Crestwood

At the local pharmacy, Claude was enjoying his comic book after a long day of avoiding Arundel at work. A serious looking young woman with long white hair sat down next to him. She was eating a chocolate bar. "What are you reading?" she asked.

"Hulk vs Wolverine - a literary classic."

She scowled. "I wouldn't know. I only read books meant for adults."

Another young man with green hair sat down with them. "This is my boyfriend, Linhardt. I'm Lysithea - "The man yawned and barely acknowledged Claude. "Come on, let's go," he said wearily.

The woman looked back at Claude, "Why don't you come with us? I'm cooking at my place. We would love to get to know you better."

Claude shrugged and said, "Sure, I always follow free food." He slipped his bag over his shoulder and started to follow them. As he reached the exit, he triggered the alarm. The pharmacist, Alois, walked over, "Oh Claude, it's you I'm so sorry. What on earth could have set off the alarm?"

"Oh, you know, Alois, I just have a ringing personality." This made Alois burst out laughing. He stopped, though, and said, "Store policy though, open your bag."

At this, Lysithea's smile dropped, "Seriously? You already know him. Just turn the alarm off and let us pass."

"Now Missy, there's no reason to snap."

"It's okay, Lysithea, this will just take a moment." Claude smiled cheerfully and opened his bag. Out fell a load of prescription bottles. Claude's mouth dropped open, and Alois looked at him in shock. Claude quickly recovered and he turned to Lysithea, "So that is why you struck up a conversation with me? To give your boyfriend enough time load to up my bag with drugs? I'm hurt. I thought you were into comics." Lysithea looked away from him.

Alois knelt and looked through the drugs, "These are heart medications and immunosuppressants. Who are you two, anyway?"

Garreg Mach, 1180

Social interactions were not high on Linhardt's priorities. He came to school to nap and research. Anything else that occurred during his time at the monastery was filler. However, a discovery had made socializing with one unique but also scary mage necessary. He found Lysithea in the hallway, "I know a secret, specifically your secret, Lysithea."

Lysithea did not react positively to this news at all. She tightened her grip on her tome, "I don't have time for this, Linhardt. Go take a nap under a tree or something."

Linhardt was undeterred, "But this secret is essential to my crest research…"

Lysithea's eyes widened, and she dragged Linhardt into the library. She was glaring daggers into him. "You haven't told anyone, have you?"

What a ridiculous idea. As if he would use something this monumental for gossip. "Of course not. If I told someone about your two crests, then they would want to use you as a test subject, and I couldn't do my research!"

She was still clinging to his arm, so she twisted it around his back and slammed him into the bookcase. "Are you some sort of idiot? You can't talk about me having two crests so loudly. What is wrong with you?"

Linhardt smiled, "So you do have two crests? My hypothesis was correct!"

Lysithea pinned him harder up against the bookcase, "Argh! You tricked me! Well, now that you know, you can just never speak of it again. You can go away - forever."

Linhardt slipped from her grasp. He could be agile when he wanted to be, "Oh no! We have so much to talk about. You must tell me how it feels to use two crests at once. Were you born with them? Is it the result of magic?"

Instead of answering, Lysithea let out another "Argh!" and ran off.

Crestwood

Byleth arrived at the pharmacy. The contents of Claude's backpack were strewn across the floor. "I'm disappointed, Claude. I thought I was raising you better."

Claude laughed, "This time it wasn't me, okay?" He whispered, "But I think there's more going on here than simple shoplifting."

Alois gave her a rundown of events. The drugs Linhardt and Lysithea had stolen were not ones that he usually had to worry about people selling illegally. Someone close to them was probably ill, but they refused to tell him anything. Alois didn't want to press charges, he just wanted them to stay out from behind his counter.

Byleth picked up a bottle of pills they had stolen, "Are you two trying to help someone? Neither one of you seems particularly suited to committing crimes."

Lysithea pleaded, "Please don't arrest us, my parents will be devastated."

Enbarr, 1185

Linhardt was getting desperate. He had to find a way to remove Lysithea's crests or else she wouldn't live to see twenty-five. Hanneman had a lead, but it meant going into the Sealed Forest. Edelgard didn't have any troops to spare, and she wasn't going to support a secret mission to help an Alliance mage - even if she did seem to have a soft spot for Lysithea when they were in school together.

Fortunately, Yuri had been able to transport correspondence between himself and Lysithea. They would meet outside the forest in a week. She told him not to worry about Claude. Edelgard and Hubert would be easy to sneak away from - they would just figure he went to nap. Before he left, Hanneman gave him a compass to help him find his way.

Crestwood

Since Alois didn't want to press charges, Byleth offered to drive Lysithea and Linhardt home. They directed her to a stately family home. She unbuckled her seatbelt, but Lysithea begged her not to walk them to the door. She said her parents were in frail health, and that this would destroy them. Byleth agreed. She started the engine and slowly drove away.

Linhardt and Lysithea promptly jumped the fence and went to the back of the house. There was a little studio apartment behind it. Linhardt opened the door for Lysithea, and they both went inside. Linhardt sat down on the bed, while Lysithea rifled through the cabinets looking for something for supper. Something bumped up against the window, and they froze. "It's probably a raccoon," Linhardt said.

They crept outside to look around. A voice behind them said, "Why did you lie to me?"

Edelgard cooked supper for everyone. Lysithea and Linhardt gratefully accepted the food, while Byleth explained to them that they were lucky both Alois, and the homeowners, Shamir, and Catherine, had all decided not to press charges against them. Linhardt shrugged, "If they hadn't wanted anyone to stay at their apartment, they should have locked it." Lysithea kicked him.

"We didn't mean to cause all this trouble," Lysithea said.

"Well, why are you here? And why don't you pay for things?" Byleth asked.

Linhardt started to shush Lysithea, but she shook her head at him. "My family lost everything in the Hyrm Ponzi scheme a few years ago. Then I was diagnosed with Giant Cell Myocarditis. I won't live much longer without treatment, but I don't have insurance. My parents died last year and left me with nothing. Linhardt is taking a semester off from medical school. He thought he might be able to treat me if we just had the right drugs. Supposedly, I have an uncle who is also a gifted researcher. He's supposed to live near here, but this is all I have of him." She pulled out a compass.

Edelgard pulled Byleth aside, "I know you probably feel sorry for her, I know I do - but what are we going to do? We can't just adopt them.

"I know - but I'm going to find this uncle and get him to take responsibility for Lysithea's treatment. How many medical researchers can there be in the area?"

"And you just know that once he finds out about her, he'll want to take care of her and her gigantic medical bills?"

Byleth ran her hands through her hair, "I don't know. But I know what it's like to look for someone and finding him is her best shot."

Byleth started her morning at the police station by cracking her back. Although she did not regret giving her bed to Lysithea and Linhardt, Edelgard was right that staying with them was not a long-term solution. Arundel sauntered in, "Miss Eisner. You will be happy to know that I've taken care of those shoplifting squatters. The young man's parents will come get him - they are mortified, by the way. His father is some sort of military hero. And I've found a women's shelter to send the girl to. She can get some medical treatment while she's there. They need help"

She was shocked that he had found out about them so quickly, "That's exactly what I was trying to do - find her uncle so she can live with a relative."

Arundel waved his hand, "He doesn't exist."

"He has to," Byleth snapped.

"Yes, he exists probably somewhere within time and space," Arundel replied. But there's no record of him. So, there's nothing that can be done. Linhardt's family will be here in the morning, and I already told the shelter in Atlanta that you would have Lysithea there tonight."

"You volunteered me to take her to the shelter?" Byleth asked.

"You wanted to be Sheriff, now you get to be Sheriff. It is what it is, Miss Eisner."

The Sealed Forest, 1185

They trudged through the forest to find the home of the masked mage, Odesse. Lysithea gripped Linhardt's arm as the forest seemed to get darker around them. "Who is this mage we're going to see?" she asked.

"I fear he is one of the mages that experimented on you. Hanneman didn't have too many details. But he is sure that she has an artifact that might remove one or both of your crests. We wait until it's completely dark, we'll sneak in, grab the artifact, and leave. It will be easy."

Lysithea was unconvinced. The thought of waiting until night fell in this forest was deeply unsettling. But Linhardt seemed so sure of this that it had to work.

"There is one condition though," Linhardt said. "When we get to his house. Don't eat anything."

Lysithea's stomach growled. This could be a challenge.

Crestwood

Claude stopped by the station to apprise of his progress at the mayor's office. He couldn't find any records of a man living in Crestwood that was related to Lysithea's family, the Ordelia's. Claude insisted the man must still be in town. "Because no one comes, no one goes - that's the way it's always been. Until you showed up, that is. You're special."

Byleth rolled her eyes, "Yes, I keep forgetting." She rifled through old files, hoping to find something about the Ordelia's. "What about your parents, Claude? Edelgard's are dead, Dimitri's are dead, mine are dead - everyone here seems to have dead parents. What's the deal with yours?"

Claude looked uncomfortable, "My grandfather lives nearby. My parents live out of the country."

Byleth smiled, "But they're alive?"

Claude laughed but it didn't reach his eyes, "Yes, I suppose that separates me from most people here. He changed the subject, "But I just realized how you might be able to track this guy down.

Sealed Forest 1185

Lysithea and Linhardt carefully climbed through the window, gently letting their feet touch the floor. Nearby, Odesse was sound asleep in his chair. Lysithea looked around - this was going to be much harder than expected. The walls were decked in frosting, and the table was filled with cupcakes and candy. Seeing all these treats made Lysithea's stomach growl even louder than before. She put her finger out to grab a little frosting, but Linhardt batted it away. He pointed over to the black satchel next to Odesse and began to creep in that direction.

While Linhardt's attention focused on Odesse, Lysithea picked up a cupcake with pink frosting. She examined it and twirled it in her hand. Satchel in hand, Linhardt tiptoed back towards Lysithea at the exact moment she took a bite of the cupcake. He hissed and gestured for her to stop, but it was too late. A strong gust of wind pinned them to the wall. The windows and doors slammed shut, and the fire roared. They could see the human bones in the fireplace now that it was lit. Odesse rose from his seat, "I smell dinner."

Crestwood

Hubert was carefully cleaning a lovely comb when Byleth arrived. He greeted her warmly, and she set down the compass. "I'm looking for information about this. Ever seen anything like this before?"

He delicately picked up the compass and looked it over, " Well, well, look at the detail. You know this is crystal. This jeweled setting. Despite the unfortunate shape, it's in, this is actually quite an unusual piece." He returned it to Byleth, "The person who owned this obviously had great taste."

Byleth asked him where someone would find such an item, and Hubert said someone purchased it in his shop. He went to the back of his store and began to look through a drawer of index cards. He removed one and held it out to Byleth, "I've got the buyer's name on the card." He started to read the card to her, but Byleth stopped him.

"Wait, I know how this goes. What's your price?"

He continued to hold the card and smiled, "Forgiveness."

Byleth's eyes narrowed, "How about tolerance?"

He chuckled, "I suppose that's a start. The compass belongs to Hanneman Essar."

She crossed her arms, "Anything else? Just a name?"

He turned away from her, "I find that's all you need around here. Good luck, Ms. Eisner."

After Byleth left, Hubert walked over to his filing drawer. He took one last look at the card, it was blank. He returned it to the drawer with the other cards, each was completely blank.

Hubert was right, it was easy to find someone in Crestwood with just a name. Byleth found Hanneman in a small home on the outskirts of town. She presented him with Lysithea's file, and he was horrified to find out what had happened to the Ordelia's. He explained that he really hadn't spoken to his sister since she married, and he didn't even know he was an uncle. "Look, I feel terrible for what she is going through," a test tube started to overflow, and he cursed under his breath, "but I can barely run a lab, let alone take care of a chronically ill adult."

Byleth was unconvinced, "I looked you up, you're one of the top researchers on heart disease even though you're out here. She's perfectly independent. She just needs a place to live. And maybe use your connections to get her in - I don't know - a drug trial or something?'"

Hanneman sputtered, "You can't just add your relatives to random drug studies. Look, Sheriff," he put the compass back in Byleth's hand, "I don't know anything about having a family. If it's a loving home you're looking for, it's not with me."

The Sealed Forest, 1185

Odesse used his magic to lock Lysithea and Linhardt in a cage and began to heat his oven. Satisfied with his oven temperature, he went to his table to cut vegetables. He was humming cheerfully while chopping ingredients. Linhardt formed a plan, "He doesn't look like he sees very well. When he grabs one of us, the other can cast a spell while he's distracted."

The mage put down his chef's knife and approached the cage. He poked at them while saying, "Gravy or butter, which will it be?"

He opened the gate and reached in. Lysithea stepped in front of Linhardt so that he would grab her. Linhardt sneaked out and tried to find a spot to cast a spell. Lysithea allowed Odesse to tie her hands behind her back to give Linhardt time. As Linhardt began to cast Excalibur, he bumped into Odesse's cane, and it fell to the floor. Hearing the noise, Odesse flung Lysithea into the wall and rounded on Linhardt, "Gravy or butter? Gravy or butter? How shall I baste you?"

Linhardt raised his hands to cast a spell, but the mage cast another spell that pinned him to the wall. "Butter it is - time to cook!"

Lysithea wriggled her hands free and said, "You leave him alone, you creepy old witch!" And she unleashed Hades on Odesse. The mage didn't have time to deflect the spell and screamed in agony as purple flames enveloped him. Lysithea shoved him into the oven and slammed the door. They grabbed the satchel and fled while Odesse continued to scream.

Crestwood

Byleth and Claude waited by her car as Lysithea tearfully said goodbye to Edelgard. Linhardt was going to ride with them to say goodbye at the shelter. Nearby, Arundel looked on to make sure Byleth followed through. Edelgard hugged Lysithea. Claude whispered to Byleth, "If you try to take her out of Crestwood, something bad is going to happen."

"Something bad is already happening," Byleth replied sadly.

Lysithea and Linhardt got into the car with Byleth, and she started the car. Arundel sneered as they drove away. The ride through town was quiet. Lysithea was trying to stifle her sniffles. As Byleth approached the town border, her car began to shake and make a rattling noise. Byleth tried to keep control, but the car soon came to a dead stop. She slammed her fist on the steering wheel, "you have got to be kidding me!"

She pulled out her phone and began to scroll.

The Sealed Forest 1185

Once Linhardt and Lysithea got a safe distance from Odesse's house, they stopped to catch their breath. Lysithea pulled out the compass. It had shattered. Linhardt took Lysithea's hand, and they tried to find their way back through the darkness.

Crestwood

Byleth, Linhardt, and Lysithea stood up against her car, waiting for help to arrive. Lysithea pulled out the compass and gasped, "Look, Linhardt - it's working!"

A car pulled up, and Hanneman emerged, "If you think I can help with car repair, you are about to be gravely disappointed." He looked at the white-haired girl and hesitantly said, "Are you you Lysithea?" Lysithea nodded.

Hanneman turned to Byleth, "You're taking her to Atlanta tonight?"

Byleth smiled, "I don't have to."

Hanneman returned the smile, "No, you don't have to.:

After leaving Lysithea with Hanneman and Linhardt, Byleth found that her car inexplicably started. As she was pulling into her driveway, Claude was waiting with a small white box. He was grinning, "I knew something was going to work. I knew that you could do it."

He put his arm around her to hug her, and she snatched the box. She opened it and began to munch on cookies. Claude laughed, "I also knew you couldn't resist baked goods. But seriously Byleth, what you did for those two - you are changing things."

Out of the corner of Byleth's eye, she noticed a figure in a purple hoodie on a scooter watching them. Once they realized that Byleth could see them, they let out a frightened squeak and rode away.