Author's Note: "No, you're not the one..."

Happy Halloween, everybody. You may be wondering why this chapter took so long to get out? Well, for a while, I've been bombarding y'all with Fifth Path stuff constantly, so I figured that, to keep you from getting sick of it, I'd write the chapter and then release it later. Also, since it's unlikely you're going to be trick or treating this year, maybe you need something to do, I don't know.

While I was writing this, I thought of an interesting premise for a fanfic. Well, two actually.

One: What if both Byleth and Sitri survived Byleth's birth?

And

Two: What if Sitri survived instead of Byleth?

Neat ideas, eh? I'm surprised nobody's written a fanfic about this yet. No, this isn't a hint as to what the next fanfic I write will be about. My next fic will probably be a Pokemon fic or just no fic at all. But hey, maybe somebody will write fics about these someday. They're neat premises.

So, I would like to address a review by SuperVegitoFAN. I wouldn't normally do this but this one is less a review and more a correction. The review points out that while anti-warp spells don't exist, the spell silence does. Since silence stops a unit from using any magic for one turn it would disable the warp spell. So we'll just say that Lysithea's anti-teleport spell was a more specific form of silence. The spell kind of looks like silence anyways.

In other news, I've edited the previous chapter so go check that out. Now, let's get on with the story. As per usual, more below.

Part One

White Clouds

The Professor's Plans

Byleth, admittedly, had never imagined herself in this situation. Even as she was planning it, it seemed improbable at best. And yet, here she was, sitting at a table in what was apparently Jeritza's favorite ice cream parlor. Well, okay, that last part hadn't been planned at all and was probably the most unexpected part of this all.

They sat in silence until the ice cream they had ordered was delivered. Byleth took a bite and her eyes practically lit up. "This is really good. I can see why you like this place."

"Yes, it is." Jeritza said flatly, taking a bite of his own ice cream. "Now, what was it that you wanted to talk about."

"You really get to the point, don't you." Byleth said, taking another bite and pointing her spoon at him. "I actually want to talk to you about two things. One is that I know your secret and the other is that I need a favor."

"You know my secret?" Jeritza asked. "I have many secrets, you'll have to clarify."

Byleth was unsure if he was being serious or just sarcastic. It was hard to tell with him.

She lowered her voice. "I know you're the Death Knight." She said.

It was barely visible but for a brief moment Jeritza looked surprised.

"I can tell you with full confidence that I am not the Death Knight." The masked professor said. "Unless you have some kind of proof."

Byleth sighed. "Really, Jeritza? Are you seriously going to make me go through this whole dog and pony show?"

"Yes." Jeritza said bluntly.

"Well, you were absent from the staff meeting before the attack on the Holy Mausoleum and nobody could find you until afterwards." Byleth said.

"A mere coincidence." Jeritza said.

This was going to be just as hard as Byleth thought. Jeritza was almost definitely not going to fess up. Time to change tactics. The point of this meeting was to get Jeritza's help, not make him tell her something she already knew.

"Alright, fine, you're not the Death Knight, let's move on." Byleth said. "Let's talk about that favor I want."

Jeritza took another bite of his ice cream. "Yes, the favor. What is it?"

"I want you to protect Flayn." Byleth said simply.

"That's it?" Jeritza asked. "You simply want me to protect Seteth's sister?"

Byleth leaned forward. "Yes, I want you to protect Flayn with your life. No matter what, as long as you're around, you will not let any harm come to her, not even if your boss orders the contrary."

"That is a big favor." Jeritza said. "And what reason would I have to do such a thing."

Byleth leaned back. "Because if you do, I will give you a fight for the history books."

Jeritza didn't respond for a long time. He seemed to be lost in thought.. Byleth decided to use this opportunity to finish her ice cream, which had begun to melt. One ice cream bowl later, Jeritza returned to the real world.

"I agree." Jeritza said. "I shall protect the girl and you shall not die until I get to kill you myself."

"Alright," Byleth said, confident. "From now on the Death Knight is both a reaper and a guardian angel. One more thing, though. Who's paying for this ice cream?"

"It is on the house." Jeritza said. "I scare away any "ruffians" and in exchange they give me free ice cream."

"Well in that case, I'm ordering another round." Byleth said.

Finally, after ages of waiting, it was time for Byleth's next mission briefing. If she was being honest with herself, she zoned out for most of it since she already knew what was going to happen and it was another early in the morning briefing. Thankfully, this is a third person narration and the narrator didn't zone out so you still get to see how the briefing went down.

"I have a new mission for you." Rhea said. "This month, I would like your class, the Black Eagles, to head into the Kingdom and take care of some thieves." She emphasized Black Eagles. Clearly, Byleth's screwing around was beginning to test even her patience.

"Again?" Byleth asked boredly.

"The leader of those thieves, a man named Miklan, stole a Hero's Relic from House Gautier of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, the Lance of Ruin." Seteth explained.

"The "Lance of Ruin" is a Hero's Relic?" Byleth asked.

"Yes." Seteth said. "I realize that the name doesn't exactly sound heroic, but neither does yours."

"Should I be offended?" Byleth asked.

"Moving on." Seteth said, not answering Byleth's question. "Miklan is apparently a disowned son of House Gautier. I believe that his being disowned has something to do with his lack of a Crest."

"Jeez, no wonder he has issues. I'd be pretty mad too if my family disowned me for not having a Crest." Byleth said. Then she raised her eyebrow. "Wait, if he was disowned by House Gautier, wouldn't that make him Sylvain's brother?"

"Yes." Rhea said. "That is why you are to specifically not bring Sylvain on this mission. The two of them have a history and I fear that Sylvain's presence might escalate the situation more than it already has."

Come to think of it, Byleth did remember Miklan getting particularly angry at the sight of Sylvain. Maybe that led to him becoming a Demonic Beast? Rhea obviously knew this was a possibility and wanted to prevent it. She probably hadn't prevented Sylvain from going in the original timeline because he was part of the Blue Lion house, which Byleth was in charge of.

"The Heroes' Relics are immensely powerful weapons." Seteth said. "We must meet this threat with adequate force. Unfortunately, most of the Knights of Seiros are away from the monastery purging the apostates of the Western Church. So we are entrusting you with this mission. After all, you wield the Sword of the Creator, which is more than capable of opposing any Relic."

"The Sword of the Creator far surpasses other Relics in power." Rhea said. "As long as you wield it, you have nothing to fear. However, to ensure the safety of the students, we will also send the most skilled individuals the Monastery has one hand to aid you."

Byleth suppressed a laugh. Like they'd be any help. She could hear Hubert's snarky comment now: At least we'll have the stalwart knights ready to stand around and watch us do all the work. (she was spot on, too, as Hubert did make basically that exact comment).

"I must remind you that you are expected to conduct yourself in a manner befitting the wielder of that holy sword." Seteth said.

"Yeah, I know, you've told me." Byleth said, rolling her eyes. "Anything else?"

"No, that is all." Rhea said. "You are dismissed."

A few hours after the briefing, Byleth loudly burst into Seteth's office without even bothering to knock. "Seteth, I need to talk to you!"

Seteth looked up from his desk and gave Byleth an exasperated look. "I'm busy." He said flatly.

"It's important." Byleth shouted.

Seteth's face went from exasperated to irritated. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait. Now please, leave me to my work."

Byleth groaned internally. This wasn't working. She needed to change tactics, just like she had with Jeritza. She slammed her hands down on Seteth's desk like an attorney raising an objection.

"Flayn is in trouble!"

"What!" Seteth shouted. He jumped up, leaned over his desk, and grabbed her by the shoulders. "What happened!? Is she alright!? Byleth, tell me everything!" As he spoke he shook Byleth vigorously.

Byleth pulled herself away from him and held her hands up in a stopping motion. "Woah! Woah! Hold up. Flayn is fine for the moment but she won't be if you don't calm down and listen."

Seteth slowly sat back down. He put his hand to his head. "I apologize, Byleth. That was… unprofessional of me." He sighed. "It's just that… if anything were to happen to her…"

"I know." Byleth said solemnly. "I know how deeply you care about her. But don't worry, as long as I'm around I won't let anything happen to her, and I know you won't let anything happen to her either. So listen up, at the end of the month while everyone is out on missions, a mysterious group will attempt to kidnap Flayn."

"What!" Seteth shouted, jumping back up. "We need to warn her! We need to call the Knights of Seiros!"

"Seteth! Calm down!" Byleth shouted, slamming her hands on the desk again. One might almost expect her to yell out "Objection!"

Seteth sat back down and rubbed the back of his head. "Right… my apologies."

"Now, you're right, we do need to warn Flayn and call the Knights of Seiros." Byleth said. "But the issue is that most of the Knights are out hunting the Western Church guys and the Knights left won't stand a chance against the Death Knight."

"What!" Seteth shouted yet again. This was really starting to annoy Byleth.

"Hang on, you didn't let me finish." Byleth said. "The Knights left won't stand a chance against the Death Knight but don't worry, because I have a guy on the inside, namely, the Death Knight himself."

"What?" Seteth asked. "Byleth, are you insane!? That Knight is dangerous. We know nothing about him! Why would you trust him!?"

"I don't trust him." Byleth said. "In fact, I would personally prefer not to have to work with him, but I made him swear to protect Flayn no matter what and I think he's the kind of guy who keeps his promises."

Seteth put his hand to his head. "This is all absurd. A mysterious group is plotting to kidnap Flayn and you're trusting her potential kidnapper to protect her?"

"I just said I don't trust him." Byleth said. "Listen, I know we don't necessarily see eye to eye (literally, I'm shorter than you) but you're going to have to trust me. I promise that Flayn will be safe. And that's a promise I intend to keep."

Seteth sighed. "Alright. But if anything happens-"

"I will personally hand you the stick." Byleth completed.

She turned around to leave only to be stopped by Seteth.

"One more thing." He said. "How do you know all this?"

Byleth smiled sadly. "I'm sorry but I can't tell you that just yet. Maybe sometime in the future, after everything blows over."

And with that, Byleth turned and swept out of the room. Her sad smile turned into a smirk. Her plans were finally starting to fall into place. If everything went well, Flayn would be safe and that bitch Kronya aka Monica could never sneak into the monastery and never kill her father.

This was just the beginning, though. It was time to shift into high gear. Enough playing around, she had come back in time to stop a war and that's just what she was going to do!

Author's Note: I usually shy away from the B-word because I'm a bit of a prude but since it helps accentuate how much Byleth hates Kronya I think I can compromise my opinions. It's actually kind of funny. Since Kronya isn't going to kill Jeralt in this timeline, she'll run into Byleth later and have no idea why this random woman she's never met before hates her so much.

I had to work one of my favorite Hubert lines ("But at least we'll have the stalwart knights ready to stand around and watch us do all the work.") into the story somehow, so Byleth's imagination will have to do.

Huh, I thought I had more to say down here. Well, I guess I could tell you what I think the four main characters would do during Halloween.

Claude, Dimitri, and Byleth would go out Trick Or Treating (let's pretend the Corona Virus doesn't exist for the purposes of this thought exercise). Of course, the question is, who's there for adult supervision: Byleth or Dimitri?

Meanwhile Edelgard stays home and just eats sweets that were on sale like a smart person. (she's a goshdarned princess she can buy as much candy as she goshdarned wants)

See you guys next time, and always remember, you are not the one.