Korrina and the Black Eagles

Chapter 11: Ascension Through Grief

Initially, Korrina didn't want to go to Jeralt's funeral. It wasn't anything personal. She just wasn't ready to face that reality yet. Instead, Korrina went to Jeralt's personal quarters to find that diary he was talking about. Said diary was actually quite easy to find. It was sitting on Jeralt's desk in plain view. At first, Jeralt's diary didn't contain too much of importance. He mostly just talked about his mission work and gratitude to Rhea for saving his life. However, things started to get more interesting as Jeralt started describing a woman that could only be Korrina's mother. Apparently, Korrina's mother was one of the higher-ranking nuns whom Jeralt met one day after a rather grievous battle. What really stood out in Jeralt's diary was the entries surrounding the month after Korrina's birth. At first, Korrina was reported to be a stillbirth. After a few minutes passed, Rhea entered the room and put some kind of spell on Korrina and her mother. Korrina's mother passed away seconds afterwards while Korrina finally gained consciousness. Rhea said that Korrina's mother died of childbirth, but Jeralt never believed her at any point in life. At the time, baby Korrina was almost like a zombie. She had little to no heartbeat at all, yet somehow, she was able to keep breathing and functioning (albeit at a lower level than other infants). Rhea's men were also watching Korrina and Jeralt like hawks, monitoring Korina's every activity for reasons they would never explain to Jeralt. Jeralt did not know what to think at all during this month. He was terrified about Korrina's health, he blamed Rhea for his lover's death, and he was fearful that the Knights of Seiros were watching Korrina for reasons other than medical progress and would one day separate the two. Once a fire broke out, Jeralt used this opportunity to take Korrina and run, faking their deaths in the process. Korrina closed her late father's diary after that entry, finally feeling like she knows the whole story. Rhea had likely been planning something for Korrina since before she was ever born. Even if Korrina enjoyed her time at Garreg Mach, she was glad that Rhea didn't get a chance to truly manipulate her growing up. As a 22-year-old, Korrina was now able to make a real choice as to whether to continue following Rhea as well as fight anyone who disagreed with her decision.

As Korrina began to search for the thing her father supposedly left for her, Alois dropped in. Korrina's immediate reaction was "Alois! I didn't know anyone was coming!" Alois then explained that he was there to clean out Jeralt's belongings, but quickly started mourning his old friend and mentor. This made Korrina realize that she probably wasn't alone as she said, "Alois…I can't imagine how important he must have been to you. I'm sorry." Alois then reaffirmed that Korrina was the most important thing in the world to Jeralt before vowing to protect her in his stead. Korrina said, "Thanks for the offer, but no one could ever replace him…" Alois understood, but he still wanted to be some sort of uncle figure to Korrina. This she was far more accepting of, and the response pleased Alois too. Alois then said, "Come on. I know you're not ready, but it would mean a lot to Jeralt if his only child came to his funeral."

Korrina and Alois arrived just in time for Jeralt's burial. Staying for the rest of the procedure was the hardest thing Korrina ever had to do in her life, but at least Uncle Alois was there for her to hold on to. With the only person she really knew and loved for 21 years dead, she needed someone-anyone-to keep her together through the day. After the funeral ended, Rhea approached Korrina. After the usual condolences, Rhea explained her side of the story. The reason Jeralt became a Knight of Seiros in the first place was because Rhea saved his life back when he was a mere soldier of Faerghus. Since then, Jeralt devoted his entire being to the religion of Seiros…for a while. After some time, Jeralt fell in love with a nun and produced a child with her. The birthing process was extremely problematic, and almost ended with the deaths of both Korrina and her mother. However, Korrina's mother begged Rhea to save her. Thus, Rhea took all the remaining life force from Korrina's mother and used it to reanimate her. Jeralt never accepted the decision and eventually left without warning. However, Rhea failed to mention why the Knights of Seiros were monitoring Korrina and Jeralt so intently in the following month or how Sothis became involved in all this (it was obvious by now that Sothis was an actual living entity within Korrina, after all). Even now, Rhea was hiding much from Korrina. Barely satisfied with Rhea's explanation, Korrina went back to her room to contemplate her next move. The only people left that she trusted were Uncle Alois and Albein the Gatekeeper.

In the following days, Korrina only ever visited the dining hall and her late father's personal quarters to look for that certain something. Because Korrina believed at that time that Edelgard conspired with Monica to kill Jeralt, Seteth took over Korrina's teaching duties until she could stand to see or hear Edelgard again. Once again, the only things in Korrina's head were questions. "Should I leave Garreg Mach? Was Edelgard behind all this after all? Why did it have to be Jeralt? Why can't Sothis get out of my head and let me grieve in peace!?" On the second day, Edelgard made the mistake of seeking out Korrina. Once Korrina heard Edelgard's voice, she turned around as if in the middle of combat and laid her accusations for the whole monastery to hear. She said "Why did you come here?" Edelgard tried to explain herself, but before she could say a word, Korrina continued by saying, "Don't play dumb with me, sister! I SAW you with Monica every day before she killed my father! Admit it! You two were plotting his death the whole time, weren't you!? What were you even hoping to achieve with all this anyway?!" Korrina would have kept going like this for another 10 minutes, but Edelgard put her foot down and said, "I had no part in Monica's actions! All that talk that was so suspicious to everyone? That was just me helping Monica with our homework and playing games with her! I didn't piece together why Monica was acting so strange until it was too late either! I will confess I had Monica infiltrate the chapel as a mole that day, but that's as far as it went. Had I known what Monica would try, I would have played the mole myself. Now get it together and stop letting your grief blind you to the truth!" This was enough to make Korrina calm down a little. She still didn't fully trust Edelgard anymore, but she could somehow tell that her sister was actually being forthright this time. Korrina silently decided to believe her sister and give the Black Eagles another chance. By the end of the week, Korrina had returned to her normal teaching duties.

At the next Garreg Mach Women's association, everyone had some sort of gift for Korrina. Bernadetta and Petra brought a wreath of flowers and plants to put at Jeralt's grave. Bernadetta had never been comfortable about fathers, but she had come to accept that not all fathers are horrible people. She even wished that she had a father like Jeralt. Mercedes and Annette brought tastier snacks than usual. They knew that it wouldn't bring Jeralt back, but the taste at least made for an appropriate distraction for a few seconds. Dorothea and Annette co wrote a song to heal Korrina's wounds. Their performance was one that left a lasting impression on Korrina. Edelgard gave yet another apology for her failure to notice something odd about Monica before it was too late and offered to take Korrina into town as a way of mending fences. Flayn gave Korrina a cookbook on how to prepare fish in ways that wouldn't leave her feeling like her heart was being stabbed in 8 directions. That way, she could fully enjoy fishing and not be left out on the eating phase anymore. Some may call the gift tonally inappropriate, but Korrina absolutely loved it. Leonie pledged to fight alongside Korrina when the time came to face Monica in battle. Ingrid did something similar, but she also added a personal story about how she lost her first real love in an effort to say she empathized with Korrina. Lysithea offered words of encouragement saying that Korrina was the absolute strongest woman (or man) she knew and that if anyone could get through this, it would be Korrina. Finally, Hilda set up Korrina on a romantic date with Albein the Gatekeeper since he made her so happy last month. These various expressions of solidarity and help moved Korrina greatly and thoroughly convinced her that coming to Garreg Mach was indeed the right choice. Korrina then said, "Thank you. All of you. I am so proud to have you as my friends and 'sisters'." Before leaving, the Garreg Mach Women's Association had a group hug and promised to always be there for one another. If only that wish could have come true.

Eventually, Korrina did find what Jeralt hid for her: his old wedding ring. It was Jeralt's way of saying that Korrina was a true adult now and able to make her own choices in life. A year ago, Korrina would have been frightened by the thought of being alone. After all, she only ever knew Jeralt before that faithful night. Now, however, Korrina was ready to accept this responsibility. Korrina had a real home now, and people she could emotionally rely on. There was no longer any thing to be scared of, so Korrina took the ring with an expression of understanding and said, "I won't let you down, dad". Sothis was honestly quite proud of what Korrina had become, and this made Korrina happy. It was one of the few times Sothis was really nice to anyone. With this memento of Jeralt in hand, Korrina let Alois finish his cleanup duty and left the past behind (at least for the time).

Unfortunately, this month was not all recovery for Korrina. After what had happened at the chapel the previous month, the Knights of Seiros were put on high alert. Every man and woman in service to Rhea was sent on hourly patrols in search of SOMETHING that could lead them to Solon and Monica. This, unfortunately, meant that there wasn't much room to address other crises happening elsewhere. It only took a week for such a situation to pop up. Derdriu, the capital city of Leicester, was being raided by pirates. With the Knights of Seiros all out searching for Solon and Monica, it fell to the Black Eagles and Shamir to pick up the slack. Despite the desperation of the situation, Korrina was actually looking forward to another battle. It would give her a chance to take out some of her frustration towards Monica since she hasn't been around. When the Black Eagles and Shamir arrived in Derdriu, the situation was made clear as day. They were to stop the pirates without letting a single one into town. Because of this, Korrina thought it a good idea to create blockades at each of the bridges, ports and entrances. Once the pirates proved quite weak in comparison to the Black Eagles, however, Korrina decided to stop waiting and go on the offensive. Shamir questioned if this was really a wise decision, but it paid off. Because all the pirate ships were close to the chokepoints Korrina set up, it was simply a matter of waiting for the numbers to thin up then board the ships. The pirates did have a few dracoknights in their ranks, but they were easily shot out of the sky by Shamir. Even with the more aggressive approach Korrina adopted, no pirate ever got the chance to enter Derdriu. When the battle ended, the villagers were grateful, but Shamir was annoyed at Korrina's recklessness. When Korrina approached her team, Shamir immediately greeted her with a "What were you thinking? Do you realize how much trouble the townspeople would have been in had the pirates been smart enough to slip into town while you were 'taking the fight to them'?" Korrina sort of understood Shamir's point but was largely unconcerned since the Black Eagles won anyway. Shamir then took a closer look and said, "You've changed, Korrina. Since Jeralt died, you've been more impulsive than usual. You got lucky this time, but if you don't ditch the habit, it's gonna get you in real trouble someday." Korrina gave a hollow acknowledgement and went back home with the Black Eagles, but she would eventually regret brushing off Shamir's warning.

Now that Korrina had somewhat recovered from losing her father, she sought out Raphael and Ignatz. When Korrina was more upset about losing Jeralt, Raphael suggested working out as that was how he eventually learned to cope with losing his own parents. Now Korrina was ready to heed that advice, and she thought a partner/coach would be good for the first month or so. Raphael was more than happy to oblige, and even started hanging out with Korrina more. This made Albein the Gatekeeper somewhat jealous, but Korrina was quick to say "Raphael may look big, but he's still a student. I'm not the type of professor who just hooks up with students all willy nilly." Korrina was able to keep up with Raphael's training regimen, but she had minor difficulty explaining to him that she would literally die if she ate as much as he. Although Raphael did eventually open up to Korrina about his trouble studying, they never went beyond a professional relationship. Korrina even tried doing a double date between her and Albein and Raphael and Leonie, but the adventure got awkward due to Leonie bringing up Jeralt all the time. As for Ignatz, Korrina had heard that "drawing it out" was a useful form of stress relief and wanted to test that theory. Ignatz heard that theory too and decided to teach Korrina how to draw. Korrina was not at all good at drawing (her hands were for swinging a sword, not a brush). However, Korrina was able to get out some very real drawings regarding her past of endless conflict. The chameleonlike beast that Miklan transformed into also made its way into Korrina's drawings. It seemed like the only positive thing that Korrina had to draw was the monastery itself. Her sessions with Ignatz were very intense, but at least she felt better and better after every session. During this time, Korrina also had some sparring sessions with Catherine, quality time with Dedue, and shopping trips with Ashe to keep her chin up.

Some time later, Korrina caught Manuela and Hanneman arguing. The sight of them fighting was never an uncommon one (Korrina even joked that they couldn't even compliment each other without finding something to fight about), but the subject this time caught Korrina's attention. A report of a death knight had been filed from the area west of the Sealed Forest. Manuela wanted to rush in and address the situation right away while Hanneman wanted to report it to Seteth and verify the reports first. Eventually, Manuela had enough of Hanneman's "lousy protocols" and stormed off. Where Manuela was going was quite obvious. She wanted to find this death knight and get revenge for that nasty scar on her back. Korrina then approached Hanneman and said, "We should follow her." Hanneman was usually not one for blindly rushing in, but this time, it couldn't be helped. He said, "I reluctantly agree. That report had yet to be verified, but if it were true, Manuela would be running towards certain death. Even if I cannot stand her, I still won't allow this." Thus, Korrina took the Black Eagles and Hanneman took the Blue Lions in pursuit of Manuela. By the time the Black Eagles and Blue Lions found Manuela, she had gotten herself surrounded by enemies. There was no Death Knight-just some bandits worshipping a death god and wearing skulls. The inaccuracy of the report annoyed everyone, but it was too late to turn back now. Manuela was a skilled sorceress, but she could only last so long. The Black Eagles and Blue Lions needed to reach Manuela before she got worn down. Ingrid and Petra were sent to retrieve Manuela while everyone else powered through the waves of bandits. Korrina, Caspar, Silvain, Bernadetta, Felix and Dimitri took the lead while everyone else followed close behind and provided some form of support. The bandits provided a reasonable challenge, but because they were fighting Felix and Dimitri, they didn't stand much of a chance. If any survived the initial attack, their reward was getting fried by magic from Hanneman or Edelgard. The bandits provided a reasonable challenge due to their weapon variety and knowledge of the terrain, but Hanneman's skill as a tactician helped the Black Eagles and Blue Lions circumvent these disadvantages and continue pushing forward. After about an hour of intense combat, Manuela was safely retrieved and united with Hanneman and Korrina. The mission was completed, but they all agreed that the bandits should be finished off anyway. Thus, they continued pushing forward until they found the bandit leader. He was decently armed, but Felix was able to beat him without breaking too much of a sweat. Although the rumors of the Death Knight were unfounded, the Black Eagles and Blue Lions were at least able to rid the world of a troublesome bandit gang and recover a ton of stolen goods. This wasn't enough to please Hanneman, though. He harshly scolded Manuela for her irrationality, saying that she could have been killed. Before the bunch disbanded, Hanneman made her and Korrina promise that they wouldn't run off so recklessly again. The 3 of them were the only professors at Garreg Mach, after all.

Unfortunately, it took only a few days for the cycle to begin again. This time, Solon had been found in the Sealed Forest itself and the report was far more accurate this time. Rhea was initially going to send the Knights of Seiros after him, but Hubert intercepted the order and made sure Korrina heard it first. Korrina correctly interpreted this as Hubert's way of giving her a chance at revenge and said, "Good job Hubert. We'll round up the Black Eagles and head out tomorrow." However, Rhea somehow managed to catch Hubert eavesdropping and followed him to Korrina with Seteth in tow. Seteth tried to reason with Korrina, saying that this was likely a trap, and chasing Solon down in a thirst for revenge will only end in disaster (just like what happened to Manuela a few days ago). Korrina understood Seteth's point, but she thought he was suggesting that they completely ignore the call. To this, she said, "So what should we do then? Ignore Solon and let him get away? We still don't know where Solon's hideout really is, so our only chance at catching him is another coincidental encounter like this one. Besides, even if it is a trap, we can still capture one of Solon's subordinates and persuade them to lead us to him". Rhea then clarified that the Knights of Seiros would be handling the investigation and implored Korrina not to get involved in case a thirst for revenge consumes her the way it almost did Manuela. Korrina responded by saying, "This is not about Jeralt. I don't even know if the woman who killed him is gonna be there. No. This is about making sure that the tragedy of Remire Village never repeats itself. You may have seen the reports, but as someone who was actually there that day, no amount of reports could ever perfectly capture the horror of that day. Besides, I won't be alone. The Black Eagles will accompany me, and they have proven themselves time and time again. Edelgard then stepped in and tried using logic to convince Rhea to allow this. She said that the Knights of Seiros are too far away to adequately handle the mission whereas the Black Eagles are already close to the Sealed Forest and they have experience and the Sword of the Creator on their side. This was enough to finally convince Rhea that this was the right decision and gave Korrina the go ahead for entering the Sealed Forest and gave her Shamir for good measure. The next morning, Korrina could be heard saying, "Our mission today is to enter the Sealed Forest and kill Solon once and for all. All of you saw the horror that he unleashed in Remire Village, and I hope that each of you carries that memory with you for this mission. No man, woman or child should ever have to suffer because of Solon's machinations again. Even if it is a trap, we can still capture one of Solon's followers and persuade them to expose his hideout. We won't have another chance again, so don't waste it. Black Eagles, move out!"

As the Black Eagles entered the Sealed Forest, Korrina stopped the Black Eagles and said, "If we go any further, we'll be playing into Solon's hand…Caspar. You take the lead. Make as much noise as you can to let the enemy know we've come for them." Caspar loudly accepted and ran ahead screaming his head off. Hubert did not understand the logic behind this decision and said, "Are you mad, professor? Caspar will get us all caught for sure." Korrina then responded by saying, "That's the point, Hubert. We don't know if Solon is alone or what kind of trap he has for us. By sending in a decoy first, we can spring Solon's trap with minimal risk and better assess what we're up against." Hubert began to think about how to best respond to this, but before he could come up with an answer, several monsters came out of the forest to murder Caspar. Finally understanding the trap that Solon laid, Korrina had the Black Eagles split up. Ferdinand, Bernadetta, Hubert, Dorothea, Flayn, Leonie and Linhardt would handle the monster to the left. Korrina, Edelgard, Petra, Ingrid, Shamir and Silvain would help Caspar take the one to the north. As they all began to engage their respective monsters, Monica's voice sounded and welcomed them to their deaths. Monica then reintroduced herself as Kronya, explaining that the schoolgirl front was nothing more than a disguise. After this, a horde of cavalry and dark mages arrived to support the monsters. Kronya expected the cavalry and dark mages to easily kill the Black Eagles, but in reality, they were just annoyances to distract from the monsters. Flayn and Shamir dealt with the humans somewhat easily while the monsters were finished off. Once the monsters were gone, the Black Eagles were able to fully concentrate on the dark mages and cavalry and clean up shop. Once Kronya realized her underlings were useless, she tried to escape. However, Ingrid and Petra were successfully able to cut off said escape and keep Kronya busy long enough for the rest to catch up. Korrina was a bit caught off guard by Kronya's true form and the spiked tentacle like appendages she insisted on wearing, but quickly steeled herself for the coming battle. Leonie charged in in an effort to avenge Jeralt, but Kronya easily sidestepped her charge and killed her horse with a single blow. Kronya moved in for the killing blow, taunting Leonie's foolishness every step of the way. Before Kronya could land a finger on Leonie, however, she felt the Sword of the Creator pierce her chest. Korrina then retracted the Sword of the Creator and asked Kronya how it feels to be stabbed in the back. Although this attack severely wounded Kronya, it somehow missed all the major arteries. This enraged Kronya into mercilessly stabbing at Korrina. However, Korrina easily dodged the barrage and disarmed Kronya. With no options left, Kronya began to run. Korrina gave chase and eventually cornered her at some strange altar. Korrina then said "It's over Kronya." And readied the Sword of the Creator. However, Solon arrived to knock Korrina out of the way. Rather than finish Korrina, however, Solon walked towards Kronya and grabbed her by the neck. Korrina ran to pick up the Sword of the Creator back up, but though she was successful, Solon couldn't be damaged in this state. Soon the altar was covered in darkness that made escape impossible. More darkness spread from Solon and began to restrain Korrina. In just a few minutes, Kronya stopped breathing and Solon used the life force he drained from her to unleash a devastating spell called Zahras. Korrina was helpless to fight back as the darkness swallowed her whole.

Korrina was shocked to learn that she was still alive after being hit with Zahras. However, it only took a second for Korrina to learn that Zahras was more of a banishing spell than anything else. The Sealed Forest was gone as well as the Black Eagles. All that remained to Korrina was a black expanse that stretched on as far as the eye could see. The only light source in this world was the aura radiating from the Sword of the Creator. Korrina called out to Edelgard, Shamir and the rest of the Black Eagles, but to no avail. Korrina was alone, with no food, water, or any medication for her heart. Korrina was positive that this was how it ended, but she didn't feel like dying alone. Thus, Korrina asked for Sothis to appear. Unfortunately, this turn of events had left Sothis far more cranky and mean spirited than usual. Sothis placed ALL the blame on Korrina for this mess and said that a boulder was smarter than Korrina. As Korrina listened to Sothis's accusations of stupidity, she began to realize why Nemesis wanted to get rid of her so badly. Unfortunately, Sothis was still reading Korrina's mind and said, "And don't bother trying to kill me. You've already done enough getting us into this dark and terrifying place." After a few more minutes of lashing out at Korrina, Sothis finally calmed down and so did Korrina. Korrina then said, "Looks like this is the end for us. You weren't ever the first person I wanted to be with when I died but beggars can't be choosers. At least the Black Eagles should have already killed Solon by now. That at least gives me peace in death. Not like I was ever alive in the first place." This enraged Sothis once more, as she was not ready to lose her only vessal. Only one option remained for Sothis. She would sacrifice her form and consciousness to give Korrina the full extent of her power. Korrina asked if this meant that she would never see Sothis again. Sothis responded affirmatively but admitted that she would miss her time as a voice in Korrina's head. Korrina was a lot happier about never having Sothis in her head again, but Sothis read this thought too. Thankfully, Sothis was willing to ignore Korrina's thoughts this one time and gave her one last thank you and goodbye. Korrina did the same, and the two merged forms. Korrina's hair turned green and her skin even whiter as a massive amount of power began to erupt within her. Once Korrina felt like she hit her peak, she took the Sword of the Creator and ripped open the Zahras dimension like a zipper.

The first thing Korrina saw upon leaving the Zahras dimension was Solon. This greatly disappointed Korrina as she said, "You're still alive!?" She then turned to the Black Eagles and said, "What were you doing this whole time? Having a tea party with him?" Edelgard then explained that Korrina was gone for a few seconds, causing her to wonder if time flowed differently in the Zahras dimension. However, Solon proclaimed that they would never catch him as he retreated deeper into the forest. Yet more men and monsters surrounded the Black Eagles in an effort to cut off their pursuit. Seeing their odds, Korrina thought this a perfect test of her newfound power. Korrina charged up for a second as the Black Eagles engaged the enemy, then let loose a mighty shriek and a pillar of raw energy that could be described as God Ki. Korrina's voice echoed throughout the forest as she said, "I am Korrina! Sothis was the beginning, but I am the end! Solon, your presence is no longer necessary in this world! Atone for your crimes against humanity and perish!" With this, Korrina then sped towards the monster on the right and killed it with 2 slices from a supercharged Sword of the Creator. The men aiding Solon began to shudder with fear and run. Korrina turned to the Black Eagles and said, "What are you waiting for? Get him!" Everyone charged Solon at once. Solon fired off a few spells to deter them, but nothing worked. Eventually, Solon was cornered against the trees and could only say some cryptic meaning about a fallen star before getting stabbed to death by Ferdinand. With Solon dead, the Sealed Forest was animated with cheers and battle cries. Korrina wasted no time in proclaiming Ferdinand the Hero of Remire for his deeds in this battle. However, Korrina soon fainted from the sheer amount of power she used in that battle. In that forest, a new era was born.