After several days of work incorporating the Empire territories into the unified Fódlan led by King Dimitri, scouts report back saying that they've discovered the entrance to Shambhala. It takes Dimitri less than an hour to organize everyone, and as soon as we know it, we're on our way. Along the way, I talk with Ignatz, Linhardt, Seteth, and Flayn, since they haven't seen direct combat action in a while. The one who stands out to me most is Linhardt, who looks even more tired than usual but keeps his focus on the battle.

"This fight has become an obsession," he says.

"Like… a hyperfixation?"

"That's a good word for it. I can't take my mind off it. Usually I get bored of anything within a few weeks, but this has been eating away at me for months. I know I'm just a healer, but I'll do what I can to make sure nobody has to suffer from those javelins of light again."

It's strange to hear the words come from his mouth, and stranger still to pick up on notes of determination in his voice. He's not much for chatting, so I let him be when it's clear that the conversation is winding down.

Which means I end up talking to Seiros again as we approach Shambhala.

"Edelgard told me that I should come along on this mission," Seiros says. "It's been… a good experience to talk with her. Though I'm guessing you'll think that she just wanted to lure me out of Garreg Mach in case she had an escape plan in mind."

"No, I can tell that she does want Thales dead."

Bring along Seiros… I'll have to watch out for more nukes, then. Though they must have a limited supply if they're not dropping the bombs on every city that's important to us.

"She's knowledgeable about politics and history," Serios says, "And I admire her vision. If only she didn't hate my guts."

"She hates you even though you don't stand for anything that Rhea did?"

"I agree with her. Losing memories doesn't wipe away what I did. I distance myself from her for my own sake so that I don't slip back into becoming Rhea, but the ashes of Fhirdiad are on my hands."

And I suppose I can't blame Edelgard for her views of Seiros when I myself refused to look past Edelgard's warlike actions when she was determined to conquer us.

"I look into Rhea's memories and I still don't understand," she says. "How could I have let Thales exercise so much influence in the Empire and Alliance? I had an army at my beck and call, and I suspected some shadowy forces around the insurrection that reduced the Emperor to a figurehead. I had excuses then, but they all feel hollow now."

"All we can do is make sure not to repeat those mistakes. Let's crush Thales."

Seiros nods. "I'll strangle him with my own two hands if I need to. And afterwards, I have some ideas for what to do with Edelgard."

I raise an eyebrow. "From someone else, that sounds like code for torturing information out of her. But I know you're not interested in that."

"I suppose I should be less cryptic with my wording, then. But I already know that you'll disapprove of what I have in mind."

"Oh?"

"I'll try to make progress with her and approach you and Dimitri about it later."

Well, now I'm curious. I guess keeping weird secrets is one of Rhea's habits that carried over to Seiros. Which is fine now that I trust her. It's weird to say that about someone who ordered a city burned down, but the compassion she's shown can't be faked. And since she has several centuries of political experience, I'm sure she knows what she's doing.

In general, I'm skeptical of people looking for redemption. Not that it can't happen, but because it doesn't make sense for people who live their lives out being vicious and evil to learn goodwill and kindness so quickly. But Serios proves that it's possible. And Edelgard…

Well, redemption isn't the right term for what she could seek out, since she'll believe until the day she goes to the grave that this war was necessary to unify Fódlan one way or another and embark on social progress without worrying about squabbles from political neighbors. But at the same time, she also wasn't strictly evil to begin with. Seiros can do what she wants with her, and I'll look forward to seeing what she comes up with.

But enough about Edelgard. Today's the day we take out the person who prompted it all. The experiments that tore apart Edelgard and Lysithea's families, the nuclear weapons at Fhirdiad and Fort Merceus, and even the assassination of Dimitri's father over a decade back. Thales was setting the stage all this time, and it's time for us to dance.

#

When we enter the tunnels of Shambhala, I get a sense of anachronism on the level of that Monty Python movie where the cops show up and arrest everyone at the end. Because as soon as I descend the first level of stairs, I see that the tunnel walls are made out of metal with red lights running through. Like something out of a cyberpunk movie.

All of the Fódlan people are unnerved by the style, and I'm over here trying not to laugh. Thales leading an army of androids while he wears that weird feathered cloak of his is too odd to take seriously.

Before long, we emerge in an open space with what looks like an entire underground city. No fancy tech like high-speed trains or cars, so it really only matches the futuristic aesthetic and nothing else. Though the music reverberating throughout the city. Is that…?

"Wow," I say. "They're actually playing dubstep in here."

"Hm?" Dimitri says.

"Nothing, nothing. Inside joke between me and Thales, you could say."

I wonder if, like Robin, Thales crossed over onto Earth to learn more about our society and carry ideas back to Fódlan. And then what he actually took back was nuclear weapons and dubstep music. I wonder how much he was jamming out to Skrillex back on Earth.

"All right," Dimitri says. "Let's split up and search the city. See what we find. It's possible that Thales and his kind have already relocated."

Well, that would be annoying for us. Still, I'm sure they have some sweet tech we could steal. We break off into groups, and I end up with Seteth and Flayn commanding a group of church soldiers.

"I do not like this place," Flayn says. "It gives off a sinister aura."

"Yeah, I don't like the vibes of this city," I say.

Flayn nods. "Bad vibes indeed."

Hearing Flayn talk about vibes in her stiff, formal voice makes me crack a smile. Only a few minutes after investigating near the outskirts of the city, a group of Agarthans rush out and draw their weapons. Looks like our vibes are about to get checked.

"Careful," Seteth says. "We'll want to make sure the others are aware of this. Knights, in position."

Seteth hops on his own wyvern, and I saddle up on Omar. The two of us lead the charge together, and I'm happy to find out that his strategy of hit and run on a wyvern is similar to mine. But instead of firing at range like I do before flying back to safety, He unleashes a flurry of lance stabs to take down a target before they can retaliate and then soars back as far as he can. Not a bad combat art.

Our strategy is effective, and we rain destruction down on the Agarthans while suffering few losses ourselves. However, the Agarthans eventually learn to surround me in the tight corridor when I go in for a shot. Guess their big brain science that allows them to implant crests into people and create nukes also gives them access to basic combat strategy that so many of the Imperial officers lacked.

Which is unfortunate for me. I swap to my blade and start hacking my way out of the mess, but Omar isn't able to maneuver well here. I won't let myself abandon him here, but raw force isn't going to get us out. Think, Claude. What options do I have left?

Right as an Agarthan spear goes towards Omar's wing, the world flashes white. Like when Lysithea teleported me. But she isn't-

I reappear in the back lines of our legion next to Flayn. Her hands glow with white magic, and she heals Omar. He lets out a soft grumble in appreciation.

"Oh thank goodness you are all right," Flayn says. "I was getting quite worried watching you get surrounded by those awful people."

"Thanks for the save," I say. "That was you, right?"

"Yes. My brother let me join the battle so long as I promised only to heal and rescue soldiers who are in danger. If you excuse me, I must keep my eye on the battlefield and see if there are others who need assistance."

Neat trick. One of these days, I'll sit down and think about all the times my allies have saved my ass when I get into deep shit. But for now, I need to focus on the battle. I rejoin Seteth and fire off arrows from more of a distance this time, making use of the curved shot combat art to get some extra range. I realize that them surrounding me was their last ditch effort, and we fight the last ones off quickly.

"Too close," Seteth says. "But I'm glad we made it through without many casualties."

"Egh, let's find Thales and get this over with," I say.

"Right. But we need to warn the others. Are you willing to head up north and rendezvous with the people we have stationed up there? If you encounter resistance, you can turn back."

All on my own? I guess I am more maneuverable. And flying around to check up on people is usually my job in these battles. Just… not in narrow corridors when I can get cornered. But Seteth is right. We have to coordinate if we're going to win.

I fly through the passageway on the western part of Shambhala, heading north. When I make it halfway, I see a group of our troops fighting against more Agarthans. On our side, I recognize Ignatz, Linhardt, and Sylvain. I fire from behind enemy lines and strafe back when a few stray Agarthans try to charge me. With Linhardt's ranged healing, we clean up the small enemy force in quick time.

"Nice to see you, Claude," Ignatz says. "Looks like they jumped us by surprise. Any updates on how the others are doing?"

"Seteth and Flayn are safe. Don't have intel on the others."

"We have to assume they're fighting as well," Linhardt says. "It might be easier to congregate in the main city instead of fighting in these hallways."

Well, he has one vote for getting out of these narrow passageways where my poor wyvern can't maneuver.

"Hey guys," Sylvain says. "I found a door that I think leads to the main city, but it's locked."

He points over at a sliding double door made out of metal that's closed. Locked doesn't surprise me, and it doesn't even look like there's an authentication panel or anything. How do the Agarthans even get in through these doors?

"Well, we can go back to where Seteth and Flayn are," I say. "There's a staircase nearby that leads into the city."

"Wait," Linhardt says. "Let me try something."

He pulls a key out of his pocket and approaches the double door. You know, which has no keyhole.

"Where did you even get that?" I say.

"Oh, I bought it from a merchant in the monastery. Nice design, don't you think?"

"You just bought a key. Not to anything specific. Just… a key."

"Got it," Linhardt says.

The door clicks and opens up. I blink a few times to make sure I'm not imagining things.

"How did you do that?" I say.

"You've never used a key before?"

"That's not…" I let out a sigh. "Well, you had better keep that key around, since it apparently can unlock any door like some Kingdom Hearts bullshit."

"Oh, well the door took the key. It can't be used again."

I rub my temples. "This isn't how keys work."

"Evidently it is. Are you coming?"

I look over at Ignatz, who offers a shrug. Guess I shouldn't complain about a blessing now when we need it the most. The four of us walk out into the main city.

Shambhala proper looks less like an urban center and more like the inside of a fortress. Soldiers everywhere, little residential housing in sight. Oh, and there's the giant mech-like robot to the north poised to strike.

"What is that?" Ignatz says.

"What were those buggers called, again?" Sylvain says. "I remember it was something that sounded like 'titties.'"

"Titanus," I say. "Though you might as well call them trouble. Let's take out the soldiers around it first."

"No Catherine to charge in and absorb all the attention for me." Sylvain sighs. "Well, let's get this over with."

After he finishes talking, my spider senses start tingling. I pull the reins to have Omar swerve out of the way just in time to avoid the blast of energy that falls down from the expanse above. That's a new one.

"Guess we have to deal with this one quickly too," I say. "It's like the universe doesn't want me to lure our enemies over here one by one and pick them off.'

Sylvain gallops off towards the soldiers surrounding the Titanus, and I shadow him atop Omar. Ignatz scrambles to keep up and Linhardt stays in the backline. Sylvain fights similar to how I saw him approach the battles at Arianrhod and the Tailtean Plains, which means that Ignatz is the one to pull out the new techniques. He goes after mages first, firing off silencing shots through a combat art that stops them from using their magic. After they're dealt with, he fires shots at the infantry and cavalry that expose weak spots in their armor and sap their strength. I've always noticed that he never managed to keep up in raw combat prowess compared to me and Leonie, so it's good to see him finding his niche.

Which gives me an idea.

As the Titanus approaches, we're still finishing up the last of the Agarthans in the area. I swoop towards the mech and fire off an encloser shot, which causes the robot to freeze up. Perfect. It won't last forever, but if we fight quickly we should be able to deal with the others and isolate it.

I go aggressive on the rest of the Agarthans and take a few counterattacks as I swoop in to fire off flurries of arrows. Each time I get injured, I feel cooling white magic surround the wound and heal it. Having a healer on our side sure makes the fights easier.

The energy bolts must come from some artillery I can't see, and they continue to rain down on us as we continue the fight. Linhardt is able to keep Sylvain and Ignatz healthy, and whenever he gets hit he closes his eyes and starts to doze off. At first, I'm worried that he's falling unconscious. Then I get annoyed when I see that he's taking a nap on an active battlefield. But then I see his wounds starting to close when he does, so I leave him be. I have some unorthodox methods myself, so whatever works.

I let myself sigh in relief when we're able to take out the surrounding Agarthan units with no major casualties on our side. Now we turn to the Titanus, which regains its motion and starts barreling towards us. Ignatz continues to fire support shots from a safe distance, and after we dance around it for a while, he and Sylvain send their battalions to break through the robot's armor. The force of the gambits stuns the Titanus, and we all pile in. Even Linhardt moves in to unleash magical attacks on the defenseless automaton. We're able to scrap the thing before it can get back up.

"Good work, team," I say. "Now let's head to the south and see if we can regroup with the others."

I keep a slow, steady pace as I lead the group. No point in tiring them out before the next skirmish, and the energy bolts aren't attacking us as often. Maybe that means the others are also in the area and the artillery's firing at them too.

"It's good to fight by your side again like this," Ignatz says.

I smile at him. "It makes me glad that Byleth stopped your plan to blow up that fort back at Gronder."

He blushes and runs a hand through his hair. "Sorry about that. We were so desperate that I thought-"

"It's okay, Ignatz. I'm glad you're here with us today."

He grins back at me. I'm not sure how this guy can keep his spirits up on the battlefield so easily. Whatever he has, I want it.

And on the other side, there's Linhardt. He wobbles as he walks, and his face is so pale that I wonder if he's about to hurl.

"Hey." I fly Omar over to him. "You doing okay?"

"No," he says. "Getting used to this feeling was too much to hope for. Whenever I see a corpse, my knees go weak. Every instinct in my body is screaming for me to run. But I'll never forgive myself if I do."

"Well, let me know if there's anything I can do."

"Thanks. It's funny, you know. When I'm with you, I feel safer. Almost like I'm with them again."

Byleth. Their shadow hangs over everything I do. But at least this time, it's in a good way. Where are you, teacher? Don't you know that Edelgard is waiting to see you?

There's nothing I can do to Linhardt, so I decide to scout ahead on Omar. By the time I make it to the southern area of Shambhala, I see Seteth and Flayn congregated with Seiros, Catherine, Shamir, and Lysithea. Seiros lets out a sigh of relief when she sees me.

"Are the others all right?" she says.

"I have Ignatz, Sylvain, and Linhardt right behind me. Do you have any reads on the other Blue Lions?"

Right as I say that, Dimitri comes into view, followed by Ashe, Annette, and Dedue.

"That should do it for those damn energy artillery turrets," Dimitri says. "Ashe found someone in a hidden room who was in charge of them."

Lysithea looks towards the central building of Shamhala in front of us. "I bet Thales is hiding in there. We should act before they have the opportunity to send more of those Titanus machines at us."

I glance around. There must have been other Agarthans here, right? I do see several bodies scattered around, and it looks like over half of them were ripped apart by dark magic. Lysithea catches me scanning the area and I raise an eyebrow at her. She shrugs and looks back at the central building. Guess I can't blame her for not holding back around these people. I do wonder how much of them being "evil" is the people at the top. You know, how Nazi leaders were obviously terrible but many regular Germans were just trying to survive under a brutal regime.

By the time I'm done pondering this, Sylvain shows up with the others in tow.

"Glad to see you all safe and alive," he says. "Don't know how many more of my friends I can afford to see go off to the Eternal Flames."

"My apologies for splitting us up," Dimitri says. "I didn't think we were going to get attacked right off the bat."

"Let's finish this now, before Thales is able to plot something else against us," I say. "We all okay going through this door?"

A series of nods go around. We all get in position by the door, and Ashe approaches it.

"Are you sure you can pick the lock of a door that… doesn't have a lock?" I say.

"I know it doesn't make any sense, but I've been fiddling with the other ones and my tools work fine."

I shake my head. After this war is done, my first priority is going to all the doormakers and locksmiths in Fódlan to chew them out.

Sure enough, after fiddling with the door for a few seconds, Ashe manages to get it to open. Through the doorway, I see Thales in the back of the room. He raises a hand, and I see magic crackling at his fingertips.

When I hear the ground rumble, I realize that we walked right into his trap.

The shaking of the ground outside the building sends rubble falling down. Everyone is knocked off balance and pelted with a storm of rocks… other than me and Seteth on our wyverns, who manage to fly into the building. My gaze meets his, and I nod. Time for us to finish this ourselves.

An archer takes aim at Ashe, who is on his knees and badly bruised. I let Seteth take that one and focus my attention on the berserker barreling towards him. I draw Failnaught and take aim. With Ashe already injured, this is the shot I can't afford to miss. I fire two shots at the berskerer. The first one slams into their chest, which doesn't even slow them down. The second one pierces their throat, and they crumple.

A critical hit. Thank the goddess.

No time to celebrate. I look up to see multiple magic blasts heading towards me. I have Omar swerve, but the limited maneuverability of the room means we both get singed. I grit my teeth, and I hear Omar let out a cry of pain. Poor boy.

I have to trust Seteth to deal with the archer, and my attention turns to the two mages surrounding Thales. I take one of them out with a Fallen Star shot, and I can feel Failnaught straining under the force. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Seteth rush over and skewer the other one with a flurry of lance stabs. Thales blasts him with magic in retaliation, and he goes flying back. He's still moving when he hits the ground, which means that Linhardt or Seiros will be able to stabilize him if I can take care of Thales.

I turn to Thales and fire off a shot. The arrow takes him in the stomach, but he's still standing. He turns to me and unleashes a cone of darkness. From my position, there's no way I can dodge.

Shit.

Pain floods my vision, and my next sensation is my body hitting stone. I groan and open my eyes to see Thales standing above me, smiling as his pupil-less eyes look directly at me.

"You are such an interesting specimen," he says. "I never thought you'd survive in this world after I brought him in for my experiments. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

I see a ball of darkness materialize above his hand. There has to be something I can do.

A surge of healing goes through me. Due to getting knocked out of position, when I look forward I can see the entrance to the room. There, Lindhardt's hands glow with white magic. He's battered, bleeding, and panting, but he's still healing me first. He mouths me a message. Kill him for me.

With a grunt, I draw my blade and ram it straight into Thales' chest. I try to yank it out, but it gets caught. He stumbles back, taking the sword with him, sweat forming on his forehead.

"You will never get to enjoy your victory," he says. "For all Agarthans, let there be light!"

He presses his hand to the ground, and it starts to glow. Let there be light…

Thales is planning to blow this whole place to smithereens.

I look back, and he's beginning to cast another spell. I don't recognize this one and it's not condensing the dark energy in a way that would be good for an attack. Which means he's trying to teleport away. I draw the arrow Hubert put in his letter and fire it. The shot slams into Thales' arm right as he disappears.

Damn it. At least I'll be able to track him down.

More rumbling sounds from above. Seiros stands up with a grunt.

"Annette, I need you to use recover on me," she says. "Now!"

Annette hesitates, then nods. In seconds, Seiros' vitality returns. I run outside of the building to see the earth above us breaking open. As the sun's light shines through, rubble and boulders fall into Shambhala. Serios grimaces and hops up the boulders with what must be superhuman strength. As she reaches the surface, she transforms into her dragon form.

I run over to the hole in the ceiling to see more nukes descending towards us. Serios blasts them with an energy attack, but I'm not sure how much longer she can hold out.

A hand grabs my shoulder. I turn around to see Dimitri pulling me away.

"We need to leave," he says. "I know you like to play the hero, but we're useless here."

He's right. Just like at Fort Merceus, there's nothing I can do to stop the destruction. Time to leave.

I hope you're all right, Seiros. We need you to rebuild Fódlan.

#

After we escape Shambhala, we're able to find Seiros passed out on the ground above where the city was. She looks bad, to the point that even the healing magic Linhardt and Flayn provide doesn't seem to help much.

"She doesn't look good," Seteth tells me and Dimitri off to the side. "I am praying for her quick recovery, of course, but we must prepare for the worst-case scenario."

Right. If Seiros doesn't manage to recover, we'll have to find a new archbishop.

"Would you be interested in filling that position?" I say.

"I would if Seiros told me to," he says, "But I truly have no interest in such a leadership role. It is not suited to my strengths."

Well, I can't think of anyone else who fits the bill. Maybe one of the Cardinals, but I trust church officials I don't know about as far as I can throw them.

"There's also the possibility that Serios mentioned," Seteth says, "Of dismantling the Church of Seiros."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Dimitri says. "Serios could have a smooth recovery, after all. What I'm more concerned about now is Thales. It's maddening how he managed to escape from us again."

"Sorry," I say. "I know I was so close."

"You were the one who carried us through this mission," Seteth says. "Do not apologize, Claude."

But it was everyone who helped. Flayn who rescued me when I was surrounded, Lysithea who wiped out half the Agarthan forces on her own, and Linhardt who healed me when I was on my last legs.

Wait. I hit Thales with that tracking arrow, didn't I? I close my eyes and try to attune myself to his location, imagining a compass in my mind. I can feel him… there, but I can't tell which direction he's in. Either Hubert's arrow enchantment didn't work as well as he thought, or Thales is on a different plane of existence right now. And for all the negatives I can think about Hubert, incompetent is not one of them. I'll put my trust in this creation of his for now.

"I think I know where he is," I say. "And it's a place only I can reach."

"You mean…" Dimitri meets my gaze.

"That's right," I say. "I'll head back there and make sure he breathes his last. For all of our sakes."

Seteth frowns in confusion. Maybe someday I'll tell him too about Earth. For now, it's time to coordinate a headhunt with Robin and Lucina.

Still, something's nagging at me. There's the issue of my Fódlan doppelganger who didn't show up at all, but I'm honestly not too concerned about him. The bigger mystery is another person who didn't make their appearance today, and who always seems to show up to ruin my day.

Where was Byleth all this time?

And finally, we reach the base of Those Who Slither in the Dubstep. It wasn't until I had to write Thales that I realized just how generically evil the dude is. Some of his lines here are from the actual game, and honestly they all feel like filler to me.

See you back on Earth for the next chapter! :)