As much as I want to, I decide not to listen in on Seiros and Dimitri trying to persuade the Alliance lords to join them in unification. I know that Lorenz doesn't like me and I don't have a good read on Edmund, so me being there could aggravate the situation and I don't have much to offer. Before the meeting, Holst tells me that Nader is back in the city, and I decide to meet with him during that time instead.

At this point, I'm convinced most of the people in the Alliance capitol building recognize the man in the foreign outfit with a scraggly beard and scars all over his face and decide not to bother him. I reserve one of the meeting rooms and brew a pot of Almyran pine needle tea. This reminds me of the tea parties Byleth used to hold for their students. I remember hearing them mutter once about how it was impossible to predict what conversation topics students were engaged by.

As soon as the tea is finished, Nader bursts through the door. Instead of taking a seat across from me, he walks over to give me a bear hug. I barely manage to stand up before I'm engulfed by his muscly body.

"Glad to see that you're still alive, kiddo," he says. "I feared the worst when I heard that you went missing during the Battle at Gronder. But once I heard you were working to fight against the Empire, I had to come back. Besides, Edelgard and I are basically arch-nemeses at this point."

She certainly has a lot of those. Seiros, Dimitri, Nader, and I are all looking to take her down. I wonder who out of us four Edelgard considers to be the biggest threat. Has to be Seiros, right? Even at Gronder, she didn't pay Dimitri much mind. I was the bigger target coming off a less militarized Alliance. And while I didn't see Edelgard at Fhirdiad, Byleth's sole focus was on Rhea. Where Byleth leads, their students follow.

"Yeah, I heard that she managed to fight you off."

"Not only once but twice." Nader walks around and takes a seat across from me. "I guess I'll have to change my title now. Nader the Twice-defeated doesn't have the same ring to it as Nader the Undefeated."

"Well, I'm certain you'll come up with something appropriately grand."

Almyrans love fancy titles and nicknames. How do I know that? It must be some of Fódlan Claude's knowledge seeping through. That also could be why I like this Almyran pine needle tea so much. It reminds me of the home I never had on Earth. Though now I do have a place where I can be with my new family.

"Man, I didn't know you Fódlan people had this kind of tea." Nader pours himself a cup. "Always preferred the hard drinks, but this isn't bad either."

"I wonder if Fódlan and Almyra would benefit more from being trade partners than you antagonizing us," I say. "No offense, but it doesn't seem like your raids are accomplishing much."

Nader lets out a belly laugh. "Right you are, kiddo. I swear, must of us do it for the thrill of the battle at this point."

That's… a terrible reason. People are getting killed over this madness. Sure, it's on a much smaller scale than what Edelgard's doing, but it's also been going on for far longer.

"I'm sure there are other places to raid," I say. "We can discuss this later, since I'm not sure if you're in any position to make actual policy changes."

"The word of a great general reaches far," Nader says. "But yes. Technically I have no political power. And your father can be quite… stubborn at times."

"Runs in the family, I guess."

Nader laughs again. "That's the spirit, kiddo. Chase this war with the same determination that your father commits to everything and there's no way you'll fail."

"That's actually what I wanted to talk about," I say. "The path to Enbarr is relatively clear, but I'm expecting resistance at one point. How good is your Fódlan geography?"

Nader scratches his head, and then takes a deep sip of the scalding tea. "Outside of Fódlan's Locket I don't know much. I'm sure the sea dogs have a bit more experience raiding the Empire."

"We'll need to capture Fort Merceus," I say. "The so-called impregnable fortress."

"Impregnable, you say? Now that sounds like fun."

I take a sip of tea. "Your wyvern squadrons will be helpful in breaching the walls, if you're willing to assist."

"Of course I'm willing to help you out, kiddo. Will Holst be joining as well?"

"I imagine so," I say. "Though he always seems to avoid actual battles by some misfortune. I'm starting to wonder if it's intentional."

"You weren't there for the fight at Derdriu, were you?" Nader scratches his beard. "Holst held firm and repelled the Imperials better than he had any right to. Actually, his greatest asset is his voice. Most generals have trouble making sure their commands get to all of their troops, but not him."

Another laugh from Nader. Figures that Holst comes alive on the battlefield.

"But that one person," Nader says. "The lady in tights with the whipsword that looks like a spine. She outmaneuvered us at every turn and her small strike force carved a path of destruction through the city. Not hurting the civilians, though, mind you. And again when we were raiding up north, she and Edelgard were the ones pushing us back at every turn."

"Not a lady," I say. "And the good news is that they're out of commission. For now."

Is that good news, though? If they're dead, the person who finds their body has access to the goddess' crest stone. Though maybe fusing with Sothis took out some of the strength of the stone itself? Nothing about Byleth seems to follow basic logic.

"Well, that makes this whole mess simpler, doesn't it?" Nader glugs some more tea. "Though I have to say I'm disappointed. I was hoping to prove myself against the mysterious swordsmaster as well. They're not a powerful lord like you or the king of Faerghus, right?"

"They don't have the political power that we do, but…" If I get caught up talking about Byleth, it will take all day. "They have powers from our goddess."

"Don't tell your father that you've converted to their religion, kiddo."

"I haven't. The goddess was a real person with supreme magical powers, some of which have been implanted into Byleth."

That's about the simplest explanation I can come up with.

"I'll keep an eye on the swordsperson, then," Nader says. "They could make a dangerous foe for Almyra."

That's true. If Edelgard and Byleth were allowed to finish subjugating Fódlan, I bet Almyra was next on their plate. Conquerors say that their actions are in the name of peace, but almost every one throughout Earth's history expands as far as they can before being stopped. And with Byleth on Edelgard's side, I'm not sure if there's a force in this world capable of halting them. Thank goodness I don't live in that reality.

"For now, let's focus on Fort Merceus," I say. "I don't suppose you have enough wyverns to transport Fódlan soldiers up past the walls?"

"You've gone crazy in the head, kiddo. Even if we did have that many wyverns, they aren't going to trust some Fódlan pansies to ride them."

Yeah, that's what I was assuming. So we'll need to find some way to get the soldiers in… but a direct assault is a fool's errand.

"I wonder if there's a way to sneak into the fortress somehow," I say.

"Oh, I like when I see that expression on your face, kiddo. What are you cooking up?"

Fódlan Claude must have known this guy since childhood. It's a wonder he hasn't realized anything's different about me, but comments like that make me wonder if I'm similar to how he was. It seems to be hit or miss as to how Fódlan and Earth personalities of people intersect. Lysithea and Edelgard are almost identical but in different situations, and Hilda is a different person altogether on Earth compared to how she is in Fódlan.

"They have to let us into the gates willingly," I say. "Nothing else is feasible. We can't try a frontal assault, and I don't think subterfuge will allow us to sneak a whole army in."

"And how are you going to do that, kiddo? The Imperials may be a bit dull, but they aren't total fools."

"What if we convince them that we're Imperial troops?" I say. "We could make a bunch of uniforms for a small strike force. Then once we get the Fódlan soldiers in, you and the Almyrans start to wreak havoc."

"Not a bad idea." Nader scratches his head. "But still a little obvious, don't you think?"

Yeah. We need to show that we're with the Empire instead of relying on our words. But how?

"We could dress your people up as Kingdom troops," I say, "And fake a skirmish between us and you. We get let into the fortress while you hop on your wyverns and soar into the skies to join us."

"You've got all sorts of crazy concoctions in there, kiddo," Nader says. "But I like it. Do you think we can convince your king?"

We're about to see. But Dimitri's seen my reckless charges and mad scientist shenanigans before. If anything, I bet he has too much trust in me.

#

A few hours later, Dimitri calls me into the war room to tell me that the Alliance lords have all agreed to join the Kingdom. The details are still being worked out, and he moves onto talking about strategy. Seiros is staying behind this fight to let Dimitri play the role of the warrior king while she works on the logistics of distributing food and other resources to the common people. The Knights of Seiros are under his command, and I don't envy him being in that position. Some of the church knights I've seen are so focused on honor and glory that I wonder if they're trying to get themselves killed. A certain swordswoman with a lightning-powered relic comes to mind.

But Dimitri eats up that duty and honor stuff more than I do, so maybe he can handle them. Though even Seiros was frustrated with how difficult it was to make them retreat, and they exist to serve her.

In addition to the Knights of Seiros under Dimitri's command, we also have access to the Alliance soldiers. Holst is able to join us for now due to Nader assuring that the Almyrans won't attack while we go after Fort Merceus. Alongside him, Dimitri also says that Lorenz will be joining us and leading the Gloucester troops.

"And we're certain Lorenz isn't not planning to backstab us?" I say.

"Getting him to join us was your idea," Dimitri says. "We couldn't turn down his offer for aid now."

Lorenz is bound by the stuffy rules of nobility. And not nobility as in the aristocracy that will scheme and backstab. He actually seems to believe that it's his role to uphold honor and create a better land for the commoners through policy expertise that they are too busy with work to achieve themselves. Which means he won't turn on us at a whim. Probably.

After we finish discussing the officers and troops we have at our command, I bring up the plan I concocted while talking to Nader. Dimitri studies my expression for a second, and I can tell he's trying to determine if I'm serious.

"That… could actually work," Dimitri says. "It will take a lot of resources, though. Are you confident about this?"

"As confident as I am about anything." Meaning not at all. "Besides, it will bolster the local economy. The people in the Hrym territory have plenty of textile mills and have the patterns for Imperial uniforms. Seems like a great time to give the people an opportunity to crawl out of poverty by assisting the war effort."

Never thought I'd find myself championing the market economy. It feels weirder to me than leading armies, but in this context it makes sense. After the war is over we can work on expanding public programs and ensuring everyone has access to basic social goods. For now, I'll put my bleeding socialist heart on hold.

"And we have access to the Daphnel spy network," I say. "Time to use them. We'll spread a rumor that you're going to be raiding Gronder Field for its food supplies and that a lord nobody cares about is sending a force of soldiers to deal with us. Then we act out the skirmish and try to retreat into Fort Merceus."

"Looks like you've thought of everything," Dimitri says. "Plus I hear that Edelgard is occupied with internal matters in Enbarr, so I don't know how much mind she'll pay us before we strike at Fort Merceus."

And by that time, it will almost be too late. There are no other defensible positions between Merceus and the Imperial Capital. After we take this fortress, we'll finally have Edelgard backed into a corner. After all this time, victory is in sight and I still don't quite believe it. Byleth could jump out of any random bush and tear down everything we've built. I gnaw on the inside of my mouth. I need to stop letting them live inside of my head.

"So you're good to go forward with this?" I say.

"I'll make sure it's okay with Holst and Lorenz. I'm guessing Lorenz will scoff, but he'll agree unless he wants his soldiers to be the ones leading a frontal assault."

Let's hope that's enough. And it might be time to pray to Sothis that I'm not bringing us into a situation we can't escape from.

#

It takes a while to make the uniforms, and since I'm not as needed with military matters anymore with Holst and Seiros able to provide tactics advice, I have more time to spend with Dimitri back on Earth. His apartment is cleaner every time I see him, and his voice is softer until I can almost hear the boy I fell in love with six years ago.

We branch out from video chats to online activities. I want to blame the pandemic for us not being able to meet up in person, but New York City is far enough away from this sleepy town that I don't think we'd be able to meet much even if we could travel. We play board games through Tabletop Simulator on Steam, which is a good way to pass the time since it takes me a while to get the hang of the controls. The game we play most often is called Wingspan, which is about gathering birds in a birdwatching notebook and trying to get the most points. I'm surprised to find that it has good mechanics of a worker placement game and an engine-building game, meaning that you have a certain number of actions you take each turn and each bird you play makes those actions better. Dimitri sounds the most relaxed when we play these games, and whenever we finish I feel bad for leaving. Does he have any sort of social connection other than me? He says he's keeping in touch with the other Blue Lions classmates but I get the feeling that his contact with them is infrequent.

On the day before we're going to head off to Fort Merceus, I start up a video chat with him. When I open my mouth, Dimitri speaks first.

"You're going to fight another battle again, aren't you?" he says.

"Am I so easy to read?"

"Not easy, no. But I have experience." He averts his gaze. "I haven't seen much that makes you sad. But leaving to fight this war…"

"The war itself is… something that I've accepted. Something that my determination will see to the end. The sorrow is at having to leave you. Wondering if I won't come back for you this time."

"Claude." Dimitri closes his eyes. "Please don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't hurt yourself because of me. How do you think that makes me feel?"

I never stopped to think about it. But Dimitri's right. If Lucina only stayed around me because of guilt, I'd hate her and myself. If she has tasks that need to be done back in Ylisse, I want her to tend to those.

"I know you're doing this for me," Dimitri says. His eyes flash back open. "To keep me safe. So it doesn't make me sad when you go off. It doesn't send me into a rampage. I'm concerned for you, of course. That's something I can't help when I care about you. But I know you're there with me in another world. That's enough for me."

I bite my lip. Dimitri's the one stuck alone in an apartment struggling with his mental health, and he still manages to be more thoughtful and mature than I am. Is this how it always was between us? The days back at Garreg Mach high school are so fuzzy to me, like they belong to another person entirely.

"Thank you," I say.

Dimitri frowns. "For what?"

"For making me realize that I was being selfish. That I thought I was the only one allowed to be strong." I smile at him. "For supporting me when I needed it the most."

"I won't pretend it's easy," he says, "Playing the role of someone whose partner is in the military. But I believe in you. And I believe in us. It's the better way to live."

People like me who are queer and brown and being crushed under the influence of a godlike entity aren't supposed to get happy endings in the stories written by our society. But if I can do it, and defy the expectations…

"I believe in us as well," I say. "I want to tell you that the war is almost over, but there's still a lot of work to be done. Even after we deal with Edelgard, we still need to hunt down Thales—the man you know as Arundel. But eventually, it will be over. And we can seize happy lives for ourselves. Defy the path laid out for us."

"And then I can finally pay you back for all the help you've given me," Dimitri says.

"You don't owe me anything," I say. "I didn't care about you because I was expecting something in return."

"Still. I want to help you too."

"You already are. There's a lot I could learn from you, Dimitri."

I watch the shy smile spread onto his face. Even though he's a mess, he's beautiful. Cracked, but not broken.

I had forgotten that this is what I'm fighting for.

#

That night, I get sucked into another dream with Edelgard. I know that I should leave without talking to her, since I'll only get myself riled up and make it harder to negotiate surrender terms on either side in the future, but I can't let myself run away from her. This woman started the conflict that took so much from all of us. Marianne, Raphael, Judith, Mercedes, Leonie, Felix, Petra, Ingrid. If not for her, all of those people would be alive.

She doesn't regard me until I sit down across from her. She offers me tea, and this time I decide to accept. I know now that she can't poison me here, and I know that arguing about tea will spiral into some larger debate that we've already played out multiple times before.

"Color me surprised," Edelgard says. "Someone else might think that you're capable of trusting me."

I take a sip of the tea. It's the same Almyran pine needle tea I had with Nader, except all of the flavor is drawn out of the needles. A perfect pot. I suppose that's what is possible in the dream world.

"I've learned to like that tea since trying to reach out to you," Edelgard says. "It's an earthy flavor we don't get much of in Enbarr. Everything here is oversweet."

"Well, you have lots of fruit and honey," I say. "So of course your chefs had to flex on the rest of us."

"Flex on…" she furrows her brow. "Ah, that's a saying from your other planet, yes? Byleth said something along those lines once."

Byleth talked about flexing on some poor fools? The thought of it nearly makes me laugh.

"So why did you call me in here this time?" I say.

"You made it clear that you're attacking Gronder Field tomorrow. I wish I could meet you there, but I'm… preoccupied at the moment."

Preoccupied with what? I don't like the sound of that.

"And right after, I expect you'll head to Fort Merceus," Edelgard says. "And then Enbarr."

I shrug. "That is one way we could do it."

"No need to dance around the subject, Claude. You want this war to end as soon as possible."

Does she have a spy in our ranks? If she did, she should know about our ploy to disguise as Imperial soldiers and gain entry into Fort Merceus. Which means she's actually trying to read me here.

"Dimitri is the king," I say, "And Seiros has centuries more experience than I do. I'm not as important as you think."

"I'm still not convinced that's true, but I can drop the topic if you wish. If you reach Enbarr, you'll find me in the palace. I want you to be there, Claude. And I want you to be the person who tries to kill me."

"Where is this coming from?"

"Death is my final act. If I must die, I don't want it to be that rampaging bull of a king who lops my head off. I want it to be someone who sees me for who I am."

"And that's me?" I raise an eyebrow. "What about those times I ranted to you about how awful you are? Trust me, there were more of those behind the scenes."

"You hate me because we're the same," Edelgard says. "You despise this war, and your hatred goes to the person who forced your hand and made you play the role of a war leader. So do I."

"You hate the person who's responsible for the war?" I say. "No offense, but I find this admission of self-hatred a little hard to take genuinely."

"Not me," Edelgard says. "The ones who forced me to take action were Thales and his kind."

"And how so?"

"Several reasons. There's the reason I presented to the public that the crest system is corrupt, and Thales forced my family to undergo horrifying experiments that killed most of my siblings. In the end, I received the Crest of Flames. A dozen lives for a symbol of the goddess' might. I'm sure Rhea considers that to be a fair exchange."

I narrow my eyes at her.

"At first, I was worried you didn't understand what I had gone through," Edelgard says, "But Lysithea said that you were always compassionate towards her. You hate me because I'm a war leader. Which is fair, but I encourage you to turn your gaze inward."

I gnaw on the inside of my mouth. I knew that going out to Gronder Field was a mission that was doomed from the start. But what was I supposed to do? Roll over and let the Empire take everything from us?

"There's another reason I started this war, of course," Edelgard says. "Thales is planning something. The Crest of Flames…" she shakes her head. "We need to be united as a continent to oppose them."

"Well, your actions led to them accumulating a vast amount of resources from the Kingdom," I say, "And now we're more divided than ever. From my humble perspective, it looks like you failed in that."

"Of course I failed. I never wanted to let this war draw out so long. You do have my thanks for disposing of Cornelia, by the way. I was going to have to kill her sooner or later. We're talking about why I started the war, Claude. The only way to beat Thales is to draw him out. Rhea wasn't able to track him down over the course of 900 years. If they don't want to be found, we're not finding them."

Sacrificing thousands of lives to make Fódlan appear weak enough to bring Thales out of hiding is even colder than her conquering the continent to usher in social reforms.

"You blame me for this violence," Edelgard says, "And I accept this responsibility. But isn't what Thales did to me and Lysithea also violence? Isn't what happened to Miklan because he didn't have a crest violence? Isn't the way commoners like Leonie were kept in poverty and forced to enter debt for an education a form of violence?"

"Byleth killed Leonie."

Edelgard ignores me. "This war is awful, Claude. I hate having to walk this path. But doing nothing while everyone suffers, the crested nobles who are subjected to experiments and forced to lead with no experience, the uncrested nobles rejected by their families for how they were born, and the commoners who give up half their crops and income in taxes to keep the system moving… allowing that to continue is worse. Thales and Rhea were the ones who forced me into action the same way I forced you."

I let out a grunt, because I know that any more will get me wrapped into another heated argument. I've heard these same arguments in America, honestly. That the vast generational poverty we have, the crumbling medical system that prioritizes profit over care, and the higher education system reserved for elites is a form of class violence. And that if the working class did rise up and behead a bunch of rich people… well, it might not be right, but the rich people had it coming. Those are arguments I can respect. But Edelgard's not actually involving the common people. She speaks for them without giving any of them a voice.

"And there's the last reason," Edelgard says. "The simplest reason of them all. I'm guessing you've considered it already."

Honestly, I try not to think about why Edelgard does anything. The lives of the people affected by her actions are more important than any ideology she can bring to the table.

"The noble houses were going to seize control of the throne's power as they did with my father if I didn't make a move immediately. If I declared war on the church, I could make them fall in line by force with my mobilized military. It's not a reason I'm proud of, but I wasn't going to let Thales rule the Empire for another 50 years from the shadows."

That's common enough on Earth as well. Warfare lets countries consolidate their own power and subjugate minority groups, and many of the armed conflicts in Africa and the Middle East are a result of some dipshit white person drawing an arbitrary line that put different groups in the same country, forcing them to struggle against each other for power.

Am I… agreeing with Edelgard? That seems too strange to be true. Not that I think she's a good person. But the Slithers were the ones who forced her to pick between bad choices.

"If your Empire can only exist by conquering others," I say, "It doesn't deserve to exist at all."

"Perhaps you're right. I received declaration of your new fusion of Kingdom and Alliance. I bet it was your idea to allow commoners to vote for policy representatives."

"And what about it?"

"Byleth also talked to me about that prospect. I'm starting to wonder if the two of you are the same person in different bodies."

"Please tell me this isn't you saying that you're falling in love with me."

Edelgard flinches. "What? Of course I'm not. Byleth is still out there, and I will rescue them. Believe it or not, I'm capable of being amicable without harboring feelings for you."

Well, that's a relief. Being aromantic means I miss a lot of those cues, and the idea of me and Edelgard falling in love is… just too weird to even picture. I'm not sure if I could love someone as violent as me. Which I know makes me a hypocrite, and maybe I do deserve to die alone and unloved. It's all the more astonishing that Earth Dimitri cares about me.

"I'm trying to be courteous if you do win," Edelgard says, "I want you to do away with the crest system. I want you to fight for equal rights between commoners and nobles. And I want you to kill Thales for me."

"I promise," I say.

"Is there anything you want me to do if I win?" Edelgard says. "You fight with enough conviction that I want to make sure that your impact on this world is felt for generations."

"Make this world safe," I say, looking into her eyes, "So that Fódlan will never need someone like us ever again."

When she looks back at me, I worry that I'm not clear enough in what I mean, but then I see the understanding seep into her eyes. A tender smile spreads onto her face.

"A world where our children can play in meadows all day without worrying about war and blood experiments. I promise you, Claude. I won't rest until I've seen Fódlan's new dawn."

I know I should feel better that we're finally seeing eye to eye, but it only leaves me with more existential questions. Thousands of people will die between now and the end of the war, and after all that carnage the winner will embark on the same quest to stabilize a united Fódlan. Why should anyone else have to die in these games that we play?

"There's still a chance for peace, you know," I say.

Edelgard shakes her head. "Even if we manage to build trust, which I doubt will happen, the next generation will remember our grudges and start this war anew. Fódlan must be unified to know true peace. Submit or fight until the end, Claude. And I know you won't submit."

I exhale. I know that her words are true, and I'm glad to hear them come from her. I thought I gained my own freedom when Byleth and their godlike powers left this world, but I'm still bound by… not fate, exactly, but the rules of the game. Only the strong and the terrible survive.

"I think I should head off," I say. "It was… nice chatting to you."

"I'll see you in Enbarr. Don't disappoint me. And when you do see me…" She averts her gaze. "I hope you understand that what I will do to myself is necessary. The world only listens to those who seize the ability to make change."

She waves a hand and the world starts to grow blurry. I feel myself drifting up and away, back to sleep. I try to hang on for a few more seconds.

What did Edelgard mean by what she will do to herself?

#

In the morning, I don't have time to worry about what Edelgard told me, since we leave at the crack of dawn to make it to Fort Merceus without marching our troops to exhaustion. As usual, I scout the area ahead of the army. Our strike force is relatively small with more reserves out of sight, but it is nice to see Alliance and Kingdom soldiers working together.

Scouting from the sky lets me navigate the land well, and I'm able to bring our forces around Fort Merceus without being spotted so that they look like they're approaching from the Empire side. With all of us in Imperial uniforms, I think we actually have a decent chance of pulling this ploy off.

I have Dimitri march us north, back towards the Great Bridge of Myrddin and the monastery to further the charade. In the distance, I see the advancing Almyran army led by Nader on horseback. Good thing the Almyrans know their way around horses as well as wyverns so they can imitate Faerghus knights. I look over my shoulder at Fort Merceus in the background. It's close enough for them to see the skirmish, but not so close that they can tell we're acting it out.

Omar drops me off on the ground and I lead the charge against the Almyran forces. Nader is in the front of his own troops, and I know he must be enjoying this. Normally, he fights careful skirmishes to protect his title as the undefeated, but Byleth dashed his armor while I wasn't there and today is an act so he can go crazy. I hope he remembers to hold back and not injure people.

When he approaches me, Nader leaps off his horse and lunges at me with the added force of his aerial momentum. Show-off. I draw my blade and parry his own sword, which was milliseconds away from slamming into my chest. I probably would have been okay with healers around, but still. Guess I should have known better than to give Nader a task that involves holding back. We exchange a few more sword strokes while our armies clash around us, and then he lowers his blade. When he stands up straight from his battle posture, I know he's done with the games.

"I see your skills haven't dulled yet, kiddo," he says.

"What did you expect?"

Nader laughs. "You should join us in the wyvern attack. We could show these grunts together what ace wyvern riders really look like."

I grin, and I wonder how much of the motion comes from Fódlan Claude who regards Almyra as his home.

"Sounds good to me," I say. "Dimitri is plenty capable of handling his army on his own."

It isn't until after the words escape my mouth that I realize I believe them. It's amazing how much he's changed in the past couple of months. I don't think there was a single magic ingredient. Being around friends and people he trusts long enough was bound to do something.

I wait until the Fódlan army disengages from the "battle" to call for Omar. The other Almyrans begin saddling their own wyverns. I track the movement of the Fódlan army, and when I see the gates to Fort Merceus open for them I take off into the skies. I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to my plans actually working out.

But this was only the first step. We have a long battle ahead of us.

"Glad to see that you're eager to go, kiddo," Nader says, flying beside me. "Let's go teach these Imperial dogs a lesson they won't forget."

I nod to him and begin flying towards the front gate. Nader whistles at me and points to another corner of the fortress.

"Why don't we see what damage we can do on our own?" he says. "Should be a fun way to spend an afternoon."

I wonder if he's assessing the strength of Fódlan fortresses and wants to fight his own battle to prepare himself for an attack on Fódlan's Locket. Might as well follow and see what he's up to.

As we fly over the walls of Fort Merceus, I get better sight of the battlefield. The enemy general stationed here is the Death Knight, who I've forgotten about in the last five years since he never really… did anything.

I watch Nader's attack patterns and follow his lead. The nice thing about being an archer is I'm never the one making decisions about when to charge into potentially dangerous situations. I shoot people who enter my threat range while backing away and provide support fire for my more offensively minded allies. That strategy doesn't change here.

Nader's wyvern warriors attack in waves like cavalry units. It's one of the oldest military tricks in the book. Cavalries are most effective when momentum allows them to slam into the opposition's lines. So having multiple waves who charge and pull back while the enemy is too stunned to retaliate in time for the next wave to crash into them can overwhelm even a well-protected soldier line.

From the way Nader organizes his waves of hit and run wyvern riders, I see that aerial squadrons are even better for this strategy than cavalry because they fly up and loop around in a circle, which I can see has three benefits over a cavalry wave attack. First, your retreating wyverns don't crash into your charging wyverns like cavalry might. Second, it's harder to attack a wyvern on the way out, since they don't need to take the time to pause and turn around. Third, the vertical circle allows the momentum of the attack to be carried into the next attack quickly, giving the enemy no time to regroup.

The end result is an upright wheel of wyvern riders that advance on the Imperial soldiers and carve a path of death. I'm so focused on the coordination the wyvern riders exhibit that I nearly forget to help out with cover fire. It's a bit harder to aim since I want to be sure not to hit a friendly flier who soars up in front of my face, but I manage to find success attacking from the side. A few of the Empire soldiers charge me directly and get an arrow to the knee. Good luck on your quest to become Skyrim NPCs, friends.

"What do you think?" Nader says, flying up behind me. "I came up with the strategy myself."

"Makes me think that wyvern riders are unfair," I say. "Whoever was in charge of balancing warfare should be fired."

He lets out another belly laugh. "And the fun's only starting."

"How did you ever lose to Byleth with this strategy?"

"They swatted each wyvern rider out of the sky instead of trying to block," Nader says. "Cleaned up an entire rotation of them in a matter of seconds."

Sounds like Byleth. And Edelgard's no slouch at fighting atop a wyvern, either. I bet she could tear through a small army on her own. What did Byleth feed their students to make them so powerful? They mentioned once that eating a bullhead can temporarily increase reaction time, but they had to be pulling my leg about that one, right?

A blast of magic flies towards me, bringing me back to the present. I duck out of the way, and feel the crackling energy as it soars past my ear.

"Come on, kiddo," Nader says. "Let's see if we can do something about that."

He flies off before I can respond, and I see he's headed towards the magic orb closer to the center of the fortress. A mage stands there operating it, which allows them to blast magic from long range like an artillery unit. I swoop after Nader. The next blast of magic is aimed at him, which singes a part of his face. When he attacks the mage, they nearly crumple in one hit. I swerve to the side and fire off a quick shot that takes them out.

"Pesky, pesky," he says. "At least they die easily. I'll need to learn more about these mages you have in Fódlan."

Right, magic isn't as prevalent in Almyra. Nader looks back at his troops, who are chasing after a shattered Imperial line, and then looks at me.

"I don't think your help is needed," Nader says. "The Empire is weaker than I remembered. Go and make sure your king stays safe."

Not a bad idea, especially considering that Earth Dimitri's life is at stake as well.

I fly across the fortress to meet Dimitri. The fact that I have so much mobility on this wyvern does seem unfair, and I'm not even using hit and run strategies to their fullest extent like Nader is. If Fódlan ever has a big war after this one, I'm guessing it will mostly be fought in the skies. Especially if archers or mages can be trained to ride pegasi or wyverns and can rain down death from above like the bomber planes that were popularized in World War 2. I can't let a conflict of that scale consume this world as it did Earth. Fódlan will be a beacon of social progress and peace.

Dimitri smirks at me when I land next to him. He's fighting in the middle of the strike force, which I'm glad for. We're low on healers, so if he takes too many stray arrows or axe strokes it could be game over.

"How was fighting alongside Nader?"

"He gave me some new ideas for how to use flying units. How are you holding up here?"

"Death Knight's not giving us too much trouble. What we could use right now is you protecting our flanks from reinforcements."

As much as I want to stay by Dimitri's side and protect him, he does seem to have the situation covered here. He survived five years on his own while being hunted down by Cornelia and the Imperials, so I know he isn't the type to roll over and die when the going gets tough.

I nod to him and fly off to the flanks, which are being protected by Lorenz and Holst. When I fly over, I swear I see the motion of Lorenz sighing.

"Took your time showing up, didn't you?" Lorenz says.

"Hey now." Holst slams his axe into an Imperial soldier. "The more, the merrier."

"I suppose." Lorenz turns back to the battle. "Try not to embarrass us too much, Claude."

Again, being an archer means I get to hang back and match the rhythm of my attacks to my allies' for maximum effect. In this case, it means picking off the soldiers who are looking to flank Holst as he charges into the middle of entire battalions at once. He lets out a roar and sweeps his axe across the mass of soldiers in front of him, sending several flying at once. I've known Holst as the strongest general in the Alliance, but nobody told me he shared Byleth's propensity to go one against a hundred. I don't know why I'm surprised at this.

Lorenz, on the other hand, focuses most of his attention on command while firing out an occasional long-ranged magic blast atop his horse with Thyrsus. I notice that he doesn't use the relic staff nearly as effectively as Lysithea, but at least it's on our side. He also carries a lance and spears enemies that get too close. Splitting focus between weapons and magic is difficult, and it doesn't look like he's as good at either as a specialized cavalier or mage, respectively. Still, I have to admit that he does a good job of keeping the ranks steady, and capitalizes on Holst breaking apart enemy lines with his reckless charges.

"I'm remembering you charging the enemy directly during the practice battles," I tell Lorenz. "Looks like you've turned over a new leaf."

He furrows his brow. "Well, actual lives are at stake here. I can't let myself fall and leave the soldiers in confusion."

Character growth. Nice to see him finally growing a head to use. Or maybe his newfound caution and intelligence is stored in all that long, flowing hair he has. After a few more minutes of fighting, I come to the conclusion that I'm not needed here, either. I'm just another archer sending arrows at the waves of enemies, and Holst is already cleaning up the last of the Imperials on this flank. Time to see if our other side needs support.

I fly over to the other flank in time to see a group of Imperials pushing us back and tearing into our ranks. No time to hesitate. I fly in and start letting loose with my silver bow, trying to preserve Failnaught's strength. I look for the leading commander of the attack. If I can take them out, the rest of the troops should either scatter or fall in confusion. And lunging further into the mass of Kingdom knights, I see him.

Caspar.

A volley of arrows flies towards me, and I'm barely able to have Omar swoop up to dodge. He's able to tuck his wings in behind his back, so the few arrows that do hit don't puncture them. Caspar nearly killed me the last time we fought on the ground together, but the skies aren't safe for Omar.

I take one last deep breath. I know what I have to do.

I leap off Omar while unslinging Failnaught from my back. I fall through the air and take my aim at Caspar. With my heart pounding, time seems to slow like in that one Zelda game I saw Morgan playing. I unleash a Fallen Star shot right before I land. The arrow takes him in the chest, and he stumbles back. I know that my bow's going to be a liability against him in close range, so I switch to my sword. When Caspar sees the motion, he pulls out the arrow and takes a second to close his eyes and meditate. As he exhales, the arrow wound on his body closes.

Healing Focus combat art. Damn it.

One of the Kingdom soldiers tries to attack Caspar in his meditation, and his eyes flash open when the lance is thrust towards him. Caspar ducks under the stab and slams his left gauntlet into the knight's body. The Kingdom soldier crumples and collapses to the ground.

Okay, so I understand Byleth having overpowered time control abilities, but how did they train every single one of their students to levels of monstrous strength?

I engage Caspar with my sword, cautiously at first. After he leaps back and regains his footing, I realize that the defensive approach is a mistake. I have to keep putting the pressure on him with my longer-ranged weapon if I want to win this fight. Which means that, like at the Tailtean Plains, I can't afford to falter for a single moment. Winning this fight looks like it's going to be next to impossible.

But this time I don't need to win. Dimitri is dealing with the Death Knight on the other side of the fight. And I'm sure Holst or Lorenz will rotate around to provide support once word reaches them that our lines are breached. All I need to do is stall for time.

So I try a different strategy. I adopt alert stance and allow him to come to me. He hesitates, but does lunge forward. Allowing him to push the offensive means he gets to attack with a flurry of blows, but me being in my alert stance means I'm able to anticipate and dodge his attacks much better. An unstoppable force meets a… not immovable, but unhittable object. It's hard to tell which side the exchange benefits. What I do know is that I can't stay on the defensive for too long or he'll back away and restore his vitality with the healing focus combat art. So when it looks like he's backing off to heal, I switch to full aggression. It's harder to dodge his attacks this way and I feel my strength fading, but if he manages to use healing focus he gets to reset back to ground zero while I keep on struggling.

"Ever since we met at the Tailtean Plains, I wondered if you were going to be the one to kill me," Caspar says.

"I don't want to. Back off, Caspar."

"And do what? Fighting's the only thing I've ever been good at. I need to put my skills to use or else…"

I parry a gauntlet attack. "Or else?"

Caspar grunts and throws his whole weight at me. I leap back and chug a healing concoction quickly enough that he can't heal himself.

"Or else I'm nothing," he says. "Nobody."

I can't let myself hesitate. I can't let myself think. But isn't that exactly why I was so determined to fight Byleth, even after they kept sparing me? If I don't have the strength to make the change I want to see in the world, what's the point of having ideals in the first place?

Caspar and I continue to exchange attacks. We get glancing blows on each other, but neither of us are making real progress. Caspar starts panting, his entire body heaving with the motion.

"So strong," he says. "I thought Byleth was going to make me unstoppable."

"What are you fighting for, Caspar? Your Empire is determined to subjugate all of Fódlan."

"And you're not?" Caspar spits out blood on the ground. "Stop trying to act like the better man, Claude. One of us is going to walk away from this. That's what matters."

I let out a low growl. There has to be some way to convince Caspar to stand down. I can feel his emotions, and I can picture myself in his shoes. That has to mean something. When I ready my sword for another attack, I hear Dimitri's voice boom across the battlefield to retreat. Shit. I don't know what tricks the Empire had up their sleeve, but I should have been keeping better tabs on the battle. I glance at Caspar. Is he going to let me run?

Then I see it. The rings of light in the sky, guiding the nuclear missile down towards the town beneath Fort Merceus.

"No."

The word slips out of my mouth. Please… Not this. Anything but this.

Caspar hesitates. And then he turns around to look at the falling missiles. Gasps.

"Fhirdiad." He whirls back to face me. "This place is going to be Fhirdiad."

Except this time, we don't have a giant dragon to take out the missiles. Thales must know. This is the first time we've fought without Seiros since Fhirdiad. I should have seen this coming. I should have known.

"I have to get them out," Caspar says. "Do… something."

Caspar runs towards the missile. Towards the impending explosion. He's going to get himself killed for nothing.

This can't… be how it ends.

"Stop," I say. He doesn't react. "Stop!"

Caspar keeps running. I bolt after him, and a wall of flame erupts in front of me. I jump back and whirl around to see Lorenz on his horse, Thyrsus glowing.

"He made his choice, Claude," Lorenz says. "I don't like you, but I can't deny that we need you to end this war. We need to leave."

He turns around and gallops away. He must have come all the way over here to make sure I was safe. Omar lands next to me and lets out a higher-than-normal pitched sound that I imagine is like a bird squawk. Wonder if the poor boy knows what the missiles mean. With Omar, I could fly after Caspar. I could save him.

I look up and see another missile hurdling directly towards the fort. There's no time. I hop on Omar's back and fly away. When I close my eyes, I picture Caspar running towards the city while explosions sound around him. Why did he sign his own death warrant? But there's still a chance. I can still save-

No. I have to trust what I know. The missile is close enough that if I go back to him, I'll only get both of us killed. Besides, if he ran off in the first place there's no way I could persuade him to join me and save himself.

I'm not a god like Byleth. There are some people I can't save.

When the explosions sound in Fort Merceus and the surrounding down, I close my eyes.

I will remember this, Thales.

#

Hours after the last explosion, I search the ruined fortress and city while the others are helping the survivors on the outskirts of town evacuate. We all need to watch out for radiation poisoning since on Earth that tends to kill more people than the blast itself, but right now I'm not worried about that. I fly over the area, looking for a sign.

Then I find him. Caspar, collapsed under a pile of rubble. I land, hop off Omar, and run over to him. His glassy eyes tell me the story, and his lack of a pulse confirms it.

Dead.

Another one to the list. Marianne, Raphael, Judith, Mercedes, Leonie, Felix, Petra, Ingrid, Caspar.

There are no victors in this battle today.

Hi, everyone! :)

Hope your March is off to a good start. Sorry for being away for a while. I've still been writing, actually; I've just been too lazy to edit or post. So I have the next two chapters written and I'll try to get at least one more up by the end of the week.

I was also finally able to write a scene where Claude sees Edelgard and doesn't react with pure hatred. *confetti goes off in the background* You'd think I'd be able to predict what my own characters will do, but for many reasons it was hard to have this version of Claude be more sympathetic to Edelgard like canon Claude is.

See you all next chapter!