May: The Big Theory

Sophie scoured through the drawers to find any relevant information. She took out a manilla envelope and flicked through its contents. There were detailed notes about attempts to get the Outrealm portals to bend to the Twilighters' will, and finally, the successful experiment.

She carried the envelope over to everyone else. "I think this will be helpful."

Dorothea watched Ferdinand's every move, determined to figure out if the man she loved betrayed everyone. She clasped her hands together when Sophie reported her find. "How lovely! Isn't that right, Ferdie? We get to see just how the Twilighters were able to mess with the Outrealm gates. If we're lucky, maybe our own magically gifted friends can counteract whatever they did."

Annette studied the document. "As much as I'd like to help, I don't think any of us know any spells that can combat space-time manipulation. At least, none are in Fódlan."

Byleth slowly raised her hand. "I have an ability from Sothis called Divine Pulse. I can redo certain actions in time. But it won't go back far enough to fix this."

Owain chimed in, "There was only the Awakening ritual in Ylisse, and that only allowed us to go back in time. If it somehow is the antidote to our current ailment, I would be glad to conduct-"

Ophelia interrupted, "No! You mustn't do anything dangerous, Father! What would I do without you?!"

Silas' spirit deflated along with their lead. "Everyone, think. Is there any way to undo space-time?"

Azura spoke up, "When I joined Darios, Rowan, and Lianna to fight Velezark, whenever there were Outrealm portals opening, whenever we defeated the sentry, they'd close."

Caspar tilted his head. "How does that help? There aren't any rogue Outrealm portals."

Sophie hesitated before sharing her thoughts. "Since Lady Rhea and Cichol have been around for millennia, would they have anything?"

Byleth high-fived her. "See! That's the kind of thinking that would take you to the top if you were one of my students!"

Sophie beamed. "Yay!"

Caspar spoke, "Alright, let's go!"

The group did planned to do precisely that. Shiro caught up to Sophie. "Hey Sophie. How're you holdin' up?"

Sophie shrugged. "Fine, I guess."

Shiro continued, "Good. I was just worried since everything with Siegbert, 'ya know? He's my cousin, I care about him a lot, but you're going to marry him. That's like a whole different level."

Sophie's shoulders bounced again. "It's been really tough. Now that I know he'll recover, I think I'll be okay."

Shiro whistled. "Whoa. That's some real courage. If Caeldori were the one in the hospital bed, I'd be a mess without her."

Sophie stared at him. "Oh, I know."

Shiro muttered, "You could've at least pretended. . ."

Meanwhile, Bernadetta scurried up to Dorothea. "Hey! I'm getting better and better at talking to people. I'm comfortable with every person in this army now! I think if I inherit the Minister of Religious Affairs, I'll survive it!"

Dorothea hugged her. "That's great! I love seeing you get more confident, Bern. But I would've made sure you survived anyway. I'm sure Ferdie would've looked out for you as well. Speaking of Ferdie, has he acted strange lately to you?"

Bernadetta was taken aback by the random question. "No. Why?"

Checking to make sure they were far enough away from anyone to hear, Dorothea quietly rehashed her concerns. Bernadetta somehow managed to shrink in stature. "Oh no! What if he really did he betray us?! What do we do?!"

Dorothea immediately regretted sharing her fears with her anxious friend. "Bern, it'll be okay no matter what. Deep breath. Besides, I don't know. I'm asking. I need someone else to keep an eye on him with me."

Bernadetta saluted her. "I won't let you down! I'll watch and won't tell a soul! Really! I'm great at keeping secrets! It's one of the things my father trained me to do when he tied me to a chair all day!"

Once they got to Garreg Mach, Soleil updated Rhea and Cichol about what happened. Rhea stood as she brainstormed any way to warp spacetime. "Byleth told me about Divine Pulse . . ."

Byleth shook her head. "The successful manipulation is too far back now."

Cichol frowned. "I'm sorry, but we've never learned of any way to do what you seek except for Sothis intervening. Since none of the Divines are interfering, there must be a way for us to do it."

Azura repeated her memory from her days of fighting Velezark, but none of that information rang a bell for Rhea or Cichol either.

Gustave said, "So we go to Darios again?"

Mary pumped her fist in the air. "Okay, we have a game plan! Let's rest up and then make our way there!"

Sophie dramatically flopped onto her bed, pouting on her pillow. "I wish I could see Siegbert."

Silas replied, "You will soon. Try to focus on good things, like the big party we'll have when we finally go home to Valla. You'll get to spend your days with your old horse Avel like old times."

Sophie considered that. "That does sound good. Playing with Avel, teaching Kana horseback, writing love letters to Siegbert, spending quality time with Mother . . ." She rested her head on her pillow and dreamed of the things she mentioned.

In a few days, they were off to go see Darios. Dorothea moaned. "When will all of this fighting be over? I'm so sick of it."

Ferdie gave her a quick hug. "It will be over soon."

Dorothea only sighed in reply as they all went through the portal.

This time, Sophie was careful not to accidentally whack into anyone as she slowly journeyed through the gateway to Gristonne. Thankfully, she actually didn't bump into anyone. She cheered, "I did it! I did it!"

Darios practically jumped when he noticed everyone. "Oh! Hello again. Is there something else I can do for you?"

Ophelia told him what they found in the Plegian stronghold and the notes shown. Darios placed his hand over his heart, still extremely startled. "I'm sorry, but Rowan and Lianna will be able to help you better. They were the ones who fought him."

For the third time, Azura went over what she knew. Darios paused and contemplated it. "You're right; that was how it worked. But I'm not sure if that information is helpful. It's not like there's anything you can defeat that will fix everything."

Those words struck a chord in Shigure. "What if there was? The Twilighter strongholds?"

Linhardt struggled to keep his eyes open. "That's interesting. I may have to research that. We did destroy a few Twilighter bases already. If I were able to measure the amount of anomalies now and compare to the rates to before we started, it might give us an answer."

Darios offered, "I'll help you in any way I can."

Severa cracked her neck and knuckles. "I'm ready to beat these guys. If Shigure's right, we may be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It's time to get serious."