Shambhala, 1185

Cornelia and Arundel barely made it back to Shambhala in time. How could years of careful planning go so wrong so quickly? The Fell Star had done the unthinkable - united Dimitri, Edelgard, and Claude against them. This new army, united by Byleth, would first liberate Fhirdiad, then Dedriu, and finally expel their mages from Enbarr. It was only a matter of time before their city would be discovered. Bias and Pittacus met them as they entered the laboratory. "It is time to use our contingency plan. We have waited too long for the false goddess to ruin us once more," Thales said.

"No need to worry, Thales," said Cornelia. "Once all of Fodlan's bravest fighters disappear, we will easily take over once chaos breaks out. Their pathetic little peace agreement will fall apart once they're all gone."

She carefully unrolled a scroll and checked the instructions. First she mixed wolfsbane, a forgetting potion, and dark fairy dust in a small glass orb. She added a drop of true love potion. Thales questioned why a curse would need true love and she explained that it was necessary to destroy Byleth's love for others. She then took a lock of hair from each of them and added it to the mixture. Cornelia then asked Thales for the final ingredient. He reluctantly handed her an animal heart. "Aeolus, you were the best horse and one of the only tolerable surface creatures," he said sadly.

Cornelia crushed the heart into a paste and mixed it with the hair. "Now, now - his sacrifice won't be in vain. A curse won't work unless you lose the something you love. It's ready. All you need to do is say the words on the scroll and it will cast the curse."

Thales did as instructed. The ingredients began to turn into black smoke, but they soon turned back into their original state. "Damn," said Thales. "Cornelia, what did you miss?"

Cornelia looked back over the scroll. "I didn't miss a damn thing," she hissed. "Obviously your horse wasn't enough of a sacrifice. You have to be willing to give up something closer to you than your damn horse."

"I'm beginning to think you don't know how to make this curse." Thales seethed.

"You are the one keeping this from working! We've been alive for over a thousand years. In all that time, there is no one you value? No one you would miss if they were gone? " Cornelia stepped directly in front of Thales.

Thales smiled and replied, "You know, Cornelia, there is one I think pretty highly of…"

He shoved his hand into her chest.

Crestwood

Upon hearing the bell, the residents of Crestwood stepped out of their business to marvel at the now functioning clock. Not only was the bell ringing, the hands of the clock were now working as well. Almost everyone was delighted to see the clock working again, except Mayor Arundel. "It would seem The Fell Star has decided to stay," he muttered to himself.

Arundel's next stop was The Ochain, Crestwood's local paper. He had already called Ferdinand in the middle of the night to tell him to dig up any information on one Byleth Eisner. When he arrived, Ferdinand was uploading today's edition, featuring Byleth on the front page. Ferdinand's story still portrayed Byleth as a hero, but he did manage to mention her criminal record. "I don't feel right about mentioning Ms. Eisner's past, Mr. Mayor," Ferdinand said sadly.

"Of course you don't, Ferdinand. It's not in your nature to speak ill of people," Arundel replied smoothly. "But it's my job to make people feel safe in this town, and people deserve to be aware of any criminal elements. Ms. Eisner did one good deed, but it doesn't mean she's someone to associate our town with. Trust me, Ferdinand, this is the noble thing to do for the town."

"I suppose you're right, you are the mayor after all." Ferdinand said.

"Exactly, that is why the town elects me every time," Arundel waved as he left with a newspaper under his arm. "That guy is almost too easy!" he said to himself.

Ingrid deputized Byleth and told her to be back at the police station first thing on Monday. Claude offered to walk Byleth to see Edelgard and then Dimitri. He explained that Edelgard would want to know about their new deal. On the way, she noticed several people looking at her and then looking away. "What is this about? Is it because I'm not from here?"

"That isn't typical. Let's see if the paper has anything to say about our adventure last night." He opened his phone and scanned the headlines. He made a face, "I'm guessing it's because this mentions you've been arrested several times for disorderly conduct?"

Byleth snatched the paper from him and began to read. "What kind of crap is this? Yeah, I had a rough time when I aged out of the foster system, and expressed it badly. You would too. I did my community service and court ordered anger management. Where is this pompous prick Ferdinand von Aegir? I'll get 'disorderly' on him. Look, he even interviewed Arundel about me!" She pointed to a section.

Claude read aloud, "'Despite Ms. Eisner's brave behavior last night, she's unfortunately unstable and the people of Crestwood would do best to avoid her.' Wow. Arundel must really hate you."

Byleth paused for a moment, "He really wants me gone, doesn't he? Well he's going to have to learn to live with disappointment. I don't want to be here, but I refuse to be driven out of here by some small town tyrant with a God complex!"

Claude laughed and said, "That's the spirit!" He offered her his arm.

"Now," Claude continued. "Let's talk about breaking the curse. I have a plan - we'll call it Operation Failnaught because it sounds cool."

"Does it though?"

Claude said emphatically, "Yes, it definitely does. From the Varley stories, we have to weaken the curse by getting everyone to remember their past lives."

"So you believe this entire town is trapped here living with false memories? And that the only way to save them is to help them remember their past lives, which also happens to coincide with a popular fantasy novel series? That doesn't sound ridiculous at all, Claude."

"See, I knew you'd get it!" Claude replied cheerily. "Here's the pawn shop. This is usually where we can find Edelgard hiding from her uncle on the weekends."

They steppd into a small, dimly lit shop. Edelgard was sitting on a stool behind the counter reading a Varley book. She stood up quickly when she saw them. A tall man with dark hair said coolly, "Hello, Claude - may I assume this is Byleth Eisner?

"Yes, this is Byleth. Byleth, this is Hubert von Vestra. He runs this place. Byleth has graciously decided to stay on as a deputy to investigate our town."

Edelgard's eyes widened. "Honestly, I thought I would never see you again. My uncle was actually positive that you would leave town, especially after today's paper. What made you change your mind?"

"Claude is annoyingly persuasive," Byleth replied.

Edelgard looked at Byleth, carefully considering what to say next. "What exactly has Claude told you?

Byleth didn't know quite how to answer that. Edelgard did not seem like the type to believe in fantasy novels and curses. Claude stepped in to answer, "Just that your uncle has a scary amount of control over this town and most likely is up to something nefarious."

Hubert snapped, "You will not do anything to endanger Edelgard further. Your little 'investigation' last night nearly got her killed."

"Oh come on, Hubert. Edelgard can make up her own mind. Edelgard, don't you want to know what's really happening in this town? What life we should be having?""

Hubert looked like he was about to choke Claude, but Edelgard put her hand up to call him off. "He's told you about the curse theory? And you didn't run screaming from him?"

Byleth replied, "Well, something is definitely off with your town - especially your Uncle."

Hubert replied, "He is a maggot, crawling in the filth of the world, feeding off Crestwood like a parasite. Nevertheless you will make sure to leave Edelgard out of any of your schemes or investigations. I will not have her become the object of her uncle's wrath because of your carelessness."

"Noted!" Claude replied.

Edelgard came around to the front of the counter and took one of Byleth's hands. "Please be careful Byleth. Dimitri has already gotten hurt and I don't want to see anything bad happen to anyone else. Keep us informed of anything you find, and we'll help however we can."

Byleth nodded. Claude and Byleth left the store, and Byleth let out a big breath. "Geez, what is that guy's deal? Intense much?"

Claude laughed. "Oh don't worry. He's just super protective of Edelgard. Their parents were close friends and they have known each other their entire lives. Hubert can't just come out and say that he's madly in love with her, so he expresses it by scaring the shit out of anyone that might potentially harm her. It's cute, really."

"And does Edelgard realize that he's in love with her?" Byleth asked.

"For someone as smart as Edelgard, she can be really oblivious," Claude replied. "Just remember, never make a deal with Hubert. His help always comes at a price."

As they were walking, Ingrid approached them. She looked very uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, Byleth - but you are under arrest for firing a weapon within city limits."

"Seriously! I saved his niece's life last night, but now I'm dangerous!"

Ingrid sighed wearily and said, "The mayor wants to send a message that we don't need vigilantes in this town. Please come with me quietly so I don't have to handcuff you."

Byleth told Ingrid that she would not go quietly and that Ingrid was going to have to handcuff her. Ingrid drove her to the police station and then took her mugshot photos. Byleth tried the entire time to get Ingrid to talk about Arundel, but the Sheriff refused to say if she was afraid of her mayor . She told Ingrid that she looked like the kind of person who wouldn't be afraid of anyone. Ingrid softly mentioned that the last Sheriff had stood up to Arundel. But then she clammed up again and refused to speak to Byleth anymore. Sylvain showed to act as her defense attorney and to tell her that her bail was being split between Claude, Hubert, and "a friend." Byleth smiled and asked to be uncuffed. She had a stop to make.

Mayor Arundel was quietly working at his desk, content in the knowledge that a certain unwelcome bounty hunter was surely going to flee town. Suddenly, he heard a loud whirring. He stepped out to find Byleth Eiser cutting up his prized Zanado fruit plants with a weed whacker.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He screamed.

"I'm picking Zanado," Byleth calmly replied.

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"No, but you must be if you think smearing me in the newspaper and arresting me on some trumped up charge is going to make me run away. You're just making me want to stay longer to see what you're hiding here. Come for me again and I'll take the rest of your crop."

She threw the weed wacker down and said, "Your move" as she walked away.