DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Kingdom Hearts nor Fire Emblem Three Houses characters, Square Enix, Nintendo, and Disney are the owners.
CHAPTER 38: NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE
BLACK EAGLE CLASSROOM | SORA'S DREAM
Sora headed to his classroom like every day in his time in Fodlan to take classes alongside his classmates. However, he soon found out that none of his male classmates were there…
Strangely, there only women sitting there waiting for him to join them.
"Hi, Sora." Edelgard greeted him in a flirting voice.
"He-hey, Edelgard." Sora replied awkwardly as he was taken aback by her strange attitude. "Where's everybody?"
"Don't worry about it, Sora." Byleth soothed as she held his hand as she leads him to his seat behind the future empress. "You are going to learn very well."
Footsteps echoed throughout the classroom behind his back and right after he turned around, Sora was surprised by Dorothea's, Ingrid's, Anettte's, Marianne's, Mercedes's, Lysithea's, Petra's Flayn's, Constance's and Hapi's presence.
But there was something else, he also came to notice other girls getting in whom he didn't expect to see, that made him go wild and cheered him up.
"Elsa! Anna! Aqua! Xion! Kairi!" Sora exclaimed in euphoria and happiness of seeing them again. "What are you girls doing here?!"
"Well, those dearest friends of yours invited us to join your class. Building your own army, huh? I'd like to be part of it, Sora." Kairi replied with a smirk on her face.
"Sora, it seems that you have learned a lot." Elsa gave him a warm compliment.
"Ve-very much." Sora stuttered becoming blushed and getting himself in an awkward situation.
"It's alright, Sora. Don't be shy." Aqua hugged him with soothing but flirting voice. "You weren't like this when you'd met the princess in different worlds, were you?"
This was getting strange for Sora. It was like he had entered a girls-only school and was the only male in the class, it wasn't as bad as he thought however.
Sora sat down in the middle of the girls, with Kairi and Aqua being at both sides of him, who were looking at him with love, if that's what's called of course.
"Anna, I thought that you and Kristoff were together?" Sora asked her.
"Bah! He left me for another woman and they both went to do their 'thing.'" Anna answered him showing some bother on her face before calming herself down and smiling at him as the girls had been doing… "But the point is that you have become such a handsome man."
"I see… I can't believe he left you like this." Sora said being indignant with the guy's ridiculous behavior towards her.
"Come on, let's leave that matter for good, okay?" Byleth said as she became closer to him by moving herself with a catwalk… showing a steamy and suggestive demeanor towards her own student.
Sora felt he wanted to escape, to run away from them… but those were the girls whom he had helped long time ago and he couldn't bring himself to let them down like this. If he had to withstand this raunchy situation, he would do it!
"Girls…" Sora wanted to protest but he suddenly felt how Aqua kissed him in his mouth.
Sora opened his eyes in surprise feeling his lips playing with the blue-haired girl's ones, that was his third kiss after he and Edelgard had kissed during and outside the ballroom.
"Aqua… Why did you…?" Sora tried to ask her when she place a finger onto his lips.
"It's alright, Sora. Since you saved me from the darkness, I didn't know how to properly thank you for everything you did back there." Aqua smiled at him explaining her reasons.
"And you do deserve a reward, a beautiful reward you're gonna receive now." Kairi kissed him on his cheek.
Edelgard then jumped on him and kissed his lips not only with such a slow and romantic way, but also risqué manner as she ran her hands through his back to the bottom viceversa.
The girls, especially Aqua, were awaiting their turn to give him the 'greatest' reward. Sora wasn't moving one finger as he seemed to enjoy the experience he didn't think he would find…
/
BACK TO THE REALITY | SORA'S ROOM | MORNING
Sora was peacefully asleep leaving some saliva off his mouth until his gummiphone alarm ringed suddenly and this made him flip off his bed and fall to the floor.
"Ouch!" he groaned feeling the pain on his butt.
Sora quickly grabbed his phone and then he realized about what time it was… that wasn't good at all.
"Oh no! I'm being late!" he freaked out after watching the clock, he had to dress up and move fast to head to the academy!
Because he dreamt of girls doing THAT to him, he'd had woken up so late if not for the alarm so he dressed up as soon as possible, to make matters worse, he didn't have time to take a shower but spray himself some perfume and deodorant on his armpits.
After dressing up, Sora headed to his classroom running faster as the light in order to avoid absence on his dear teacher's absent score list. Even thou he couldn't help but to remember that WET dream with the girls he met there, that made him blush madly and he shook his head to keep his focus…
/
BLACK EAGLE CLASSROOM | MORNING
Sora barged in the classroom as fast as he could, but to his surprise, Byleth wasn't there yet, if that's what he thought.
"Hello? Am I late?" Sora greeted panting for air because he had been running.
"Hot damn, Sora! Where have you been?" Caspar complained.
"Sorry, I was asleep!" Sora explained his reason. "Where's Byleth? I can't see her anywhere."
"She went to deal an important matter." Dorothea replied him.
"Well, that means I'm not that late, am I?" Sora was hoping that he didn't get one absence point…
"Even thou that doesn't change the fact you have one fail point." Edelgard said making the boy bow in disbelief, but he couldn't talk back, it was his own fault for not waking up sooner after all.
"But Linhardt is always late so don't let that get your spirits down." Ferdinand tried to cheer him up.
"Thank you making me feel better, Ferdie…" Sora replied in sarcastic tone.
"At least the class hasn't started yet, Sora." Roxas said trying to contain his laugh.
"Guys! We have to go!" Byleth appeared and warned them to leave the room.
"What's wrong, Byleth?" Sora asked her noticing her teacher's serious demeanor.
"We have to investigate the abandoned chapel from the monastery… a few demoniac beasts have shown up!" Byleth explained the situation. "Everyone, get ready!"
OUTSIDE THE CHAPEL | MORNING
Sora and the classmates went to the abandoned chapel to check on the zone. Suddenly they encountered a different class of the dark creatures they had been facing, they weren't neither the heartless nor nobodies. Those creatures wore a different insignia which Sora found out immediately.
"The unversed?! What are they doing here?!" Sora said out of intrigue upon noticing them.
"That doesn't matter, they are emerging from the chapel!" Jeralt indicated them. "I'll head that way. The rest of you, protect the students who weren't able to get away."
"Yes, sir!" everyone agreed in unison.
"Alright, class. We must defend the students from these beats. Sora, Edelgard, Dorothea and Petra will head to the west side, the rest of us will go to the other side." Byleth indicated her class the strategy to complete the mission. "Remember our priority… is to keep the students alive and safe."
"Got it, Byleth." Said Sora ready to action.
"Soembody please! Help us!" one of the students screamed in horror struggling to defend himself.
[INFORMATION: Take down the unversed and the demonic beasts to save the students!]
It was then that everybody spread out across the place to fight the monsters who tried to hurt the students.
Sora transformed into Limit Form to slash few unversed with the Ars Arcanium while the girls took care of the other monsters, with Marianne serving as the healer on their back, making sure that she wasn't wounded at all.
By the time they faced a big demonic beast, Edelgard came out with a plan…
"We must hit him with a quick attack, Sora. Do you remember tacking that thief we faced in the mountains?" the white-haired girl gave him an advice before asking him if he remembered that moment.
"Yes." He affirmed her.
"Good, then you and Petra will run and charge towards that guy until you leave him stunned for few moments while Dorothea and I take care of the rest." Edelgard indicated him the actions they had to proceed.
"Fine, we wire this neck of this monster." Petra nodded understanding more or less the instructions.
"Let's go." Sora gave her the signal to put the plan in motion.
With the coordinated tactics, Petra headed towards the monster alongside the brown-haired boy to perform the said action.
"Petra, at my signal we shall charge against the monster, are you ready?"
"I am!"
"Right! By the time I attack him and say now!"
Petra nodded with her head and waited for the right moment as Sora ran towards that beast, right on time, the keyblade wielder attacked him with all his might, knocking the monster down in the process.
"Now, Petra!" Sora called her giving her green light.
"Here I go!" she exclaimed doing her thing.
Petra dealt much damage in a fluid and brutal matter with her sword and joined by Sora, who then used Sonic Blade skill, the two managed to take the monster down for good.
Edelgard and Dorothea also managed to take down another demonic monster using their respective techniques on their own.
"Thanks guys!" one of the students thanked them in relief.
"You're welcome, get to the safety." Sora gestured back before asking him to leave to the safety.
On the other hand, Byleth and her team were combatting against a demonic beast who was accompanied by a couple of Heartless, Nobodies and unversed.
"Damn it! There's a lot of them!" Caspar spat in surprise after noticing a fair number of enemies they were facing.
"Don't worry, we'll take them down in a few seconds." Byleth stated as she put out her sword of the creator.
With an astonishing skill, the teacher took each and every single monster on her sight to everybody's surprise, except for Roxas and Celica, who had already gotten used to her brutal power.
And that's both teams cleared out the whole area and successfully got the remaining students to the safety.
"Good job everybody, we successfully cleared this mess and saved the students." Said Byleth panting alongside the others. It must have been an arduous task but at least this was paid off.
"Seems like it." Celica agreed with her.
Jeralt on the other side, went to check on the chapel only to find out that no one was inside, but he suspected that this was connected to the Remire incident, or that's what he thought…
"Wait!" a female voice was heard throughout the man's ears.
"Huh? Another student?" Jeralt was taken aback by the girl's sudden presence, it was Monica.
"Wait, it's the girl we rescued from Death Knight's claws!" Sora noticed her when he came to have a bad feeling about her. "Hold on… Do you feel that?"
"Yeah, something's fishy." Byleth was concerned as well.
Edelgard wore a stern and tried to hold her shocking feeling upon seeing her what he was to do… this didn't look good.
"Monica… What are you up to?"
"Run along now." Jeralt asked her to leave the place, completely unaware of her dark intentions.
"I will, thank you for your help, sir!" Monica replied faking out a smile right before doing something that a bastard and a bad person would do…
Monica pulled out a dagger and mortally stabbed Jeralt in the back right in front of Byleth… who witnessed in horror and anger on who just wounded her father.
"Father!" Byleth cried out.
"You're just a pathetic old man… How dare you get in the way of my brilliant plan… you piece of shit." Monica cruelly insulted, much to the keyblade wielder's dismay and the professor's anger.
"What the…?! Why'd you do it?!" Sora lashed out being upset. "You wounded Mr. Jeralt!"
"You bitch…!" Edelgard whispered in anger as well, she already was aware that Monica would dare to lay a finger on Sora, but she didn't expect that the girl would be capable to commit such horrendous crime against one of her teacher's loved ones as Jeralt.
Sora and Byleth hurried to where Jeralt was lying, while the professor headed towards Monica to give her a beating.
"Mr. Jeralt! Hang on there!" Sora cried out as he used a healing spell he knew well. "Curaga!"
The green aura with few leaves filled Jeralt's body managing to somewhat halve the loss of blood and minimize the pain.
"What in the…? Sora? Arrgh!" Jeralt was amazed how the injury was healing but he still felt a sharp pain in the zone.
"Don't force yourself. I just managed to stop the bleeding, so you need to rest for now." Sora asked him to focus on his recovering.
"Be careful, Sora. That girl is dangerous." Jeralt advised him to watch his back.
"I will, I'll call Roxas and the others to take you to the infirmary." Sora nodded and then called them. "Roxas, Sylvain! Can you all come and take Mr. Jeralt to the infirmary?"
"Got it! Let's go!" Roxas accepted and called the others to help carry Jeralt to the infirmary as Sora and Byleth chased Monica.
Meanwhile, Sora and Byleth were chasing down Monica throughout the forest in a hot pursuit to get answers with her, even thou the redhead girl really did give them some trouble by throwing stones at them, which both easily reflected.
"Come back here, you imbecile!" Byleth screamed as she pursed her and little and little got closer.
Byleth then used the whip of her sword pointing at one of Monica's feet and knocked her down with such a strong strength making her fall to the ground.
"Shit…! How did you...?!" Monica gritted her teeth in pain as she managed to get up, shocked by the woman's power.
"Why did you stab my father, Monica?" Byleth demanded with an angry glare.
Sora however, came to sense darkness within Monica's heart, but not only that, he sensed something else…
"Who are you? You are not what we think! Where's Monica!?" Sora shoot a strongly intriguing question which made the girl chuckle cruelly.
"Sora!" Byleth was puzzled by his student's statement.
"Congrats for figuring this out, you fucking freak!" "Monica" complimented him for reading her heart, and then she proceeded to tell them what happened. "The Agarthans use a unique spell to have them have control over people who kill… That's right! Solon is one of them! He killed Tomas and took his body! And I took Monica's body as you say."
"What the hell are you saying? Stop with this nonsense!" Sora told her to cut the crap out. "Tell us who you are!"
"Do you really wanna know who I am? Very well." The girl let out a maniac laugh before transforming herself into a pale-skinned, orange-haired and red-eyed woman with black latex revealing clothes and three pointy tails… "My name is Kronya. This weakling girl was just a borrowed look for me. This is what I really like! Now, motherfuckers… I'll take you both down!"
[INFORMATION: Defeat Kronya!]
The battle begins with Kronya moving one if her tails towards the pair, who barely dodged the attack jumping upwards and then another tail tried to impale Byleth from behind but Sora quickly threw his keyblade against the tail with the Strike Raid skill saving his teacher's life in the process.
"Take that!" Byleth sentenced as she used the whip of her sword against the last tail to make all of them incapacitated.
"Fuck!" Kronya cursed as she felt her tails couldn't longer work, so she had only one last resort… She pulled out the same dagger she used to stab Jeralt in the back.
Kronya charged against Byleth and Sora and clashed each other's weapons showcasing an impressive and yet brutal 2 on 1 battle until Sora managed to land a diagonal slash on Kronya and she fell to the ground.
"Die!" Kronya screamed as she got up and tried to thrust her dagger against Sora's belly but he Quick-ran aside and slashed her back. But she quickly got on her feet and tried to attack Byleth with her tails but Byleth managed to remain them disabled with the power of her Sword of the creator.
Realizing that she was not a match for them, Kronya decided to run away in order to avoid death by the pair's hands.
"Get back here! We're not done with you!" Byleth cried out as they chased her down.
"Fuck both of you!" Kronya shouted back as she tried to escape them, only to stumble and fall to the ground. "Crap…!"
"It's over, Kronya!" Byleth began walking towards her alongside the keyblade wielder…
"You have nowhere to run!" Sora stated getting ready to attack at any moment."
"No way… How could I really lose…" Kronya said in disbelief and annoyance. "How the fuck could I lose to pieces of shit like you?!"
"Give up… It's no use you try to escape us." Byleth tried to persuade her to stand down.
"Well, well… what do we have here?" a male voice was heard as that man popped out of the corridor of the darkness… and then everybody figured out immediately who he was.
"What are you doing here, Solon?" Sora confronted him, and he then came to notice anyone else enter to the scene coming out from that corridor of the darkness. "Xehanort!"
"Shut up! Solon! Don't you just stand there and stare!" Kronya told them to join her. "Come here and help me! And you two, jerkass!"
"Yes. You most certainly do need help." Solon state while walking towards her in a vile manner. "Have no fear, Kronya. Your sacrifice will help to rid this world of the vermin that have long infested it."
"And so that keyblade wielder's heart shall be shattered." Young Xehanort said in a vile voice.
It was then when Solon did something that was considered way vile and cruel than attacking an enemy… Solon pierced his spiky hand through Kronya's torso, who screamed in pain.
"Kronya!" Sora cried out in shock upon witnessing the atrocity that the man was doing! "How dare you, Solon!"
Byleth had mixed feelings towards Kronya, her anger was understandable due to almost losing her father at Kronya's hands… nobody would have blamed her for taking her life… However, upon seeing the betrayal, she couldn't help but feel sympathy towards Kronya… Seeing somebody stabbed in the back, even by someone whom she considered an enemy pissed her off…
"Let her go!" Byleth demanded as she and her student rushed to the scene.
Solon began materializing dark purple across the whole place at the cost of Kronya's life force, he was killing as he began ripping her heart out.
"Solon…! You son of a bitch…!" Kronya demanded him to stop hurting her, but he didn't listen. "Stop this!"
"The time has finally come… to unleash the Forbidden Spell of Zahras upon our enemies!" Solon sentenced as he began unleashing that said power covering the whole place in a dark purple.
"Someone… help me…" Kronya tried to speak and seek help upon seeing both trying to aid her.
However, Byleth realized something was wrong with that dark flame… that thing was trying to erase them from the earth!
"Kronya!" Sora cried out as he hurried to the place trying to reach for her.
"Sora, don't come here!" Byleth called him out pleading him to stay away but it was too late, he was already trapped by that fire... "Sora! NO! Damn it!"
Byleth couldn't help but desperately struggle to break free from Solon spell and in the end, she was also absorbed by the dark flame…
"Be gone with you…Fell Star." Sentenced Solon as he laughed cruelly, as everyone else watched in horror, especially Edelgard, who struggled to hold back her tears helplessly, her man and professor were gone. And then everything went black…
VOID
Sora woke up only to notice that he was trapped in a pure dark place instead of infirmary with Manuela and the others. Was he dead? Did he disappear again without even using the power of walking?
"Hello!" Sora called. "Is anyone here?!" no answer came to his ears. "Byleth! Roxas! Edelgard! Ferdinand! Everyone!"
Sora kneeled down in despair feeling his eyes getting watered and tears pouring down to the ground, he was crying. He felt himself defeated.
"Everyone… Edelgard… I'm sorry… I should've listed to Byleth when I had to." Sora said in broken voice apologizing for his recklessness… If he only had listened to Byleth and not let himself be carried by his impulsive behavior… maybe he would still be alive.
Suddenly… red-colored footprints emerged right before Sora's eyes, whose face was written in intrigue as he cleaned his eyes from his tears. "What is this? Footsteps?"
The footprints highlighted themselves… telling him something he needed to do…
"Do you… want me go and follow them?"
The highlighted tracks said everything… Sora realized immediately that he had to follow the red footsteps and so he did… He began walking following the tracks' lead so he wouldn't get lost in the dark.
Sora walked and walked lots of miles until found something that took him aback…
"Is that…? Kronya!" Sora exclaimed upon seeing her lying on the ground.
Sora ran to the girl and soon found out that she was gravely wounded across her bloody torso and her heart was shattered, but at least she was still conscious.
"You… Why?" she tried to speak in a weak voice.
"Don't worry, I'll heal you right now." Sora said as he casted the Curaga spell to heal her wound and heart, saving her life in the process.
"What… what did you do?" Kronya was amazed by the boy's healing magic as she touched her torso, the wound was gone. "Why are you helping me? I did cruel things to people… I stabbed your teacher's father, if you are locking me in a dungeon or executing me, go ahead."
"At least you are acknowledging your crimes." Byleth showed up from nowhere.
"Byleth!" Sora said in surprise of her sudden appearance. "You too?!"
"I had followed those footsteps and that's how I came to find you." Byleth explained the situation and then turned to Kronya showing mixed feelings. "And about you… It's good that you admit your wrong doings, especially trying to take my father's life. But this is not what it angers me, Kronya… What it really angered me is that Solon did something crueler than your actions."
"Of course! Solon stabbed me here and ripped my heart, to unleash a forbidden spell on you two." Kronya understood her words and mentioned the sinister action from that man.
"What kind of spell?" Sora asked her.
"A forbidden spell that us Agarthans use to wipe out anyone who gets on our way, and this is what that fuckin' bitch did to kill you both." Kronya answered them while speaking ill towards Solon.
"I see, so this is why we're here…" Byleth understood where they were.
"At least Jeralt is being treated at the infirmary, he will be fine… You know? Looks like you have changed a lot since I healed you, Kronya." Sora said after noticing a personality shift, a real change in her behavior.
"Did I? So you noticed it, the Kronya you knew is dead, I'm Monica and I only take control over this body you see. I bet you like what you see, don't you?" Kronya, now known as Monica, confirmed him while teasing him.
"You're Monica, right? How shall we call you?" Byleth began understanding where that was going, somewhat she wasn't feeling any trace of evil darkness within her heart.
"Whatever you like it." Monica let them name her however they felt like.
"Okay… Monica." Sora nodded before going to the serious matter… "Oh yeah… How do we get out of here?"
"No idea…" Monica admitted not having any clue of this.
"Same." Byleth seconded not having any way out of the void…
"You freakin' fools!" the voice of Sothis echoed throughout the place before appearing in front of the three, she was really angry. Really angry.
"Sothis?!" Sora said out of surprise.
"What were you both thinking?! Charging right into an enemy's fucking trap?!" she shouted berating them for their recklessness. "Are you both just a boulder that rolls down whatever hill it's on? No, even a boulder has more sense!"
"We can explain, this!" Byleth tried to clarify the problem.
"Excuse won't cut it off, Byleth! This darkness is terrifying!" Sothis cut her off with a trace of sadness on her voice. "As you, Sora, that girl and I are trapped within this void. But please consider this… This realm of darkness we are in is separate from the world from which you guys came. I mean that it would take a god to leave this place."
"A god?" Monica asked out of intrigue just like the others, there had to be a way out of this terrifying void.
"In time, our hearts and minds will cease to be. Are you all prepared to die?" Sothis made them a frightening question, making it look like they were already dead.
"Forget it! We are not going to die, Sothis! I have a class to take care of!" Byleth showed courage expressing her wish to live to guide her students through a good path.
"That's right! I wanna see Kairi and the others again! So I'm not willing to perish!" Sora agreed.
"I wanna kill that bastard who betrayed and used me as a decoy!" Monica also declared her will to keep herself alive.
"Guys… I though as much. I also do not wish to die." Sothis said solemnly. "And yet… There's no other choice…"
"What choice?" Byleth asked.
"Do you recall your father's diary?" Sothis replied refreshing her memory about what she had read her father's diary in her free time. "He said you were a child who never cried nor laughed. I think I am the one to blame."
"It's not your fault, Sothis." Sora made her see that she was the only reason that his professor is alive.
"I must have been asleep, but even then, I feel I was a part of Byleth." Sothis continued. "I do not know how Rhea managed it, but she allowed me to exist inside of her."
"You were inside her?" Monica inquired her out of curiosity. "I mean, I didn't know you were her heart all this time."
"The truth is I have always been with her. It is within her that I found my power again." Sothis kept making her speech. "The power of a goddess. The power of the progenitor god."
"The power of a goddess?" Byleth said being taken aback, that must be something.
"My name is Sothis. By now you must be well aware of what that means, Byleth" Sothis introduced herself after getting her memory back and telling them her true purpose… "I am the one who watched over Fódlan and the creature dwelling there. I am Sothis, she who died and then returned.
"I think we begin to believe it is true." Sora said beginning to comprehend where this is going.
"There is but one thing left to do to save us from this darkness of eternity." Sothis warned them. "I must now use the power of a god."
"What are you planning to do?" Monica asked with expectation.
"However, I lack a body of my own. And so, I must relinquish all the power that I have… to Byleth." Sothis let out a warning shockin' everyone.
"You are gonna relinquish and give up your powers to her?!" Sora spoke in surprise, that can't be true, can it?
"Yes, Sora. The time has come for her and I to join as one. And when that comes to pass…then I shall disappear." Sothis affirmed his question showing melancholy on her face.
"No, I can't allow this, Sothis. You can't." Byleth protested.
"When I say disappear, I do not mean that all I am will be no more." Sothis explained to her. "My soul will join with yours, and you and I will join never be apart. But… I will no longer have the chance to speak with you. I shall miss it. So long I have been on this path with you. Through you, I got to see and hear this world. I even got to chastise you and Sora from time and time. I may not have acted like a goddess, but… it was certainly fun."
"Sothis…" said the trio in unison expressing sadness on their faces.
"For all that you guys have done… Thank you. I'm glad that it was you whom my fate was bound." Sothis gave them thanks for what they had done to her.
"Thank you, Sothis…for everything." Byleth thanked her aside of saying good bye as she shed a tear across her cheek.
"Now… We must pray. For it we share this wish, our spirits two will join as one…" Sothis began chanting the biggest spell… "Your wish… is to return to the forest alongside Sora and Monica, stop the enemy and rescue the little ones. No need for words. I know your heart as though it were my own, Byleth…"
Sothis sat up from her throne chair and walked downstairs towards Byleth with a smile on her face knowing that this was the only way out of the freaking void.
"Your will and mine are now as one." Sothis said as she was walking closer. "Both sides of time are revealed to you…and you alone, Byleth."
"I'm ready." Byleth replied awaiting that said fusion.
"You know I am the Beginning. What shall you do?" Sothis asked her.
"Let's join our forces." Byleth gave her the green light.
"Very well…" Sothis accepted as she called out a lot of golden particles which covered not only both of them, but Sora and Monica too.
"What… What?!" Monica was surprised at what they were about to witness.
"No way!" Sora seconded in surprise as well.
It was at this moment when finally, Byleth and Sothis emerged together, making the professor's hair and eyes light-green colored and then… her sword resounded and got a new power.
"Byleth! Look at you!" Sora was amazed by his professor's new look and power.
"Did you like it?" Byleth asked in a badass tone. "Now, let's join our forces and get out of here."
"I've got an idea." Sora came up with a plan to escape. "Let's join our weapons so we tear this thing apart."
"Let me help." Monica asked them to join.
Suddenly, their weapons joined each other and became a powerful and huge sword as a result of their joint will.
"We'll perform a Reality Shift to cut through the darkness, are you ready, girls?" Sora indicated them.
"Yes." Both girls nodded willingly.
It was then when the trio lift and swung the huge sword, creating a bigger fissure as a way out for them. They didn't waste time and jumped out of the darkness returning to the surface in the process and take on Solon and the others once of all…
[Byleth has obtained the Sublime Creator Sword]
[Monica joined the party]
FEW MINUTES EARLIER…
Upon seeing the atrocity that Solon made, Edelgard and the students were left in shock and awe after seeing Byleth and Sora disappear through the dark flame.
"That could only have been magic!" she said in disbelief and shock. "What happened to Sora and Byleth?"
"They were swallowed by the mystical darkness of the forbidden spell." Solon declared hurting words about the duo. "An eternity wandering in a void of nothingness, never to return to this world… to think we almost had the Sword of the Creator…"
"You're lying! Sora and our professor are alive, I know it!" Caspar spat refusing to believe that bullcrap.
"Sora ain't one of those people who die easily, do you really thing that he won't overcome the darkness? You are delusional if you think you won!" Roxas said also believing in his friend's strength.
"That's right! Byleth isn't an ordinary human! And neither Sora is!" Flayn stated believing in the duo's power, they wouldn't fall in despair just because somebody said so.
"It is hard to fathom that our professor and classmate would die in a place like this." Hubert agreed with everyone's mindset.
"It is possible that death has yet to find your friends. But there are worse things than death." Solon continued speaking in a menacing voice, trying to get them to kneel down in despair… "Drifting through the darkness with no chance of escape… Overwhelmed with hopelessness… it must be torturous."
"Do you really think you are gonna drive us into despair?" Celica began roasting him. "You seemingly know how to attack defenseless people… but not someone who can fight back, you old hag."
"You're already boasting a victory, but know this- if you did use such devious tricks to stop them… I swear that you will regret it." Edelgard warned him about the consequences he will face.
"I cannot help but agree with her this once." Ferdinand supported her statement against Solon. "Even if Byleth and Sora are trapped in darkness, that is not the end of their story."
"I will not forgive such arrogance." Solon threatened. "If you prefer it so, you shall also be added to the ranks of the dead!"
"Prepare to have your hearts taken from you…" Young Xehanort sentenced them.
Solon was about to massacre everyone when a huge fissure showed up from nowhere.
"What the deuce?!" Caspar shouted in surprise.
"So the Fell Star consumes even the darkness itself…" Solon was taken aback upon seeing Byleth back to the world.
"Hello, assholes. Things didn't go as you wanted, huh?" Byleth said with a smirk on her face.
"You were supposed to be trapped in the darkness with that brat." Solon gritted in frustration.
"Are you talking about me?" Sora showed up alongside Monica, whom the man saw in anger.
"That's impossible!" Xehanort exclaimed in disbelief.
"What the hell?! You were supposed to be dead!" Solon groaned in shock and madness.
"I was... No, the girl you sacrificed was Kronya, you old hag. Me, Monica, recovered this body and I no longer serve the Agarthans!" Monica revealed surprising everyone.
"You bitch…! You will regret talking ill towards us!" Solon tried to terrify her, but she wasn't afraid, not anymore.
"Sora, Byleth, Monica… is it you, right?" Edelgard was relieved seeing them back in action. "I knew that you always come back to us. I'd like to ask about your appearance, teacher, but for now, let's go kick their asses."
"I'm glad to see you guys. All right, team. Let's get this party started." Byleth began coming out with strategy. "Sora, Monica, Edelgard, Roxas, Celica, Dorothea and I will attack the front, the rest of you will attack and destroy the dark creatures you find."
"Got it, professor." Sylvain agreed, just like everyone else, the three franks was to be covered in order to clean up this mess.
"What did you see in the darkness of Zahras? This should be impossible. The only being that can withstand that darkness is… Unless I dispose of you myself, I may never have the chance to send you back there!" Solon threatened to make their lives miserable.
"Ha! You will need more than that to kill us." Byleth challenged pointing her renewed sword at him.
[INFORMATION: Defeat Solon and Xehanort!]
The Black Eagles spread out in 3 groups across the field to take the monsters down using their respective techniques and skills, meanwhile, Sora's team faced tougher demonic beasts as well as some heartless, nobodies and even a few unversed among their way against Solon.
The dark creatures and the demonic beats surrounded them but the group had a plan on their own…
"This shouldn't be a problem for us. Everyone, let's get rid of these monsters so we can get Byleth to reach for Solon." Edelgard indicated the actions to take.
The team nodded right before performing their respective special attacks; Dorothea and Sora casted double Thundaga on the demonic beasts and some heartless, Celica entered in Mila's love limit form and performed Sonic Blade on few nobodies to wipe them off, Roxas destroyed three demonic beasts and few unversed with the Magic Hour spell, Edelgard performed an spin attack against the remaining dark creatures, and Monica used her tails to wipe the last of the monsters, clearing the area for Byleth to approach Solon without any problem.
"Byleth, go!" Roxas indicated her.
"Thank you, guys." Byleth thanked them as she headed to where her next target was standing. "Sora, go face Xehanort!"
"Got it!" Sora accepted and went on to face him.
Solon was watching in horror as the team wiped his remaining henchmen off and the professor slowly approached him, ready to strike him down.
"Solon…" Byleth said shooting him a dead serious glare.
"I am terrified by you…" Solon tried hard to look tough speaking but right deep within his person, he was really horrified. "Even though an emotion like fear has no place inside me."
"Everyone can experience fear, even some evil people like you." Byleth said as she kept getting closer.
"That means you must be eliminated!" Solon yelled in blind fury as he casted a dark spell trying to kill her, but to his misfortune, she successfully avoided the attack with a good timing dodge aside.
"No… You are the one who must be killed!" Byleth sentenced as she performed a critical and fatal blow across the pale man's torso with her sword, defeating him in the process.
It was an overwhelming and powerful attack that Solon had ever received, it was fatal wound that Byleth performed on him, his arrogance led him to his demise as he lied down on his own pool of blood. "To think… that I would lose to mere beasts. But this is not the end…"
"What is that supposed to mean?" Byleth interrogated him, she became intrigued with those words.
"Thales… Thales will carry out our mission, somehow…" in his last breath, Solon gave her a warning about something that would put the world at stake. Who was Thales?
After telling her, Solon finally perished and Byleth joined her students…
Meanwhile, Sora and Xehanort clashed their keyblades creating shaking wave between each other, the man tried to cut him down but Sora countered and retaliated by performing a strong Ars Arcanium combo attack, defeating him.
"No bad… Looks like you have been getting stronger than I thought… but, there is going to be a much more tougher opponent you have to face sooner or later…" Xehanort gave him a rather threatening warning before fading away through the corridor of darkness…
"It's over. Now, Byleth. About your appearance…" Edelgard began as she scanned her professor. "That hair… and those eyes… You remind me of someone. What happened to you? You look like… changed!"
"Well, let's say that the goddess gifted me her power, and that's how Monica, Sora and I came out of the void." Byleth explained, leaving the future empress stunned and a little disdained.
"The goddess?" Edelgard said in a little disbelief. "I see… Well, I'm happy for you. Your weapon is called the Sword of the Creator, after all. It's not wonder she looks favorably upon you. Just as it was with Saint Seiros, no doubt… And just how will you use this new power, Byleth?"
"I'm im going to use my newly found power… is to protect my people like you and Sora." Byleth gave her a solid answer.
"That's… In other words, you mean us?" Edelgard was taken aback by her teacher's words. "Tell me, Byleth… if the world, and your students included, were to divide and go to war with each other, what would you do? In that scenario, each side would represent both the world and your students. Who would you-?"
Suddenly, Byleth felt her eyes go heavy and passed out.
"Byleth?" Have you… fallen asleep?!" Edelgard said out of concern seeing her professor lying down on the grass.
"Byleth?! Byleth!" Sora called her out showing up in the scene. "Is she okay?"
"She is, Sora. She's just fallen asleep, nothing to be worried about." Edelgard assured him. "This must be a side effect of her recent… changes. We can't just leave here… I think you should help me carry her to her bedroom."
"Right." Sora accepted as the two began carrying her to the bedroom to leave her to rest.
END OF CHAPTER 38
A/N: Aaaand there you have it! It took me a lot of days to complete this chapter. And we are near the end of the White Clouds arc and close to war phase. That means we will come to see everyone all grown up including Sora and new allies and enemies.
Stay tuned!