April: Kidnapper's Keep
The band of heroes entered into Ylisse and decided to take a short trip to Ylisstol to inform Lucina about everything that took place since their last meeting. Once they were done, Lucina suggested, "You might want to go to Plegia Castle. Aunt Emmeryn and Uncle Robin returned there some time ago. They'd know if there was a report of suspicious activity."
The group forged on to Plegia. Dorothea kept a dutiful eye on Ferdinand at all times to see if her fears of him being a mole were justified or not. It would be completely out of character, but stranger things have happened throughout history . . .
Owain strode into Plegia Castle with an air of confidence. He chatted up the maids. "Excuse us, but do you know if Aunt Emmeryn and Uncle Robin are in the middle of something? It's about the quest that we're on; they're very invested in it."
The maid continued polishing the cabinets. "They're available right now, Prince Owain. Have a lovely day."
Owain returned, "You too," and led everyone into the massive throne room bedecked in sparkling jewels, fine silk, and ancient suits of armor. Sophie immediately knew that Plegia had plenty of financial success by the state of all the splendor.
Emmeryn's eyes lit up when she recognized Owain. "It's so good to see you. How have you been?"
Ophelia clapped. "Auntie Emmeryn! Your speech is improving by leaps and bounds! Truly the light has shined upon you!"
Azura updated Robin and Emmeryn about the battle against the Twilighters. "So, are there any strange sightings that indicate Twilighter inhabitance?"
Robin scowled. "Hmm. Things have been pretty quiet ever since you retook the Ruins of Time. Although, I did get a notice that bandits are back in Kidnapper's Keep again. It used to be a place for slavers to kidnap civilians and sell them. Obviously, once I took over the country, we put a stop to that at once. Thankfully, nothing about kidnapping and illegal slavery was in the report, but it's still best to be on your guard."
Severa hardened, remembering her trip there to rescue a friend from that fate. "Ugh. I hate that place. Let's get it over with already."
Once they got to Kidnapper's Keep, it was obvious someone was living there. The fort was no longer decaying, as if someone fixed it up. Byleth ordered, "The entrance seems to be unguarded. Let's sweep in with a powerful strike so they don't have a chance to take it back."
Caspar, Shiro, and Ferdinand charged through the door and into the enemy. Linhardt blinked in surprise. "Well then. I suppose we should join them so they won't perish." The rest of the group ran after them.
A barbarian warned, "They found us! Quick! Burn all the files! They can't know the secrets in the base!" A few soldiers fled the scene, presumably to torch the documents.
Byleth grit her teeth. "Flyers, after them!" Shigure, Camilla, Ingrid, and Caeldori sped off after them in one of the four cardinal directions, with Subaki aiding his daughter while Khalid stayed behind. "Everyone else, take out the archers! Don't let our flyers fall!"
Gustave and Dedue positioned themselves in front of the battalion, ready to shield their friends with their thick armor. Sophie, Severa, Shiro, Dimitri, and Mary were behind them, prepared to cut down the first attackers.
Caeldori caught up to her target, the westbound soldier, and hurled a javelin into his left shoulder. He collapsed onto the floor, buckling under the sudden pressure from the wound. Satisfied, Caeldori zoomed away toward the other enemies tasked with burning the documents while Subaki finished him off.
Camilla soared up into the ceiling, and then swooped down and plunged her axe into the northernmost agent's back. Camilla ripped it back out of her body and with a flick of her wrist, her wyvern sailed into the air away from the sickening pool of blood and toward another soldier.
Shigure flew in front of the door, barring the southernmost agent's means of escape. "It's showtime! Let's see if you're able to improvise." The soldier leapt into the air, hoping to tackle Shigure off his pegasus, but Shigure parried the attack and the soldier tumbled to the ground. Shigure eliminated the enemy and flicked a strand of hair out of his eye. "The curtains are down."
Ingrid and her pegasus were traveling at breakneck speed after the eastward soldier. She let out a battle cry to try to catch the agent off guard. The soldier's head swiveled around ponytail flung back from the momentum, and Ingrid locked eyes with her. "You better be ready to fight for your life, because you have to right now." The girl fired a lightning bolt at Ingrid. Ingrid grimaced as electricity tickled her body and punctured the girl's chest with her lance, which was a killing blow.
With all of the agents dead and exits secured, the Twilighters were all trapped in the room. Byleth praised, "Great job, everyone! Flush them out!" Dimitri hammered through the ranks with his inhuman strength, toppling through three soldiers at a time. Mary was right behind him, cutting through any straggling enemies.
Linhardt scurried over to Ingrid. "Oh. Your wounds aren't that serious. Meh. It's not worth healing yet."
Ingrid tried to keep her annoyance, and composure, in check during the battle. "That's right. Go make sure everyone else is okay. I can handle a few magic spells without a problem." She took out a trickster while Linhardt moved away.
Soleil smacked a cleric with her sword. "You don't get to sow misery without a punishment! You're supposed to spread around sunshine and cuteness! Come on, smile for me. Like this!" She flashed a pearly white smile. The cleric responded by kicking her shins. Soleil shrugged, "If you want to play it your way," and ended her life.
The battle stretched on for another hour, with healers on both sides scrambling to rejuvenate the remaining fighters. Linhardt healed Ferdinand. "Try not to get hurt again. I hate to see blood."
Ferdinand ignored the request and went straight toward the enemy commander while Gustave removed the healers out of the picture. "Your time has run out. It's time to finish this." Before the commander could react, Ferdinand dealt him a death blow.
The commander spluttered, "Y-you! You!" He hacked up some blood and perished. Dorothea tried to figure out what he was going to say next to Ferdinand, hoping it would be a clue to her personal conundrum.
Azura spoke, "Let's search the premises for any leads." Dorothea shook the thoughts out of her head. Speculation could wait. She had a job to do.
