"What do you mean?" I said, slowly lowering myself into the other dining chair.

"One of his people came to us yesterday morning, all beat up," Balthus told me. "She said she saw Yuri getting attacked by a mage, so she stepped in to help. But then another person showed up and warped Yuri and the mage away."

My heart was racing in my chest. "What did they look like?"

Balthus glanced at Constance and Hapi, who both shook their heads. "We've been busy looking for Yuri," Constance said. "Then fighting broke out on the surface, so we decided to wait it out."

"Then who's this person?" I asked. "I want to talk to her."

"Her name's Milith," Hapi said. I stood up and raced out of the room. My feet pounded against the stone-paved ground as I ran to where the newer crewmates stayed. The door was unlocked.

There was a man inside who looked at me. "What do you want?" he asked. He was holding a dagger, carving a wooden block.

"I'm looking for Milith," I said.

"She's resting right now," he said. There was a scar on his cheek.

"I need to talk to her about what she saw," I said, hands curled into fists. "You know who I am, right?"

He looked me in the eye, then glanced up and down. "Yeah. You're boss's sweetheart."

"So tell me where I can find Milith," I said. The man stared at me, then twirled his knife around in his hand. I stared back. "Well? Are you going to help or not?"

"I don't like you," he said.

"I don't care," I said, planting my hands on my hip and shrugging. "I don't even know who you are."

He clenched his jaw. "Second floor." He waved his knife at the stairs to our right. "Third room on the left."

"Thank you." By the Goddess, was it that difficult to answer a question? I dashed up the stairs and knocked on the door. "Milith? Sorry to barge in on you-"

The door opened. A young woman stood on the other side, a bandage on her left arm and right leg. She had short, orange hair and brown eyes that lit up when she smiled. "You're Byleth! I've heard so much about you."

"I'm sorry. I know you're resting," I said.

"Come on in." She opened the door further and led me in. The room was small, like our dorm rooms, enough space for a bed, a dresser, and a desk and chair. Milith sat down on her bed, and I took the chair.

"Can you tell me what the two people you saw yesterday looked like?"

"Hm, I've never seen them around before." Milith tilted her head in thought. "The mage appeared first. She was wearing a hat and dark robes, so I didn't get a good look at her face. She was around Yuri boss's height. The other person was taller and awfully pale." Milith shuddered. "He had shoulder-length white hair and a beard, and he was wearing this weird wolf's pelt and yellow beads around his neck and wrists."

I frowned. That couldn't be… Matching the description of the Sreng individual who Barold had seen. No. But what would they be doing in Abyss? How would they even know about the existence of Abyss? Most individuals in Fodlan didn't. And why would they want Yuri? Sure, he had a lot of information, but…

"Byleth? Byleth?" Milith was calling my name.

My gaze focused onto her face again. "Sorry, what were you saying?" I asked.

"What do you think they want with boss?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know." I stood up. "Thanks for the information. I hope you recover soon."

"You're going to find him, right?" Milith asked.

I nodded. "Of course."

"Good. Thanks." She smiled at me. I closed the door behind me, then took the stairs down.

I had one foot out the door when the other man said, "He's gone because of you, you know."

I froze. A part of me wanted to ask why he didn't like me, when this was the first time we'd met. Turning around, I said, "What do you mean?"

"Milith didn't tell you?" He was working on the fine details of a face. No, an animal's face, like a dog or a wolf. "She overheard them mention your name."

"Who said that?"

"The taller man," he said. He shook his head, returning to his carving work. "If it weren't for you, boss would still be here."

I swallowed, turned on my heel, and left without saying goodbye.

If Sreng did take Yuri, then they'd send a hostage letter soon right? Especially if what Milith had heard was true, if it was because of me. Why else would they want him? For his information? For his network of spies? For his Crest? I shook my head as I entered Rose's house again.

"Well?" Constance said the moment the door shut.

"It sounds like they're from Sreng," I said, slumping into the chair. I sighed and buried my face into my hands. What was I going to do? What could I do?

"Sreng? But that's so far away," Hapi said.

"Yeah, I didn't think it'd be possible to warp that far," Constance said.

I looked up. "Even to the border?" I asked.

Constance nodded. "You'd have to have immense magical power to warp three people that far."

"Maybe they only warped out of Abyss," I said.

"That's possible," Constance said.

"Hey, if you're here, does that mean the Kingdom won?" Balthus asked, leaning an elbow on the table.

I nodded. "We'll be at Garreg Mach for the rest of the moon." I stared at my hands on the table. Yuri… I stood back up. "I'm going to see if there's anything we can do. If you hear anything, a ransom note, anything, let me know. And I'll let you all know anything I find." The Ashen Wolves nodded.

I hurried back to the surface and sought Dimitri out. He was in Rhea's audience room, digging through some of the papers that Edelgard had left behind with Rodrigue and Gilbert.

"Your Majesty," I said.

"Good timing, Byleth," Rodrigue said. "Can you help us look-" He glanced up from the stack of papers to look at my face. "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Dimitri dropped the book in his hands and strode over. "What happened?" he asked.

"Yuri's gone," I said, biting my bottom lip. "It's nothing Kingdom related, but I need to go find him. Some person dressed in Sreng prayer beads who can warp kidnapped him."

"Where are you planning on going?" Dimitri asked.

I shook my head. "I don't know. The Sreng border? There's this strange person who keeps sending me letters, saying that they'll set me up with a Sreng prince. They have an abandoned cabin near the border."

"And then what?" Dimitri crossed his arms. "Even if you find him somewhere in Sreng, are you going to attack them all by yourself?"

"If I bring troops, it'll look like an act of war," I said, chewing on my bottom lip.

"But what if they have lots of people? You wouldn't be able to fight them all by yourself. And how long do you think it'll take to find them? They could be anyone and anywhere in Sreng."

I opened and shut my mouth, trying to find words, formulate a plan in my head, but I didn't know where to start. Dimitri rested his hands on my shoulder, and I looked up at him. "Why don't you start by coming up with a plan?" he said. His voice was low and gentle. "Like you did for the war. Then bring it to me, and we'll see what we can do to help you."

That was reasonable, but I didn't want to be reasonable. I wanted to run somewhere. I wanted to fight someone who hurt Yuri. I wanted to do something, not write things down on paper. That wouldn't help Yuri, wherever he was.

I nodded. "All right. Thanks." I forced a smile and left them in Rhea's audience chamber. I checked the library first, but it was full of knights, exploring the monastery. After I found paper and quills available in the classrooms, I settled down there. I jotted down a few ideas, then scribbled them out when I realized how ridiculous they were.

Take the crew with me to Sreng. No, they need to stay and watch Abyss or do whatever Yuri had them doing before.

Mail the cabin and ask them if they kidnapped Yuri. No, what if they aren't responsible? Then they'd find out about Yuri and find out he's important to me. Too risky. If they really did take him because of his relation to me, they'd let me know. Right?

Ask some information sources. This one was the most feasible. If I could get spies across the Kingdom and the Alliance, then maybe someone would have seen Yuri, on his way to Sreng. Or I could try the information broker. Or…

I sighed and rested my head down on the table. Planning wasn't one of my strengths. That was Yuri's. I was better at following directions and hitting things. The only reason my war plan had worked out so far was because I knew what was going to happen. Without Byleth's notebook of secrets, my war strategy would have been mediocre at best, detrimental at worst. Goddess knew how many lives we would have lost if it weren't for Byleth's help.

I closed my eyes, my cheek resting on the cool wooden desk. What would Yuri do? He'd get information first. He'd use his crew and his information network to find out where I was. Then he'd figure out all the contingencies, create a plan for each of those, and finally act.

There was no way I could do that. Contingencies? Probabilities? No, no… I just needed to find where he was, then I could charge in with my sword. Destroy everyone in my way. I could bring the Ashen Wolves with me, maybe some crew members as backup. We could take anyone on, especially if it was for Yuri.

I didn't realize I was slipping into sleep before it was too late.

There was a scritching sound of a quill on paper, and something warm and heavy on me. My right arm was numb from the weight of my forehead pressing into it. I cracked my eyes open and sat up.

"Morning," Claude said with a smirk. He was sitting next to me, writing with the quill he'd commandeered from me.

I shook my head to try to clear it, rubbing at my eyes. It couldn't be morning. Glancing through the windows, the sun was still high in the sky. Claude's yellow cape was on my shoulders.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, shrugging it off. Claude attached it back to his shoulder.

"Saw you sleeping and thought I'd get a peek at the Kingdom's next military strategy," Claude said. "Looks like you don't have much planned though." His eyes fell to the paper in front of me, half blotted out in ink.

"It's not for the war." I crumpled the sheet up in my hands. "It's to find Yuri. Some people kidnapped him. And I don't have a plan. I don't know anything, and I'm not a big planner." I looked at Claude and remembered Byleth's profile of him. Tactician and strategist. Maybe he could help.

"Do you know who?" Claude raised an eyebrow.

"One was dressed with Srengian prayer beads. Another was a mage, a woman."

"Do you have a drawing?"

"No. I don't know who can draw." I took another look at Claude's raised eyebrows and said, "I know I need more information, but I don't know where to start."

"Well if they really took Yuri to Sreng, they must have passed through Kingdom grounds," Claude said. "So I'd suggest getting drawings of the kidnappers and Yuri, passing them around, and asking the Kingdom knights."

I nodded, taking notes of what he'd written down. That made sense. "But that'd only confirm that they took him to Sreng."

"It could give you more information, like maybe they're traveling with other people. Besides, you have to start somewhere."

I bit my bottom lip. He was right. I wasn't getting anywhere with my current methods, but at least that would give us a start. I stood up. "All right. I'll go get a drawing. Thanks, Claude," I said.

Claude nodded. "Good luck. Let me know if I can do anything to help."

I raced out of the room and back to Abyss. I needed someone who could draw, and I knew where to find them.

"Alli?" Barold said, when I'd asked him. "She left the crew a few months ago."

"No," I said, shoulders drooping. "Then, do you know anyone else who's good at drawing?"

"Yeah, sure, you should talk to Garren," Barold said.

"Who?"

"He's part of the newer crew. He lives with the rest of them and sells wood sculptures on the side."

My heart sank as a sneaking suspicion settled in me. "All right, thanks, Barold," I said, patting his arm, and headed for the crew house. After knocking and letting myself in, I found the same man as earlier sitting at the dining table, carving another wooden sculpture. This time, I noticed the crate beside him, with several other wolf carvings.

He looked at me and frowned. "What do you want now?" he asked, turning back to his work.

"I'm looking for Garren," I said.

"What for?"

I crossed my arms, standing in the doorway. "Barold told me he was good at drawing. I'd like a drawing of the kidnappers and Yuri to distribute throughout the Kingdom."

"You don't have to do that. We're already working on finding them," he said.

"Which means you already have drawings." I strode over, pulled the chair beside him out, and sat down. "Are you Garren?"

He looked me in the eye then back at the half-formed wooden block in his hand. "Yes."

"Do you have copies of your drawings?"

He dropped his knife and carving, reached for a crate against the wall, and dragged it over. After some rustling, he placed a few pieces of paper in front of me. Drawings of the two kidnappers. I noted the Sreng beads dangling off the taller man's wrists and the pointed hat that the mage was wearing. My eyes drifted to the next page where there was a drawing of Yuri and his signature smirk.

"That wasn't so difficult, huh?" I said.

Garren sighed, resuming his carving. "You don't have to do anything. We'll find our boss by ourselves."

"You don't have to tell me what to do," I said, standing up. "Thanks for the drawings, Garren."

I returned to the surface to talk to Dimitri about the plan. We had to send the drawings back to the capital, produce copies, then send those off to each of the main towns. I wanted a few copies myself to send to Byleth to see if he could give me any information. Then I wrote to Rose and Jeralt in the capital to inform them.

Each day dragged on forever. I tried to occupy myself with our war preparations, but my mind would wander. I wanted to know where Yuri was and what he was experiencing. I wanted to run somewhere in search of him, but I knew I couldn't. Before bed, I'd clasp my hands around the ring hanging from my neck and pray. And if I couldn't sleep that night, which was often, I would keep praying until I slipped into sleep.

After a week, all of my Blue Lions classmates had gathered in Garreg Mach with the intent to stay and march with us to Enbarr. We'd received a few copies of the drawings back from the capital, and a letter from Lord Rufus that he'd sent the other copies out. If he heard anything back, he'd forward it along to the monastery.

I checked into Abyss almost daily, but they didn't have any news for me either. After a second week passed, I found myself nibbling on my nails during our meetings.

"Byleth, you're bleeding," Mercedes said, eyes widening. I looked down at my thumb, where I'd chewed the nail to the fleshy part of my finger.

"Oh." I tucked my hand under the table and smiled at everyone's staring faces. "It's nothing." I swallowed the metallic taste of blood down.

The third week, a day before we were going to march, Dimitri received a letter from Edelgard and called a meeting.

"It seems Edelgard wants to meet to discuss peace," Dimitri said, holding the letter out towards us. My classmates and I crowded our heads together to read the narrow writing. "She's asking to meet at Gronder field, and she wants to exchange prisoners."

"Prisoners?" My forehead creased in confusion. "Who do they have to exchange?"

Dimitri's Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed and looked me in the eye. "Yuri."

"What?" My jaw dropped open, and I turned my gaze back onto the letter that was now in Ingrid's hands. She passed me the second page. Near the top, it read: Even if we can't come to terms, I'd like to request a prisoner exchange. We have Yuri Rowe. We'd like to exchange him for the three Black Eagle Strike Force members in your captivity.

"Exchanging one person for three?" Rodrigue asked, frowning.

My hands shook as I lowered the letter down. "What are you thinking?" I said to Dimitri.

"We will meet them," Dimitri said and looked at me. "Isn't peace what you've wanted all this time?"

I nodded. "Of course. But the exchange?"

"If we can get peace, then we can do the exchange," Dimitri said. That wasn't the answer I wanted to hear.

"But Your Majesty-"

"We'll prepare to leave in two days," Dimitri said. Everyone nodded. "Lord Rodrigue, could you send word to my uncle? Tell him to send the Black Eagles to the monastery."

Rodrigue nodded, while Ingrid took the page from my hands. So if peace didn't happen, we wouldn't get Yuri back?

"Your Majesty," I said. "I know it doesn't make any tactical sense to bargain one person for three, but maybe we can negotiate with Edelgard and release one person for another."

"I know," Dimitri said. His blue eyes were clear. "I'll do my best to get Yuri back."

I felt the worry in me dissipate, and my shoulders sank. I bowed. "Thank you."

Thanks for reading! :)