- Imperial Year 1175: Verdant Moon: August 20th: 3 days left: Amir: 16, Arisa:14, Alexandra: 14 -

- Dream -

In the middle of a lake she stood. The water was pitch black as she stood on the surface of it, the feeling was nothing but ice cold. Bubbles rippled from underneath it's surface, each one that pop, a scream of horror or agony screamed out. Why was she here? It wasn't just her. She felt like she was the goddess. She took a step back, fear creeping into her body. The water then began to turn crimson, no longer did it feel cold, but terrifying. She kept taking steps back as the screams became louder and louder. The crimson water held the smell of iron, it was so overpowering, she felt like vomiting. Human like figures began to rise out of the water, covered in boiled blood. Soulless pure black eyes looked at her in numbers of hundreds. Each one was either a grown man, a woman, even children. Their hands clawed at her dress, leaving their bloody finger stains on it. They cried and wept. Tears of blood feel from their empty eye sockets. Screams and cries held the sounds of gurgling, as inf they were chocking on their own blood. The girl screamed, horrified but her own scream was a combination of hers and the Goddess.

"Mother...mother..."

"Please help us..."

"Help...help..."

"HELP US MOTHER!" All the figures boomed at once and she ran for her life, but she didn't make it far.

She screamed as multiple hands came out of the water and grabbed her, pulling her down to the boiled blood lake. She kept reaching out her hand, screaming for someone to help her. But all she saw were cold eyes as they brought down a blade. That's right...

She was experiencing The Death of Goddess.

- End of Dream -

"RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

She had screamed so loud that she bolted awake from her bed. She panted, her body sweating, the red gem on her gold chain had shattered to dust. Her door slammed open and she turned to see her friends and family, all holding weapons, ready to attack an intruder. That scream sounded as if someone killed her.

"ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" Jeralt said worried as he had his lance ready to defend his daughter and looked over to her after Florencio stepped out of the way.

Why did Sandy have an iron skillet instead of her daggers? His daughter usually tied her hair into two braids before she went to bed but right now it was a complete mess. The girls were just so tired from yesterday's brutal training with Hana that she just went to sleep like that. Her brown colored hair that faded for teal had grown so much longer that it spilled a bit on the floor. Looks like she needs to cut it... again. Bloody hell, it grew longer again.

"I'm...alright...everyone..." she muttered quietly through her hair since it was also lose over her face, she had her hair down, basically looking like the grudge at the moment.

"What was that?! This is the 3rd time this month you have woken up screaming like someone killing you!" Her friend, a Duscur girl with shoulder length pink silver hair, gray colored eyes, and was currently wearing a sleeveless shirt and pajama shorts, said as she placed her left hand on her waist and lowered the kitchen knife she got a hold of running to her room.

"You're going to see Elder Bara! I'm sure she can help you out!" Her second friend with dark blue hair tied in side ponytail, antenna like feathers on her head, and wore a black t-shirt and pajama pants said as she placed down the bat she had on the table.

She sighs and groans into her hands as her father walked up to her and gently moved her hair out of her face, revealing tried brown colored eyes that faded to green.

"Byleth, I don't think you should go on your journey in this condition. Having these nightmares may be an omen after all." Jeralt said and he saw her eyes narrowed, which wasn't a good sign.

"It's 8 in the morning and I'm not having this argument with you again dad. I'm going and that is final." She said kicked the blanket off her bed and jumped off.

She walked up to Amir, extended her hand to give her the kitchen knife, which the girl was hesitant about because seeing all her hair.

"Arisa...what a-" that question was answered by Florencio's horrific scream as Arisa took the knife from her hands, grabbed a good portion of her hair, sent magic into it, and cut a good chunk off.

Arisa's long hair that once spilled to the floor, was now at the length of her mid waist. The forest colored haired girl stabbed the kitchen knife into her wooden table and glared at the mirror, her own reflection. She looked so tired and worn out. Arisa sighed as she turned to her family. This was not her. She should not be acting this way. Why is she acting this way?

"I'm sorry...these... I'm just..." she buried her face in her hands again.

Her emotions have just been out of control lately and everyone could see it was now starting to take a real toll on her. Jeralt gently patted her head and nodded.

"If you need to talk, don't hesitate to. Come on, get yourself ready. We're going to see Elder Bara." He said and the girl nodded, refusing to look at any of them right now.

Arisa felt ashamed. She felt like she was a child all over again who had no control of their emotions. Was the effect of reliving puberty all over again doubled? She felt...like a total bitch. Sandy sighed as she picked up the cut locks of hair carefully and spoke.

"I'll prepare some green tea with sugar cane. It should help you relax." Her aunt said softly, and the girl nodded as she went to her bathroom and shut the door.

Everyone sighed as they left her room, Alexandra looked around. Not much has changed but Arisa's room has grown much fuller. She had bookshelves on all the walls, each one filled with books, her desk was littered with papers, paint brushes in wooden cups, a drawer next to it filled with papers, sketch books, paint, ink, and trinkets. One shelf was protected with a magic barrier because it displayed her collection of teacups, she had collected over the years along with other things. Her other desk that was used for making potions had a pile of 7 books, all about medicine. And on her door hung was a dream catcher she made with a calendar.

"Hoot."

Alexandra extended her arm to let Feh land on her. The snowy owl had grown beautiful with beautiful white feathers that had small bits of silver.

"Feh...only you seen what Arisa is going through. Sigh...Sothis and her are becoming one at extremely slow process. Even more now that she wields a Heroes Relic. Just like...Cirina and I..." Alexandra sighed as Feh looked into her once Azure eyes, that now faded to a blood red.

Feh chirp and the girl gently petted her. Today felt like it was going to be long.

- Bathroom -

She just sat still in the warm steaming water, letting the scent of lavender make her tense body relaxed and her sore muscles heal. Arisa hugged her knees as she stared at nothing.

"I'm so sorry I'm making you go through this...It is faint but this is exactly what I went through growing up before I came to this world." Arisa heard Sothis's voice and looked up, seeing the goddess in her usual regalia, looking at her worried.

"I'm seeing your memories... I'm living through them...war..." Arisa mumbled as her eyes held a glare, but not towards the goddess, but the ones responsible killing "her".

"Do not let my anger control you." Sothis said as she let herself sink into the water even if she felt nothing, "My anger, the anger and sorrow of my people, do not let it control you. Do not let it blind you." She said as the two girls held hands.

"Sothis...it hurts..." Arisa said as she finally let her tears fall, "It hurts...seeing them killed...it hurts...it feels like they are family...it hurts...part of me is in denial even if I had known the truth before I came to this world...yet...now experiencing something that was nothing but fiction where I originally came from...it hurts..." she whimpered.

Sothis smiled softly as she hugged the girl to her chest.

"I know Arisa...I know..."

- 2 hours later -

After two hours in her bathroom to the point someone thought she had drowned herself, Arisa emerged from her room, fully dressed in a white button up long sleeve shirt with a long black skirt. On her waist, was her rapier version of the Sword of the Creator, sheath in a special one made of umbral and wootz steel to hide its power and appearance, her purse, and her hair was put in a high ponytail with the green ribbon that was gifted to her, the loose part of the ponytail was braided, stopping just below her waist line, her usual long bangs but her right one was braid with a blue ribbon. She wore black boots with black tights, and one earring that was the shape of a star and the other was the moon and sun. On her neck were the two charms from Dadga. In her hands, was her gold chain that she hopes can repaired. She walked to the kitchen, there she saw everyone eating, and they turned to look at her.

"Morning. Feeling better?" Florencio asked as he took a bite from his bread and the girl nodded.

"I am actually. But I still think would be best to see Grandma. Yawwwnnn..." the girl yawned as she grabbed the first thing in her sight, a Zanado fruit.

It was a four-star shaped fruit with yellow skin but when you cut it open, the flesh was green. In this case, the girl always ate it like it was an apple. The taste reminded her of a combination of apples, cherries, pomegranates and kiwis, which happen to be her favorite fruits. It was extremely rare go even be able to get your hands on this fruit but since she got lucky in getting her hands on a fruit 2 years ago and kept the seeds to grow, in Florencio's green house that was built, they grew 5 rare Zanado fruit trees along with hundreds of rare herbs. The girl took a bite out of it, squealing at the fruity, tart and citrus taste, chewed and spit out the seeds into a napkin before swallowing.

"You still save the seeds?" Amir said as she took a sip of her orange juice.

"Of course, I do. We need to them to grow a few more trees. Also, please tell me we didn't ran out of sugar cane cider?" She said and Jeralt chuckled.

"No, we haven't. It's too early to be drinking that so go serve yourself breakfast. We'll be going to Elder Bara in a bit." He said, she nodded as she sat next to Alexandra and reached for a piece of toast.

"Whoa..." the girl said as she looked at Arisa's hand, her nails were...pointy.

Arisa looked and just slammed her head on the table. These changes are becoming too much for her.

"FOR FUCKS SAKE!"

"LANGUAGE YOUNG LADY!"

[-]

It felt like she was getting slammed multiple times by a wrecking ball. The first phase was that Sothis's sleeping habits are now a part of her, the second one was that some of her speech pattern has changed but thankfully not to the point people think she's cocky. At most, "Yes, I suppose", or "Atone at once!", or "Hmmm...Is that so." Usually that side of her came out during battle. These past 5 years have just been a whole new phase of changes in her body that it was just so annoying. Her hair keeps growing longer, her chest is a bit bigger than usual (maybe that's normal but damn the melons she has), more curves, her nails are growing unnaturally long that she must cut them multiple times a week. Her singing has greatly improved but she must be careful because she accidentally put the entire village sleep by accident one time. She had unconsciously fused magic with her voice and now she fears she is literally a siren. She has an unnatural craving for sour things. Other than growing and becoming a damn horny teenager all over again, her hormones are just...out of control. She's bi, and thankfully her father already knew because apparently her mother was the same. Arisa has hit on girls, but thankfully nothing like Sylvian. Nah, just cute comments and small flirts, something she is beyond grateful for. Let us not forget that at this age, most teenagers are looking at porn in her old world. She still has her guilty pleasure of reading erotica novels. The worst of all, around March in 1171 her Crest activated in the middle of a battle and fully displayed itself. Arisa was just horrified that it showed itself and worst of all, her father, Sandy, Florencio and the team they had that day, Acia, Helena, Ares and Yofos, witnessed it. Ares already knew she had a Crest but the rest...did not. Like usual, her father made the team swear silence, that they would not say a word about it. Since then, Arisa had developed a spell that could hide her crest from all kinds of magic tools and make it look like she has a Major Crest of Serios at most. Her strength and magic have been increasing at a rapid pace, thankfully she learned to control it quickly, thanks to Hana's instructions. She mastered Daylight, took two years and another two years to master Moonlight.

"What's next...turning into a dragon..." Arisa whispered she was walking behind her father, but she froze.

She remembered that Byleth did have that ability, to turn into a dragon like Rhea but...that would completely abolish her humanity and make her descend to godhood.

"No, no, no, no! I don't want to lose my humanity!" She mentally screamed as she looked at the worried Sothis, who spoke.

"Now, one moment." Sothis said as she floated in front of her, "The blood of the sky dragon, runs through your veins, but even if you are able to turn to such, your body would not be able to properly handle it. You'll go on a rampage and be out of control. The urges to destroy. The most you could do is turn to one temporary like those characters you written in your books. Manakete, right?" Sothis said and Arisa mentally answered her back.

"Yes, and those stories are real. Just like we came from different worlds, those stories, the people in them, do exist but in different worlds, far away from this one. And the few we have met, are different versions of them. Sigh...I wonder if Beast stones or dragon stones exist in this world because I would gladly like one out of emergency." Arisa said as they reached Elder Bara's house.

"Quick question," Sothis said as she floated next to her friend, "how old is Elder Bara?" She asked.

"95 years old and still kicking." Arisa said back and Jeralt knocked on the door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" They heard a muffled yell and the door open, about six woolly bugs flew out and Elder Elder Bara was there covered in wool.

Arisa and Jeralt just looked at the woman with wide eyes, while Zach came out panting.

"Sorry Captain! Was helping my grandmother with a couple positions." He said and he was covered in leaves of different colors.

"Cough...it's alright. Elder Bara," he turned to her, "I need your help. Its Byleth. This is the 3rd time this month she has woken up screaming as if someone is murdering her. The nightmares seem to be getting worse." He said and the old woman turned to her and looked her up and down.

Arisa still had those two streaks of white hair that never went away. She pulled out her gold chain and showed the old woman that gem had shattered completely. Zach whistled.

"Damn...That is...not a good sign..." he said and screeched when Elder Bara poked him in the ribs with her wooden cane.

"Only Byleth may come in. The rest of you, stay out! And you!" She pointed her wooden cane to Zach, who quickly put his arms up in defense, "Go find a wife! I want great grandchildren!" She said and Arisa gave him a pat on the back, with a "good luck" smile.

Inside the house was nice and cozy, the scent of herbs filled the place along with coffee. There were different things from Brigid and Dadga, artifacts that represented the culture of shamanism, she blinked multiple times at the strange green stone displayed in a glass case. Its surface was blurry but she could tell something was in it. Some sort of image.

"Ifi, could you please bring us some rose bud tea?" Elder Bara said to a female fae, a silky, who smiled kindly and nodded as she went to the kitchen to get the tea tray and snacks.

Ifi, is her name and apparently, she has been serving Zach's family for generations, but they always treat her as family. The two walked to a wooden table and Arisa sat across from her.

"You been going through a wave of things, haven't you?" Elder Bara said and Arisa nodded.

"It's...troubling..." Arisa said as she let go of a sigh.

"I know dear...It's quite common really. Especially for those of us who are connected into the flow of magic. What you are experiencing is not only the usual puberty change but also, a sync." She said.

"A sync?" Arisa said confused and the Elder chuckled.

"It means that the spirit protecting you and your soul are resonating, becoming one. You are experiencing memories of their past life, as if you are them." She said and saw the girl frown a bit, "But it is not a bad thing. It means you are growing. Your power is growing, as well as your soul. The world around us changes, but it is up to you. As you grow, you change. And as you change, you also grow. My dear, embrace who you are, no matter what changes are coming your way." She said with a warm smile and Arisa smiled sadly.

Ifi arrived with a tray with two wooden mugs filled with rose hip tea and plate filled with madeleines covered with honey. She placed them down on the table and Arisa took out from her bag a few caramels and handed it to her. Ifi smiled and nodded, it was Arisa's way of thanking her. The silkie excuses herself and the two women begin talking again.

"I'm worried Grandma...what if my power goes out of control again? I don't want to accidentally put the entire village to sleep again." She said and Elder Bara laughed.

"Oh, that was quite the show! You were in full panic, running around. Thankfully, I was with Florencio in his medical shop and the barrier protected us. After we finally calmed you down and the spirit also, we had you sing again but this time with the intention to wake everyone up." She laughed wholeheartedly and Arisa pouted, that day was embarrassing.

"I still regret it..." she pouted with her arms crossed.

"Now dear," Elder Bara smiled softly, "three more days till your birthday and leaving off on your coming of age ceremony. What do you plan to do?" Elder Bara said.

"I plan to go to The Church of Serios and take the Holy Magus exam." Arisa said, not breaking eye contact.

The Elder was silent as she studied the girl quietly. She can see hundreds of small wisps of souls surrounding the girl, many held good intentions to protect this child. She knew that the spirit that has been watching the girl since her day of birth has passed down its power to her. It was a heavy burden, almost as if the weight of the world was on this girl's shoulders. She closed her eyes, stood up from her chair, walked towards the blue colored stone in a glass case, and gently took it out.

"Many years ago," her back was facing the girl, " during my younger days, I used to travel around the lands near Fodlan." She smiled softly, "There was a young woman I met in Sreng, in a place in the middle of a desert, in ancient ruins. She wore ancient attire, yet she looked so young, no older than 25. I had heard stories of a young maiden living in the desserts of Sreng. There, she lived with a Beast called, The Wind Caller. I was quite a fool back then, challenging the beast for the treasure he protected. But...I lost that challenge." She laughed as she turned to the girl, the stone in her hands.

"However, unlike the previous bandits who tried to steal the treasure, I also learned they were after that young maiden. Hmphm." She said as she began to walk back to her chair, " I see no point. I can tell that girl was happy there with the Beast that called himself Macuil. ' I lost the battle, so I shall leave. Thank you. Seems I have yet to earn the right to even lay my eyes on such treasures.' I said. Haha. I can never forget the shocked faces the two had at my words. I may have lost the battle, but I learned a valuable lesson that day. After I have healed, I got up and about to leave till that young woman called out to me." She sat down on her chair and took a sip of her tea.

Arisa and Sothis were silent as they heard the old woman's story. It was rare for Elder Bara to talk about her past, especially her travels.

" 'Thank you...you're the first human to have respected us. Many have come only for the promise of gold or to try and take me away from my home. I...please accept this." The young woman named Melody said as she handed me this stone. I was shocked, and honestly about to protest because I could not simply accept something of such value. It did not feel right. But...haha...Macuil scoffed and turned his back towards me before he spoke." She said, remembering his words.

"' Just accept it. No use protesting. Hmph, perhaps you humans haven't fallen as low as I thought. Now get out of our sight and never come again." He said and after that, I full on witness a lover's quarrel. Hahaha! The way she scolded him for using his tone on me and the look of defeat he had! He didn't want to hear any more, so he picked her up with his tail and flew off with her. The poor woman yelling to him, "THIS ISN'T OVER! WE'RE NOT FINISHED TALKING!" hahaha!" She said and the two chuckled.

"That stone...it holds a lot of memories." Arisa smiled softly and the Elder chuckled.

"It does, but..." she smiled as she stood once more and gently picked up the girl's hands, placing the green stone in them, "I believe it will have a better purpose with you my dear." She said and Arisa looked at her shocked.

"Elder Bara, I can't accept this! This was given to you! Not me! I can't accept something that has so much importance to you!" Arisa protected till she was flicked on her forehead.

"No use protesting with me either. The gold chain is now too weak to protect you, but this," you touched the stone, "it can. Send a bit of your magic into it," Elder Bara said.

Arisa was hesitant but Sothis nodded. The girl gulped as she touched the stone, a small wave of magic flowing through her fingers to it.

It pulsed. The stone glowed a mixture of blue and green, it felt as if it was pulsing, like heartbeat.

"It's warm..." Arisa muttered as she felt a warm sensation filled her, as she held it to her chest, it almost felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders.

Elder Bara smiled as she held the girl's hand.

"I know you can do it dear. Never be afraid of who you are." She said and the girl smiled softly.

"Thank you...for believing in me."

[-]

With the stone hanging on her chest, Elder Bara had it made into a necklace. Despite the stone being the size of her heart, the girl swore to protect it with her life. Arisa smiled as she walked back to her home, and opened the door, her basket she carried filled with treats that Elder Bara gifted her for her journey. She raised an eyebrow seeing the place was empty and walked into the kitchen, a note on the table next to a bowl of freshly picked Zanado fruits. She picked it and read it.

"We'll be back around late at night. There was an emergency at a nearby village. Don't worry, Amir already gave Red Hare his food, and is currently using him. Puka isn't exactly happy about it. Feh is with Alexandra helping the hunting group along. I just hope Falco doesn't burn down a tree again. Take this day off. I hope everything went well with Elder Bara kiddo. Take care.

- Jeralt (Dad)

Arisa smiled softly as she put the letter down on the table. She let go of a sigh as she looked around the house.

"It has been awhile since it's been cleaned. Hmm..." she placed the basket down and the palm her hands glowed, brooms, mops, feather dusters and broom pan floated, as if they were alive. She smiled to them.

"Help me clean the place up please." She said and off the went to clean the place.

Arisa was going to clean Florencio's room; the place was a disaster. She walked down the hallway and to his room, opened the door and nearly screamed because all the books and papers all over the place, not to mention also clothing.

"I feel like I just walked into Manuela's room." Arisa said and far away, the said songstress, sneezed.

The girl sighed as she walked to the window, opened the curtains, opened the windows, she screeched when a couple of woolly bugs flew out along with a few fae.

"Really Florencio...?" She groans as the sunlight illuminates the room.

The floor scattered with papers and books; the wall next to the maple wooden desk had papers taped all over with notes written on them. The desk was littered with open books, which was a crime already. Clothing piled on the desk chair; the shelves unorganized. She questioned how the hell it was possible that he kept his medical shop completely clean and organized yet his room was a total mess. She sighed one more as she began to pick up books and start cleaning the place.

- 1 hour later -

It's been an hour of cleaning and it felt like it would never end. Meanwhile, the rest of the house was done thanks to her magic. It felt like she was in her brother's room all over again.

"Aarrgghh! Really Florencio!" She smacked down Florencio's slipper on a cockroach and you could hear the "pop!".

Sothis grimaced and was grateful the girl wasn't afraid of bugs (except spiders) unlike her. The goddess looked around, bored, till she spotted something strange. A black colored book that was partly opened but... there was something inside it.

"How odd..." she said, and Arisa finished killing 4 cockroaches, and turned to her, confused.

"What's wrong?" Arisa said as she looked towards the direction Sothis floated to.

The goddess pointed at the black book and Arisa walked over to it and picked it up.

"It's a Black Magic grimoire. Even I have one." She said and opened it but was thrown off to see something inside it.

It was a glass tablet. The girl took it out, confused as she just stared at it. It literally was just a tablet size piece of glass with a strange 2-millimeter rectangular hole on it's right side.

"The hell is this?" Arisa muttered as she looked back into the book and saw a folded piece of paper.

She took it out and unfolded it, nearly dropping the damn tablet in shock as she stared at the high advance futuristic map. This map was very similar to the ones she would look up online when she would write fan fiction back when she was 14 in her old world.

"This map...like it was made using programs like Photoshop, InDesign and others. Why does Florencio have this...? Then..." she stared back at the glass tablet, "could this be... advanced technology?" Arisa muttered as her body was shaking, a crooked smile forming her face as she began laughing nervously, Sothis thinking she was going mad.

Arisa put the map and tablet back, closed the book, shoved it into her magic purse, and decided to finish cleaning the room. Which unfortunately took another 2 hours. She was cursing a mountain of profanities in Spanish while she cleaned.

[-]

"So, out of safety measures, you decide to warp yourself to the cave, 8 hours away from the village, in case this thing has something that could track people down?" Sothis said as Arisa had small ball of fire floating near them to illuminate the place.

This caved she discovered around 10 years ago. It also happened to be the cave she had accidentally warped herself when she failed miserably trying her first warping spell. Yeah, her father was worried sick when they couldn't locate her till the hours later thanks to Elder Bara's cat familiar.

"I'm not risking the village getting tracked down, even if it can't be tracked because of the barrier Florencio has over it." Arisa said as she took out the book and opened it.

Carefully taking out the tablet, she studied it for a moment, searching for a power button but there was none. She grumbled but, maybe sending a bit of her magic into it will work. She did that and nothing.

"Are you kidding me-oww!" She had accidentally cut her finger on the side of the tablet, a drop of blood fell in the center and...the tablet instantly activated, nearly making her drop it from screaming.

She quickly healed the cut, both her and Sothis stared at the device in shock. A hologram screen appeared, showing multiple files, and ancient lettering but of course, she knew these letterings because they were like the language of Fodlan.

"So, blood...Claude wasn't kidding when he said Agarthans love using blood." She muttered.

"This is going to refresh my brain...it's been 11 years since I used technology from my old world." She thought and began tapping and scrolling through the things.

How she wished Christian was with her because he was a hacker back in her old days. There were system settings up and quickly checked it, everything on how to use a tablet, a computer and such was coming back to her. Thankfully there was no tracking device in this thing, nor did it send a signal because it was disconnected. She's going to hack this thing, one way or another and forcefully make it work on her terms. A hologram keyboard appeared and like in her old days, from the basic hacking skills her brother taught her, her fingers were a blur. Thank the Virgen de Guadalupe she took coding classes with Theresa!

"But...why does Florencio have this...?" Arisa muttered.

Meanwhile, Sothis had scowl on her face as she sat down on a bolder, watching the girl working on this strange thing. She hated it. She had this deep resentment looking at that "tablet". Perhaps it in the past, the one who created it, hurt her. She didn't even know if she wanted answers.

"GOT IT!" Arisa's joyful yell the Goddess snap out of it.

Arisa basically made the tablet her personal (bitch) device. She hacked it completely, thankfully the security system on this thing wasn't as advanced as the ones from Earth. Meaning, she can safely have this thing online without ever being tracked down. But right now, she was looking at hundreds of digital documents. She remembered Florencio told her many years about that he used to work in the underground black market. Countless documents of nobles, regular people, and higher ups alike, request to have them killed. Documents on poisons, weapons, even worse, gruesome descriptions of deaths and how they died. Arisa felt sick but this information...at the same time could help her. She looked at a classified document and clicked it. Inside were digital documents of higher officials from the church, age, birthdate, if they had a Crest or not.

"Shit...there is also record of family trees...information regarding Crest also..." she muttered and saw one particular name in the list.

Serios

Arisa made quick look to Sothis, who nodded. The girl took a deep sigh as she clicked it, hundreds if not thousands of documents regarding Rhea popped out. Arisa frowned as she closed it. It would take her months to go through that information. She took out her small owl necklace, popped off the head, taking out the USB flash drive. She plugged it in, the same process she just did to make sure no one could track her down, seeing information on Crest and bloodlines. Part of the information was coded while the other part she could read. The details were...gruesome that she had to run behind a boulder to vomit. Sothis was silent as she watched the girl gasping for air and grinned crookedly.

"I bloody hate you...Those Who Slither in the Dark..." she muttered as she looked back to the holographic screen, the image of Alexandra and Lord Alexander was there...along with information of the children nobles and adults with Crest.

Dimitri, Edelgard, Claude, Brenadetta, Ingrid, Linhardt...basically all her students and adults she will meet in the future that had Crest. Even information regarding her father, aunt and uncle. Sandy and Florencio marked as traitors.

"You uncle and aunt...seems before they met your father... they were part of that horrific group...Arisa..." Sothis muttered as she saw the girl gritting her teeth, her body shaking.

"Don't jump to conclusions..." Arisa muttered to herself as she stared at the images of Sandy and Florencio.

Marked as traitors...meaning they left when they met her father. They chose to leave, despite the targets on their backs. Meaning...

"They chose to change for their sake and the people they met." Sothis said as she hugged the girl like usual.

"Arisa...I'm glad you suddenly didn't jump to conclusions...many would have and rush out on impulse... yet you managed to control your emotions...even if just barely. You did well child. You did well." Sothis said and Arisa was shaking out both anger and sorrow.

"I can't face them now... not after...seeing this..." Arisa muttered.

"You don't have too..."

Instantly, she took out The Sword of the Creator (Rapier version) and swung it, just barely stopping a few inches from Florencio's glasses. The purple haired man was silent as he saw the cold glare his niece was giving him. He knew, she was furious, angry, a wave of emotions he saw the girl radiating.

"Florencio...what are you doing here?" She hissed coldly, and he saw the tips underneath her fingers freeze the ground underneath.

His heart ached. The way she said his name was filled with venom, not kindness and love. She always called him Uncle...yet the way she said his name, was as if she was looking at trash.

"We returned early, and your father was impressed by how clean you left the house. I was more shocked to see my room clean...and noticed a book missing." He said calmly as he was trying not to provoke her.

"Hmphm..." she said and lowered her sword she stood up, picking up the tablet, shutting it down, and shoved the thing into her bag.

"I'm not giving this back." She said coldly and he sighed.

"Byleth, do you have any idea what that thing is? The danger you are putting yourself in if someone other than us in the village discovers it?" He said and Byleth spoke.

"I do know what it is, and I know the dangers. I know how to work it." She said.

A tense one-minute silence followed till she spoke again.

"Back when I was four years old... you were telling the truth..." she muttered, and he stiffened a bit as she looked up to him, " tell me everything. Explain who you and Sandy really are." Arisa hissed.

"Very well then. But this is going to take a while."

1 minute turned to 1 hour and 1 hour turned to 2. 2 hours turned to 4 and 4 hours turned 6. Arisa had mixture of emotions when Florencio revealed his past to her. The goddess was silent as she listened to the man tell his story. How he originally was from the Empire, to finding out he was Varley. To how he ended up becoming an Assassin just have some form of money to survive. To how he became part of Those Who Slither in the Dark, how he met Sandy to years later, meeting Jeralt. Becoming part of the Church of Serios, meeting his wife, everything. The girl was hugging her knees, sobbing as he finished talking, the man smiled sadly as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I hope you understand. If you don't want to see me or Sandy ever again I und-!" The girl suddenly hugged him tightly, he was not expecting that.

He expected her to snap at him, wish him and Sandy to leave. Call them cowards and monsters for the things they have done, yet here she is, accepting him and his sister.

"Yes, I'm still pissed you and Aunty hid all this!" Arisa admitted, "But I understand...I really do...after all..."the past and present make you who you are today."" She said and his eyes went wide.

"Curse you." He chuckled as he hugged her back, "Using my own words against me." He said and she let him go and he wiped her tears.

"Look at you, you'll be 15 in 3 days yet...ever since I first saw you show emotions 11 years ago...I feel like I'm talking to a grown adult. Funny...guess that saying is true. Children are wiser than they look." He said and she smiled.

"Uncle, I'm still not giving the tablet back. I think...It will help me, more than you realize." Arisa said and he smiled sadly.

" I know. Byleth...I trust you with it. Just...be safe. And, good luck on the exam, Miss Kiana Kalsana." Florencio said.

- 3 Days Later -

"You got your medicine supplies?" Florencio said as he spoke up to the girl who sat on Red Hare's saddle.

"Of course." Arisa said with a smile as she looked over to her father.

"Feh, watch over her." Jeralt said as the snowy owl on her shoulder chipped and flapped her wings proudly.

"Please take me with you!" Alexandra said and Amir rolled her eyes.

"Alexandra, you still got one year to wait." The Duscurian girl said and the blue haired one glared her way.

"You just returned from your journey 2 months ago! You still had till next January!" Alexandra said back.

"That's because I took care of business in Duscur!" Amir argued back.

Arisa laughed from on top of her horse as she watched Alexandra arguing with Amir. Today was her 15th birthday and her coming of age ceremony. She had chosen to go on a one-year journey. Today she leaves till her 16th birthday, when she returns.

"Hard to believe it has been 7 years since you saved Alexandra." Sothis said as she appeared and hugged her from behind.

"Hehe. It sure has been a lot." Arisa smiled.

Arisa wore a black cloak that was a bit like Robin's from Awakening. She wore a nice loose pants that she could easily move around in. On her waist strapped, was her rapier. On her back, was strapped her bow. Red Hare had grown a lot bigger that he technically was now the leader of the horses and pegasus in the village. Even Falco had grown a lot. He was the size of a regular Male wyvern but had beautiful black scales that almost looked like jewels. The wyvern was still growing. She looked around and saw everyone from the village and her father's company, and her family, all have come to see her off.

"Make sure to send letters to us, to make sure you're still alive." Sandy said as she gave the girl a parcel that had extra clothing and daggers.

"Of course, I will. Also, this is a celebration for the successful sales of my books!" Arisa grinned.

"I swear that, "Fire Emblem Series" and King Arthur and the Knights of Camelot so many people liked it that it was sold out all around Fodlan! But don't go crazy overboard on spending that money on food!" Sandy scolded her.

Arisa was finally able to decide to publish at least the first three games of the series in the form of books. She never thought it would become so popular in this time. The girl internally sighed. She felt a bit free. The share the stories from her world to this one. And she will continue to do it.

"Make sure to brush your teeth!" Florencio said and she rolled her eyes but chuckled.

"Alright alright!" Arisa said and turned to her father, who looked like he was trying not to cry.

"Dad, please take care." She said with a sad smile

"I will. You take care too, kiddo." Jeralt said as he quickly wiped the lone tear that fell.

He sent a glare to his men, who were smirking and instantly they went away. She got down and gave everyone one last hug before she left. Elder Bara wishing her good and to find a suitable worthy husband or wife, which sent Jeralt saying "absolutely not!". Dominic, who was now ten years old, gave her a dagger, which was a gift from and Ares. The women from Sandy's team packed her enough food to last her an entire 2 months, and many other gifts from the villagers. It was a bittersweet moment. Sothis could not help but cry as she hugged Alexandra and Amir, the girls hugging her back but also Arisa, who was going to miss them.

"Bye!"

"Take care!"

"Make sure to bring back some awesome ale!"

"You idiot she's not 18 yet!"

The entire village said their goodbyes and blessings as Arisa waved to them. As she turned to look at the horizon of the first sun rise, she slightly frowned.

"What's wrong?" Sothis said.

"I made up my mind. There are a few things I want to do before I head off to Shambhala. Sothis, can you train me even harder? Don't hold nothing back." She said as she lightly whipped the reins, Red Hare neighed loudly as he spread his wings, and took off into the sky. Arisa smiled sadly as she saw everyone becoming smaller as they waved goodbye to her. Sothis smirked and the wind began to blow as she gave Arisa a smile that held many years of knowledge.

"Are you sure about that?" She said with a small smirk.

The goddess has learned a lot these past years.

"I am." Arisa said.

"Alright then. Hope you don't regret those words." Sothis smiled.

"I probably will but I'll take my chances." Arisa said.

"Fair enough. So, what are you planning to do? Where are we heading to first?" Sothis said.

Arisa smiled but used her magic to change her eye color to brown and her hair to complete black color. Her hair had become short to just under her ear. She made her bangs go to the right and cover her right eye, and a blue spider lily hair brooch on the right side of her head. She put away the ribbons and her Lily hair pins into her purse, along with her earrings and necklaces. She changed her earrings to a pair of blue gems that were the shape of quail eggs. She nodded and looked once more to the horizon. This journey, she had 5 main goals, and was going to do everything in her power to make sure they were done, to create the change that is needed. She took a deep breath and turned to Sothis who nodded.

"We're going to Garreg Mach."

Chapter 20: The New Road: Part 1: Soul

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Welcome to the arc of 2020! Also, I have an actual drawing of how Arisa is dressed. I'm not professional artist but I tried. I'll be uploading it on my tumblr soon. I'll putting the link soon! Happy New Year!