Kamen Rider Cross-Z and Build: Future Imperfect

by WarmindMK74

Sento and Banjou assumed that, when they defeated Evolto, they would be able to make a new world. Things didn't go exactly as planned. Ten years after their arrival in Fodlan, and under the guise of a war tearing apart their precious new world, Sento, Banjou, and new Cross-Z Petra have to navigate through allies old and new, to ensure a world of love and peace for all. At any cost.

16. Recovery

AN: So, yeah. I've been rewriting stuff for what I had planned As I said, reformatting a lot of stuff. In a way, this arc is sort of like a 'soft reboot' in a way. In terms of everything but story and characters. I'll admit, looking back on my old chapters (especially the first few), they felt messy, to say the least (since I don't want to completely fill this author's note) I'll argue that, looking back, Chapter 12 was honestly the best for me in terms of my writing so far. So, in a way, this is me attempting to rectify that, by making everything else good. This is one of the main reasons why I often ask for feedback.

Also, just to kind of confirm something; yes, I am THAT LostCenturion on Spacebattles and I am doing a crossover with ThatStrangerThatCameFromNowhere, who's obviously doing "Kamen Rider Zero-One: Edge of Dawn", for the unaware. More details will come within time, of course. Just be patient. :)

Before I end this, because it's been that long…happy 3 year anniversary to this fic. XD

Anyways, without further ado, let's start this new arc with a…well, slight explanation.

---

(Brigid, Imperial Year 1175)

Banjou found himself awakened. The stench of ash wafted into his weak nose, his eyes and body too weary to really wake itself anymore than it already was. He felt himself heaving from the impact, breathing erratically from his chest, pain felt present in his body. Loud ringing continued endlessly in his ears temporarily, preventing him from actually figuring out what was going on. His head felt woozy, his arms felt tired. And as he looked around, he caught himself on the beach. The distance saw a number of ships nearby, the proud, yet foreboding symbol of the eagle that was the Adrestian Empire's flag flew in the far distance. The sand caving around his back felt much more uncomfortable than before, seeping into his armor. He didn't even know it was possible for this to happen.

The Cross-Z Charge armor disappeared around his armor, as he winced in pain, his body aching from the pain of being flung a distance from a massive crowd of wind spells being chucked at him at once.

He looked around, desperately searching for anyone. Alief, Petra. The grandad, whom Banjou somehow forgot his name in his head. As his head moved ever so slightly, his eyes would see the Sclash Driver and the Dragon Jelly a decent difference away. The items somehow flew off his belt at some point, landing nearby. They looked fairly undamaged, unlike the rest of the Japanese man's body. As he clambered over, he could hear the sound of footsteps approaching him. A lot of them. As he measly attempted to crawl his way over to the Sclash Driver, his back would be slammed upon by a foot. He screamed in pain, his body aching in pain. It looked as if even despite his muscle headed attitude, it would not be any use to help him. As the ringing in his ears subsided to a hearable level, his eyes looked up, back towards the Sclash Driver as much as it could. Two men walked in front of him, talking to one another. While he initially couldn't see, nor hear them due to their distance, as they got closer, he was able to see them much more clearly. One man had teal hair in a spiky pattern, a small beard forming around him. A greataxe stained with blood was on his personnel, as he slugged it against his back. He looked…almost eager to have been in the battle, despite the scars and fresh wounds he sustained, using said greataxe like a crutch. Carrying a sword of Brigidian origin in his other hand, he would look ecstatic at the fact that he was in such a battle. His armor made Banjou think that he would've been some kind of elite bandit, as his age and worn armor would most likely imply. But Banjou knew better.

Next to him, looked to be someone who was much more…connected to the Adrestian throne, given his current regalia. His long, jet black hair and goatee made Banjou internally laugh, despite his current situation, as he realized that he looked exactly like a stereotypical villain from shows he used to watch at a young age on Earth. The world before. However, his thoughts then went back to the second man, with him being unarmed, his dastardly stare being poignant enough to somehow pierce fear in even Banjou. Which somehow managed to scare even him; he somehow faced a world-ending being before, and somehow this random human was making him terrified. The goatee man's reddish-armor and proud regalia of the eagle of the Empire was quite evident from his looks alone. As he attempted to try and get himself up, he found himself with multiple weapons, mostly lances and swords aimed right at his body, most prominently his neck. Banjou, clearly realizing the futility of the situation at hand, quickly decided to let his body lie motionlessly on the ground, as the two men finally noticed Banjou. The dark-haired man lifted the Sclash Driver from the ground, inspecting it with curiosity.

"Volkhard, this is the warrior that destroyed our new siege weapon?" the teal headed man asked, almost impressed by the sound of his tone of voice. His face showed modest respect for Banjou despite the latter's obvious disadvantageous position, as he lifted the Dragon Jelly from the ground, looking baffled by such an unusual device. "Such unexpected youth. But our scouts never detected this. Especially not from the Brigidians."

The now named 'Volkhard' simply hummed as he turned the Sclash Driver, continuing to muse at the device. His head and eyes eventually turned to Banjou, as Banjou realized that his voice was still too hoarse from the impact to actually retort, or say much of anything besides a dry cough. Volkhard stifled a laugh as he stared down towards the man.

"Yes, Leopold. One in which I have great interest in. If you would allow me to do so." Volkhard claimed. "Keep the prince's sword. But allow me to take these weapons and these items. If they can be used for the sake of the Adrestian Empire, perhaps we may avoid another war for quite a long time. Perhaps maybe even have an extra sleeve in our hands in the case another conflict is to come. Bring about a weapon which could strike fear in our enemies beyond just Fodlan, Almyra or Dagda involved."

As Leopold stared at the sword, he would give a tiny smirk at Volkhard.

"Very well; what about negotiations? The Brigidian throne still has an old man and his granddaughter. With it vacant, there is the possibility that…"

"Leave Count Hevring and Duke Gerth with the negotiations. No offense, Leopold, but I don't believe they'll speak to the killer of their king. Especially in such a brutal manner, and right after such an event. They'll arrive in the morning; for now, I will leave with our prisoner. See what he knows about this device. See if the Brigidians have something we don't to cause such a warrior to rise from their ranks in such a short period of time." Volkhard claimed, his eyes still laid on the downed Banjou. "But, as I've warned the two, the granddaughter will be our ally. In due time, of course. The Empire could use Brigid's influence and resources to one's advantage."

As Leopold nodded in support of the decision, he would look at Banjou one last time.

"In another world, my sons would perhaps enjoy his ferocity, if what I saw is any indication. Perhaps maybe even trained them into fashionable soldiers, beyond what they're already capable of. Keep him alive Volkhard; one day, perhaps when I'm ready for the end, I'd like to face a warrior like him. At least know that this generation isn't too weak to fend off the threats we face everyday in our youths." Leopold replied honestly, his eyes almost sad looking towards Banjou, as he walked off. As he walked alongside the beach with a couple of his soldiers, Volkhard's face would drop some type of facade, his face giving an evil smirk towards Banjou. His head looked up towards the soldiers holding him at lance/sword point.

"Knock him out. We'll need to know everything about his abilities. Perhaps he is someone we missed." He told them. Before Banjou could retort or even do anything of value, he was suddenly swung with the blunt end of a lance, knocking him out into darkness.

---

(?, Imperial Year ?)

As Banjou slowly came to, he found himself in a very unfamiliar location. A single bright white light shined on him, from some line on the roof. He felt himself binded by his chest, legs, arms, and even his neck. His arms and legs in particular felt sharp, sudden pains all along the body, and he immediately felt as if he was immobilized mentally. As if a sedative was constantly being pumped in his system to keep him tired and calm. His eyes groggily tried to move away from the bright light blinding his eyes, yet thanks to the neck restraint, he wasn't able to do so effectively.

Raising his head as much as he could, he would be able to see himself in a small room; the horizontal line lights blinding him from the roof would be seen spread along the room, a single gray-tinted window would be seen by him, with Banjou rationalizing that it was most likely a one sided window. He saw two machines who had some tube extensions with syringes at the end that stabbed into Banjou's arms and legs, with some type of chemical running through the tubes. Banjou rationalized that whatever that chemical was, it was affecting him directly, based on his dizziness and tiredness. As he was trying to comprehend what or where he was, something was heard opened to his left. A group of at least 5 hooded beings, wearing what looked to be bird-like masks sauntered into the room slowly, surrounding the flat surface Banjou was lying in. As he attempted to get out of the chains, he strangely found himself unable to, his body too weak to actually be able to get out, or at least have any major effect on the restraints. As the masked people began raising their hands, they began to chant something in some incomprehensible language.

At first? Banjou planly laughed weakly. He felt nothing as the masked people continued their chant uninterrupted, causing him to genuinely chuckle at their futile attempts to actually do anything, despite his current state. However, in a sudden motion, and as the chanting masked men began to increase in volume, he felt himself shooting in pain all across his body, causing him to weakly scream. Dots of crimson began to shoot out from his body, at first unorganized and frenzied, darting around the room. Banjou's eyes became frenzied, shooting around the room with a dangerous glare. As the chant became louder, the crimson dots began to organize in the center of the room, forming a vaguely humanoid shape. As his body stopped releasing crimson dots, they would formally organize into a humanoid body, armed with a weapon on his side. A weapon that, to everyone present in the room, would look…odd, to say the least

Banjou would become too tired to keep himself awake, and as he would drop unconscious, the sounds of gunfire would follow, alongside the screams of the mages echoing across the chamber. And for a very brief moment, as he slipped into the darkened mental void he was oh so familiar with, he would for just one second, see a small child as the window shattered. A white haired child, her eyes staring into his. And all he could see was fear in those innocent orbs of light.

---

The first thing Banjou's eyes could see as he woke up once more were simple blotches of colors. For once in his damned life, it was somewhere warm thankfully. He could feel his body ache in pain, especially in the internal portions of his chest, and especially his ribs, as if something slammed into him hard enough to break them. His ears couldn't pick up any major sounds for the time being, yet he felt something touch his hand. His arms felt too relaxed for him to actually be able to do anything about it, having recovered from what felt like a deep sleep. As his eyes adjusted to the new light, he would realize he was in some type of makeshift infirmary ward. Soldiers around him were recovering, various different clerics and mages trying to heal or at the very least trying to stabilize them.

However, a voice would make him fully realize the gravity of the situation, as the room became clearer, and his sense of smell and sound returned to him.

"Banjou?" A crackled voice pleaded, sounding equally sad and happy at the same time. Banjou knew it came from the side, and instantly turned his body to face the voice, only to become face to face with a familiar person, her face instantly lighting up upon seeing the Japanese man. She had a small amount of bandages and gauze around her arms and chest, but she looked almost the exact same as he remembered her a month ago. As Banjou smiled towards Petra, the Brigidian's eyes widened back, returning a bigger smile back towards her, as he gave a dry laugh.

"Banjou; you are alive!" Petra shouted, hand placed on top of the Japanese man as she moved the stool she was sitting on closer towards him. "It has been nearly a month since the last time we have talked. Today's the 4th of what Fodlan's people call 'The Horsebow Moon'."

His eyes immediately widened upon realizing the time he had been fully knocked out, his smile replaced with a look of panic, as he quickly looked around.

"A month?!" He shouted, trying to get up from his bed, quickly bringing himself back down upon a massive amount of searing pain flaring in his body, eventually with him deciding to make his way slowly back down, with Petra helping him get back down to a lying state on the small bed he found himself in. "How have I been gone in a month? What happened? Oh god, I need to get you a damn birthday present for you in a few days!"

Petra would only stare at him for a moment, a worried look on her face and Banjou's frenzied panic. A sigh escaped her lips, as she successfully lowered him down all the way back to where he was before, as she tried to maintain a smile towards him.

"You don't need to worry about us, or me for that matter Banjou. I will be okay knowing I have become older; and that you have lived." She replied, briefly stuttering for a moment at the reply. As if somehow it hurt her slightly to believe that. She relented, and continued though.

"As for us, you arrived about two weeks ago. Us, about 3 days ago. Many things have happened; a couple of battles, and many things in between. I have learned a lot. Sento Kiryu, your friend, rescued us all." She summarized briefly. "It was a lot, to say the least. Stuff that I would not like to explain at the moment; not while you are so injured."

"Well, it's not like I'm really moving anywhere for a good amount of time." Banjou started with a dry laugh, trying to make light of his current situation. His hacking cough and Petra's continued worried stare seemed to confirm that it wasn't working as well as he hoped. Thus, Banjou chose to change the topic a little bit. "Are they alright? Your friends? Bernadetta and that other lady in the red?"

"They have been...better." Petra responded, pausing for a moment to find the exact word to describe the aftermath. "Dorothea took an injury to the shoulder. She has since been healed, and has been dealing with Bernadetta since then. She seemed frightened by the whole experience of the battle we found ourselves in. I…I have been okay using your abilities. As a Kamen Rider, whatever that means from . But I believe I am in need of understanding. Why does this matter, other than just simply love and peace, which I shall continue fighting for, among many other questions."

Banjou gave the smallest of smiles.

"Nice to see things haven't changed much in a month then. Minus being in, wait." Banjou said, pausing as realized that he wasn't in Ochs territory any longer. The air felt much less tense to him, not to mention Blood Stalk was currently aiming his charged weapon right at his stomach. "Where are we?"

"You are in Deidriu. The capital of the Leicester Alliance. It is a very long way from what used to be House Nuvelle's territory." Petra replied with a slight smile. "We were brought into the Alliance as refugees."

"Refugees? But you're a princess, Petra." Banjou stated quite bluntly. "Do they at least treat you alright?"

Petra could only laugh silently at Banjou's worrying attitude towards her, as she chose to place her other hand over his and her own.

"Claude and the Alliance have been treating us okay. They have also been healing you since then. I believe we are in their main base of operations. A living quarters, if you will, for the army and such." Petra stated honestly, her smile fading just a little bit as a mage walked over, whispering something to Petra, before she let both of her hands off Banjou's.

"I believe they will be preparing to fully heal you. Apparently, you must be left alone to heal for the time being, as I would be intruding on personal intricacies.." Petra said with a sad smile, standing up. She sounded a little confused at the verbiage. "They told me you were awake not too long ago. But, I am glad I was able to see you are alright."

"As am I." Banjou simply stated. Before leaving though, Petra turned back towards Banjou. A thought crept into Petra's mind, and she quickly wanted to at least ask that.

"Banjou? You wouldn't ever hide anything from me, would you?" She asked curiously. Her head still throbbed; she desperately wanted to mention everything about the dreams and such. About Kasumi, about that unknown Cross-Z form she found herself in. But it was almost like everything else in her body was screaming at her not to. Preventing her from doing so, yet she still didn't understand why. Banjou too, suffered from this, as he thought about what Petra said.

"I wouldn't, no. Why?" Banjou asked, confused by Petra's sudden question towards him. Petra would try to planly hide a smile.

"I just wanted to be sure." She would plainly reply, walking away from the infirmary. Before she left, she attempted to give yet another smile towards him. "Also, be lucky that the mages here keep everything clean. Otherwise, they would have to deal with your stench. I do not think that I would involve that stench on my worst enemy."

She quickly shut the door after that, as Banjou sat there, wondering what else he could say. Eventually giving up, he laid his head back, letting the warmth of the cleric's healing magic overtake him. Yet, as he began to rest once more, somewhere in the back of his mind, the echoing cackle of a mad man lingered in his mind, as his eyes closed for what seemed like the thousandth time.

---

As Petra closed the door to the infirmary, she leaned against said door, her facade dropping. Her face morphed into that of uncertainty, as she lifted herself off the door. Walking around, she could see various different people stroll by the cramped hallways of the building they were in. Vastly different from her previous surroundings, as Petra recalled. Deciding to search for her fellow ex-Black Eagles, she sauntered around for a bit, casually trying to distract herself by wandering around the hallways, reaching their rooms for the time being. But she could never get rid of the thoughts continuing to linger in her mind.

"Search for the woman with the gold band."

"Just keep fighting the good fight."

She shook those thoughts away for just a little longer, as she reached a door towards the end of one such hallway, she could feel her heart flutter, ever so slightly. She never saw Dorothea, nor Bernadetta since after they had immediately landed in Deirdriu. Worry began to creep in her mind, as her hand slowly grabbed for the door handle, her hands somehow shaking a slight bit. Standing in front of the door, Petra would raise her hand, knocking on it slowly. Her eyes closed, as she leaned her head on the door. Waiting for any type of answer from them.

"I'll be right there!" She could hear Dorothea echo from inside the room. As Petra shut her eyes to wait, her thoughts drifted again to the battle. To…everything. Her head leaned against the door as she let herself be overtaken by her mind.

"This war…did it all start because of them? Because of me? I…when did things go so wrong?" Petra attempted to reason with herself mentally, recalling the events of before. Her mind still remained slightly hazy from the events that transpired but she could remember the majority of what happened. "If even Edelgard fears Blood Stalk…then what type of chaos have we unleashed? I must need answers from Sento."

Those thoughts would quickly be scrubbed away temporarily as the door opened. As Petra stopped herself from collapsing into Dorothea, her head would tilt upwards towards her face. Eyes met eyes, as Petra became floored solely by Dorothea's new look.

An off the shoulder gown adored her in burgundy and black. The injury from her shoulder looked almost completely healed, a small vertical scar left as a grim reminder of the battle. Her makeup seemed much less present, showing off her more natural face. Her own eyes widened towards Petra, as if the two hadn't seen each other for quite some time. Both shocked over each other's presence, this would only last for a small amount of time, before Dorothea, despite the former injury, reigned Petra into a tight hug, a relieved look on her face.

Petra returned the hug, equally as surprised. Her arms wrapped around Dorothea's waist, the two entering into a heartfelt embrace, silently.

After what felt like forever, Petra would break said silence with a simple compliment.

"You look amazing, Dorothea. Why the wardrobe changing?" Petra asked, as Dorothea would hum planly in response. A sad look would be on her eyes, thankfully not facing either Petra or the sleeping Bernadetta behind her.

"It was time for a change." She would reply generally, sighing as she lowered her head, burrowing it into Petra's back. "After all, as Manuela once said, those who have to be in the front and center of the stage have to look the best."

As Petra tightened her grip on her, Dorothea would sigh. Petra could see into Dorothea's fading facade. She did not want this war to continue on.

"I understand. It has taken a very big toll on all of us." Petra mentioned, as she let go of the hug, the two instead resorted to holding each other's hands. "You need a…refresher. Like I have."

"Lucky you had yours for half a decade. After the Opera House closed, we had to jump from place to place. I…don't exactly want to talk about it. A lot of people needed us, and…" She attempted to say, trying to keep on an emotional mask of some sort. Unfortunately for her, Petra could see right through it.

"I know it is difficult for all of us. You do not have to say any more; I feel what you feel as well, Dorothea." Petra responded, trying to cheer her up with a smile, placing a finger over Dorothea's mouth. "But I have learned that we have to stay vigilant if we are to push through this. As she once said."

She trailed off however, as she remembered who told them this in the first place. Dorothea gave a smile back, as if she understood what Petra was trying to do.

"Calm down, Petra. I'll live." She responded, as she lowered Petra's hands. "Bernie unfortunately won't join us today. She's sleeping right now. I imagine Claude and the Professor won't be joining us either?"

"It won't seem like it. They're working with Lorenz to try and manage the Alliance, given how crazy it's been. To stop it from collapsing more than it already is, they said." Petra would claim, moving out of the way for Dorothea to exit the room. Using both of her hands to instead lift her dress, she and Petra would walk together down the hallway. As they walked, they chose to make some form of conversation.

"I'm surprised you didn't visit us earlier. Given everything that's been going on. I know you've been trying to visit Banjou these past few days. I saw some of the looks the nurses and medics give him." Dorothea claimed, chuckling. Petra looked back towards Dorothea, slightly confused.

"Did they complain about his stench?" Petra asked her, as Dorothea began laughing.

"Not quite; there were complaints of that, most certainly. He apparently had a faint smell of lavender though; was their saving grace for fixing him up, if Manuela was anything to go by." Dorothea quipped, smiling. Petra never saw the songstress smile like that. Not for a long time. Nor laugh like she quite did at what she was about to say. "No, it was more like they were focused on his strength. Internal muscles, something of that nature. Apparently, when he first woke up, he claimed he was "The King of Protein" or something like that and declared war on vegetables. They spent like, 15 minutes trying to keep him down and send him back to sleep."

Petra wholeheartedly laughed with her, as the air around them became much more light.

"Has he always been like that? So…bombastic?" Dorothea asked her, as Petra gave a soft chortle instead at the question.

"He was. Even when I was younger, he would always be very…how does your people say it…spirited with his movements and sayings. I was once named the 'Princess of Protein'." She admitted, causing a slight laugh from Dorothea. "He taught me many things in my youth."

"Like fighting, Ms. Protein Princess?" Dorothea chirped in, giving a soft laugh as the two stopped in front of a slightly ajar door.

"I'd assume so." She would whisper, before the sound of running footsteps could be heard. The two quickly busted through the door, expecting there to be some kind of problem. Only to instead find themselves with a very awkward situation going on in front of them.

Balthus and Marianne stood near to the door, the two silently motioning them to join them. Lysithea was running around the makeshift lab, inspecting and looking at literally everything in the room, her face full of wonder and curiosity. Following her, almost just as enthusiastically, was Sento, rushing after her around the room. Petra could see Shamir and Catherine inside what looked like a little extension to the room, out of the way of everyone else. Both of the Knights looked slightly amused at the entire situation, watching over the ensuing chase.

"You didn't miss much, in case that's what you're asking. She's been at this for 10 minutes." Balthus muttered to the two, as Lysithea eventually stopped, muttering something incomprehensible while she calmed down, going to her knees.

"You know, if you would've slowed down, I would have answered your questions, Lysithea. You didn't have to give me my daily exercise's worth!" Sento stated as he got up quickly, as if he didn't suddenly feel exhausted like Lysithea was. He pulled out the Rabbit Fullbottle, shaking it a little more. "The modern effects of a genius at work."

He then turned around the room, jumping at the realization of all the people there.

"When the hell did you guys come?" Sento asked, as he leaned against the table. "It's only been, what…"

"Ten minutes, Sento. It's been ten minutes." Balthus replied nonchalantly, as Sento sighed, grabbing a mug of coffee nearby, chugging it down. "You've got a lot of questions. Better yet to answer them now."

Sento simply hummed, stretching himself.

"Alright; where can we start?" Sento asked immediately, causing at least a dozen questions to be asked at once. Through all the noise, Sento could briefly hear Catherine chuckling behind him. He sighed, as he waited for them to calm down, during which Hilda and Leonie somehow managed to sneak in. Said commotion continued to last for another five minutes.

While he was asked questions, Petra finally got a good look at Sento now that he wasn't either running around or running off. She noticed the almost disheveled look that Sento now had compared to the notes that she saw out of the Cross-Z Dragon's logs. Even more so than in the last log she saw. His hair, once an even, flat flop of hair now looked shaggy and rugged around his head, his hair now much more messy and curly. Disheveled would've been the best word Petra would use to describe his look. His coat looked much more rugged and dirty, as if had suffered wear and tear throughout the years. Some parts, especially the bottom parts of the coat, looked stitched together, or sewn. He had on under the coat a messy, black cloth shirt, and what looked like customly designed pants, matching similarly to his shirt. Hints of wrinkles on his signified his age.

When those five minutes passed and the room became quiet again, Sento motioned for Balthus to close the door. As he did so, he looked towards Petra directly.

"Petra…I'm sure you have many questions?" Sento asked, allowing her to ask them. As Petra stepped forward, she decided to start with the obvious.

"This driver, this belt, this…all of this. You, Banjou, where did you come from? What is all this?" She chose to ask, leading Sento to give a smile in response. Turning towards Shamir and Catherine, the two looked confused as Sento gave some type of head turn towards them, as if it meant something. Sento repeated it, before he realized they had no idea what he was talking about.

"Right…Cross-Z Dragon!" He shouted, as said dragon moved from its spot on the heightened windowsill in the room, flying right towards Sento. Eventually, it compacted, slapping itself on the table. As Sento worked to connect a few wires of some kind to the machine, the wires connecting to some type of massive white panel in the back of the room, everyone looked confused at what the genius scientist was doing. All except Balthus, who had a wicked grin on his face. Dorothea was the first to notice.

"Balthus…why do you have that grin on your face?" Dorothea asked worriedly, Hilda joining in Dorothea's expression.

"Yeah, Baltie…why exactly do you have that look on your face? Is there something we should know?"

Balthus would simply look towards them, the smile staying on.

"Let's just say we went through a condensed version of this stuff with the rest of the Wolves a while back, when we were still together. We're gonna be here a LONG time if he's planning on actually answering anything." Balthus claimed, as he somehow finished, the logs popping back up from Project Blue. Sento then…began to speak.

"Recap, Imperial Years pre-1175, Project Build, Blue and Old World, access level 2 of 4, all. Access Synopsis and Non-classified data. Authorization name Sento Kiryu. Authorization code alpha BT1BM090317. Authorization code beta Muscled Idiot. Authorization code gamma ASW001091207. Authorize." Sento said confidentally.

"...what." They all responded in unison, before the log began to expand, projecting on one of the walls. A video of some type was seen, Sento proudly beaming that it worked. Everyone else, sans Petra, Dorothea, Shamir and Balthus, looked curiously at the wall, shocked at what they were seeing on the screen. After all, the four did have at least some experience with the existence of the screen, albeit not like this. Everyone else, however?

"Okay, what the hell type of inventor are you Sento?" Catherine asked, staring at him directly as her eyes looked visibly puzzled at the whole thing.

"By the goddess…" Marianne mumbled, seeing this new thing with a raise of the eyes and a soft gasp.

"Woah…" Leonie and Hilda simultaneously said in astonishment. Leonie then continued on her own, looking towards Sento. "How exactly did you make all this?"

As Lysithea just stood, mouth agape, silently marveling at this minor achievement in technology, Sento would look towards Leonie.

"Ingenuity, a bit of luck, and most importantly, science. Or at least my version of science." Sento said incredulously, clasping his hands. "Now, just sit back, and relax. Because this entire explanation, which includes a brief recap of my life, Blood Stalk/Evolto, and everything about the Old World is going to take the next seven and a half hours!"

"...oh." Petra muttered once she heard what Sento just said.

---

(7 and a half hours later…)

The room was strewn about with stools and chairs. As the Cross-Z Dragon shut itself down upon the completion of the log, most of the room was in different states of disarray. The door opened slowly as Claude and Byleth walked in, looking around the room. Thankfully, the dark moonlight and small lamplights lit up the currently messed up room. Marianne and Shamir sat in the far back of the room, waving towards the two. Sento casually walked out of the little extension of the room, yawning as he too entered the main lab room, as if he had somehow chosen to take a nap during all this. Petra and Dorothea both looked tired, their heads leaned towards each other's shoulders. The former looked almost satisfied by what she viewed, while the latter just looked satisfied in general. Lysithea, of course, remained glued onto the screen, chugging down another round of coffee. She looked almost creepily invested in the near 8 hour recap, her mind racing with a bountiful of questions. Balthus was straight up asleep on the floor, someone conveniently providing him a pillow. Catherine stayed to the side, lightly napping with a hand on Thunderbrand's handle, sheathed away in the case of any immediate intrusion. And all the while, Hilda and Leonie visibly looked relaxed, munching on leftover dinner in the form of beets and potatoes. And steak. Lots of steak.

"Looks like I've missed quite the party here; kinda regret not knowing what happened here. Not for a little while." Claude stated almost regretfully, as he looked around the room. "I'm sure you guys will tell me in time."

"Ugh…" Hilda muttered, being full on the food. "I'll tell you after I finish all of this. A shame Rapheal isn't here to gobble up the rest of this; he could've probably had a day."

Sento turned to the ex-Professor and Claude, smiling.

"Ah; you missed me recapping Banjou and I's life and fighting against Evolto. A base explanation of all their abilities. Catching us up to when we arrived here." Sento explained. Confusion quickly befuddled Claude's face, as he looked towards the room.

"Must have been aggravating if this is what it does to people." Claude claimed, as he and Sento helped to provide the rest of them with proper sleeping materials. "I guess this is the Deer's unofficial sleepover then. I'm done for the day, at least until I'm forced to make sure Weathervane hasn't already devastated House Ordelia worse than he already did."

Byleth, however, was bemused for a different reason. He saw as Sothis's spirit floated around the room, closely looking at all the various items around the room. The various Fullbottles, neatly placed on tables near the window, to an orange knuckle, parts of it placed around it. Wrenches, hammers, the like.

"Such fascinating trinkets, these bottles. These primitive devices. They emit such a warm aura. Familiar, yet I can't place my finger on where." Sothis claimed, looking around the room. Then, she noticed something…strange. On the far end of the room, an inexplicably plain square panel was placed, leaning against the wall. Ornate and foreign designs were seen on the edges of it. She seemed attracted to it. As she touched the panel, only for a brief moment, Sothis suddenly started screaming. Writhing as memories flourished in her head.

A hand reached out to her. Crowds bowed before her as the red skies of where she was shined on her. Her hands raised, the people chanting her name. Some type of bunker, hands clutched around her. Protecting her in the pitch black darkness of some base as the door opened, a demon of white and black stared them down. Like a predator finally finding its prey.

Byleth's eyes actually widened by the way Sothis was moving. She eventually stopped, hands letting go of her hands, tears actually streaming down her head. Her eyes looked right towards the male, as she floated right towards him.

"I know what you are thinking." She said, stuttering for the first time as she comprehended what she just witnessed. Byleth even saw tears coming down her eyes. "I…I need to rest. Do not disturb me until I return."

She vanished just as quickly, leading Byleth to silently slip out of the situation, leaving the rest in the room.

"In that case…let me get the pillows. Tomorrow, we decide to go ahead and actually show you guys stuff. And I'll answer the rest of your questions." Sento mused, as he slowly walked out of the room. Claude just sauntered into the room, casually picking stuff up. Eventually he turned, noticing the items on the shelves. The brawler-like devices, the Build Drivers.

And then he noticed Lysithea.

Claude ended up having a hell of a night laughing at Lysithea's world-changing agape mouth.

Meanwhile, as moonlight shined through the windows in the hall ,the once vibrant hallway was empty. The only sounds echoing abound the hallway were that of either those in their rooms sleeping, or the occasional sound of Sento's footsteps, as he walked back in the direction of the infirmary. His face full of determination, he proceeded to lightly step his way through the hallway, shaking the Rabbit Fullbottle as he slightly picked up speed. Stopping in front of the door to the infirmary, he knocked quietly. The door slightly went ajar, a hooded nurse staring towards Sento.

"I'm assuming you're here to see Banjou, Sento?" The nurse asked.

"Yeah. Also need some pillows and blankets for the night if they're not taken already. Bring them to the lab." Sento mused, as the woman nodded She eventually opened the door fully, allowing Sento through. While she collected the pillows for the group in the lab, Sento set up a chair, sitting next to the sleeping Banjou. The woman quietly nodded, turning to Sento as she gathered up a fresh set of them.

"How long will you be staying with him? I've only heard rumors and such, but he apparently had special orders to keep alive?" The nurse asked incredulously, as Sento gave a weak smile back to her.

"No longer than 15 minutes. Tops." He claimed, as the nurse nodded, closing the door behind her.

Sento then stared at the back of Banjou's head for a moment…before he chose to flick the back of his head.

"Wake up, Musclehead." Sento said. "I knew you were awake the whole time. You aren't that good at hiding like that, Banjou."

As Banjou scrambled to get up, he turned, instantly realizing Sento's presence, as his eyes widened.

"Sento!" he shouted, getting up to hug him, only for the loud cracking of bones to be heard, as he trudged through to hug Sento, smiling all the way. "You grew old, man!"

He was promptly slapped on the head lightly by Sento.

"Of course I grew old, Banjou. Look at you! All muscle still, and hell, you have wrinkles on your head. Hell, I even see a few grey hairs on your scalp!" Sento replied, causing Banjou to look somehow offended by what Sento said, gripping his scalp with his two hands.

"I don't have gray hair, Sento! I'm too young for that type of thing; you on the other hand…" Banjou claimed, as he grabbed Sento's hair, rubbing the already messy hair throughout. "You might be needing a haircut."

"As do you. That hardhead of yours isn't going to protect you from that bulging puff that you call a hairstyle." Sento replied, smiling as he genuinely began laughing. Banjou began laughing as well, the two genuinely feeling good as they laughed.

"I haven't felt like this in a long while. Banjou, I'm not gonna abandon you again." He warned, as he placed his hand on Banjou's shoulder, chuckling.

"Duh, Sento. Mr. Love and Peace. I know you're not gonna abandon me. We're the best match, remember? So powerful we transcend every other Best Match in the world, if that last battle with Evolto was anything to go by?" He stated, as Sento plainly smacked him lightly in the face.

"Since when were you the romantic, Banjou?" Sento asked, as Banjou looked slightly offended by being called such. For now, he chose to ignore whatever approach Banjou was going for, and instead quickly change topics. "The doctors and clerics said you'll be okay in about two weeks, as long as you don't move too much. And I mean it. May have also helped that I accelerated that by accidentally reinventing morphine. And at least 12 times of sedatives and anti-biotics from Earth. Still had notes on the compounds made from my time as Takumi."

Banjou looked at him in an almost surprised fashion, his mouth agape at the mere mention of what Sento had somehow done within the past few years.

"You what?!" He shouted, as Sento got up from his chair, walking towards the door. Banjou, obviously, wasn't just gonna take that sudden revelation lying down. "Oy, Sento, you can't just leave me knowing that!"

Sento chuckled as he turned back towards Banjou, door ajar.

"I believe I'm just about to. I'm going to see how Petra's truly doing with your abilities tomorrow. They'll at least let you out then; see how she's doing. Answer any questions she still has after I sat them through that movie I made in my free time. And who knows; given she's a lot more nimbler than you, perhaps she might even teach you a thing or two, Musclehead." Sento replied with a smile, as he walked out of the door.

"Of course Sento doesn't tell till the middle of the night that I'm allowed out tomorrow. Harehead." Banjou mumbled to himself, covering his head with a pillow and covered himself further with a blanket to actually get some sleep.

---

The rays of sunshine were briefly obscured in the clouds. As Petra waited, relaxing her breath, her stance with the Beat Crosser was relaxed. On the other side, a most fearsome idle foe awaited her. A training dummy. She noticed Sento in the background watching her from afar, so as to avoid potentially being in her way. Lysithea looked tired, sitting on a bench nearby. She still looked as eager and curious as ever despite this, having something in her hand. Dorothea sat next to Lysithea, feeling much more awake than her white-haired compatriot, as she patiently watched Petra's ongoing slashing of the dummy with the Rider weapon. Next to her, Catherine followed through, matching slash for slash with Petra.

"You do this stuff this early in the morning? I had assumed you needed at least a little bit of sleep?" Petra asked her, as Catherine would simply chuckle in response.

"Kid, when you're in the Knights like me and have to respond to calls of help on a constant basis, you tend to try and power nap through a lot of stuff, and train or fight the rest of the time if you always want to stay in your best shape." She responded towards the Brigidian princess, as she felt Shamir's sudden presence.

"Like that time in Calicia where you left me to do overwatch all night for 2 days straight while you slept through the nights, claiming that you were 'tired'. Right." Shamir replied to Catherine, overlooking them from the second floor of the barracks. Next to her, leaning against the railing, wooden sticks acting as makeshift crutches, Banjou watched nervously as well, as he looked towards Petra.

Sento finally decided that this was the time to make his way forward, and as he did, Catherine noticed him approaching and nodded herself to Petra, as the two lowered their weapons.

"So, you wanted to ask me things?" Sento asked her, as Petra nodded yes.

"I got the gist of recapping your life. Earth, Banjou, the like…even those other Riders, as you call them. Grease and Rogue. But I still have questions. Like Hazard Levels." Petra stated, as Sento chose to sit nearby on the ground, pulling out the Build Driver to tamper with it.

"Go for it; don't mind me, I'm just making sure my Build Driver didn't get too damaged from that landing a couple of weeks ago." Sento claimed, as he took a small hammer from one of his many coat pockets, inspecting it.

"I read that I'm not supposed to reach Hazard Level 5. In Banjou's notes. Why?" Petra immediately asked, causing Sento to briefly stop for a moment with his inspecting, looking up to her.

"He really wrote that, so directly? Typical Banjou." Sento sighed, as he heard Banjou coming up to them with his walking sticks.

"Oy, Sento; you know I can hear you loud and clear, you know?" Banjou stated, as he hobbled his way towards them. "And wait, Petra; why didn't you just ask? I could've told you the answer."

"I only found out the answer after Blood Stalk tried to kill you." Petra claimed, staring right towards Banjou. Banjou himself, his face morphing into that of slight regret and awkwardness upon realizing that, chose against continuing that line of thought, allowing Sento to properly explain.

"Hazard Level 5 isn't dangerous…technically. The reason that Banjou doesn't want you to reach there is because there's some dangerous things that happen to you by that point. Technically, though, there's a chance you might not have to worry about reaching there. By conventional feats, no human can ever reach there naturally. Only through some forceful methods, which we don't have, can one reach above Hazard Level 5. 4.99 I think is the highest point I know a human naturally has reached." Sento explained, Petra feeling semi-relieved by the answer she got. It still didn't answer her question directly though.

"That still doesn't explain what happens when you reach that point though. Hazard Level 5 and higher?" Petra mused out loud, as both Banjou and Sento looked towards her.

"Trust me; you just want to trust us on this one. Anything above 5 and you'd wish you would've died than actually gotten there." Banjou warned her, as the training ground suddenly felt a lot more tense in the atmosphere. To break this up, Sento quickly clasped his hands.

"Okay, to break this up, how about we see what Banjou's been teaching you, shall we?" Sento stated, as Petra noticed the cawing of the Cross-Z Dragon over her, dropping the Build Driver right onto her hands. She realized what Sento meant.

Eventually, she inserted the Dragon Fullbottle into the compacted Cross-Z Dragon, sliding on both the Driver and the device into its slot. At the same time, Sento did much the same, shaking both of his Fullbottles before sliding them into his own Build Driver he had tampered with. He then threw the Driver onto his own waist.

[Rabbit! Tank! Best Match!]

[Wake Up! Cross-Z Dragon!]

"Ready?" Sento asked Petra, as the two cranked their Build Drivers.

"Oy, Petra; kick his ass!" Banjou yelled, only to be smacked in the back of the head by Shamir. Rubbing it, he gave a scathing look towards Shamir, only to receive a death stare back. He quickly relented to move his head back to watch the battle ahead. After all, he already had been slapped enough times as is.

[Are You Ready?]

"I am." She replied with a smile on her face, as the armor formed around the two.

[Hagane No Moonsault (The Fullmetal Moonsault!)! RabbitTank!]

[Wake Up Burning! Get Cross-Z Dragon!]

Build and Cross-Z stood across from another, staring each other down. A training ground surrounded by those they knew, watched cautiously as their fight would start.

"Now…here's the challenge. Dehenshin me. Simple as that." He responded, raising his hands. Cross-Z looked confused.

"What does that mean, 'dehenshin'?" She asked him, as he realized his one of many mistakes, quickly tapping himself on the head once.

"Oh right; when our armor takes enough damage, it autoejects us from our armor. That's what dehenshin means. Or, if we're to take it literally, detransform." Build quickly replied, before immediately coming in for a punch. Cross-Z immediately avoided it, swinging her fist into Build's chest, sending him reeling back. He eventually chose to move himself back, as Cross-Z came charging forward. Sento quickly replied by... jumping, managing to not only avoid Cross-Z's attack, but straight up be above her by some distance.

"You're thinking too direct, Petra! It may have worked for Banjou, but it might not work for you!" Build yelled, landing a distance behind her. "From what I saw of your records back at Garreg Mach, you were considered one of the fastest members of all three classes. Nimble; mobile. Use that!"

Within a matter of moments, Cross-Z stopped for a moment, realizing what Sento said.

"Oh…" was her only reply, before immediately switching gears. Rushing around the side, she picked up a training Lance from the wall. Quickly rushing from the wall, Build expected her to do somewhat of a charge. What he didn't expect however, was for her to suddenly twist her body, sticking the Lance at Build. As he moved back, this gave Cross-Z the opening she needed, rushing in to rapidly punch Build in the chest from the front. Then from the side. Then from behind. She kept going as she did so, forcing Build to go on the defensive, anticipating her next move

As she was doing so, she actually felt like she was dealing damage to Build, managing to feel like her punches and kicks had some weight and impact to them. However, in the commotion while she was debating this and continuing her strategy, she didn't realize that while she was doing so, one of Build's hands managed to grab the Phoenix Fullbottle off her. As she cranked the Build Driver even more, she reared her fist back, as it became coated in flames, stopping right in front of Build.

[Ready? Go! Draconic Finish!]

As she threw the fiery punch, the shape of a dragon forming behind to spew fire at her body, Build simply jumped himself back a distance from her punch, simply making it meet thin air.

"Another thing, Petra! If you find that your previous method isn't working, don't keep following that process!" He yelled, taking out the Rabbit and Tank Fullbottles. "Keeping to base Cross-Z may be a good idea in the short term, but in the long run, you've got to learn to sometimes change it up a bit. Otherwise, Edelgard would be able to read your entire moveset as a result. She and Blood Stalk would know exactly what to expect next time you face them. If they give you the mercy of a next time, of course.``

Cross-Z looked confused, then shocked as she saw Sento pull out the Pheonix Fullbottle she had, along with the Robot Fullbottle.

"If you find that something isn't working…try something else. Like so." He claimed, slamming both Fullbottles into their respective slots on the Build Driver, cranking the Driver as two new pieces of armor formed to the sides of him.

[Phoenix! Robot! Best Match! Are You Ready?]

Build's head perked up, as it felt like he gave a smirk towards Petra behind the armor. He also admittedly paused just for some dramatic flair.

"Build Up."

The armor formed around him, replacing the RabbitTank armor with a much more different armor. The red Rabbit side of the armor was now a deeper state of red, and much more bolder. The once blue left side now was coated in dark grey. Red wings coated the back, looking at first as if it was nuts pleat there for additional flair. But at least Petra knew better than that.

[Fujimi No Heiki (The Immortal Weapon)! PhoenixRobo! Yeah!]

"You can't tell me that's not magic!" The two could hear Lysithea shout, promptly being ignored by everyone, as they were too busy looking at Build's new form.

Petra included.

"So that's another one of Build's forms. Interesting." Cross-Z muttered to herself, as she briefly remembered the actual fight with Edelgard. Or Rogue, rather. Sento was right; despite having used a certain form before back at Garreg Mach for Lysithea, she didn't actually use it during the battle at Gronder Field. Only the Phoenix Fullbottle, and the Beat Crosser. But what she did remember was that she did use that form used at Garreg Mach and failed to use at Gronder.

"Wait. The form… " Petra mused to herself, realizing that she did still have a certain form. As Build PhoenixRobo charged right at her, she quickly decided to pull out the Cross-Z Dragon from the belt. Pressing the blue button on its left side, the Dragon Fullbottle ejected from the Cross-Z Dragon, as she pulled the Lock Fullbottle out from the Fullbottle holders on the side of her thighs, her taking less than a second to realize that those actually existed.. Moving quickly to her side, she would avoid Build, as he burst into flames, barreling through where she was once, a trail flame scorching the grass left behind in his wake. Quickly, after grabbing the Dragon Fullbottle, she placed it and the Lock Fullbottle into their respective slots and cranked the Driver.

[Dragon! Lock! Best Match! Are You Ready!]

"I already told the belt I am ready. Why exactly is it repeating the question?" Petra asked Sento, who looked surprised at the move.

The armor took Petra's statement as confirmation to switch her armor, looking much like Build himself now. Only instead of red and dark grey, it was now navy blue and gold respectively, in terms of armor.

[Fuin No Fantasy Star (The Sealed Fantasy Star)! KeyDragon! Yeah!]

As those who weren't present for its initial debut looked surprised at the sudden change in form, Petra smiled, expecting Sento to be blindsided and bamboozled by the sudden appearance of one of his own forms. However, the reaction she instead got…was one of absolute joy. Causing her to be confused, as Build Phoenix Robo clasped his hands, rubbing his head for some odd reason.

"This is awesome! I didn't think you'd realize that you can access KeyDragon! I assumed that only I could! Or maybe Banjou didn't realize it at first and…" He began to muse, before hearing the crank of the Build Driver, realizing what Cross-Z Key Dragon was about to do, as she prepared herself to jump.

[Ready, Go!]

Build saw as Cross-Z jumped above him, kick aimed right for him, as the manifestation of some type of sharp key formed on her leg, coated in blue flames. Cranking his own Build Driver quickly he raised a kick, as a manifestation of a Phoenix formed on his own leg, a robotic leg being seen extending the flaming Pheonix.

[Vortex…Finish! Yay!]

As the legs of the two made impact, dust and smoke immediately formed around the two, blinding everyone from seeing the result.

"Petra!" Dorothea shouted, attempting to use an Elwind spell to clear the dust between the two. Only to find Petra untransformed, her armor gone from her body as she panted, a clear grin ever so present on her face. The Dragon and Lock bottles were scattered near her. Build on the other hand, stayed in his armor, laughing as his armor dejected from him, reverting him back to famed genius Sento Kiryu, as he pulled the Phoenix and Robot Fullbottles off of his belt, his face morphing into a large grin.

"Yes!" He shouted, as he rubbed his head with his hands. Somehow, during all of that, a tuft of hair popped up on its own accord, as he looked somehow ecstatic despite the current state of things. "That was awesome! But, Petra, good try."

He stood himself up, as Dorothea ran to Petra's aid, helping her up.

"Satisfied, Petra?" Sento asked her, as Petra slowly lowered her head for a moment in thought. However, she quickly turned up to him, nodding.

"For now. I have no more major questions for the time being, Sento. Thank you." Petra replied, huffing. "There is one thing though."

Sento turned, eyebrows raised curiously towards her. Petra felt actual relief exit her chest as whatever was mentally stopping her from talking about the dream before seemed to relent. Allowing her to speak on the matter freely.

"There was a dream I had. A voice told me to search for a woman with the gold band. Do you happen to know anything about that?" She asked him. As if someone had frozen him with a spell, Sento stopped what he was doing with an almost icy glare. Not towards anyone, mind you, but towards the wall. It quickly evaporated though, as he looked towards Petra with a more warming stare.

"I haven't thought about her in a long time." He responded, planly. "But she's dead. The one in the gold band, not the one with the gold band. I…don't know what happened to her. I just found out Gentoku and Banjou were alive not too long ago after all."

Petra realized this probably was going into a touchy subject, and chose to back off. If this woman with the gold band was that important to Sento…

"Then perhaps another time then."

She was still gonna get her answers, either way, watching as Sento slowly sauntered off back towards his room, a haunted look present from his body language alone.

Petra was fearful for what that exactly meant. And more importantly…just how far down the rabbit hole she was going to go down.

---

Gentoku, to say the very least, was worried.

Sitting on a chair in his private room, all that was on his desk was his Bat Fullbottle, a piece of paper, and a quill and ink. His face showed his stress at what had gone on the past two weeks, as he clutched the empty Transsteam Gun in his left hand, slamming the desk with the right.

The door slowly opened, as Hubert entered the room, setting down a cup of tea on his nightstand before quickly closing the door behind him. He looked almost concerned, looking towards Gentoku as the man clearly began heavily breathing through his nose. Gentoku's hand shook, as he tried to control himself. Stop himself from trying anything drastic.

Unfortunately, this wasn't so much the case. Quickly getting up from his chair, he would quickly place his arm into the front of Hubert's neck, both of them slamming against the wall. Hubert didn't even look to resist the whole escalation of the situation, Gentoku seething at him. The Transsteam Gun was pointed straight at Hubert's head, Gentoku's finger directly on the trigger, just waiting for any excuse to pull it.

"Why didn't you tell me Edelgard had a Sclash Driver?!" He yelled, as Hubert kept on a cool face, as if he was used to this type of anger out of someone. Whether it'd be Gentoku, Edelgard, or someone completely different. "Or that Blood Stalk was alive? Do you understand what the hell you unleashed upon this world?!"

Hubert was silent, taking Gentoku's genuine anger about as well as one would expect from Hubert. His interest peaked about Gentoku's knowledge of the Sclash Driver, not to mention Blood Stalk. The way he said it, with spiteful vitriol…Hubert was fascinated by the knowledge that Gentoku was hiding.

"You hide many secrets, Gentoku Himuro. If you knew what was truly happening, at least on Edelgard's side, I'd fear I would have to kill you. Now, very few have touched Edelgard's heart, much less have been able to gain her trust. The former Professor, I…and you. It would be a real shame to lose such talented individuals to a simple lack of trust, or to have died in an accidental misfire." Hubert stated, a mixture of sympathy and malice in his voice.

"Pot calling the kettle black, huh? I'm not the one with a gun pointed to his head." Gentoku retorted with equal malice, intending to get information out of the mage. Hubert would only smirk in response, as if he had something up his sleeve. Which he did.

"I know of your informant, Gentoku. And I know Evolto has many friends. Edelgard and I are not them, and he knows it. If I'm dead, and he knows you're on to him, there's a chance he'll go after that informant of yours, or Edelgard, and I know neither of us want that. Not now, not ever. Now, I'm willing to forget this escalation of aggression that's occurred only if we agree to trade information. I'll tell you the truth, if you do the same." Hubert explained briefly. He could see Gentoku struggling with the gun. But it was clear that he wasn't as convinced yet.

"Talk. Now. Before I blow that smug little face off the map of this damned continent." Gentoku warned in a threatening manner, Hubert calmly sighing. "Why is Blood Stalk working for you?"

"He doesn't work for us. Allies of ours, in the dark, have him under their talons and claws. A shadowy cabal, if you will, is working with him, and thus is working with us. Edelgard chose to do this because they all had a common goal to kill Rhea. Or so they think." Hubert responded, staring towards him as if to try and fully convince him he wasn't actually lying. "I found information that suggested that he had ulterior motives. Not only for Edelgard, but for Brigid's princess as well. As well as plans to collect an item, which pieces of it were rumored to have crashed into the Mach coast, scattered along the shallow waters. One in which they believe that the Knights of Seiros wanted. All I did was give the information to a third party. I don't know what happened to them, nor do I have any physical evidence of this encounter; I've burned the evidence away to hide my implication in betraying this, to say the least, fractious alliance. That I am willing to spoil you with; only if you accept the deal will I say the rest."

Silence rained for a moment as Gentoku shakily aimed the Transsteam gun. Finally, after a few minutes of this awkward silence, he released his finger off the trigger, raising the gun up as he let go of his arm on Hubert's neck. As Hubert resumed to breathe normally, Gentoku threw the Transsteam Gun on the bed, his face morphing between rage and almost a sense of betrayal. Hubert looked almost sad for the poor man, before he got back up, staring towards him. The atmosphere of the room almost felt a little colder; Hubert was used to this, but didn't really expect that coming from a man like Gentoku of all people. As the Japanese man calmed down from his outburst, he leaned himself against the wall, heavily breathing in some type of way to calm himself down.

"...fine. But how do I know you aren't lying to me?" Gentoku asked swiftly and menacingly, staring metaphorical daggers towards Hubert with eyes. He, in response, would calmly move out from the wall, towards the coffee on the nightstand, his eyes on Gentoku the entire time in case he lashed out again.

"I can't guarantee that I'm not lying with you. Not without attracting attention from Blood Stalk nor his allies." Hubert replied, as he felt the metaphorical daggers go closer to actually piercing him. "However. What I can promise you is that your informant can do whatever she pleases. If you truly believe that it's a simpler way to reach Sento; to end this complex game that Evolto now plays…then I trust you. Remember that I do not trust easily."

As he emphasized that last part with a genuinely threatening tone, Gentoku looked to visibly relax, his body visibly becoming less tense in reaction, somehow having the opposite effect Hubert was trying to go for.

"However, I want all the information you have on them in return. Evolto and Sento. Banjou Ryuga too. Edelgard seems rather fascinated by his presence, and especially that he took Petra MacNeary as some type of…father figure? Or perhaps instead a type of guardian, perhaps. And the Dragon. My liege seems quite addicted to that Driver, and that dragon. Equally as I've seen her interested in the old Professor. I don't know the exact reasoning behind this; and I'm rather terrified as to why." Hubert claimed, his voice somehow faltering but for only a brief moment. Gentoku noticed it, his head perking up. "I want to work with you, Gentoku. I, much like yourself, want to stop Evolto. Blood Stalk. Whomever you call him, from reaching his own endgame. If he's able to place that much personal fear in my lady, and is somehow able to have as much of a commanding presence here as Arundel, I fear that he may already be on his way to fooling the entirety of Fodlan. To, as my contact put it, plunge Fodlan into a darkness it can never escape from. But, the only reason I'm doing this is for mental and physical stability of the Adrestian Empress. She…"

Hubert stopped for a moment. Gentoku noticed the brief twinge in Hubert's face, as if he didn't want to admit something. But only briefly. "She is the only who can keep the Empire as 'honorable' as they say. As focused, and as unified. Otherwise, the whole Empire might as well be a fractured squabble of politicians and squabbling diplomats. Fodlan, even if the Alliance and Kingdom would stand together, would eventually dissolve into little more than a puppet state the cabal could release their monstrosities more freely from. So unless you may convince me otherwise, we are at an unfortunate impasse."

Quietness reigned throughout the room for a moment, as Hubert casually started pouring the coffee for the two of them, his face determined on ensuring he didn't burn himself. He felt the waning presence of Gentoku behind him, before footsteps could be heard, himself turning away back to the table.

As Hubert finished their coffee, cream and sugar and all, he turned to see Gentoku sitting back on his chair with the desk, his hand on his head as if he had a headache from everything that had just transpired. Sitting down on the bed, placing the tray of coffees down, he would watch him, trying to figure out what the man was thinking. After all, if he could somehow understand the relatively neutral Edelgard's emotions solely from sight alone, then he could surely do so for someone like him. And what he could see from him? Hubert could detect that Gentoku was thinking about how to start everything. And if he could truly trust someone like him.

Gentoku was thinking much the same thing. As he turned, he would simply give a look. Silently, he walked over, grabbing the cup of coffee before returning to his table, sitting down. Hubert looked perplexed by what he was about to do. Taking off the purple and yellow linen coat he had on, he would reveal nothing more than a white cloth undershirt, with a simple question written into the front of it in what looked to be ink and quill. Somehow.

"Where do you want to start?"

Hubert would look bemused by that, yet just as equally concerned.

"Do I even want to know?" He asked, as Gentoku smiled at Hubert's look towards his shirt.

"All made to pre-order from my personal tailor. Why, you want one?" He asked, as Hubert immediately shook his no, giving a concerned look towards him.

"I would rather not, Gentoku. Your fashion sense however, would be more befitting for Ferdinand. His…'grandiose' fashion might be much more complimentary to a man such as yourself." Hubert responded, the hint of an evil grin evident on his face. Not just because he sicked the ametaur and strange fashionista onto the Aegir noble.

But, more importantly, he might have just given Edelgard a way out of all of this. To be rid of Blood Stalk, and the ones who slithered in the dark. A chance to follow her vision, her path to its last and final end. Perhaps temporary.

Hopefully, permanently.

---

Throughout the entirety of the past two days, Bernadetta…didn't feel right. Not in the slightest. Her stomach felt queasy, her body felt stronger, yet shaked a lot more often. As if she did something that ended up internally disturbing her. Yet she couldn't quite remember. Dorothea, the past few days, had given her looks of both worry and fear. She had witnessed something from Bernadetta that actually distrubed her. She had pretended to fall asleep, fall ill from the battle in some vain effort to hide from the outside world; she had thought that she had just gotten over this sometime ago. But the massive battle that ensued, she most likely wouldn't forget. It was one thing to take a life, like she did so long ago; it was another thing to fight and kill solely to ensure that those who cared for you came home with you.

Whatever she had done during that battle when she supposedly blacked out might've been something else entirely. Essentially considering how Dorothea seemed to be much more worried for her than before. It almost scared her.

As she slumbered into fake sleeping, she, due to the tiredness of her body, actually fell asleep for real.

As her eyes opened again, she found herself right in the middle of walking. Around her was similar foreign architecture to that of the previous dream she had in Garreg Mach. Next to her, was the young man she had seen before, a proud look on his face as he walked to the side of her. In his hands, something was seen, wrapped in cloth and carefully carried. "Bernadetta" found herself walking towards a series of ornate double doors, decorated in jade and gold. Quartz scaled the walls, and covered the rest of the door, almost acting as if it was some sort of door to someone's personal chamber. Two armored guards, armed with what looked like an advanced form of a pike, guarded the door, towering over whoever "Bernadetta" was and the man. To the sides of the hallway leading to the door, "Bernadetta" saw a very similar vision to what she saw previously, sky-wise. A blissful shade of brick, clouds covering a vast and lite city. It reminded her of the very few times she remembered Enbarr, but with much more towering buildings mingled between the smaller structures she was semi-familiar with in Fodlan.

Wherever she was, clearly technology advanced much more further than before. She even thought she saw what looked to be mechanized birds of some kind carrying people around to and fro whatever city she found herself in.

As the two approached the doors, they suddenly stopped. One of the armed guards looked towards "Bernadetta" , causing her to recoil a bit with fear. She strangely felt just a little more confident. It still scared her.

"The Queen expects your presence, Lady Corvina. Enter." The guard responded, eventually leaning back to its initial position. The man looked back towards the lady.

"Time to follow through, my lady." She responded, as Bernadetta pondered that name.

"Corvina? What type of name is that? Is that some word meaning death in wherever I am?!" She pondered, expecting to walk in there and immediately from whoever this queen was. As the doors ominously opened, Corvina stepped back, as the doors opened to an astounding vast and lavish bedroom. A woman-like figure stood near the window, staring out of it, the majority of her body obscured by the lighting of the room, her back turned to her. Her head perked up hearing "Corvina" and her attache enter the room, and as the doors closed behind the two, she felt more dangerously frightened than ever.

"Lady Corvina." The voice of the unknown woman boomed, her surprisingly soft and gentle voice amplified and echoed throughout the room. "So glad you can join me at such a time like this."

Corvina audibly gulped as the lady approached her, turning around. Sharp, piercing green eyes stared back at her. Cascaded in robes made of pure silk and some unknown material Corvina couldn't quite recognize, and dressed in all white, she certainly did look like some type of foreign queen. Her regalia reminded Corvina of Petra or Dorothea with the way that parts of her body exposed itself, with a number of jewelry staining her otherwise pristine outfit. Despite that, given the darkened lighting, she couldn't make out anything else. Not even the rest of her face, except for the eyes.

"Dire moments call for dire measures. You've been with me for the past 7 solar rotations, Corvina. Now, I ask a favor of you that could be considered grand in anyone else's hands." The queen stated, as Corvina tilted her head. "Perhaps even impossible."

Only now did Bernadetta realize she was not in full control of her body like last time. As if her body as Corvina was reading off a script of some type. Internally, she was indeed freaking out, trying to figure out what was going on.

"My lady, what could be so 'grand' that you decided to gather all the lords and ladies of the land? And the moons, and on top of all that, recall all of our forces away from the outer reaches of the galaxy?" Corvina asked, Bernadetta briefly pausing the mental attack to hear this out.

"...you will be the first to know that I am pregnant. With a child. I do not know anything else as of yet, but it is clear that while we hunt for important artifacts key to our growth as a civilization, I will need someone back home to protect my child. A guardian angel to protect her and raise her. And I believe that you will become that once that time arises, my dear Corvina." The queen stated, raising her hand. A silver bangle laid in hand, dormant. As if it was waiting for its owner to be found. "With this gift, you will become part of my inner circle. And I will train you in everything you must know to become like myself. Will you accept the offer, Lady Corvina?"

As Corvina looked behind her, her retainer looked surprised at the revelation, nodding towards Corvina repeatedly vertically, wanting her to take the offer. Turning back around to face the queen, she kneeled towards her, offering one of her hands up.

"It would be my personal honor, my Queen." Corvina replied, as the queen wrapped the band around the arm of the woman. "Formal announcements for such will be arranged in due time, for my replacement as governess of Jezero."

The Queen then arched her back, almost changing completely in demeanor and tone. As if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"You can also drop the formalities now. As you are part of my inner circle now, alongside your retainer, we should speak to each other in a much more casual fashion, correct." The queen stated simply, as if that was an obvious given.

Corvina raised her head, facing the queen with a smile.

"Then I will follow and learn whatever you wish to teach me…Vernage."

Bernadetta suddenly jolted up, as she looked around. She jumped a bit when she saw Petra and Dorothea sleeping as well in her room; Dorothea was resting on a chair facing a window, while Petra slept soundly on the floor. Both most likely were concerned for her, and chose to instead sleep in her room to keep her company. Carefully, she slowly got up to make sure that the two weren't also planning on getting jolted awake. Thankfully, they looked exhausted enough to the point where they probably wouldn't wake up for a long a while. But this made Bernie realize something, as she smiled.

She saw that her friends were still willing to stick it out to him. Even after the whole fiasco with her…whatever it was that happened to her that day.

As she chose to lay back on her bed and genuinely sleep this time around, hopefully without any weird dreams or visions or not, she hugged her pillow, and for once in her life, felt comfortable, now that she knew that, at least for the night, the two Black Eagles would protect her. As she did so however, a single question creeped into mind. She did learn at least somewhat that she was apparently looking through the eyes of some random princess named Corvina. And that she did at least have more influence than she had now. But a single question still lingered in her mind as she finally drifted into rest.

Actually, two very specific questions, now that she thought about it.

"Who really are you Corvina? And why…why me?"

She would swear she could feel something stirring in her head, as her silver bangle slightly lit itself up.

---

As Sento walked down the hallway, the morning bringing with it brand new sunshine, he saw himself doing his daily routine. Adjusting the solar makeshift coffee machine he had been working on, adjusting a bottle or two that had been lying around, noticing Lysithea casually munching on a cookie as she tested a bunch of Fullbottles on a table…wait.

After wiping his eyes with his hands to make sure he wasn't hallucinating things, Sento quickly found himself staring as Lysithea had one of the Build Drivers propped on the table, placing two Fullbottles, an orange and light gray one on the table.

[Taka! Gatling! Best Match!]

"A hawk…and a cylindrical tube? Or this "Gatling", whatever that may mean." Lysithea stared in confusion. Sento chose to silently wait for her, curious to see what she would do. Quickly, she picked back up the Dragon Fullbottle, moving it around with her hand. She quickly placed it to the side, instead relying on picking up a different Fullbottle. The Rocket Fullbottle in hand, she attempted to look through the various different Fullbottles up.

"What would this so-called "Rocket" match up to? From Petra's Key and Dragon, or Sento's Rabbit and Tank and Phoenix and Robot, it has to match something that's not an animal." Lysithea briefly thought up in her head, looking at the various other Fullbottles.

She then saw another, white Fullbottle lying nearby, picking it up, quickly looking at it.

"What is this?" She asked herself, not knowing what animal the Fullbottle was supposed to represent. Eventually, after careful consideration, she placed them on the Build Driver, her eyes and face cautious of what was to come.

[Panda! Rocket! Best Match!]

"That's a panda bear, by the way." Sento finally decided to say, causing Lysithea to jump from her seat. "A type of animal from Earth. Cute, but very dangerous and deadly if provoked. I'm surprised you weren't exhausted after a day. Much less how you were able to get in here."

Lysithea looked almost scared. Sento realized she probably expected for there to be consequences for somehow breaking into Sento's lab and messing with his stuff.

Instead, Sento would shake his head, chuckling slightly a bit.

"I mean, that's quite ambitious and pretty risky for wanting to be my lab assistant, Lysithea. Given your track record from Garreg Mach, and given your drive for things…yeah. You can be my lab assistant." Sento replied, as Lysithea stood with her mouth agape.

"I…I sacrificed so much sweets to Balthus just to get access, and you just accept me like that?!" Lysithea yelled, sounding more surprised than actually frustrated about the quick acceptance.

"I mean yeah. Banjou was a wanted fugitive before I took him in as my first apprentice, the Musclehead he is. Lab apprentices, at least under me, should be willing to sacrifice something to bring about a weapon of peace. Not for a war like this." Sento claimed, as Lysithea listened intently. "Plus, I've seen how you've been. You're always the most attentive, the most intelligent, in terms of magical and general smarts. I think the two of us Genius scientists need to stick together, no?" He asked, pushing his own chair forward towards the white haired mage. Lysithea, after getting over his initial shock, scooched herself closer to Sento, a grin growing on her face.

"Yes; thank you! Thank you!" She shouted, clearly ecstatic to work with Sento. "I mean, I can help however you can, Professor Kiryu!"

"Good. And stop with the formalities; not how we do stuff around here. Call me Sento if anything, Lysithea. Just don't touch the stuff without my direct permission." He stated, sliding another Fullbottle to her. "Plus, I know I probably wasn't able to answer many of your questions from that explanation, based on your…attentiveness during that. Ask away."

Sento didn't realize Lysithea would immediately start asking a question as immediate as the moment he would say so.

"Alright…you said there were sixty Fullbottles. But I only see 18 here. Where's the other 42?" She asked, immediately going into the questions.

"Well, I can't seem to find them. When I arrived in Fodlan, I only had 15 of them either on me or near me. I was lucky that the Knights found the rest of Cross-Z and my equipment around Garreg Mach and Fodlan in their spare time, but I wasn't able to find the rest of them. They're probably scattered everywhere at this point." He stated. "Hell, I was lucky I was able to recover Dragon, Phoenix and Robot thanks to you guys."

Lysithea would smile as Sento would smile.

"I'm sure you have a lot more questions; but let me prove to you that this stuff doesn't require magic…for now." Sento claimed, as he and Lysithea both laughed, silently. However, that laugh quickly turned into a much more…cautionary one.

"Sento, this is magic. I WILL prove it to you. This can't happen naturally, or without any form of magic." She claimed, as Sento chuckled.

"Not in a million years, Lysithea, but you're welcome to try." He responded, as the two stayed silent for only a moment, the room quickly falling silent with it. This would be until Lysithea decided to break the calm moment by asking another question.

"So, that presentation. It was mostly a lot of explanation about who you, and Banjou were. The other Riders you mentioned, along with pictures for that seven and a half hour…thing. I know you're hiding more stuff you aren't telling. So actually tell me to start…why a Rabbit and a Tank?" She asked, as Sento shook his head.

"That's…gonna take a long time to explain. Why don't we do so while we mess around with these; get you familiar with them." Sento claimed, his smile only getting bigger as he picked up another Fullbottle. "Now, let's see if the Gorilla Fullbottle has a fellow Fullbottle to make it a Best Match. Or, I guess as I like to say it; shall we begin the experiment?"

As both casually messed with the Fullbottles, Byleth would silently peak out towards them from the hallway, before slowly closing it. Wandering along the hallways, the Ashen Demon found himself watching over them all. While within five years, the Golden Deer, and even the defected Black Eagles to some extent had somehow still needed their Teacher, their Byleth…they had also been able to start finding their own paths.

Whether it was Claude, Lorenz and Hilda trying to hold their fragile Alliance together, to the Black Eagles somehow reuniting with their past and coming to terms with their new journey. The mysterious Sento Kiryu, opening his shell with the help of Balthus and Marianne, as well as finding camaraderie with Lysithea. Leonie, trying to follow the legacy of his father. And even Raphael and Ignatz, just glad they were able to reunite together as one, protecting the very academy they first united as a class in.

If Byleth didn't have the Crest of Flames lodged where his heart should be, he would imagine that he would find the whole thing…endearing almost. Warm his heart, if it was true what others had said. It at the very least make him crack the faintest hint of a smile.

That smile quickly went away when he closed the door to his own room, said room looking relatively light in comparison to the others. His mind wandered to how Sothis was. He always saw her as some…higher being. Some who commanded a boatload of respect. At least with the way she carried herself. But someone who also was compassionate for him; someone who he realized was there for him, through thick and thin. Through rain or snow, life or death. At all times, even from his very conception.

So to see such a powerful being like Sothis being broken so easily…it concerned Byleth, to the day the least. What did the spirit living inside his mind see that turned her so traumatized the way she did, he didn't know. While a small part of him wanted to reach out, see if he could help the poor mysterious child in his head, he felt as if that would be…intrusive towards him. His memory wandered to that day, when Sothis let him feel for the first time in forever. When the day came that his father had passed. The god-child let him let it all out. She was there for him.

But he knew that if he would've extended the same courtesy, Sothis probably wouldn't had taken it. Stubbornness, from what little he could remember before he assumed she had vanished, the two becoming one.

But with her back…and scared? Something was introduced that could make things go horribly wrong, clearly. He chose though to not focus on that, lest everything else overtake him.

As Byleth sauntered into his room, he, for once in the past five years, felt…alone. Walking into the room, he noticed a journal sitting down nearby, on the chair to a personal table in the room. One he very clearly recognized. A small paper was nearby, neatly placed. Byleth looked curious at its presence, placing the sheath containing the Sword of the Creator to the side. He stared at the note, lifting it off the ground. Grabbing the note, he lifted it up to read it.

Teach-

Ignatz said he found this at Garreg Mach somewhere in your old chambers not too long after you guys left for Gronder. Thought it was important, so he had someone transport it here. Hope he's right. I haven't looked in his diary since, in case you're wondering, Teach. I know how you felt regarding all of that. Thought it might help you with this godforsaken war.

-Claude

As Byleth sat himself down on the desk, he quickly opened the journal, placing the note to the side. His head still remembered exactly that day. Vividly, out of all the times he had, it was the death of the only one that he could consider to be close to that he could remember the most.

The backstabbing. The vain effort to rewound the bounds of time in order to solve it, change his fate, do literally anything to prevent his death, like he always had before with his class. How he played god too much and someone finally picked up on what he was doing. And what that truly cost him.

Byleth sighed as he skimmed through the pages. He had already read them a hundred times over. On the distrust of Rhea and Church; or on how he was as a baby. How he raised him.

Byleth's head would lower for a bit, a single tear managing to escape his eyes, before he skipped it over.

Only to notice that said diary wasn't complete. After the last entry, he saw that there were a multitude of blank pages present. A tiny little bookmark was present, almost as if Jeralt had intentionally saved that room.

His father saved the journal for him. Finish what he had begun.

As he stared at the book, he noticed a pencil lying on the ground. From there, he grabbed it, before staring back towards the empty pages on the journal.

He began writing.

6th of Horsebow Moon, Imperial Year 1185

Five years ago, my father wrote about my life here. Of his struggles and rare boons underneath the Knights of Seiros. Of my birth, and of his adventures with me as we became mercenaries. Of our return to Garreg Mach. And of his-

He paused for a minute, his hands somehow trembling, as he lifted his fountain pen. A gift from his father. From his travels long before Byleth's day, when he traveled across distant continents. His face briefly scrunched itself together now that he was alone. He seethed his teeth, and tried to keep his emotions in check, as he tried to continue.

-legacy. My plan is to continue such a legacy. For as long as I can.

When this was last written, the three kingdoms had been on the verge of war. Garreg Mach still existed, and tensions were near a high after Flayn's kidnapping and subsequent rescue. That isn't the case nowadays. War has terrorized the three kingdoms, as all three have fallen to a standstill.

In the Empire, their never ending war machine has slowed, but has not yet been stopped. With a major blow at Gronder Field and their waning armies in the Kingdom, Edelgard seems to have focused all her attention on reconsolidation, leaving a small paltry force to face the Alliance, while she deals with the bigger threat; Dimitri.

In the west, rumors circulate that the entirety of the western side of the Kingdom has either fallen or joined the newly formed Dukedom of Faerghus, under the command of a former mage to the Faerghus royal line. I cannot recall her name, but Claude tells me its Cornelia, based upon his own contacts in the area. Fhirdiad is next, and from what I hear, the remaining Knights of Seiros, including Rhea, Seteth and Flayn are currently residing there.

Claude wants us to focus here, in the Alliance. Consolidate our forces and prevent the Empire from repeating the Kingdom onto us. Although he hasn't told anyone else the plan yet but myself and Judith, he has stated that he wished to separate us for the time being, in order to cover more ground. Myself and Claude will lead an army of troops alongside Lorenz and the Daphnel heir Judith, across the Western Territories and Ordelia territory, attempting to prevent whom Claude referred to as "Weathervane" from gaining control of the region. We will pick up Rapheal and Ignatz from Garreg Mach on the way and use it as our base of operations for the time being.

He wishes to keep the rest of his class, including Hilda as his eyes and ears, back in Deirdriu. He had picked up that Sento Kiryu, a professor whom I personally had little interaction with back in the day, may have a lead in search for more abilities, these "Fullbottles" as he called them and wishes for the rest of them to help, if it means they'll be able to shorten the war.

Byleth stopped for a brief moment, re-reading what he had just written, ensuring it all made sense. He felt satisfied with the diary entry, reading more like an official report, or perhaps even a summary rather than an actual entry in a personal journal. His eyebrow furrowed in thought, and decided just for once, he would add a little personal flair to the end of it. His own personal opinion. Something his father could be proud of.

I worry for us all, as the war prepares to prolong the past four and a half years. I hope that the end is at least within sight soon, for I fear the worst is yet to come. For me, for my students…and for all of Fodlan.