The next day, after lunch, I went back down to the dungeons. After stepping past the thickset door, I paused to catch my breath and steel myself for what I might see - faces bloodied and bruised, broken limbs, anything. Then I went down the hallway to find their cells. Dorothea and Petra were staring at each other from across their cells, talking, but Caspar was missing.
Oh Goddess.
The two stopped talking when they heard my footsteps and looked at me. I chewed on my bottom lip, thinking of what to say. I'm sorry? This wasn't what I thought would happen? No matter what, it sounded inconsiderate and useless and dumb. Of course I should have seen this happening. Was I so naïve?
"What are you doing here?" Dorothea asked.
I hung my head. "I'm sorry. I-" I shook my head. "This wasn't- I didn't think-" What was wrong with me? I couldn't finish any of my sentences without sounding like an idiot, so I said again, "I'm sorry."
"We are in war, Byleth," Petra said.
"I know. I wish we weren't, though," I said. "I-Is Caspar okay? Do you know?" I raised my head to look the two in the eye, but Dorothea shook her head while Petra shrugged.
"We don't know. They took him away shortly after you left," Dorothea said. "Can't you find out for us?"
That made sense. I nodded and took a step back. "Give me a minute." I turned and jogged towards the entrance, running into someone at the bend in the hallway. Ouch. I bounced off their chest and rubbed my forehead.
"Byleth."
I looked up, still wincing, at Dimitri's face. "Your Majesty? What are you doing here?"
"That's what I wanted to ask you," he said.
"Is Caspar okay? Where did you take him?"
"And if I told you he wasn't?" Dimitri asked. "What would you do?"
I opened and closed my mouth. I couldn't go behind Dimitri's back. He was the King and also my employer. "I wouldn't do anything. I just want to know, Your Majesty."
"Let's talk elsewhere," Dimitri said, so I followed him out the doors until we were at the foot of the spiral stairs. "We haven't healed Caspar up, and we won't until he tells us something."
"But that could take forever," I said. "What if he dies?"
Dimitri shrugged. "We still have the other two, and maybe that'll make them want to talk."
"No, no." I shook my head and clapped my hands together. "Please, I beg you, please don't let Caspar die. I know we're at war but-"
"My decision has been made," Dimitri said, looking me sternly in the eye. "I'm not changing it, so don't waste your time."
Was there nothing I could do? I didn't even know where Caspar was. Besides, if I tried to heal him up - go against orders - then I'd be the next person sitting in the dungeons. My arms fell to my side, and I sighed. "Very well. On another note, there's someone I think you want to see."
"Who is it?"
"One of Viscount Kleiman's men. Someone with knowledge about the Tragedy of Duscur," I said. Dimitri's eyes widened a fraction.
"Where is this person?"
"Back in the dungeons." I gestured at the door behind him.
"Lead the way," Dimitri said.
We returned back inside and headed down a different corridor to where the man was being held. The man started when he saw Dimitri and stood up. "Y-Your Majesty?"
"Tell me everything you know about the Tragedy of Duscur," Dimitri said.
The man told us about how Viscount Leiman had ordered them to attack, with the exception of avoiding Patricia's carriage, that the viscount had been approached with an offer. Dimitri's right hand curled into a tight fist as the man talked.
When he was done, Dimitri said, "Is that all? Who did the viscount work with?"
"I'm not sure who else was involved," the man said, shaking his head. Dimitri turned and brushed past me, and Dedue and I were right behind him. This wasn't the first time that Dimitri heard Patricia's potential involvement. Felix's father had brought some information up before too.
"Your Majesty," I said, quickening my steps to catch up with Dimitri.
Dimitri stopped in the hallway and looked at me. "Thanks for the information, Byleth, but we have more pressing concerns." He continued walking towards his room. "We must prepare for battle."
I watched him disappear around the corner, before turning around and heading back to the dungeons. I walked up and down the rest of the corridors but couldn't find Caspar in any of the cells. Were there other dungeons that I didn't know of? Possibly. But why would Dimitri keep him hidden from me? Was he worried that I'd betray him? Maybe Byleth would know what to do.
When I returned to my room that evening, I went through my mail. There was one from Barold, whom I'd asked to help me investigate something.
Byleth boss,
We went to the address you gave me, put your letter in its mailbox, and hid. It took one day for someone to show up, from behind the house. They were wearing a Srengian outfit, wolfskin, a hood, and yellow prayer beads. Probably a rich person. I couldn't get a good look at their face though. They were pretty tall and broad shouldered. No visible weapons on them. They took the letter from the mailbox then walked back the way they came. Did you get a response from them? We stayed and watched a few more days, but they never returned again.
Sincerely,
Barold
I sifted through the remaining envelopes, looking for an unmarked one. None. The mysterious Sreng prince offerer hadn't written back.
As if it were some tradition, we waited to attack at the end of the month. We gathered troops and moved them to the border. Dimitri, Dedue, Ingrid, Mercedes, Annette, Gilbert, Rodrigue and I travelled together. We picked Ashe up along the way, meeting up with Claude, Hilda, Lorenz, Raphael, Leonie, Marianne and Judith at the border. On the last day of Pegasus Moon, we marched up the hill towards Garreg Mach. We had catapults, and the Empire had demonic beasts.
"Emperor Edelgard," Dimitri shouted, before our forces clashed. "Surrender, and we will spare the lives of your soldiers."
Edelgard stepped into view, at the top of the hill, standing beside Byleth. "We won't surrender," she said, loud and clear.
"Then there's not much else to say," Dimitri said and pointed his lance forwards. Our troops attacked, surrounding the demonic beasts and trading blows with the Empire's soldiers. Dimitri was in the very center, Dedue, Gilbert, and I by his side, cutting our way forward. Dimitri was ruthless and quick. Within twenty minutes, we'd reached the top of the hill, and Dimitri's lance struck Edelgard's shield.
Rodrigue, Annette, Hilda and Claude were fighting one of the demonic beasts, while Ingrid, Judith, Raphael and Leonie were fighting the other. Lorenz was guiding our catapults in where to aim and fire. Behind Edelgard, Hubert was blasting Dedue and Gilbert with dark magic, while Ferdinand fought with Dedue. I glanced behind me to find Merecdes was already healing him back up. After I'd defeated another Empire soldier, Byleth stepped into view.
"Where's Arundel?" I asked him, as we parried each other's attacks.
"In Enbarr," Byleth said. "And my students? Are they well?"
"They're… alive," I said, swallowing thickly, as Byleth's sword nicked my forearm. After I'd written a letter to Byleth seeking advice, Dimitri had barred me from the dungeons, so I had no idea how they were doing. Glancing to my right, I saw that Dedue was suffering a lot of damage. Byleth jabbed my ribs with his sword, then disappeared back into his battalion. Another Empire soldier took his place. Then, a moment later, Ferdinand showed up, and Byleth was fighting Dedue.
"Dedue, fall back!" I yelled over the scuffle of fighting. Dimitri nodded at Dedue, so Dedue retreated. Gilbert wasn't faring much better. Rodrigue moved up to take Dedue's place, as we pushed our way forward.
The catapults were wreaking havoc on the battalions behind Edelgard's line. Ferdinand struck my stomach with his lance, but it didn't break through my armor. I focused on fighting him off, until an arrow whizzed past Ferdinand and struck my right shoulder.
An arrow flew past me that Ferdinand dodged. Snapping the arrow shaft in half, I glanced behind me to see Ashe nocking a second arrow. Ferdinand and I fought as arrows flew through the air above us. I hit Ferdinand's shin, and he stabbed my armor again.
The Alliance forces were pushing their way up the hill from both sides of us, forcing the Empire back towards the monastery. Then there was a loud scream from behind me. I narrowly dodged Ferdinand's lance aimed at my face, so I didn't have the chance to see what was going on.
"Demonic beasts!" someone was yelling. "Behind us!"
I ducked Ferdinand's next swing, slammed my sword against his stomach armor, then swiped at his leg. He stumbled, but also managed to stab my leg with his lance. All the way through. I screamed from the pain and jerked away, taking his lance with me. An arrow hit my chest, bouncing off the armor. Mercedes was healing me - I could feel the magic flowing around. Ferdinand was scrambling for a new weapon, while I gritted my teeth and yanked his lance out of my leg.
By the Goddess, that hurt.
"Ferdinand, retreat!" someone was telling him. Another nameless Empire soldier took Ferdinand's place. Tossing the lance aside, I braced myself for more fighting, when someone went flying through the air and landed past the Empire's lines. I turned around to look.
Two demonic beasts had flanked us and were tearing through our catapults, archers, and mages. Dedue and Lorenz were trying to hold the line, but they couldn't protect all the archers and mages. I stepped back into my battalion, letting my soldiers protect me as I scanned the battlefield. I was too low on the ground to see anything. Jogging past my soldiers, I ran towards Claude, who was hovering in the air behind Gilbert.
"Claude! I need to borrow your wyvern again," I yelled. He looked at me, returned his bow to his back, and reached a hand out. I grabbed his hand, and he pulled me onto the back of his wyvern.
"Where to?" he asked.
"Up," I said, wrapping my arms around him. We lifted off the ground and quickly gained elevation. From above, I had a better view of the battlefield. I scanned the frontline, trying to find places where I could divert forces from.
"Drop me where Ingrid is," I said, and Claude flew us towards the west side of the battle field. "Then I want you to go grab Hilda, and both of you help us fight off the demonic beasts."
"Yes, ma'm," Claude said. We stopped near Ingrid's pegasus battalion, and I slid off the wyvern's flank.
"Thanks, Claude!" I shouted as I ran towards Ingrid, who was in the middle of attacking an Empire mage. "Ingrid, I need your help!"
"What is it, Byleth?" Ingrid brought her pegasus over, landing neatly beside me. I hopped on the back of her pegasus.
"We need to defeat those demonic beats," I said.
"What about my battalion?"
"Take some with us. We need the help," I said. "Let's grab Raphael too."
Ingrid directed half of her battalion to the demonic beasts, then we flew to where Raphael was. Soon, we were flying over the Kingdom and Alliance soldiers to the demonic beasts. One tossed rocks and knocked several archers off their feet.
I was on the ground as soon as Ingrid was low enough. Hilda and Claude were fighting one demonic beast. Raphael joined Dedue and Lorenz with the other. Ingrid and I went to help Hilda's team.
After fighting Aelfric's demonic beast form, these ones seemed rather harmless. Their attacks were large and slow, but they had thick armor that took a while to break through. After several minutes, we defeated the demonic beasts and regrouped.
"Where to next?" Claude asked, while our mages healed everyone injured. Luckily, I only had a few scrapes on me, and they had more severe wounds to tend to. I stood on my tiptoes to try to get a view of the frontline.
"We should keep someone as a rear guard," I said.
"I'm doing better," Dedue told me. "I'm returning to His Majesty's side."
"I don't mind being rear guard," Hilda said, resting her axe's handle on her shoulder.
"Thanks, Hilda," I said. Dedue was already pushing past our soldiers back to the front.
"The catapults are gone," Lorenz said, pressing his lips together in a tight line. "I think I'd be more useful at the front."
"Then I can stay too," Raphael said.
"Great. Thanks, Raphael," I said. "Let's move out then. We're almost there, everyone. Keep it up!" I clapped my hands together, hopped onto Ingrid's pegasus, and we flew ahead to the front lines.
Dimitri and Edelgard were still at each other's throats. There were some cuts and scratches on each other. Dimitri's arm and Edelgard's leg were bleeding, but neither was about to defeat the other. After determining that they were holding up fine, I joined Ingrid on the west side, and we cut through the soldiers to surround the Empire in a U-shape. They continued to move backwards past the monastery gates.
Sweat ran down my face from the exertion, as I continued to parry and cut. Blood dripped from my blade. I looked my enemies in their faces, stared into their brown or blue or green eyes, and stabbed them. It didn't matter how many people I'd killed before. Something would still twist in my stomach when I saw their faces contort in pain and fear, and I knew that I'd see them in my dreams. If I was lucky enough to live to dream another night.
When I checked Dimitri's position again, Edelgard was gone. Hubert, Byleth, Ferdinand, all their major leaders had vanished. I left the west wing to Ingrid and joined Dimitri.
"Your Majesty," I said. Dimitri was standing with his Hero's Relic, Areadbhar, while his soldiers streamed in front of him. Seeing the Empire retreat was boosting morale, and the soldiers roared as they fought.
Dimitri looked at me. "Edelgard escaped."
"We're still winning," I said.
His eyes narrowed, and he looked ahead. Then he lifted his lance back up. "Let's finish this," he said and charged forward. Dedue and Gilbert were right at his heels. I let the other soldiers pass me, until someone tapped my arm. Glancing to my right, I found Mercedes and Annette standing beside me.
"What are you doing, Byleth?" Annette asked.
"Catching my breath," I said. Looking past their shoulders, I saw the yellow fields covered in bodies. I gulped. "Come on. We should catch up."
By the time we reached the front again, the Empire forces had fled. We were standing in the marketplace of Garreg Mach, and I could almost imagine the blacksmith in their usual tent and the merchants in their circle. The soldiers cheered and screamed. Some pounded the butt of their weapons against the ground. Dimitri went up the steps to greet the surviving knights.
"Excellent job, everyone. This was an important victory for the Kingdom and the Alliance in this war," Dimitri said. People cheered and screamed again. "Before we can rest, I need people to split up and search the monastery grounds for any Empire person. Anyone injured, please stay behind to be treated." We broke our battalions up into smaller groups, assigned them a location to search, then sent them off. The mages stayed to heal the wounded. The rest of the generals met up in the entrance hall of Garreg Mach. After some debate, we broke up into different tasks.
I worked on battle reports in my little notebook, while Mercedes and Ashe checked the kitchen for food. We had our own dry rations, like cured meat, cheese, and stale loaves of bread. But the kitchen had fresh produce from the greenhouse. Annette gathered some knights to join the two in cooking up meals for everyone.
Judtih and Rodrigue took some Alliance and Kingdom soldiers to count the casualties and identify the bodies. After clearing their section, the battalion captains reported to Ingrid. By nightfall, we'd cleared the place, assigned guard rotations, and had several large pots of stew for everyone.
"What are we going to do next?" Claude asked, when we sat down to eat.
"Edelgard has fled to Enbarr, so we'll follow her," Dimitri said.
"Perhaps we could send them a letter to see if they've changed their minds about peace options," I said.
Dimitri was silent, tearing into a piece of bread, so Claude said, "Maybe now that we're working together, Edelgard will think twice about continuing this war."
"That's my hope as well." I nodded.
"Are we going to stay here, Your Majesty?" Rodrigue asked. "If we do stay, we should bring reinforcements. Our troops are fatigued."
"We should stay. Garreg Mach is closer to the Adrestian Empire. We can send for new soldiers and send some back home," Dimitri said.
"Then I'll arrange for that," Rodrigue said.
The cafeteria was quiet enough that I could hear the clatter of utensils from the next table. Everyone was focused on eating with their lowered gazes and eyes dark with exhaustion. There weren't enough rooms for everyone, so we had to raid the closets and pull out extra blankets, sheets, and pillows. We pushed the tables to the side in the Great Hall, making room for the infantry to sleep.
After all of that was organized, I dragged my heavy body to the dorms. Dimitri and Dedue had already retired. When I passed by the tunnel that led to Abyss, I stopped and stared into the darkness. I did want to see Yuri. It'd been moons since I last saw him. But my eyes wanted to slide shut. I was covered in dirt, sweat, and blood and I reeked of it. A hot bath. Yes. A change of clothes. A bed.
So I continued on to the bathhouse, washing all the grime off of me, before returning to my own room and collapsing on the bed. I fell asleep within seconds.
In the morning, feeling much more refreshed, I sat up, yawning and stretching my arms over my head. Now I could go see Yuri and not look like a mess. I had breakfast first then informed Dimitri where I was going. Taking the familiar path down to Abyss, I wondered what I should tell Yuri. We'd kept up regular correspondence through mail, but the few monthly battles I'd been to cut off time to write. I also avoided writing about the war plans, to be extra cautious, which meant there wasn't much to write about, other than what sweet cake was served during tea time each day.
But now that we had control of the monastery again, I could tell him about all the battles we'd fought and won. I could tell him that we were nearing the end of the war. We had to be.
Abyss was quiet. A lot of the residents were no doubt hiding, uncertain of who was in control of Garreg Mach and what that meant for them. I crossed the bridge and smiled at the rhythmic trickle of water beneath me. Then, after a few more pathways, I came to Rose's house. There was light coming from the window. I knocked once.
"Hello? It's Byleth," I said.
The door burst open, and Balthus looked at me with wide-eyes. "Byleth? Oh, thank the Goddess, you're here."
"What's going on?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows. Constance and Hapi were sitting at the dining table. The former looked pale and was muttering to herself, while the latter tapped the table with one finger. Balthus gestured for me to enter. "Where's Yuri?"
"That's the problem," Balthus said and sank into one of the dining chairs. "We don't know where he is."
Thanks for reading!