It would probably take at least five more days to get around the lake to castle, but they were in no hurry now that they had it in their sights.

Alira lead the way to the abandoned settlement, the duo reached the outskirts of it by the time the sun was low on the horizon. The forgotten town was in surprisingly good condition, it was still run down and parts of the buildings in places had collapsed but it wasn't just skeleton ruins much to Alira's shock.

The town itself was huge, looking like it was once the center of some sort of hub with how old shopping stalls were set up around the road leading into the town to the center. It would likely take at least a day or two to make it through if they did stop to explore.

The center of the town had a large well in the middle of the plaza, it was in disrepair and had moss on it as well as missing a few stones, and if it was back when this town was surely bustling the two were sure it would look stunning if the all but gone fading paint on it's stones were anything to say.

Pokemon of various kinds skittered to and fro through the settlement, eyes wide with curiosity at the new visitors to their home, but surprisingly were not hostile in the slightest, a kirlia even waving back when Hop smiled and waved at it as it stood in the doorway of one of the small buildings.

The two stopped by the well to rest their legs after running to the town in a rush of excitement, leaning back against it. Alira let out a giddy giggle, absolutely beaming as she ran her hands through her slightly overgrown hair.

"Now that we have the castle in sight, how about we explore this town a little bit?" Hop suggested and Alira all but jumped to agree.

"Yeah! I mean, this place is in really good condition so I'm super curious how it's like this." She grinned, eyes sparkling with excitement and unbridled curiosity.

After mutually agreeing to stay within each other's sight or hearing range, the duo headed down a street and began to look around, peering into buildings and such.

Alira walked towards an old bakery looking building, peering in and seeing it was what indeed seemed to be a bakery set up, she could even see the ancient oven over the large stone counter, as well as the Dedenne and Pachirisu who were peeking out of the oven. Clearly that was their nest it seemed.

The two pokemon waved and gave a small bow, making her furrow her brows before waving back hesitantly. The Dedenne scampered out of the oven, hopping onto the counter as it's partner sighed before going back further in and curling into a ball to sleep.

"Neh neh deneh!" The pokemon chirped at her before running along the counter before pausing and looking back at her expectantly.

"You want me to follow you?" Alira furrowed her brows as the pokemon nodded. She then followed the pokemon as it lead her through the building into what she assumed were the living quarters of the bakery. It wasn't much, through the doorway at the back of the kitchen was a medium-sized room with an old desk and chair opposite a bed resting below a small window.

The small pokemon hopped onto the chair then the desk, running over to a wooden panel in the top of the desk and pawing at it insistently as it rattled beneath the Dedenne's paws.

"Hey hey, let me get that." she nudged the pokemon aside and rapped on the panel with a knuckle, then jostling it as best she could. It could definitely slide to the side, but it seemed jammed.

Sighing in frustration, she brought her elbow up before slamming it down on the panel, the old wood giving way under her arm. Brushing the splinters off her jacket sleeve, she moved the remains of the panel, surprised to find a perfectly preserved old leather bound book.

She picked it up, brushing the old book off with her sleeve as she saw a pattern burned into the front of it. A shield with a sword in front of it pointing up, mystical patterns surrounding it's edges.

She squinted at it, the image being strikingly familiar and then realizing with a gasp it was what the rusted sword and shield made that day when they floated out of her and Hop's hands, before smacking together to make that image of a shield behind an up turned sword.

Carefully now, she undid the tie of leather binding it shut, carefully opening it to see what looked to be the beginning of a diary judging on how the writing was formatted, but it was in ancient galarian and what's worse was it wasn't the one she memorized to read what the inscription on her sword meant, so the words on the page were nothing but nonsensical scribblings she couldn't read.

Plus she was getting a weird headache just looking at the book for some reason, she shook her head, pocketing the small book and reaching into her bag, pulling out five oran berries and offering them to the Dedenne. "As thank you for helping me find this." She smiled as the pokemon perked up, eyes wide and sparkly.

The pokemon chirped and squeaked in appreciation, taking the berries from her hand, stuffing one into its mouth before scampering off as fast as it could without dropping the berries. Alira giggled, a hand over her mouth over how absolutely adorable that little one was.

She shook her head, still smiling as she began to leave the bakery, hearing the Dedenne chattering to the Pachirisu who was responding with equal amount of energy now.

Meanwhile, with Hop, he wandered into what seemed to be an old blacksmithy. He noted that there were still swords and shields and weapons of all kinds up on display racks, like whoever lived here and sold these weapons just up and left without taking anything. Weird.

He walked into the forge, there was an iron anvil in the middle of the room and other things a blacksmith would use and need, though the anvil wasn't seeming to be used for the proper use now.

Hop fought back an adoring "aw" when he saw a little riolu practicing it's attacks, punches and kicks on the side of the anvil, letting out little battle cries with each attack, kick and punch. It was so adorable if he was honest.

After a moment, it stopped to put its paws on its knees, gasping for breath as it shifted, eventually tilting its head just enough to spot Hop out of the corner of its eye, making it jump and spin to face him.

"Ahh, it's alright!" Hop held up his hands placatingly. "Not gonna hurt you or anything. I will say though, from what I just saw, you'd definitely be able to take on anyone who decided to pick a fight with you, that's for sure!"

The Riolu blinked before seeming to blush, putting its paws together in front of it and shift shyly with a quiet murmur of. "Ri, riolu…" It then gave him a little bow which he returned with a smile.

He backed up and left the smithy then, walking out to see Alira leaving the bakery across the way.

"Found something!" She called out once she saw him, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the diary she found. "I can't read it though."

"I'm guessing what's written is in ancient writing?" Hop tilted his head at her, eying the book curiously.

"Yep. Galarian I'd assume." She nodded, then yawning slightly. "We should set camp in the town center, then resume exploring in the morning."

He nodded and they made their way back to camp, finishing setting camp and making dinner by the time the moon was half way up in the skies.

After eating, Alira sat down and pulled out the rusted sword from her bag almost unconsciously, bringing the rag and cleaner she had as well. She began working on the other side she hadn't gotten to yet, Hop watching her curiously as her movements seemed practiced, deliberate in a manner that was strange.

Then as she was cleaning it, eyes glazed over in thought, he noticed the subtle, slight glow of not only the sword, but her hands and eyes as well. As her hand with the rag on the blade wiped down, the rust simply vanished in a twinkle of sparkles and left the blade looking as pristine as the day it was forged.

"Holy cow!" Hop's voice snapped Alira out of whatever trance she was in, glow beginning to vanish from her eyes and hands, as well as the sword. "Alira how did you do that?"

"What?" She looked over, confused.

"Your hands and eyes are glowing, as well as the sword and you just magically removed all that rust and grime!" He pointed to the sword and her gaze dipped down to look at it, eyes wide as she caught the last traces of the glow on her hands and the sword before it vanished.

"Well will you look at that… I knew it wasn't just this cleaner stuff." She gasped out. "How though? I'm not-" She broke off into a light laugh, thinking aloud. "I'm not a mage or something, though I believe in magic, sure mom was in a weird cult who used magic when she was younger but left LONG before I was born, so what the hell."

"Think it's cause of how close we are to the castle?" He pointed a thumb in the direction of the castle outlined by the moonlight.

"Nope, I did the other side of it weeks ago when we first started trying to find it." Her mouth pursed and she narrowed her eyes at the sword. "I swear the longer I have this the more weird things I do."

"At least you don't need to spend a lot of money getting it restored." He grinned and she snorted.

"God, you're right. Not to mention I know whoever restored it would've flipped cause half of the blade is missing." She shook her head, laughing. "My poor wallet and ears." She yawned once more. "God I need to stop doing that."

"We should probably get to bed so we can have a early start tomorrow." Hop stretched, hearing some of his bones crack from being in the same position for too long.

Alira nodded as she yawned again, the two getting up before retiring to their sleeping bags, praying they'd get a dreamless night sleep.

But… Their dreams were far from dreamless.

In fact, they were plenty, long and far from what the two were used to at this point.


Hop's dreams were strange and jumped around, but he had a general sense of what order they took.

First was a scene laced with panic. Acaeus pulled Heather along as they made a break for shelter in a tower from the giant pokemon roaming and causing destruction in the wild fields beyond.

Acaeus all but broke down the door, dragging the smaller girl in before slamming it shut, dully realizing that he'd had pulled them into that tower Heather noted had the aura of a magic-user living here not long before they were being chased by a giant Ralts.

His gaze drifted around, spotting jars of herbs and spices and various things up on shelves around the room, a pot was in the middle of the room and the scent of the room was exotic if not downright weird.

A older-looking espeon trilled as it came out of a basket across the room, trotting up to them and sniffing at the two curiously for a moment before chirping and running up the stairs to the second floor.

Acaeus looked as Heather with his eyes and silently gulped, praying that if the pokemon was indeed getting its human owner, they wouldn't kick them out back to deal with what was going on out there.

Footsteps then resounded, slow but steady and a gypsy-looking man walked down the steps, gold hazel eyes finding the two intruders immediately. His skin was dark as if he had traveled for months on end in the hotter months, dark hair long enough to look tousled and a thick bang hung down past his nose framing his mature features. His outfit was what Acaeus would describe as a traveling merchant's attire, but the staff he held in a hand that hummed to Acaeus's senses with magic told a different occupation.

"Hello." he greeted them as he reached the last step, his staff clacking softly as it hit the carpet below his feet. "May I have your names young ones?"

"Errm," Acaeus fumbled, really, he thought the man would ask what they were doing in his tower first. "I'm Acaeus Seiros."

"H-Heather Reus Eisner." Heather stammered, barely audible as her middle name surprised him and stuck out to Acaeus, wait, Reus? Isn't that-

"Pleasure to meet you two." The man smiled pleasantly at the two as his espeon and a strangely purple and blue sylveon circled his feet. "You may call me Markus." He shifted his grip on his staff, leaning it against his other hand. "I presume you sought shelter in here from the giant pokemon running around?"

The two hesitantly nodded and the man took a chance to peer at Heather, eyes scrutinizing her face carefully as if noticing something.

"Huh. You've got old looking binding marks my dear." He suddenly remarked out of the blue, making Heather pale quite a bit and Acaeus to swivel his head to look at her. "Whoever did those made sure to hide them with a spell, I wouldn't have been able to see them if I wasn't well versed in their use."

Binding marks, the highest form of punishment to anyone with magical talent in Acaeus's (or any) kingdom could get, it restricted the magic they could use at best or made them completely unable to use magic at all, which considering it was like a second heart for any magic-user was like carving their heart out with a rusty blade. And from the few times he was forced to witness the ritual, it hurt like it too. The ritual always left a series of tattoos on the person's body, a sign and a warning to all other magic users to not step out of line or that would happen to them.

If Heather had them... but no, he was always informed on anyone going to undergo that punishment at his father's request after Acaeus found out he had the potential to use magic and he certainly never heard of a Heather REUS being-

"Fortunately, it seems they were made by a complete and utter novice, it would take little to undo them though you would still have the markings." Markus finished his sentence and crossed his arms, staff in the crook of a elbow. "Though you two look remarkably like two friends of some charges I've been tending to after they were injured by that black bone dragon creature, they've been rather worried about their human friends, describing them to me in case I see them, and it's been a fight to keep them in bed resting."

Friends? "You mean Zen and Zacia?" Acaeus put the matter of the apparent binding marks on a mental shelf to inquire about to Heather later and focused on the fact that this man may have Zacian and Zamazenta in his care.

He raised an amused eyebrow. "Oh, they didn't mention that their friends gave them nicknames." He chuckled, seemingly very amused. "But assuming you are indeed referring to who I have in my care, yes. After that black dragon creature hatched from the fallen star, they attempted to fight it after it began causing chaos, however, as they are not as strong as their parent they barely escaped with their lives. Foolish pups. I found them not long after and took them in, they've been recovering since then."

"Can we see them?" Heather's voice quivered slightly, hands gripping at her skirt to clearly prevent them from trembling. "Please?"

"Follow me then." He motioned them to follow him as he went back up the stairs, the two young adults hesitantly following him as his sylveon and espeon trailed close behind them.

He lead them to step off the stairs onto the second floor landing, the smell of herbs here was strongly like the one that Acaeus was familiar with in the healer's tent, and on two beds further into the room-

"Zacia!" Heather ran forward to the bed the aforementioned pokemon was on, the poor thing had several bandages all over her body and was out cold. "Gods you're in rough shape."

"Zen!" Acaeus ran over to the other bed to Zamazenta, sharply noticing the bandages around the poor pokemon's neck and torso. He hardly stirred as Acaeus placed a hand on him, feeling his chest rise and fall with each breath.

Markus watched them carefully before sighing. "Well, it seems you two are their friends, I can both feel your magic signatures on them and theirs on you. And as such, I should tell you they are not in good shape. I've got them stable for the moment but…" He shook his head. "I don't know what that creature did to them, but their magical energy is being drained, probably due to what's going on outside. They might die if this keeps up."

"Is there anything we can do?" Heather immediately asked, looking to the mage with determination in her gaze.

"There is one way, but…" He put his hand to his chin in thought. "It'd bind them to your souls in ways only you two and them could possibly know, and to add to this, I'd be required to remove both the illusion spell cast on you, dear Heather, to hide your binding marks, then promptly undo said marks so your mana pool which is certainly very deep now due to disuse is no longer bound. I doubt any of this will be pleasant, especially undoing what's already been done to you I suspect will be very painful."

"I don't care. If it means saving Zacia I'd do anything, she already saved me once, it's time I returned the favor." Heather's voice was firm.

"I concur, I would do anything to help Zen and I'm not about to stand idly by while he's dying in front of me." Acaeus nodded, thinking back to when he first helped Zen and how if given a second chance would always pick saving him, even after enduring the wrath of his retainer after he returned after he ran off into the woods.

"Very well." He shifted, staff now being held in a hand firmly as he placed one end on the floor. "Firstly, Heather, the spell and binding marks will be dealt with. I cannot say exactly how much pain it will cause, as those marks look to be from when you were merely a child, but I shall endeavor to make sure it's as painless as possible."

She nodded and stepped forward, only the slightest quiver of her hands showing she was frightened as the mage raised his staff and began to chant, a glowing sigil appearing below her feet and previously unseen markings on her face flaring with light. Her voice hissed in pain, but she remained standing even as she shook and tears slipped down her face.

Then the dream shifted, and it was much farther into the future of Acaeus and Heather, during what seemed to be a royal ball.

Acaeus felt something twinging in his head as he dealt with another aristocrat, he had long sent Heather to hide near the back of the ballroom as while he hated dealing with these people and their political power plays, he at least knew how to handle them. She was raised as a commoner and while that made her a good person, it left her worryingly naive of how courts worked and how easily she could be taken advantage of if anyone knew.

Acaeus nearly sighed in relief as he finally sent that nosy aristocrat away, only to tense as he noticed a certain person approaching him.

"Ah, good day my fellow king." Claude Von Riegan, king of the neighboring Kalos kingdom, greeted him warmly and surprisingly kindly. "You look like you're having fun with all the nobles."

"Ha, you have no idea." Crap, Heather's sarcasm rubbed off on him as Acaeus's voice practically dripped with irritated sarcasm and he felt his forehead twitch. Didn't help Claude's aquamarine/green eyes sparked with mischief and amusement at the very clearly irritated and drained fledgling king's tone of voice.

"Well, you needn't worry about me bothering you for long. I just had a question." The mixed race king smiled innocently, the smile coming easily to the slightly older young man as he blew the stray lock of hair in front of his face away. "Would you kindly let me give your queen a dance on this fine eve? She looks like she could use some levity and frankly a break from the nobility swarming in this rather stuffy ballroom."

Wait what-Acaeus swiveled his head to look for Heather to see her practically dying as several nobles, mainly the queens of the other kingdoms, pestered her and she really didn't know how to react. They were probably quizzing her on her binding marks which were definitely visible and god he needed to get over there but he had to stay here-

"If you wouldn't mind, she's… She wasn't raised as a princess so she doesn't..." The latter part was barely audible, but Claude seemed to hear him just fine.

"I totally get that your highness, she and I are alike in that respect at least." He winked, a hand briefly coming up to scratch the stubble lining his jaw before he made his way over, shoving and gliding through the crowd with practiced ease.

"Hey hey, give the new queen a break, you may as well be suffocating her." Claude smoothly slides between the queens bothering the girl and stood in front of her, his voice being loud enough for Acaeus to hear him from where he stood not far away. Claude then turned to Heather and smiled gently. "Hey, your king gave me permission so may I kindly have this dance?"

She blinked before nodding shyly and he reached over, carefully and gently grabbing her hand before pulling her through the crowd and onto the ballroom floor.

Acaeus watched as Claude spoke very softly to her, clearly telling her where to put her other hand as he shifted his grip on her hand and placed his other hand on her waist while she put her other hand on her shoulder. Then the two started dancing slowly with the music, Heather slowly easing into it under Claude's patient guidance and hands (Acaeus was lucky he was taught to have a poker face when around nobles, cause he was certain he'd have winced numerous times when she stepped on Claude's feet and the man seemed to not notice). Eventually, she got the hang of it and even rested her head on Claude's chest, completely at ease now as she even had her eyes closed.

Acaeus felt something akin to jealousy make his skin crawl uncomfortably at that, seeing Heather dancing with Claude and being so close to him, it made him uncomfortable in a manner he wasn't sure how to put to words.

"You alright there? You've been staring for quite some time." Acaeus jumped at the sudden soft and mature female voice and turned to see who he recognized as Byleth Riegan, Claude's wife and queen of many years now, standing at his side with a soft smile.

"Yeah, just, not used to this." He managed to get out and she raised an amused eyebrow.

"Come, walk with me, talk with me away from prying ears. Claude will safeguard your queen until we return." She motioned him to follow her as she began to walk away towards the entrance to a hallway. For a moment he hesitated, remembering all the nobility training his parents had hammered into his head to never ever follow if it wasn't with someone he personally knew as they could be luring him to his demise-

But he was also highly aware of the reputation Claude and Byleth had as rulers of Kalos and while Claude was sometimes described as a schemer, he had shown no hostility towards Acaeus and even helped Heather out for seemingly no reason, and Byleth was always described as direct and blunt if she considered someone a threat no matter what was going on or where she was. If she wanted to hurt him or saw him as a threat, she would have already shown so.

He followed Byleth, thankfully the route she took him through the crowd ensured they slipped out without anyone noticing. The hall they entered was empty and dark with only the moonlight from the windows illuminating the hall, but Byleth walked as if it were no issue and Acaeus followed.

"You and Heather certainly aren't the most conventional king and queen I've seen." Byleth remarked softly as they walked. "Heather was raised as a commoner wasn't she?"

"Yeah. It that easy to tell?" Acaeus felt his neck grow hot, he had done his best to teach her what he knew of nobles and how to act like one, but if Byleth noticed…

"No, but the fact that Claude was able to easily help her did hint at it, he had to do that many times with me." She picked at the sleeve of her dress with mild annoyance at how tight the fabric was and tilted her head back, giggling mildly at his expression. "What? Is it that surprising that I was once a commoner?"

"A little, but it explains how you and Claude rule so well." Acaeus scratched the back of his head. "You know how the everyday people feel as you didn't grow up in the lap of luxury, giving you a perspective nobles often lack."

"Yeah. Though I would recommend addressing your own feelings for Heather before something happens." She then stopped and turned on her heel, piercing blue eyes framed by dark blue hair freezing Acaeus in place midstep, the question of what she meant by his feelings for Heather dying in his throat as she spoke. "However, I did not drag you away from the ball and Heather to idly talk though. I'm here to warn you."

"Of what?" He felt the back of his neck prickle with cold chills.

"Of the group known as the Eternal Ones." Somehow that name sent a chill down his back. "I'm not going to lie to you, prior to Eternatus' hatching, I sent several of my spies and operatives to scout this land, see if it was worth opposing your home kingdom's claim to it. What they found was disturbing."

She crossed her arms and for a few moments, her eyes appeared to have dragon slits for pupils in the moonlight. "The locals from before any of us known kingdoms set foot here were worshiping some strange being they prophesied arriving in an egg from the skies and then they would aid it in hatching. My spies joined the group to watch them and the group are the ones who were helped Eternatus hatch, they-"

She swallowed, hands clenching into fists as raw fury flickered in her eyes. "They did blood magic, sacrificing at least three people, to speed up that foul creature's hatching and would've gladly watched it destroy this land and the entire world." She inhaled and let it out slowly, hands relaxing. "Fortunately, you and Heather seemed to make some manner of pact with Zamazenta and Zacian that gave you four the power to seal it away."

Acaeus briefly was amused even she didn't seem to know what happened that granted him and Heather as well as Zamazenta and Zacian the power to defeat Eternatus, but remained silent as Byleth continued.

"However, just because it was sealed away, does not mean that group went away." Her hands dropped to her sides and picked at her skirt's embroidery, she couldn't seem to sit still. "They've integrated into your kingdom and from what I've been hearing, they are plotting something to get back at you and Heather. My operatives have been doing their best to feed me information, but it's hard when we've had to keep this hidden from you and Heather."

"What are you getting at?" Acaeus was very unsure of where she was going with this, though he had a suspicion.

"You and Heather, you are the strangest king and queen to ever rule, all the kingdoms are aware of it and many of them don't like that you and your friend aren't husband and wife. They say it's blasphemous and shouldn't exist." Her voice, while matter of fact and honest, had a very distinct ring of sympathy. "Many have plots to dismantle your kingdom while it's still young and then take and divide the land amongst themselves and the Eternal Ones will take full advantage of that if it happened. Me and Claude, as well as the rulers of Sinnoh and queen Milisandia of Unova oppose this greatly as you both have done nothing to earn the other kingdoms' ire and we want to make sure they don't succeed."

She straightened her back and held her hands together in front of her waist. "What I propose is this; You two and your kingdom enter the Leicester Alliance my husband Claude is the leader of, Milisandia of Unova and the rulers of Sinnoh are apart of this and have been for a long while, and we will protect you from both this group and the other kingdoms as best we can and provide you our resources if you need it. All we ask in return is you come help us if any of us need it, we won't restrict you from aiding any kingdom outside of the alliance if they come to you for aid so don't worry about that, and if needed we ask you let our people shelter here if something like a war happens and we need to get the common folk not involved in it to safety."

"It sounds like we would get more out of this than you." Acaeus didn't bother hiding his shock, gaping at her.

"You're a fledgling kingdom, we don't want to uproot a possible rose bush or apple tree before it has the chance to grow. Every kingdom deserves a chance." She smiled gently at him. "And honestly, from what I've seen I don't want it to be torn apart by the other kingdoms." She then leaned over and lightly tapped him on the nose. "Plus you and Heather remind me of my students from long ago, and I'll protect you like I did them."

"You were a teacher before becoming queen?" He was confused and her chuckle did nothing to clear anything up.

"Merc, then teacher, then queen." She giggled at his confusion before quick-stepping around him. "Come. Let us return to the ball, I don't doubt Claude's dancing skills but we best make haste before our absence is noticed. You can let me and Claude know if you accept after talking it over with Heather."

Acaeus rushed to follow her as they returned to the ballroom, thinking over her words and offer.

The dream shifted yet again, to something that felt much more chaotic and after he had accepted her offer.

Acaeus was on a rapidash with Heather holding onto him from behind and he was following a few other people also on rapidashes, they were leading him and Heather through deserted streets.

They evacuated the town's people from this district and were on their way to deal with the two dragons causing the destruction. Acaeus and Heather didn't know too much about the dragons other than one was white, the other black and Milisandia said that apparently, one belonged to her husband and the other to his brother, though neither were the partners of the dragons now.

Zacian and Zamazenta were with them of course, but they were invisible and following the group quietly, as neither wanted to deal with anyone trying to pet them that wasn't Acaeus or Heather.

"Hey, King Acaeus." The prince-turned-king almost jumped in his saddle and turned to the knight at his side, spotting the girl knight, Ingrid, one of the knights the rulers of Sinnoh had assigned to him as a retainer. Her long blond hair was currently in a low and very thick braid, bangs cropped above her pale green eyes which were alight with curiosity.

"Yes?" he tilted his head at her inquisitively.

"I've been rather curious for a while now, why is it you only carry a shield and no sword?" He supposed this was a long time coming, and it wasn't like he hadn't been given looks for his choice of the shield over the sword and absolute refusal to use one, and as his new retainer after Roderick he guessed she had a right to ask. Not like they could make this trek through the very large city any shorter so he had the time to tell it.

"Well… As a prince I've dealt with attempts on my life,. Nothing new, as that's to be expected with my status." He began, feeling Heather shift slightly to better hear him, he hadn't yet told her this either, had he? "But… One day, I was playing with my older sister, Ailrane, we weren't more than children, she was set to be crowned princess as she was old enough to take on the title while I was old enough to begin training to take on the title of prince."

Damnit, he felt his throat clogging but he pressed on. "Well, some assassins snuck past our retainers and they didn't notice until they were on us. I was lucky in that Ailrane knew how to defend herself and had a dagger with her at all times being thirteen and the eldest of my parents' children, I… was not so fortunate. I had just turned eight and later that day was set to start learning how to defend myself, so at most I was able to duck and dodge out of the way of the sword being swung at me. But I messed up, I tripped."

He took a moment to steady his breathing after it got a little too quick for his liking and he felt Heather's grip on him tighten. "I was certain my life was going to end, and it would have, if Ailrane hadn't… She ran over, completely ignoring the assassin she was dealing with and jumped him, stabbing him in the back over and over. He was dead by the time she stood up, but. She, the other assassin, he-gods-"

He let go of the reigns with a hand to put a shaking hand on his face as the far too vivid memories flooded his mind, he fought through it to continue while he felt a comforting pulse of comfort come from Zamazenta. "He, the coward stabbed her through the back, his sword's end was sticking out of her chest as he lifted her off the ground with her still alive for even the briefest of moments, the last thing I heard her say was 'I love you Acaeus' before the light faded from her eyes and the bastard just, swung his sword to the side and flung her off it as if she were nothing more than a useless pillow he just skewered."

He shook his head, making sure he got the tears that formed at the corners of his eyes discreetly with his hand before he lowered his hand as Heather squeezed his middle comfortingly. "Our retainers had reached us by then and Ailrane's made short work of the vile man, but that event has stuck with me for my entire life. If I had already been learning how to use a sword, perhaps I would've thrown myself into it even more, perhaps becoming very skilled with the sword even, but after that I… I couldn't even look at a sword without thinking of what happened to my sister and wanting to be sick, let alone pick one up to train. I had to at one point as my previous retainer was such a goddamn arse, but I always felt sick even if I hid it well."

"O-Oh. I didn't know that's why you refused you wield a sword." Ingrid looked shocked and her eyes were wide. "You have my condolences."

He waved a hand, but said nothing. He really couldn't, not only did he need to pack the pain from the memories he relived back into the box they came from, but he also had to focus as he could see they were getting closer to the battle zone. Shouting from two males and roars from the two pokemon he learned their names were Reshiram and Zekrom, echoing throughout the empty streets.

He couldn't afford to be crying over something that happened fifteen years ago, he already got enough grief not being able to move on growing up so he had to shut his trap, or else what kind of king would he be then?

The group dismounted their rapidashes before continuing on foot, Zamazenta and Zacian sticking close to their respective partners as the small group crept carefully down the street.

Acaeus pulled his shield from his back, fingers tracing the words that had been inscribed on it what seemed like ages ago for good luck before he slipped it on, noting that Heather had a light grip on her sword's hilt. Ready to draw it at a moment's notice he knew.

They reached the literal end of the street, as the buildings around it had been completely leveled to the ground and were nothing more than rubble now.

And there, in the middle of the clearing amidst rubble and upturned street stone and dirt, were the two dragon pokemon in question, partners at their side shouting commands.

He heard the distinct sound of Heather unsheathing her sword and noticed the words on the blade catching the light of the sun out of the corner of his eye, but instead focused on the two very much larger dragon pokemon who were charging up attacks once more. Before Acaeus could do much other than partially open his mouth to ask Ingrid and the other knight with them (Sylvain was it?) what the plan was, Heather acted.

"That's ENOUGH!" Heather disappeared in a literal flash of light and reappeared right in between the pokemon in a flash of magic.

"HEATHER!" Acaeus ran forward, a hand drawing back before he threw it forward, a see-through shield appearing and flying from his hand. She slashed through the fire attack that was flung at Zekrom while the shield reached her back in time to block the lightning from said pokemon.

Acaeus raced to join her, but something made the dream jolt and the sounds of something loud ripped through the air, HOP WAKE UP SHE NEEDS YOU Hop's eyes snapping open as he awoke with a start.

After a moment, he realized it was a scream.


The visions Alira saw were nothing if not abrupt and strange and jumped around so much she'd get a headache if she were awake.

First she was in so much pain, something unnatural was being ripped off her soul and while it was freeing so much of her very being that was locked away and denied from her, the pain she was in made her knees buckle and she fell to the ground, sobbing with tears flowing freely down her cheeks as she covered them with her hands.

She felt Markus's magic recede as he finished the spell, and then heard footsteps rushing to her before she was picked up so very gently. She dully noticed it was Acaeus holding her so carefully and petting her hair gently as he let her sob into his chest.

It took her a little bit to calm herself down, and after she did she noticed the slight feeling of cool energy running through her, just beneath her skin, magic. Her magic she hadn't been able to feel since leaving Kanto when she was only five-

What few sobs now escaped her were not of pain, but relief and raw joy, she finally felt like herself and not half wrong. Not missing half of her very being.

Eventually her emotions settled completely, though it took more than a few assurances that she was okay now to get Acaeus to let her go so she could stand up.

Acaeus kept a hand on her arm, notably, she saw his hand was on the slightest bit of a binding mark trailing from under her sleeve- wait, her eyes sharply noticed the mystic markings trailing down both her arms and onto her hands. Binding marks always were on the parts of one's self where your magic was strongest, so where else did she-

No, there was no time to wonder about where else the cursed and foul markings where on her body, Zacian and Zamazenta needed their help.

"Now what?" She turned to the mage, seeing him leaning on his staff slightly as if winded before he stood up straight when she looked over.

"Ahem!" He cleared his throat, rubbing at his neck as he cracked it seemingly out of habit. "Now to explain how you two can help them."

He shifted his grip on his staff. "Now, their mana pools are being drained at a steady rate, likely due to whatever energy that creature had used in it's attacks, it's like a sickness of magic or soul from my observations for them, however, I can bind and link your souls to theirs, effectively canceling that out as humans are not majorly affected by this energy." His grip tightened slightly. "It makes us magic inclined folk uncomfortable or in some cases causes active binding marks to burn slightly as it's like a different form of mana and our own mana doesn't know how to react, but we aren't affected like our dear Pokemon companions. They either are forced into those giant forms or, like with your friends, drained of their magical energy."

The two turned to look at each other, flabbergasted but it made sense with how uneasy they both were whenever they were in the areas where those giant pokemon were running around and Heather's aching all over her body when directly next to said giant pokemon.

"Now, I don't know exactly how deeply this connection I'm going to be making will run, I've been practicing magic all my life but even I am not fully aware of the risks and consequences of what I'm about to do to save them." Markus began, but Heather held up a hand.

"Frankly speaking sir, spare us the warnings. We want to save our friends, and I think I speak for both of us in saying we would do anything to help them." Heather immediately wanted to take back her words, forced habit making her panic that she spoke out of turn but squashed that urge, meeting the mage's gaze evenly.

"She speaks the truth, if it means saving our friends, no cost is too great." Acaeus agreed firmly, grasping Heather's hand with one of his own.

Markus stared at them for a time, trying to detect any lie in their words clearly before he nodded. "If that is what you two wish, I will, however, tell you that if either if you die before Zacian and Zamazenta's mana pools recover and maybe even after, it will either leave them severely weakened to where they much sleep for a long while or kill them outright. With that in mind, give me your sword and shield, then hold out your hands."

Though confused, they gave him their sword and shield then held out their hands. Markus held the sword and shield in his hands, staff shifted into an elbow as he murmured words softly as the sword and shield glowed.

"This may sting a bit, just fair warning." He warned them before speaking a single word. "Kiru."

The duo hissed in unison as a small cut was opened up on both of their hands, the smallest drops of blood floating from their palms before he murmured something else, the wound closing not long after. The blood drops floated over to their owner's respective item and hovered over them.

"Apologies, this is merely a precaution and a sort of buffer between your mana pools, I'd rather not use this vile magic if I could." He softly said, forehead scrunching as he closed his eyes. "Arceus, please aid me with this…" he then began to speak a mixture of what he was speaking before and what seemed to be the language of pokemon.

The sword and shield glowed brilliantly and the drops of blood fell onto them, the glow brightening for a few more moments and when the glow died down, they looked the slightest bit different. Runes ran down the length of Heather's sword now and when Acaeus was handed his shield back, there were runes carved into the back of his shield near the grips.

"With Arceus's help, thank god, I was able to empower your weapons and link your magic to them, which will also aid in what I'm going to do next." He spoke softly, breath the slightest bit ragged but he didn't give them time to comment. "I can't daly and explain, so all I'll say is brace yourselves."

The bottom of his staff hit the ground with a solid thud, and he began chanting, eyes flaring with light as a mystical sigil appeared below the two.

They merely looked at each other and nodded, Acaeus slipping his shield on his arm and bearing it in front of him, whilst Heather held her sword pointing up before moving her arm to have it hover in front of the shield, forming the image of a sword in front of a shield.

The sigil below them flashed, morphing into a symbol of their shield and sword in the same formation they were holding them. They then felt their very souls lurch and patterns flared to life with light across Acaeus's skin while Heather's binding marks flashed with light as well.

Heather only had the time to realize that clearly binding marks weren't solely created during the ritual but a butchering of already existing magic patterns and pathways on one's body before the feeling of her soul lurching again sent the world spinning but she still remained standing.

A glowing thread of light extended from their chests, similar threads of light coming from Zacian and Zamazenta. When Zacian's and Heather's connected and Zamazenta's connected with Acaeus, their visions flooded with light as all their senses were filled to the frim with known and unknown scents, smells and sensations-

It was too much, they passed out with the last thing they both saw was Zacian and Zamazenta opening their eyes.

The dream jolted and shifted to several weeks past this event, after the bonding of their souls and where they confronted Eternatus.

The two could see it, that bone dragon they now merely called Eternatus circling in the skies above it's nest, where it's egg landed months ago. The energy that was radiating off it would've sent both their pokemon partners and Heather to their knees weeks prior, but not now. It made their skin crawl sure, but not enough to immobilize them like Zacian and Zamazenta told them happened during their encounter with it.

The two humans and pokemon approached as boldly as they dared, in truth they did not know how this battle would turn out, but armed with the assistance of their friends and magic, they had a better chance than anyone else. Hopefully.

They stared up as they came to a halt before the nest, but it seemed the creature didn't care to look down or guard it's nest.

Zacian's concern but determination leaked through the mind link she now had with Heather, and likewise Heather's fright but resolve to stop Eternatus was felt by the pokemon as they stared.

"Ready?" Zacian asked and Heather laughed through the mind link, but shook her head.

Verbally she replied with. "I could never be ready to fight such a creature, but today is better than none to try to stop this thing."

Acaeus and Zamazenta chuckled at that, the two dog pokemon brushing against their respective partner and once again the two humans had to steady their feet, as the pokemon's new heights at nearly their shoulders was still something they weren't used to yet.

After nodding at each other, the two pokemon turned to the skies, inhaled before howling as loud as they could. The creature stilled in the air, slithering to look down at them as if curious and even tilted it's head. Once it saw who was down there, the curious seeming aura it had vanished, replaced with hostile annoyance as if they were bugs it thought it killed but hadn't and had come back to annoy it.

Heather looked at Acaeus and at his nod, she brought her sword up and he bared his shield. She then clashed her sword against his shield, seeing the two objects start glowing, upon which they turned to their pokemon. While Zamazenta rested his head against Acaeus's shield, Heather pointed the sword at Zacian, the weapon and shield glowing brilliantly and it wasn't long before the two dog pokemon glowed brightly as well.

The braids on Zacian shifted and twisted, unraveling within moments and growing longer as what seemed to be wings sprouted from her shoulders, also gaining a sort of helmet upon her head as well. The light flashed before disappearing, leaving Zacian in a new, more regal form with what seemed to be a royal crown-like helmet on her head, her braids now resembling more of long ribbons. She also had what seemed to be a larger version of Heather's blade, holding it by the hilt in her mouth.

Heather glanced over to Zamazenta, seeing he had changed as well, he now had a set of golden armor covering the front of his body like a shield and his ponytail had grown to cover his back. They also grew in size as well, well over two feet taller than their human companions now.

Zamazenta roared up at Eternatus while Zacian did much the same, bearing her sword as well as she howled through her teeth at the dark dragon in the sky, the humans bearing their shield and sword at it.

To their credit, the thing seemed to at least take them mildly seriously, as it shifted to fully face them. The glowing core they could see at the center of it's ribcage glowed ever brighter and it opened its maw, energy building before shooting down at them.

Zamazenta and Acaeus immediately took front point, Acaeus's eyes glowing as his shield glowed red, and the side parts of the armor Zamazenta had slid forward to lock into a solidly shield formation, glowing red as well as a large see through shield appeared and blocked the beam firing down at them.

While they waited for the beam to stop, Zacian wrapped one of her fur ribbons around Heather's middle firmly, Zacian watching, waiting as Heather braced herself. As soon as the beam dropped, Zacian took off in a sprint, sword glowing and being encased with light that formed sharp blade edges before she jumped into the air, much higher than she normally could to where she was nose to nose with Enternatus in a matter of moments.

The dark creature hardly had time to react as Zacian slashed at it, the light parts of the blade breaking off to slash at the creature of their own accord. As she did this, she threw Heather up and over Eternatus's head.

Heather tumbled down the massive creatures spine neck, but caught herself on one of the spikes running down its spine, hooking her arms on it to situate herself so she could sit up. The creature may be largely bones, but this thing was huge and the spine was big enough for at least five of her to lay side by side comfortably.

She peered over the side and her heart lurched, it was a LONG way down. On the bright side, Zacian, Zamazenta and Acaeus were definitely keeping its attention, she saw that when Acaeus sent a bolt of lighting to its face and Zamazenta soon flatout bashed into its face with his shield.

The brief amusement that flickered through her mind wasn't noticed as she got to her feet, wobbling as the thing was still moving around and firing off attacks at her friends, before running and sliding down the spine to the ribcage.

A bump nearly sent her flying but thankfully she caught herself with a hurried spell of "Skýt!", a gust of wind soon supporting her back so she kept her balance and made her way to the ribcage, peering down as she gulped. The gap between each rip was absolutely huge, like a gorge back in her home kingdom, it would be so easy to fall in and she couldn't tell if she'd fall into that red energy or if it was solid enough she'd bounce off and fall to her death.

No, no time for that. She sat down, binding marks flaring with light as she began to chant the beginning of the sealing spell. "Siel, sieg, freia, orphi, laina shalor~" The magic language felt strange on her tongue, primal and beyond ancient, but she was following what Markus taught her and they seemed to be working.

As she prepared to lay her hand down and put down the first sigil on the spine of Eternatus, it seemed to finally take notice of her. It suddenly shook its body to the side, sending her toppling over the side with a scream.

No she had to make sure it got on it! In an act of desperation, she twisted and stabbed her sword into the red energy between it's ribs, her fall halting with a jolt as it roared in pain while her hand slammed onto the side of the rib to her right, left hand tightly holding the hilt of her sword.

The sigil blazed to light on the black surface, and with that she kicked off the creature, screaming through the metal link. "ZACIAN!"

Zacian lept up and caught her on her back, both fur ribbons wrapping securely around the human before light engulfed them both as their swords flashed and glowed with pure magic as their soul connection sung and pulsed-

Heather, or was it Zacian? It didn't matter there was no time to think on what just happened, she landed on her feet, tail brushing the ground, flicking a long half braided sidebang along with the long back hair of hers over her shoulder as she adjusted her grip on her sword, peering over at where Zamazenta was with Acaeus to meet his yellow eyes with a wolfish grin pulling at his features, framed by the gold and red helmet he wore matching his armor, skin a blotchy mix of tan and beige.

He nodded at her and the two beings looked up at Eternatus as it started to try to fly up into the air, it's vile energy building in the clouds above. They knew it was going to use some huge attack which would likely decimate the surrounding area. They couldn't let it get that attack off.

She jumped up into the air, soon right beside it as magic coiled and snapped around her free hand. She hardly let it realize she was right beside it before she threw the rope of magic energy over its neck spine, it wrapped around it twice before the creature jerked, the end of the magic rope going lax and hanging wildly as she held onto her end of it like a life line.

"That's ENOUGH!" He shouted as he lept up, voice of two overlapping, grabbing the other end of the magic rope and adding his magic to it. With a nod at her, they both yanked the rope downward with all their strength.

Eternatus was suddenly yanked and thrown down onto the ground so abruptly it only had time to let out a startled roar before it slammed into the ground with such force even the trees and cliffs nearby shook and the ground rumbled for miles.

They landed on their feet near each other, and she raised her hand with her sword towards Eternatus as he did the same with the hand that had the shield on his arm, beginning to chant in unison.

"Kirera kagima saibastia~" A spell of sealing, seal it away back into that foul black egg it came from no more would it trouble their land and its inhabitants NO MORE-

Magic ripped through the air and soared well into the air and dove deep underground, the very air humming with magic and the sword and shield glowed brilliantly and defiantly against Eternatus's powers as it struggled against the bindings and rope but it couldn't move. "Inaria miamenta~"

Their eyes blazed with light of four souls and four sources of magic as tendrils of light of four mana pools swirled through the air around the giant creature to combine into a focal point above it. "Asor aita saibastia!"

"Imilia iyasii iya!" With that, Eternatus was engulfed in magic light as it roared, magic spinning all around it and it's nest.

When the magic faded from sight, rope and all, all that remained in the middle of the nest was a large, black egg.

They sighed in relief, looking at each other with relieved smiles before looking to the now clearing up sky. It was so beautiful to see the blue sky once more and the gentle breeze brushed against their cheeks, tousling their hair as they closed their eyes. The soul connection pulsed gently, lessing how close their souls were bound and with a flash two were now four once more-

Zacian caught Heather on her back as Zamazenta did with Acaeus, no longer in those regal forms but back to normal. The two humans were absolutely exhausted, and the pokemon settled down on the ground, curled around the two humans.

The last thing Heather recalled was wrapping her arms around Acaeus's back and him holding her close before they fell asleep.

The dream shifted one final time, and Heather was in some tent, leaning over a map with figurines scattered about on top of it.

Claude and Byleth were going over a battle plan, one Heather focused on to the best of her abilities. She and Acaeus along with Claude and Byleth would lead the charge against the invading forces from Johto and Kanto, biding their time for Dimitri with his forces from Sinnoh and Seteth with his forces from both Unova and wherever else he could get them to arrive and turn the tide of battle.

It wasn't a new plan by any means, Heather had heard a few like this in the, gods, at least fifteen years she knew Claude and her kingdom was in his alliance, but it was a simple one that worked.

After ensuring everyone knew their role in the upcoming battle, they adjourned to prepare for the battle.

Byleth followed Heather into her tent, fingers messing with her now slightly longer hair as she helped Heather into her armor. Claude's little puppy bolt hound, a little yamper, followed the two into the tent and hopped onto Heather's cot, the female pokemon letting her pet her.

"And there we go." Byleth muttered softly as she finished with the last buckle and stepped back to admire her handy work. "Huh. I'm amazed that I was able to get all the buckles correct."

"You've always worked best under pressure from what Claude's told me and what I've seen." Heather chuckled, turning to the older woman to see her smiling softly in return. "Claude's a lucky man you know, he could have married anyone but he picked you."

"Good grief little one, you're making me blush." Byleth giggled, covering a reddening cheek with a hand, Heather swore she heard some young girl's laughter softly in the background, but brushed it off.

"I'm only five years your younger you know. Little one isn't an apt term." Heather grinned, crossing her gauntletted arms as she looked at the taller woman.

"Only from your point of view." Byleth reached over and tapped her nose, making Heather recoil playfully with a snort. "I see you as a child of my own you should know."

Heather blushed bashfully and looked away, scratching at her cheek which she felt was warming.

"Speaking of, I have an inquiry for you." Byleth shifted, looking away as if nervous. "This is hypothetical mind you, but." Her hands gripped together tightly in front of her middle, to the point her knuckles turned white as she looked at the younger woman before her. "If I were to say be with child, would you want to be the godmother?"

"By-lie!" Heather's nickname for the woman tumbled from her mouth with pleasant surprise. "Are you?"

"Maybe, for a few weeks now I've been waking up sick and throwing up, I plan after this battle to have Marianne check me with her magic to be sure as you are well aware a bug like this has been running amok among the soldiers for a month now, making many of the female soldiers panic and Marianne need to deal with calming them down with her husband Sylvain's help." Byleth smiled, blue eyes sparkling. "I... do hope it's not that though, me and Claude, we've always wanted children even regardless of our status. And we've been trying for a while, so I'm very hopeful."

"Well, if you are indeed with child, congratulations and I would be honored to be the godmother!" Heather sprung forward and hugged Byleth, the woman giggling as she hugged her back.

"That's wonderful to hear!" The woman all but picked Heather up as she spun her around once. "Claude's going to be so excited if this turns out the way I hope it does." She set Heather down and beamed at her. "Claude thinks of you and Acaeus as his closest friends I hope you know, he'll be over the moon at this."

"Really? He thinks that highly of me and Acaeus?" Heather gaped at Byleth who grinned at her.

"I never tell a lie." She winked at Heather, her expression sincere. Heather stared at her in shock before lunging and hugging Byleth tightly, Byleth chuckling as she hugged her back.

"You're happy about something~" Zacian spoke through their connection to Heather while Heather merely grinned and let her emotions leaked through the bond, making the pokemon laugh in delight. "That's good! You deserve to be happy."

Heather merely giggled softly, and then let go of Byleth, boldly declaring. "Well, if you plan on telling Claude that, I must share that I plan to tell Acaeus how I feel after this battle. I've thought long and hard, especially after you cornered me at the last ball-" Byleth giggled mischievously at that which Heather rolled her eyes before smiling softly. "and I'm certain that I have feelings for him."

"Good! I'll help you corner him then~" Byleth giggled, grinning as she took Heather's hands in her own.

Heather merely grinned in response before softly saying. "For once, I don't fear the edge of dawn now. Even as the sun's high in the sky now, I believe the future is looking bright for both our kingdoms."

The two girls talked for a while until they heard Claude calling for everyone to assemble and that the enemies were on the horizon, at that they rushed to join their respective partners.

"Hey, what's got you so happy?" Acaeus asked, grinning at the absolutely beaming Heather as she approached, borderline bounding up to him with Zacian at her side.

"I'll tell you after the battle." She grinned at him, peering past him and Zamazenta to see Byleth almost tackle hug Claude who caught her with a laugh of "Hey my doe! You're awfully affectionate today."

Byleth merely giggled and kissed his cheek before mounting her rapidash and he mounted his blue and gold flygon then taking to the skies while Heather and Acaeus used their sword and shield's magic to let Zamazenta and Zacian assume their crowned forms.

They looked to the horizon where the enemy army was cresting the hill, and Claude shouted from his mount. "Archers take aim and mages prepare!"

Both the archers on the ground and in the air on various flying pokemon readied their bows, Claude included with his strange bow, Failnaught did he call it?

"FIRE!" With that, an absolute rain of arrows was let loose and with spells cast on them to make sure they cleared the distance, they reached their targets. Many soldiers and pokemon fell, but the bulk of the army remained and didn't move.

"Hold…" He held up a hand, waiting, watching for them to make the next move. Mount pokemon shifted uneasily and soldiers shifted their grips on their weapons and shields, flying pokemon shifted as well as clouds covered the skies.

Zacian shook out her fur, careful to not hit anyone with her sword while Zamazenta shifted his feet, readying himself. Heather drew her sword and readied it as Acaeus shifted how his shield was on his arm.

"Steady…" Claude scanned the enemy lines, looking for their commanders and his mind already five steps ahead, planning. The air was tense, thick with apprehension as both armies waited for the other to act as rain began to fall.

Byleth twitched her hand holding her strange sword, the blade glowing before easily coming apart and hung down like a whip, eyes cold and expression almost unfeeling now. Her nickname of the Ashen Demoness fit that face well.

All of a sudden,a horn resounded from the opposing army, and with resounding shouts, they began their charge.

"Mages and archers and all pokemon able! Take aim and fire!" Claude's voice rang out over the sound of the rain and his forces did as he commanded. Arrows flew alongside fire balls, ice spikes, lightning bolts, shadow balls and many attacks from both mage and pokemon alike.

They hit but the army did not slow or pause, continuing down towards the forces of Kalos and Galar, and with that it was all Claude needed.

"Everyone attack!" He threw his hand forward and his flygone let out a roar as well, at that the army moved forward to meet their attackers.

Acaeus and Heather ran beside each other with their partners flanking them, Acaeus only slightly lagging behind Heather but that was on purpose.

Soon the armies were clashing and Heather's sword met an axe, she pushed back against it with a shout, knocking the man back enough for Zacian to leap forward and slash at him, sending him flying and another soldier took his place.

Heather slashed at him but he dodged and went to strike her, but Acaeus moved and blocked the sword with his shield. Heather took advantage of the momentary confusion caused by him doing that to rush forward and, magic coating her blade as her markings flashed, stabbed him through the chest.

One after the other, the soldiers kept coming and they kept taking them down, if it wasn't Acaeus shielding Heather or Zacian it was Zamazenta, who also never failed to use his behemoth bash to send handfuls of soldiers flying away as well.

That was how they fought, she attacked and he shielded, yes by now Acaeus at least had a small dagger and shortsword attached to his belt but they liked fighting like this. They liked relying on each other and trusting each other to watch their back.

This continued on for a while, time lost its meaning against the seemingly never-ending waves of soldiers and enemies, just keep your wits about you and don't let your guard down ran through her head like a mantra.

Eventually, however, something changed. Went wrong so wrong very wrong WHY-

Heather's ears picked up the sound of a rapidash shrieking in pain and her head snapped around to see Byleth was surrounded by enemy soldiers, her sword in whip form was lashing around wildly at the enemies, trying to get some breathing room but the soldiers had already injured her mount, clearly trying to get it to topple over with her still on it.

"BYLETH!" Heather shouted and darted towards her friend, Acaeus right behind her with a surprised shout of "H-ǟʟɨʀǟ!"

Heather's sword was a blur of gold and red as she cut down all the enemy soldiers standing between her and her friend, she didn't even bother trying to possibly injure them to get them to retreat, she cut them down in her haste. She had to reach Byleth, she had to she wasn't going to lose another friend to her father's forces-!

She reached the enemies surrounding her and started cutting them down without remorse, however she didn't make it in time the bastard she just managed to cut down managed to stab his spear into the rapidash's chest, making it rear back with a screech before it toppled over with Byleth shrieking. Heather tried to move quickly enough to just yank Byleth off the mount but she wasn't quick enough Byleth ended up under the pokemon with a scream.

The shriek of his wife caused Claude's gaze to snap over to see Byleth's lower half had been trapped under the horn pokemon's body, he wasted no time in ordering several troops to cover him as he flew down to the trio as fast as his Flygone could go as well as calling for others to come aid him.

Heather knelt by Byleth, gods her legs were probably useless now but by the goddess, she was somehow still alive even despite being crushed under the weight of the horn pokemon.

Heather struggled to move the now very much dead rapidash off her friend so she could attempt what healing magic she knew to try to stablize her until healers got to them, but a sudden shout from Acaeus had her gaze snapping up to see him fending off several opportunistic soldiers only a few feet who were clearly trying to go after the two women while they were not watching their backs.

Wait, one had a cloak on, the one t

he Eternal Ones always wore OH GOD-

Heather tried to screech out a warning, but as he was swiping away a sword with his own, the bastard wearing the cloak jumped him and stabbed him twice in the back with a dagger before retreating into the chaos around them, the other soldiers retreating as well as Zacian and Zamazenta ran over, Zacian snarling and growling viciously while Zamazenta whimpered in pain as he helped Acaeus to the ground.

"ACAEUS!" Heather's screech resounded throughout the battlefield, she could taste copper in the back of her throat she wasn't supposed to be shouting like that she had to start speaking normally at a steady rate but she didn't care as she raced over to her dear friend as soon as Claude landed and ran over to Byleth.

She pulled him into her lap, looking down at him as he smiled up at her, she dully noticed that several of both her soldiers and Claude's surrounded the four humans and two pokemon, protecting them clearly.

"No one got you right Heth?" He spoke roughly and she shook her head.

"No you idiot! How could anyone get me, when-When you do stupid things like this!?" She fought against the rising wave of dread and fear threatening to drown her and choked back a sob. Gods he looked so frail now what the hell did that bastard hit when he stabbed him- "Don't-Please Ace please-" A sob escaped her as her words jumbled in her throat.

"I'm trying not to." He smiled, raising a shaking hand to cup her cheek. "If I had to go out though, I'm glad it's making sure you're safe."

"Don't say things like that! You'll, you'll be fine!" Gods where were the healers?! He didn't look like he had much time and- Heather's ears twitched as she caught the sounds of Claude trying to not sob.

"Byleth please don't-You'll be fine, we've taken some serious hits but we always get back up in the end-"

"Heth, there's something I need to tell you." He coughed harshly, Heather's attention snapping back to him and she placed a hand on his chest after ripping her glove off with her teeth, markings spiraling down her fingers and across her hand already glowing.

"Shut up shut up, you'll be fine we just, we just need to hold out till the medics arrive!" She insisted, using her knee to prop him up and to stanch the bleeding from the wounds on his back how the HELL did that stupid dagger go through his armor like it was nothing- Her healing magic was weak but by god she was trying she couldn't lose him-!

"Heather." Her gaze snapped to his, her eyes quickly filling with tears as she placed her other hand on the one he had cupping her cheek.

"I can't lose you Acaeus." She whispered, tears falling down with no sign of stopping as more sobs built in her throat. "I can't-not after what we've been through I can't lose you!"

"I know." He cupped her other cheek with his other hand, pulling her head down so her forehead touched his. His amber gaze held so much warmth and, that was love- "I'm so so sorry I didn't tell you this sooner, there was never a good time, but I'm going to just say it now: I love you with my entire soul Heather, and I'm so glad I met you." He smiled so brightly he closed his eyes and moved his hands to loosely wrap around her middle.

"I love you too Acaeus, that's why I can't-" She sobbed now, dully noting there was a red flash of light from the direction of Claude and Byleth but didn't look over. "Please don't leave me! Please-!" Her voice cut off into sobs before she froze.

She realized that his chest stopped rising and falling, and his arms fell limply from her when she moved to check his pulse, she didn't feel anything.

She didn't register it for several moments as she looked up over to Claude and Byleth, finally noticing what was going on. Claude had a hand gripping at his chest as if in pain for a moment as Byleth offered him a loving smile, eyes briefly flashing with magic unknown, before she breathed her last breath and fell limp in her husbands arms.

Claude froze much like Heather did, briefly calling her name and shaking her, then looking up at Heather with a blank stare before they both lifted their gazes to the skies.

The sounds they made were neither human nor pokemon, but filled with raw anguish and absolute sorrow all the same-

Alira awoke with a blood-curdling scream.