(Author's Note: you can really just use a mix of Athanasia and Fodlan Winds for this chapter)
"That was fun! Feel free to invite me again when you like. Bye!"
Catherine rose from her seat and waved at Jose as the Exo did the same. Jose had learned a fair amount about Relics and Crest Stones. Jose was confident that Catherine could handle herself, but he needed to find a way to get the Relic from her in case of a Vex attack.
"Not bad for a first date. She's funny." Chopstick said as Jose put his helmet on to speak over comms.
"Yeah...not my type though. I think Lus is more into girls like her though. Prime example is Leona." Jose said, rising from his seat.
"This channel isn't secure, dumbass." Came a ticked-off Lus appearing on comms.
"Ohhh...yeah my bad."
"Anyways…" Lus began. "What'd you find out?"
"Well, first the Relics are made out of some sort of bone. For a second, Chopstick thought they were Ahamkara, but after comparing it with my helmet, it's not a match. Next, Catherine has the Relic Thunderbrand. Apparently, it's the Relic of House Charon, which leads me to believe it'll be a treasure hunt to find all of the Relics of different houses."
"Double-check to make sure it's not an Ahamkara. I don't want this place to turn into another Dreaming City." Hornet came.
"Already triple checked it." Replied Chopstick. "While they are similar, we didn't hear any whispers from it like other Ahamkara gear."
"Well...that's good. Now about finding the Relics...how are we gonna do that?" Moa replied, sighing on her end.
"About that...apparently students here are of houses that have Relics, not to mention the Crests to wield them. In short, I'm thinking we follow the students to the Relics." Jose replied, walking to his room.
"I don't like the idea of using the students to get to the Relics, but that's probably our best bet for now." Lus said, the hesitation obvious in his voice.
"Problem is…" Jose began. "Do we tell them?"
"Good question. We still don't even know if we need to destroy the Relics or not. I'm not exactly sure how the people of this world would react to that. However, we do need to identify these students."
"I feel that we can probably safely say that Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude all have a Crest. Personally, I don't believe you could inherit a throne without one." Cinnamon said, scanning through the information he found at the library.
"Yeah. We start there, and work our way out." Lus said, agreeing with his Ghost.
Anan darted behind a crowd under the morning sky, wearing his street clothes consisting of a cap, a trenchcoat, and sunglasses so as to not be spotted by any eager fans. He had just finished eating at a local Ramen shop, before departing on his next mission. His target destination was Europa. He and his fireteam had been assigned the mission of finding Fireteam Noctis who had recently gone missing. Suddenly, he heard the telltale sound of Ginzo's thuggish voice come over comms.
"So, why can't the big blue man just tell us what happened?"
Ginzo was currently waiting in the Tower courtyard for his allies to head to orbit. Commander Zavala had requested Fireteam Tengoku to investigate the recent disappearance of Fireteam Noctis. Fireteam Noctis was not a team of newbies by any means, thus the sudden mystery of them took many by surprise, Tengoku especially.
"He did. That's why we're getting ready to head out. He says he'll give us a full explanation when we're there." Leona said, quickly peeking inside the orphanage to wave goodbye. "Judging by his tone, he wants us to get them back as soon as possible."
"I'd like that as well." Anan said, begrudgingly waving to a group of fans before his Glaucia donned Anan's armor onto him transmatting to his ship in orbit. "The sooner we retrieve them, the less heartache it is for everyone."
"Well, for once we all agree!" Ginzo smugly said, retrieving his Cloudstrike from the vault. "I had stuff planned here man!"
"Your stuff consists of gambling, shady deals, and drinking and eating all night long."
"Okay..I'll admit...you hit the nail right on the head," Ginzo said, frowning before transmatting to his Black Peregrine. "but that still counts as stuff."
"...Anyways, fireteams don't disappear on their own, so expect some esoteric Vex activity there." Anan said as he and Ginzo waited for Leona to appear in orbit.
"So...you guys ready to save Noctis again?" Leona asked, her ship finally appearing.
"Don't have a choice. Let's go."
"Professor!"
Byleth turned around to see Dimitri approach him. The Blue Lion House had been preparing to go on their first mission. Byleth was sure that they would prevail, but that wasn't to say he didn't have his doubts.
"I've received word that the bandits have been rounded up. We will head out to Zanado soon."
Byleth nodded at this. "Good to know."
"Professor, are you nervous?"
Byleth nodded. "A little. Everyone seems really excited."
"Perhaps we are overconfident." Dimitri nodded in return. "But with you and Lus at our side, I'm sure we'll prevail."
Lus, who heard his name and was also in the area, approached the two and inquired on their conditions. "Are you all ready to head out?"
"We are. Excuse my childishness, Lus, but I am excited to see you fight up close." Dimitri smiled at the Titan.
"Perhaps you will. I'll be holding off unless you guys need help, however."
"I see." Dimitri replied, almost frowning. "In any case, I'd say it's about time we depart."
"Agreed." Lus and Byleth said, nodding.
"So...this is the Red Canyon..."
Dimitri and the rest of the Blue Lion house had finally arrived at Zanado, the soon-to-be battlefield for the mission of the Blue Lion house. Close behind them, Lus followed the group, waiting on standby in the event he was needed, with the Knights of Serios doing the same. Across the battlefield, a startled bandit ran to the leader of their group.
"Boss! They chased us all the way here! We should run!"
The leader of the bandits, Kostas, would have slapped the grunt if he wasn't holding a weapon.
"Where would we even go? You can't be a thief if you fear death!"
On the Blue Lions side of the battlefield, Cinnamon told Lus something over comms, causing Lus to call the house over for a strategy meeting.
"Students, I've scanned the battlefield and found that you can use a road to the west to flank the opponents. You should use that to your advantage once you cross the bridge."
Byleth and the rest of the class nodded at this, with all saying "Understood", "Got it," or "Good idea". Byleth began to tell his students how to position themselves before they moved out, with him and Dimitri leading the group. Alongside them in the front, were Ingrid and Sylvain, with Felix and Dedue close behind them covering their flanks. Ashe, Mercedes, and Annette made up the rear guard, with Lus watching from afar, holding his Trustee Scout Rifle.
The bandits as well began their advance, moving forward to confront the students. One bandit attempted to attack Dimitri first, rushing him with his sword. Dimitri quickly stabbed the bandit, tearing a hole in his chest before ripping his spear out and knocking him to the ground with the shaft of the spear, once again stabbing the bandit's chest. Another bandit rushed him but was stopped by Byleth, who quickly cut down the bandit before any damage could be done.
Felix ran to meet a bandit who charged with his sword. Felix rolled to the side, looked for a weak point, and dashed forward to cut the bandit's side. The bandit fell to the ground, allowing Felix to raise his blade and plunge it into the bandit. Byleth scanned the field to see if any more bandits were approaching before he gave the sign for the house to advance.
"I know they are just bandits, but still...this never gets easier for me." Dimitri sighed as he pushed on behind the professor, earning an understanding nod from Byleth.
Once the team had crossed the bridge, more bandits rushed the students. Ingrid swept the legs of one using her spear before stabbing it into the bandit's abdomen. Nearby, Sylvain slashed a bandit's chest and did the same, stabbing the bandit standing up instead of on the ground. Behind them in the rear guard, Ashe unloaded two arrows into a bandit attempting to attack Dedue, who was already holding off two others. As the bandit fell to the ground lifeless, Ashe's eyes shook before he turned his gaze upon the ground.
"If...If I had hesitated…" Ashe started. "It would've been me…or someone else…"
"Ashe! Look out!" Came the panicked voice of Annette, attempting to blast a bandit charging Ashe with magic. The bandit was already upon Ashe, however, readying their blade for a slash. Before it could be carried out, an orange bolt struck the bandit's head, sending him to the ground rapidly.
"Ashe, are you alright?" Lus shouted, rushing over to check on the boy from his position in the rear guard.
"I am…" Ashe nodded, turning to help his comrades.
Lus followed behind the student as they ran to meet the rest of the group. Over comms, Lus conversed with Cinnamon.
"Ashe was definitely little shaken up…but he looks determined enough to continue..." Lus said, scanning to see if any students needed assistance.
"Definitely...I'd also wager that the Archbishop and Seteth would want the students to have experience." Cinnamon stated, with reluctance in his voice.
"I hate that you're right…" Lus replied. He continued to push on behind the students, keeping his Scout Rifle readied in the event that it was needed. Lus pushed on with the group under his watchful eyes.
He wouldn't let a single student fall here.
"Man! Lee's in a bad mood. Anan! Get her some milk and cookies!"
Fireteam Tengoku had finally landed on Europa. Leona and Anan had begun to summon their sparrows, with Ginzo following close behind them. Leona's face couldn't be seen under her helmet, but her anger could be felt nonetheless.
"Hey, chill, chill. I'm only messing with you cause I gotta be quiet when the big blue man starts talking." Ginzo shrugged as Leona growled. Anan on the other hand was doing his best to tune out any and all outside sounds. As the team sped off to the Glassway, Zavala's voice came over comms.
"You're there...good. Half a day ago, we lost contact with Fireteam Noctis. They were investigating Vex activity in the Glassway. According to Lus' ghost, the Vex were stopping on Europa before going to another place. Your job is to investigate and save Fireteam Noctis if necessary. If Fireteam Noctis is lost, the blow to the City's defenses may be irreparable. Be careful, Tengoku."
"Understood." Came Leona as she turned off her comms.
"Do you think they're okay?" Fortune, the ghost of Ginzo asked, as Ginzo launched his sparrow off a nearby ice ramp and did acrobatics while airborne
"Probably not. Cause I get the feeling they're the type of gang to mess things up pretty easily."
"Hopefully they're returning so we can be finished. This mission is already interfering with my schedule." Anan brusquely replied.
"I'm not picking up a lot of Vex...if we hurry, we can still make it to your next shoot, Anan." Glaucia came over comms as she and her Guardian began to lead the group of Sparrows as the fireteam began to enter the Nexus.
The team continued on, going as far as their Sparrows would take them. As the team went deeper, Ori scanned the area, attempting to see if he could pick up the lost fireteam.
"I have received no results on Fireteam Noctis from my attempted scans. I have confirmed that they have come through here, however, based on the remnants of Light around. Furthermore, I am getting a strange reading from the Vex portal. I am unable to obtain the location of where it leads."
As Ori said this, the team was intrigued. How could Ori, of all ghosts, not be able to find out where it leads?
"Same here. I'm getting nothing." Came the voice of Fortune in an energetic voice unfitting of their current situation.
"Here, lemme try this..." Ginzo said as he fell to the ground and reclined against a nearby ice wall. "Ayo Fireteam Noctis, you there?"
After a long period of silence, Ginzo shrugged. "Welp, I tried."
Sighing, Leona began to trudge on deeper into the cave. "Let's hurry this up and find them."
"Damn brats! You're all gonna die!"
Kostas ran forward to confront Dimitri, rushing in with his sword. Dimitri narrowed his eyes before stabbing his spear forward, penetrating Kostas.
"Sorry, but you're the one who shall die here." Dimitri said, using the spear to throw the body of Kostas to the ground, before finishing the bandit leader off by piercing his heart. With a sigh, Dimitri stood his spear upright and turned to his allies.
"That's the last of them. You were an exceptional leader, professor. Not to mention, without the assistance of Lus, some of us may have been gravely injured."
Byleth gave a small smile before nodding at his student. "You all did well. I'm proud."
Dimitri smiled at the praise given to him. "Thank you, professor. I'm sure the others will be happy to hear it."
Meanwhile, Lus and Cinnamon were relieved to see that their mission had been accomplished with no casualties.
"Hey, at least no one got hurt." Cinnamon said.
"Yeah, the students actually fought better than I expected."
Lus looked up to see Dimitri walking towards him. Lus gave a wave as the blond student drew closer.
"Lus," Dimitri began, "thank you for your assistance today."
Lus dismissively waved. "Ah, I basically did nothing. You guys deserve all the praise."
"Please," Dimitri nearly scoffed, "do not sell yourself short. Being there to offer advice is a great service to those who need it."
Lus nodded "Yea, guess so." Standing up straight, he stretched out. "Anyways, I think it's about time we head back, we should go before it gets too late."
Dimitri smiled.
"Indeed."
"Get out of my way…"
Anan scoffed before obliterating a Minotaur with a miniature supernova, sending it spiraling into the infinite. As the rest of Tengoku slew a few Vex loners who were guarding the entrance to the Glassway, the team began to check for any signs of Fireteam Noctis. Apart from Vex bodies, none were found.
"The hell? This doesn't make sense." Leona said, looking around as she approached the massive Vex gate. "You don't think they went in, right?" Leona asked, turning to her comrades.
"Nah they definitely did. They ain't the type of fireteam to disappear without a trace." Ginzo said, sitting on the cold, metallic body of a Minotaur.
"Glaucia, please let everyone know I will unfortunately have to cancel today." Anan said with a sigh.
"Already done." Glaucia said, appearing to her Guardian and looking at him.
"Ayy big blue!" Ginzo said over comms, standing up off the Minotaur's carcass.
With a disappointed and annoyed sigh, the commander came over comms. "Yes, Ginzo?"
"We're at the Glassway right now. They ain't here, so we think they went in the portal. We're probably gonna go in, but I just figured I'd let you know cause we might get lost and all that, so we'll be back once we figure a way back. Later blue!" Ginzo said, hopping up and brandishing his Huckleberry. Behind him, Anan holsters his Black Talon, with Leona doing the same to her Hawkmoon.
"Understood. Be careful, Tengoku. We're counting on you." Zavala said, cutting his feed.
"Alright losers, who wants to go in first? I think Kagu should. What do you think, Leona?" Ginzo asked as he and his fireteam neared the portal. Ori activated the portal, and with a roar, the portal came to life. Anan turned to Ginzo and began speaking.
"I beg your pardon? Firstly, we established that I no longer go by that name. Second, don't Hunters have the duty of blazing paths ahead? You may take poin-"
"BITCHGETINTHEPORTAL!" Ginzo said, kicking the Warlock into the Vex gate causing him to disappear. Leona stifled a chuckle before motioning for Ginzo to go into the portal.
"Well, you're next."
"Aww why it gotta be me though?" Ginzo said, turning around to Leona.
"Because you'll probably run off and go gambling if I went in first. Now get in." Leona said, also kicking Ginzo into the portal. As Leona hopped in, she sighed.
"Just another day for Tengoku…"
Edelgard mused to herself in her room, contemplating the new factors in play. The Guardians said that they don't plan on teaching their magic anytime soon, as it is a closely guarded secret. This put a major block in her plans. She either needed to find a way to get them to join the Empire, or she needed to find a way to effectively disable them. Perhaps that bandit may be able to find out a thing or two. Moreover, if she got them subservient to the Empire, she would have a major advantage against those...fiends.
Edelgard sat down at her desk, pondering the three individuals. First, there was Lus of the Titan class. He appeared to be the most physically strong out of the bunch. Next, there was Jose, who while he was witty and sarcastic, appeared to have strong morals. Moa was the most mature, with her being fairly inquisitive and almost acting like a foil to the others. Then there were their so-called Ghosts. While Lus said they weren't the type most people thought of, they were curious things. They all appeared to have their own personalities as well. However, Lus always referred to his group in thirds, not counting the Ghosts presumably, but why? What was the purpose of them, and were they important?
Edelgard walked outside her dorm and into the walkways of the Monastery. She caught sight of Jose wandering the Monastery and took a plan.
"Excuse me, Jose-5?" Edelgard asked, planting curiosity in her voice.
Jose turned to look at her and waved before walking to meet her. "Oh, Your Highness! I actually was looking for some help. I was wondering if you possessed a Crest? I'm actually really curious about them. Oh and you can just call me Jose"
"Firstly, if I am to call you just Jose, please refer to me as Edelgard. Second, I'd be honored to help you, and I do indeed have a Crest, but you do know there are far more suitable people to teach you about such things correct? For example, Professor Hanneman is an expert on Crests." Edelgard said, slightly raising an eyebrow.
"Firstly," Jose began, "I insist. You are royalty after all. Secondly, that may be true, but I also want to get another perspective on different Crests and Relics rather than an expert's." Jose said, folding his arms.
"Very well, in that case, why don't we do it over some tea then? And as a compromise, how about referring to me as Lady Edelgard?" Edelgard replied with a smirk.
"Sounds like a plan." Jose smiled.
Falling through the sky wasn't something that Leona was necessarily used to, but it didn't scare her one bit. She felt her body crackle with Arc before she blasted to the ground, creating a sizable crater where she landed. Next to her landing, Ginzo was leaning against a tree, and Anan was sitting down, meditating. Rising from the crater, Leona began to look at her surroundings, which consisted of a dense coniferous forest.
"Where are we?" Leona asked no one in particular.
"A place that looks like Earth, but one without the Traveler or the City." Anan said, rising from his meditation.
"Any signs of Noctis yet?"
"Well let's see…" Ginzo began as he stopped leaning against the tree. He switched to an open channel and nearly shouted in it.
"Sup losers! Guess who's here to save your sorry asses and bring y'all home! Where ya at?" Ginzo said, smirking underneath his helmet. A period of silence passed before a response was heard.
"Ginzo?!" The voice of Lus came over comms. "What are you doing here?"
"Did you not hear what I just said? We're saving y'all!" Ginzo said, his thuggish demeanor coming through the comms.
"Well, we're not the ones who need to be saved in this world. We would have returned by now, but we're figuring out what the Vex want here. Well, that and we don't have a way back. And, did you say 'we're'?"
Leona sighed before joining the exchange. "Yes, Lus. All of Tengoku's here."
"Oh...Hi Leona…" Lus sarcastically returned.
"Anyways!" Ginzo smirked. "Give us your coordinates and we'll be with y'all soon."
"Woah woah woah…" Jose said as he appeared on comms. "we don't exactly need help here. If anything, you should return to the City and just say we're alright."
"Didn't Lus just say that you didn't have a way back? How are we supposed to return?" Anan said, scoffing at his fellow Warlock.
"...Good point."
Moa was currently listening to Hanneman, the resident Crest man according to Claude, give a long speech on the history of Crests. Hornet was recording it all, while Moa tried her best to appear interested and not at all bored. In other events, Fireteam Tengoku showed up out of nowhere, greatly increasing the difficulty of keeping their secrets. Not to mention the inevitable increase of questions that will come their way. As Hanneman finished his speech, Moa nodded, smiled, and exited the room, sighing with relief once she was out of earshot.
"You recorded all of that, right?" Moa asked.
"Of course I did. There was no reason for me not to." Hornet replied as her Guardian headed towards the Archbishop's room.
"Soooo…" Moa began "How do you think introducing Tengoku will go?"
"If it's anything short of chaotic, confusing, and difficult, I will be shocked." Hornet sighed.
"Same," Moa said. "this is gonna be pretty hard. Not to mention explaining things to them."
"Hopefully Lus and Leona don't fight too much…"
"I don't think it'll be that bad…" Moa rebutted. "to be fair, they did work together recently in the Crypt and all."
"I hope you're right…" Hornet added.
"So how do you think talking with the Archbishop will go?"
"Well, you somehow managed to convince a group of bloodthirsty Eliksni to join House Light, so I don't think it can be worse than that." Hornet returned.
After Moa greeted the guards at the door to the Audience Chamber, they opened the door and revealed Lady Rhea inside awaiting.
"Your Grace?" Moa asked as she removed her helmet, bowing to the majesty of Lady Rhea.
The Archbishop turned as she heard the voice of Moa call her title. "Ah, Moa. How may I be of assistance?"
"Moments ago, we heard from allies from our world that they have arrived in this one as well. As with us, for now, they are indefinitely stranded here. I am here to let you know that they are coming, and to ask that you show them the same grace you have shown us."
"Of course." Lady Rhea smiled. "Considering what you have done for us, you needn't ask. Any friend of our saviors is a friend of the Monastery."
"I see. On behalf of my comrades, please accept our gratitude once again. Once they arrive, we shall return here to give you a full introduction."
Rhea smiled "Of course. I eagerly await meeting them."
As Moa bowed once again, she donned her helmet and switched to comms.
"So, good news Tengoku, the Archbishop of the Church of Seiros wants to meet you and she says that you can stay here for the time being."
"Archbishop?" Leona asked over comms. "Who is she? And where is here?"
Suddenly the voice of Chopstick arrived over comms. "Right, so short summary of this world from what we know so far: Some goddess long ago arrived in this world and created it but a dude named Nemesis killed her, causing someone named Seiros to kill Nemesis along with 13 stooges using weapons and special abilities called Relics and Crests. Now we and the Vex are here and we saved a monastery from the Vex and now we're being treated as saviors. We think the Vex are here to steal the Relics and or those bearing Crests. Capeesh?"
"Uhhhhh…" The voice of Leona trailed off as her brain tried to compute the information in error.
"Yeah, gonna be honest, I did not understand one bit of that." Ginzo added.
"I'll send you guys the information that Cinnamon gave us. See you guys when you get here."
Meanwhile, Moa simply sat down on a nearby bench and sighed.
Her job just got harder and harder.
"So what are these other Guardians like?"
Annette eagerly trailed Lus as the Blue Lions returned to the Monastery. Lus had broken the news that three more Guardians had come to this world, all of them being allies of Fireteam Noctis. This surprised some members of the house, but ultimately had the effect of increasing their curiosity.
"You'll see. They're all very...interesting to say the least."
"How so?" Byleth asked, his curiosity slightly surprising Lus.
"Hmm...well, Leona's a hothead, Anan's a bit of a sadist, and Ginzo is a sly thug, if that helps."
Dimitri gave a slight chuckle at this. "They do indeed sound interesting."
Simultaneously with the conversation, Cinnamon had been scanning the forest surrounding the group to see if he could garner any more information about the age of this world. However, he suddenly felt a dark presence, along with several enemy signals. The signals were unmistakable.
It was the Hive.
"Lus! Hive! On your right!" Cinnamon shouted to his Titan.
"What? Damn it!" The titan spun in response, unholstering his scout rifle, causing the students to stare in surprise. Lus switched off comms briefly to update them on the situation.
"Professor! Take the students and run to the Monastery! Don't try to fight, just run!" Lus yelled, shocking the students.
"What's happening?!" Dimitri asked, looking to Lus for answers.
"The Hive, now go!" Lus said not turning away from the sights of his gun.
Saying nothing more, the students all hurried away from Lus, fear beginning to creep on their faces once again. Lus pushed onwards not far behind them, in an effort to ensure no Hive were able to make it to them. As the students heard the screams of the incoming horde, Lus threw a Glacier Grenade in order to slow any incoming Hive. Lus saw a lone Thrall leap from the forest, attempting to land on him. Lus easily crushed its skull and tossed it aside, before pushing on behind the Blue Lions in order to avoid the incoming onslaught of Thrall, all of which pouring out of the trees like water.
"AWWW SHIT!" Lus cursed while unloading his Scout Rifle into the horde. He switched to comms to inform everyone of the advancement.
"Guys! The Hive are here!"
"What? How?" Jose asked, confusion and worry rising over his face.
"Don't know! Just be ready to defend the Monastery again!" Lus responded, throwing a flaming hammer into the horde causing it to take down a Thrall before chaining lightning to the others.
"Cinnamon! Send us your coordinates, we'll assist!" Leona said, her and Tengoku beginning to run.
Meanwhile, Lus turned to attack another horde of Thrall attempting to ignore him and attack the students. He threw a Duskfield Grenade, sucking the Thrall in, before running in and destroying them with a gauntlet of ice. Almost in an attempt to do the same, a Wizard appeared and covered Lus in a dome of darkness, slowing him. Lus managed to roll out, before switching to his trusty Lament and leaping to shred the Wizard. Lus chucked another Glacier grenade before running to catch up to the students.
Their situation had taken a sudden turn for the absolute worst.
Hey everyone! 2020 is finally ending! This year was just a big zit that was finally popped. Hopefully, 2021 is better for all of us! Anyways, as usual I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And once again thanks for all the reviews, favorites, follows, and criticisms! It all helps be it positive or negative. I wish everyone reading a Happy New Year, and I'll see y'all in the next one!