Chapter Fourteen – Escape from Shambhala
I bought myself time, but I didn't know how much and I didn't know for what. My daring escape? I only arrived here in the first place through Adonis's teleportation, so the only hope I had was that there was another exit somewhere. Maybe, like the manaketes' inability to shift anymore, the Agarthans had no guarantee of teleporting after these hundreds of years had passed. A physical entrance would be necessary if that was true.
As I suspected, thanks to the turning back of time, the levitating platforms were still functioning. The woman must have ceased the supply of magic to them when she escaped before. But in this new scenario I invented, Cyril remained, most likely still in that room waiting for Adonis to bring me to him. Maybe that man wouldn't piece together the information, but I suspected the woman would. How long would she wait before realizing something was wrong.
Even if the Divine Pulse bought me fifteen minutes, maybe thirty if I was lucky, the Agarthans would know something was amiss when they saw me alone. I didn't have the luxury of time to stealth it out of here, so I would need to count on the fact that I had strength alone on my side now.
And not just the strength of one crest…
I wasn't sure if the presence of a second crest within me did anything. Alexi had no crest, and his pregnancy had not been a pleasant one for me. I was on bedrest for nearly a month of it, which was almost more than poor Dimitri could handle. My pregnancy with Katrina went more smoothly—but I never attributed that to the fact that she had a crest. But now I had to wonder… was the reason the pregnancy went better because of the power of her crest?
I hadn't exactly had the opportunity to test out my strength while I was pregnant with Katrina. The family physician was strict about how much I exerted myself given the difficulty of my pregnancy with Alexi. There were no battles for those nine months, save for verbal ones made worse by my irritability at meetings with the cardinals. I never got so much done, if only because the cardinals feared my hormones.
Well, one thing was for sure: I was about to test my hypothesis out now. I knew this baby had a crest, so what did that do for me?
The ride up to the ground level floor of the building seemed to go on forever. It was all in my head, and yet I couldn't stop hearing the ticking of the clock around me.
And when that platform stopped… the ticking stopped, too.
No one noticed me step out of the building. There were plenty of people around, plenty of these people with their stretchy skin and lack of humanity. But no one so much as looked my way. I tried to blend in, moving against the edges of the dark buildings where they might not see me.
I soon realized it didn't matter if they saw me. The Agarthans were unconcerned. No human had ever made it here on their own, and surely none had ever made it out alive. What did it matter to them if one measly creature like me wandered about?
Because, like any insect that crawled where it was not wanted, they would be crushed in the end.
I didn't see the giant mechanical beast right away. It was blended in with the metallic sheen of the surrounding area. But then I noticed what appeared to be an entire building moving. The thing shifted, rumbling with a whirring of gears to life, and the giant mechanism stirred forward.
It wasn't particularly fast, but when something that large barreled towards you with no warning, you couldn't help but stand dumbfounded for a moment. I only rolled out of the way when it didn't seem to be slowing down and its right arm suddenly began to glow not unlike the Sword of the Creator.
That was when I ran. Because it was not one of these mechanical beats that appeared. The red glow of two, then three, then four more swords appeared, and I knew I would never be able to take on five of these things. Maybe one. Maybe even two. But not more than that.
The reason the Agarthans didn't need to react to my presence was because of these things. Whatever they were, they surely had not let down their masters before.
I had been running with no rest for nearly ten minutes when I ducked into an alleyway to catch my breath. I wouldn't be afforded much time here. Surely someone would have seen me stop here and would redirect the metal monsters my way. But whatever time I had, I would use.
How could I get out of here? If my intuition was correct, and we were underground, that meant that the only way out of here was up. I hadn't had the luxury of paying much attention to my surroundings while I ran, given that I was dodging giants ever corner, but I had to imagine that there was some part of this place—this Shambhala—that touched the world above. But where?
Oh, come now. You're supposed to be smarter than this. Use that brain of yours and think.
"Sothis?" I whispered.
No response. I couldn't tell if it really was Sothis talking to me or if it was all in my head—just me simply thinking what I expected her to say.
Regardless of who it was, I followed the advice. There would be some connection between this place and the outside world. Given the influence that the Agarthans had over the Empire, I suspected that Shambhala had to be somewhere within former Empire territory. And if they never wanted anyone ever actually stumbling upon it, this place had to be buried pretty deep.
What better place that under some mountains? It was the perfect defense.
And why would they target Hrym? Because they were right next door.
This was all conjecture. Even so, how did it help me? I could make it back to Garreg Mach within a day if I made it out of here alive, but that was a pretty big if considering the giants they had after me. And knowing where I was didn't make any difference if I couldn't find an exit.
If this was a mountain, an exit would make the most sense from the side where the walls were thinnest, so I wouldn't necessarily need to go up. Which left any possible direction being an option to make it out of here…
But all I needed to do in that case was find the perimeter of the city. If I could make it to the edge, I would merely need to follow along the outside until I found an exit. It wasn't ideal, but it was a better idea than I had. Besides, I wouldn't need to worry about the giant mechanical monsters killing me. The Agarthans needed me alive, at least for now, until they could take my crest.
Having caught my breath enough, I emerged from the alley in a brisk walk. There were no enemies upon me yet. I turned around the corner of the building on the right forming the alley and entered a main road. It extended farther than I could see, which gave me hope it brought me to the edge.
I had but a moment to enjoy my walk, though, as an explosion of rock burst to my right. A mechanical beast swung his bladed arm with such strength that he destroyed the corner of that building I just emerged from behind.
Maybe it didn't matter to them if they killed me or not…
I began my sprint once more. This was the one advantage I had over those things. Each step for them covered nearly ten of mine, but it took a great deal of effort. In the time that they took one step, I took fifteen, giving me a slight advantage to outrun them.
The edge of the city blurred right into the walls of the mountain. The blue light simply ceased where rock began, leaving very little light along the perimeter. But I had to imagine that whatever pathway they had out of this place was lit up with that same magic they used to power the city. And that would be my answer on how to get out of here.
The darkness was my own advantage, anyway. I walked along the wall, farthest from the blue light on the road. Only my shoes reflected a little of that light; the rest of me blended into the darkness. The mechanical beasts tracking me froze at the end of the road, the whirring of gears blaring as each one searched back and forth for me.
This was it… I could make it…
I walked now, making sure each step I took was silent and keeping one hand on the rocky wall to make sure I stuck to it. I stopped only when my hand slipped through nothing, a dark path with tiny blue lights in the distance.
"You found the entrance to Shambhala. How exciting."
A shiver crawled up my spine, and I slowly turned around to face the voice. The veiled woman from the operation room stood with her hands folded in front of her. She had no weapon, save for perhaps some magic, but she didn't appear eager to use it.
"Oh?" She stepped towards me, hands separating as she reached for my stomach. "Two crests… are you aware that you are pregnant?"
There was no time for negotiations. I could hope all I wanted that she would let me go. She was the one who wanted to wait to harvest my crest until the baby was born, after all. But that was just more leverage to hold over my head. She would either want to keep me here in the terrible city or let me go with a quid pro quo. My family would be in constant danger.
No, there was only one solution now.
As she put a hand on my stomach, I lifted the Sword of the Creator through it. The woman screamed, pulling back and lifting her damaged arm towards her face. I wouldn't let her suffer through the pain. I was human, after all. I had a conscience.
I could tell she was about to leave, to flee like she had before. This was a woman who did not want to fight. But she was dangerous all the same. While the pain still left her in shock, I finished the job, a final scream echoing in the darkness of Shambhala.
This would get the attention of others. I needed to leave.
Without another look at the body I left behind, I fled down the pathway. There was hardly any light; the blue didn't carry far, and it was spaced out too much to be any help. I tripped a few times, bloodying my hands on rocks as I tried to catch myself.
And then the end. I could see daylight filtering in through what appeared to be branches. It was a natural entrance, concealed in plain sight. I burst through it, collapsing to the ground when I officially made it out of Shambhala.
No time to rest. Get up and get moving.
It annoyed me sometimes that Sothis was always right.
I pushed myself back up to my feet and looked back, trying to memorize this place. It was wooded, so a lower part of the mountain. But there would be no way for me to memorize this exact location—it looked like any other forest. The branches covering the entrance could have been anywhere, and no one would have stumbled upon it without some sort of map leading here.
No, I would need to be conscious of where I was going, make my own map of sorts in my mind. But I still didn't know which direction to go.
I began walking. I could hear water somewhere. A stream? A river? The ocean?
I followed the sound, stopping only when I reached what had to be a river. I knew this river. It had to be the Airmid River, given the size of it. I could see the other side, but it would be impossible to swim. That would be old Alliance territory. These mountains were right on the edge of the Empire…
From where I stood, the water flowed to my right. I would need to travel up stream. Following the river would lead me directly back to the monastery.
I bought myself time, but that was about all I had. Given the location of the body of the woman I just killed, the Agarthans would know I successfully escaped. If they thought that risking a war with the Almyrans was worth having me back, they would go after my children next. I just killed the only person who knew I was pregnant, my only chance of saving my family some months of peace.
I picked up the pace, running along the edge of the river. My body was exhausted. I had to strain myself with every move. It was adrenaline only keeping me moving at this point. Sweat dripped down my face, and my head pounded. It couldn't be good for the baby to push myself like this, but I had no choice.
The Great Bridge of Myrddin came into view after nearly three hours of running, walking, and generally floundering. I couldn't make it back to the monastery. Not today. I was too exhausted. But there would be troops stationed at the bridge who would be able to give me shelter, if I could at least make it that far.
My knees gave out when I made it to the bridge. A soldier came sprinting towards me, all hell breaking loose when they noticed who I was. Suddenly I had knights from every direction lifting me up, strangers with their arms under my arms to help me walk. Voices around me began to blur together, shouting back and forth about the archbishop and the queen.
"Send a message to my husband," I ordered, but my voice didn't come out as strong as intended. Did it even come out at all? "And to…"
My voice trailed off. I couldn't finish my thought. Where did I want to send a message?
They brought me to one of the bridge's barracks. I had never actually been inside before. During the war, we took the bridge from the Empire's control, but it had been a short visit merely to get us across into the Empire, a crossing point only.
Sleep fell over me the second I landed in the bed they made up for me. I didn't bother undressing from my bloodied clothes. I didn't even let the Sword of the Creator out of my hands. Armor and weapons all, I hit the pillow and let slumber take over.
I don't know how long I slept, but it was dark out when I awoke, and someone was holding my hand. The Sword of the Creator was still in the bed, but it had slipped from my fingers. I grabbed it and sat up, eyes turned on whoever was by my side.
"Byleth!"
I barely got a look at Dimitri before he pulled me into him. I didn't yell at him this time for squeezing me too hard. I dropped the sword and wrapped my arms back around him, too. Tears burned in the corners of my eyes, and I could tell from the way my husband's shoulder shook that he was crying, too.
How many minutes passed with us like this? My sides began to ache from Dimitri's strength, and I finally loosened my grip, which was a signal for him to let me go.
"My beloved," he whispered, leaning his forehead against mine. "I thought…"
"Dimitri…" I touched his cheek, lifting my chin slightly so I could kiss him. "There's a lot I need to tell you. But first we need to get Alexi and Katrina out of Almyra. The Agarthans know they're there, and now that I escaped… I don't want to run the risk."
"I'll send an express messenger," Dimitri agreed. "Will you be all right for a moment?"
I nodded, watching my husband walk out of the barracks. I wiped my eyes dry, but only for a moment before my students all flooded the room. They must've known the only reason Dimitri would leave my side was if I was awake and gave him something to do.
"Professor!" Annette immediately burst into tears when she looked at me. "I'm so happy that it worked!"
"What are you talking about?" I asked as she threw her arms around my neck. "What worked?"
Felix sat at the foot of my bed, the closest he would ever get to showing affection for me. Sylvain planted a kiss on my cheek, which earned a smack from Ingrid, who smiled at me as she threatened her friend. Ashe, like Annette, was sobbing, and Dedue patted his shoulder consolingly.
"The spell," Annette clarified with a hiccup. "Dimitri told me to cast the spell on you back there, right before that guy sent us away. That's how we knew you were here."
"You didn't get the messenger?" I asked.
"There was no messenger. As soon as Annette saw you moving, we did, too," Felix said. "We would've met the messenger along the way if there was one."
"We were real worried about ya," a voice from the back of the group said.
Cyril stepped out from behind Dedue, and I held my breath for a moment. The Agarthans moved quickly. As soon as they knew I killed Adonis, this guy must have teleported back to Garreg Mach just to play the role again. He complained about being a babysitter, but here he was, filling the role.
Except he didn't know I knew. That was before I used Divine Pulse to turn back time… for all he knew, I was still ignorant to the fact that Cyril was dead. I could use that. I could be the one to control him.
"The messenger has been sent. I sent one to Claude, too, back at the monastery so he was aware that Hilda might be in danger," Dimitri announced as he entered the barracks again. He froze when he noticed all the people swarming me. "We should be giving her space."
"It's all right. I'm happy everyone is here," I said, making eye contact with Cyril as I did.
The chorus of voices from my former students was like music to my ears. Dimitri worked his way through the group back to my side, holding my hand again while we chatted. I tugged him closer for a moment, whispering, "We need to talk. Alone."
He looked at me with concern in his eye, before standing and clearing his throat. "If you would excuse us, everyone. Byleth has informed me that she is getting tired and would like to rest."
"If you need me, Professor, I'll be right outside," Sylvain said with a wink.
"And I'll make sure he's not," Felix grumbled, knocking Sylvain's arm with his elbow.
"Bye, Professor. I'm really happy you're okay," Annette said.
"As am I. That was a little more nerve-wracking than I remembered," Ashe added. "I guess it's been awhile since I've been involved in any battles…"
"Should you request anything," Dedue said with a bow, "please do not hesitate to let me know, Your Majesties."
"Do ya want me to polish the Sword of the Creator, Professor? It's looking a little… bloody," Cyril offered, eyeing the weapon on my bed.
My eyes flickered to it and then back to Cyril, and I smiled. "That's all right. I'll get to it later."
Cyril nodded and left the room with the others, leaving Dimitri and I alone again. The quiet was almost discomforting now, but the touch of my husband's thumb running back and forth along my hand made me feel a little better.
"What happened back there, my love?" Dimitri asked after a moment, once he knew we were in the clear. Dedue would most likely be standing guard outside the room, so we had the privacy I needed. "Did they do anything to you?"
"There's a lot I need to tell you… a lot I haven't told you…" I avoided his gaze now, instead staring at my bloodied weapon laying parallel to my legs.
"Haven't?" Dimitri repeated.
I nodded. "Starting with the progenitor god. I saved your life countless times during the war by turning back time. And I did it again to save my own this time, and in doing so, I escaped Shambhala armed with knowledge they don't know I have."
Dimitri looked a little skeptical. I didn't blame him. Hearing that I had the ability to turn back time would disturb any normal human, because no one except a god should have that sort of ability. Dimitri didn't think of me, his beloved wife, as anything more than a normal human most of the time—but I wasn't. I was human on the outside, but my soul was not.
"Turning back time?"
"When we first met, I was essentially killed when I protected Edelgard from the bandit. But Sothis saved me by turning back the hands of time, and in doing so, I retained the knowledge from that encounter and knew how to correct it. I only saved Edelgard, and myself, because of that power. The same is true of many of our battles during the war. I've watched our friends die dozens of times—I've watched you die over and over again," I admitted. "The only reason I seem like a capable strategist is because I use the ability to turn back time to my advantage, to correct our mistakes by finding another way."
"Then… why…" he began, but I shook my head.
"The power is limited," I interrupted before he could finish. "I can only turn it back so much and only for a limited amount of time. The most I've ever turned it back was about a half hour, and it exhausts me to use it."
"Why have you never told me?" he asked. It stung hearing his voice like that—he was hurt. I didn't think this sort of thing, keeping a secret like this, would wound him.
"It's unusual, isn't it? I just… didn't want you to think of me as a freak… or as just a tool to use," I said.
Dimitri squeezed my hand, and I finally looked back at him. I knew he realized that in his darkest moments during the war, he would've used me as a tool. He would've pushed me to turn back time over and over again until he murdered Edelgard successfully at the Battle of Gronder Field, and he would have been stuck in that darkness forevermore. Everything would've changed.
And now? Well, it didn't particularly benefit him. I was the only one who got anything out of it. Sothis always warned me not to use it for trivial matters, but I would admit that on particularly enjoyable nights with Dimitri, I might relive a moment or two. But I hadn't any reason other than that in times of peace to use it—so why bring it up to him?
No, this was the only time that made sense to tell him, and I knew he would forgive me for withholding such a secret.
"What knowledge did you walk away with, then?" he asked.
I took his hand holding mine and flipped it, placing the palm of his hand on my stomach. "Most importantly… this."
His eye flickered back and forth between his hand and my face, and then he began to laugh. He kissed me once, then again, and once more for good measure. Then he moved his other hand to my stomach, too, and leaned his head down to touch it.
"Katrina is going to lose her mind," I joked, and Dimitri laughed again.
"She's going to be the bossiest big sister," he agreed.
He began to list all the things we would need to start preparing, and I smiled as I watched him stand up to pace around the room in a parental frenzy. I would leave him with these pleasant thoughts for now. He didn't need to know, not yet, that this baby had a crest, one that the Agarthans would be after as soon as this child left the womb.
Because I knew exactly which crest it had.
Ah, so you can use that brain of yours. Finally.
The Crest of Flames.
Author's Note: Mercedes was going to be the imposter when I originally planned this story, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. She's too sweet. So, poor Cyril needs to suffer. I like him a lot, but apparently, he's one of the most hated characters in FE3H? Poor kid.
