*IMPORTANT*
There will be announcements at the end of this chapter in regards to the future of this fic. Please read to the end, and enjoy the chapter!
Aster saw the blast a moment too late. By the time she'd managed to turn around and take a step toward them, Edelgard was shot away from the shadow that was once Miklan by an unreal force. The girl crumpled as soon as she collided with the pillar, axe falling from her grip and head going limp. "My lady Edelgard!" Hubert rushed over, despite his own fatigue. His look of relief was enough to tell Aster that she was still alive.
So instead, her attention moved to the shadow. Within moments, it had grown both larger and more monstrous. Before long, she heard snarling, and not long after that, the shadow stopped growing.
A monster shimmered into existence, carrying with it a thick set of four legs, skin leathery on its underside, and scales so large as to be considered full-on carapace on its top. Spikes adorned its back, including one that seemed to serve as a horn, situated right above its massive mouth, lined with teeth that more resembled metal drills than bone, and the jaw seemed to have split open the skin behind it, resulting in a ghoulish ripping of the cheek flaps. Its eyes, however, were pure terror. Gone was any semblance of humanity, or even animalism. Pure black sockets contained two red orbs, and they immediately became furious.
Monsters were nothing new to Fódlan. There was an entire forest full of them, and others had been spotted and summarily dealt with. Monsters were easy pickings for any skilled group of fighters. But to exhausted students and a half-dead mercenary, this thing was an absolute nightmare.
The Black Beast let out a mighty roar, in itself powerful enough to shake the room. Everyone, bandit and officer, had to cover their ears to protect against the sudden noise. Dust and stone started to fall from the ceiling, a crumbling effect exacerbated as the Beast began ramming into walls and pillars like they were blocks to an ornery child.
Soon, small stones became large boulders, and they were suddenly in even more danger than before. If this thing kept going, the whole tower might collapse!
Luckily, or perhaps not, its gaze soon affixed itself to Edelgard; the girl that was to kill Miklan. It charged.
Hubert, having been keeping watch on the princess, stood defiantly. "No!" he shouted, and formed a magic barrier; appearing as a larger variant of the ones he used against Aster during their scuffle, which seemed so long ago now. It swatted him aside like he was nothing and then approached Edelgard unchallenged.
It was only through the timely launchings of Linhardt's and Dorothea's spells that the Beast turned its attention to the students. Aster looked at them, still foolishly fighting the bandits, who seemed only to want to escape now. "Let them go!" Aster called, frantically trying to get to Edelgard to keep her out of harm's way. "Form up! We need to-"
The students were scattered by a single swipe of the Beast's claws. Thanks to Ferdinand—his armor and his shield—none of them seemed seriously hurt, but the chances of them making a workable formation were now out the proverbial window.
With the distractions taken care of, the Beast returned to trying to kill Edelgard. Aster hefted the girl up, wrapping one of her arms around her shoulder, and started running. But goddess, she was so tired...how much longer would she have to fight?
"Stay away from her!" Hubert snarled, leaping into the Beast's way and launching a Miasma spell toward it. "You will not touch Her Majesty!"
"Hubert, run!" Aster ordered, not wanting to see the youth throw his life away, even if it was his duty.
He paid her no attention, and as the Beast reared a claw back to strike him down, he simply raised another shield that wouldn't hold. Suddenly, the Beast became engulfed in a golden light, though it was tinged with black; dark magic resonance, from a Charon user?
"Enfeeble!" Lysithea chanted, finishing the spell, much faster than she would have been able to without her secret crest. Aster numbly hoped no one saw it, though seeing the sprawled and semi-conscious students was a strong indicator that no one had, except maybe Hubert. The Beast's claw crashed down onto the barrier and Aster saw Hubert's knees threaten to buckle, but the barrier held. He even had the wherewithal to make it burst and cause the Beast to stagger back. Lysithea joined him, looking almost as weary as he, but still they stood to face the new threat. "We protect her together," she said resoundingly, Crest of Charon morphing into her usual Crest of Gloucester. Hubert stared at her with shocked awe for a moment, before nodding and facing the Black Beast, his own Crest of Macuil flaring with determination.
"Ferdinand!" Aster called, setting Edelgard down against a nearby wall, the western wall to be specific. "Help Hubert and Dorothea! Bernadetta, get that Lance out of here! The rest, we need a plan to stop that thing! Now!"
The two given specific instructions rushed off to perform them. "How are we supposed to fight something like that, Professor?!" Caspar demanded.
"Stories tell of great beasts that wander Foldan, and some have even been seen, but this…" Linhardt shook his head in disbelief.
"Snap out of it!" Aster growled, shocking the students with her urgency. "If we don't get this under control, then that thing could bring the whole tower down on our heads. Plan, now! They can't hold out for long."
"I saw a bunch of, uh...rope back there. Maybe with crests we could-"
"Good enough, let's go."
They rushed back along the path they'd come from and gathered as much as they could. Aster knew they didn't have much time, and it wasn't even a guarantee that this stuff would hold that monster, or if they would have the strength to do so, but it was their only chance.
It was mere moments after they left that they returned to see their three warriors faltering. Aster's crest flared for what felt like the eightieth time that day, and she grabbed one end of the rope. She weaved between the Black Beast's swipes at the others and began tangling the rope around it. There were too many close calls, too many times where her body almost failed her, but she wouldn't let them die. Imagining Edelgard, helpless in her sleep, being mauled to death by this abomination was enough to keep her moving, and moving fast.
She couldn't even tell if all of this bundling was from her or if the others had joined her. Aster's mind was so utterly focused on this task that she didn't even think about the others.
When she ran out of rope, however, she saw that they were helping. They acted as one unit, instinctively knowing where to go and what to do, or else Aster didn't remember giving them any orders if they were following any.
Petra, Ferdinand, Caspar, and Dorothea were tugging on one side, and Hubert, Linhardt, and Lysithea were tugging on the other, crests flaring from all of them that had it, as well as strengthening spells and gravity spells.
And the Beast was struck there. This was their only chance.
Aster drew her sword whip and lashed it out, readying herself. Her own crest once again came to life, though even she could tell she was running on embers, and she said only two words, "Raging Storm."
Aster's body moved on its own, launching forward in a spiral. Her sword whip lashed and then dragged behind her, and as she came up on the Black Beast, travelling along the length of its body in a tight helix, the whip arced and tangled and dug into it, until Aster emerged onto the other side, the whip yanking itself toward her all at once, shredding through the Beast's carapace like parchment.
That should've been the end of it, and the students relaxed their grip, thinking that it was, but as soon as it hit the ground—seemingly dead—they heard something that sounded like glass shattering, only it came from within the Black Beast. Then, it stood again.
Aster's Combat Art had similarly shredded the ropes that bound the Beast, so even if they wanted to repeat that until it stayed dead, they would be unable to. It writhed and lashed out at the students, who were routinely knocked away. They spent all they had to kill the Beast once, and still it lived?
Aster dropped to one knee, resonance spent, body throbbing everywhere that she could feel, head feeling like it would split open. She wasn't strong enough. This Beast would be the end of them.
It would have, had they not gotten reinforcements right in the nick of time.
They heard a battle cry from above. Aster barely looked up in time to see Seteth, of all people, fall from a broken part of the ceiling, Spear of Assal in hand, and stab into the creature's skull from above.
But the Spear—without resonance it seemed—was unable to fully pierce the Beast's skin.
He was launched off, though was caught by his wyvern companion, and aided by his knightly one. Catherine fell next to the Beast, Thunderbrand in hand, and swatted it away from striking at the Archbishop's retainer. "Professor!" Seteth called from above. "Get the students to safety!"
She nodded, barely comprehending what was happening. The Black Eagles seemed to hear the call as well, as they, broken and exhausted as they were, started making their way back to the tunnel which led to the outside. With any luck, it wouldn't be blocked off.
Aster moved to Edelgard, where Hubert was trying, in vain, to lift her with one of his arms broken. "Go," Aster said, too tired to try and hide her own exhaustion. "I'll get her."
"But…" his fight died quickly, and he let Lysithea, who seemed relatively unharmed save for cuts and bruises, lead him away with the others. Aster took a look back at the fierce battle, as two of the Big Three dueled this Beast. If Aster had just arrived herself, she imagined she would be right there alongside them, but as she was, it was all she could do to lift the smallish girl and drag her away.
It was an agonizingly slow process, moving with Edelgard wrapped around her shoulder, but Aster didn't have the strength to carry her. The others had long gone and would have been too tired or injured as well. Both Ferdinand and Hubert had a broken arm, Caspar's leg injury coupled with fatigue was slowing him down as it was, Linhardt had taken a nasty blow to the head, so bad that Aster was surprised he was still conscious actually, and the girls were in similar situations, though their bodies remained relatively in-tact.
They were about halfway around the spiral when Edelgard stirred. "Ugn…" she moaned, slowly coming to. Aster set her down against the wall, trying to ignore the violent shaking of the chamber and the roars of the Beast. "What…?"
"We need to go," Aster said, barely standing herself. The Beast roared once again, and both winced and covered their ears. "Miklan's rebound came back to haunt us."
"Professor…"
Aster thought Edelgard said something else, but she didn't hear it. Suddenly, she was imagining Catherine, bloodied on the floor with Thunderbrand lying beside her corpse. It was a painful image, too painful for Aster's addled mind.
"Professor!" Edelgard said more forcefully, drawing Aster's attention back to her. "That monster, I know of them."
"You...do…?" Aster couldn't quite register the words.
"Yes, I…" Edelgard hesitated.
"You what?"
The girl took a weary breath. "I know how to kill it."
And just like that, the two trudged back to the battlefield. The Beast had collided with too many walls. Most of the ceiling was gone, though the darkness made making out the shaft above difficult. She could only imagine the state it must be in now.
"Seteth, Catherine!" Aster called.
"What are you still doing here?!" the man questioned, incredulous.
"Look for glowing spots! They're crest stones! I already destroyed one. There should be two more! You need to hit it with enough resonance!"
With their expert—and unfatigued—eyes, it didn't take long for the knights to spot them. They nodded to each other, and Seteth rose into the air on his wyvern. "I have faith," He glowed an emerald green—the Crest of Cichol—and raised his Spear high. "Pure Light!" he chanted, and a beautiful woman formed from his Fayth Release. The Spear of Assal shimmered with holy light, and that engulfed his wyvern as well, strengthening it. He dived and thrust his spear into the Beast's back, and they heard that glass shattering again.
This time, the monster didn't play dead. It writhed and wailed and ran, bashing against walls left and right. Catherine followed with her own Crest of Charon and prepared her own strike. In Aster's opinion, she waited too long which allowed too much damage to come to the tower, but Catherine eventually found her moment. "I am her sword," she said, preparing her blade as the Beast reared back. Rhea appeared behind her, ever-watchful. "Leaf Cutter!"
She flashed forward, and a third glass-shattering sounded. Finally, the Beast dropped to the ground, limp, and within a few more moments, it faded into black mist and disappeared.
But that was the least of their problems now.
Boulders crashed around them, almost as if the tower itself had sensed that, goddess forbid, they found a moment to rest. Catherine quickly made her way to Aster and Edelgard. "We need to go, now!" she urged the two forward, despite their exhaustion. Thankfully, a boulder almost fell on top of them, and that jolted their senses awake again, if briefly.
Seteth swooped in close. "Grab hold," he said, reaching his hand out.
"Go make sure the others are okay!" Catherine called over the noise of the collapse. "I'll get these two. Go!"
He seemed to trust her on this, and drew back his hand. His wyvern seemed to know where to go, and he was soon out of sight in the darkness.
Catherine shoved both of them forward. "Come on, no time to waste. I want to see dust kicked up from your steps!"
And so, despite Aster's body protesting with every movement, she found herself running. They made it to the tunnel that led up to the main shaft in record time, considering the state of their bodies, but either the students had blocked the door for an unfathomable reason, or more likely, debris snapped the chain, closing their only way out.
That didn't stop Catherine, however.
With a running start, Catherine glowed gold, leapt forward, and launched a flying kick into the door, shattering it open. She then leapt back into the tunnel to avoid a falling piece of the stairs. Aster looked out, and saw that much of the stairs, too much to justify using them, had broken off and fallen down, which had accounted for much of the falling debris in the chamber below. Catherine looked around, seeming calm despite the hopeless circumstances. "We're...trapped…" Edelgard shuddered.
"Not trapped, not by a long shot," Catherine said, summoning Thunderbrand and cleanly slicing apart a falling piece of stair. Aster braced herself for the insane idea she knew was coming. "If they block off the way forward, we need find our own path!"
"What?!" Edelgard demanded, but Aster shoved her to follow the knight.
Catherine led them through a dizzying series of jumps. Aster herself couldn't make some of them, and so had to have either of the other crest-users launch her up. Sometimes they used the bits of stairs that were still intact, sometimes they used falling debris as their path, but thanks to Catherine—insane, irresponsible, and stupid as she was—each jump was a success. White and gold illuminated their path as they climbed to the second, third, fourth floors.
The fifth bore a happy sight. The others had blown open a wall on the fifth floor, letting them jump to an outcropping outside. Perfect. Even better, there was a series of intact stairs leading up to it.
The only snag came from the falling debris. It crashed inches behind Edelgard, who was meer inches behind Aster. It seemed to be falling in a line, likely from one floor up, and was catching up fast. They wouldn't make it. Aster might, but Edelgard…
Aster made her choice.
At the last possible moment, Aster used every remaining ounce of strength she had and threw Edelgard forward. She saw Edelgard clear the gap, barely, and then time froze right as the rubble hit Aster. Odd...she didn't think she'd activated her crest.
"Oh, you've done it now," Sothis' childlike voice entered her head, though Aster was still frozen in time. "Now you're going to die, and me along with you."
I'm sorry, Aster thought back, unsure of what else to say.
"No, no, no! You're supposed to beg for my help! Like a good little believer!"
Aster remained silent, baffled and exhausted.
Sothis groaned. "You are absolutely no fun, despite what you say. Very well. Lucky for you, your little Resonance back there helped jog a bit of my memory, and I happened to remember something useful this time. Ready?"
As soon as she finished talking, the rubble crushed Aster beneath its weight.
She expected blackness when she died, but instead she saw red. Panic filled Aster's heart as she thought that it had happened again, but instead of that bloody affair, she was instead met with a strange kind of empowerment.
Along with Sothis' presence filling her mind with encouraging thoughts, Aster felt a distinct sense of Edelgard. Honestly, it felt similar to when they'd Resonated, and her body seemed to be rejuvenated, enhanced even, in much the same way.
Aster's feet were under her, she found. With some effort, she managed to push up on whatever was holding her. How...how was she doing this? Her crest didn't give her any psychical enhancements. That was something she'd known since before she could remember. It was a rule.
But then, Aster had regularly broken the rules.
Finally, daylight peeked into her vision, and then feet, and then legs, until Aster had lifted up enough to see shocked faces, and Edelgard engulfed in the same aura as Aster.
"N-no! T-this isn't my crest!" she was exclaiming. "I-I don't know w-what this is, I-" she cut off, spotting Aster. Seteth held her by the shoulder, appearing to be giving calming words—at least until he saw Aster—and Catherine made the leap back and helped Aster out from underneath the rubble and across the gap to the outcropping.
With the immediate threat gone, Aster collapsed. Her mind went blank, her vision engulfed in darkness, and, unsure if this escape has been a dream, she embraced the blackness and fell asleep.
xxxXXXxxx
4th of the Verdant Rain Moon, Year 1180 Month 8
xxxXXXxxx
A Sunday was a strange day to return from a daring mission, but if their travel times were consistent and on-schedule, the Black Eagles would return shortly.
Sylvain waited by the main entrance, barely able to contain his anxiety. He could only imagine what happened without him. Was anyone hurt? Did anyone die?
Of course, leave it up to him to imagine the worst-case scenario. A part of him wasn't worried at all, actually; this was the Professor, after all. She would pull through, somehow. She always did, right?
But then, the nagging part overturned that relaxation. They'd been going up against Miklan, wielding the Lance of Ruin. How were they supposed to fight that, especially if they didn't know about it beforehand?
He waited there from dawn, watching. He was asked to leave, asked to go eat or train, or be anywhere but at the entrance, but this was where he needed to be. He needed to see their return for himself. Goddess, but it'd only been a few months, and he'd already grown so attached to them that he was willing to throw his whole morning and afternoon away from wait for them? He never thought he'd see the day.
Then, at around dinnertime, they finally arrived. They were but silhouettes against the setting sun, but Sylvain knew it was them. Ecstatic, he rushed out the gate to meet them, only to stop halfway and take in the casualties.
Not a single one of them had escaped unscathed. At the least, Lysithea and Bernadetta got off with big bruises and minor bandaging. Hubert and Ferdinand each broke an arm, Caspar was on a crutch, Linhardt had most of his head wrapped in bandages, Dorothea had her entire arm covered, Petra had a big bandage on her face and her hand was in a cast.
Edelgard and the Professor were nowhere to be seen, though when Caspar moved to the carriage and said something inside, Sylvain guessed that that was where they were, reminding him of the last mission.
He offered a smile. "Welcome back from hell. Anyone need a therapy session?" he asked, trying to sound cheery in the face of their obvious weariness.
Almost at once they approached and, with big smiles on their faces, embraced him. Even Hubert did this. Dorothea released a sigh of relief, and that seemed to echo through the rest of the Black Eagles.
It had been a battle hard fought, but at least for now, the fighting was over.
xxxXXXxxx
Hubert tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Edelgard to return from the infirmary. She was the first of them to be seen, as she, along with Byleth, had beared the brunt of the injury and exertion. He was so worried sick that he didn't even notice another dark mage come up to him at he sat.
"Feeling better?" Lysithea asked, hands on her hips. She was referring to the preliminary 'Restore' spells they were all subject to, which had brought back part of their stamina, so at least they all didn't want to wither away on the road anymore.
"Mm," he grunted, not saying anything as she sat beside him. Soon, he felt her poking his slung arm.
"Does this hurt?"
"Do you have to ask?" he returned through gritted teeth. Lysithea drew back with a playful sneer; a practical joke, though not a very good one. "I...appreciate your help on the mission Miss von Cordelia."
"Wow...that's the first time you've used an honorific with me," she noted.
"Consider it an honor."
"I mean, they are honorifics, are they not?" she said. "I never understood that term. 'Lady' can be both an honorific and slang. It all depends on context. And why don't we use first names with honorifics?"
Hubert paused, thinking on it. "As in Miss Lysithea?"
"It sounds weird, doesn't it? But only because we've been doing it the other way for so long!" she exclaimed. Hubert grunted again. All in all, this wasn't the most unpleasant conversation he'd had with others before. At least the girl's little emotions kept things somewhat expressive. He noticed her settle down.
"...We're a lot alike," she said softly.
"What was that?"
"It's just something I noticed recently," she answered in her usual petulant way. "We're both spectacular failures at making friends, and the ones we do have are anti-social freaks with some kind of weird complex," she let out a huff. "And that's not to even mention our one-track minds. Once we get an idea in our heads, however flawed, we pursue it with reckless abandon, sometimes for years at a time."
"I assume you have an example to support your radical claims?"
"How about the idea of 'I can do everything by myself'?" she turned to him, expectant eyes boring holes into whatever excuse he wanted to make.
But Hubert couldn't lie to himself anymore. There were beings in the world that he couldn't hope to match. The Professor had shown that, and it had only grown starker as the mission went on, from the Lance of Ruin, to the Black Beast.
"And if you're saying this, then I assume you've seen the error in your ways as well?"
"I have. The Professor helped me see it, made me make friends, even with an antisocial freak like you," she poked him again.
"Yes, well...in her own twisted way, I would say she helped me realize this as well. She is truly a monster."
"But a monster worth protecting. She's valuable, to both of us, and...she's a good friend."
"A friend?" Hubert almost laughed. But then again, over this past month, he'd seen her interacting with those students whom she'd helped before. Were they 'friends' as well? Their interactions seemed pleasant enough, for Byleth anyway. And it was true that the woman possessed a truly gifted mind, able to read people and situations alike and find unconventional solutions. "...An interesting prospect."
"You would like her if you gave her a chance," Lysithea insisted. "Like you like me."
"I tolerate you," Hubert said. Suddenly, Lysithea jumped to her feet.
"You said it, not me," she was grinning as she faced him. "Because you're going to have to 'tolerate' me a whole lot more. I've decided I'd like to permanently transfer to the Black Eagle House, and am planning on doing so immediately. So, I'll see you in class, Hubert!"
She waltzed away from him, and he was left wondering what the point of the interaction had been. Had it all been a ploy, a game, to get him to say that he didn't find her presence completely detestable? Or had this simply been her way of showing affection?
Either way, Hubert would have a long time to figure it out if Byleth accepted Lysithea's request, which, of course, Hubert knew she would.
He might even say that he would as well, if given the choice.
xxxXXXxxx
It was only a few hours later that Aster stood before Rhea to give her report. Even with four days of rest during the trip back, Aster still felt like she'd been outside during the brunt of a thunderstorm. Her mind seemed to want to be hazy, though she forced herself to pay attention, lest she reveal something she didn't mean to.
"With Catherine and Seteth's help, no one was seriously hurt. We all went to the infirmary and were healed, but it will take a few days for us to recover."
"Consider me impressed, Professor," Rhea said in that ethereal voice. "To be able to match a Hero's Relic with no preparation for it is an admirable feat."
"If I could've avoided it, I would've," Aster returned.
"As would most people. You say Miklan became a...Black Beast?"
"That's what Edelgard called it," Rhea gestured for her to continue. "According to Edelgard, the Adrestian Empire used to experiment with such beasts, though she said those experiments were discontinued, and were never used for anything."
"I've heard of them. Awful things," Rhea shuddered, but it seemed too practiced to be natural. "In any case, I'm glad the Goddess Sothis shone her light upon you, Professor. And now that you've accomplished such an insurmountable task, I'll be expecting a lot more from you," she gave a too-warm smile.
"We'll do what you want," Aster said curtly.
"Of course," Rhea bowed her head. "One other thing, before you go."
"Yes?"
A hint of a smile crept onto the Archbishop's fate. "How did you like it?" she asked. Aster paused, considering what she was asking. Rhea continued before she could respond. "I heard from Seteth of your impossible feat at the very end. Sharing your crest with the young princess?"
"I don't know what that was," Aster said truthfully. "It was an accident."
"Oh, I'm sure. You're only just discovering your abilities, after all," Rhea said, the hint of one now turning into a full smile. It appeared friendly on the outside, yes, but her eyes...they betrayed her. "You know of the four Releases, Burst, Full, Fayth, and Light, correct?" Aster nodded. "And what would you say if I told you there were two additional Releases?"
"I would say you have knowledge that most people don't," Aster answered.
"Indeed I do," Rhea moved over to her. "Show me your crest, if you would."
Hesitantly, Aster obeyed. It was a basic trick. Hold the palm up, will it to be so, and one's crest—the actual 'crest' as in the symbol for it—would appear. Aster did so, and that alien pattern formed in the air between them.
"As I suspected. Hanneman brought me a sketch of it, but this incident with you sharing your crest confirmed it," Reha stepped back. "Professor, I believe that you hold the Crest of Flames."
A familiar term. It was the crest once carried by Nemesis, the God-Shattering Star: the one who Seiros had battled all those centuries ago.
Rhea knew things, so who was Aster to say she was wrong?
"And with it, you have two very special abilities," Rhea continued. "Two Releases, one of which is exclusive to the Crest of Flames. Give and Take. You 'give' a portion of your crest to one you are particularly close to, and the sharing enhances both of you. Take: you take another's resonance for yourself, and it empowers you. I would ask that you use both wisely, for they are dangerous. I only tell you so that you may know and master them, lest they come out at...inopportune times."
Aster nodded, not trusting this woman's intentions even for a minute, but her description of the Give Release matched her experience with sharing her crest with Edelgard at the tower. "I'll...think on it," she said warily.
"See that you do, and I wish you a speedy recovery, Professor."
Aster bowed her head out of courtesy and then took her leave, equal parts unnerved and excited by this new power.
She found herself in the Black Eagles classroom that night, pondering to herself, and to Sothis, about the implications of her having the Crest of Flames. Her father would be returning late next month, so she figured she should ask him if he knew anything about how or why she had it. But for now, there were just too many questions.
Aster had taken to looking over the mission reports from the students. Some were in chicken-scratch, due to not being able to use their dominant hand, but each was rather insightful. They were becoming much more adept at relaying their feelings and experiences as time went on, especially Petra, who was gaining an even greater grasp of the language.
"Liar."
Aster looked up. Goddess, how tired was she that she didn't even notice Edelgard walking in? Unfortunately for Aster, she didn't appear to be happy. "It's late…" Aster yawned as she said it, feeling the night's effects just from those two words. "You should be in your room."
Edelgard surged forward as if she wasn't feeling exactly like Aster, and her hands slapped onto the front of her desk. "You told me that if we Resonated, we would each bare our souls to one another, that we would know one another, yet I think I know less about you now than before. I don't understand you."
"...Edelgard, we did see each other."
"Liar!" Edelgard repeated, louder and more forceful this time, as she shoved herself up from the desk. "I thought that if I Resonated with you, I could find out how you function! How you manage to get all of them to listen to you! Why do they all follow you so readily, when they regard me as a worm that they stepped on?!"
Aster knew this answer, though didn't consider that she probably should've tempered her words. "Because you intimidate them, and you're very self-righteous," she said calmly. She'd tried yelling and getting emotional when dealing with Sylvain, and that didn't work for either party. Edelgard drew back at the sharp statement. "Ferdinand is self-righteous too, but he's open about it. With you, it's a quiet judgement. You view yourself above them; that they're lessers."
"Because they are!" Edelgard snarled. "I am royalty! I am the heir to the Adrestian throne! I was made strong! I should easily be able to gain their obedience and instead I'm constantly thrown by the wayside in favor of your command!" Edelgard stabbed a finger toward Aster accusingly. "You are the source of all of my problems! If you had never come into my life, I would...I would…!" she trailed off, lacking the words.
"You would…?"
"I would be so much better off!" Edelgard finished, though from the half-growl, half-yell she let out after and the mistiness clouding her violet eyes, Aster would bet that didn't convey what she'd wanted to say.
"...You're mad at me," Aster translated. "For properly taking command as your teacher."
"No, I'm not!" Edelgard yelled, angry tears streaming down her perfectly framed face. "I'm mad that I can't be mad at you for doing it!"
Realizing what she'd said, and having been barely holding it in before as it was, Edelgard fully broke into sobs then. Her hands, gloved once again, went to her face to hide it away.
Aster stood, and made her way over to the girl. Part of her wanted to give her a hug, but then she remembered how uncomfortable that made the princess before. Left with no other idea of how to help her, Aster simply waited as she cried, keeping watch to make sure no one passed by unexpectedly.
It took Edelgard several minutes to calm down. "How does it feel, to cry?" Aster asked.
She sniffled. "It's...humiliating."
"That's how it is for most people if they cry in public," Aster said. "I think it would be wise for you to find someone with a shoulder that you can cry on without shame."
"Like some demure peasant girl?!" the princess' anger briefly rose again, before dying away just as quickly. After Aster didn't respond for a moment, she continued to sniffle, eyes looking at anything but her professor.
"Even though I'll say that there's nothing to be ashamed of in crying, it never feels that way. So find someone who makes that statement true, someone who doesn't judge you for doing so. Letting it all out every once in a while is...healthy. Even us mercenaries need it sometimes, and I'd bet that royalty does too."
Aster recalled the shame she felt in the pond, as Catherine all-but forced herself upon the mercenary. True, it was to set her displaced bones, but Catherine had still invaded her personal space, and quite intimately, considering their relation. Still, she hadn't taken advantage of the situation, and she hadn't pressured Aster into anything other than what needed to be done to ensure that she healed properly. She had been kind and understanding. Speaking to Edelgard...it sounded strange, but it felt like this was trying to make amends for Aster acting 'like some demure village girl' herself to Catherine.
Edelgard nodded, though she looked skeptical about the advice.
Taking a breath, Aster went through Edelgards arguments. "You said you were made strong. I would argue that you were stunted as a result. Given a proper upbringing, you could have been a charming young woman. As it is, you put people off, and that will hurt your future more than any lack of strength would," Edelgard flinched. "You said that you should easily be able to have your classmates' obedience, and your problem is that you think they're ever going to be obedient, or that it would be beneficial. Obedience is for dogs, Edelgard. Loyalty is for soldiers, and you inspire none," she flinched again. "You said that I was the source of all of your problems, but it's more accurate to say that you're the cause, and you're deflecting them onto me because I'm an easy target for them, and if you continue to deflect, it will make it much easier to continue to run away from these myriad character defects within you," she flinched a third time.
"Please...stop…"
"Edelgard...do you like yourself? Do you like who you are now, feeling these things?" Aster asked. She already knew the real answer; it didn't take a doctor to realize that Edelgard had some very bad self-esteem issues. That was clear to Aster from the first moment she saw the girl shrivel up into her faux-prim state when the Black Eagles failed to listen to her on that first day.
Edelgard sniffled again and, with her eyes down, shook her head.
"Then I honestly don't know what you were expecting from them. You're poorly put together, you don't admit it to them, and you view yourself to be better than them, yet you wonder why they don't listen to you?"
The girl's lip was quivering, threatening to let out sobs again at the harsh critique. Instead, she spoke. "You're my teacher...so help me...please…"
Aster let out a sigh. "I've been trying, and I've seen inside of you. You have a beautiful soul, Edelgard, if you would let it be known to the world. You run away at the first sign of discomfort, hiding behind this locked metal barrier. It's a shame."
"What if...they don't like me?" Aster could hear the strain in her voice as she asked the question. Goddess, but this superiority complex must've been worse than Aster thought for it to hurt that much.
"Then they don't like you," she returned. "And that's something you'll have to live with. Not everyone will like you, not even your subjects. Some will even hate you. But you can weather it, Edelgard. You're strong, no one can deny that; made or otherwise. And you don't have to weather it alone either."
Edelgard took in a sharp breath at the implication.
"The Black Eagles need a house leader. It would help cohesion a lot if you acted a bit more personable around them. They're all perfectly willing to get to know you, if you'd give them the chance."
"..."
"...And it's okay for them to see this side of you too. In fact, I'd start with it."
Fear flickered in her eyes at that. "I could never-"
"You don't have to cry," Aster clarified, moving closer and deciding to take a chance to give Edelgard a final push. "But right now, to them, you're some emotionless un-human. So long as you show them this side, this insecurity...this wonderful, beautiful girl with a soul as bright as the sun, then they'll accept you with open arms," as she said it, Aster grasped her by the shoulders, brushing fallen strands of hair from her face and framing her cheek. "And I promise that I'll be with you every step of the way that I can to make things as easy as possible," Aster gave her a smile, and Edelgard gave it back.
"I...I've felt this before," her brought a hand to her chest, not showing any signs of wanting to move away from Aster, despite the touching she disliked so much. "This warmth...it was your soul, Professor. It was more beautiful than mine could ever be."
Aster was grateful that she thought so. Aster herself thought it was hideous.
"I want to see you succeed, Edelgard. In the Blade Breakers, I'd considered men forty years my senior to be brothers, so forgive me if it sounds strange that I feel a kind of...sisterhood with you."
"Sisterhood?" Edelgard seemed taken aback as she cleared her throat, now sufficiently calm and acting somewhat normal. "W-well, I don't know about that, but...I would settle on us being...friends?" she seemed timid as she said it, like it was a question.
Aster nodded. "Friends."
Edelgard returned the gesture, trying to wrap her head around the idea. Aster knew she'd only had two up to this point, and they've been with her since childhood, since before the experiments. She looked up suddenly. "And, if you want, my friends call me 'El,' so…"
Aster allowed herself a little chuckle. "It suits you," she said, and figured she should offer something in return. "My name isn't Byleth, you know."
"It isn't?"
"My real name is Aster. In private moments like this, not in class and definitely not to anyone else, you may call me by that name."
Edelgard grinned at the secret knowledge like the child she was, and spun on her heels. Seeing her make such a quick turnaround filled Aster with the same warmth she felt during Resonance. Letting out a relieved sigh, she returned to her desk and put away the reports so that she could go to her room for the night. She slept well, and for the first time in a long time, had a good dream.
It was about making friends, and helping children become better.
Author's Note:
Hey there! So, this is the end of part one. I don't know how much you guys care, but I found deciding a place for part one to end to be a daunting task. Part of me want to end it after the Lonato mission, as it was this big battle and the first real show-off of Aster's full capability as a fighter and Catherine's first appearance and all of this stuff.
But in the end, I obviously decided to end it here. While the Tower of Black Winds may not be the most story-relevant mission in the campaign, I thought it served well as a huge, seemingly insurmountable challenge for the rookie Black Eagles. I wanted to push them to their limits and show how far their willpower could take them, and the whole 'Tower of Black Winds' location was practically begging for a dramatic escape sequence just from the name alone.
I also knew that I wanted this mission to happen before Aster gets the Sword of the Creator (spoilers, she's still going to get it in this fic, though there will be a twist put on it, don't worry), to add to the insurmountability.
And this arc had plenty of relevant story moments. Spoilers, the Black Eagles are now rounded it; I'm not adding any more permanent members from other houses. Basically, I wanted the Black Eagles, one Blue Lions, one Golden Deer, and one Knight of Seiros, so I got Sylvain, Lysithea, and Catherine for all of those (though Catherine isn't a full part of the group yet, I think you can tell where I'm going with her). So, we have more or less our full squad, we have a book end of Aster meeting Edelgard at the beginning and then fully forming a friendship with Edelgard at the end, we have the first instances of both Resonance (captial R) in the field and the introduction of the final two releases, so I think it fits.
Finally, a bit irrelevant, but for the sake of consistency, I'll give my pick for the opening theme of this nonexistent anime based on this fic. My pick is "Sorairo Days" by Shoko Nakagawa. To start, the music video is fucking hilarious in how low-effort it is, but the song itself is quite good, and I think it fits both as an opening as something of a theme for Edelgard herself. Of lost dreams, of being constantly beaten down, only to stand strong regardless.
As for English versions, there are plenty of great ones to choose from, from Give Heart Records, formerly known as Natewantstobattle, to Studio Yuraki yet again. My personal pick, both for female vocals and more on-point lyrics to the essence of what I take from the song, is the one by Sapphire over on YouTube. Check it out, and give her some love; she's an amazing vocalist!
But enough justification from me.
As I've said before, this is the end of part one. As you can tell, even this was a ton of content, over 170,000 words. As you might imagine, it takes a long time to get all of this down pat. So, strap in for the long-haul folks, this is going to be a multi-year project. I can't promise any kind of specific date or timeframe for even working on part two, and give that it's going to be even longer than part one, uh...it might take a while.
As well, I'll remain active on the Discord, just in case you guys have questions, so just because this fic is one hiatus doesn't mean you can't ask me things. In fact, asking me questions might motivate me to work on it more, so there's more incentive for you.
That said, I have other content all ready for you guys in the form of my other fics. While I think most of them are utter trash, I would reccommend "The Cruel Spider" and "United We Stand" if you like how I did things here. They're more fast-paced than this, with a heavy focus on character and banter in "The Cruel Spider" and a heavy focus on long-form character arc stuff in "United We Stand". Keep in mind though, if you though I had some ass-pulls with the action for the sake of it being cool in this fic, there's a lot more of that in those, since I wrote them a few years back when I was a bit less refined in my writing.
But guys, thank you all so much for reading. I know I say it every time, but I really mean it; the feedback and steadily increasing view numbers really makes my day, so thank you from the bottom of my pelvis.
In any case, leave me a review if you could, Discord in my profile for questions and suggestions, and I'll see you all soon!
Until the end, my friends.