Author's Note: Hello people, I know it's been a while since I posted anything, I had some personal issues and I just wasn't in the mood for writing. I feel better now and I promise to try to post more frequently.Now, please enjoy the show.

Chapter 4

Old Wounds

Annette hated to be a burden to everyone else, not only in battle but also in everyday circumstances. Such was the case when she had kitchen duty which was a messier job than gardening or working at the stables, specially if you did it didn't work.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!!!" Annette yelled running desperately through the kitchen with a smoking pan in her hands and quickly put off the fire by diving it in the water of the dish pit.

She chewed on her lower lip with frustration.

I can't give up.

She cleaned the pan and turned to try to cook the egg rolls again but the head chef was in front of her, the woman had her strong arms around her waist.

"Annette dear, why don't you let me make those egg rolls? You had already work your load here so let me just help you with that"

Annette had only served the food to the students because of her horrible cooking skills that most of the time end up making a mess and in the worst case scenario destroying part of the kitchen.

"Thank you Abby, but this is only my third try, I have the feeling that this time will be the charm"

Abby snatched the pan out of her hand "I'm sorry dear, but at this passe we will run out of eggs. Now go with your friends and I'll tell you when it's ready"

"But-"

"Now Annette"

Annette left the kitchen with a downcast look, she put up her black jacket and sat next to Mercedes on the table with all the blue lions. The others seemed to be having a conversation, Felix was also there, even though he was studying with the Black Eagles now he still passed the rest of his time with the Blue Lions.

"So was it hard at all?" Sylvain asked Felix.

"It's not that it was easy either, we just followed the Professor's lead, they were just bandits after all"

Felix had just come back from a mission with his class, routing a few bandits was an easy task, Annette had been in a few battles herself. The worst part was definitely getting use to take another person's life without losing your mind, it was really hard for Annette when she had to burn a bandit alive with her own hands, but Dimitri, Felix and the others were almost unfazed. She asked herself if she was being weak or maybe there was more to her friends that she could see.

"Did you finished what you were making Annette?" Ingrid asked.

"Not really, Abby decided to do it for me in the end"

"It doesn't matter Annie, is the intention what really matters" Mercedes said and Annette wished she hadn't said that.

Dimitri turned with a raised eyebrow "Oh, are you preparing something for someone?"

"I...yeah something like that" She said trying not to look at Felix who was just eating his food unfazed just like Dedue next to him"

"Oh jojojo, Annette I didn't take you for the forward type" Sylvain smiled "So who is it? A secret lover perhaps? Oh! Is it one of the guys from the library? Is it Ashe?"

The last comment made the young archer spill his drink all over Felix.

"What the hell!"

"I'm sorry, Felix!" Ashe said with his ears and face red as a tomato.

The others couldn't hold on the laugher, even Annette let out a giggle.

"So who is it then?" Sylvain asked again.

"I don't intend to tell you precisely to not give the wrong idea" Annette said crossing her arms "Besides, is not has I'm doing it for some kind of interest in him"

"So it is guy!"

"No!..I mean, yeah but is not what you think!"

Ingrid elbowed the red hair boy "Come on, stop molesting the girl, whatever she is doing is none of your business"

"Okay okay"

They kept talking about some of the classes they were having troubles with and Felix left to the training grounds just before Abby came with a little basket.

"I can't thank you enough" Annette said

"Well you can start by not trying to cook on my kitchen anymore, at least the regular stuff. From now on you'll only take care of dessert. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am" although Annette wasn't much better baking either but she wasn't about to tell her that.

Felix had just finished eating so Annette decided to give him her brie food later that evening, with luck he would easily accept to forget about her embarrassing song.

Ingrid reached out to her just before Annette enter her room "Hey Annette, do you think you can help me with my hair? Usually I do it myself but my hand got hurt in training and can't twist it much."

"Sure, please come in"

They settled down in front of Annette's vanity mirror and began to work.

Ingrid's hair was always shinny and stunning like the pegasus she rode on. She began to untangle the golden lines, they were so soft it almost slipped thought her little fingers.

"You have such beautiful hair, Ingrid"

Ingrid smiled at her reflexion "Thanks, it's been...a while since someone ever said that to me."

"That can't be right. You see all those boys crazy about Edelgard, Hilda and Dorothea. I'm sure there has to be some suitors around."

"Oh, don't even get me start on that. My father is already putting enough pressure on me as it is"

"I can't say I really get it, my mother never was the kind to push the marriage thing to much. Most of it was just teasing, specially during the school of sorcery I had a few crushes but nothing significant."

Annette then started to twirl and tied Ingrid's hair, she looked at the mirror and she noticed Ingrid had her head a little down.

"Can you raise your head a little bit, please?"

"Yeah sure" she said but her voice had some strange quivering in it. Annette also saw how her shoulder were trembling ever so slightly.

"Ingrid, are you okay? Am I hurting you?"

"No, not at all. It's just, you know, I don't really like to talk about the marriage thing too much."

"I'm sorry, didn't know it was such a delicate subject."

"It's hard to put in to words. It doesn't really have to do with my family or anything, Felix an I even had an argument a few days ago"

Annette had to remake one of the ties that looked to rushed and unruly. "I might not be the smartest person but I want you to know that I'm always here for you. To hear whatever you need to say, even if you're just angry and want to blow out some steam"

Ingrid softened her features, it took a few minutes but finally she started to talk.

"I don't think you know, but I was engaged once, right at the moment I took my first breath as an infant, my father decided to give my hand in marriage to Glenn Fraldarius"

"Really I couldn't have... wait, Fraldarius?"

"That's right" Ingrid said with a sight "He was the eldest son of house Fraldarius, Felix's older brother. He was a knight like no other and he was to be one of the greatest men to ever hold the title of Shield of Faerghus."

Annette looked at Ingrid in the mirror, she could see her eyes sparkling and a sad smile adorning her face "You loved him, right?"

"Yes. Even though an arranged marriage is not the best place to start a romance, Glenn was different to any man. He was the image of honor, pride, respect and love for his country"

Annette felt suddenly uncomfortable while the image of a middle aged red haired knight came to her mind.

"But he died in the Tragedy of Duscur along with the king and a great chunk of his knights. Although Lord Rodrigue was proud for his son's sacrifice, it was a painful event that scarred is all. I haven't even really get over it but Felix, well he took it worst than anyone else, he just sat there by his brother's corpse like he was waiting for him to wake up. After the funeral, Felix wasn't the same again, something broke inside him, something that I don't think anyone can repair."

"I never knew" Annette said still trying to process everything but she had already done with the hair. "I'm done"

Ingrid stood up, her familiar hairstyle waiving elegantly.

"I'm sorry if I made you revived those memories" Annette said apologetic.

"It's alright, I actually feel a little better talking to you. Thanks again for helping me with my hair, I owe you one"

"Don't mention it"

Ingrid went out of the room leaving Annette with her thoughts and a little basket beside her. She made the trip to the training grounds where, as always, found Felix practicing his swordsmanship. Only now the girl could see something else in his footwork, in his swings, in his eyes. There was this strange and cold anger carefully directed to each move with murdering intend, an armor full of thorns meant to hurt anyone that tried to como close to him. Just like Annette who wanted to numb the pain by using her cheerful facade.

Now Annette knew that Felix Hugo Fraldarius was as vulnerable as she was, and just like her, his life was turned upside down by the Tragedy of Duscur.

Suddenly she didn't feel in the mood to give him the food that Abby prepared. It felt wrong somehow.

That evening Annette shared the meal with Bernadetta who actually smiled a little bit, the purple haired girl was actually spending more time in her room since the Ashen Wolfs joined her house.

Annette fell asleep that night wandering if it was possible for people like her and Felix to repair the bonds they had lost over the years. Could all that pain really go away?

She didn't find an answer that night.

-O-

Byleth's eyes didn't left Felix and Yuri, while all the other Black Eagles trained around the training grounds, the two swordsmen were having a very evenly matched.

Felix had the speed and the strength, but Yuri had the uncanny ability to squeeze between his opponents attacks, it was like he could read Felix's every move even of e was changing stance constantly Yuri would just dodge it with little effort.

"So what do you think?" The Professor asked to Edelgard, she was sitting next to him while evaluating the match.

"It's impressive, it's like both of them were born with a sword in their hands"

Byleth nodded "To be honest I'm sure those two will surpass me one day, but that will only happen if we turn them into true warriors. That's the point of this new mission"

The Professor has returned from his meeting with the Archbishop. Apparently a minor Lord from the Kingdom, Lord Lonato Gildas Gaspard, was rising a rebellion against the Church of Serios which according to some people was a long time coming.

Now Byleth and his Black Eagles had been sent to suppress the rebels along with a small squad of the Knights of Seiros.

So the professor had good reasons to be nervous, they were not facing a small group of bandits thist time but a true fully trained group of soldiers. His students were really good but it was normal to be afraid since in the end they were still teenagers most of them.

Byleth could still feel the fear of seeing his students facing the monster in the Cathedral just a little more than a month ago. He had to be better, he had to teach better if he wanted to protect all of his students.

"You know you make a certain expression when you're lost in thought" Edelgard said pulling him out of his mind.

"What so you mean?"

The girl reached with her finger almost touching the space between his eyebrows "You frown your eyebrows slightly and then start moving your leg like nervous dog"

"Really? I haven't noticed. I think it's even the first time it happens."

"Being a mercenary one could think you would be used to this. The anticipation before a battle"

"It hadn't happen before. But don't worry, I'm sure we will win without a problem"

Edelgard didn't looked convince but she didn't say anything.

A few minutes later Byleth stood up and clapped his hands twice "Alright class that's enough, I need all of you to gather, we will discuss the strategy on the next battle"

Everyone gathered near a little table where Byleth had set up a map.

"We are facing a different kind of terrain this time, a dense forest, plus the enemy are trained knight if the information is correct. So I want to be extra careful. We will place a company to protect the camp." Byleth raised his eyes "Balthus, you will be in charge of the defense along with Hubert and Hapi."

"Excuse me?" Hubert said with a frown "Are you suggesting for me to wait on camp while lady Edelgard is fighting?"

Byleth looked at the mage with a cold stare "I'm not suggesting Hubert. It's an order, you are not a healer and we already have Constance and Dorothea to cover for you and protect Catherine's knights. I need a commander figure in the camp while Edelgard, Yuri, Felix and me take the vanguard."

"But-"

"Hubert please" Edelgard interrupted "I'll be fine"

Hubert let out a sight and didn't say anything else. But before Byleth could continue, someone walked in the training grounds.

He turned seeing the skinny figure of Ashe somehow looking even smaller with his head down and his hands press together.

"Can we help you Ashe?" Byleth asked.

The boy raised his green eyes to the teacher "I...I was told your class will be suppressing the rebellion from the Western Church" Ashe said.

"That's right Ashe"

"Please, let come with you, I need to face Lord Lonato face to face."

Byleth approached and placed a hand in the boy's shoulder "I understand that he is your adoptive father, but here everyone needs to be in peak condition, physical and mentally. And I'm afraid you could put a lot of strain on you if you go"

"I'm begging you professor, I need to know why, I need to face him if he really wants to go and hurt innocent people, that's what a knight would do."

Byleth couldn't risk it, it wasn't fair for him but he didn't deserve to go through that kind of-

"Let him come, Professor" everyone turned to see that it was Felix who had spoken. He had his arms crossed and he was looking at Byleth right in the eyes "Ashe can be naive and a hopeless dreamer, but he is not the kind to fall apart during a battle no matter what, especially when his companions are at stake"

Byleth looked at Felix and then Ashe "You think you can protect Linhart during the battle?" The boy smiled and nodded "Then I think we will put Bernadetta on the camp"

"Oh thank the Goddess!" Bernadetta exclaimed.

"Alright. Then Linhart and Ashe will be behind the vanguard, Dorothea, Constance and Ferdinand will provide support to Catherine and her knights" the professor looked at Petra "Petra, I heard you're an excellent hunter and tracker"

"I'm much more good than that, Professor" She said with a smile and her own matter of speech.

-O-

Felix was surprised to see Annette waiting for him at the main gate while the Black Eagles departed to the kingdom, she stood up from the bench near the blacksmith and walked towards him.

"Hi" she said.

"Hi. What are you doing here?"

She placed her hands behind her back and smile, for some reason that made him feel a little... uneasy, yeah that was the word.

"I wanted to wish you good luck since I couldn't do it last time you went on a mission. I already talk with Ashe." That last part she added in a hurry.

"Oh yeah, thanks. We should be back in a couple of days if everything goes smoothly"

"I hope so" she said and fell silence for a second before looking eyes with him, her big blue eyes looked like two mirrors trying to trap Felix's soul. "Felix, even though you're not in our class anymore, I want you to know that you can still count on us, you can still count on me."

"I'll be fine"

She didn't drop the smile "Yeah, I know"

She walked away towards the main hall with a certain rhythm to her steps. He had trouble looking away

By the time they reached the forest Catherine was already there and she was informed of Byleth's strategy. But when they took the battlefield a strange fog started to materialize making everything harder to see.

"Felix and Yuri cover Ashe and Linhart, wait for my orders to advance." Byleth said and the students obeyed.

Felix gripped his sword in a two handed stance anticipating a sneak attack. He still couldn't perform any powerful spell and his archery skill was still of a beginner so he hadn't reached the assassin class. It would have come in handing in this kind of situations.

"Felix" Ashe whispered "I just wanted to thank you for standing up for me before"

Felix didn't even turned to see him not wanting to get distracted "That wasn't a favor, if you want to fight then don't you dare making a mistake and get yourself and others killed."

"You're right. And speaking of which, there are two enemies approaching from both sides."

"Take down the farthest, I will kill the other one"

Felix made a sprint through the mist like a hawk that had found It's prey. He held his sword downwards and before the soldier could see it he slashed the side of him in a quick motion.

He knew that if those two soldiers were here then it meant there was more hidden in the woods ahead.

He crouched near a rock on the western side observing his sorroundings while keeping an eye on Ashe. A little further down he saw two shadows colliding with the sound of blades clashing, quickly Felix ran towards them.

He found Petra fighting a spearman, but then two more soldiers appeared from the mist behind her, Felix went ahead and intercepted the first man's attack. He tried to slash the soldier's arm from above but he was quick enough to dodge on time while his companion waved his sword from the right and Felix barely had time to block it.

Fighting two people was never easy. And then it got worse because a third man appeared holding an axe. Felix heard a scream from behind and a few seconds later Petra came to his side at the same time that five more enemies appeared.

"Seems like they wanted to flank us from the side while the Professor and the others fought Lonato" Feliz said.

Petra nodded "It was my suspicion as soon as I seen the mist. It wouldn't make any sense to just cover a frontal attack, not with an area this vast."

They held gazes with the seven soldiers just before they charged.

Petra moved like a snake dodging a blade aiming to her neck and in a whiplash motion she cut the man's throat in a flash. Another soldier charged towards Felix but he managed to deflect the attack using his own bracelet, the soldier couldn't think while Felix drove his sword through the man's stomach. But he wasn't done, Felix pushed the corpse with him and drew out his sword by kicking the limp body against another soldier while the axe man came from the side.

Felix remembered his lessons with Byleth and waited for the strike, right before the massive weapon went down on him he made quick step to the left that almost made him trip but he managed to hold balance and twirled around slashing the axeman's undefended neck.

The other four men charged at the same time but one of them fell against one of Ashe's arrows while the other one was struck down when Yuri appeared and shot one of his spells. The other two, well they didn't really stood a chance against Felix and Petra.

"The Professor suspected an ambush because Petra took to much time returning" said Yuri "so he sent me to check what happened"

Petra nodded "His instincts were right, but we took care of it"

"Then make the signal to advance"

Petra held her hands in from of his mouth and made a sound similar to a tropical bird not common in this forest. A response came and that was the signal to move forward.

They heard some fighting up ahead and the thunderous roar of Catherine's relic and then suddenly the mist started to clear off leaving a horrible scene of corpses and blood throughout the battlefield.

They found Byleth and the others near some kind of altar, Catherine was fighting a group of soldiers while the Professor and Edelgard stood against Lonato and his men.

Before Felix could assess the situation completely Ashe sprinted forward going past him and stopping just a few meters away from Lonato.

The old knight made a powerful attack that Byleth could barely block and sent him flying against a tree.

"Shit!" Felix cursed "Linhart, go see if the professor needs help, Petra go with him"

He had to think fast and went ahead to reach Ashe, the boy was aiming an arrow directly at Lonato.

"Stand down Ashe" the old man said "I must destroy this evildoers by any means necessary"

"Please surrender, Lonato!" The pleaded "Whatever your reasons are, we can still talk it out"

"Rhea is an infidel who has deceived the people and desecrated the goddess! We have virtue and the goddess herself on our side!"

He sounded like a mad man, no, he sounded like he truly believed in his cause, a man driven by willpower alone, and that in itself was dangerous. Ashe was in danger.

"Even if all that is true, dragging the town folks into this like that isn't right"

"Enough. If that is how you think, prepare yourself! I'm putting an end to this."

Felix ran as hard as he could while Lonato charged against his step son with resolve.

I won't make it in time.Felix thought grimly.

Lonato raised his spear charging with his horse. Then the sharp noise of a bow string echoed through the forest, the trees and the wing in silence while a sharp arrow pierced the air and flesh.

Lord Lonato let go on his spear and was shaken for a moment before falling off his horse and rolling in front of Ashe. The old man had his eyes on the sky with an arrow in his forehead.

Everything was quiet for a moment while Ashe knelt down to his father's side. It was rare to see that kind of expression in Ashe, a look of sorrow and absolute pain. And Felix felt a horrible sense of deja vu when the boy screamed in agony, tears rolling down his face.

On the way back to the monastery there was no celebration for their victory, there was no feast, there was just the silence of the people who found out how war really was. There was no beautiful tales or songs about knights and heroes, just a field filled with cadavers, blood and the smell of death lingering like a massive shadow.

-O-

Outside of Garreg Mach in the darkness of an abandoned tower in ruins, two figures lingered like two ghosts of a forgotten time.

The Flame Emperor wasn't afraid of the night, they had walk throughout it since they were a child. They felt the phantom pain in their scars and their own heart every time they remembered the true darkness, the one hidden in the heart of humans.

The shadowed figure in from of them, the Death Knight was only another person like herself, scarred by the same people they work with, turned into a powerful machine of war to seek the deaths of his enemies at all cost.

"Lonato's rebelion has given us the necessary momentum to strike" the Flame Emperor said.

"The Monastery is in high alert now that the Archbishop's life is believed in danger" the Death Knight's voice was like of the death itself.

"Yes but that's precisely why our best chance to strike is now. During the Rite of Rebirth, the knights will be too occupy to notice what's really going on. I will help you enter the tomb but you will have to be quick to set up the best defense you can. I had seen this students fighting and they are no jest"

"That's better for me, but once we have what we came for I won't hold back anymore. I'll kill him with my own hands."

The Flame Emperor didn't respond to that and the Death Knight took it as a sign that they were on a agreement and disappeared into the mist with his horse.

The Flame Emperor slowly took off their mask watching the moon showering the land with it's light and for a moment the white face of the celestial titan had turned red in the Emperor's eyes. Like everything in their life, even the moon was covered in blood through their eyes. And much more blood was yet to be spilled.

Author's Note: I know we all know who the Flame Emperor is, but I wanted to hold a little bit of the mystery. I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter, I'm stills looking for beta readers if you are interested.I'll try my hardest to post the next chapter this same week to compensate for the hiatus.Thank you for your reviews, likes and follows, you guys are fantastic