Author's Note:

Hello and welcome to another chapter. This one ended up particularly long but throws in some fatherly Jeralt as well as plot development. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

I own nothing.


Chapter 15

Verdant Moon, Imperial Year 1180

Though they had the beginnings of a plan, Dedue still couldn't relax, and was once again scouring the monastery after the meeting.

Taking Lindhart's words about the sprawling monastery into account, he began poking around back corridors and obscure rooms, tapping wall panels and pushing shelves to see if he could locate some lost passage. He was still limited in where he could look, places like living quarters, offices and suchlike were out of bounds unless he had good reason, and since most of them had been searched already, he didn't have a good excuse to search again.

Unfortunately, the places he could search yielded nothing, and now he was more wandering the monastery out of anxiety than anything else. Eventually, Dimitri dragged him to the training grounds to help him train, but it was clearly just an excuse to distract him from worry for a while.


Dimitri's training lance crashed against Dedue's shield, causing him to stumble back slightly.

He recovered and swung, forcing the prince to dodge, but Dimitri swiftly countered, dealing him a hefty blow that winded him, ending the spar as he sat heavily on the ground.

"You're letting yourself get sloppy kid."

Dimitri blinked in surprise at the newcomer to the training grounds.

"Captain Jeralt."

The captain strode towards them, leaning down to give Dedue a hand up, "Looks like I'll have to give you a spar myself, and kick you back into shape."

Jeralt gave Dimitri a pointed look, and the prince swiftly excused himself, leaving Jeralt the training lance he'd been using. Readying himself, the man nodded at Dedue.

"When you're ready."

Moving into a fighting position, Dedue shot forward, shield front and centre, and swung his training axe. Jeralt easily parried and dealt a light tap with the butt of the lance.

"You're giving me more openings than usual kid."

Tightening his defence, Dedue tried to bait the captain into attacking, Jeralt obliged but when the boy attempted to capitalise on it, the man swiftly countered and gave him another tap.

"You're advertising your intentions too much!"

Again, Dedue dived in for an attack, only to be parried and struck again. This process repeated until Jeralt finally disarmed him, ending the bout.

As the boy panted for breath, the man sighed.

"Dedue, I know how worried you are, but if you keep on like this, then you're going to be too exhausted and distracted to actually help him."

Dedue looked down guiltily, knowing full well that Jeralt's words were true, but still responded, "I know, it's just, I don't want to feel like I'm doing nothing."

"Of course not. You're Raphael's surrogate brother, so why would you feel anything else?"

Jeralt glanced down himself, "Believe me, I want to spend every moment right now looking for him, and I'm not going to be satisfied until I've seen him safely back with us with my own eyes." He turned his gaze on Dedue, "However, I've got to slow down and think about it, not just roam the place with worry. The rest of the students are looking into this as well, and the lead you have is a possible one, you need to focus and help them as much as they're helping you."

He smiled encouragingly, "We'll find him and Flayn kid." He then glowered, "And if the ones responsible have hurt one of my boys, you can be damn sure I'll make them regret it, if Byleth doesn't get there first."

Dedue smiled slightly at that, while she seemed blank most of the time, he did remember several times where Byleth had been a little more pointedly ruthless with anyone who'd actually hurt him or Raphael. She certainly cared in her own way.

He looked up at Jeralt, "Thanks Pa."

The captain smile grew wider at the rare mention of their parental bond. While the company (and now the majority of the monastery) were fully aware that they were basically Jeralt's adopted kids, they rarely actually referred to him using a fatherly title, mostly out of habit. Occasionally however, it did happen.

Jeralt briefly ruffled his hair, "We'll find him kid, promise."


Though heeding Jeralt's words, Dedue did keep up his own search over the next few days, as well as helping the other students out with their own tasks towards finding Raphael and Flayn.

Sometimes he was with Lindhart and Annette, searching through various books on the monastery to see if they could find any reference to some forgotten area that they could've been taken to. Other times he roamed the town with Claude, helping him listen out for rumours and such that might lend some clues, paying particular attention to whisperings of the 'Death Knight'. Occasionally, he was out searching beyond Garreg Mach with Jeralt's company, all of them very keen to find Raphael, and once or twice he was helping Hanneman, as the man researched further into Flayn's crest and the possible reasons for targeting her specifically.

With regards to Jeritza, several of the stealthier students, like Ashe and Petra, were keeping a near constant watch on him. Unfortunately, he hadn't yet done anything even close to incriminating himself, making them wonder if he was a false lead, and soon, they were holding another meeting.


"I don't like this. Those poor kids are going through who knows what, and we're not even close to finding them."

Hanneman nodding in agreement with Manuela's lament, "Indeed, if only we could find something more solid than simple suspicions, as it stands, I can't find any certain reasons as to why someone would target them in particular."

Annette slumped in frustration, "And we haven't discovered anything about forgotten or secret locations in the monastery either. I get that the original architectural plans disappeared, but surely someone thought to try and map the place afterwards."

"Unfortunately, it seems that the church likes to leave a lot of things a mystery." Edelgard added.

As the conversation continued, Dedue found himself stroking Fenrir's head. The wolf hadn't left his side since Raphael's disappearance, sticking even closer to him than usual. They'd tried to use his superior sense of smell to track the boy, but the wolf had lost the trail very quickly. Whoever had taken him had likely planned for them trying to use the wolf's keen nose, which was really unfortunate…

"Squeak!"

A high-pitched squeak interrupted the meeting, and Dedue blinked in surprise at the rat that was now sat on the table in front of him.

Carbuncle.

The boy gaped, Carbuncle hadn't been seen since Raphael vanished, they'd assumed the rat was still with him (since he stayed at the boy's side the way Fenrir stuck firmly with Dedue) or was surviving on his own. However, here he was, reappeared and staring up at Dedue expectantly.

"Wait, isn't that Carbuncle?" Claude asked in bemusement.

Hilda glanced at him, "You mean, Raphael's pet rat?"

Dedue nodded, "It is, though I haven't seen him since Raphael vanished, I assumed Carbuncle was still with him."

"Squeak!"

Carbuncle gave another insistent squeak, and Fenrir placed his head on the table right next to the rat. It looked for all the world like the two animals were talking and suddenly, Carbuncle jumped on the wolf's head and the two of them dived out the door, only pausing for Fenrir to give a commanding growling sound to the stunned humans.

Without thinking, Dedue was on his feet and running after them.

"Fenrir, wait!"

The wolf didn't stop, and the boy pursued him, not realising that the students and professors were also following behind. Away from the classroom and through the gardens between the Entrance Hall and the Main Hall the chase went, monks and knights jumping in surprise at the mad dash of a rat riding a wolf, Dedue, three professors and many students.

Fenrir left the gardens and made straight for the knight's living quarters, bowling a knight over in the doorway and charging straight inside, Dedue leaping the bewildered man to follow. They continued on until the wolf screeched to a halt outside one door and began madly scratching at it, trying to get in.

Dedue reached the pair and attempted to calm Fenrir down.

"What is it boy?"

"This is Jeritza's room!"

He hadn't realised that Manuela had arrived right behind him, and he looked up at her as she squared her shoulders.

"I knew he had something to do with this."

Without hesitation, she barged in the room, "Jeritza, tell me where those kids are or so help me…argh!"

Her furious tirade was abruptly cut off by her cry of pain, and Dedue flung the door open to see the Death Knight, fully armoured, pulling a knife out of Manuela's body. Before he could react, Fenrir flung himself at the knight, but he seemingly vanished into the wall, barely evading the wolf's bared fangs.

Just too late, everyone else arrived and Hanneman was immediately at the fallen Manuela's side, "Professor Manuela!" He looked back and spoke commandingly to Edelgard, "Help me get her to the infirmary, this wound needs more than the little Faith magic you all know."

The girl obediently complied, the pair sweeping Manuela out of the room. Meanwhile, Dedue had gone to where the Death Knight vanished, and swiftly found the secret passage hidden within the room, he looked to Byleth.

"The Death Knight, he stabbed Professor Manuela and fled down there, that must be where Raphael and Flayn are!"

She nodded in understanding, and give the remaining students crisp and clear commands, "All of you, get your gear and prepare for battle, as swiftly as you can. Time is of the essence!"


Raphael lay on the floor, his mind a haze and his body exhausted and numb from pain.

There had been several 'procedures' since he'd been kidnapped, and in all honesty, he could barely remember what they did, only the pain and Alexander constantly talking, encouraging and comforting him as they worked. He dimly remembered the twisted mage mention 'a resounding success' and 'his body has accepted them well' but everything else was blurred.

They'd left him bound and gagged between each one, but they needn't have bothered, his body was so drained and exhausted, he could barely think straight, never mind using magic or putting up a fight.

The gentle touch of something small and furry bleed through his foggy mind, and he slowly focused on the small thing moving in front of his face. It slowly came into focus, becoming a familiar set of whiskers.

"Squeak!"

Wait...was that, Carbuncle?

The rat snuffled his face, giving gentle squeaks as he did so, and Raphael groaned through his gag.

"Squeak, squeak."

Carbuncle gave some comforting squeaks, then disappeared from his sight, he thought he heard the rat scuffling under the door of his cell, but soon drifted back into his blurred limbo, assuming the whole thing was a dream.


Clashes and shouts pulled him out of the fog once more, and his cell door rattled and swung open as several blurry figures rushed in.

"Raphael, kid?"

He barely registered the gag being pulled off and his bonds being sliced through, instead focusing on the face that gradually swum into view above him, revealing its rugged and familiar features.

"Pa?"

Jeralt gave him a huge smile of relief, "Its okay kid, you're safe now."

"Pa…they did…did something to me."

He gradually realised that he was being lifted off the ground, but kept his focus on Jeralt's face, which was suddenly joined by Dedue's.

"Raph! What did they do?"

"Dedue?"

Jeralt spoke commandingly, "Dedue, you and the others take him out of here and straight to the infirmary, me, Byleth and the rest can deal with the rest of the battle. The way back is clear."

Raphael found himself transferred into Dedue's arms as Jeralt vanished. He felt Carbuncle clamber on to him, and snuggle against his neck, squeaking gently as his older brother swiftly carried him out of the cell and towards the light of the monastery.


Their mad dash after Fenrir had an unexpected payoff in that it had attracted Jeralt's attention, who'd then wasted no time taking command of the (now armed) students and pursuing the Death Knight into the passageway.

They'd found a complex of corridors and rooms beneath the monastery, and were greeted by the Death Knight himself, who seemed fascinated with Byleth and Jeralt, and he wasted no time in challenging them with his own forces.

Some of the enemy were definitely from the same mage group they'd encountered before, but others were from an unknown faction, though likely affiliated with the same group.

The battle proved harder than the others they'd had so far, but with Jeralt and Byleth splitting and commanding two groups of students, they pushed through and battled well. All the while he kept lookout for wherever they were keeping Raphael, but it wasn't until Jeralt captured one of the soldiers and threatened him, that they finally got an answer.

They fought their way through, Jeralt cutting a swarth as the students backed him up. Fenrir also attacked with ferocity, the wolf leaping upon foes with fear inducing snarls (sometimes causing the enemy to retreat outright rather than face his fangs) as he brought them down. Carbuncle had transferred to Dedue's shoulder for the battle, but sometimes the rat would fling himself upon and enemy's face, biting viciously and opening them up for a blow from the boy's axe.

Soon, they reached Raphael's cell, and Ashe had the lock picked in a trice, Jeralt and Dedue nearly running him over in their haste to reach the kidnapped boy. While he had no obvious injuries, except burns from the ropes tightly binding him, Dedue knew something was wrong with Raphael. The younger boy's eyes were unfocused as he looked up at Jeralt, who held him in his arms as Dedue removed the gag and cut through the ropes.

"Raphael, kid?"

Jeralt spoke urgently, trying to get a response, and Raphael's eyes cleared a little as he tilted his head slightly.

"Pa?"

Relief poured out of the captain, and he beamed, blinking away a couple of tears as he answered, "Its okay kid, you're safe now."

As if he hadn't really registered the words, Raphael frowned, "Pa…they did…did something to me."

Jeralt had already started to lift the boy, and he briefly glanced at Dedue, clearly knowing something wasn't right as well. Dedue moved to his side, taking in his brother's features.

While still having no injuries, Raphael was pale and limp, seemingly exhausted as his forehead crinkled as if he was experiencing some sort of pain and sweat was clear on his near feverish brow.

"Raph! What did they do?"

He didn't get an answer as the boy looked at him like he just realised he was there.

"Dedue?

Jeralt took charge, "Dedue, you and the others take him out of here and straight to the infirmary, me, Byleth and the rest can deal with the rest of the battle." He gave a firm look, "The way back is clear."

Dedue nodded in understanding and soon took Raphael into his arms, Carbuncle left his perch on his shoulder and snuggled into his master's neck, squeaking softly. Holding his brother tightly in his arms, Dedue swiftly retreated back to the passageway, Ashe, Fenrir and other members of Jeralt's squad supporting their retreat.


Claude had heard legends of 'The Blade-Breaker', but it was one thing to hear them, and quite another to see him in action.

Jeralt was ripping through the enemy ranks, weapons quite literally breaking under his assault. Most of his squad weren't with him, so Claude assumed they'd found Raphael and were taking him back to the surface, and he likely wasn't in perfect health if Jeralt's ferocious attack was anything to go by. The mercenary wasn't just fighting, he was furious.

They knew Flayn was somewhere in the centre of the underground complex, they'd seen her when they arrived, just before the Death Knight appeared and whisked her away after challenging them, his warning of her death if they didn't reach him quickly enough ringing in their ears. Their main goal was to reach him, and they were making good progress, what with Jeralt's one-man rampage and Byleth's lethal skill. The professor's fighting was also different, while it was seemingly the same as ever, there was definite anger in her eyes and strikes, making it clear that these people had pushed the wrong buttons.

They reached the central room, and with Jeralt basically kicking the door into splinters, both he and his daughter confronted the Death Knight.

Flayn and another girl lay behind him, but he paid them no heed, as he greeted Byleth with apparent joy, made sinister as it echoed out of his skull-shaped helm.

"Finally, you have arrived."

Jeralt wasn't interested in dramatic greetings, "Hand over your captives and tell me what you did to my son."

Well, if anyone doubted Jeralt's parental love for Raphael, they had clear proof of it now.

"They are of no concern to me. Take them if you wish." The knight answered dismissively, "I do not know what they did to the boy, I had to bring him here, nothing more."

Jeralt snarled, but his long experience as knight and mercenary allowed him to put personal emotion aside, "Well you're going to come with me, the church will want to know who you serve."

"Kill me or be killed by me." The Death Knight declared, "I do not seek nor give mercy."

Words done, the knight leapt forward, swinging his scythe down with lethal intent. Suddenly, the Sword of the Creator lashed out, Byleth expertly attacking with its whip form and forcing the Death Knight to dodge, halting his sudden advance. The professor nipped in, trying to close the distance and nullify the scythe's reach, but the knight expertly parried the attack, forcing her to dodge instead.

Back and forth they danced, sword and scythe flashing in the dim light of the room. Claude, Mercedes, and Dimitri had taken the opportunity to slip past the duel and reach the unconscious girls. Neither of them looked severely hurt, but they didn't stir as they picked them up and hurried back out the door, away from the skilled combatants.

Their healers moving in to check the rescued captives, Claude joined the rest of the students watching the duel in awe.

Neither gave any quarter, dodging, ducking, parrying and countering, each looking for their chance to finish the battle. However, it was not meant to be.

In a brief lull, a mysterious, armoured person appeared from nowhere.

"Enough, you are having too much fun."

The Death Knight responded, sounded annoyed at the interruption, "Why do you interrupt my game?"

"You'll get the chance to play again soon." The figure replied, "For now, you will withdraw."

The knight paused briefly, then answered, "Very well, I shall withdraw."

As before, he warped away, leaving only the new enemy behind.

"Who the hell are you?"

At Jeralt's aggressive question, the figure turned to answer, "I am the Flame Emperor, and I will forge a new world. We will meet again."

With that, the 'Flame Emperor' also warped away, leaving them with victory, but a lot more questions.

Claude didn't like getting more questions.


It was a long few days for Dedue.

After their successful rescue of Flayn, Raphael and the other girl (called Monica apparently), all the captives were brought to the infirmary to join Manuela. Thanks to the advanced healing skills of the monastery staff, the Professor Manuela recovered quickly from her stabbing. It had fortunately been a fairly clean wound, and easy to heal magically, meaning that she almost immediately started attending to the other three. Monica and Flayn seemed to be more shaken and underfed than actually hurt. They'd actually been under the effects of a sleep spell most of the time and had little memory of their time in captivity, so, after a little overnight rest and a decent meal, they were soon out and about again, though Seteth's concerned hovering around his sister would last much longer.

Raphael was a different matter.

Despite having no physical injuries, he was clearly in worse shape than the others. He'd passed out during the journey to the infirmary, and didn't regain consciousness, he was also as underfed as the others, likely worsening his condition, and had indeed developed a fever, leaving Manuela very worried until it finally broke after two days.

Dedue had remained by the younger boy's side for the entirety of his free time, with Jeralt and Byleth in nearly as much, helping cool his brow, get food and water in him, and just sitting there at his bedside. Carbuncle had also stayed put, either cuddled up next to Raphael or perched nearby, the rat getting food brought to him regularly by Marianne, and only disappearing for very short periods.

Due to his dedicated watch, he knew that Rhea herself had been by to tend to the boy, and that there seemed to be a dedicated rotation between Catherine, Alois and Shamir guarding the infirmary door. Even Fenrir, who stuck to Dedue's side all the time, remained on guard at the infirmary if his master left, giving suspicious looks to anyone unknown going within six feet of the unconscious boy. Many of the students also dropped by regularly, the Golden Deer being the most frequent visitors. After the rescue, Manuela had basically kicked them out since the whole class turned up at once to check on their classmates condition, Dedue had a feeling that there was actually now a strict visiting schedule in place, since they only visited in pairs and for a short time.

He was also aware that Hanneman had carefully taken a bit of Raphael's blood, saying that he hoped he could use it to work out what they'd actually done to him. They'd barely seen him since, but during one of her many visits, Dorothea had told him that Lindhart was helping the man and they were making progress.


As usual, Dedue was right beside Raphael's bed, though Rhea, Seteth and Manuela were also in the room, quietly discussing his condition.

Dedue looked up from his vigil as Hanneman burst in excitedly, barely remembering to collect himself and use proper conduct.

"Ahem, Archbishop, Seteth, Manuela." He nodded to each in turn, "I believe I may have discovered what has been done to young Raphael."

Though it wasn't really a conversation he was supposed to be listening in to, Dedue paid close attention. Apparently, the others weren't too concerned with his eavesdropping, since they knew he was there and weren't sending him out, or they assumed (correctly) that he'd do everything he could to find out what Hanneman had discovered anyway.

Rhea glanced his way and nodded, seemingly accepting him into the discussion as well, before addressing the crest scholar.

"I see, please continue."

Hanneman obliged, "Well, after taking a sample of his blood, the first thing I did was try and see if it bore a crest. One of our theories was that they were trying to artificially transplant a crest into someone who is crestless, however, attempting to use my instruments on it produced an unusual result."

"And what result was that?" Manuela asked.

"It nearly destroyed them." Hanneman answered, "Most of my time the last few days has been spent repairing and improving my equipment. Every time I tried to study his blood, my instruments seemingly couldn't handle the strain, however, bit by bit I managed to build a picture. It soon became clear that he had some sort of crest, but I couldn't work out which one, until I finally managed, with a considerable amount of help from young Lindhart, to make my equipment robust enough to identify and study the crest."

"And what is his crest?" Seteth asked, "I assume you've found out."

Hanneman shook his head, in astonishment, not denial, "And that's just it, its not one crest, or even two. He now carries all of them."

"What!"

Rhea's exclamation of surprise was nearly load enough to be unbecoming of an Archbishop, and Seteth and Manuela stared at Hanneman like he'd gone mad.

The scholar nodded in affirmation, "I checked multiple times, and even got a second opinion to make sure I wasn't seeing things, or my equipment had broken again. I can assure you that Raphael now has every crest."

While Seteth and Manuela seemed to still be recovering from this revelation, Rhea was already frowning in thought, "How is this possible?"

Hanneman had folded his arms, head tilted thoughtfully as he carefully spoke, "While it is only a theory, I've been studying his blood all day and Lindhart and I believe that it may be the answer." He focused on Rhea, "From discussions with Miss Ordelia, it is clear that having two crests greatly shortens one's lifespan, as well as affecting aspects of physical appearance. However, despite having all of them, Raphael's appearance remains unchanged and his body seems to be adjusting to their presence rather well, his current state being merely temporary as it does so. He should be just as healthy as before once it has finished, likely waking in the next couple of days."

Dedue joined the visible sighs of relief at the news that Raphael was potentially going to wake up and recover soon, but Seteth knew there was more, "So why is that? Why is he going to recover with no issues if others with multiple crests will suffer from shortened life?"

"Because he has all of them." Hanneman answered, "It seems that one can have a single crest and receive only the benefits, because it's the only crest they have. In Miss Ordelia's case, the second crest competes with the first, while she gets the benefits of both, the two crests remain in opposition, negatively affecting her body. We can assume that the same result occurs if you have more than two, however, by having all of them, they balance each other out, with the Crest of Flames acting as a sort of binding agent, uniting all the other crests and tempering their power. That is why his body remains healthy, in fact, it could now be stronger than ever. All we can do now is wait until he wakes up to see if which of the crests' powers he has, if any."

"You mean, he might not have any of their boons?" Rhea asked.

"It is impossible to tell at this moment." The scholar explained, "Because they balance each other out, it could be that none of them grant their individual benefits to him, or they all do, or only some of them do. Regardless, it is highly likely that he can now draw out the power of any relic he chooses."

"Rhea?" Seteth addressed the Archbishop, who was now frowning deeply, "How do we proceed? Having all crests will certainly throw him into the sights of many people."

Rhea closed her eyes, carefully thinking and it was some time before she finally opened them to fix Dedue with an intense look, "I assume we can trust you to keep this secret?"

Dedue nodded swiftly, "Yes Lady Rhea."

She gave him a small smile then continued, "For now, we shall keep this information among ourselves. At least until we have a clearer understanding of what our enemy is trying to achieve. I will inform Captain Jeralt and Professor Byleth, they deserve to know what has happened." She looked to Hanneman, "Please make sure that those who assisted you also keep it secret."

He nodded, "I've already told him to remain silent about it until I spoke with you, I will ensure that he maintains that silence."

She nodded gratefully and addressed them all, "We will also inform Raphael himself once he awakens, but we must remain on guard. Seteth, please increase our patrols of the monastery and search for any other potential passages similar to the one they used this time. I very much doubt they will allow Raphael to remain out of their grasp."

"Of course, Lady Rhea." Seteth nodded in confirmation and then swept out the door, likely to attend to his tasks immediately, as the Archbishop gave further instructions.

"Professor Hannenman, Professor Manuela, please continue your studies on how this will affect Raphael's abilities and health, Professor Byleth may also assist you."

Nodding in understanding, the two professors also left, already starting to discuss (or bicker over) how they were going to carry their instructions out. Left alone with Dedue, Rhea smiled warmly at him and spoke softly, "It goes without saying, but take care of him."

"Yes Archbishop."


PS-So yes, Raphael now has all the crests, on top of being a summoner, throwing even Rhea for a loop. Please let me know what you thought, and I'll hopefully update soon.