his tracks and try to negotiate. Ashe put out his bow and got an arrow ready, an arrow would be enough to take his father's life with regrets but most importantly, the grudge against the church for taking his brother's life by Catherine's hands.

"Come on… You need to move on… Have a life with your friends… avenge me… avenge your brother…" Lonato incited his son to finish him off.

With all the pain within his heart, Ashe shot an arrow straight to his father's chest and killed him. He place a hand onto his face in sadness, this was a big tragedy for him due to his big loss of his own family.

"Lonato… I…" Ashe wept upon getting on his knees to mourn his father until he felt a hand on his shoulder. "So-Sora…"

"You didn't have a choice." He looked saddened as well, and so Byleth and the others were. "I'm so sorry for your loss…"

"How could this happen? How could this whole the church murder my family?" the white-haired boy said it crying and looking at the grass.

Edelgard couldn't help but to clench his fists with anger while stealthy seeing Catherine with a mix of disappointment and bothersome.

"I never thought I'd see Lonato meet his end this way. Good job everybody, let's gather our troops and go." Catherine told everyone that their mission was a success, but everyone remained silent while shaking their heads.

This is when Sora came to realize about the church's purpose, this wasn't about just berating nor lecturing people who disrespected their religion. It was a murder, it was a murder that the people in the church of Seiros's zealotry were willing to perpetuate without questions asked.

/

While they were heading home, the black eagles were having a conversation about that event in regards of Lonato and his men.

"Shit! It was all so pointless. I've never seen so many people utterly heartbroken and crying!" Caspar was very upset of seeing many people in this state.

"Putting many innocent people at risk… he was not a man worthy of nobility." Ferdinand agreed with him making a facepalm.

"What could have pushed Lord Lonato to this point?" Hubert was intrigued for his mysterious motives.

Meanwhile, Sora was speaking with the girls while trying to comfort Ashe, who had a sad and distraught semblance.

"Everyone was a bit shaken by the militia fighting alongside our enemies." said Edelgard slightly upset as well.

"If only there was a way to stop this massacre…" Sora looked frustrated about the manner. "Then we could maybe have tried to talk to Lonato…"

"This is the reality of battle, guys…" Byleth knew that there was no going back for everyone.

"Yes, it would be nice if everyone was able to face the reality, though." Edelgard replied showing a lot of concern.

"But still… I can't believe what that man has said about Ashe's brother… Why in the world would Catherine slaughter anyone who defies the church?" Dorothea looked anguished like everyone else.

"Christophe… Father…" Ashe was still mourning them with both hand on his face.

"Ashe… Ashe…" Sora placed his hands on his shoulders making him look at his eyes. "I really lament on what happened to your family… If I understood well, your brother's death made your father go to this far as to incite a rebellion, isn't that right?"

"I really hate this… I hate what this church is doing with people who opposes it." Ashe expressed his intense disdain. "They even dared to kill my family outright instead of just locking them away inside a cell!"

"We know that feel… We never thought about the way that the church judges people and kills them right away." Edelgard showed sympathy to the boy. "I don't blame you if you will distrust the church and its teachings. The people who supported Lonato fought for what they believed."

"You know? I too starting to distrust the church too, not the religion, but its system." Sora agreed with her words. "I just can't believe this… Ashe lost his family and if I'm right, the church kills anybody whom they think they did wrong without even making questions. I can't bring myself to hate them… But I strongly disagree with these doctrines they are trying to impose us."

"Sora… Are you saying that you will disregard the church's doctrines, aren't you?" Byleth looked taken aback at his words. "I knew this would come sooner and later… My father told me to be careful with Rhea, and it seems I have found a reason to."

"Come on… let's head back to the monastery." Sora helped Ashe stand up walk with them.

Sora was feeling so sorry for his friend due to the family loss. He was indeed upset about the church that judged and murdered people who disrespected not its religion, but its system itself, that's what happened to Christophe, and that drove Lonato to have an intense grief and avenge his son by confronting the church.

Because of that, Sora felt an intense disgust to that system, as much as Edelgard, Dorothea and Byleth did, but Ashe showed signs of strong hatred towards the church, especially Catherine due to her being his brother's murder, he couldn't blame him for having such feeling against his family's murderers, though.

Edelgard understood the boys due to her disdain towards the church because of accidently killing some innocent villagers who fought for Lonato, in other words, she was left with a bitter taste like everyone else.

/

Tuesday 7/1 Blue Sea Moon – Officers Academy – Garreg Mach Monastery

It's been a day since Sora and his classmates confronted Lonato, he has been debating himself whether to follow orders or leave. But he was also worried about Ashe and his wellbeing due to the big loss he suffered, and because of that, Ashe had shut himself in his bedroom since they came back to the monastery and refused to attend the school.

In his bedroom, Ashe was punched the wall few times, he seemed very sad and angry due to the big tragedy he had suffered due to the church's doings. He had been weeping while missing his family.

Everyone, including his Blue Lions classmates, tried to get him out of the bedroom, but he refused to open the door and snarled at them.

"GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Ashe screamed in a crying voice, wanting to shut himself in.

"Ashe, it's us, open the door, please!" said a voice that he figured out immediately.

"So… So-Sora?" said the white-haired boy while opening the door with a shaking hand.

Effectively, Sora was standing at the front among Edelgard, Byleth and Dorothea, and they looked consternated as soon as they noticed Ashe's bloodshot crying eyes.

"Ashe… What happened to you?" Dorothea looked concerned.

"I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have yelled at you guys!" Ashe ran to hug Sora and the others, he needed comfort. "I didn't know you were coming!"

"It's ok." Byleth didn't berate him, instead, she was comforting him.

"I killed my father…" Ashe was feeling guilty for his adoptive father Lonato's death. "And we also killed innocent people… I shouldn't have come here at the first place… aren't you guys angry?"

"Of course we are, just as much as everyone else, Ashe." Edelgard replied with a subtly anger and sadness in her voice, showing inconformity with the events.

"I'm sorry, what we did is unforgivable…" Ashe was soothing down and weeping less.

"We know, Ashe, we know…" Sora was comforting him along with the others while the teacher lifted his face to get him to look at her eyes.

"We had to follow the orders… But listen up… You seem to hate the church, right? I too beginning to realize who those people are, especially Rhea… "Byleth confessed her concerns towards the church, showing sort of dislike as well. "To be honest, I feel that my father told me the truth. Aren't you guys thinking the same?"

"We all do, Byleth." Sora and the girls replied in unison.

"Professor, guys, thank you…" Ashe recovered himself emotionally, showing signs of wanting to go out. "I have one request for you, professor."

END OF CHAPTER 15

A/N: As you can see, I have found out few differences between the Japanese and localized versions regarding the game's original plot and I decided to try to make it most faithful to its Japanese version because as you all know, Threehouse, Nintendo's official translator, butchered a lot of things up and especially the conversations, so if you go to reddit's fire emblem section, then you are gonna find out the whole difference between every character's personality.

Anyway, I hope you have liked the chapter, see you guys. Out.