Crestwood

Arundel enjoyed a peaceful night alone, reading and sipping whiskey in his study. His quiet was unfortunately interrupted by a knock at the door. He tried to ignore it, but the knocking persisted. Grumbling, he set down his book and answered the door. He threw it open to find Byleth Eisner looking at him smugly. He rolled his eyes, "Miss Eisner - it's late. What do you want?"

She smiled and answered, "You. We're all here - for you." He peeked around Byleth and noticed that a crowd with flashlights was gathered on his front lawn. He turned around to flee but found himself face to face with Claude - who was grinning from ear to ear and holding a rope.

The mob dragged him out into the center of the yard and forced him to his knees. Claude tied his hands behind his back as the crowd jeered. He begged for them to stop, but Edelgard shouted, "This is for everything you've done to us!"

He looked to Seteth for help, but Seteth shrugged, "Sorry, Mr. Mayor, my conscience is clear."

Felix kicked and said, "You're not our mayor anymore, asshole."

"You should tie him tighter, Claudester," Hapi said with a wicked glint in her eye. "He needs to feel our pain."

Byleth picked a Zanado and held it in front of Arundel's face. She crushed it in her fist, and a thick black liquid oozed out. She lowered herself to his eye level, "Just like you – rotten to the core. You tried to destroy our lives."

From behind her, Dimitri said, "And now you're going to pay, Uncle." He pulled out the Sword of the Creator from seemingly thin air and handed it to Byleth. "Here you go, my love," he said.

Byleth raised the sword above her head, "You tried to take our happiness, and now I'm taking yours." She brought the blade down, and Arundel closed his eyes.

Arundel gasped loudly as his eyes shot open. He was back in his bed. He sat up and turned on the light. Everything was quiet. He crept out of bed and opened his bedroom door. The hallway was perfectly still. "Ugh, so now Byleth Eisner won't even leave me alone in my dreams," he muttered and went back to bed.

Gronder, 1185

This was the worst possible situation: all three armies would converge on the very same field where they last met as classmates. Since Ailell, Dimitri's moods were stabler. He and Byleth even finally acknowledged their feelings for each other. But now, she was worried about how he would react to being so close to Edelgard. He shut her down every time she suggested trying to find a peaceful solution with his stepsister. Claude sent back the dead body of her messenger, so any hope of making peace with the Alliance army was shot to hell. Scouts informed her that Edelgard had brought demonic beasts and the mages in black with her, further complicating the situation.

Any hope of stopping the fighting died when the mages in black brought fire down upon the Kingdom and Alliance's front lines. "Kill every last one of them!" Dimitri roared. Kingdom, Alliance, and Empire soldiers rushed in. Byleth followed Dimitri, hoping that they would make it through the day.

Crestwood

"Byleth, you can't be serious. I can't just leave Crestwood. It's my home!" Edelgard followed Byleth around as she grabbed things from her drawers and stuffed them into her backpack.

She continued to rush around, "I know. But there's nothing for you here anymore. We can start fresh, away from Arundel. I've seen you fight. You would be a kickass bounty hunter. We would get them every time."

She grabbed Byleth by the shoulders, "No. We're not running. You are making a difference here. We need to stay."

Byleth sank on the sofa and buried her hands in her face. "But that really isn't true, is it? I've failed everyone here," she cried. "I failed Sylvain and Ingrid, I haven't helped you, I haven't protected Dimitri from whatever is attacking him. I haven't solved Monica's murder. I got Claude's hopes up for nothing. I'm tired of failure. It's time to go."

Tears ran down Edelgard's face, "Then I guess this is goodbye." She agreed to let Byleth be the one to tell Dimitri and Claude. They spent the rest of the evening on the couch, sipping wine and watching TV. Edelgard seemed a little more at ease, and Byleth thought this could be one last happy memory together.

Before Edelgard woke up the following day, Byleth stashed her remaining things in her backpack and headed out.

Hubert's quiet morning was rudely interrupted by the mayor storming into his shop holding rotten fruit. He sighed heavily and put his phone away, "Volkhard, to what do I owe the pleasure today?"

Arundel slammed the blackened Zanados on his counter. The liquid oozed out of them and left a sticky mess on the glass. Hubert carefully picked it up and tossed it into the garbage. He got out some glass cleaner and began to wipe away the residue, "This is a pawnshop, not a nursery. Try a different fertilizer instead of bringing your putrid crops in here," he said dryly.

Arundel snapped, "You just see rotting fruit, but I see a sign that the Curse is weakening because of Miss Eisner. But do you care? No. You are content to sit back—whatever it is you're doing—while all my hard work burns. I'm thrilled that you think this is funny."

Hubert laughed, "I don't think it's funny. I think it's hilarious."

He grabbed Hubert by the collar, "Look, I want you to make me a new curse. One that kills Miss Eisner and sends me back home. You and Edelgard can come too. Without that woman, Dimitri, or Claude, we will easily take over Fodlan. I'll make you two the most powerful people in the land."

Hubert laughed even harder, "You know, even if I wanted to - and I don't - I couldn't. Magic is in short supply here." He snapped his fingers, and a small puff of purple smoke appeared in his palm but quickly dissipated. "If my magic still worked, do you honestly believe that you would still be alive, Volkhard?"

Arundel gripped harder on Hubert and pulled him close to his face, "I can't believe it! You would prefer that the Fell Star break the Curse? Go back to that awful three-way surrender they were trying to achieve? Is that really best for your precious Emperor? Do you think she'll really get a fair share of the power when the Archbishop is in love with the King of Faerghus and best friends with the Duke of the Alliance? You and I can make a new agreement, and Edelgard will be free to forge a new Fodlan without my lovesick nephew and that meddlesome Alliance prick. Please, Vestra, I'll give you anything."

Hubert pulled himself free and resumed cleaning his counter, "You don't get it - you don't have anything I want, my Lord. But I will give you this piece of advice, for absolutely free: I'd plan a trip. Because once people wake up and remember who you are—and what you did to them- they are going to be looking for blood." Arundel could still hear Hubert's laugher as he walked away from the shop.

Claude poured himself a glass of orange juice and sat at his kitchen counter, catching up on the news on his phone. He opened the door for Byleth, but she refused to enter the apartment. "I've come to say goodbye, Claude. I'm tired. I'm tired of failing everyone. It's time to go."

Claude was shocked, "You can't do that, Byleth! We need you here. What changed? Are you really going to revert back to the person you were before you came here? Someone who just ran before things got difficult?"

His words stung, and she snapped, "Yes because that person was much smarter than the person that I tried to be here. Goodbye, Claude."

She ignored his pleas and got into her car.

Gronder, 1185

Byleth desperately tried to lead the Kingdom Army and protect Dimitri simultaneously. She sent Ingrid and Sylvain with their battalions to neutralize the Alliance. They were to wound, not kill, Claude and the other former Golden Deer students. Hopefully, Claude would retreat before letting any of his people get killed.

Sparing the former Black Eagles was going to be trickier. She rewound time every instance one of her Blue Lions fell, and by now, her Divine Pulses were long gone. She watched in horror as the ballista Bernadetta stood on caught fire, and Bernadetta screamed for help. There was nothing she could do. She had to keep Dimitri in her sights.

He tore through enemies with Areadbhar and gave no concern for his own safety. Felix managed to wound Petra, and Dorothea surrendered peacefully. Dedue forced Ferdinand to kneel. Dimitri was now locked in combat with Edelgard. She tried to intervene but was hit with a blast of black magic, "You're interfering with the plan. Looks like I'll have to get rid of you," Hubert said coolly.

Hubert put up a good fight, but Byleth managed to slice his side open with her sword. Nearby, she heard Dimitri cry, "Stab your chest, break your neck, smash your head - what will it be, Edelgard?"

Edelgard screamed," The battle is far from over, Dimitri," and she slashed Dimitri's stomach with her ax. Dimitri roared in pain and punched her in the face. She fell to the ground, and Dimitri raised Areadbhar over her head. Byleth flung the whip of her sword and wrapped it around his weapon. "What do you think you're doing, Professor?" he bellowed.

"It doesn't have to be like this, Dimitri!" Byleth pleaded. He rounded on her to attack, utterly oblivious to Edelgard rising to her feet to strike Dimitri again. Edelgard was stopped by an arrow to the knee. They all turned to see Claude on his white wyvern, "Okay, Teach. You've got us all together - now what?

Crestwood

Claude raced to Room #2 at the motel and knocked frantically on the door. Bernie slowly let him in and limped back to sit on her bed. He paced around the room, "Bernie, we've got to do something. Byleth is leaving town this morning. She wouldn't listen to me. What do we do? Wait, are you all right?"

She smiled sadly, "I'm sorry. I really thought that I could make Byleth believe." She rolled her legging up and showed Claude her plushy leg. The leg was now completely stuffed, and it wouldn't be too much longer before her whole body changed.

"I failed us, Claude. I was too afraid, and I waited too long to tell Byleth the truth. Now I'm out of time. I'm turning into something else. Can you see? Byleth couldn't see when I showed her."

Claude looked at her leg, and his mouth dropped open. "The Curse - It's all real! We have to do something - fast before you change completely!"

She rolled into bed and pulled the covers over her. "I'm afraid I can't be of any help to you anymore. Can you please ask Raphael to sit with me? I want to spend the rest of my time with him."

Claude raced out of the motel room.

Gronder, 1185

Hubert attempted to warp Edelgard off the battlefield, but Byleth had wounded him too much. He fell to his knees beside Edelgard. Edelgard leaned on Amyr for support and glared at Byleth. Dimitri knelt on the ground, ranting about how he would kill Byleth as soon as he crushed Edelgard's head.

Byleth cried, "We don't have to wipe each other out. Is that really what's best for your peoples?"

Edelgard scoffed, "That's rich coming from you, My Teacher. You nearly killed Hubert, wounded my friends, slaughtered my forces, and now you want to lecture us on nonviolence?"

Crestwood

Down below Cornelia's tomb, Arundel frantically looked through his items to see if any still had even the tiniest bit of magic left on them. Although he would never have expressed aloud that Cornelia had always been the more innovative mage, he found himself regretting stabbing her in the heart for the first time since this whole mess had begun. He pushed away that unhelpful thought as he rifled through various pieces of Fodlanese junk, hoping to find something with even the slightest magical energy. He grabbed Thyrsus from the weapons rack and heard a slight hum emanating from it. He chanted and waved the staff in a circle. After a few tries, a small purple vortex formed before him. He reached his hand inside with a smile and pulled out a ripened Zanado.

Grondor, 1185

Byleth spoke softly, "You can live for what you believe in, Dimitri. Is killing Edelgard what you truly want? Claude, you wanted a world where everyone treats each other as equals - will wiping out the Kingdom and Empire really achieve that for you? And Edelgard - you want a new world, but are you willing to sacrifice the lives of your people for it?"

Claude was the first to speak, "Yeah sure, Teach. I believe I speak for the entire Alliance when I say this: she started it."

Edelgard shook her head, "I don't see any other way. I've weighed the cost of lives lost now versus the cost of countless lives lost in the future, and I am at peace with my choices. Do you really believe the three of us could coexist?"

Dimitri looked at the blood on his lance and said softly, "Do I even have the right to coexist?"

Byleth replied, "We can work out a world where the three of you can achieve your dreams without bloodshed. Besides, don't you all want to find who's truly responsible for all of our conflict? What about Solon and Kronya? Thales? They want us to destroy each other."

After a long silence, Edelgard spoke, "My Teacher, what would you have me do?"

"Come to Garreg Mach. You will not be attacked. Please, let's find a way to walk together, Edelgard."

Edelgard, with loud protests from Hubert, agreed. Claude also gave his approval. Dimitri still seemed to be in shock but did not threaten the other two lords. Byleth thought that maybe she could finally end this war.

Crestwood

Byleth steeled herself as she knocked on Arundel's door. To her surprise, he opened the door gave her a warm greeting when he answered the door.

She crossed her arms, "I'm leaving. I'll be back for Edelgard's trial, so don't think this is the last you're seeing of me. But someone else can bicker with you from now on."

She started to turn around to leave, but Arundel beckoned her inside, "Oh, don't walk off just yet, Miss Eisner. Please come inside for a few minutes while I finish my baking." Morbid curiosity got the better of her, so she followed him inside to the kitchen.

"Miss Eisner, I have to say I'll miss our verbal sparring sessions," he cooed as he pulled something on a baking sheet out of the oven. "Over the past few months, you've really pushed me to be a more active Mayor." He placed the baked goods in a cute little basket and presented them to Byleth, "Here. Take some of my famous Zanado Fritters for the road. It's my family's special recipe."

Never one to turn down free baked goods, Byleth took the basket and left.

Garreg Mach, 1185

Byleth was pleasantly surprised at how well her former students were getting along at the monastery. Linhardt and Lysithea were thrilled to be back together, and Byleth caught Ferdinand and Flayn hugging. Felix and Leonie were back to sparring while Lorenz and Annette cheered for them. She also noticed that Claude and Petra disappeared for long periods of time.

If only things were going so well in the actual negotiations. After much arguing, Byleth was forced to ban retainers from the room. Hubert and Dedue vehemently objected (ironically, the first thing the two men had agreed upon), but Hilda cheered and skipped off to "make up for lost time with Caspar." Hapi shrugged and said, "It's not like Yuri-bird needs me to protect him." Eventually, Hubert and Dedue agreed to guard the outside door and promised not to attack each other.

Unsurprisingly, Dimitri and Edelgard were the most opposed to each other. Dimitri wanted Edelgard to take full responsibility for Duscur, and Edelgard suggested that Dimitri should step down from the Kingdom since he was clearly too delusional to rule. Claude and Yuri were mostly making snarky remarks about the other two rulers. All this came to a halt when messengers brought the news that Fort Merceus had been destroyed by "javelins of light."

Byleth sent Rodrigue out to confirm the damage. The fort was utterly wiped out, along with several thousand of Edelgard's soldiers. Byleth expected Edelgard to be furious and accuse the peace negotiation of being a distraction while Byleth could destroy the fort. Edelgard, however, sat quietly as she absorbed the news.

Dimitri tried to assure Edelgard that the Kingdom had nothing to do with the attack, and Edelgard sighed, "Of course, you didn't, Dimitri. It was Arundel or Thales, I guess. No sense in hiding it now that he's shown what he's capable of."

For the first time, Edelgard opened up to Byleth and the other leaders about the existence of Those Who Slither in the Dark – what they did to her family, how she tried to use them for her own ends, and how she planned eventually destroy them. Everyone was initially horrified, but each leader agreed that taking out the TWSITD should be their first priority. Now with a common enemy, peace negotiations began in earnest.

Crestwood

Hubert didn't look up from his laptop as he heard the little bell on his door ring. Arundel strolled into his store and ran his hand along the counter, humming a happy little tune. Hubert continued to ignore him, silently hoping that he would leave. To his disappointment, Arundel spoke, "Guess what, little Vestra? You've missed your chance. You and Edelgard could have been the only generals left in Fodlan, but you blew it. Because I solved the Byleth Eisner Problem all by myself. I made a new curse just for her. Soon, I'll find a way to send myself home to rule Fodlan alone. Enjoy running this dusty little shop. Because you're going to do it until you die."

Hubert looked up and raised one eyebrow, "I'm impressed that you managed to scrounge up even a little bit of magic here. I don't have to tell you that such magic comes with a price. Indulge me – what did you pay for this curse?"

He laughed, "That's the best part! I didn't pay a thing."

Hubert closed the laptop and leaned across the counter, "I don't make the magic rules. You'll pay something. I look forward to watching this come back to bite you in your bitter old ass."

Arundel howled with laughter, "Then you can pay it. Because now? The Curse is going to be stronger than ever, and you will be right here, where you belong."

Hubert simply turned his back on Arundel and began organizing some disturbing-looking wooden puppets without noses. Arundel followed him, "Don't you understand? I won! So whatever reason you wanted the Curse broken - too bad. Because it's never going to happen."

He merrily ripped down a portrait of a songstress from the wall as he walked out the door.

Garreg Mach, 1185

Byleth gathered the former Black Eagles, Golden Deer, and Blue Lions students in the Cathedral. She stood at the front while Dimitri, Edelgard, Claude, and Yuri stood behind her.

"My friends – for too long, we have shed each other's blood while our true enemy sits back and watches. They tortured and murdered the Adrestian royal family. They slaughtered King Lambert and the Royal Guard. They assassinated Godfrey and his daughter. They kidnapped Flayn and used her blood to destroy Remire. They turned our fellow students into demonic beasts and murdered my father. Now they have destroyed Fort Merceus. We will no longer be their pawns. Will you join your leaders and me so that we can finally wipe out Thales, Cornelia, and the rest of Those Who Slither in the Dark?"

There was a long silence, but then Ashe stood. Slowly, one by one, the others rose to their feet.

Crestwood

Byleth saved the goodbye she dreaded the most for last. She brought the basket of fritters to Dimitri's door with her, thinking that might soften the blow. Dimitri's face lit up when he answered the door, but he looked at her expression and suddenly became concerned. She followed him inside his apartment, set the basket down on the coffee table, and sat down on the sofa next to him. She took a deep breath, "Dimitri, I'm leaving Crestwood."

His eyes widened, and he squeezed her hands, "Please, Byleth. I know that things have been difficult. I stood you up, I said terrible things to Edelgard, but please don't leave. I need you."

She looked down at their intertwined hands, "I can't deny that I feel something for you, something I haven't felt before. But what are we doing? We kiss and smile at each other. It isn't a relationship. I don't belong here. I've never stayed anywhere this long. I need to get back on the road.

He raised her hands to his lips and lightly kissed her knuckles. Then he gently set her hands back in her lap. "I think I understand," he said sadly. "I've not given you much reason to stay. You know, I think if I hadn't been so burdened by the past, I might have loved you, Byleth."

"I guess we'll never know," she replied sorrowfully.

He pulled something from his pocket. "Here, give me your hand," he said. She held her hand out, and he placed the little ring that had made her so angry when Monica held it at the hospital so many months ago.

"Monica said that it was yours and told me to give it to you," he explained. "I don't know how she ended up with it. Please take it for something to remember this place."

She removed the emerald ring she bought from Hubert's and replaced it on her finger with the ring from Dimitri. Something about it felt so familiar. She placed the little emerald ring in Dimitri's hand, "Well then here – take this as something to remember me."

He wrapped his hand tightly around the ring and softly said, "I don't think I could ever forget you, Byleth Eisner."

They sat in silence for a moment, and then Byleth tried to change the subject, "Here, let's have some fritters before I go. It can be like a date since we never had one."

"They look good, at least," he said ruefully. He took one and had several bites.

"Hey, ice cream will go great with these!" Byleth said to try to lighten the mood. She went into the kitchen to check Dimitri's refrigerator and found an unopened pint of vanilla. She grabbed two spoons and returned to the living room.

"I can't believe you have unopened ice cream. You must have more willp- "

Dimitri was lying on the floor, eyes closed. Byleth cried out his name and shook him, but he didn't respond.