Korrina and the Black Eagles

Chapter 7: Traffickers in Garreg Mach

Normally, each month would begin with Rhea assigning Korrina with some sort of mission for the Black Eagles to carry out. The month we call September appeared to be no different at first. However, before Rhea could even give Korrina a word about her new mission, Seteth came barging in the room in a state of panic. Apparently, Flayn had disappeared without a trace and Seteth could not find her anywhere in the monastery. Seteth was in hysterics, and Rhea didn't know how to properly consolidate him. Korrina began to think of what Jeralt would do and approached Seteth. Korrina then held the man and said "We'll find her. I promise. We'll all help you find your sister." This act seemed to calm down Seteth a little bit, but he was still beside himself with worry. Korrina then turned to Rhea and said, "I'm sorry, archbishop, but I'm gonna have to hold off on that mission until we can find Flayn." Usually, such defiance would greatly displease Rhea, but this time, she seemed to understand. Rhea smiled and said, "Never fear. Flayn and Seteth are both like family to me. I, too, will devote everything I have to recovering her. As for now, you are dismissed until Seteth reaches a clearer state of mind."

The next day, Korrina returned to Rhea's chamber to apologize for her behavior the past few days. She said, "I'm sorry if I've been rude to you these past few days. Between the incident at Conand Tower and Flayn's disappearance, I haven't had any time to really calm back down." Rhea comprehended this idea and said, "Stop fretting, child. Given the circumstances, I have already cancelled all my mission plans for the month. Although I expect your best, I do recognize that these times have become taxing on the soul. However, even in these trying times, you must not let your heart waver. No good decision has ever been made under impatience or stress, after all." After these words of wisdom, Seteth appeared in a slightly more presentable fashion than he was in yesterday. Though Seteth would never truly recover until he was reunited with his sister, he was at least ready to talk about it. The idea of just running away was immediately ruled out as Seteth mentioned that Flayn always told him where she was going. There was also a bit of conflicting information as Rhea said that Flayn hasn't left the monastery while Seteth said that no one found her in their most recent sweep of Garreg Mach. Given the information at hand, Korrina then began to feel like continuing to search Garreg Mach could only be a waste of time. Seteth then brought up a terrible rumor that which had been circulating Garreg Mach the past few weeks. Apparently, someone called the Death Knight patrols the local town every night this time of year. Whenever this happens, a little girl will often disappear, never to be seen again. Korrina was quick to connect the dots between this Death Knight and the man she encountered at the mausoleum a few months ago. Korrina did not have much doubt anymore: the Death Knight kidnapped Flayn, and the only way to get her back was to find him.

When class began the next day, Korrina gave it straight: "Flayn has gone missing, and I have personally volunteered to help the search party. Thus, all future classes are cancelled until Flayn is properly located and reunited with Seteth. I won't require you to help me but think about it. What would you do if you had a sister of your own and she went missing? Personally, I wouldn't eat or sleep until she was confirmed to be alive and safe. I'll leave you to think about that. Class dismissed." Because they had gotten to know Flayn through the sisterhood, Edelgard, Dorothea, Petra, and Bernadetta all left with Korrina to help with the search effort. Ferdinand and Silvain followed suit, as they both thought it was the right thing to do. Caspar joined out of sincere concern for Flayn's health, and even though Linhardt was mildly excited that he wouldn't have to attend any more lectures for the foreseeable future, he shared Caspar's sentiment and decided to pitch in too. All that remained was Hubert, but just because he was passive aggressive to the point where every sentence could be interpreted as a threat didn't mean he was some heartless monster. Hubert decided to help the search party as well, cementing the Black Eagles' "mission" for the month.

Korrina's first thought was to turn to her friends at the Garreg Mach Women's Association to see if they noticed anything suspicious. Thankfully, said sisterhood had just received some new arrivals from the Golden Deer that were willing to lend a hand: a somewhat lazy woman with pink pigtails named Hilda, a white haired, purple eyed child prodigy named Lysithea, and a tomboy with orange hair that worked with Jeralt named Leonie. Hilda believed that Flayn simply couldn't take being around Seteth anymore and simply ran away, but the Blue Lion girls were quick to shut down that theory. Flayn seemed to enjoy her brother's company too much to simply run away, and if she did, Seteth would have caught her in an instant. Lysithea then chimed in and admitted that Flayn always seemed older than her appearance suggested, causing many of the "sisters" to wonder if this was simple maturity like Lysithea or something more magical that would make her a primary target for kidnapping. This idea made Edelgard recoil as if remembering a traumatic event, and she suddenly became more pushy about finding out who took Flayn and where they might be. Annette believed it was the Death Knight based on the rumors circling around, but the rest were more interested in pointing fingers wherever they could. Korrina tried to convince the others that it was indeed the Death Knight, but even though they agreed, they still felt like the Death Knight's true identity could be one of the staff members here at Garreg Mach. Not only would it explain how the Death Knight was able to get so close to Flayn, but it was also extremely likely considering that the Death Knight's main site of operations was the town just outside of Garreg Mach. Leonie suspected Tomas as he had always been trying to figure out as much as he could about Flayn. Korrina was initially dismissive of this theory as Tomas was too old and frail to be the Death Knight, but he was suspicious enough for Korrina to wonder if there was a connection. A more plausible assumption was Ingrid's idea of the Death Knight being Gilbert. Her logic of Gilbert being the one was most shaky as it was nothing more than a hunch, but he was at least physically able enough to be someone like the Death Knight. Petra's accusation was the most absurd, as she accused Shamir simply because she was also foreign. This seemed to greatly upset Korrina, as she would later take Petra to apologize to Shamir. After the round of accusations were finished, Korrina then drew up a game plan for each of the "sisters" to spread out to a different corner of the surrounding area and see if they can even find a trace of Flayn and/or the Death Knight. Before the sisterhood was dismissed, Dorothea shared an interesting piece of info with Korrina. Manuela had been running all over the monastery as if looking for something or someone. Maybe Manuela was searching for Flayn in her own way or maybe it was something else. Either way, Dorothea was mildly concerned and wanted Korrina to check it out sometime.

The first thing Korrina did was take Petra to apologize to Shamir for the latter's baseless accusations. Although Petra understood that she was wrong to make connections where there wasn't any, she was still interested in the type of person Shamir was before coming to the monastery. Shamir wasn't much for words, but she was open to talking with Petra during a less busy time. While this was happening, Korrina got an idea. She said, "We could use some help looking for Flayn. Would you like to join us for a while?" Shamir accepted, though fighting was more her specialty. Korrina then went to investigate Tomas, as she always did suspect him. However, Tomas insisted that he was merely curious about Flayn's origins. After all, he had known Seteth for most of his 40-year career but didn't know he had a sister until this year. Because Korrina had no proof connecting Tomas to the Death Knight, she had no choice for now but to take him at his word and move on. Her conversation with Gilbert left similar results, as he expertly debunked Ingrid's suspicions and reasoning. With most of her leads used up, Korrina began desperately asking passerby for any useful tips. Linhardt suggested that Hanneman was greatly interested in Flayn's crest, but Hanneman was too straightforward and honest about his methods to arrange a kidnapping. Some of the staff accused Dedue in dehumanizing terms, which only worsened Korrina's mood. Jeralt mentioned that Manuela was running around with a mask, but closer inspection revealed that she was merely trying to find the mask's original owner. Korrina was despondent for an hour, but then her old friend the gatekeeper gave some crucial information. Apparently, Jeritza often leaves the monastery at night sporting ominous black and gray armor that matched the Death Knight's description. Because Jeritza had been suspiciously absent this whole time, he now became the primary suspect in this case. Korrina notified Catherine about her suspicions then got the Black Eagles back together for a stakeout of Jeritza's personal quarters.

After the Black Eagles and Shamir met up, the guards led them to Jeritza's personal quarters. Inside was a shocking scene that no one was expecting. Manuela was sprawled out unconscious on the floor, and there was a gaping bloody gash running across her back. Thankfully, the wound was still fresh and closer inspection revealed that Manuela was still breathing. Thus, Edelgard and the local guards helped get Manuela to the infirmary while the rest stayed behind to further investigate. Hubert noted that Manuela seemed to be pointing at something while she was laying down. Following the general direction revealed a secret passage behind a bookshelf that Manuela had clearly moved before she was ambushed and floored with a single hit. Believing that this secret passageway would take them right to wherever Flayn was being held, Korrina, Shamir and the Black Eagles rushed in there without a second thought.

The passageway ran deep underground. Everyone was shocked that such an expansive corridor existed within Garreg Mach, and both Korrina and Hubert wondered how Rhea failed to give such an obvious hiding place any sort of security or suspicion. Eventually, the path split into two. Korrina, Hubert, Caspar, Dorothea and Bernadetta would take the path to the left. Silvain, Ferdinand, Petra, Linhardt and Shamir would take the path to the right. Each team would leave some sort of trail so they wouldn't get lost. Neither team really knew what awaited them or if the Death Knight was alone, so they all prepared for the worst. The left path lead to a wide-open room filled with clearly hostile people sporting uniforms not seen anywhere else. They attacked on sight, and Korrina responded in kind. Although their enemy had moderately strong weapons, Caspar was able to clean up shop with them while Dorothea and Bernadetta picked off any survivors or enemies in Caspar's blind spots. The right path, meanwhile, lead to a narrow maze where the Black Eagles and Shamir were attacked through the slits by enemies they couldn't see. Thankfully, Silvain and Ferdinand were able to shrug off the arrows while Petra made a beeline for the nearest door. Once the lock was picked on said door, the archers were exposed and disposed of with relative ease. Soon afterwards, the team on the right came to a spacious room filled with doors and a switch. There was also an ambush, but Silvain and Petra took care of that problem. Once the switch was flipped, the doors all opened up to various cells. On the right end, Korrina and her team arrived at some sort of prison. Multiple children were held inside, but Flayn was nowhere to be seen. After Bernadetta disposed of the guards, the cells were all burst open by Caspar and he and Bernadetta lead the children inside to safety.

Both teams eventually met back up again at a point where the paths seemed to converge. Silvain and Petra were helping the children on the right side escape, so it was now just Korrina, Hubert, Linhardt, Dorothea, Ferdinand and Shamir. Pressing onward, they found a large and ominous door, and behind it was an unconscious Flayn alongside another girl sporting a student uniform. Before anyone could do anything with the 2, the Death Knight came back to see what the commotion was. The Death Knight recognized Korrina from the failed attempt to raid the mausoleum. Korrina, however, was far more invested in the children being held captive outside this room. Knowing that lying would be pointless in this scenario, the Death Knight explained everything. He said, "Those children are my livelihood. Each night, I patrol the streets and take anyone unlikely to fight back. My captives are then taken here, where my men groom and feed them in preparation for the big day." Korrina asked what this big day was, to which the Death Knight responded, "We take the children and sell them to the highest bidder. We often make it a policy to only deal with people from other continents so the purchases can't be traced. What these people do with the children is none of my concern. All that matters is the payment I receive for each child." Korrina called the Death Knight a monster, but the Death Knight ironically encouraged Korrina to hate him. He said, "Lucrative as this operation is, fighting has always been my real passion. Come. Let your hatred of me grow. It's been an eternity since I last crossed blades with a worthy enemy." With this, the Death Knight drew his scythe and engaged Korrina.

The Death Knight's weapon was called the Scythe of Sariel. It wasn't one of the 10 relics, but its power was equal if not superior to them. The two seemed evenly matched at first, but the Death Knight seemed to deal far more damage with his attacks. Eventually, Shamir decided to step in and lend a hand, shooting the Death Knight with her bow. Shamir's arrows did a ton of damage, but the Death Knight eventually caught on and easily floored the expert sniper. While the Death Knight's back was turned, Korrina tried to lasso the Scythe of Sariel with the Sword of the Creator. However, The Death Knight electrified the scythe and the shock overloaded Korrina's heart. The Death Knight then began to slice away at the now weakened Korrina while ranting about his disappointment of how easy the fight was. Most of the Black Eagles tried to come to Korrina's aid, but the Death Knight swatted them all away like flies. The Death Knight then prepared to finish Korrina once and for all, but he was stopped by a towering masked figure saying that the Death Knight was having too much fun. This figure then gave Korrina some medicine saying it was too soon for her to perish. Korrina finally gathered enough strength to ask who or what this figure was, to which it said it was the Flame Emperor that would reforge the world. Without further explanation, the Flame Emperor teleported himself (?) and the Death Knight outside the corridor. Once Linhardt finished healing everybody, they took Flayn and the other girl and left. Because Korrina had taken the most damage, she was taken with the other 2 to the infirmary.

Later, Ferdinand guided Seteth to the infirmary. The sheer joy and relief that Seteth felt upon seeing his dear sister again could never have been verbalized. After the reunion, Seteth turned to Korrina to thank her profusely. Korrina responded by saying, "You and Flayn are the pillars of this community. Besides, I couldn't imagine the pain I'd feel if I had a sister and that happened to her." Seteth then turned to himself and suspected that Flayn was targeted due to her bloodline. He wanted to leave the continent with her, but Flayn stopped him and offered to become a student in Korrina's class instead. Korrina agreed, as she felt that the Black Eagles would be able to give her more than adequate protection against future attackers. Korrina and Seteth had finally made peace…for now.