As we showed these three the exit. Aelfric came up to us.
"Aelfric? What are you doing here?" yuri asked.
"Just checking up on my students. And who are these three?" aelfric asked
"I'm natsu. This is athro and shujinko." natsu said.
"Well it's nice to meet you." aelfric said. He then offered a handshake. Natsu accepted. Aelfric then pulled natsu closer. And stabbed him in the stomach with a dagger. Shocking us all. But before i knew it. Dark mages appeared. And bound the ashen wolves with magic.
"Good work aelfric. We'll keep our end of the deal." the mage said. As they disappeared. Natsu then punched aelfric in the face.
"You snake!" natsu yelled. As he pulled the dagger from his stomach and his wound healed itself. Gotta love that armageddon knight healing factor. "I'm gonna shove this in your eye!" natsu yelled. Aelfric then teleported like those dark mages. I then began to go after them.
"Where are you going?" athro asked.
"What do you think? I don't know what they plan to do with my friends. But it isn't gonna to be pretty. I gotta save my friends." i said.
"You're not doing it alone. We're going with you." shujinko said. I smiled.
"Thanks." i said. We then went after my friends. It took us a while. They were really deep into the abyss.
"Slayer…" yuri said as he was being drained of his blood to fill a chalice.
"Hey killer…you mind helping us out?" hapi asked. As she too was being drained.
"Let my friends go. you bastard!" i yelled.
"I cannot….for they are necessary for the rite of rising…to bring back someone i held dear…" aelfric said. As we looked behind him to see a woman with long green hair.
"Who is that?" natsu asked.
"Doesn't matter…if you think i let you bleed out my friends. Just for some ritual that won't work. Then you have another thing coming! Bringing back the dead is impossible. But i will protect the living!" i yelled as i drew my saber.
"You will not stop me armageddon knight! Neither will they!" aelfric yelled. As a bunch of pale skin swordmasters dark bishops and warriors appeared.
"Vipers!" natsu yelled as he summoned a fiery axe. Bloodlust in his and Shujinko's eyes.
"Slayer! You save the ashen wolves. we'll handle this!" athro yelled as she drew her katana. I ran after aelfric.
"No you don't devil!" a dark bishop yelled and aimed a spell at me. Only to get his skull crushed by an axe kick from shujinko. They were slicing their way through them like butter. As expected from those of my kind. I then rushed to the ashen wolves and destroyed the spells that were draining them of their blood. Aelfric tried to stop me with magic. But i dodged every one. After i freed everyone. I quickly rushed towards aelfric. Kneed him in the stomach. Forcing him on his knees. I then put my saber to his neck.
"This is what armageddon knights do to backstabbing bastards aelfric!" i yelled as i raised my saber. But before i could this verrat's head. The chalice started to give off an ominous glow. And soon. Both aelfric and the woman's body were consumed. Transforming into some hideous beast.
"What the hell!?" natsu yelled.
"Looks like the ritual backfired horribly." shujinko pointed out.
"We can't let this thing run amok! Kill it!" athro yelled.
"Right with you sister!" i yelled. I readied my saber.
Above the chamber/byleth pov.
"They're fighting the umbral beast. We have to hurry!" sothis yelled. As i ran towards the closest entrance to the abyss. The whole ground shook.
"What was that!?" claude asked.
"A big problem. One that natsu athro and shujinko are fighting!" i yelled.
"Come on! We have to help them!" edelgard yelled as we ran into the entrance of the abyss. And found natsu shujinko athro. And another new face fighting the umbral beast. The stranger and athro stabbed it in the eyes. But the beast shook them off and sent them into walls.
"Athro!" dimitri yelled as he ran to aid athro.
"Hey dimitri. Was a little careless." athro said with a pained smile. Dimitri readied his silver lance.
"Rest…i'll handle this…" dimitri said as he ran up the beast and stabbed it in it's head with such force that it must have reached the brain. But the beast was still alive. Claude rapidly shot arrows to get it's attention. As it ran after claude. Shujinko than put his swords into the beasts face. Breaking its mask. Natsu and edelgard then smashed it in the head with their axes. I then jumped on to it's head holding onto Dimitris' spear. And stabbed it with the sword of the creator. I unleashed it's whip mode while in the creature's head. Finally putting it down. Dimitri then helped up athro. While Balthus carried the stranger.
"My hero…" the stranger said sarcastically.
"Pardon me…but who are you?" edelgard asked. The ashen wolves than introduced themselves. The stranger reveals herself to be slayer nashi. Even the ashen wolves got their own armageddon knight. As the introductions end. Rhea. entered the room alongside some knights.
"Who is that woman?" natsu asked.
"That is sitri…my mother…she died giving me the crest of flames…at the cost of her life…" i said. Natsu and athro looked at me with apologetic eyes. However shujinko looked with determination. As he walked towards my mother. He kneeled down. And opened her mouth. And to mine and everyones shock…he cut his palm with one of his swords. His blood then dripped into my mothers mouth. What is he doing?
"What on earth are you doing boy! How dare you defile her body like-" rhea yelled. Only for a red glow to appear on my mothers body and a red mark appeared on her right cheek. Her eyes opened fast. And she took a deep breath.
"Welcome back…sitri." shujinko said with a grin. Rhea than rushed forward and pushed shujinko out of the way and into a wall. "Ow." shujinko said. As athro went to help him up. I was in shock…my mother…she's alive…i couldn't believe it…i will make things right this time…so many things are going right…i don't want to leave it behind. I walked up to my mother.
"Rhea?...byleth?" my mother asked. Both me and rhea tear up. Everyone smiles at this heartwarming scene. After a while. We went back to the monastery. Rhea told everyone not to say anything about my mother. Especially to jeralt. For she's still frail. And seeing jeralt make cause her to die again. Personally i think that's a load of bullshit. But i don't want to piss of rhea…just yet.
Black eagle classroom/natsu pov.
"What a load of crap. Jeralt should know his wife is alive!" i yelled.
"Yeah. I don't like it either. But I don't want to piss off the archbishop." slayer said.
"But onto more important things…how did a few drops of your blood succeed. Where all of ours combined within the chalice of beginnings failed?" yuri asked shujinko.
"Well…it was only a matter of time before we told you all. Guess now is better than never…me. Athro. Natsu. And slayer. We're not human." shujinko said. causing everyone in the room to gasp.
"What!? That's crazy talk!" edelgard yelled.
"But it's true. We're not human. We're armageddon knights. Powerful warriors from another world called the armageddon sanctuary." shujinko said.
"If this is true. Then what brought you aliens to fodlan?" claude asked.
"First off. Don't call us aliens. Second i don't know about the others. But the reason i'm here. Is because I hate my family." shujinko said.
"You hate your family?" hapi asked.
"Yeah. claude could you get lysithea. She's been wanting to know this for a while." shujinko said. Claude nodded. And he continued as soon as lysithea entered the room. "I came home from training. Only to find my brother. Shin. stealing everything we had. To pay for "medicine" which happened to be berserker serum. An illegal narcotic." shujinko said.
"Hah! And you said you aren't human! Armageddon knights are not so different. We both suffer from the same problems. Like addiction. I should know. I once had an horrible gambling addiction." balthus said.
"At least with an gambling addiction. The only person you're hurting is yourself B. a drug addiction is worse. At some point you get so hooked. That you don't care what you have to do to get your next fix. Killing. Selling your body. Or stealing from your family." hapi said.
"My word. You seem to have quite the knowledge on addict behavior. But with the name like "berserker serum" i imagine one of it's effects is aggression?" constance asked.
"Yep. when i tried to stop him from robbing my mom and dead blind. He kicked me out the window. And put one of my own dan tien daos. To my neck." shujinko said.
"He tried to kill you?" edelgard asked.
"His own brother…what despicable trash." dimitri said.
"Well consider i'm here now. He didn't succeed. Really goes to show how far he fell. A man who was once captain of the army. Got his ass kicked by a thirteen year old boy. However. My family didn't see things my way. They insisted that family sticks together. And i wasn't having it. I wasn't gonna sit back and let some drug addicted loser. Rob my family blind to feed his addiction…and i got the boot for it. Afterward. I ran. And i ran into my master. He gave my a stone that lead to fodlan. And the rest is history." shujinko said.
"That's what happened to you…unbelievable. You got punished for doing what's right!? Your parents aren't just naive. Their stupid enablers! Throwing out their good son! Because they want someone who refuses to help! If they want to let themselves be robbed by their worthless son. It's not your problem anymore." lysithea said.
"Yeah. the golden deer will never betray you shujinko. We got your back." claude said with his trademark smile and wink.
"Thanks lysithea…claude." Shujinko said as a tear went down his face.
"Guess it's my turn. I came here to kill my sister carmen. Or as you all know her. The flame emperor." athro said.
"The flame emperor is your sister!? Why didn't you tell me!?" dimitri yelled.
"Because i'm not proud of what my sister has become. Me and my sister. Our father was from the kotta clan. While our mother was from the pyrus clan." athro said.
"I can see where this is going. The kotta clan and pyrus clan have been at each others throats for years. So children born from two knights of the two clans are treated with prejudice. As they are half-breeds. The clans words not mine." slayer said.
"Yep. and i dealt with that prejudice most of my life. But despite that, I had a pretty good life. That was until carmen enrolled into the tyrant bokun's army. When she came back. She was not the sister i loved. She killed our parents and torched our home. After that i was left with nothing. Only my fathers sword. I soon learn that my sister fled to fodlan after bokuns destruction. I knew that she would cause more atrocities if left alone. So I came here to stop her. And well. The rest is history." athro said.
"So you really had nothing left…the blue lions may not be able to replace your true family…but i'm glad that i give you a reason to continue living." dimitri said with a smile.
"Likewise…your highness." athro said with a smile.
"As for why i'm with the ashen wolves…well…my brother. Mu nashi. He was one of bokun's targets. He was killed and soul was taken by the right of lords. An vile relic that absorbs souls to increase it's users magic power. And he did to this the wielder of the armageddon arms. The strongest of each clan. After my brother was slain. I was expected to pick up the pieces of the nashi tribe. And I just couldn't. So i fled to fodlan. And to the abyss. Where i stayed depressed for a good long while. Until i met the ashen wolves. I became friends with them. And the rest is history." slayer said.
"What about you natsu? What were you doing before you got caught by them?" edelgard asked.
"I don't remember…" i said.
"Understandable. Considering the agarthans probably found you on the day you were born." shujinko said.
"What are you saying?" i asked.
"Remember how i said about the tyrant bokun. How he had an relic that consumed souls. Well even with the power of twenty-five armageddon arm wielders. He still fell to the wielder of the armageddon blade. An young armageddon knight out for revenge. Blaze inferno tachinowarui." athro said.
"So this blaze is natsu's dad?" claude asked.
"In a way…" athro said.
"You said he was out for revenge? What happened?" edelgard asked.
"Well. blaze befriended his daughter kasai. Despite being the daughter of that tyrant. She was actually rather kind. Something all of us didn't know. We all just ran away from her. Blaze was the only one with enough guts to befriend her. Soon. bokun found out. And threatened to hang blaze's family if he didn't stay away from kasai." athro said.
"That's horrible." dimitri said.
"Yeah. even more so when bokun did it anyway. Despite staying away from kasai like he ordered. However it turned out. The tachinowarui were the guardians of the armageddon blade. And blaze used it to tear through the palace. And kill that bastard bokun. Afterwards he shattered the right. So it's evil would never harm us again." Athro said.
"What a tale. It has it all. Tragedy! Action! Only things it's missing is romance!" constance yelled.
"Well if you want romance…blaze and kasai got married afterwards. Their expecting a kid in a few months." athro said.
"Coco. freezer burn. Can we please get back on subject. What does any of this have to do with fire boy?" hapi asked.
"Sorry…after the right of lords was destroyed. Its fragments flew off into the sky. And into different worlds. Reincarnating the knights who souls were trapped in the thing…and one of those knights was named natsu summer. The wielder of the armageddon arm the. inferno axe." athro said. Shocking me.
"So that's why I don't have any memories before meeting edelgard. I can't have memories of the past if I don't have one…well. I guess answers that." i said. Everyone face planted. "What's wrong?" i asked.
"Nothing! Apparently!" lysithea yelled.
"You're really not bothered by this?" dimitri asked.
"A little…but the past doesn't matter now. All that matters to me is the future. Of my goals to see fodlan united. And see those vipers who used edelgard and her family as lab rats burn in hell." i said.
"El…" dimitri said. Clearly worried about his step sister.
"If it makes you feel any better. Dimitri's life hasn't been easy either. He was there in the tragedy of duscur. The only survivor. The place on fire and covered in bodies. His father beheaded right in front of him. He's been through hell just like you." athro said. Edelgard looks at dimitri. His face saddened and full of pain.
"Yikes. You both been through some awful stuff. I'm sorry to hear that." claude said.
"Wait. if the knights who were trapped in the relic? Would that mean?" slayer asked. Athro nodded.
"Your brother. Mu. he reincarnated as well. Which world he ended up in is a mystery though." athro said.
"I don't care. I'll find him. And apologize for being too weak to save him or run the nashi clan." slayer said.
World of berseria/velvet pov.
Mu suddenly sneezed. Waking up umbra. Causing her to cry.
"I just put her down." mu said frustrated. As he picked up. "I'm going to beat up whoever was talking about me. Harder if it turned out to be either magilou or rokurou. I'll bring extra pain next time he comes for a spar." mu said. I sweatdropped.
Black eagle classroom/ natsu pov.
"So what about what happened with sitri? Why did a few drops of blood from shujinko actually work when the rite of rising failed?" hapi asked.
"Armageddon knights can create servants for themselves. Called familiars. All it takes is a bit of blood. either in the mouth. Or in an open wound. The contract will be made. And that person will be reborn as a familiar. And here's the kicker. They don't even have to be alive. Thus the familiar contract can be used as a means to revive someone who has unfairly died." athro said.
"I see. Good to know we have four lifelines! Sweet." Balthus said.
"Don't go getting yourself killed just because of this new nugget of information balthus. They could not revive you know?" claude asked.
"So shujinko made sitri his familiar. Not sure how i feel about her now being shujinko's servant." dimitri said.
"There's actually some benefits of being a familiar. Besides coming back from the dead. Familiars also inherit some powers and abilities from the knight who forged the contract." shujinko said.
"So what did sitri inherit from you?" lysithea asked.
"Could be his sword skills. His martial arts. His wind magic. Or his acrobatic skills. We won't until sitri actually performs them" slayer said.
"If it's not too much to ask. What was natsu summers history with yoshanai?" i asked.
"No idea. But considering the summer and winter tribes were constantly at war with each other. Most likely something involving that." slayer said.
"Pretty much. That's usually how it goes when your the best soldier on the battlefield. To the side you brought victory. You're a hero. But a monster to the side you defeated." edelgard said.
"Right…anyway i think we've been talking long enough. So let's call it day." i said. Everyone nodded. And we went about our daily routine. But edelgard grabbed my hand.
"What is it?" i asked.
"It doesn't matter to me. Human. Reincarnation. Armageddon knight. You saved me. You've constantly made me smile. No matter what. I want you by my side. You will always be…my knight." edelgard said. Looking at me with a blush.
"Thanks el." i said with a grin.
"Should i leave you two lovebirds alone?" dorothea asked with a grin and a wink. Causing both me and edelgard to blush.
"Get outta here you!" i yelled. She just walked away without a care in the world. I sigh in frustration. And went on to get some lunch from the dining hall.
One week later/jeralt pov
Something weird is going on here. I can't find the kid or lady rhea. And none of the students know where they are. I went to find seteth. And it turns out. He's just as confused and suspicious as me. We decided to go talk to alois. Considering how funny he's been acting. Acting rather distant and quiet. Nothing like him at all. We approached him.
"Captain jeralt and seteth! What a surprise." alois said. Acting very suspicious.
"Just give it to me straight alois. Where are byleth and rhea?" i asked.
"Sorry captain. I haven't" alois said only to be cut off by seteth.
"There's no need to dance around the question alois." seteth said. However the vassal of the empire. That natsu boy. Showed up.
"If you're looking for rhea and byleth. Check the infirmary." natsu said.
"Why would they be in there? No knights or students were injured last I checked." i said.
"Well your not gonna believe it old man…your wife sitri. She's alive again." natsu said. I couldn't believe my ears. I know this kids a joker. But he knows when to be serious and his face says he's in serious mode. But that's impossible. She died years ago. "If you don't believe me. Check the infirmary. Miracles do happen." natsu said as he walked away. I than ran towards the infirmary. And forced my way in. and i couldn't believe what i saw. Sitri…alive…though i question why she has a red mark on her right cheek. But right now. I don't care. Seeing the woman I love. Back from the dead. Is truly a blessing.
"You look rougher than the last time i saw you…you should lay off the booze jeralt." sitri said with that all enchanting smile.