Author's Note: Are we TV Tropes worthy yet? I mean, we have five chapters plus however many supports there are. That has to at least warrant a spot on the fanfic suggestions page, right?
I think this chapter title is the closest I've ever come to being like the chapter titles in the actual game. I originally intended to have funny chapter titles but as you've seen it didn't quite work out that way.
On a different subject, the next chapter will probably take a little longer than this one to come out because I need to figure out how to do it. I'm not sure if I want to take a break and have a downtime chapter or go straight to the next mission. I might take the time to write a few supports instead. That's all for now, more down below.
Author's Edit: I have edited this chapter a bit for reasons.
Part One
White Clouds
The Monster in the Canyon
The monster that used to be Kostas towered over everyone present. Byleth hadn't expected to face a Demonic Beast so soon, or at all for that matter. After about a year and a half of fighting these things, the Beast didn't scare her too much. The same could not be said for the bandits, who took off as soon as the monster roared. The Black Eagles didn't make any attempts to stop them because they themselves were stunned.
"Woah!" Caspar shouted. "What is that thing!?"
The monster lashed out with it's jaws and attempted to bite Caspar in half. Byleth swooped in and pushed him out of the way before the monster could make a meal out of him. Though it'd probably be more accurate to call him a snack than a meal.
(Sothis!) Byleth shouted in her mind. (What do I do!?)
"Just do what you always do." Sothis said. "And we are talking about that beard comment later!"
(I don't think my usual methods will work!) Byleth shouted. (I've never fought one of these things without the Sword of the Creator!)
"Ugh! Do I have to do everything for you!" Sothis shouted back.
(Hey, if I die you die too!) Byleth shouted. (So please help me out here!)
The Demonic Beast swung it's gigantic claws at Byleth. She dodged but the monster managed to slice through the sleeve of her coat-cape and knock the rope from her belt.
"Dude!" Byleth shouted at the monster. "My coat!"
Sothis sighed. "Look, you see the crest stone on top of that thing's head?"
(Yes.) Byleth said.
"Hit it! Hard!"
(And how am I supposed to get up there?) Byleth asked.
"That's for you to figure out." Sothis said.
The monster swiped at her again and she jumped back.
"Ugh." She muttered under her breath. Then she shouted. "Alright! Black Eagles! Fall back!"
She gestured to behind her, away from the Demonic Beast. The Black Eagle house complied and convened behind a boulder at the far end of the rock chunk, hopefully out of range and out of sight of the monster.
"We have to stop that Beast." Byleth said.
"You're kidding, right?" Caspar asked. "That thing's huge!"
"Well we can't just run away!" Byleth shouted.
"Yes we can!" Bernadetta shouted from behind a rock. "In fact, let's do that right now!"
"Though I loathe to admit it, it might be best that we leave this to the Knights of Seiros." Hubert said. "Let us retreat while we can. Back over the bridge."
The Demonic Beast tossed a boulder in the general direction of where the Black Eagles had last been. It missed and flew over their heads, slamming into the north bridge and destroying it. Hubert flinched.
"Not to worry, there is still another bridge." The west bridge was promptly destroyed by another flying boulder.
"Hubie." Dorothea said.
"Yes?"
"Shut up."
Before Hubert could retort Byleth cut in. "We have to stop it, not least of all because we're now trapped on this rock with it."
"Wrong!" Ferdinand said. "We are not trapped here with the beast, the beast is trapped here with me, Ferdinand von Aegir, noblest of nobles!"
"No, I'm pretty sure we're trapped here with the Beast." Hubert replied.
"Enough." Edelgard said authoritatively. She turned to Byleth. "Professor, what's the plan?"
Byleth pointed at the crest stone on the Beast's head. "You see that glowy thing up there? We're gonna hit it! Hard!" On that last word Byleth slammed her fist into her palm.
"Stealing my lines now, are we?" Sothis snarked.
"That's it?" Edelgard asked incredulously.
Byleth rubbed the back of her head. "I'll admit it's missing a few steps, but remember lesson 4."
"When all else fails, improvise." Edelgard recited.
Byleth grinned. "Exactly. So here's my idea: you guys distract the Beast while I jump on it, do a bit of colossus climbing, and stab it in the head."
"I hope you don't mind me interjecting." Dorothea said. "But that is a terrible plan."
Edelgard nodded. "I agree. This plan is even worse than the one before it and that one wasn't even complete."
"Well I'm not about to let any of you jump on it." Byleth replied.
"Nobody should jump on it." Edelgard protested. "Especially not you. You'll be killed."
"Relax, I've done more dangerous things." Byleth said. "Besides, do any of you have a better idea?"
The Black Eagles looked at eachother. Then they looked at the Beast.
"Couldn't we just shoot an arrow at it?" Edelgard suggested.
Byleth shook her head. "I don't think an arrow would give us the force we need. Besides, our archer is a bit… indisposed right now." Byleth jabbed her thumb at Bernadetta who was curled up on the ground in a fetal position, muttering to herself. Byleth continued. "Look, we don't have time for this. Eventually that thing is going to figure out we're behind this rock."
"Fine." Edelgard grumbled. "But I want to go on record to say I don't approve of this plan."
"Well I didn't approve of bringing you guys here to fight bandits so we're even." Byleth said.
And so the Black Eagles enacted the stupidest plan ever concocted (at least until they concoct the next stupid plan). In execution the plan was pretty simple, the Black Eagles (minus Bernadetta and Linhardt) distracted the Demonic Beast by attacking it while Byleth climbed on. You're probably tired of hearing this reiterated by now.
Hubert did the most damage in that he actually managed to do damage, actually managing to both hitting and harming the Beast. He wouldn't be capable of defeating it before his magic ran out but at least he managed to harm it.
The others did not fare so well in that regard. Caspar quickly discovered that punching the Beast was not only ineffective but also really, really painful. So he settled for being bait for the others which he would have been grumpy about were he not running from a giant monster.
Edelgard was the main Black Eagle to take advantage of Caspar's bait position, saving his life when the monster got too close. Her axe just bounced off the creature's hide but at least she managed to knock its claws away when needed.
Ferdinand and Petra did a similar routine, Petra serving as the bait while Ferdinand attacked. Petra dodged and weaved and Ferdinand attempted to poke the monster in the joints. This only served to annoy the monster, not hurt it.
The most unfortunate of the Black Eagle was Dorothea, who had discovered that the Beast's pulsing, veiny hide was both fire- and lightning-proof, ruling out basically her entire arsenal of offensive spells. Unless she could figure out a way to weaponize a magic buff spell she was pretty much sunk.
All of this was the backdrop for the real action: Byleth colossus climbing the Demonic Beast. This was something Byleth had done several times but at the time she'd had the boosted power of Sothis and a wicked whip-sword. This was just her and a not-quite-as-cool-or-powerful regular sword (though it was still pretty cool because, let's be honest, swords are cool).
Byleth stealthily sneaked behind the Beast and waited for the right moment to jump on. That moment came when the Beast whipped its tail towards her. Byleth ducked, grabbing onto the tail as it swang. She hung on tight as it lifted her into the air. Slowly, she began to climb on top of the tail. Once she was on top she stood low and spread her arms out to get her balance. She slowly made her way along the tail, having to grab hold of it several times to avoid falling, and eventually onto the creature's back where she had more room to maneuver and more handholds to grab on to if needed.
The back was pretty disgusting to stand on. The scales seemed to be attempting to suck Byleth's feet in. If she were to stay in one place too long she'd end up stuck to the creature's back and have to leave her boots behind which would only make the trek more gross. So she kept going until she reached the monster's head.
The crest stone was embedded smack dab in the middle of the Beast's forehead. How it had gotten there was baffling since Kostas had been holding the stone in his right hand when he transformed but that wasn't important. Byleth raised her sword, pointing it down towards the crest stone. However, before she could stab it the Beast was hit by a particularly strong burst of Hubert's magic and it lurched. It tossed its head and Byleth was thrown off. She flew through the air and straight over the edge of the rock, plunging into the canyon below.
When Edelgard saw Byleth get thrown off the Beast she immediately grabbed Caspar and ran to help. She wasn't sure what she planned to do. Catch her? Break her fall? Let her hit the ground and have Linhardt heal her afterwards (okay, maybe not that last one)?
The choice was taken out of her hands when Byleth overshot and fell into the canyon instead. She and Caspar ran to the edge of the canyon in a last ditch effort to maybe try to catch her. Edelgard got there first but she was too far out, before she knew it, her Professor was out of sight.
"Professor!" She and Caspar shouted at the same time.
Edelgard fell to her knees. "NO!" She shouted, slamming the ground with her fist. "No no no no no!"
"She's dead!" Caspar shouted, kicking a rock into the abyss.
After about 45 seconds a voice that sounded like Byleth's shouted. "Hey! Edelgard!"
Great, she was hallucinating. Just what she needed. As if she didn't already have enough problems.
"Caspar! Down here!"
"Hey, do you hear that?" Caspar asked.
Edelgard didn't answer. There was no way he was talking about the voice. That was just a ridiculous hallucination. Not real.
"Hello! Guys!"
"It sounds like the Professor!" Caspar said. Wonderful, they were sharing a hallucination.
"It's not real." Edelgard muttered.
"It's coming from over the edge!" Caspar persisted. "Let's check it out!"
Edelgard decided to humor Caspar. She sighed and stood up, walking over to the edge. She looked down, expecting to see nothing. Nothing is not what she saw. Instead she saw Byleth hanging from her sword which she had stabbed into the rock wall.
"Professor!" Caspar shouted in delight.
"You're alive!" Edelgard shouted, pleasantly shocked.
"Can't get rid of me that easily." Byleth said. "Now could you help me up! I don't want to spend the rest of my life hanging off a cliff wall!"
Edelgard nodded. "On it! Just hang on!"
"Oh ha ha looks like we've got a comedian here." Byleth snarked.
Edelgard ignored her and scanned the surroundings for something useful. There wasn't much. Just rocks (of the non-magical kind), dead bodies (just ignore them), and a giant rampaging monster fighting her friends (or in some cases, annoyances).
Then she spotted it. There was a coil of rope lying on the ground nearby. She ran over, snatched it up, and ran back. She dangled it over the edge of the cliff and Byleth grabbed on, yanking her sword out of the cliff wall.
"Caspar, help me pull." Edelgard requested.
"Got it!" Caspar said. Together the two of them managed to pull Byleth back up over the cliff.
Once she was back on solid ground Byleth stood and rubbed the palm of her hand. "Whew, thanks."
Having overcome her shock, Edelgard marched up to her Professor and shoved her pointer finger under her chin. She glared fiercely.
"I told you!" She shouted. "I told you it was a terrible plan! I told you you might get killed! Me and Dorothea, both!"
Byleth held up her hands. "Woah! Hey! Cool it! I'm not exactly happy about what happened either! I hate falling off cliffs!" Her tone was matter-of-factly, like this wasn't the first time she had fallen off a cliff. She gently pushed Edelgard away. "And why are you scolding me, I'm pretty sure I'm the teacher here."
"Doesn't Edelgard outrank you, being the imperial princess and all?" Caspar said.
Byleth glared at him. Suddenly, Hubert crashed into the ground next to them, no doubt having been caught in one of the Beast's swings. Caspar caught him before he followed Byleth's example and slid off the cliff.
He groaned. "Lady Edelgard, I request assistance."
Caspar and Byleth cleared their throats in unison.
"Oh yes, and you two as well." Hubert amended.
"Thank you." Byleth said with a slight hint of sarcasm. "So, plans? I assume you're not going to let me jump on that thing again."
"No, no I will not." Edelgard said.
"Alright then, any other ideas?" Byleth asked.
Edelgard looked at the rope in her hands then at the beast. "I think I might."
The Black Eagles were losing. Petra, Dorothea, and even Ferdinand had made the smart decision and retreated, Linhardt was healing any wounds the three had, and Bernadetta was cowering behind a rock.
"This isn't how I thought I'd die." Dorothea said with a sigh.
"Nobody will be dying today!" Ferdinand declared. "As soon as I regain my strength I shall vanquish the beast!"
"I don't know whether to compliment you on your optimism or berate you for your foolishness." Dorothea said.
Ferdinand opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by a shout.
"Black Eagles! We have a plan!"
Four of the five Black Eagles present turned to see who had spoken (Bernadetta continued to cower behind her rock). It was Byleth along with Edelgard, Caspar, and Hubert. Caspar and Hubert were both holding rope, one normal and one made of magic.
Dorothea gave them a skeptical look. "This plan doesn't involve jumping back on that thing, does it?"
Edelgard shook her head. "Not at all." She pointed at Caspar and Hubert's ropes. "We're going to tie that Beast down and, in the immortal words of the Professor, hit it! Hard!"
"Those are my immortal words." Sothis grumbled.
"Well," Edelgard said. "Let's get to it."
Amazingly, the plan went off without a hitch. Petra distracted the beast, drawing its attention while Caspar and Hubert took their they were in a suitable position the two used their ropes to lasso the creature's neck. Ferdinand and Dorothea rushed in to help, Ferdinand grabbing Caspar's rope and Dorothea grabbing Hubert's. Together the four of them managed to pull the creature's head down so that it was level with the ground and its crest stone was within hitting range.
"Would you like to do the honors?" Byleth asked Edelgard. "It was your plan after all."
Edelgard tossed her axe in the air and caught it. She ran towards the Beast and with great ferocity struck the crest stone hard. The stone began to crack and light emanated from said cracks.
"Get back!" She shouted, jumping away from the Beast. The other Black Eagles did the same.
Now released from its bindings the Beast flailed around, attempting to hit anything within range before it eventually collapsed. Black goop spread over the monster and it shrunk away leaving the dead body of Kostas in its place. The crest stone had returned to Kostas' hand and it was broken into so many pieces it was unrecognizable.
"We did it." Edelgard said, breathing heavily.
"Yeah, yeah we did." Byleth said.
The Black Eagles looked around at the carnage they caused. The reality of what had happened had begun to sink in. Linhardt turned around and discretely threw up over the side of the cliff, a gesture that would have been nice had the ground not been covered in dead bodies.
After a few minutes of silence Hubert spoke. "Pardon me for interrupting your horror, but we have a problem. The Beast destroyed all the bridges. We are trapped on this rock."
Byleth sighed. "Of course we are. Hubert, can you fly over the gap and find help."
Hubert tugged nervously on the collar of his shirt. "Er, no. I'm afraid that I'm out of spells. I can't do that." It was an obvious lie but Byleth decided not to push him on it.
"Alright then." She said. "Anybody have any other ideas?"
Caspar raised his hand. "Maybe we could use the rope." He held up the rope they had used to tie the monster down. "We could lasso it to a rock on the other side and then walk across it like a tightrope."
Byleth rested her right elbow on her left arm and placed her palm on her left cheek. "Hmm, that might work."
"No!" Hubert cried. "No! I-I can't, I mean, we can't!"
"Why not?" Byleth asked.
Hubert made a great effort to look anywhere but Byleth's eyes. It was weird, usually he was a great liar. It was part of his job description.
He was saved from answering when Petra cried "Look!" She pointed towards the sky. Everyone looked up to see a group of Knights riding pegasi.
"Oh no." Hubert muttered to himself. He looked almost as sick as Linhardt did.
As it turned out, the Knights of Seiros had heard reports of unearthly roaring and explosions in the canyon and were sent to investigate. After Byleth explained what happened (with "helpful" input from a few of her students) they were more than happy to give the students a ride back to Garreg Mach. Before they departed, however, Byleth took a moment to herself. Well, a moment to herself and the girl who lived in her head.
"Do you remember anything more now that we've been here a third time?" Byleth asked Sothis aloud.
Sothis materialized next to her. "Maybe." She said. "It's not quite a memory but… I have a feeling this isn't the first time blood has been spilled in this canyon."
Byleth slapped her forehead, making the connection. "Of course. That's why it's called the Red Canyon."
"Yes, something terrible happened here." Sothis said. She sadly stared off into the distance. "My home."
"Professor!" A voice called.
"It appears that it is time for me to take my leave." Sothis said. "I think I shall take a nap. I am quite tired from all this excitement." With that she disappeared.
Edelgard ran up to Byleth. "Professor, It's time to leave. Were you talking to someone?"
Byleth shook her head. "Just the voice in my head." She answered truthfully. She smiled wearily. "So, I'm thinking... pie for dinner?"
Author's Note: So in this universe Byleth's coat-cape-thing is an actual coat. In general Byleth's outfit is different. I'm not entirely sure how different but it's definitely more modest for sure. Also she loses the heels (and so does every other character with heels except Manuela). I mean, seriously, who fights in heels (and yes, I know Combat Stilettos is a trope but quite frankly it's a ridiculous trope unless you're literally using the heels as a weapon)?
So you may notice that the capitalization of Demonic Beast is inconsistent. This is to represent who does and does not know what a Demonic Beast is. Anyone who doesn't know what a Demonic Beast is will have beast in lowercase letters while people who do will have it in uppercase letters. I thought it was a neat thing I'd try out.