Author's Note:

Two chapters in two days, what is this madness!? This one heavily focuses on the battle with Lonato, showcasing some of the boy's spells. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

I own nothing.

Chapter 11

Garland Moon, Imperial Year 1180

"So, we're now helping the church stamp out dissidents?"

Raphael glanced at Dedue, being the only one to hear his quiet question, "I guess so, I mean, Lord Lonato is staging an armed revolt, but simply going straight to fighting without even trying to talk things out…"

"There's more to it than that."

They both nearly jumped out of their skins as Marianne softly broke into the conversation, glancing back towards where she was marching behind them as she looked up at them.

"Threatening violence and turning your blades on the church is the same as attempting to attack the Goddess." She looked down again, "That hubris is the same as that shown by summoners."

The boys shared a quick glance, before Dedue spoke carefully, "What do you mean?"

She glanced up again briefly, "It's what my mother told me. Crests are given by the Goddess, but summoners used blood rituals to gain their powers. They believed themselves so powerful, that they attempted to destroy the Goddess and make themselves gods, their attempts destroyed themselves and nearly everyone else, only the Goddess prevented Fόdlan's complete destruction. That's why summoning is a forbidden magic."

"That's right."

A new voice affirmed Marianne's words, and Catherine, who their class was accompanying, began to stride alongside them, speaking strongly, "I understand some of your concerns, but by turning on the church, Lord Lonato declared war on the Goddess, as her followers, we must face him and punish accordingly."

To demonstrate her own faith in her words, she held her blade, Thunderbrand, up meaningfully, the sword glowing as if in anticipation.

Raphael looked at it warily.

"Is it supposed to be glowing like that?"

Her expression morphed into one of confusion, "Are you telling me that neither one of you have heard of Hero's Relics?"

Both boys shook their heads, and her confusion became shock, "That's a surprise." She gestured at Dedue, "Now I'd understand why you hadn't, but you Raphael, you've never heard anything about them?"

"I mean…maybe…a long time ago?"

She shrugged, "Doesn't matter, I'll happily tell you now." She launched straight into her explanation, "Basically, Hero's Relics are weapons or artefacts that work with crests, a relic can be used by anyone as a weapon, but only someone who bears the correct crest can use a relic's full power. When held by someone with the correct crest, the relic will glow, the way Thunderbrand does in my hands, and relics require different crests, Thunderbrand requires the crest of Charon, which I carry."

"Charon?" Dedue frowned thoughtfully, and Raphael also felt he'd heard that name somewhere before.

Seeing their frowns, and thinking they were confused who Charon was, Catherine elaborated, "One of the Ten Elites, all crests go back to them, they were heroes to whom the Goddess first gifted crests."

A knight ran up, interrupting the conversation, "Lady Catherine, there's a heavy fog rolling in."

Distracted, she nodded at him, "I see it, let's move to a slow march and move cautiously, we don't want to be ambushed in this fog."

As she joined the front of the group, Raphael whispered in Dedue's ear, "Didn't you once tell me that Charon was an Aeon?"

The older boy gently nodded, "Yes, while I never got the chance to take my father's records of Aeons with me, he did tell me of Charon, he said that he was a dangerous Aeon to encounter."

"Indeed, he is." Alexander added, "Charon is both powerful, and dangerous."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember what I taught you, about differences between Aeons."

Recalling his knowledge, Raphael answered, "Yes, you said that while you and Diablos are like 'normal' Aeons, there are more powerful ones, like 'Grand' Aeons."

"Exactly, unlike me and Diablos, a Grand Aeon chooses a summoner they deem worthy of them, and often will lay out a test or require a ritual that must be completed before receiving their power. An Aeon cannot disobey a command from their summoner, but we have our own moralities and values, the same as humans. Charon is a Grand Aeon that chooses a summoner that best suits his own purposes, and his magic is considered particularly dark."

"What is his magic."

"I do not know, only that it was thought of as horrific and terrifying as you can get."

"So, why does an Aeon, known as horrific, share a name with one of the Ten Elites?"

"That is indeed a very good question."

Any further deliberation or discussion was halted when Fenrir, at Dedue's side as he now always was, stopped suddenly, hackles raised. The wolf gave a low, menacing growl, his eyes fixed on the fog around them. Dedue turned his gaze on the nearby Byleth.

"Professor…"

She glanced his way, took one look at the growling Fenrir, and immediately gave a hand signal to order everyone into combat positions. Those who could see her in the fog, obeyed, and those who couldn't took their cue from those around them, meaning that their class was prepared and ready for the first two warriors to charge out of the fog.

Neither reached them, as Catherine met them head on, with one slash, the first was down, and a second slash felled the other, both of them dead in the space of a breath, Thunderbrand glowing brightly. As if retreating from the sword's light, the fog partially receded, revealing a troop of soldiers and an older man in more ornate armour sat upon a horse among them. Though he'd never seen him before, Raphael was willing to bet that this was Lord Lonato. The lord's eyes narrowed as he glared at Catherine with hatred.

"Thunderstrike Cassandra, your blind zealotry brought about the death of my son."

Catherine strode confidently forward, "I no longer answer to that name. I am Catherine, of the Knights of Seiros." She swung Thunderbrand down to point at Lonato, "Now face the blade of one who serves the Goddess!"

In response, the fog closed back in, and Byleth swiftly gave commands.

"All of you, be prepared, an attack can from anywhere while they use fog as cover, stay close and always have at least one other person watching your blind spots."

With the arrival of several soldiers, the battle begun in earnest.

Sticking together and defending Marianne, who was their main healer, they slowly pushed forward behind Byleth. As they held the front, Lorenz, Hilda and Leonie protected the flanks, with Claude, Ignatz and Lysithea, attacking with bow and magic from the centre of the group. Though throwing out the odd Nosferatu, Marianne was largely focused on healing the others, mostly Dedue who was taking the brunt of the attacks. While he could block most with his shield, some nimble opponents could inflict a wound or two on him before Raphael managed to beat them down.

Catherine seemed to be everywhere at once, Thunderbrand flashing as she swung, stabbed and parried her way skilfully across the battlefield, barely giving the other knights with her a chance to fight themselves. Byleth was also carving her way forwards, her precise strikes tempered from a lifetime of fighting displayed effortlessly.

However, the fog remained, and with its thick covering over them, they were more reacting and defending than actually making headway. The enemy seemed unhindered by the conditions, and it was Lysithea who growled in frustration, "This fog, it has to be caused by a mage, I'm certain of it!"

Byleth spoke to her directly, "Do you know of a way to find out where?"

The girl blasted a swordsman with a miasma spell before answering, "Not precisely, but they need to be somewhere between us and Lonato, that would give them the best coverage to hinder us without hindering him. They're probably hiding in thick trees or bushes to remain undetected."

The professor swiftly gave her commands, "Raphael, Dedue, break off and find that mage, do what you can to stop this fog."

"Professor."

Acknowledging her orders, the boys broke off and pushed forward into the nearby undergrowth, as Byleth took up their position defending the front of their group. They moved swiftly, their natural senses for magic guiding them towards the mage (now they knew to look for fog creating magic) and Fenrir's keen senses and warning growls alerting them to any incoming assailants. Two men tried to jump them, but one blow of Dedue's axe and two strikes of Raphael's gauntlets felled them, however, for the first time, they registered something off.

"Dedue, they have no armour or proper gear."

The older boy nodded, "They're not soldiers or knights, they're militia, normal people."

The younger stuttered, "But, why? Why is he using untrained villagers to fight, if he needed more fighters couldn't he have hired mercenaries?"

Dedue crouched down beside the fallen men, "Maybe they willingly joined him." He checked them, "They're still alive."

Raphael joined him, and they shared a look, nodded, and the younger boy held out his hand.

"Curaga."

Immediately, light glowed about the two men, as their wounds began to close and heal. The moment it faded, Dedue also raised his hand.

"Slowra."

With time briefly slowed for the two militia, the boys hurried off into the fog, continuing their search for the mage causing it. With Fenrir's help, they avoided anymore confrontations with militia, and were soon approaching the fog's source.

As expected, there was a mage there causing it, but he was also accompanied by two other mages, who were there to defend him, and all three were definitely neither militia nor Lonato's own forces. With beaked masks and pointed hoods, they clearly stood out as a separate faction, likely allied with Lonato for this fight.

"Watch yourself Dedue." Diablos warned urgently, "These guys are of the same ilk as the ones that were holding Raphael captive."

Dedue had recognised that immediately, he remembered how twisted the magic of those mages had been. Upon their arrival, the two guards raised their hands, dark magic spells already forming. Dedue raised his shield but Raphael moved faster. Planting himself in front of him, the younger held up his hands defensively as he cast the spell.

"Shell!"

On command a sphere formed around him, blocking the two miasma spells. 'Shell' was a defense spell specifically for magical attacks, unlike 'Protect' which was designed for physical assaults. It had its limits, and needed to be maintained, but two miasma spells were no match for it.

While one mage stepped back in surprise, the other sneered.

"The wayward summoner, we were warned you might have new tricks." He circled his hand, likely creating the formula for another, more powerful spell, "Don't think you can best us that easily."

Unfortunately for him, the fog was still being generated, and while it prevented their allies from seeing the enemy too quickly, it also meant no one could see Dedue and Raphael use their powers, hence why Byleth had chosen them to find the mage in the first place. They had excellent tools to deal with most threats.

Stepping around Raphael, Dedue pointed his axe at the casting mage.

"Stop!"

Instantly, the mage froze mid-cast, his magical formula hanging motionless in the air. 'Stop' briefly halted time for a single target, they were immune to damage while it was active, but it was perfect for temporarily removing them from the fight.

Raphael charged forward; one hand raised towards the other mage who was hastily preparing another spell.

"Holy!"

Light burst from the ground beneath the mage, causing him to be flung back with a scream. Normally, Raphael's Holy magic wasn't very effect against people, but it seemed Dark Mages were the exception. The third mage left off his fog creation spell to defend himself, but it was too late, the boy's gauntlets took him out of the equation permanently.

As the fog began to rapidly clear, the Stop spell faded, causing the mage to launch his spell at thin air. Dedue had already moved beside him and dealt him a stunning blow with his shield, knocking him down but not killing him. Fenrir launched himself at the man, and pinned the mage to the ground, growling ferociously as Dedue stood over them.

"What are you planning!?"

Dedue knew it in his gut, these mages had their own agenda, beyond Lonato's, and he wanted to know what it was.

The mage's answer was a single, harsh word, causing him lurch unnaturally, and simply die, leaving Dedue with no answers.

Still in battle, the boy quickly focused on his surroundings, only to find that, with the fog gone, Catherine and the other knights had already made their way to Lonato's position, leaving a trail of enemy forces, both militia and soldier, dead or wounded in their wake. Byleth held their class back, keeping them away from the confrontation about to unfold.

With the other knights dealing with Lonato's entourage, Catherine took on the lord himself. Thunderbrand ready, she prepared for the fight.

"Prepare to face judgement for your heresy!"

Lonato snarled, "The only heresy, comes from your own Archbishop!"

With a roar, he drove his horse forward, lance ready as Catherine, charged to meet him. Lance met relic with a clash, Catherine managing to unbalance him causing him to fall from his mount. Skilfully righting himself, he met her again on foot, but this time, instead of clashing together, Catherine's blade cut clean through his lance haft. Lonato had only a moment to realise his position before Thunderbrand swung down, bringing his revolt, and his life, to an abrupt end.

In the deathly silence that followed, Dedue couldn't help but feel that the glow of Thunderbrand mirrored the colour of the blood it spilled far too well.

The march back to Garreg Mach was quiet and solemn, at least for the students.

The knights were talking and laughing, as if nothing unusual had happened. The opinion of the knights seemed to be that they'd performed some great sacred service for the Goddess and were talking about the honour and glory they might've achieved. The only one of them seemingly affected was Catherine herself, while she'd been the heart of the banter and conversations on the way to battle, she was quiet and withdrawn now, only speaking to give commands.

Dedue had heard from Claude about the letter detailing Rhea's assassination that'd been found on Lonato's body and agreed with their House Leader that it was far too obvious to be anything but a distraction. However, future plots were far from any of the student's minds.

While missed in the chaos of battle, it became all too obvious afterwards that they'd struck down militia, not just soldiers and knights. For those who'd only really experienced battle for the first-time last month, that had hit some of them hard. Why had normal people, farmers, smiths and weavers, chosen to fight in a battle against trained fighters? They must've known they'd be facing fully fledged knights, so why go through with it? Did they even get a choice?

Dedue felt they did, others mentioned that the militia fought as if they believed in what they were doing, so what had the church done to raise them up against it? He gathered that Lonato had personal reasons, but that wouldn't rally the common people behind him in such a way.

The final question lay in the mages, what were they doing there. One of them clearly knew of Raphael (that knowledge worried him the most), but what did they have to gain from Lonato's revolt?

He moved forward, coming alongside Byleth, to speak to her.

"Professor."

She looked his way, saw his expression, and moved closer so they were less likely to be overheard.

"The mages, the ones causing the fog, they seem connected to the ones me and Raphael encountered before."

She nodded in understanding, "When we return to the monastery, I need you and Raphael to tell me everything you can."

"Yes professor."

PS-The mages knew of Raphael and seem linked to what's happening (surprise, surprise). Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.