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

Antex-The Legendary Zoroak: I understand you, I have played the DLC and it's difficult because of limited resources, but anyway, I will try to not to give the spoilers quickly.

RedRat8: Indeed, the game itself leaves more questions than answers regarding the relationship with Jeralt, Rhea and Sitri.

FabledLife: You just read my mind, given how Sora makes almost every female have a crush on him due to his foreign aspect, he's likely to interact with more girls around him and increase his support with the others.

CHAPTER 19 – A Brawl in Abyss

PASSAGEWAY

Sora and his classmates traveled through the depths of the monastery until reaching the passageway, and then they met with some strangers along the way, who they challenged a senseless fight without meeting nor knowing at least that much.

"Would you mind telling us who are you at least? It doesn't make sense to cross blades without knowing each other!" Sora stated his disdain due to the opposing group's attitude.

"Wow, does it hurt to take yourself that seriously?" said Hapi in monotone and dry voice. "Answer the man's question, B"

"Huh? Why me? Eh, fine. We're the Ashen Wolves, fellas." Balthus introduced his team. "We're the secret fourth house in Abyss. The surface world turned its back on us, and we did the same in return. Back for back, as they say."

"A fourth house? No way. Still, we must focus on the battle ahead…" Edelgard expressed incredulity after hearing those words.

Who could tell that there was a secret fourth house? Nobody knew this big secret until this moment when the Black Eagles stepped in the passageway and met a new group called Ashen Wolves.

"Seems like it'll be tough to fight here. It's kind of dark. Looks like a great place to nap, though…" Linhardt wasn't enthusiastic about fighting in the dark place.

"The locks on those gates look really complicated… there must be another way through." Ashe realized that this place was hard to travel due to many locked gates around the passageway.

"Then we gotta find a shortcut." Byleth suggested them to find another way. "Follow me, some of you guys watch our backs in case we run into rogues over here."

Everyone nodded with their heads and went straight ahead passing through a gate while dealing with a couple of rogues and taking them down among the way.

Ashe took down few archers from few meters on both sides alongside Bernadetta, while Sora, Edelgard and the others dealt with some swordsmen and fighters as well.

"Impressive! Seems like you've trained your whole group! I'll give you that!" Balthus flattered the blue-navy woman, impressed with their actions.

"I'm just a simple teacher." Said Byleth stating her occupation.

"A simple teacher… Looks like your students have learned how to fight very well." The man praised the Black Eagles members. "Hey, Nomura! I heard greatest things about you! Come and get some, kiddo! I won't hold back, so you better not either!"

"Looking forward it!" Sora accepted his challenge preparing his keyblade: the Oblivion.

"Yeah! That's more like it! These fists are packed with years of pent-up resentment. Time to let loose, Nomura!"

[INFORMATION: Defeat Balthus!]

Balthus prepared his huge gauntlets, the Vajra-Mushti, to charge towards Sora, who in turn would in turn do the same and their weapons clashed with each other.

During that moment, Balthus landed few punches on the keyblade wielder sending him flying few meters to the floor, but to his surprise, Sora got on his feet showing a lot of bravery and the will to fight.

"Those punches of yours sent me flying." said Sora with a smirk on his face.

"I must admit that you are the first person ever to not be knocked out by my gauntlets." Balthus grinned in response recognizing his strong stamina. "Most people wouldn't have been able to stand a chance."

"Well, now it's my turn to show you what I'm made of!" the keyblade wielder expressed emotion while transforming himself into Dark Form. "Let the games begin!"

Sora charged towards Balthus, who tried to punch him again but the boy anticipated this and dodged the brutal blow and gave him a certain number of strong slashes on his back.

Balthus fought back by clashing with Sora while mutually hitting each other, however, just as he was about to land a blow on his opponent, Sora counterattacked by guarding the punch and performing a counter kick onto his face.

He didn't waste any time to make several sword combos and throw him down to the ground with one last but a strong slash, making Balthus make a crack on the floor.

However, Balthus wasn't willing to give up easily as he got up.

"You are good, Nomura! I can see you are capable of making devastating techniques!" Balthus praised Sora for his merits looking amazed after witnessing his capability.

"You too, your gauntlets are able to knock somebody!" The keyblade wielder replied in the same manner. "Let's finish this!"

"You asked for it! Don't hold back!"

Sora and Balthus charged at each other again giving each other intense and daring glares while clashing their weapons, the elder man landed a punch across the boy's face but this didn't prevent Sora from landing a strong slash across his torso and performing Sonic Blade five times without giving Balthus some time to react and try to evade it until with one last thrust, Sora sent Balthus few meters up and crushing the floor, defeating him finally.

"Urgh… You've guts, I'll give you that much, kiddo." Balthus recognized his defeat. "Be careful with Yuri and the others, Nomura. Those are smart enough to take an entire gang out."

"I'll take it into account, you just rest." Sora replied understanding his warning before taking his leave to join his team.

"Are you okay, Sora?" Dorothea asked him.

"Yeah, he's a tough man." Sora replied recognizing Balthus strength.

"Alright, let us proceed finding our next target, come on." Byleth indicated her students.

Byleth lead them into searching for their next opponent while checking every corner around the passageway, Hapi however, seemed surprised at the way Sora defeated Balthus, and that made her take some drastic measures in order for them to mess up and fail.

"Come to think about it, there's an easier way to handle this." She sighed and then summoned a snake-like creature in front of the Black Eagles, leaving them surprised.

"What the hell is this thing?!" Caspar babbled in amuse looking at the creature.

"It couldn't have been a summoning spell… Or it was..." Linhardt replied in the same state as everyone.

"Looks like a snake! We have to take him down!" said Byleth suggesting her students to kill the creature in order to proceed further.

"Looks like it, those guys are really smart." Dorothea said while casting her thunder magic onto the snake.

Byleth and her students charged at the snake to strike it down by any means, Edelgard threw the axe towards it and swayed the creature. Ferdinand soon followed and pierced its torso with his lance.

"The creature has stood still!" said the guy right after pulling his weapon off the snake's torso.

"I can see that! Let's clear this place, guys!" Sora replied preparing himself to give a final blow to the creature.

In response, Byleth stepped towards the snake-like creature, who tried to bite her but she dodged it and gave a brutal and critic slash across its neck, leaving it unable to move and exposed.

Sora immediately charged and performed a number of slashes and finally killed the snake with the Zantetsuken ability to definitely clear the room for his team.

"Let's go, c'mon!" Sora told them to keep pushing forward.

Everyone resumed searching for their next opponent while fighting a number of rogues who were trying to stop them, nonetheless, Byleth, Sora and the others managed to put the ruffians down.

After walking for a few more minutes, the whole Black Eagles found the next rival to defeat, it was Constance, who was mounted on a Pegasus and waiting for them.

"Constance!" Sora called after finding her.

"Oh, so you managed to come all this way after fighting a lot of opponents…" the blonde girl gave him a compelling but challenging glare. "Underestimate the denizens of Abyss and it won't end well for you! Tremble in fear at my magical might! Aaahahaha!"

"Are you done rambling?!" Sora dared her while transforming into Light Form. "Bring it on!"

[INFORMATION: Defeat Constance!]

Sora ran towards Constance and tried to land a swing at her, but she quickly lifted up avoiding the attack, then casted an icy spell which popped up some ice spikes from the ground hitting Sora in the process.

"Crap…!" he said between teeth while feeling the pain after taking damage. "She's not a joke!"

Ashe tried to shoot her down but she was so fast that no arrow could hit her, for the silver-haired boy's frustration.

Sora regained balance and immediately retaliated charging at her with airstep along with a number of combo slashes between her and the Pegasus.

"Gaah!" Constance growl in pain while feeling the attack. "Such persistence! I cannot believe a kid like you could retaliate me like that! Now you will feel the real pain you gotta go through!"

Constance casted the same spell again in a considerable effort to put Sora down, however, he read her movements and dodge the icy spikes to avoid taking damage.

"Take this!" Edelgard shouted throwing her axe to knock Constance off the pegasus.

Constance fell off to the floor and stood up glaring them in annoyance.

"For Pete's sake!" she spat in that state. "Si-Since when have you fo-fought like that?"

Alright, Constance was beginning to have her cheeks slightly blushed due to Sora's presence, but she shook her head in order to focus on defeating him and the others.

"For a very long time." Sora replied to putting himself in attack stance, waiting for her to attack.

It was then when Constance casted another spell which involved some magic arrows.

"Now you're gonna cry under your tomb! Aaaaahahahaha!" Constance laughed maniacally upon firing the arrows towards him.

Sora ran as fast as he could to avoid taking many hits, given on how faster they were, however, Sora saw a chance to fight back and just in time when she finished performing her technique, he used the Strike Raid ability to throw his keyblade at Constance five consecutive times until eventually knocking her down.

"Grrh… It's not that I'm defeated so much as that I'm temporarily grounded. Well, I indeed am defeated thanks to your amusing powers, kid." Constance admitted her defeat becoming a little blushed looking at his face.

"You've fought very well too." Sora smiled at her admiring her strength.

"Di-Did I? Well, it was just a matter of luck, but anyway, it was a pleasure to have tested each other's strength." Constance replied glaring at him with flirting.

Sora and the others headed to the next area looking for their last opponent to defeat, Sora defeated Balthus and Constance, all it was left was Yuri, the leader of the Ashen Wolves.

The group soon encountered him standing at the front of them, waiting for somebody to face him.

"Well, what we have here? Some lost kids stumbling around in the dark." Said Yuri in a dark but daring tone. "Stay awhile, won't you? Shame indeed not to have a bit of fun with each other while we've got the chance you know?"

"I'll face him." Byleth spoke as she set her sword ready.

"Never thought I'd have the chance to face such a beautiful professor." the light-lilac haired guy replied in the same manner. "Hope you're ready."

[INFORMATION: Defeat Yuri!]

Byleth decided to step forward to begin the fight between her and the lilac-haired boy clashing each other's weapons. Yuri teleported himself behind her to try to slash her down, however, Byleth prevented him from harming her by shielding herself with her sword and counterattacked by responding with a diagonal slash across his body, impressing him in the process.

"Woah! You really have a lot of reflexes, ma'am." Yuri praised her for being able to dodge his attack. "Let's see if you can walk out of here unharmed."

The two clashed their weapons each other again glaring intensely at each other, Yuri slashed her across her torso, but Byleth didn't get swayed and decided to retaliate by using her sword's powers to knock him down.

"Heh heh. Maybe I got carried away. You're a pretty strong woman." Yuri said between teeth recognizing his defeat at the woman's hands.

"H-Hey… seems like we all got beaten by these guys…" Balthus came up accompanied by Constance and Hapi supporting each other while walking as they could. "We must recognize you had guts to get through this."

"Looks like we've won, right?" assumed Sora feeling victorious. "Uh… B, was it?"

"Name's Balthus, dude. I don't lose often, but I can at least recognize what it looks like." He introduced himself in a friendly tone.

"I'm Sora." The keyblade wielder replied back introducing himself as well. "You guys are capable of almost wiping anybody."

"Of course, I see you and your whole team are capable of defeating the toughest opponents you encounter." Balthus stated praising their way of defeating them.

"May we know why we had to fight each other? I feel that this wasn't necessary." Edelgard demanded to know the motives of this senseless brawl.

"Really was, lady. Best way to acquaint yourselves with someone is to get into a tussle with 'em. That's common sense here." Balthus explained her the reason to incite the fight between them.

"That… doesn't sound quite right." Byleth didn't like the idea to start that brawl from nowhere like Balthus did.

"That's the correct response from a reasonable person. We're not all as far gone as Balthus here." Yuri agreed with her.

"Say what you will, but I learned all I needed to know. It's clear this lot has nothing to do with the church's intentions. But that means those other creeps could always attack us at any moment." Balthus stated his suspicions towards a mysterious group.

"Who would attack you?" Byleth asked him about the group's identity.

"Someone's targeting Abyss. Mercenaries keep sniffing around and cause trouble here. They won't let up." he said showing concerns about their security.

"I see… I think this must be the reason that I sensed the darkness coming from here." Sora felt curious after hearing these words. "But, who would it be?"

"It's a real problem, and we have no clue who's pulling the strings." Yuri admitted not having idea on who was the culprit of that mess. "There are many within the church who would love to see this 'filthy' underground city purged. When you guys first showed up, we thought you were here just to do that. Apologies for the confusion."

"So that's why you came at us and started this senseless brawl." Dorothea comprehended the mess they all provoked.

"As Yuri-bird said, we're sorry. We're all pretty on edge these days." Hapi was also apologizing to everyone.

"Indeed! That someone would descend to Abyss out of pure curiosity was far too outlandish to consider." Constance expressed her failure to make use of her judgement instead of acting out of impulsively.

"What is the purpose of Abyss?" Sora wanted to know about the underground, just like everyone else.

"No idea, pals. These tunnels have been around for ages. They could be older than the monastery for all we know." Balthus admitted not knowing the answers.

"None remain who know the complete truth. However, I shall tell you all that we know for certain." Constance affirmed knowing something and proceed to explain it to them. "Abyss is home to those who shun the light of day. It is the secret shadow of Garreg Mach, if you will."

"So… this is your hideout." Ashe understood the place they all were.

"The church quietly tolerate us. They think they need a place like this for Garreg Mach to thrive." Hapi assumed this suspicion towards the church.

"The deal is simple. Abyssians never get involved with the surface, and the surface never gets involved with us." Yuri gave them an important fact, if abyssians aren't involved with the surface, then they wouldn't have any trouble with each other.

"But! For some foul reason, surface dwellers have been after us lately." Constance's face was written in bother. "Further oppressing those souls who can only find solace beneath the ground? I cannot abide it!"

"How could somebody breach this deal?" Sora asked out of intrigue.

"I don't know, kiddo. Though it pains me to admit, we, too, harbor valid reasons for not venturing into the light." The girl expressed her reasons to not go to the surface. "That is why, by the grace of our esteemed patron, we have been granted sanctuary here in Abyss."

"I see… Balthus, does that mean you guys have a reason for being here, right?" Edelgard was figuring out their motive to stick inside.

"Afraid, so. I'm here because… there are more bounties on my head than there is hair. Needed lay low. Real low." he replied with a facepalm, leading her to understand that he needed to stay in that place.

"Really?" the future empress lifted an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Enough with the niceties. Let's get these surface dwellers out of here." Yuri tried to command his partners to kick Sora's gang out of their hideout.

"What?! Forget it!" Constance questioned him expressing doubts. "Why would ever we let slip this chance to acquire their aid?"

"You guys need our help, right?" Byleth asked the group if they would assist them.

"Like we said, recently this place is being targeted by mercenaries, myself excluded, a lot of folks who live here can't defend themselves. They're here to avoid conflict." Balthus explained the recent events he and the others had to deal with. "The elderly, the infirm… orphans, lost souls… merchants who were chewed up and spit out by the nobility. The works."

"It rests upon us to protect those who cannot protect themselves… to safeguard our home." Constance expressed her reason to protect the weak and looked at the group, and then focused on Sora. "To the noble end, I must insist that you guys lend us your strength."

"Wait a second, we just had a brawl with each other, alright? I cannot help but to wonder why you would trust us quickly, we come from the surface after all." Edelgard wondered if it was a good idea to put a trust on the Ashen Wolves.

"Trust is a choice. We're choosing to trust you guys. For now. It's clear you're not here by command of the church." Yuri stated placing his trust on the Black Eagles.

"We got nothing to do with the church's doctrine so yeah, we came here by our own will." Sora affirmed his words, expressing subtle disgust towards the church's system.

"I see, you're not just a bunch of noble twerps, either. You can hold your own. It's in the way you fight. How you carry yourselves." The liliac-haired boy praised the team for their skills. "Still… I'm reluctant to get you involved with this madness."

"It's too late now." Hapi made him understand that there was no turning back now. "We already told them everything. Let's at least give them a chance to decide for themselves."

"That's right. Wander about Abyss for a time and I certain you will come to the only correct conclusion." Constance agreed with her friend, giving them a free pass to explore the basement.

"Right, what she said. Take a look, think some thoughts. Consider themselves our special guests." Balthus invited them to feel themselves as home.

END OF CHAPTER 19