March: Aftermath
Sophie slung her fiancé behind her on Avel's back to protect him from being trampled by spiteful enemies or unsuspecting allies. Fueled by a fury she never experienced before, she hacked at the foes and couldn't focus on anything else besides their annihilation. As Sophie hacked through the onslaught, she noticed that her performance gave her allies a second wind.
Gustave slew a horde of enemies while Camilla took out foes in the sky. Corrin transformed into a dragon and simply stomped on her enemies. Subaki slashed at some foes while Annette froze some to death with Blizzard.
The fight dragged on like this for a few more grueling hours. Once the dust cleared, Sophie carried Siegbert over to Corrin. "Mother! Get him help immediately! He's been wounded for a while; I don't even know if he's still alive!"
Corrin felt his pulse. "He has a pulse. It's frail, but still there. Get him to the infirmary, quick!" They rushed to the castle and placed him in a bed.
The medical team promised to take good care of Siegbert, so the women went back to the battlefield to check up on everyone else. Shiro huddled on the ground with his hands covering his right knee. Sophie bent over to get down on his level. "Do you need help?"
Shiro removed his hand, which showed a very graphic sight. Nausea hit Sophie like a tidal wave. "I'll . . . I'll go get Linhardt." Shaking herself out of the wooziness, she raced around looking for the sleepy medic. 10 minutes later, Sophie tracked him down, napping under a shady tree. "Hey! What are you doing? People still need help! Shiro's knee is . . . see for yourself!"
Linhardt yawned. "I guess I'll pitch in." He trudged over to Shiro and healed his knee. "That was disgusting. Try not to get that hurt again." Linhardt wandered off.
Shiro's gaze trailed after him. "Sheesh. What's his problem?"
Sophie was baffled by Linhardt's attitude as well. "I have no idea."
Caeldori ran over to them. "Are you okay? That battle was awful. It really seemed like we might not make it."
Shiro flexed his still sore leg. "Tell me about it." He winced. "That was one nasty injury. I could barely look at it without freaking out. I thought I'd be like that for life. I would thank Linhardt, but he didn't seem like he wanted to help very much."
Sophie closed her eyes. "Siegbert got really hurt."
Shiro gasped. "He's not like . . . dead, is he?"
Caeldori's eyes became stormy. "That's your cousin you're talking about! Now is not the time for jokes!"
Shiro sheepishly said, "I wasn't . . ."
Caeldori paled. "Oh. I'm sorry. It just seemed like . . . Let's check on everyone else." Camilla was cradling a wounded Ophelia in her arms to comfort her. Caeldori jogged up to them. "I'm guessing that you already tried getting a healer. I'll go try again for you."
As Caeldori left, Sophie made small talk. "I'm sorry you got hurt, Ophelia."
Ophelia gently touched the deep cut on her shoulder. "I protected this valiant country from the snares of evil! Such a risk is necessary for one of my station. Ophelia Ylisse, here to save the day!"
Camilla countered, "Just don't do anything rash. Mommy needs her little girl safe and sound at the end of the day."
Caeldori and Dorothea approached them. Dorothea patched up Ophelia's shoulder. "Phew. There we go. You wouldn't believe how many people I had to save."
Shiro asked, "So that's everyone?"
Caeldori grimaced. "How many casualties did we have?"
Dorothea answered, "Yes, and none. The Vallite Army can't say the same."
Sophie gasped. "Oh no! Will Mother and Kana be safe once we leave?"
Dorothea gave her a reassuring nod. "Oh yes; don't worry. While the army took heavy losses, it's possible for them to regroup and recover."
Shiro said, "Now that everyone's okay, let's go check on Siegbert." The threesome sped over back to the infirmary.
Caeldori approached the nurse. "Excuse me, but is there any update on Siegbert's condition?"
The nurse shook her head. "I'm afraid not. He's going to have to stay here for the time being."
Silas came and paced a hand on Sophie's shoulder. "Come on; we should get going to a war council meeting."
They all dragged themselves to the Vallite meeting room to thoroughly discuss what happened. Corrin frowned. "So these Twilighters are trying to trap you in one world?"
Subaki asked, "Has there been any suspicious activity around here?"
Corrin thought about that for a moment. "Well, there have been reports of clusters of suspicious people around. Since none of them reported a crime, I didn't think anything of it."
Sophie shook her head vehemently. "No, Mother! These people are really bad news! They kidnapped Ferdinand to sacrifice him in some scary ritual. They're hurting people!"
Silas placed a hand on his daughter's back. "Don't worry, Sophie. We'll stop them."
Corrin stood up. "I'll go tell the remaining knights to look out for these people." She sprinted off.
Sophie's mind took her to Siegbert and his condition. She found herself walking toward the infirmary and rushing up to Siegbert's bed. "Siegbert?" Her hand brushed against his cheek. "Please don't leave me."
The nurse scurried over to her. "He's expected to survive, Princess Sophie. There's even hope that he'll make a full recovery in the future."
Sophie sank to her knees. "Oh, I'm so glad. I don't what I'd do without him." She let out an agonized strangled cry.
Caeldori knocked on the door. "Hey. Your presence is needed. We're going to investigate where the Twilighters were. We might be able to figure out how they're disrupting the gates between worlds. Come on!"
Sophie dried her eyes and followed her best friend outside. One thing was certain: their enemies made a grave mistake by hurting Siegbert.
