We left at dawn to reach Gronder field. The familiar plains looked exactly like they did five years ago, when our three classes had met here for a practice battle. But this time it was real war, and if our discussions didn't go well, we'd be fighting here again. It was a no-weapons talk. Dimitri led our classmates and I to the center of the field, where we met with Claude and his classmates and Edelgard and her Black Eagle Strike Force.
"I feel like I'm at a disadvantage here," Claude said, with a hand on his hip and an easy smile on his face. "I don't have a Byleth on my side."
Edelgard and Dimitri both looked at him, then at each other. I was too busy peering over their shoulders, looking for Yuri, before saying, "Edelgard, where's Yuri?"
"We didn't bring him," Edelgard said. "Did you bring my Strike Force members?"
"There wasn't enough time to transport them here," Dimitri said.
"We'll just have to meet again for the exchange." Edelgard nodded at Hubert, who brought up a long scroll of paper. "I still have the peace treaty we were working on. I'll agree to peace if we can continue this treaty work."
"You could have agreed from the beginning," Dimitri said, arms crossed over his chest.
"I did." Edelgard's eyes narrowed. "Then the Kingdom sent assassins over and attacked one of our towns."
"We did no such thing. It was the Empire who attacked us first," Dimitri said, frowning. I scanned the crowd of people behind Edelgard once again. Where was Arundel?
"Why would we attack you when we were in the middle of peace discussions?" Edelgard asked.
"I could say the same thing," Dimitri said. They scowled at each other.
I stepped in between the two of them. "Look, it's obvious that there's someone else picking a fight with both sides and making it look like the other party started it first," I said. "If we want peace, we have to put past grudges aside and work together."
"I agree," Dimitri said and held his hand out. "Let's work on a new peace treaty together, Edelgard."
Edelgard shook his hand.
"What about me?" Claude asked. Edelgard and Dimitri took turns shaking Claude's hands.
"For now, we've prepared a temporary truce for everyone to sign," Edelgard said, and Ferdinand came forward with another scroll. Dimitri and Claude read it over, while I peered over their shoulders. It was pretty standard, stating that any attacks or hostile acts would revoke the truce. Edelgard signed first and stamped her royal seal beside her name, then Dimitri and Claude did the same.
"The Church isn't here to sign though," Dimitri said.
"Considering you're providing them protection, we will assume that your agreement constitutes the Church's agreement as well," Edelgard said as they rolled the scroll back up. "When's the earliest you'll have my strike force members back?"
"In another day," Dimitri said.
"Then let's meet again and exchange our prisoners then," Edelgard said.
"How did you even capture Yuri?" I asked, blurting the words out of my mouth. "And why? Abyss is neutral ground. They haven't and won't take any sides in this war."
"You think I don't know that he's been passing you information?" Edelgard asked. "Sure, Abyss is neutral ground, but Yuri hasn't been neutral during this war." I gritted my teeth. I wanted to yell in Edelgard's face that Yuri had nothing to do with the war, but I just clenched my fists.
"Let's meet here again tomorrow, at the same time," Edelgard said, looking at Dimitri. Dimitri nodded, and our groups split off. I watched as Edelgard walked away with Byleth and her classmates beside her.
"Byleth, come on." Annette tapped my shoulder. My classmates were already heading back, but I wanted to go with Edelgard. I wanted to see Yuri with my own eyes. What if she was lying? What if they didn't have him, and they were just pretending so they could get Dorothea, Petra, and Caspar back? Then what would I do?
"Byleth?" Mercedes was waiting beside Annette, and they both looked at me with worried eyes.
I sighed and turned away from the Empire. I'd find out tomorrow.
The next day, we returned to Gronder field with the Ashen Wolves and the three Black Eagle Strike Force members accompanying us. Edelgard was waiting for us, but when she looked me in the eye, her gaze fell to the yellow grass beneath her feet.
"Where's Yuri?" I asked.
Edelgard looked at me again and said, "I'm sorry, Byleth. My uncle - he disappeared and took Yuri with him, and-"
"You mean Arundel?" I said. My voice was rising in volume and in pitch. "Where did they go? You know where they went, right?"
Edelgard shook her head.
"You were just lying, weren't you?" I asked, grabbing Edelgard's collar. Hubert stepped closer but Edelgard didn't move to push me away. "You never had Yuri. You just want your classmates back."
"We did!" Edelgard shoved me off, and I stumbled backwards. Byleth placed himself in between the two of us. She adjusted her collar again and turned towards Hubert, who held out a sword towards me. I took it with both hands. It was Yuri's. "Everyone will tell you that we did have Yuri. It wasn't part of my plan, but my uncle took him on his own accord. I thought we could use him as a bargaining chip. I'm sorry, Byleth, but I'll do what I can to help you find him."
Arundel. Thales.
"If you don't have Yuri, then the deal's off," Dimitri said, moving in front of me.
"We'll do everything in our power to help you find him," Edelgard said, placing a hand on her chest.
"Lord Arundel is a wanted man now," Hubert said. "It won't be long before we capture him."
Edelgard was trying to make eye contact with me, but I was staring at the sword shaking in my trembling hands. "You have my word," Edelgard said. "Byleth, please."
Dimitri glanced my way, and I met his gaze. "It's your decision, Byleth. Personally, I think we can keep them to make sure the Empire keeps their word."
I swallowed. My throat was dry. I looked at Edelgard, whose eyebrows were furrowed in a silent plea. Of course I knew how she felt. And if the Kingdom was willing to torture its captives, knowing Arundel, who knew what he was doing to Yuri.
"Please, Byleth," my brother said softly. "You have my word as well. When Yuri was with us, we didn't let anyone harm a hair on his head."
I knew what the right thing to do was, especially if we wanted any hope of a long-lasting peace. "Let them go," I said. My voice sounded hollow even to my ears.
"Are you sure?" Dimitri asked, as Edelgard drew in a sharp breath of air. I nodded. From the corner of my eye, I saw Dimitri's head turn as he gave the order. Petra, Dorothea, and Caspar soon crossed over to the Empire group.
"You know he's part of them, right?" I said. "Solon and Kronya's group."
"What?" Hubert said.
"Arundel is a part of Those Who Slither in the Dark?" Edelgard asked. I nodded. Hubert and Edelgard exchanged glances.
"In that case, we might know where Yuri's gone," Hubert said. "When the light beams hit Arianrhod, we were able to track down their source, their base of operations." Byleth's notebook had mentioned that - a place called Shambhala. That made sense.
"We'll go with you," Edelgard said. "We'll help you find him."
"We'll be going as well," Dimitri said, stepping up beside me. "In case this is all an elaborate trap."
"It's not," Edelgard said.
"Well, I don't want to miss out on this either," Claude said. I glanced around at all the students I'd studied with, and they nodded. All three classes, working together for a common goal. I looked at Byleth, and there was a small smile on his face. This was what he wanted, wasn't it?
"Where is it?" I asked.
"It's near the easternmost mountains of Hrym," Hubert said. "A half day from here."
"Can we go now?" I said. It was shortly after noon, so we'd reach Shambhala by evening. The three leaders were looking at each other and consulted some of their classmates.
"We're ready to go now if you are," Edelgard said. I nodded, bouncing on my feet. I wanted to see Yuri as soon as possible, and I certainly didn't trust him with that creep.
"Let's go then," Dimitri said.
The Black Eagles class led the way, with Petra, Dorothea, and Caspar joining them. I watched Byleth do a once-over of his students, but they were uninjured and healthy. I hadn't seen them since the last time. A part of me wanted to approach them and ask if they were all right, but I was afraid they would ignore me or say hateful things. I was afraid they'd tell me about what they'd endured while being held captives.
The Hrym mountains soon came into view, with tall, white peaks in the blue sky. Hubert informed us that we had a few more hours to go. The mountains grew larger with each passing hour until they loomed over us.
"We're here," Hubert said, when we stopped in front of an entrance to a cave.
"Should we leave some people outside as guards?" Claude asked.
"I'll do it!" Hilda raised her hand with a smile.
"You can count me in too," Lindhardt said, covering his yawn.
"Are we all volunteering one person from each place?" Sylvain asked. "I suppose I can stay out here."
I adjusted Yuri's sword on my back as we stepped into the darkness. Hubert led the way with a fireball, and our other mages lit the rest of the path. My heart was pounding in my chest, louder than my footsteps. Goddess, please let Yuri be safe. Please let us find him here. I prayed quietly to myself, while we descended deeper into the earth.
About ten minutes later, we emerged into a dark hallway, lit by glowing blue lines that raced along the path.
"Let's split into two groups," Byleth said. Everyone glanced around, unsure of what'd make sense. We were still standing in our respective national groups: the Empire, the Alliance, the Kingdom, and the Ashen Wolves.
"What are you thinking?" Edelgard asked.
Byleth looked at our large crowd. "We'll split the Alliance and Ashen Wolves up. The Black Eagles and Claude, Marianne, Leonie, Raphael, and Constance," he said. "The Kingdom will take Balthus, Hapi, Ignatz, Lysithea, and Lorenz." People were exchanging looks again and murmuring amongst themselves.
"That's fine with me," I said. "If no one has any major disagreements, then let's move." I headed for the right side of the hallway and heard footsteps behind me.
"We'll meet you all in the center," Byleth called towards us, already several feet down the left hallway.
"See you on the other side," I said. Dimitri and I led our groups down the narrow hallway. There were people in our way, but we cut them down. We had strength in numbers. When we reached the doorway, Ashe picked the lock for us. After we went down a pair of stairs, we found ourselves in a wider hallway. The same turquoise lighting ran through the floor and walls. There was a Titanus - a huge metal machine - to our left, at the end of the hallway. To the right, the hallway branched off elsewhere.
"Where are we going?" Dimitri asked me.
"Let's defeat this thing first," I said, pointing at the mechanical construct. Dimitri, Dedue, Felix, Ingrid, Balthus, Lorenz, Leonie, and I surrounded the construct, with our mages and archers behind us. With everyone working together, it only took two attacks from each of us before it crumpled to the floor.
We moved along the hallway and turned left into a wider, open room. There were two machines near the pillars up ahead that blasted us with magic attacks. Byleth and his group were across the room standing in another entranceway. He gestured up ahead. Past the pillars, there was a flight of stairs that led to a platform and standing there was a familiar face.
Thales. I recognized him because I'd seen his face in a drawing, dressed in Sreng prayer beads and winter clothes. Everything clicked into place. He had kidnapped Yuri, but not as Arundel, as his true self. Disguised like that, I hadn't suspected it was him.
I tightened my grip on my sword hilt and glared at his smiling face. "Let's go!" I yelled, waving my sword forward. We fought our way through the soldiers and mages standing in our way, while trying to avoid the non-stop magical attacks. We defeated another Titanus, and I watched as Byleth led his group to do the same.
We met up at the base of the stairs. "You ready?" Byleth asked me. I nodded. The stairs were too narrow for all of us, so Byleth and I went up first. Dimitri and Edelgard were behind us.
Before we could reach Arundel - no, Thales - we had to first fight another mage and soldier. This mage was familiar looking, and he had a spell that sucked the air out of our lungs and weakened our bones. Byleth was coughing blood after one spell, and Mercedes had to heal him up.
Edelgard's axe smashed through the mage's weak defenses, though. When the pointed hat tipped off his head, I realized who he was.
"Myson," I said in a whisper. Byleth nodded. Dimitri and I took on the other soldier, a war master. As our other classmates joined us on the platform, they fought with the other two dark bishops.
I suffered a cut on my leg and a bruise on my arm, before Dimitri landed the finishing blow on the soldier. Blood oozed out of the wound where Dimitri's lance had been. I swallowed down my nausea and faced forward. Thales was standing a few feet away, waiting for us to approach him.
Ferdinand, Lysithea, and Dedue had defeated one of the dark bishops, and Raphael, Dorothea, and Felix were fighting the second one. Byleth and Edelgard met Dimitri and I back at the center of the platform, at the top of the stairs.
"What's the plan?" Dimitri asked. Marianne was healing Edelgard up.
Byleth looked at me and said, "What do you want to do?"
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Do you want to land the finishing blow?" Byleth asked.
I shook my head. "I don't mind. We need him alive, though, so he can tell us where Yuri is."
Byleth nodded. "We can do that. Everyone, get ready! We'll have to attack Thales all at once, so we can't give him a chance to fight back." We looked at Thales, who simply smiled at us. "On my cue," Byleth said, as the second dark bishop fell. The four of us surrounded Thales, not close enough to attack but close enough to move in. Our other fighters, like Caspar, Petra, Leonie, Lorenz, Felix, and Dedue, joined us.
"So you have shown yourself, Fell Star," Thales said, looking at Byleth. "Or, should I say… Sothis?"
Dimitri furrowed his brow.
"Now," Byleth said and lunged forward to strike Thales. Thales took the hit, then fought back with a magic spell. Dimitri and Edelgard were right behind Byleth, landing strikes with their weapons. They both took the magic spell in their faces.
I was next. "Where's Yuri?" I yelled as I swung. Thales brought his arm up to block my sword. His counterattack sent me stumbling back and gasping for air.
"Ah, that boy?" Thales said. He shrugged. Dimitri took my shoulder and pulled me away. A second later, I felt Mercedes's healing magic envelope me. An arrow whizzed through the air and hit Thales's foot. Leonie swooped down on her pegasus with her lance, while Dedue dug his axe into Thales's leg.
After I could breathe again, I lunged towards Thales and jabbed his arm with my sword. "Tell me! I know you have him!" From behind me, Constance rained lightning bolts down on Thales.
Even as blood spilled from his wounds, Thales just smiled at me sardonically. "You're a coward, Byleth," he said. "You won't face me alone?"
"Relying on other people isn't cowardly," I said. Lysithea and Hubert took turns casting spells on Thales, while Petra and Felix attacked next. But we were taking a beating from his magical counterattacks. Luckily, Byleth's second swing gutted Thales and sent him tumbling to his knees.
"Answer Byleth," Edelgard said.
Thales frowned. "You're making a mistake, dear niece. I was hoping you and Dimitri would kill each other."
Claude's arrow hit Thales right in the stomach. "That's not a very nice thing to say," he said.
I pointed the tip of my sword at Thales's neck. "Where. Is. Yuri?" I said, glaring at him.
"You know where he is," Thales said. Was that all he had to say? I looked up at Byleth, who nodded at me.
"Do you want to finish him off?" Byleth asked.
Thales laughed but it sounded more like a cough. Then he blasted a dark magic spell in my face, knocking me off my feet and onto the floor. The world spun for a second. I wasn't sure who did it, but I heard the splat of someone's weapon meeting flesh.
"Byleth, you all right?" Edelgard's face came into view, only she soon split into two faces in my vision. Mercedes's warm healing magic circled around me once again. Taking the hand held in front of me, I got back to my feet. My eyes fell to Thales, lying dead on the floor with his eyes and mouth still wide open. I shuddered.
"Do you know where Yuri is?" Balthus asked, scratching the side of his head. Everyone was looking at me.
I swallowed. My throat had gone dry. "I think so," I said. "Let's split up and look for stairs or tunnels that go down."
We spread out and searched the hallways. About ten minutes later, Caspar flew over on his wyvern. "We found something," he called towards me. We followed him to a corner of Shambhala, where a dark mouth waited for us. "Is this what you were thinking of?" Caspar asked.
"Gather everyone else," I said. Squeezing his way through the crowd, Byleth came to stand beside me, while the other groups converged on our position.
"Are you sure?" Byleth asked me.
I gulped and nodded. "We've checked everywhere else, haven't we?"
"Should we leave some more people here to guard?" Claude asked. Everyone looked at each other in anticipation of volunteers.
"How about Caspar, Felix, and Lysithea?" Byleth said.
"Sure."
"That's fine."
"All right."
Everyone murmured agreement.
"Let's go," I said and took the first step into the tunnel. Byleth was close behind my heels, holding a fireball up in his palm. The path was steep and narrow, and we soon landed in another dark hallway. There weren't any blue lights here, only a few lit torches on the wall. The floors were plain wooden planks. I recognized the damp, musty smell, and I felt my throat close up.
Byleth walked around me and was staring at me. "What is it?" he asked. Someone bumped into me and muttered something, before stepping around me.
"What's going on?" Edelgard asked.
"Spread out and keep looking for Yuri," Byleth said. Yuri. Yuri. Right. That's right. I was here for Yuri. Somehow, I lifted one leg up and took a step forward. My feet were like anvils or bags of sand, weighing me down.
"Byleth? You all right?" someone asked. When I turned down the bend in the hallway, everything moved like I was swimming in water. I knew this hallway. I'd stood at the other end of it before Kronya had caught me, before...
I couldn't breathe. I wrapped my hands around my throat, gasping for air. I couldn't be here. I shouldn't be here. If I stayed a second longer, I'd be trapped here forever with Solon and Kronya.
"Byleth? Byleth!" Someone was shaking me by the shoulders.
"Don't touch me!" I slapped their hand away and drew my sword. I ran into a wall behind me. "Stay away from me!" I pushed past all the people and ran back up the tunnel, bursting out into the blue hallway.
"Byleth!" Someone chased after me.
"What happened?" someone else said. I kept running, sprinting down the hallways, up the stairs, until I found the entrance. Someone was following me. I could hear their heavy footprints. Someone who was trying to keep me here, but I wasn't going to stay.
"Byleth, wait!" they yelled. I didn't slow as I dashed through the tunnels and burst out into the open air.
"Byleth?"
"What's going on? Did something happen?"
"Where's everyone else?"
More voices, but I didn't look at them. I ran for my horse and hauled myself on.
"Byleth, please!" Someone was pleading with me. I buried my face into my horse's mane, digging my knees into her sides, but someone had seized control of the reins.
I pointed my sword at them. They raised their hands up in surrender, took a step back, and said, "Byleth, it's okay. It's all right. You're safe here. We'll all protect you."
"Stay away," I said.
"Don't you want to see Yuri?" the person said.
"He's not here," I said. My voice shook. "You can't trick me. I won't go back down there. I won't!"
"All right. That's okay. You don't have to go down there." Their voice was quiet and gentle, but it was all a guise. They were trying to coax me, capture me, tie me down and plug me full of poisons. I wouldn't fall for it. I urged my horse away and this time she walked.
"They found him!" someone yelled, as the person in front of me grabbed the reins again.
"Let go!" I kicked their hand and watched them tumble to the ground.
"Ouch." The person grimaced. "Just stay here, Byleth, please. Trust me." They held a hand out while rolling back onto their feet.
"Make way!" someone said, and the crowd in the tunnel parted. A group of four people came out. My sword lowered when I saw the one in the middle. Lilac purple hair and purple eyes. He had an arm around the shoulders of a taller person to his right. When he looked at me, I couldn't breathe again but for different reasons.
"Byleth," he said.
Yuri.
I brought my horse to a halt. What if this was another trick? Another person disguised? I raised my sword up again. "How do I know you're the real one?" There were cuts and bruises on his face.
"Byleth, it's me." He held a hand up to show the ring I'd given him. "Your best friend." He let go of the other person and limped towards me. I dismounted but kept one hand on the reins and the other on my sword.
I wanted to believe him. He reached a hand out towards me, but I flinched away. "Your mockingbird," he said in a whisper. His lips moved but no sound came out. It took another attempt before I realized he was mouthing his real name. "Do you believe me now?"
My sword fell from my hands with a clatter. Sobbing, I threw my arms around his neck and poured healing magic into him. His leg was recently broken, but someone had already healed it up.
"I'm okay," Yuri said, hugging me back tightly. "You're okay. We'll both be just fine."
As my mind cleared, I looked at my brother over Yuri's shoulders and said, "Byleth, um, sorry."
"Don't worry about it," he said, waving me off.
"Hey, Professor?" Lindhardt called. "I think you'll want to see this." Byleth left us to join the group near the entrance to the tunnel. I let go of Yuri hesitantly. He picked my sword back up and handed it to me, while I slung his sword off of my back.
"Let's go check out what they're looking at," Yuri said with a small smile, holding his hand out. I took it, and we walked back over.
Sylvain was pointing at the swamp to the left, past a row of trees. "Those people just showed up."
"They don't look like people," Hilda said, squinting at the shadows in the distance. "Don't you think they're a little too… I don't know, translucent?"
Byleth looked at the swamp and said, "Nemesis."
Thanks for reading! :)