The following day, a new article was on the top page of the newspaper. An article about me, how I didn't have a Crest, and was born an orphan and poor commoner. It was a sob story, about how I'd worked hard to get a scholarship to attend Garreg Mach, and how my efforts and skills had impressed Dimitri.

"Did you authorize this?" I asked Dimitri, holding the newspaper in front of him.

He shook his head. "No." He took the paper from my hands and read for a few minutes. "I didn't know you had a scholarship or that the Officer's Academy gave out scholarships. Who would know this?"

I crossed my arms. There was Yuri. Perhaps Lady Rhea. Rose wouldn't do this. Jeralt? "Not a lot," I said. If someone went snooping, could they find this information? What about the TWISTD people?

"I'm sure the commoners will like it, though," Dimitri said, dropping the newspaper on the table. The royal scribe entered with his draft, and we all sat down to review it. We agreed to schedule its release on the following Saturday.

I received a letter from Yuri shortly before lunch.

Byleth,

By the time this letter reaches you, the news will probably be out. I'm sorry. I should have asked for your permission first, but I believe selling the story of your past to newspapers will help garner you sympathy. It might also paint an even larger target on your back for the nobles to attack, so be careful. They're afraid of change, and they're afraid of losing their power and privilege. With this, hopefully, you'll be a hero to the commoners, and you'll be able to return to the monastery soon for more peace talks.

Lots of love,

Y

With Dimitri's statement and the newspaper article, the petition to keep me as Dimitri's advisor tripled in length. Dimitri was also creating a list of names who were in agreement with the new Crest discrimination law, which included some nobles like Lord Rodrigue, some low rank priests from the Church, and some knights and other palace officials.

"We'll publish the list as an alliance, to reassure the commoners that they have allies," Dimitri said.

"And to pressure the others to join," Rufus said.

"Byleth, do you think you could convince Seteth or Lady Rhea to join us?" Dimitri asked.

I shrugged. "I can try. I have another meeting with them tomorrow."

"Great."

The list of names for the Anti-Discrimination Alliance was published on Saturday along with Dimitri's official statement. By the end of Pegasus Moon, a few other nobles had agreed to join the alliance, including Lord Gautier and Lord Galatea - thanks to Ingrid and Sylvain's persistence. The Church was much more difficult to persuade, but Lady Rhea finally relented.

In that time, I received another letter from the same anonymous sender. The handwriting was the same, as well as the thick dark ink and parchment.

Dear Miss Byleth,

I trust that you received my previous letter. You aren't going to resign? What a shame. I was looking forward to meeting you in person and introducing you to a Sreng prince. I suppose His Majesty Dimitri was a fine prince himself, so marrying a prince might seem like nothing to you. How about this? Not just any prince, but the Crown Prince himself. Would that entice you? He's handsome, around your age, strong. Won't you come to the border to meet us?

Ugh. A shudder ran down my spine. What was with this person? If I had to guess, they were probably a Kingdom noble, trying to get me to leave. There was no way they actually knew a Sreng prince, much less the crown prince. Who was the Sreng crown prince anyway? I went to my bookshelf, found the book on Sreng. It was from a few years ago, but there was information on the royal family then. They had three sons and one daughter.

I closed the book. Who cared? I wasn't going to leave my position anyway. Again, I tucked the letter back in its envelope and stored it in one of my drawers. Maybe I should ask Yuri if he knew who might be behind this. I'd think Gautier is likeliest, since his lands were closest to Sreng. But anyone could bluff about Sreng princes and meeting at the border.

When Lone Moon (3) came, we were nowhere closer to returning to the monastery. The Kingdom was still unstable. Some of the lords that hadn't joined the Anti-Discrimination Alliance were walled up in their manor, while their subjects protested outside. Letters continued to flood into the palace, asking Dimitri to change his mind or to stop the commoners. And Dimitri did try to stop the commoners. He told them that there was no need to pressure others to join, that change was slow and would take time, but people didn't care. They wanted to see that those in power would take action.

It'd been a whole year since the war began, but it'd also been at a temporary truce for several months now. I was worried that if we didn't meet again soon that Edelgard might start the war up again, like it was an old machine that just needed some oil.

As the kingdom stabilized, we all agreed to meet at the monastery once more at the start of Harpstring Moon (5). Edelgard informed us that her uncle, Lord Arundel, would be joining us this time in place of an Imperial soldier. We told her that Lord Arundel wasn't going to be the only new face, because this time, the Church of Serios was coming too.

It was a cloudy day when we arrived at the monastery. Edelgard's group greeted us at the entrance, and I waved. Dimitri gave them a curt nod, but Lady Rhea kept a steely cool gaze. As separate parties, Lady Rhea had brought along Seteth, Catherine, and even Cyril, along with several knights.

"The Adrestian Empire shouldn't be occupying holy grounds like the monastery," Rhea said, in lieu of a greeting.

"We aren't occupying," Edelgard said. "We are looking after the monastery, since its previous caretakers have left."

"Forced out by you." Rhea's eyes narrowed.

I stepped in between the two of them with a smile. "Why don't we go inside first?" I said.

Edelgard glanced at me, then nodded. "Yes, Claude's party arrived yesterday. We can start immediately."

As our horses and carriages were led away, we followed Edelgard into Garreg Mach. The Church members kept sweeping their gazes over the hallway, as if they were searching for some speck of dust or crack in the structure.

We had a late lunch first in the cafeteria. Rhea wouldn't eat the food placed before her and had one of the knights cook something up for them. Afterwards, we entered the Great Hall to join the Alliance and Empire.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming again this time," I said, as we settled down into various seats around the large tables. Hubert had brought the papers we'd written on last time. "I know it's been several months, but I hope everyone remembers what we discussed previously. Of course, this time, we have the Church of Serios, represented by Lady Rhea and Seteth here." I gestured at the two, who were both sitting with straight spines and feet planted firmly on the floor. "We were figuring out how many people we might need for the special task force. Lady Rhea, how many enemies does the Church regularly have in a year?"

"We usually have one or two. This year had especially many," Rhea said while eyeing Edelgard.

"We wouldn't need a very large group then," Edelgard said. "What about three to five per country?"

"The smaller the group, the more carefully they'll have to be selected," Dimitri said.

Claude rested his chin in his hand and said, "Hmm, if there isn't regular work for them, maybe we could have a larger group that's on standby. They could be regular knights, for example, and they'd only work together when there's a case."

"I'd like the Church to have a part in this group," Rhea said. "At least a representative." The other three leaders exchanged glances, waiting for someone to speak first.

"I suppose that would make sense," said Dimitri.

"I don't like that idea," said Edelgard. "It'd take away the objective view and bring in bias and personal motive. We don't want the alleged victim to be the judge. That's what's happening right now."

"Yeah, I'm going to agree with the princess here," Claude said, nodding. "What if the Church had a point of contact for the group to work with, though?"

"That'd make sense," Edelgard said. Ferdinand was taking notes of everything we were saying, marking an X next to Lady Rhea's idea of a Church representative in the group. "The Church will appoint someone to be the lead and point of contact in regards to investigations. Someone who will provide answers and information."

"Just one?" Rhea's eyebrows furrowed.

"Well, the person could have subordinates, but just one person makes things less complicated," Edelgard said.

"I suppose this person could also be on standby until there's someone or some crime to investigate," Dimitri said, and Claude nodded in agreement.

Edelgard crossed her legs. "All right. Let's discuss funding next. I think the Church should also provide some funding, not just the three nations."

"No Church representative, but we still have to provide funds?" Rhea said. She shook her head.

"I was thinking each nation would pool together a set amount of money that the organization could use, and the Church would only pay a fee for each investigation they want done," Edelgard said. "That way the Church can't keep submitting hundreds of cases to tire out the group or deplete funds."

"Agreed," Claude said. "It makes sense to me. A fee per case submitted. How much were we thinking of from each nation? On a yearly basis, right?"

"If we're going with the standby method, then the members' salaries can be directly paid by each country," Dimitri said. "For the first year, perhaps we could start off with two hundred and fifty thousand each, with a budget in place, and if we find that's not enough, we can adjust the money going forward."

"Seventy hundred and fifty thousand total." Edelgard tapped her foot on the floor.

"Hang on, so no salaries," Claude said, leaning back in his seat. "But they'd have to travel to and from the monastery, to whichever country the suspect's at, which means horses and maybe carriages. They'd need money for food and accommodations. They might need money for supplies, too."

Lord Arundel nodded. "I suggest we get some estimates on how much each item might cost for each person. That way we'd have a better idea of how much money will be needed."

Ferdinand was still scribbling down everything that Claude had written, when he leaned back in his seat with a quiet sigh and shook his right hand. Hubert reached over and took the quill from Ferdinand's hand.

"Wait, Hubert," Ferdinand said, and for a moment, everyone's eyes were on them.

"Your hand is obviously cramping. Besides, your handwriting is illegible," Hubert said. He spun the parchment paper towards himself and continued the list, adding other things he had in mind as well, like weapons, uniforms, and money for paying for services.

"That's a good idea," Judith said to Arundel.

Lord Rodrigue nodded. "With those numbers, we can also gauge how much the per case fee should be, perhaps some percentage of the estimated cost."

"Are we sure we don't want to pay for the salaries too?" Claude asked, crossing his arms behind his head. "I mean, wouldn't it be unfair if, say, the Empire sends three people who have salaries of seventy thousand a year, and the Kingdom sends three people who have salaries of like fifty thousand a year?"

"I see what you mean," Dimitri said. "Although they'll be doing the same work, they'll be paid different amounts."

"What kind of people were you both thinking of choosing? Knights?" Claude said. Dimitri and Edelgard both nodded. "That makes sense, I guess. They need to be able to defend themselves and capture suspects. But, princess, wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity to select commoners without any Crests? Most knights still come from a position of privilege and wealth."

"That's a good point, but would it be realistic or even feasible for commoners to drop everything they're doing within a week's notice?" Edelgard said. "Knights are already employed by the royal family, so it'd be easy to organize them and send them elsewhere."

Claude stroked his chin. "Hmm, true."

"I suppose that's one reason we should have a pool of people whom we can send," Dimitri said. "Say we only need three people, but have ten people to choose from. As long as three of the ten have the time for the investigations, then it'd be fine."

"All right. Let's discuss this later," Edelgard said. She nodded at Hubert. "If we're going to select commoners, that means we'll have to set skill requirements and decide on salaries."

It was nearing dinner time. We agreed to gather numbers for how much money it'd cost one person to travel from their own nation to the monastery and back, and average cost of food and accommodations.

Dimitri suggested we break into smaller groups - one for the finances and one for the job requirements. Each party selected one person. For finances, Seteth, Hubert, Rodrigue, and Judith made up the group, while the job requirements fell to Catherine, Ferdinand, Ingrid, and Lorenz.

"Good idea. That will give us more time to discuss other matters," Edelgard said as we stood up. Dorothea helped Ferdinand gather up the papers, while Lady Rhea was already stepping out of the Great Hall. We walked together to the cafeteria for dinner. Afterwards, I slipped away to Abyss.

"Yuri!" I found him standing in the classroom. Yuri glanced up from where he was drawing some diagram on the chalkboard for two people to see. There were several small circles inside a large rectangle and arrows pointing from the circles to other circles. "Oh, sorry." I stepped back out of the room. "I'll come back."

"No worries." Yuri smiled at me. "We're almost done anyway." I waited outside, listening to the low murmur of their conversation. When the two people left the room, I walked back in. The chalkboard was smudged and the drawing erased. Yuri swept me up into his arms and pulled me close. "Byleth, so good to see you."

I grinned and wrapped my arms around him. "Good to see you too."

We returned to Rose's house and chatted over tea and a loaf of fruit cake. "Did you make any progress on what that Myson person is doing in Abyss?" I asked.

Yuri leaned back in his chair. "He's been going through the library here. He doesn't talk to anyone. From what I know, I suspect he might be somewhat related to Solon and Kronya."

I froze up at Solon's name, and it took a second for me to breathe again. Right. That made sense. Myson was apparently a TWSITD person. I nodded. But Yuri didn't know about TWSITD. Did he? "What makes you think that?" I said.

"You can tell me to shut up if you don't want to hear it." Yuri's lips twitched in a half-smile.

"No, no, please tell me," I said, shaking my head. I held onto my tea cup with both hands. The warmth helped anchor me back to the dining room, to Abyss, to a world without Solon.

"Solon and Kronya both have the unusual magical ability of disguising as someone else," Yuri said. "You said he was behind the plague at our village, too, which means some immense knowledge in medicine and magic. Myson, from what I can tell, is also a highly skilled mage. The fact that there's so little on him is evidence that he's not an ordinary person. I'm still looking into it some more, though."

"Into Myson?"

"Into their group, their organization," Yuri said. "I want to know who they are and what they want, what they're trying to achieve." His eyes met mine before flickering back down to the half loaf in between us. "I want to know if there are others like them."

I stared at the wooden table, opening and closing my mouth. "You remember how I told you my brother left a notebook full of information for me?" I said. Yuri nodded. "He… knows about people like them. He has a list of people like them."

"A list?" He leaned forward. "Who?"

"Myson, Solon, and Kronya, like you said, but also Lord Arundel," I said. I wasn't sure how much information I should or could share with Yuri. Byleth had said that I could do what I saw fit, but the truth was, I didn't know what to do.

"Lord Arundel." Yuri stroked his chin. "Two people working for the Empire. Do you think they're some secret organization that's part of the Empire?"

I shook my head. "No. No, they're independent."

"You'd better be careful," Yuri said, looking me in the eye.

I reached my hand over to squeeze his hand. "I will."

While the other groups worked on the details for the Church enemy investigative organization, including the name, the three leaders and Lady Rhea discussed other means of dismantling the Crest system. By the end of the month, we'd nailed down about half of the details and come up with several ideas for the Crest system.

It was a Sunday afternoon, a rare day off when we weren't working. Dimitri was training with Dedue, and I was heading for the library, when Lord Arundel intercepted my path. His dark eyebrow was raised just a fraction, and he smiled at me. "Miss Byleth," he said. "Would you mind walking with me for a bit?"

"Lord Arundel," I said and feigned a smile. "What for?"

"I'd like to talk to you," Arundel said.

"Yes, but about what?"

"About your brother," he said.

Byleth? What could Arundel have to say about him? "What about him?" I said and crossed my arms. I didn't want to go walking with him. If he was a partner of Solon's, then who knew what he had up his sleeve.

"Do you not trust me?" Arundel's smile widened, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Shall we invite someone else to join us?" Arundel glanced at a Church knight who was walking over from the cafeteria area. "Why don't we have this Church soldier come with us then?" He waved the knight over.

"Well, we may talk here then," I said.

"No, there's somewhere I'd like you to see," Arundel said. "Where your brother fell." My mouth hung open for a second, while Arundel was talking to the knight. "Won't you accompany us for a moment? Miss Byleth doesn't trust me."

"How do you know where he fell? How do you know that he fell?" I asked, but I was already following Arundel down the stairs, towards the garden and fishing pond, towards the monastery gates. I scanned Arundel up and down quickly. It didn't look like he had any weapons on him. Perhaps a knife tucked in his robes, but no sword or axe or lance.

Arundel smiled at me. It was a crooked little smile, and his eyes were dark. "I have my means."

The knight followed behind us quietly. My left hand hovered near my sword. "Does Edelgard know?" I asked.

"My niece would get distracted if I told her," he said.

"Then why are you telling me?"

"I don't need to worry about you getting distracted." Arundel glanced at me. We walked past the marketplace, quiet and deserted save for one merchant in the corner. I wondered if I should have told someone before walking out of the monastery, but there was the Church knight with me. Unless the knight was secretly Myson or another TWSITD goon. I wouldn't put it past them to do such a thing. But what could they want from me? I wasn't Byleth. I wasn't special. I didn't have a Crest or color-changing hair.

Past the large, outer gates, we broke off from the path. "And what good would knowing where Byleth fell do me?" I asked.

"That's up to you." Arundel shrugged. Every fiber in my being was screaming that this had to be a trap somehow. We were nearing the cliff edge. A trap to push me down the cliff. Then the Church knight couldn't be any ordinary knight. "Right here." Arundel stopped, arms-length away from the edge.

I heard the scrapping sound of a sword unsheathing first, and I spun around to meet the blade with my own, still half in the scabbard. "So it was a trap," I said, through gritted teeth. I drew my sword out and parried the next attack.

"So you're not surprised," Arundel said with a chuckle.

"I know who you are," I said.

"Oh?"

The knight's strikes were nothing compared to Jeralt's. There was hardly any force behind them. I planted my feet in the dirt, waited for an opening, and swung at the knight. The blade cut across his chest, and he yelled.

"What do you mean by that?" Arundel asked, watching, as I dodged the counter attack and stabbed the knight in his ribs. The knight coughed, blood coating my sword.

I pulled my sword back out and turned to Arundel. He picked himself over the dying soldier and reached for the knight's sword. I pointed the tip of my blade at him, and he paused. "You're not Lord Arundel," I said. He smiled. His left hand was reaching into his sleeve. I kicked the knight's sword behind me and stepped back, as Arundel brandished a dagger at me.

"Are you sure?" he said. A dark purple orb was forming in his left hand. Dark magic. I avoided the first attack, but then Arundel was holding an open bottle. He splashed me with the contents of the bottle, a clear fluid that I'd seen before, drank before, and used to carry into battle.

The medicinal, sharp odor filled my nostrils. I froze. For a second, I remembered a cold, rough hand prying my mouth open and pouring the same liquid down my parched throat. For a second, I could hear Solon's voice in my ear, a whisper, a laugh.

No, snap out of it! By the time, I'd thought to move, Arundel was already lunging towards me with the knight's sword. When did he pick it up? How? I couldn't move fast enough, and he nicked my side. Warm blood seeped out of the wound.

"At least Solon did one thing right," Arundel said with a grin. He laughed. "I've never seen anyone react in such a way to a healing potion."

Arundel moved towards my left, away from the edge, and I saw what he was trying to do. I stepped away from him and towards the path. Should I run? There was a dead Church knight, and his blood on my blade. Would people believe my side of the story?

Arundel kept trying to circle around me, and I kept my distance from him and the edge of the cliff. He formed another dark orb in his palm. He shot several attacks at me. I dodged them all - he had a tendency to aim for my left side, until I found myself moving to the right, towards the edge.

Dammit! I gritted my teeth. I wasn't going to play his game. I grabbed one of my smaller daggers and threw it at him. He knocked it down with a loud clang of the sword. I was already charging up a fireball.

I closed the gap between us, before blasting him with the fireball. Arundel didn't dodge. He took the hit and grinned at me. It hadn't singed a single hair on his head. His magical resistance was way too high for me.

"Do tell, who do you think I am?" Arundel said, while running up towards me. I met his sword with mine. The force of his blow sent a vibration down my arm. He was much stronger than that Church crony.

"You're one of them," I said. "Solon. Kronya."

"I suppose I gave that away," Arundel said. I swept my sword at him, but he knocked my attack back with a simple flick of his wrist. There was a dark orb in Arundel's left hand. I stepped back to get distance between us, but he followed, striking down at me.

I bit my bottom lip, holding my sword with both hands against his own. The orb was growing larger on the second. I withdrew, disengaging from him, but Arundel was tossing the orb at me. I wasn't fast enough. The magic struck me full in the chest, knocked me down to the ground, and the air flew out of my lungs.

Arundel was walking towards me, so I rolled away. When I got on my knees, a bottle was flying towards my face. I instinctively struck it down with my sword. The glass shattered against the metal, and shards tore into my arms and legs. I grimaced at the bitter, clean smell. My vision wobbled as I pushed myself to my feet.

"Why don't you make this easier for yourself? Just lie down and die," Arundel said.

I glared at him. "I'm not going to die at your hands," I said and charged him. Arundel laughed when our blades met with another clang. If I was going to die, I was going to at least make him bleed once, somewhere.

I blocked his next attack. He was strong but not quite as fast as me. The second Arundel was pulling away - there! I swung at his arm. The tip of my sword met his wrist and drew blood. He winced and stepped back, but Arundel recovered quickly and parried my next blow.

He smirked at me. "You're really not that special compared to your brother."

I didn't feel the need to respond to that. Of course, I knew that. What was the point in telling me?

Arundel let me attack, and he deflected each attack with ease, a small smile on his lips. Like this was amusing. Like this was just a game to him. I aimed for his leg next, his thigh, and left a shallow gash there.

"You really think you can win against me?" Arundel said. "How foolish."

We both paused for a second. Arundel tilted his head back and laughed, while I caught my breath.

"What do you want from me?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I want you dead," he said. Then he was swinging at me, and I stumbled backwards. There was another orb forming in his palm. "I gave you some time to see what you had, but it looks like you don't have much at all."

I narrowed my eyes. Arundel was striking with even more force now, and one blow wrenched my right arm away, leaving my entire torso open. I twisted to get away, but he was still faster. He cut diagonally upward from my abdomen to my chest.

The flash of pain made it hard to think for a second. I parried his next attack, swung my sword upwards, and managed to slice another shallow wound upon his chest. Arundel didn't even flinch. He knocked my sword back and stabbed me through the stomach.

I gasped. Then I drove my own sword into Arundel's sword arm, piercing through.

He chuckled. "Hmm, not bad." When he pulled his blade back out, I tumbled to the ground onto my knees, feeling the hilt slip through my fingers. He yanked my sword out and tossed it far behind him. Struggling to breathe, I reached for my dagger. The edges of my vision darkened. Arundel kicked my hand, knocking the dagger out of my hand. I yelled.

Arundel grabbed my hair and dragged me towards the edge of the cliff. I retrieved one of my smaller daggers and jammed it into his foot, then raked it down the side of his leg. It didn't slow him. I could see the trail of my own blood behind us, staining the grass, as my eyes filled with dark spots.

"Now, go and join your brother," Arundel said as he flung me off the edge of the cliff. I reached an arm out for him, felt his ankle slide past my palm. I watched him smile as I fell, watched him become smaller and smaller, and watched the dark walls of the cliff swallow me.

Thanks for reading! :)