July: Facing the Facts

A heavy silence filled the air. The mountain of corpses lined the stronghold. Camilla slid off her wyvern, Nyna, to survey the sight. "Oh, goodness! I didn't realize just how many we slaughtered."

Silas pulled his daughter in for a hug. "You took down the enemy commander all by yourself! I'm so proud! I remember your first battle-how I had to be your vanguard-and helped you kill the bandit leader. Look how far you've come!"

Sophie giggled. "Aw Daddy; I'm going to blush."

Khalid ordered, "Let's examine this site to see if there are any clues."

Everyone scurried around the place, looking for any clues that could grant them any leads. Dorothea went to the data storage area and found some notes. "Here's something." She turned the pages, soaking in the Twilighters secrets.

This world has been largely abandoned by the Divines' swine. It'll be easy to take refuge here. We can squirm our way through undetected and squeeze the lands dry.

Dorothea's heart sank. It was true that the world they were was neglected, and her insides were weighed down by the fact that she was guilty; she should have brough it to everyone's attention. If Dorothea felt so responsible, she couldn't imagine what the residents of the world would feel.

Caeldori reached for the notes, but Dorothea backed away, making up excuses. "No-not yet. I'm still reading."

Caeldori raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Why can't I just read with you?"

Dorothea winced. "You-you just can't!"

Caeldori ignored the warning and read the document. "Oh. That's um . . . difficult to see."

Dorothea took it back and held it against her chest. "Yes. I'm sorry you had to see it."

Caeldori turned to see if they were alone. "If you could, I think it would be best if this news didn't fall on Sophie's ears. She's already devastated by Siegbert's wounds, and if she saw a report saying our carelessness caused our world to suffer, she might not be able to handle it."

Dorothea blanched. "Of course. I'll keep it hidden from her view."

Caeldori heaved a tired sigh. "Thanks. I'm just worried about her. She's my best friend, so I'm always making sure that she's okay . . . It just seems like yesterday when I had to help her get over her nerves about dancing with Siegbert at a ball, and now he's healing from a huge attack."

Dorothea nodded empathically. "I can always talk to her. My Ferdie was taken from me. I had no idea what the Twilighters were going to do to him. It turned out they wanted to sacrifice him to some . . . thing. I don't know if it was that Belerager or some strange evil dragon thing, but I made them pay," her voice dropped, "but I wouldn't let them take him from me."

Caeldori crossed her arms, examining the situation. "Dorothea could help . . . She's been through something similar . . . but there's always the possibility it could make things worse . . . Still . . . if Dorothea failed that badly, Sophie would come to me and I'd be able to handle it, right?"

Caeldori decided, "That would be an excellent idea. Thank you very much."

Dorothea handed her the note and scooted over to Sophie. "Hello, dear! I just wanted to tell you how critical you were in the fight. I felt one-hundred percent safer with you in the fray."

Sophie looked up, surprised. "Oh! Thanks Dorothea. To be honest, I sort of just lost control. Like I was an entirely different person. I'm not really that strong."

Dorothea gave her a quick squeeze. "You may not feel strong, but you are. Trust me. It's not easy to carry on while the one you love isn't with you. I know. Ferdie was taken from me for a short time."

Sophie slumped to the floor, hugging her knees. "It's the worst feeling in the world. It's more than I can handle."

Dorothea played with Sophie's hair, hoping the gesture would soothe her. "Yet you are. You are conquering this separation with every breath."

Sophie leaned into Dorothea. "Thanks. I really needed to hear that."

Dorothea styled her hair into a ponytail. "No problem! You can always come to me about this. I'm here for you. You're a valuable part of this army, young lady, and I will not have you suffer in silence."

Sophie started exercising and touching her toes in a subconscious stress reducer. "You know, you're like this to Bernadetta, too. You're like an older sister to everyone. You're a very kind person. If you and Ferdinand work out, I think Adrestia is going to greatly improve under you."

Dorothea blushed. "Oh, that's so sweet of you. I'm taking it slow with Ferdie for now, but that's always encouraging to hear."

Once the premises were properly secured, Byleth announced, "Okay, everyone! Time to head back to the Vallite castle to discuss our next move."

On the journey, Caeldori noticed Sophie appear to be lighter on her feet. She jogged to her friend. "Hey Sophie! How are you feeling?"

Sophie shot her a confused look. "Huh? Why should I feel any different? But I'm super psyched to go home! I might be able to sneak in a visit with Siegbert." She turned her head and noticed Dorothea and Ferdinand whispering amongst themselves with anxious expressions. She excused herself from Caeldori and approached them.

She heard Dorothea say, "Neglected this place just like the note said-"

Ferdinand cut her off. "We were foolish not to visit this world sooner and mitigate the Twilighter menace here. Regardless, we are wiping them out now, and that is what matters."

Sophie gulped, feeling as though she missed something important. "Um, what note?"

Dorothea spun around, surprised. "Sophie?! What are you doing here?"

Sophie explained, "I saw you guys clustered over here and it seemed like something was wrong so I came over. You guys were talking about a note?"

Dorothea hastily shook her head. "Nothing for you to worry about! It was just a little something that caught my eye."

Sophie pressed, "But if it was in the stronghold, that's important. Is there a reason I can't know?"

Ferdinand bit his lip. "Should we tell her?"

Dorothea gave him an exasperated expression. "Ferdie! You give in too easily! Well, seeing as how I doubt you'll stop searching for the answer, I'll tell you. There was a nasty note that bragged that since we weren't here for a while, the Twilighters were able to grab a hold of this world. Are you okay?"

Sophie's eyes widened and her knees started shaking. "They're right! What type of princess am I if I didn't protect my people?! Both Valla and Nohr depended on me and I let them down. I'm not fit to be the princess of Valla or the future queen of Nohr!"