Author's Note: I did it! I got Halloween Sothis! It took much grinding but I got her! And on the last day, too! A bit late but like I always say, November is the real spooky month. I also got, like, two Halloween Fallen Robins in the process so that's neat.
In actual story related news, I've gotten a review from lucario574 which is great because they're not only a follower but one of the earliest followers (or I've received a view from them before. Or both. Regardless, they're on my list) and that means at least one person is still following/still cares after [counts on fingers] good god it's been over a year since I started writing this. Though, to be fair, I did take that accidental hiatus so from a certain point of view it's been less than that. Anyways, thanks for still following the fic, lucario574.
Now, on to actually responding to the review. Lucario574 pointed out, likely in response to a comment I made in the previous Author's Note about how I had no idea why Linhardt was suddenly taking his job seriously. Which, to be honest, was kind of a lie but also kind of not because I knew in the back of my head why but at the time I had just written two chapters worth of content (I wrote this chapter and the previous chapter successively) so I was kind of tired and honestly just needed something to put there. But, yeah, lucario574 decided to be a good guy and explain the actual reason for why Linhardt was taking his job seriously, that being that he's lazy to a certain point but when important things like lives being in danger happens, he gets serious. Should I be worried that I wrote him correctly but also had to have someone else explain to me why I wrote him correctly? I mean, I knew the whole time but I kind of forgot which is bad because a writer shouldn't forget what they're doing like that. Well, I suppose it doesn't matter now, does it.
Anyways, thanks lucario574 for your review, giving me an excuse to talk, and giving me something to put here because I had absolutely nothing to talk about. Also, thanks again for following the story to this point.
Now, onwards to the chapter.
Part One
White Clouds
The Umbral Beast
"What the hell is that thing!" Balthus shouted, pointing at the monster that used to be Aelfric.
"Looks like a Demonic Beast of some kind." Byleth said.
"Close but not quite." Rhea said, trying to keep her voice calm. "That… Is the Umbral Beast. It's what happened the last time the Rite of Rising was performed." She then gave Byleth a very mother-like glare. "And we will be having a talk about your use of the Goddess' name, later."
"I was about to say pretty much the same thing." Sothis said.
The Umbral Beast roared again. It raised its clawed foot and brought it down on the heroes, aiming for Rhea specifically. It almost landed the blow but Byleth pushed the Archbishop out of the way before she could get hurt. Well, mostly. When Byleth pushed her she had landed on the floor which did hurt a bit.
"Thank you, Byleth." She said, standing up and brushing herself off. "But I am perfectly capable of defending myself." To prove her point she drew her leven sword and raised it in the air. A bolt of lightning burst from the tip and arched onto the beast's hide, leaving a burn mark. Unfortunately, not only did the beast seem not to have felt the attack, but the burn mark quickly disappeared.
"Oh come on!" Byleth shouted. "It's self healing!"
The Umbral Beast went for Rhea again and the two dodged out of the way.
"All right, all of my students, fall back to the Mausoleum!" Byleth shouted, pointing at the Mausoleum Entrance beckoning to her students.
"Agreed!" Yuri said. "Ashen Wolves! Fall back!"
The students and Ashen Wolves did as their commanders ordered. Rhea, Alois, and Jeralt also did this as it was the smart thing to do. Once they were there they huddled together.
"Alright, we need a plan." Byleth said.
"Thank you, Professor Obvious." Yuri snarked.
"Why is it that when you're the one insulting me I can never think of a snappy comeback." Byleth replied, annoyed.
"Focus!" Jeralt ordered.
"Right." Byleth said, rubbing her temples. "So, I'm open to ideas."
"We could climb up it and hit it from up top." Balthus suggested. "Maybe take out those wings."
"No!" Byleth and Edelgard said at the same time.
"Trust us, you don't want to try that." Byleth said. She then muttered something about "stupid cliffs" but it was hard to hear.
"Why don't we try the puppet trick again." Claude suggested.
"The puppet trick?" Byleth asked.
"The Chalice of Beginnings was being guarded by these weird puppet things." Claude explained.
"Those were most likely Golems." Rhea clarified.
"Right." Claude said. "So the Chalice of Beginnings was being guarded by Golems and in order to get it we had to defeat them. So what we did is use some of my rope arrows to trip them up."
"It was my idea." Edelgard proclaimed proudly.
"Hmm… that might work." Jeralt said, stroking his chin.
"Our enemy is quite different from the Golems." Dimitri pointed out. "We may need to make modifications to our plan."
"He's right." Yuri agreed.
"Alright, what do you suggest?" Claude asked.
"The Umbral Beast is much too big and its limbs much to far apart for rope arrows." Dimitri explained. "If we are to tie it's legs up we most likely will need to do it by hand. We'll also need a stronger rope or, preferably, a chain of some sort."
"My rope is plenty strong." Claude protested. He then did a 180 and conceded. "But, admittedly, not strong enough for this particular situation."
"I don't think anyone has a chain on them." Yuri said. "Let alone a chain large enough to wrap around that thing."
"I might have a solution." Hapi said. She made a hand motion and materialized a rope of dark energy. "I can make this thing as long or short as I want. Though I need to concentrate in order to do it."
"That'll work." Byleth said. "So we'll have our strongest people use the rope while everyone else acts as a distraction. Sounds like a plan?"
Constance shook her head. "Not yet. There is still one thing we have yet to consider: what we shall do with Aelfric once we use the rope to trip him up."
"I'm sorry." Rhea said remorsefully. "But that Beast is no longer Aelfric. Our only option is to kill it."
Constance shook her head. "I am not. Aelfric used us, betrayed us, and tried to slay us. And yet, he still provided me with shelter when I had none. It is time to end this swiftly, for his sake as much as ours."
"Seconded." Hapi said. "After everything he's done to bring her back, it's terrible that things have to end this way. But if we have to then we have to."
"I third that statement." Yuri said with a nod. "Though I was really hoping to be the one to make the dramatic speech. This is all my fault, after all."
"A lot of things today are your fault." Balthus said. "But this is not one of them. Aelfric made his choice and there's nothing any of us could do to stop him. Now, let's do him and us a favor and take him out real quick, yeah."
"We're right behind you." Byleth said, placing her fist on her chest.
There was a chorus of agreement from the students of Garreg Mach. Even Linhardt.
"I'm not entirely sure what's going on." Alois said. "But I'm ready to fight as well."
Jeralt smiled sadly. "I guess it's time to say one final goodbye to my old friend."
"All right then!" Yuri shouted. "Ashen Wolves, let's move out!
The plan was simple. Byleth, Ashe, Linhardt, Yuri, Constance, and Rhea would serve as bait for the monster. Rhea was especially important because despite having pretty much become mindless it still had enough of Aelfric left over to absolutely despise her, thus making her the best bait. Meanwhile, Balthus, Dimitri, Alois, and Jeralt would try their best to wrap Hapi's magic rope around the beast's legs, causing it to collapse. Once the beast collapsed, everyone would hit it with as much magic and weaponry as they could manage. Through all this Hapi would stand to the side to keep the magic rope from disappearing.
There was an unfortunate problem, however. A variable that nobody has been aware of. As soon as they leaped into action the beast roared once again and summoned a group of spectral soldiers.
No matter. All that was required was a minor adjustment of plans. Rhea became essentially the sole distraction in the plan with Byleth covering her. Ashe was reassigned to protecting Hapi and the rest were tasked with keeping the soldiers off the Rope Team.
Rhea was actually pretty amazing in combat. Looking at her, Byleth had never expected much out of the Archbishop combat-wise. Maybe some powerful faith spells, but nothing like the swordsmanship she was displaying here. It was obvious she was a little rusty from years in a non-combative role but she was still pretty good.
"Have you been hiding this the whole time?" Byleth asked, dodging under a spectral soldier's swing.
"Not the time, Byleth." Rhea said, stabbing a spectral soldier.
"No, seriously, you're really good." Byleth continued. "We have to spar some time."
Rhea electrified her sword and used a spin attack to knock away several soldiers. "Are you always this conversational in battle?" She asked, exasperated.
"Yeah, isn't everyone?" Byleth answered, fully aware that not everyone was as conversational as her.
"No." Rhea replied, deadpan.
Suddenly, the beast's huge foot came down from above. Fortunately, the two managed to dodge it and the only one caught under the beast's foot was a spectral soldier.
And that wasn't the end of their fortune. The step the beast took was the final step to put it in position for the rope team to wrap their rope around the thing's legs. Once that was done and they pulled with all their might, keeping the rope tight enough that when the beast attempted to take another step it collapsed. Just as planned.
"Now!" Byleth shouted.
Everyone immediately began bombarding the beast with as many attacks as possible. The attacks that did the most damage ended up mainly being the magic attacks though the Sword of the Creator, being a Hero's Relic, also did a pretty hefty amount of damage. Slowly, the skull on the beast's head began to crack and it roared in pain.
Then, the unthinkable happened. In their rush to defeat the beast, they had completely forgotten about the soldiers. One snuck up behind Hapi and almost got her with its axe, but she managed to dodge just in time, blasting it with dark magic. Unfortunately, this broke her concentration long enough for the rope to disappear, freeing the beast.
With surprising speed, the beast stood up and let out a powerful roar. Somehow, this roar randomly warped them all to different locations in the room, distancing them from the beast. The only two left close to it were Byleth, Rhea, and Jeralt, all three of which had been teleported right in front of it.
"No!" Byleth shouted. "We almost had it!"
The beast raised its leg once more. Jeralt spun his spear. "Relax, Kid. I've got this."
"Jeralt, what are you doing?" Byleth asked apprehensively.
Jeralt didn't answer, instead leaping onto the beast's raised leg and running up it. He stabbed his spear into the side of the beast and used it to vault onto its back, promptly removing the spear as he did. He then ran across the beast's back until he stood atop its head.
"Get clear!" He shouted. Then, in a lower voice he said. "Sorry, old friend."
He stabbed his spear into the beast's skull. This was the final blow needed to kill the beast. Light began emanating from the cracks in its skull. Byleth and Rhea, recognizing this as a bad thing, ran away from the beast and took cover. Jeralt also tried to run but it was too late. The beast exploded, blasting him away. His body slammed into a wall and fell to the ground, landing in a sitting position.
"No!" Byleth shouted, reaching her hand out despite the obvious futility of doing so. She quickly scrambled over to her father. "Nonononono! No!"
Byleth's students, Rhea, and Alois followed Byleth. Meanwhile, the Ashen Wolves simply hung back, unsure how to proceed. Byleth leaned over her father's body, crying.
Jeralt chuckled and then coughed. "Sorry, Kid. Looks like I'm not going to be able to keep my promise."
"No!" Byleth shouted again. "We can fix this! Linhardt can heal you! Or, at least, stabilize you until we can get you to a proper doctor!"
"I… I'm sorry, Professor, but I can't." Linhardt said, his voice laden with remorse. "From the looks of it he's broken… pretty much everything. Not to mention a plethora of other internal and external wounds. I think this is beyond even the most skilled healer."
Byleth pounded the ground with her fist. "No! This wasn't supposed to happen."
"Hey." Jeralt said soothingly. "Kid. Byleth. It's okay. Everything will be fine."
"Everything will not be fine!" Byleth cried. "You'll be dead!"
"It was bound to happen eventually." Jeralt said. He coughed again and smiled. "Besides, you're strong. If anyone can handle this, it's you. I'm just glad that I got to see you smile and laugh before I kicked the bucket."
"But-" Byleth began but Jeralt cut her off.
"Don't worry." He said. "Everything will be alright. And, hey, if there really is an afterlife, then maybe I'll get to see Sitri again. For real this time."
And with that, Jeralt went silent. Byleth heaved a huge sob and wrapped her arms around his battered body, burying her face in his chest. She had failed and Jeralt was dead.
Author's Note: What the heck are you doing down here? Jeralt just died?
...
Yeah, that joke was never gonna work. I love talking way too much to just leave it at that. So, yeah, Jeralt's dead. You probably saw that coming. Especially since I kind of outright said that, yeah, Byleth wasn't going to be able to save him. Anyways, congratulations on reaching the end of the Ashen Wolves mini-arc. I'm sure we'll never see them again. Actually, I was about to make a joke about replacing them all with Lorenz clones but that actually would make a funny April Fools Omake. Just an entire chapter rewritten so that every character is replaced by Lorenz (with one character both not being replaced by Lorenz and being aware that this is not how the world is supposed to be). God, imagine how obnoxious that would be. Yeah, I'm never doing that.
Well, see you next chapter. Bye.