Right as we head off, Omar and Edelgard's wyvern fly down to meet us. Both of them are injured, and it takes us a bit for Flayn to heal them. I expect Edelgard to be tapping her foot the entire time while Flayn prioritizes her healing magic on mount animals, but she stays by her wyvern's side the whole time. From the way Flayn handles them, it's clear that she's comfortable around wyverns, which I guess makes sense given how Seteth was a wyvern rider in combat. And now that I think about it, I wonder if her reptilian Nabatean heritage gives her more of an understanding of how wyverns act and think. That's my headcanon for Seteth, anyway.
Seteth… every time he wasn't scolding us, he was worried about his daughter. I'll do everything I can to ensure that we build a Fódlan where she is safe and will be accepted. It's the least I can do.
After the wyverns are healed, Edelgard turns to me.
"I'm glad that they're back in good health, but they're clearly exhausted," she says. "I don't think they'll go much further even if we push them."
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I don't have it in me to put Omar through more after forcing him to stare down a dragon several tons larger than him and fight for his life. I look at the wyverns and I'm not sure they even have the energy to fly on their own, much less carry us.
"Didn't know you had such a sentimental side," I say.
"Sentiment is what we're fighting for, is it not? What are all these sacrifices for, if not the beauty of building a better world?"
True enough. For someone who I read as being concerned with the practicality of the meritocracy she wanted to build, she sure is driven by ideals and promises of a new tomorrow. In a way, I'm jealous. I've been on the back foot for so long that I've only been able to care about keeping me and the people I care about safe.
Not that I've been doing a great job of accomplishing my own goals, either.
The three of us make our way out into the open. After Seiros' fall, it looks like all the white beasts vanished, the golems deactivated, and the possessed soldiers regained their senses. Flayn leads us over to where some of the church soldiers and Imperial officers are regrouping.
"Looks like not everyone went ahead to fight Nemesis," Edelgard says. "Why don't I stick around and organize them? I'll be more useful around my own commanders than debating with Dimitri about tactics."
It takes me a second to realize she's asking me. "Sure, if that's where you think you're most needed. I want to go ahead and see how the Alliance and Kingdom forces are doing."
Well, I guess not Alliance and Kingdom forces anymore, since we're all part of a united Fódlan, but it's still easiest to call them that for now. Edelgard nods.
"I expected as much," she says. "Flayn, you are free to do as you wish, but my recommendation is for you to stay with these church soldiers. They are looking for guidance, and you are a clear authority figure."
"I suppose I am." She averts her gaze. "My father should be the one doing this. He was always the one rallying people, dealing with logistics, keeping Seiros' army from collapsing under its own weight. But now he's…"
She buries her face in her hands. I gnaw on the inside of my mouth. It didn't seem like she blames me for what happened, but seeing her here makes me wonder what I could have done to save Seteth. So many little missteps in battle fighting The Immaculate One. If I had fixed them all, would it have mattered?
"I must follow in his footsteps," Flayn says, "And create a Fódlan that does not fall into another one of these horrid wars. I will do what is necessary to gather up the church soldiers and lead them, Edelgard."
"Excellent. Claude, let's find you a new wyvern."
Turns out, that part doesn't take long. Edelgard makes eye contact with the first wyvern rider she sees and tells her that "General Claude" needs her wyvern for the rest of the battle to survey the situation. The rider doesn't even hesitate before handing the reins over to me. I don't know if this is the lesson I should be taking from Edelgard, but what I'm learning is that I could get a lot further in life if I were only a little more authoritative.
So less than a minute later, I'm soaring through the sky towards where Dimitri and his army are fighting Byleth. It doesn't take long for me to make out the armies. I see a group of our troops stationed on top of a hill surveying the situation, so I head over to them first. Hopefully there will be someone to direct-
My instincts cause me to yank the reins and swerve out of the way before I realize what's going on. An arrow whizzes past my face, and I look out to see a man on a horse readying another shot. There's an entire legion of soldiers between him and me, yet he still picks out me in particular to fire at. Okay, bud. Now it's personal.
"Let's go, bud." I pat my new wyvern on the shoulder. "Time to show him what happens to people who mess with us."
I flick the reins and the wyvern starts gliding forward. My alert stance lets me dodge out of the way of his second shot, and it's only then when I fly close enough that I see the weapon the bow knight holds.
Failnaught. Same as mine. What the…
Focus, Claude. You've seen weirder. Hell, just fifteen minutes ago I was fighting a millennium-old dragon ruler. I can handle a replica of my fancy weapon. My eyes meet the bow knight's, and something about his face seems familiar. But it can't be one I've seen before, since I don't recognize him as someone I know.
Wait. Legendary weapon from old. A face that reminds me of people I've seen but haven't met. My mind goes back to the days pouring over Fódlan history, looking over portraits of notable figures. And then the rider in front of me has a name.
"Riegan," I say. "Was it worth it? All this power for being complicit in a genocide. You had the power to stop it, but you chose to do nothing."
No response from my ancestor. Or, well, from Fódlan Claude's ancestor, I guess. Blegh, I'm not going to worry about alternate dimension bullshit until Byleth is six feet under.
I fire a Fallen Star shot at Riegan. The darkness seeps into his body and prevents him from counterattacking. Instead of firing back when he regains control of himself, he gallops away.
Oh no you don't.
I swerve close to him and draw my blade before he can reach for his bow. I have my wyvern fly up next to him until the two of us are neck and neck. I can't get close enough to reach him with my blade at the side without being close enough that my wyvern can't fly, but I have another trick up my sleeve. I do a barrel roll over top of Riegan and his horse, and when I pass overhead, while I'm upside-down in the middle of the maneuver, I strike at him. I feel my blade dig into flesh, and Riegan topples off his horse. While he scrambles to his feet, I fly up and draw Failnaught.
"And stay dead this time," I say.
One shot. The arrow takes Riegan in the chest, and he falls to the ground. Good riddance. I examine Failnaught. It's already starting to strain, which means that I can't keep pulling these stunts for long. I only have a few shots left with this thing before it needs repairs, and each Fallen Star I use will rapidly accelerate how quickly it breaks.
I continue on my path to the top of the hill, and when I arrive I see Ashe and Ignatz firing on the masses of zombie and Agarthan soldiers far below, while Dedue guards them. I whistle as a hello and swoop down, landing next to them.
"Oh, thank goodness you're still alive," Ignatz says. "When you didn't return from your secret mission and Byleth arose, I…"
"Thanks, Ignatz. Let's get down to business. I was attacked by someone with a Failnaught replica. This is going to sound crazy, but I think he's-"
"Riegan," Ashe says. "Did you kill him?"
"Yeah. How did you know what I was going to say?"
"All of the Ten Elites are up and fighting. Well, we're now down to seven, thanks to you."
"And the other two you took out without me are…?"
"Fraldarius and Gautier," Ignatz says. "We were retreating, and they were about to cut us off. Sylvain saw, and he charged in. He…" Ignatz looks away. "He didn't make it out."
I already knew from Robin's media search that Sylvain was dead, but hearing it again makes me take a moment to exhale. Another life we're not getting back from this damn war.
"So seven left," I say. "Blaiddyd, Lamine, Goneril, Charon, Gloucester, Dominic, and Daphnel. Guess I should be grateful that ol' Maurice didn't rise from the grave and continue his mad rampages."
"It's a shame that they had to be put down to begin with," Ashe says. "Let's make sure they can rest for good this time."
Right, the leading narrative is that the Ten Elites and Nemesis were heroes of Fódlan who were gifted crests and relics by the goddess and had to be fought when they grew corrupt and arrogant from the power of the crests. From long talks with Serios I know that isn't true. Every single one of those "heroes" got their power from slaughter and genocide. So in a way, they're not so different from the historical heroes we worship back in America.
"Dimitri told us he thinks that each of the Ten Elites is drawn to the person with their crest," Ingatz says. "So if you want to help us take them out, you can go and support our crested allies."
Not a bad idea, and that's most of what I do in these fights anyway. Now, who to support first? I scan the battlefield below. Those of us with crests of the Ten Elites who are still alive are Dimitri, Annette, Lorenz, Hilda, Catherine, and Lysithea. After I finish counting them, I see a group of church knights charging into Nemesis' forces. Such a reckless attack… I think I know who was in charge of that call.
All right, time to take out another crusty old zombie. It will be interesting to be on the receiving end of Thunderbrand's attacks for the second time.
"Be careful," Dedue says.
I pause. Even though he's massive, I always seem to forget that he's there.
"I will," I say. "And I'll make sure that Dimitri comes back to you safe and sound."
I say goodbye to the others before flying off after the church soldiers. It doesn't take me long before I see Catherine cleaving through hordes of enemies with a wild grin on her face. When Nemesis' forces counter charge, a hail of arrows stops them in their tracks. I glance over at Shamir below, who catches my eye and nods. I fly down until she's in earshot.
"I think Catherine's going to draw in a powerful enemy," I say. "Keep your eyes peeled and get ready for-"
A blast of dark magic erupts from the front lines of the church soldiers and Catherine goes flying back. After the dirt clears, I see someone walk to the front of Nemesis' army carrying his own Thunderbrand. Shamir whistles to regroup her archers.
"I swear, Claude," she says. "Fódlan is the most batshit crazy land I've ever encountered. Millenia-old dragons, corpses rising from the grave, humans transforming into monsters… if I went back to Dagda, nobody would believe a word of what I said."
"Let's focus on putting these magical monsters in the dirt before we think about war stories, all right?"
Shamir snorts. "You're the one with the one-liners. I assumed this kind of talk is how you prepare yourself for battle."
I hear Catherine let out a war cry and jerk my head in her direction to see her charging at Charon. The swordsman backs away from her strikes and retaliates with another blast of dark magic that sends her rolling on the ground. I fly towards her and fire off a curved shot from my silver bow to get Charon's attention. If I go all in with Failnaught I could dispatch him with ease, but I can't afford to risk breaking the weapon before I get to Byleth. My arrow takes Charon straight in the arm, and he turns towards me. I can't see his eyes behind the mask he's wearing, but I swear I can make out a seething anger.
Charon lunges at me with blinding speed, Thunderbrand becoming a blur in the air. I hop off my wyvern and roll to my feet on the ground, since at this point I can dodge more easily than they can due to our lack of inbuilt synergy. I feel the wind as Charon's strokes arc next to me, and I pull out my blade right in time to parry the last one. I lock my sword into the spiked branches of Thunderbrand. My gaze meets his. And same as Reigan, I get the feeling that there's nothing there.
Catherine charges again, and Charon is barely able to free his blade from mine and block her. The force of her attack sends his replica Thunderbrand flying into the air. Catherine slams her own Thunderbrand into his stomach, and he lets out a low grunt. Charon grabs onto Catherine's arm and readies another burst of dark magic, but a blast of darkness from the side knocks him over. I turn to see wisps of darkness floating off Lysithea's hands as she approaches. She picks up the replica Thunderbrand and darts over to Charon.
"It's amazing that I get to see people as they were a millennium ago," she says, "But sometimes the past should stay dead."
Thunderbrand glows as Lysithea leans back, and she unleashes a combat art. I recognize the motion as Foudroyant Strike, Thunderbrand's unique combat art. I can't imagine that Lysithea ever had formal training to learn it, but the motion of her attack is fluid and smooth. Her blade connects with Charon, and he slumps over on the ground. She bends down to take a pulse.
"Not sure if these… things had heartbeats to begin with, but he definitely doesn't have one now," she says. Looking up at me, "Hello, Claude. What happened to your top-secret mission?"
"Apparently not so top secret since everyone knew about it. And it, uh, didn't go great."
"Is that why our professor is rampaging across all of Fódlan and demanding to fight Seiros? I know you don't like them, but as someone who worked with the Black Eagles after they captured Derdriu I can say that this it is not Byleth in there making decisions."
"Yeah, Edelgard and I both agree with you. And Nemesis won't get a chance to fight Seiros, since we took care of that."
"Edelgard?" Lysithea raises an eyebrow. "Why would you talk to her about this? The only reason I can see is… oh."
"She's as much of a fool as the rest of you are," Shamir says, walking up. "If it were me in her place, I'd take everything I had and run."
"But you also wouldn't let yourself get imprisoned for propping yourself up as emperor and trying to conquer a whole continent."
Shamir smirks. "True enough. But while this conversation is riveting, I'm sure we'll have more time for discussion later. Claude, what's the plan? You seemed to know that something was coming."
"Each of the Ten Elites are drawn to whoever has their crest," I say. "Which means we should make sure that Annette and Lorenz are safe. And Hilda, I guess, but she has the most skilled retreats I've ever seen. When we were raiding the Empire as they were marching through the Kingdom, she never even let them see her. And then there's Dimitri, who I can't see losing to some zombie of his ancestor. I'm sure you've all seen him in action."
"That was her rading the supply lines?" Lysithea says. "Edelgard was rubbing her temples and muttering about the raids the entire way. That seriously could have been the difference-maker in that fight."
"Point is, I don't think we need to worry about her," I say. "Lysithea, do you know where Annette and Lorenz are?"
She nods. "They're not too far from each other, actually. If powerful enemies are getting drawn towards our mages, it could be a bad sign. So we'll have to deal with Gloucester wielding Thyrsus and Dominic wielding…"
"Crusher," I say. "Magic axe. Won't be as effective against mages, since I know you have some innate resistance to magic from using it all the time."
"Some more than others," Lysithea says. "I was frustrated that I never built up much of a tolerance for it."
Well, Lysithea is literally the most powerful mage I've ever seen. More powerful than Seiros, who's lived a thousand years, and more powerful than Thales, who has access to dark technology beyond the understanding of medieval Fódlan. So I think she's doing okay overall.
"I'll regroup with Lorenz," Lysithea says. "He's closer to us anyway. With both of us there with our crests, I'm sure we'll have Gloucester over in no time. You can help Annette deal with Dominic and then move to assist Hilda. And keep in mind we have nobody here with the crest of Lamine or Daphnel, so those two could target anybody."
Mercedes, Ingrid, Judith. I couldn't care less about the crests themselves that we're missing, but Lysithea's comment reminds me how I let all of them die.
"What if Gloucester goes after you before you can make it to Lorenz?" I say.
She meets my gaze. "Easy. I kill him. Like you said, mages have some innate resistance to hostile magic, but my Luna spell will cut through his defenses like a knife through butter."
Yeah, Lysithea is in the same group of Dimitri in terms of being so powerful that I shouldn't worry about hunters drawn to them. Though unlike Dimitri, a fragile mage like Lysithea could get taken out by a surprise attack.
"No time to waste," Shamir says. "Claude, what do you want me and Catherine doing?"
Lysithea glances out at the battlefield. "Not that I'm calling the shots here, but I think we'll be able to handle things if you can hold the line."
"Yeah, let's go with that," I say. "See you after the fight, Lysithea. Don't get yourself killed out there, okay?"
"I should be the one telling you that. Lorenz told me about the stunt you pulled back at Myrddin where you tried to get him to turn on the Empire and he nearly killed you. You should really be more careful."
"I'll file that somewhere in the back of my head," I say.
I whistle for my wyvern, and they swoop down and land on the ground next to me. I pat them on the snout and saddle up. Good thing the wyvern rider I stole this wyvern from trained them to deal with riders hopping on and off over the course of the fight. Most wyvern riders stay atop their mount for the entire battle, but my choices always have a habit of making things more… interesting.
As I begin to take off, Lysithea walks up to me and her hands start glowing with white magic. The next moment, the world flashes around me, and I reappear in a different spot. Right, I forgot she had the Warp spell. My classmates are talented in so many different ways that it's hard to keep track.
I take a second to scan the battlefield, and I see Annette standing off against a figure wielding a Crusher replica atop a wyvern. Annette herself has Crusher slung over her back. I've never seen her use it in battle before, and I didn't think she even had access to it. Especially after she killed Gilbert back in Fhirdiad. The next thing I notice is that she's bleeding from multiple locations on her body, and I see her swaying a bit like she's on the verge of passing out.
Dominic swoops down towards Annette, brandishing his relic axe. Annette unleashes an Excalibur whirlwind that vortexes him into the sky and disorients him. Dominic emerges battered but alive, and dives at Annette.
I kick my wyvern into motion and have them swoop towards Annette to intercept the attack. I draw my blade just in time as Dominic brings Crusher down. The force of the attack combined with the momentum of the dive is enough to knock my sword out of my hand, but I stop him from burying the axe in Annette's skull so I consider that a win. Dominic lets out a grunt and flies up into the sky. Why do the mounted ones always try to run? I wonder if this is how it was like for my enemies to fight me as I wove in and out of battle.
"Oh hi, Claude," Annette says. "I owe you for the save. Do you know what's up with that guy? He will not leave me alone and an enemy bishop keeps healing him."
And because white mages can't heal themselves, all the damage he deals to Annette sticks. Time to do something about that.
"Yeah, but right now what matters is that we put him in the dirt. Cover me."
I fly up into the sky after Dominic. I see him look over his shoulder, and after I start to gain on him he swerves around to face me, hovering in the air.
"Why do you have to attack your own descendants?" I say. "Annette is one of my favorite people, and you're going to learn what happens when you single her out like that."
Dominic doesn't respond, instead flying at me. I only have bows on me, so from the outside it looks like the right decision. I take a deep breath and grip the reins of my wyvern, putting myself in alert stance. When Dominic lashes out with Crusher, I swerve to the side and retaliate with a shot from my silver bow that punctures the wing of his zombie wyvern. From what the history books say, the idea of teaching archers to retaliate against melee attacks with arrow fire is cutting-edge, and even most archers trained in the Alliance can't do it. So no wonder that some dead guy from a thousand years ago doesn't know it's possible. I smile as Dominic and his wyvern go spiraling down. I follow him down to see him crash land on the battlefield. He stands up, still alive yet again.
But he doesn't see Annette charging at his back. She slams Crusher into his head, and he drops to the ground. She drives the weapon into his back once more for good measure and then looks up at me as I land in front of her.
"Nice follow up," I say. "We make a good team."
Annette grins at me. Even in battle, even while killing, she continues to be a precious cinnamon bun. I take another look at her wounds. Blood is still actively flowing from a couple of them.
"You should go find a healer," I say. "Now that we've taken out Dominic, there shouldn't be any more zombies that target you in particular, but you look bad and I don't want to take any chances."
"So that really was my ancestor?" she says.
"That's what everyone else says. Considering that Thales brought Nemesis back and put him in Byleth's body, I guess anything's possible."
"And those javelins of light…" Annette shivers.
Yeah, I guess nukes must be a bigger shock than zombies for someone living with medieval technology. Though honestly, I think the biggest surprise of them all was the dubstep music back in Shambhala.
Annette falls back from the front lines, and after retrieving my sword I have my wyvern fly up into the sky. I know that Lysithea told me to find Hilda, but I don't know exactly where she is and Lorenz is closer. As I rise, I scan the land and make out Lorenz' flowing purple hair close by. I'm sure Hilda will be fine. She might as well be allergic to death.
When I fly closer to Lorenz, I see that Lysithea isn't here yet. Which means he can definitely use my assistance. I look out and see a zombie in bishop's robes carrying Thyrsus. So Gloucester is the white mage who kept healing Dominic after retreats. Taking him out will help us make progress against the whole army. Going after healers always seems icky, but this isn't like the Geneva Conventions back on Earth. Bishops like Gloucester are active combatants and they can have the battle effectiveness of entire legions thanks to their healing.
I fly over to Lorenz, who nods at me as I approach.
"Glad to see you're still alive, against all the odds," he says. "Tell me, is it dumb luck, or do you have some trick you've been hiding from us?"
"Little bit of column A, little bit of column B," I say. "Got a plan for taking out the bishop?"
"He seems drawn to me, but he's staying behind his battalion where we can't reach him. I don't have a ton of magic left, and charging in with my lance does not seem like a wise course of action."
Glad to see that he's learned from the mock battle and the Battle of Eagle and Lion when he rushed in on his own. But still…
"You're right that Gloucester is drawn to you," I say. "What if you stood at the front of the army? You might be able to draw him out."
Lorenz raises an eyebrow. "So after all this time, you are telling me to be more reckless?"
"I mean, you've seen how I fight these battles."
He lets out a sigh. "That is true enough. Very well. I shall… indulge your curiosity."
Lorenz shouts for his army to part and let him through, and he has his horse trot to the front lines. I fly back into the sky and scan the situation from up high. Yep, Gloucester is definitely approaching, like a shark drawn to the smell of blood. I fly back down to Lorenz.
"Get ready to fire," I say.
As soon as Gloucester emerges from the wall of soldiers standing off against our army, Lorenz fires off an Agnea's Arrow spell. Gloucester holds Thyrsus up in a defensive position and forms a barrier around himself that absorbs some of the damage, and it looks like he's no worse for wear. I fly closer until I'm in range and fire off a couple shots at him. He dodges out of the way of the first one and puts up the same barrier as before to mitigate the damage from the second. Gloucester retaliates with an Abraxas spell, causing a pillar of light to descend from the sky and explode on me. I can't tell whether or not the light or the pain is blinding my vision, but when I come to I'm lying on the ground battered and bruised. I glance up to see the wyvern I borrowed flying away. Can't blame them too much for bailing against that sort of magic.
I hop to my feet to see Gloucester approaching me, readying another spell. I nock an arrow, but before either of us let loose I see what looks like a moon appear above Gloucester's head. It turns into a black hole the next moment and dark energy drains the life out of him. Gloucester falls backwards and doesn't get up. That's the Luna spell. And the only person I know who can use that is-
"I thought I told you we didn't need help, Claude," Lysithea says.
"Sorry." I turn in the direction of her voice to see her blasting more of Nemesis' soldiers as she approaches. "And thanks for the save."
She nods and places a hand on my shoulder. At first I think she's actually showing affection, but then white healing magic surges through my body like a dip in a cool pond.
"You need to stop getting yourself nearly killed," she says.
"What do you mean? That wasn't even so bad."
I hear the sounds of galloping and look over to see Lorenz approaching us. He fires out a blast of fire using Thyrsus to extend the range and blasts another group of enemies.
"I agree," he says. "You should rein in your reckless behavior, Claude."
"Okay, but this time I just flew over and shot him. That's how I fight. It wasn't like me leaping off a wyvern to land atop a dragon and fight her atop her own back."
"You did what?" Lysithea says.
"In my defense, Edelgard did it first."
"Why was Edelgard even in a position to be doing such a thing?" Lorenz says.
Lysithea lets out a sigh. "We'll have plenty of time to scold Claude later. I assume you didn't check on Hilda?"
"Didn't know exactly where she is," I say.
Lysithea points further down the front lines of our battle formation. "You see the group of Pegasus knights and wyvern riders over there? Hilda's the only flier we have other than you, so she's leading them."
That… is something I should have figured out on my own.
"You don't happen to have any uses of warp left, do you?" I say.
"Sorry, but I only get two and you were the second."
"That's all right. Thanks anyway." I take a deep breath. "See you after we win. Then you both can make fun of my bullheaded decisions as much as you want."
I don't bother waiting for a response before jogging off. While healing magic is amazing, my body is still tense and sore from taking that magic explosion, so I need to ease myself back into physical exertion. It's not long before I'm panting and sweating as I make my way through the army. Yeesh, I didn't remember how tough infantry units have it. Guess I've been spoiled riding massive reptiles through the sky.
When I get closer to our flier forces, I see a large group of Nemesis' soldiers trying to break through our lines. While it's usually good that Hilda lacks any sort of pride and will pull back to save her own life, if our lines falter here we can get surrounded and flanked. Still, I'm not sure I can make it in time to rally the troops and hold the lines until Ashe and Ignatz see we're in trouble and send reinforcements.
As I get closer still, I see a blast of lightning arc from well into Nemesis' army and take out a whole group of our fliers, the electricity frying the poor wings of wyverns and pegasuses alike. Blegh, I hate the bolting spell. And since we're in a defensive position anyways, there's not much we can do about-
Wait. I halt when I see a group of wyvern riders flying out towards the mage who fired the Bolting spell. The gremory lets loose with another blast of lightning, but the leader of the wyvern squad barrel rolls out of the way. Is that…
Yep, it is. I squint and make out Hilda leading the charge towards the mage. I run over to where the healers are in the back line and find where they're tending to wounded wyvern riders. It's not hard to find a few wyverns who look healthy and are waiting on their riders, and the first rider I ask is happy to let me use her wyvern. Guess everyone in this army recognizes who I am and doesn't want to say no to me. Might as well take advantage of the perks involved with that.
I mount up and take to the skies, following Hilda and her wyvern battalion. She's pushing her wyvern and her squad at full speed, so even when I do the same I can tell I'm not gaining any ground. I'm still far away when Hilda dives and attacks the mage. Her attacks backed by her relic Freikugel's strength nearly cause the mage to buckle outright, but a gem she's holding in her left hand glows and a pavise barrier keeps her standing. That must be the Rafail Gem, then. So we're dealing with Lamine, and Goneril hasn't even shown up yet.
After Lamine survives Hilda's flurry of attacks, white healing energy washes over all of Nemesis' troops that Hilda and her battalion were fighting, restoring their vitality. I look over and see a Holy Knight wielding the relic Lúin galloping onto the scene. So Daphnel has decided to join the party as well. Hilda switches her attention to Daphnel and trades blows with him. The way she maneuvers her wyvern around to dodge attacks from all directions makes her look like an acrobat, and each swing packs the force of a boulder. But Daphnel is able to retaliate with precise jabs that catch Hilda's wyvern and send her tumbling to the ground. Lamine follows up with a blast of Abraxas magic, and she comes out of the explosion barely standing.
Shit. I need to go faster. Hilda's strong, but there's no way she can last forever while being surrounded on all sides and fighting two of the Ten Elites.
Hilda grimaces and unleashes an Apocalyptic Flame combat art on Daphnel, crushing his armor like aluminum foil and sending him into the dirt. He stops moving after landing on the ground. She turns her attention to Lamine and slams Freikugel into her again and again. The pavise shield allows Lamine to fire off another Abraxas, but Hilda stays standing through the second explosion of light and continues to swing with the force of a woodcutter trying to fell a tree. After a couple more attacks, Lamine falls to the ground. Hilda pants, hunched over holding herself up by her axe, her whole body rising and falling with each breath. Two of the Ten Elites dispatched in a matter of seconds. This girl is a machine.
I'm almost there. I'm almost there… And that's when I see Goneril burst out from Nemesis' ranks. I shout a warning.
I know I'm too late.
Goneril buries his replica Friekugel into Hilda's back. She stiffens, her eyes going wide. I bite my tongue to let the pain distract myself. Goneril pulls the weapon out, which I know means Hilda's going to start bleeding out. No, please…
"You…" Hilda says, "Just made the biggest mistake of your life."
She whirls around and swings her axe at Goneril, who blocks the attack. The two axes lock with each other, and Hilda stares into his empty eyes. I can only see rage and determination in hers.
Finally I'm close enough to help. I maneuver my wyvern into a hovering position and unsling Failnaught. This bow doesn't have many shots left in it before it breaks, but I don't care. I need to get Hilda out of here. I fire a flurry of arrows at Goneril, who stumbles back. Hilda takes the opportunity and lunges forward. I see the hunger in her eyes as she beats down on him with her axe. Goneril manages to retaliate once and buries his own Friekugel into Hilda's stomach. My heart sinks. The back wound itself is bad enough to be fatal without immediate treatment, and now that more wounds are piling up her chances are getting slimmer. I need to get her out of here.
"Not." Hilda looks up at Goneril. "Done. Yet."
As I swoop down, Hilda's weapon glows with an eerie light. She smashes her axe into Goneril's chest. The force of the attack detaches the head of the axe from the pole, which remains stuck in Goneril's body as he flies back. He lands on the ground and doesn't get up. Hilda hobbles over and slams the butt of her axe into his body, like she's placing a flag to declare the territory as her own. It's at this point that I catch up to her. I swing my blade at one of Nemesis' soldiers about to bury a lance in her with my right arm and then lean to my left and wrap both of my arms around her stomach. I do my best to put pressure on her wound as I hoist her up and put her in front of me atop the wyvern. I'm able to get the wyvern to fly in the general direction of our troops. I'll find a healer there. I need to.
"Hi, Claude." Her voice is weak, strained. "I'm glad I get this chance to see you one last time."
No. She's going to live. She needs to. I open my mouth to say the words, but they don't come out. At this point, the cruelest thing I can do is give her false hope. I reach into my pouch for a healing vulnerary. Only one. I reach around and force feed it to her, since I'm not sure she has the strength to do it herself. She doesn't get all of it down her throat, but I'm pretty sure some of it is in her stomach. Now all I can do is hope that it will be enough.
"I'm so sorry," I say. "I thought you weren't going to have to fight again. I was supposed to take care of this for you."
"I made the choice to throw myself into danger when I saw that they could flank our whole army if I didn't cut them off," she says. "It's funny. You can take on the world and come out with a few scratches, but the first time I try to be a hero…"
"You didn't just try. You are a hero."
"Claude. At least try to remember that I hate having praise and expectations heaped onto me."
"I can do one without the other. No matter what else happens today, you're a beast for taking out three of the Ten Elites on your own. I was only able to get one of them without help."
"Hey, without you I couldn't have killed Goneril. Bastard was tougher than I was expecting."
She looks back at me and manages a weak smile. Not good. Her face looks so pale. I can feel her wobbling in my grip. My arm is still wrapped around her stomach, trying to stop the bleeding like some sort of clumsy tourniquet.
"This is my fault," I say. "I helped the others first thought you were going to pull back. Why didn't you pull back?"
Hilda coughs, which turns into a laugh. The motion in her body means that more blood is squeezed out of her wounds, and I hold onto her tighter.
"This is what I deserve, I guess," she says. "I wanted to have you place no expectations on me. I wanted you to think I was a coward who was going to run at the slightest sign of danger. And you did. I got exactly what I wanted."
"Hilda…"
"Your lack of expectations became an expectation itself. That's funny, isn't it? Tell me that's funny and I'm not just delirious from being so close to death."
"There is a sort of irony to it," I say. "But you don't deserve this. None of us did. And…"
"And what? You can't promise me I'll survive. We both know I don't have much longer. I'm going to see Marianne, Raphael, Judith, and Leonie. Anything you want me to tell them?"
I consider denying it, but I can't bring myself to. If there is an afterlife like the people in Fódlan believe, I don't want to squander this chance.
"Tell them that I'm sorry I couldn't save them," I say. "And that we're building a world so that nobody has to go through what they did again."
"That means you have to win, you know," Hilda says. "I saw Byleth out there. Didn't want to go near them. The idiot Pegasus and wyvern scouts who engaged them got cut down before they could even get close."
Sounds like Byleth. All this time I've never been able to beat them. Never even been able to come close. Seiros was our best chance, but she can't help us now. It's up to humanity to save ourselves, and I'm not sure we can do it.
"You've already given up," Hilda says.
"No," I say. "It's not-"
"You have. You've tried and tried so many times to beat them, and you couldn't. Nobody could. You're still going to fight, but you're expecting to lose."
Am I? It's not like I have time to spare thinking about my odds.
"You have to find an advantage," Hilda says. "Something you have now that you didn't have then."
That's a good way to approach the situation. In fact, I have two aces up my sleeve. The first is that their Divine Pulse isn't working against us, and in fact they have one use that can benefit… well, I was going to say us, but really only me, since the others won't recognize it and will act out the fight in the exact same way. Second is that we have Edelgard fighting at our side instead of as an enemy. Every single time I lost to Byleth, I also lost to Edelgard. I assumed that they were the mastermind and that she was the pawn, but after seeing Edelgard fight I'm not so sure. With Fódlan's scariest power couple on opposite sides, I'm not sure either of them are unbeatable.
"There you go," Hilda says. "Always thinking. Always scheming. That's what… you're best at. Don't lose that, Claude. Go forward and win for all of us."
"I will." I don't have the words for anything more.
"Well, it's been fun," Hilda says. "Sorry to… go so soon."
I feel her fall limp in my arms. I try to force her eyes to stay open, but they're already closed. I press two fingers to her neck artery as we fly towards our side of the battlefield. By the time we arrive, her pulse goes still entirely.
I bring her body over to the healers, but even before they look I know what the outcome is going to be. One of them tries a heal spell for good measure, but it has no effect on her body.
Marianne, Raphael, Judith, Mercedes, Leonie, Alois, Gilbert, Felix, Petra, Ingrid, Caspar, Hubert, Ferdinand, Sylvain, Seteth, Seiros, Hilda. Seventeen names. Seventeen people I couldn't save.
Seventeen failures.
…
I take a look at where they've laid Hilda's body. She's on top of a small pile of other unfortunate victims who were too far gone. I walk over to her, the stench of death getting stronger with every step I take, and put a hand on her cheek.
Bodies are supposed to look peaceful, right? Her wounds are so pronounced that I can't look past them. Her skin is still warm, still soft, even now.
How am I going to explain this to Holst? How am I going to explain this to anybody? Seventeen deaths of people I know. How much longer can I keep going with the weight of my failures stacked on my shoulders?
I don't know…
I don't know.
Hilda's death in CF is one of the most interesting ones to me, for what it means in regards to both her and Claude. In game, they needed an excuse for why a self-proclaimed coward like Hilda didn't run (since they weren't going to program a new AI for her specifically), and what they came up with was that Claude assumed Hilda was going to pull back when she was in trouble, but she stayed strong until the end. Some of the lines ("It's been fun/sorry to go so soon"/"Why didn't you pull back?") were basically directly pulled from the game.
Next chapter, it's time to put on God Shattering Star.