Korrina and the Black Eagles

Chapter 6: The True Nature of Crests

When the surviving members of the Western Church were brought before Archbishop Rhea, it was made clear that they wouldn't be getting any mercy from her either. The men spoke as if someone else had put them up to it, but Rhea didn't seem to care. All that mattered to her was that the men standing before her were criminals deserving of death. Korrina was a little surprised that Rhea didn't even want to hear who put them up to it, but considering the severity of their crimes, it sort of made sense that no one would take their side. During the execution, many of the Black Eagles began to fear Rhea (Bernadetta especially). Caspar even said that Rhea had went too far in executing them that easily. However, Korrina somewhat agreed with Rhea's decision to execute the Western Church members. Caspar and Dorothea were a little shocked by this turn of events, so Korrina decided to explain. She said "Think about it. If someone prompted another noble to lead a bunch of civilians to their death just to deliver a threat to your life, broke into your castle on a holiday while said threat to your life was still being taken seriously, then attempted to rob your ancestor's grave, would you be so willing to grant said person an inch of mercy?" The logic made sense to Hubert (even if he felt the need to mock Korrina's lack of knowledge about the church) and a few others, but Dorothea and Bernadetta were still unsure if this was truly the right way to deal with severe criminals. Before Korrina could elaborate further, however, Seteth arrived to bring Korrina to Rhea.

Korrina was half expecting to be punished or at least admonished for using the church's most valuable weapon in combat without permission, but instead, Rhea thanked Korrina for protecting the mausoleum and the "Sword of the Creator". "Sword of the Creator?", Korrina asked, "Do you mean this odd sword right here?" Korrina then pulled out the sword in front of Rhea and Seteth, the glow still as bright as it was the other day. Seteth was still adjusting to the fact that someone was actually capable of wielding it, while Rhea was a little too affirmative for either of their liking. "The same.", Rhea replied. She then went on to explain how the Sword of the Creator was apparently the first and most powerful of the 10 relics. Korrina was admittedly a bit happy to learn that she was now at least somewhat equal to Catherine, a mindset that caused Seteth to doubt if Korrina was truly ready to wield the Sword of the Creator. Seteth then explained to Korrina in a voice equal parts annoyed and terrified about how Nemesis himself wielded the Sword of the Creator. Korrina recognized what Seteth was trying to tell her as she had already read up on Nemesis during her time at the library. However, Seteth admitted there was more to the story. Apparantly, Nemesis was personally given that sword by Sothis to drive back "evil gods" but then went mad with power and had to be put down by the first archbishop. Korrina acknowledged what Seteth was trying to warn Rhea about and suddenly began to wonder if she would end up like him. Unfortunately, Rhea had already made up her mind about Korrina using the Sword of the Creator. Thankfully, there was a reason for this. Back in the Kingdom of Faerghus, some thieves had stolen another relic, the Lance of Ruin. Their leader was a disowned son of House Gautier, and the motive was clearly vengeance. Korrina recognized the name as the house Silvain was from, but also found herself wondering why this man was disinherited. Seteth's answer was that the man lacked a crest, which seemed quite ludicrous to Korrina. In Korrina's mind, someone should be disinherited due to poor conduct, not because of something beyond their control. Even with Rhea's further explanation of how those without a crest cannot use the full power of its corresponding relic, Korrina's point still stood. A ruler is different from a fighter, after all. Despite all this, Korrina still understood the severity of the situation and accepted the mission laid out for her.

The next chance Korrina got, she visited Hanneman's office. Ever since the Sword of the Creator awakened for her the way Thunderbrand awakens for Catherine, she had been more curious than ever to understand the true nature of her origins. Hanneman had already solved the mystery before Korrina had even arrived, both to her gratitude and to her disappointment. "I know how you feel", Hanneman said in a more comforting tone, "being beaten to the punch is always a frustrating feeling, even if that person is your colleague. Nevertheless, please listen to my findings for a moment." Korrina quickly overcame her disappointment at not being able to discover it with him and listened intently. After a few minutes of rambling about the shape of Korrina's crest and the detailed meaning behind every single meaning of every single line, shape and abrasion, Hanneman finally introduced Korrina's full crest: The Crest of Flames. The Crest of Flames is the direct bloodline of Nemesis, one thought to have gone extinct after his death on the battlefield. However, Korrina was living proof that that theory was completely false. Korrina's first response was, "Did Jeralt know about any of this?" Hanneman responded by saying, "Most unlikely. Jeralt's crest was the Crest of Seiros, and he told me that the Crest of Seiros was the only one passed down from his ancestors. If anything, The Crest of Flames comes from your mother's side of the family. Who your mother was, however, I cannot say. Jeralt never even gave the poor woman's name when he spoke of her." With this in mind, Korrina went to find Jeralt as Hanneman looked to the skies and started daydreaming aloud of all the fame he'd get from this historical discovery.

Korrina searched all over the monastery for Jeralt, talking to numerous people as to his potential whereabouts. Eventually, Korrina found Jeralt putting flowers before a grave. Korrina immediately took this to be her mother's grave and asked Jeralt as such. The approach caught Jeralt off guard, but he confirmed it: this was indeed his wife's grave. Jeralt then discussed longingly his wife's multiple virtues and how pretty she looked when she smiled. This in turn caused Korrina to smile and cuddle up to Jeralt for the first time since coming to Garreg Mach. Jeralt chuckled and said, "Yep. You definitely got that from your mom. I never thought of it before, but this position as teacher might have been something your mother would have wanted if she were still alive. I've no doubt she would be proud of you if she were still here." Korrina then said, "By the way, did my mother share my crest or know anything about being descended from Nemesis?" Jeralt responded by saying, "That's much more difficult to figure out. Neither me nor your mother really talked about crests that often. To be honest, neither of us really cared. We were both more than our crests, and I hope that you'll keep that in mind too. I know it's hard what with all that's happened, but if you let that power go to your head, I fear what would happen to this world." Korrina took that warning to heart and agreed, much to Jeralt's happiness. Before leaving, Jeralt promised to one day give Korrina his wedding ring in hopes that she would find someone who brought her as much happiness as her mother brought Jeralt.

Because this new mission sounded more dangerous than any of the previous ones, Korrina thought this as good a time as ever to "go" to Sothis about learning that time controlling technique that Sothis used that one time. Thankfully, this part did not require much convincing. Because Sothis would also die if Korrina died, there was absolutely no reason for her to not teach Korrina this power. The name of the technique was Divine Pulse, and it allowed Korrina to turn back time a certain amount as well as decide who would remember everything that happened leading up to the last usage of Divine Pulse (kinda like seeing a glimpse of the future). Although Sothis generally preferred to use Divine Pulse in life or death situations, Korrina thought it a better idea to test this power in a more casual setting. Ferdinand was fixing to apologize to Bernadetta for being so pushy with her the other day, and such a metaphorical minefield was perfect testing grounds for a time controlling power like Divine Pulse. Whenever Ferdinand bungled the apology or said too much, Korrina would reverse time and keep Ferdinand's memory of the goof intact. It took a few tries (especially since Ferdinand wasted one of the uses on marveling at what had just happened) but eventually, Korrina mastered the Divine Pulse and Ferdinand started to develop a close friendship with Bernadetta.

As mission preparations went fully underway, Korrina began to notice a few changes within her fellow students. Petra had begun to become enamored with pegasi after learning about their existence during the Goddess's Rite of Rebirth and asked Ingrid to teach her how to fly one during the next sisterhood meeting. Bernadetta had started actually trying to come out of her room and interact with people. Bernadetta often failed at this due to her social anxiety, but Korrina did once catch her successfully giving someone a tour around the monastery without incident. Silvain had learned to somewhat back off after the Shamir incident, but the bad news was that now Silvain was starting to pass through multiple women a week. When Korrina confronted him about this, the young noble explained that he was merely looking for a woman that valued him for more than just his crest and nobility. Ferdinand was finally able to wear heavy armor without any trouble and thus was able to become a true knight. Dorothea had finally put her bias against religion aside to learn faith and healing. The rest mostly stuck to what they were good at, but nevertheless showed great signs of improvement.

The day before the mission, the Black Eagles were introduced to an old but muscular man named Gilbert. Since Gilbert hailed from Faerghus, Rhea thought it a good idea to let him guide the Black Eagles to their destination and even help them fight. Once the pleasantries and formalities were over with, Korrina told Gilbert that one of her friends was looking for a man that matched Gilbert's description. This piqued Gilbert's interest as he said, "Interesting. Who might this young lady be then?" Korrina responded by saying, "Her name is Annette. She hails from the Blue Lion house and shares your hair and eye color." Gilbert had a very…interesting response to this answer. He seemed to forget the Black Eagles were even there and said to no one, "I'm sorry. I'm sure you must be worried sick about me." Korrina then alerted Gilbert to the fact that her and the Black Eagles were still there and said, "You can tell her that in person when we come back." This in term seemed to give Gilbert a small sense of determination as he addressed the Black Eagles and said, "Students. Our target this month is Miklan, a disowned son of House Gautier. He has overtaken a stronghold named Conand Tower in the northernmost reaches of Faerghus. It is my duty to ensure that each of you reaches that tower and comes back safely. As for the rest, I'm confident that you'll be able to handle it. Get plenty of sleep and dress warmly. I'll be waiting for you at the Knight's Hall tomorrow."

Later that day, Korrina went to check up on her old friend, the gatekeeper. The man took his job seriously and was quite disheartened to hear that so many had snuck past him on the Goddess's Rite of Rebirth. Korrina finally had enough time to tell him, "The Western Church used warp magic to teleport their way into the mausoleum. Noone saw it coming, not even me. This isn't a failure on your part. Just a miscalculation on mine. You're still a great guard." This seemed to lift the gatekeeper's spirits, and come the next day, he was back to his usual cheery self. "Come back safe, everyone!", the gatekeeper shouted with a smile as Korrina and the Black Eagles headed out for Conand Tower.

A massive storm began to pick up as the Black Eagles began to approach Conand Tower. Such weather made the first sight of Conand Tower all the more intimidating. Nevertheless, everyone was somewhat quick to plow through the front guard and enter the tower before their armor could get any wetter. Due to the spiral shape of the tower, there wasn't much room for complex strategy. All the Black Eagles had to do was keep going straight to the top and kill anyone who got in their way. As the Black Eagles eventually reached a break in fighting, they started to talk with Gilbert about the target and the historical significance of Conand Tower. Apparently, this tower was made to defend against invasions from the north. Edelgard was really impressed that Miklan was able to survive the arduous climb and take the tower for himself. Silvain was shockingly quick to respond with, "My brother is not impressive. He's just another thief with a poor attitude." Some of the others were a bit taken aback by how dismissive Silvain was of his own brother, but they felt he had his reasons. Korrina, on the other hand, was a bit more interested in the family dynamic of House Gautier. Gilbert went on to explain how House Gautier values their crest above all else when it comes to inheritance. The crest manifested for Silvain, but not for Miklan. Edelgard thought the whole thing was farcical, and Korrina agreed. Neither of them believed that someone should be ostracized and cast out for not having a crest. Silvain then butted back in and said "If you're still talking about my brother, save it. Miklan was always a piece of trash, hating me for my crest and demanding the inheritance 'back' without doing anything to deserve it. I just didn't think he'd go so far as to steal our relic." Before the conversation could continue, more thieves came charging down and the fighting resumed.

As the Black Eagles neared the top of Conand Tower, their enemies started to get more devious. The mages within this false army started to rain down thunder from the uppermost floor while the archers let down arrow rain. If Dorothea hadn't learned to cast thunder magic of her own, the Black Eagles would have been cooked. Ferdinand used his armor to tank the arrows while Bernadetta made curved shots of her own to pick off the archers and mages one by one. As always, Linhardt was there to provide the necessary healing (even if all the climbing had left him more exhausted than usual). The thieves also found little compartments to ambush the Black Eagles from different directions, eventually sandwiching them. Gilbert, Petra, Hubert, and Ferdinand agreed to hold off the surprise reinforcements while the rest made it to the top.

Naturally, Miklan was waiting for the Black Eagles at the top with the Lance of Ruin in hand. Due to the supposed power of the relic Miklan held, Korrina wanted to initially play it safe and hit him safely from a distance. To that end, Edelgard and Dorothea made use of their remaining magic uses while everyone else finished fighting the small fry and started to catch up at the top. Unfortunately, Edelgard and Dorothea eventually ran out of magic for the day and Miklan went on the offensive. Silvain rushed in to save the 2 mages, even though he himself didn't stand much of a chance defending against the Lance of Ruin. As Silvain fell off his horse, Miklan laughed at his younger brother's weakness. Despite his injuries, Silvain responded with "I'm supposed to be the weakling? I don't think so. At least I wouldn't steal what's rightfully yours." Miklan said "You already have" before raising the Lance of Ruin to finish Silvain. Before he could, though, Korrina wrapped the Sword of the Creator around Miklan's arm and made him drop the Lance of Ruin for a moment. In just a moment, however, Miklan picked the relic back up and engaged Korrina personally. Now that Korrina no longer had the element of surprise, Miklan was now able to effectively parry the Sword of the Creator with his longer reach and force Korrina on the defensive. Thankfully, most of the Black Eagles had finally reached the fight and charged Miklan all at once. Even the Lance of Ruin couldn't defend Miklan from an onslaught from all directions.

Miklan survived the onslaught, but just barely. He was determined to keep fighting to the bitter end, but before he could make his next move, a strange tentacle like goo emerged from the Lance of Ruin and covered his entire body. It happened so fast that Miklan didn't even realize what was happening until his arm was seized by the goo, and by then, it was already too late to drop the Lance of Ruin and run for it. All Miklan could do was cry to his former adversaries for help as the goo spread to his face and entered his eyes, nose and mouth. Once the goo fully enveloped Miklan, it began to transform his body. The goo now hardened into scales as the being that once was Miklan doubled in size and grew a tail, spines, and an elongated head. Miklan and the Lance of Ruin were both gone, and in their place was a feral beast resembling a bipedal chameleon more than any type of human.

Needless to say, this horrifying scene changed the situation completely. Bernadetta immediately went into shock from the terror of it all, and the monster decided to make her its first target. Without thinking, Ferdinand grabbed Bernadetta and turned around to shield them both from the oncoming attack. Gilbert then hacked at the monster's arm to grab its attention long enough to let Ferdinand take Bernadetta and escape. Unfortunately, Gilbert couldn't hold the monster for long as it quickly threw him against the wall, picked up a piece of another wall, and threw it at him. Gilbert was out in an instant. Korrina then picked up Gilbert's body, placed it on Silvain's horse, and prompted it to get out of there as well. Noticing that it had the upper hand now, the monster began to charge up some energy. Korrina then had everyone get away as the monster released a spray of highly damaging thorns. As Linhardt started healing everyone, Sothis then got an idea of how to defeat the monster and explained to Korrina that there could be a barrier surrounding it that could only be broken with high levels of strength. This looked like a job for Caspar. Caspar charged in, striking away at this hypothetical barrier with all his might while Edelgard assisted with an axe of her own. Petra was also of some use, as her quick speed allowed her to slip by most of the monster's attacks. Sothis's hypothesis proved correct, as the Black Eagles were eventually able to stagger the monster and turn the tide. The Black Eagles then used this chance to lay into the monster with everything they had left before the monster could regain its senses. With one last strangling from the Sword of the Creator and yet another decisive blow from Caspar, the monster finally passed away.

As the monster's life faded, its form dissolved to reveal Miklan and the Lance of Ruin. Miklan was also dead, and the Lance of Ruin no longer had that same terrifying power it had before. On a whim, Korrina shouted "Well, what are you waiting for? Destroy the Lance of Ruin before it has a chance to corrupt someone else!" Gilbert swiftly responded with "No! I forbid it! No matter what we just saw, the Lance of Ruin is still a vital asset to the kingdom's defenses as well as the pride of House Gautier!" Korrina disagreed, but Silvain took Gilbert's side. Recognizing that she had probably overstepped her boundaries, Korrina relented and let Silvain have the Lance of Ruin. On the way down, Korrina encountered Ferdinand nursing Bernadetta back to health. "She'll live, but it'll take a few days for her to mentally recover. I apologize deeply for my own display of cowardice in running from the fight, though. I have no excuse and happily accept any punishment." Korrina didn't like the way Ferdinand perceived his actions and responded with a story. "On my first mission as a mercenary, I went far beyond what my heart could handle and passed out on the battlefield. Rather than press on, my father aborted the mission just to get me to safety. Several of his men thought him a coward and left the company over this, but if he hadn't ran that day, I wouldn't be here leading you. You did a very noble thing back there Ferdinand, and if my father were here too, he'd say the same thing." This definitely helped to get Ferdinand's self confidence back on track, and they all started on the road back to Garreg Mach.

Back at the monastery, Rhea was insistent on keeping what transpired at Conand Tower a secret. Although Korrina thought that the people deserved to know the true nature of the relics, she did not feel like anyone would believe her story about someone transforming into a monster, so she halfheartedly agreed. As for the Lance of Ruin, Korrina said "If I still had it, I would return it to you." Rhea changed tone and accused Korrina of losing the Lance of Ruin, but Korrina finished talking and said "I gave it to Silvain. If you want the lance, you're gonna have to talk to him about it." Rhea then calmed down and said "Very well. I'll meet with Silvain later about this topic, but I must advise against making such decisions in the future without consulting me first." With that ominous note, the meeting was adjourned.

That night, Korrina heard a maddening cry for help from Edelgard's room. Immediately, Korrina leapt into action and smashed through the door to her room. Edelgard was both annoyed and embarrassed that she had actually attracted attention. It didn't take long for Korrina to realize that Edelgard was simply having a nightmare, However, Edelgard decided she could trust Korrina and said the nightmare was about her past, specifically the slow deaths of every one of her ten siblings. According to Edelgard, it was disease that killed them all. However, the way she said that she wouldn't let it happen again suggested that there was more to it than just disease. When Korrina asked what Edelgard wanted to do as Empress, she went back to the subject of Miklan. She was still furious that such uncontrollable things as crests could determine who does and doesn't hold power. Korrina dissented and hypothesized that the system was put in place to prevent the relics from corrupting people and turning them into monsters. However, Korrina also believed that the relics were parasitic entities that could only be staved off by the power of a crest. "Such demonic powers should not be counted on to protect people, let alone create an entire system around." Korrina said with more purpose than usual. Edelgard took it a step further and said that the only way was to destroy the goddess and the crests. This shocked Korrina quite a bit as she never thought of the goddess as a malevolent entity, but Edelgard quickly caught herself and chalked it up to lack of sleep. This put Korrina's mind at ease as she left back for her own room. Little did she know that Edelgard was 100% serious.